Hi everybody. I just wanted to post a quick list of a few films I enjoy that really got my gears grinding, movies that I don't think many people have seen or even heard of. Just in case you're in the mood to watch something cerebral but aren't sure what!
Six O'Clock News (1996)
directed by Ross McElwee
Technically this was an episode of "Frontline" but I'm still including it here as a stand-alone documentary because it feels entirely like one. The Wikipedia page for this movie is extremely sparse and the IMDB description doesn't do this film justice at all. I first saw this movie when I was taking a few film courses and it blew me away--more, it really gave me something to think about. An intimate examination on our obsession with television, more specifically the news. And what happens to the folks featured on the news after the cameras stop rolling. There's so much more that this film has to say, though, about parenting and life and the afterlife.
Samsara (2011)
directed by Ron Fricke
The first time I saw this movie, I could not believe some of the things they were showing me were real. Like, actual places on planet Earth. Samsara is an odd breed of film, a travel documentary that takes you across the globe, to some of the most awe-inspiring places on the planet and some of the most interesting and beautiful people. It will show you humanity and nature in a light you've never seen it in before. After viewing this film I always have a sense of extreme wanderlust. The camera work and scoring in this film truly are impeccable, but it's more than pretty images. Visual juxtaposition plays a huge role in the film and although there is no dialogue or direct narrative, Samsara indeed tells a broad story of birth, growth, death, and rebirth--the cycle. It's what the word samsara means, the continuous flow of life. If you've seen Samsara and enjoyed it, two other films by Ron Fricke are of the same nature: Baraka (1992) and Koyaanisqatsi (1982).
The Before trilogy (1995, 2004, 2013)
directed by Richard Linklater
The Before trilogy is more well-known than the other films on this list, but I'm always amazed at how many people I meet who have never seen, never even heard of these beautiful and engrossing films. Describing these movies is tough, and it's tough to get people to watch them--all it is really, are two people talking. An ongoing conversation through some of the most beautiful spots in Europe. Make no mistake, though--you will be clinging to every word. But it is so much more than that. While the dialogue is entirely engaging, what unfolds throughout these three modest films is the most realistic and passionate on-screen romance that I've ever seen in my life. Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke give extremely memorable and relatable performances for the ages, even garnering writing credit of their character's dialogue in two of the three films. These films are beautiful meditations on the way we perceive time (a subject Linklater seems to be obsessed with), how relationships change over that time (each film was done 9 years apart from each other), and both men and women's roles in the modern relationship. Perfection.
The Interrupters (2011)
directed by Steve James
Hoop Dreams (1994) is one of my favorite documentaries of all-time, and Steve James delivers another intimate and harrowing tale of a year of Chicago's inner-city violence with The Interrupters. You always hear about violence in cities like Chicago but besides a random article or story on the news I really had no concept of what that world was really like. The Interrupters gives you a perspective into the world of three 'Violence Interrupters' in the city of Chicago as they deal with the at-risk youth and try to protect their communities. Heartbreaking and hopeful. And this one is on Netflix, people!
The Sunset Limited (2011)
directed by Tommy Lee Jones
This film is based on a play written by the brilliant Cormac McCarthy. This movie is a high-stakes philosophical argument between a religious former convict and a suicidal atheist professor. Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones give fantastic performances here, as is basically required to make this a truly convincing and compelling film. Similarly to the Before trilogy that I've already listed, The Sunset Limited is a conversation, one on god and life and death and the meaning of it all. A conversation that you will be engaged in from start to finish, in large part due to McCarthy's incredibly convincing dialogue and also by the performances. If you have HBO GO, you can watch it directly from there.
Primer(2004)
directed by Shane Carruth This user review from IMDB says it better than I can: "For much of the film I sat watching open-mouthed, half smiling at the film for reasons I am still trying to understand. Perhaps it was the fearless choice to stick to its own voice, to avoid watering it down by appealing to the wider audience. Perhaps I was amazed at the economy of this film (not just the reported budget, either); at how it so effortlessly dances around the pitfalls inherent with this almost universally misplayed genre. What an interesting film! There's a breathtakingly light touch with details and subtlety. In fact the film contains and is defined by many aspects deliberately avoided in "sci-fi movies", namely, the surface banality inherent in much of engineering or innovation. In the real world this is characterized simply by hard work, testing and analysis and not visually dynamic at every turn. How they've made this aspect fascinating is a testament to the well-tuned ear and eye of the filmmaker. Listening to these characters talk, you feel relieved that there is none of the nonsense typically associated with sci-fi films: no buxom models or chisel-faced bodybuilders arguing passionately about trivialities while secretly accomplished in physics. This is intelligent fiction about real people engaged in science and engineering who stumble onto something extraordinary. Perhaps thats why it feels so fresh."
I've always been intrigued by what I've read about Primer, and interested in watching it, but have always passed over it. Perhaps it's because I only really watch movies with my wife and she has a love/hate relationship with time travel (though it doesn't explicitly say there is time travel involved, it was heavily implied from the things I read on it).
If she's into time travel she will love Primer. One of my favorite indie sci-fi flicks of the past few decades. Shane Carruth is wonderful. It's a novelistic film, so you'll have to pay attention closely and multiple viewings are almost required. I recommend watching the film with the subtitles on, as the dialogue is complex and jargon-laden and can be difficult to catch on to. It's a rich and complex film, but there's a ton of material online that can be used to help understand the events.
The Interrupters is available to stream on NetFlix, for those with this ability. I'll be checking it out, thanks for the suggestions onehunna. Also, The Sunset Limited looks really interesting, I just watched the trailer.
Speaking of Netflix, I just watched "The Host" last night. It's a Korean monster movie and it's absolutely fantastic. I never would've given it a second glance if it hadn't been recommended. I half expected to start watching it and start thinking "Oh, its one of those movies". But no, it's a great story with dark humor and great feel. Even the CGI was surprisingly good.
That sounds wonderful, I think I'll watch that next. I've seen that movie come up in my browsing (I seem to spend more time looking for movies on netflix and less watching them) and it never really stood out to me either.
I watched the Interrupters and enjoyed it, thanks. I had heard several NPR stories about them and it was nice to put some faces with the stories. I would like to see Sunset Limited next.
Ah, good to know, thanks. I have HBO Go and generally use my Roku box to stream it. Cool, I'll watch it soon. We have a big window to fill where our weekly "Battlestar Galactica" episodes once resided.
The way I felt watching Samsara was similar to the way I felt the first time I watched The Third and the Seventh.
There were certainly some beautiful images in that video. Thanks for the link. Do you know what locations were used? It felt very familiar to me and I think it may have been the Exeter Library at times, but I'm not entirely sure.