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Watch, Watched, Watching: Hindsight in 2020


Ramsay B.

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I was pleasantly surprised by the Parasite win last night. Loved 1917 as well, so I think it would have been a worthy winner as well, but a Parasite win is much more intellectually pleasing and it gives me hope for the future. The film is also arguably more topical than 1917. Systematic inequality needs to be denounced. 

Oh, and a fun fact. Parasite is the first film since 1955's Marty to win both the Palme d'Or and the Academy Awards, thereby being the first film in 65 years to win both the most important artistic prize and the most important commercial prize in film. Quite astonishing even without the fact that this was a Korean language film.

On another front, had an odd day and decided to watch normal TV for a change. I caught a broadcast of Gladiator... There was a time when I saw this film at least once a year, but now it had been a while. It appeared different than I remembered.

I found it striking how old-fashioned the film felt (in the positive sense of the word). There is more of the 1950's epic Hollywood film inspiration in there than I remembered. Whatever mixture they used though, it is bizarre how effective this film is. I think someone could make a very interesting study on how Gladiator influenced a whole generation of (mostly) young boys to think about leadership and idealism. Looking back on this scene for instance, I can't help but wish for a figure like Maximus to rise up and make a difference. I'm usually highly skeptical of authority figures, but damn it, you just want him to rule purely based on his virtus.

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8 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

I was pleasantly surprised by the Parasite win last night. Loved 1917 as well, so I think it would have been a worthy winner as well, but a Parasite win is much more intellectually pleasing and it gives me hope for the future. The film is also arguably more topical than 1917. Systematic inequality needs to be denounced. 

Well we all know the Oscars is a pretty political event and winners are rarely picked on pure filmic quality, which I accepted decades ago. I find it odd when actual people feel that movies deserve to win awards for being about certain topics however, that makes zero sense to me.

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2 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

Well we all know the Oscars is a pretty political event and winners are rarely picked on pure filmic quality, which I accepted decades ago. I find it odd when actual people feel that movies deserve to win awards for being about certain topics however, that makes zero sense to me.

All art is political, so its good when that subtext is taken into account. Particularly when it revolves around the actual message of the film and not around paratextual elements like the casting, whether it came out in theatres or not and stuff like that.

Aside from that, Parasite is a masterpiece in its own right. You can go back and read both my impression of Parasite and 1917 before any of us even thought that we lived in a world where a South Korean film could take the top prize. I loved them both, but Parasite was narratively much more innovative and clever than 1917 ever was. Technically 1917 is superior, but not by that much. As a total artwork Bong Joon-Ho's effort is just mesmerizing. It reminds me a bit of El Labyrinto del Fauno in the sense that every person I have recommended the film too and who usually isn't into foreign language films loved it. 

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8 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

All art is political, so its good when that subtext is taken into account. Particularly when it revolves around the actual message of the film and not around paratextual elements like the casting, whether it came out in theatres or not and stuff like that.

I would judge a movie on whether it delivers it's message well over judging it on the category of the message. I think Parasite does a fantastic job of illustrating social inequality and for that I would give it top marks. All I'm saying is that it shouldn't get bonus points because it's tackling a more relevant subject, and I see a lot of movies which are seemingly judged purely on what political position they take over their actual qualities. 

At the moment I feel a little disappointed after watching Parasite, but I'm definitely open to changing my mind on rewatch as Marc Kermode said he watched it 4 times and noticed new things. For me 1917 was the most outstanding moviegoing experience of the year, I thought it was an epic movie that had Oscar written all over it, but I'm not that bothered it didn't win.

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8 hours ago, Teng Ai Hui said:

I'm halfway through Locke & Key and enjoying it so far.  I'm planning to read some of the books after I'm done with the tv series.  How many volumes of the book are covered by season one of the tv series?

Sorry to be unhelpful but I don’t know, I only watched half of it so far too. I think they’re doing all of it though, to judge by how much they’ve covered. They’ll probably diverge from the books by the end to try and get some more seasons out of it.

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41 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

At the moment I feel a little disappointed after watching Parasite, but I'm definitely open to changing my mind on rewatch as Marc Kermode said he watched it 4 times and noticed new things.

I felt as if I wanted to watch it again immediately after the credits rolled. 

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I have a single episode left to watch of Ragnarock (streaming on Netflix, a Norwegian co-production, I think, i.e. an "Original").  It's the sort of thing I normally wouldn't bother with. but it rings such refreshing changes on what we're so used to from comix and gamer and super flix.  One example, as our protagonist slowly learns what's happened to him, and explores what he can and cannot do, which these interludes have come to bore me senseless because it's all the same -- the ways he learns are very different from the usual.  Nor is he freaked out -- just puzzled and very curious.  That his slow discovery of powers actually turns him more outward looking, dealing with people and community, is also very refreshing.  Or -- maybe? -- it's that his physical changes include his previously lousy vision becoming really good, is a personal wish fulfillment.  :laugh:

 

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4 hours ago, Veltigar said:

I watched Parasite in about as shitty a circumstance as one can think of. A small little screen on an airplane. Still noticeably great. 

Out of the contenders I'm pleased and surprised parasite won. I've yet to see marriage story, little women and JoJo rabbit but it's been the first year in a long time where I've enjoyed all the candidates (or even felt the urge to watch them all).

 

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6 hours ago, Isis said:

I was so hoping that The Lighthouse was going to win for cinematography (I've not seen 1917) because it's the most beautiful looking film I've watched in years. 

The cinematography for 1917 was absolutely insane. Well deserved winner.

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17 minutes ago, Isis said:

Definitely better than The Lighthouse in your opinion?

Different. So hard to judge those kinds of things. The technical feat of telling the story the way they did, and some of the shots (e.g., the town at night) was so spectacular that I give it so much credit. I don't know if I'd say better because I think a lot of this is opinion with very different visual storytelling needs, but I'd say it's a deserved winner.

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25 minutes ago, Mexal said:

Different. So hard to judge those kinds of things. The technical feat of telling the story the way they did, and some of the shots (e.g., the town at night) was so spectacular that I give it so much credit. I don't know if I'd say better because I think a lot of this is opinion with very different visual storytelling needs, but I'd say it's a deserved winner.

The scale also makes it a lot more difficult to execute. 

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11 minutes ago, Mexal said:

Also very true.

That said, I'm struggling to think of a movie those visuals sucked me in more than The Lighthouse. I was positively transfixed to it, which is funny because that's also how the movie ends.

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9 hours ago, Veltigar said:

It reminds me a bit of El Labyrinto del Fauno in the sense that every person I have recommended the film too and who usually isn't into foreign language films loved it. 

 

Parasite is that very rare film where the hype is so intense that it cannot possibly live up to it, and then it does.

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