Pan's labyrinth
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Movies Worth Owning
- Thread starter amirm
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A beautiful film
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That's a challenging choice, as much is left up to the viewer to interpret. I'm not sure whether or not I'd find it more enjoyable with repeated viewings. But kudos for a less-obvious suggestion.
I can see your point, although I don't feel like there's all that much open to interpretation.
I did however feel that way about two films I recently watched, Hereditary (2018) and Midsommer (2019). In the end I was quite baffled by both. I do not get the same feeling from UTS.
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Not so much about What is happening as Why the alien makes the decision which ultimately determines her fates as she does.
Ah, that part while certainly not obvious was subtly spelled out for the viewer. Or at least I thought so.
I could discuss UTS at length and am always interested in other viewer's critiques, to compare notes.
My review of Midsommar from a few years back, fwiw.
This contains significant spoilers (hence the spoiler tags), and is not the sort of film I'd generally recommend, except maybe to some fans of graphic or offbeat horror films.
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In a series of sometimes grisly and sordid rituals and sacrifices, a fictitious, off-the-grid sect of pagan sun-worshippers use the burned, bludgeoned, eviscerated and drugged bodies of some unsuspecting student visitors, a bear, and several of their own members to "restore balance" and expunge evil from their communal village in a remote area of Scandinavia.
Despite the title, I suspect this movie bears little resemblance to the midsummer festivals which are held each year throughout Europe. I found the movie somewhat slow-moving, and rather contrived. But perhaps worth at least one viewing for some of the well-lensed digital visuals. The scenes of horror are sometimes quite graphic and unpleasant, and also pretty heavily (and probably deliberately) telescoped. And the movie also contains some graphic sex scenes, and other mature content. So it is definitely not intended for younger viewers.
If you're lookin for insightful social commentary though, or answers to any vexing cosmic riddles, chances are you'll be somewhat disappointed by this. Because, in the final analysis, it's a pretty straight forward shock-horror flick, with some nice frills, but not a whole lot of substance imho. YMMV of course. Viewed on DVD.
As another reviewer already mentioned, a similar film in the folk-horror genre = 1973's The Wicker Man, with Edward Woodward.
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Overall, I found the movie rather bleak and hollow, and lacking in imagination. And didn't really take much away from the experience of watching it that was positive.
I'm not a big fan of graphic horror movies though, or digital movie-making for that matter. So that should probably also be factored into some of the above opinions.
And also my take on Under the Skin, fwiw.
This is also from several years ago. And it contains a few spoilers as well. So I'll do the spoiler taggy thing again...
Themes of alienation, persecution, seduction, vulnerability and isolation are explored through a kind of minimalist post-Lynchian montage of images in this offbeat flick about an alien visitor on some type of a body-gathering mission. If that sounds a little vague and high of brow for an SF picture, it probably should. Because this film doesn't really spell things out in plain English... which is one of its strengths, and also at times weaknesses imo.
On balance though, this was a reasonably effective (though rather sluggishly-paced) adult SF thriller, with a fair bit of below-the-surface tension and drama going on. So it gets a thumbs up. There is quite a bit of skin in this btw, and also a few scenes of fairly graphic violence, and sexual content. So this is not one to check out when the youngsters are around.
This ranks 61 on BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century.
Scarlett fans should enjoy. For others it may be a little more of a haul at times, but likely still worth the trip.
On balance though, this was a reasonably effective (though rather sluggishly-paced) adult SF thriller, with a fair bit of below-the-surface tension and drama going on. So it gets a thumbs up. There is quite a bit of skin in this btw, and also a few scenes of fairly graphic violence, and sexual content. So this is not one to check out when the youngsters are around.
This ranks 61 on BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century.
Scarlett fans should enjoy. For others it may be a little more of a haul at times, but likely still worth the trip.
I am sort of an on-again, off-again Scarlett fan btw. And purchased this in on Blu-ray at one point because it was so inexpensive. But wasn't really getting enough rewatches out of it. So I eventually had to let it go, and traded it in for something else.
I think I also had to use subs the first few times I watched this, because some of the English/Scottish accents were so thick, and hard to understand to my poor American ears.
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My review of Midsommar from a few years back, fwiw.
This contains significant spoilers (hence the spoiler tags), and is not the sort of film I'd generally recommend, except maybe to some fans of graphic or offbeat horror films.
In a series of sometimes grisly and sordid rituals and sacrifices, a fictitious, off-the-grid sect of pagan sun-worshippers use the burned, bludgeoned, eviscerated and drugged bodies of some unsuspecting student visitors, a bear, and several of their own members to "restore balance" and expunge evil from their communal village in a remote area of Scandinavia.
Despite the title, I suspect this movie bears little resemblance to the midsummer festivals which are held each year throughout Europe. I found the movie somewhat slow-moving, and rather contrived. But perhaps worth at least one viewing for some of the well-lensed digital visuals. The scenes of horror are sometimes quite graphic and unpleasant, and also pretty heavily (and probably deliberately) telescoped. And the movie also contains some graphic sex scenes, and other mature content. So it is definitely not intended for younger viewers.
If you're lookin for insightful social commentary though, or answers to any vexing cosmic riddles, chances are you'll be somewhat disappointed by this. Because, in the final analysis, it's a pretty straight forward shock-horror flick, with some nice frills, but not a whole lot of substance imho. YMMV of course. Viewed on DVD.
As another reviewer already mentioned, a similar film in the folk-horror genre = 1973's The Wicker Man, with Edward Woodward.
Overall, I found the movie rather bleak and hollow, and lacking in imagination. And didn't really take much away from the experience of watching it that was positive.
I'm not a big fan of graphic horror movies though, or digital movie-making for that matter. So that should probably also be factored into some of the above opinions.
Midsommer certainly is an odd one. I watched it a second time but I took the position that it was intended as a comedy. Strange I know, but it actually worked better for me when viewed in that light. Go figure.
And also my take on Under the Skin, fwiw.
This is also from several years ago. And it contains a few spoilers as well. So I'll do the spoiler taggy thing again...
Themes of alienation, persecution, seduction, vulnerability and isolation are explored through a kind of minimalist post-Lynchian montage of images in this offbeat flick about an alien visitor on some type of a body-gathering mission. If that sounds a little vague and high of brow for an SF picture, it probably should. Because this film doesn't really spell things out in plain English... which is one of its strengths, and also at times weaknesses imo.
On balance though, this was a reasonably effective (though rather sluggishly-paced) adult SF thriller, with a fair bit of below-the-surface tension and drama going on. So it gets a thumbs up. There is quite a bit of skin in this btw, and also a few scenes of fairly graphic violence, and sexual content. So this is not one to check out when the youngsters are around.
This ranks 61 on BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century.
Scarlett fans should enjoy. For others it may be a little more of a haul at times, but likely still worth the trip.
I am sort of an on-again, off-again Scarlett fan btw. And purchased this in on Blu-ray at one point because it was so inexpensive. But wasn't really getting enough rewatches out of it. So I eventually had to let it go, and traded it in for something else.
Funny, I put off viewing UTS solely because I am generally not a ScarJo fan. Shallow, I know. Also interesting that you referenced Lynch, I couldn't agree more, but possibly his style is more subtle than the more obvious (IMO) Kubrick-ness of the film. I thought the music score was phenomenal. Perfect. Haunting.
I don't think Ive ever seen a film that captured the voyeuristic, from a stranger in a strange land perspective, as well done as this film. The loneliness, the isolation. Just brilliant.
The Elephant Man (1980)
For those who want to get into some good Lynch, this is one of his films I can strongly recommend. It is one of his more accessible stories (unlike Eraserhead). And it's also beautifully lensed in black & white. And features some fantastic performances by both John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins. The content of the film is rather disturbing at times. But it is one of his best works imo.
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I am mostly an on-again Scarlett fan. And will also likely take in her latest superhero pic, at some point I suspect. (Though I'm not generally a big superhero movie fan, except for one or two oldies, like the original Superman with Chris Reeve.)
Never saw her live-action version of Ghost in the Shell though.
Some other Scarlett movies/performances that might be worth a look, if you've never seen some of them...
Been awhile since I saw this, so I don't remember a whole lot about it.
Passable near-future SF thriller, that was sort of like a more modernized Logan's Run, in some ways.
I think someone may already have mentioned this. But this is also a solid thriller about competing magicians, set near the fin de siecle. There are also a couple other excellent actors (and other familiar faces) in some supporting roles in this as well.
Another period drama, with Portman and Bana. I personally can't get enough of stuff like this. This was fairly decent though, if memory serves. Though perhaps a bit on the soapier side.
Decent rom-com-dram flick with Topher Grace of "That 70's Show". This was very well-acted all around as I recall. Though it's been awhile since I last saw it.
There are number of her other films that I either haven't seen, or just don't recall that well.
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True dat.
Thanks for the correction. My mistake. Apologies to all. Still a great flick
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