theworstbuddhist

It's film festival time here in the Canadas, with TIFF in Toronto already happening and my city's much smaller festival, AIFF, starting later this week. Our celebrity guests here in Halifax are Ellen Page (who is from here), presenting a documentary she made about environmental racism called There's Something in the Water; and Willem Dafoe, who will be here to promote the locally shot film The Lighthouse, along with director Robert Eggers (The Witch). I will not be attending either of those galas, because I'm not rich and don't especially care about celebrities, but it is a small city and there is a good chance I will just run into either of them, so if I run into Dafoe I will be sure to compliment him on Streets of Fire and To Live and Die in L.A. I did get tickets for the following films: Parasite; Bacurau; Deerskin; Blood Quantum; and a documentary about Blue Note Records. There are a couple of others I wouldn't mind seeing, especially a documentary about Pauline Kael, but not sure if I will be able to go to them yet.

Oh man, I just remembered this hot little number for the next time they want to do a film made in Toronto: Bedroom Eyes!

I hate to drag a Jim Jarmusch film but f me, what a dumb and shockingly lazy piece of satire this was. The Adam Driver/Bill Murray exchanges about the script are amusing, and the all-star cast is insane, but what a waste. Dawn of the Dead and even Zombieland cover the same ground much more effectively and entertainingly.

Kim Ki-Duk is probably best known for a film called 3-Iron, in which the two leads have practically no dialogue. My favourite film of his (because it is sort of about Buddhism) is called Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring. Other notable films are Crocodile, Pieta, and Samaritan Girl. Like a lot of Korean directors who break through to the international market, he is known for beautiful but disturbing stories. I don't think I have seen The Wailing, but it rings a bell. The director was Na Hong-jin.

Well deserved, that movie is some Joe Eszterhas-level trash. (In fact I just looked it up because I wondered if he wrote it, but he did not. He did however write both F.I.S.T. and Flashdance, wtf!)

No apology necessary, I am sorry for fucking up his name. I am a big fan of Asian cinema and try not to do that. Anyway, yes, it's my favourite of the films I have seen of his (I haven't watched Okja yet). It reminded me a lot of the kind of thing Kim Ki-Duk would make. I'm actually not a big fan of Snowpiercer, for whatever reason. Parasite covers similar thematic ground much more successfully, imo.

Figured I would do some quick updates now that I have seen all of the above (plus one I didn't originally plan on seeing): Parasite was this year's Palme D'or winner at Cannes, was directed by Bong Soon Ho from Korea (The Host). It is a scathing dark comedy about class and poverty and well worth watching. It will apparently be Korea's entry for Best Foreign Film for this year's Oscars, so it shouldn't be too hard to find. Bacurau is a Brazilian film, I believe it also won a jury prize at Cannes, and it's also a dark comedy that sort of mashes up The Most Dangerous Game with Gilbert Hernandez' Palomar stories from Love and Rockets. Udo Keir has a memorable guest role. Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes is a documentary made to coincide with the 75th anniversary of Blue Note Records, arguably the most important American record label - certainly in its early days. Obviously it helps if you care about jazz to watch this film. There is a lot of great vintage footage of the label's many stars including Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis, Art Blakey, and many more. I've loved jazz for most of my life but I didn't really know a lot about the founding of Blue Note and its struggles and reinvention in the 80s and 90s. Well worth watching if you are interested in the music or if you just enjoy a well-made music documentary. Monos is a harrowing, beautifully shot film about child soldiers in South America who are tasked with guarding an American female doctor who is being held for ransom. Probably the roughest of the films in this year's "extreme films" program at the festival, because obviously the reality of child soldiers is awful. Deerskin is a wry satire of toxic masculinity by French director Quentin Dupieux (Rubber). It stars Jean Dujardin from The Artist as a middle aged man whose marriage has recently ended and is coping with it by spending all of his money on something he has always wanted: a 100% deerskin fringed jacket. As he scams his way in the small French town where his staying, he convinces the locals that he is shooting a film and becomes not just obsessed with his own jacket, but with the idea that no one else should wear a jacket, even if it means they have to die. And finally, Blood Quantum was a very entertaining and gory zombie picture made in Quebec by indigenous director Jeff Barnaby. It's obviously a challenge to make an entertaining and fresh film about zombies after 50 years of them, but Barnaby pulls it off. The main innovation storywise is that the Red Crow tribe are immune to whatever is infecting everyone else, so we see a lot of the kind of plot threads that you would expect from a horror film through the lens of indigenous people. Barnaby wrote, directed and scored the movie and is clearly a fan of John Carpenter (in fact, he was at the screening wearing a They Live t-shirt). In terms of its effects and tone it reminded me of early Sam Raimi and early Peter Jackson. It's the best Canadian-made horror film I can remember seeing since Ginger Snaps. So all in all, it was a good week at the festival. I recommend all of these movies if you get a chance to see them.

Haven't listened to the episode yet- probably tomorrow- but my wife and I watched the movie tonight and woof, it is rough. My main takeaway from it is that it feels and largely looks like a Lifetime movie with somewhat bigger stars than usual but much the same tone and plot (ie., ridiculous and offensive/racist/sexist/dumb). We are gobsmacked that this was ever released to theatres. On the bright side I was pleasantly surprised when a (mild spoiler) a particular supporting cast member was NOT murdered. And hey, Cheryl Ladd is still alive and working! If you call this working. Seriously though, this movie is garbage.

I consider that to be part of the Muppets, but sure.

I can't think of a single thing that Henson made that I enjoyed that wasn't The Muppets. Some Star Wars stuff I guess.

Ironically, with that cast it sounds VERY forgettable.

As I've mentioned before, my wife is a librarian - the average public library is certainly NOT a new place for people to commit crimes. But pretty much 100% of librarians will do whatever they can to keep patrons' information private, as long as it doesn't compromise the safety of other patrons or the public.

And Face/Off isn't a good one either. So there ya go. Welcome the world of different opinions.

As someone who has played a mime (granted, it was in a play that I wrote), I say: fuck clowns. Also, what do you do about a grade 1 crush if you skipped grade 1? Asking for a friend. Just kidding, obviously I am not my own friend.

I just noticed Disturbing Behavior on the list - is that the one with Katie Holmes as a goth girl who goes around saying "razor" as a synonym for "cool"? And Barry Watson I think? That would make a decent podcast episode.

There is a fascinating book about Heaven's Gate by one of the producers. I read it before seeing the film for the first and only time I saw it, 25 years ago or so. Not sure which cut it was, it was split over 2 VHS tapes, and it felt like ages.

Well, I know what I'm watching on the long weekend.

I pretty much hate all of the sequels to Raiders with increasing bile for each successive release, but I did notice recently that when they list the movies on Netflix, they have revised the title of the original to the rather clunky "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark", so I guess they agree with you.

The whole thing, including the podcast, turns out to be a really slow burning Human Giant sketch.

I already like this 1000% more than Fight Club.

The end of the movie, as I recall, is a fever dream of multiple suicides. I will say that as a person who has struggled with mental illness and suicidal thoughts over the years, it was not triggering in the least FOR ME. Because it is just so stupid and poorly done.

*a single tear rolls down Matthew Perry's cheek*

If you were here in Halifax at the public library where my wife works, someone watching Fateful Findings on Pornhub would not be the worst thing she sees in any given shift.

I hear you and I don't disagree. But I don't exactly agree either, because you're making a pretty sweeping generalization there. There is such a thing as ethical porn just as there are other forms of ethical sex work with perfectly happy people doing it (pardon the pun) and getting paid. So at the risk of reopening a toxic circular discussion that people have stormed off in a huff over before, this is one of those calculations that people need to make for themselves. A poster asked how to find the movie, and they have been given an option. It's not an ideal option, not a nice neat mainstream way to see a film, but then it's not a nice neat mainstream film either. IMO it's more ethically defensible to point people to Pornhub than, say, Amazon, but again, ymmv. Edited to add: I just want to emphasize that I do agree with the basic sentiment that it would be nice, especially in the case of an episode where it's a tour and people have had to buy tickets and get babysitters and such, to make sure the film is widely available. But the thing is, the film IS easily available - for $25. For someone already going to the show and paying for that and transport and whatever else, I don't think the extra $25 is that much of a hardship. So if the ask is really "how can I see this movie for free on a website that I am comfortable going to?" I don't think that is really HDGTM's problem, nor ours. All we can do is offer the info that we find and let people make their own choices.