Pc Movie Club

Luc Besson’s space adventure The Fifth Element (1997) still holds up as one the most entertaining movies coming out from 90’s. Naturally the fans were excited when the director chose to revisit space with his 2017 film Valerian and the City of Thousand Planets. The movie flopped at the box office and was forgotten relatively fast. Oddly we found this topic enough interesting that we had some thoughts of our own to put up on the table. We compare both movies and examine what are the failures of Valerian while also diving into the origins of the comic. While my mother gives interesting recommendation of other movies I try desperately to receive some value from watching Valerian.

Paul Verhoeven’s Elle (2016) is probably the hardest movie we had to talk about. It is a complex movie with very heavy subject matter. It’s a challenge to define the characters and their motives as confidently as the movie presents itself. But we knew it was a movie we had to get out of our system somehow. For my mother especially it was a major experience that ended helping her with her own life. In our talk we, among other topics, try our luck with analysing the characters and events, share thoughts on Paul Verhoeven and Isabelle Huppert and at the end I describe to my mother a fan theory that could turn the whole movie upside down.

I became really interested in Lynne Ramsay’s movies and because I heard so much about We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) I decided to put it on the table for us to discuss. Little did I know Liisa was more than familiar with the movie and not very happy about it. Apart from Kevin we talk about psychopaths, mothers, Tilda Swinton and other Lynne Ramsay movies we are excited about. We kind of sidetrack at the end towards other directors, their methods and role of actors in productions. I had to record my end outside so you might hear some cars and a baby crying at some points, so try not to let them bother you too much.

Prior to seeing mother! my own mother told that her primary goal with Darren Aronofsky's 2017 film was to see what he was all about. Apparently she never really got him. In the other hand I have been following him very closely ever since I saw Requiem for a Dream (2000). That said, it has been surprisingly fascinating (and confusing) to observe his latest output. Similarly to my mother I also found myself bewildered. So fortunately we got to sit down and talk about it and finally put the topic to rest.

Despite mentioning Haneke frequently in our podcast, we haven’t had the chance to have an episode dedicated to him solely. But with his recent drama set in Calais, France, which my mother honoured to be the (other) best movie of 2017, we finally got our opportunity to focus on him. We talk of course about Haneke’s style and techniques in storytelling. This movie also gives us a good example on how he examines political content through his stories. We get lost in dissecting the characters and their actors and in the end my mother gives us an intriguing mystery to think about.

After Ruben Östlund’s memorable Force Majeure (2014), we were looking forward to his next film, The Square (2017). Especially after it won the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival. A satire about the art world seemed like a welcoming subject, but oh boy, the movie did not sit well with us. And we knew we had to talk about it. If for nothing else, just to get it out of our system. So abandon all hope, ye who enter here. We discuss of course about what exactly went wrong here. About Östlunds previous films and how he constructs his own cinematic reality. And how Paul Verhoeven would have made that Ape Scene better. Spoiler warnings: We talk openly about the plot of The Square.

To get the whole Wicker Man experience completely out of our system after our talk about the original Robin Hardy masterpiece, we decided to examine Nicolas Cage’s accidental comedy The Wicker Man (2006). Our focus is particularly on the differences between the remake and the original and how exactly the makers of the remake failed to conceive the concepts of the original movie. Also we talk about the surprising merits of the remake. In particular the fact that both films have achieved a cult status with their own special ways. My mother is not familiar with the “so-good-its-bad” subgenre so I get to inform her about that. And of course we give our two cents about what we think of Cage’s acting talents. I mention Alamo Drafthouse C4GED marathon evening one point. I make a lot mistakes trying to remember the event, so just read this article for the right accuracy: http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2017/01/30/nicolas-cage-attended-this-years-c4ged-marathon-at-the-alamo-drafthouse Spoilers: we talk openly about the

1st of May is around the corner and what would be a better way to celebrate Spring than talking about the greatest movie about the May Day, Robin Hardy’s masterpiece The Wicker Man (1973). Me and my mother both really love this film and have been waiting for the right time to share our thoughts about it. We dive into the ambiguous definition of the films genre, various details about the making of the film and of course the amazing cast. The second half we devote for the deeper themes of this peculiar story. Why it is so serious about the old pagan traditions, how the battles of ideologies bring together the central point of the movie and how does the Garden of Eden fit into all this.

50 episodes later down our podcast series we go back to the beginning. In the very first recording we talked about Paolo Sorrentino’s La Grande Belezza (2013). Now we return to the acclaimed director with his movie Youth (2015), which my mother has been desperate to talk about. In addition we manage to also discuss the first season of his mini-series The Young Pope (2016). We talk about being old and young, beauty, death, music, writing, religion and how the Xbox Kinect works. Spoiler alert: We talk openly about the plot of Youth so watch the film before listening our discussion. If you have not seen The Young Pope, don’t worry, we don’t spoil plot details about that.

Ruben Östlund has seemed like an interesting filmmaker and this film was on our movies-to-watch list for a long time. It was quite fascinating to see what would unfold during an avalanche in the French Alps. Next to the usual digestion of the film itself, we ended up talking about masculinity and the discussion about gender roles in general. And towards the end we also weight in little bit of perspective about Finland and sauna. Spoilers: We talk about the plot openly and discuss the ending in detail so I would recommend you first see the film.

Despite being banned for 20 years of making movies, Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has found numerous ways of continuing making films. Both me and my mother have been fascinated of his current path and not only the various techniques he films his movies but also how he balances between documentary-like reality with fictional drama. We dive into his reality with two of his post-ban movies: This Is Not a Film (2011) and Taxi Tehran (2015).

Continuing our tradition we entertain ourselves with the latest Academy Awards ceremony. Like last time we avoided the winner announcements and instead host our very own Oscar episode in which we go through selected categories and talk about our predictions and reveal the winner to each other as we go along. This year we had complex feelings towards the nominated movies (and movies that weren’t nominated). Next to the overall Oscar talk we get to share our opinions, among other things, about Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Shape of Water and Dunkirk. Spoilers: Unfortunately in order to speak our mind we have to reveal plot twists in Three Billboards and Dunkirk, so be aware.

We enjoy Jim Jarmusch’s films enormously and his quiet and meditative Paterson (2016) is definitely no exception. While arguably his most accessible film for general audience, he was able to bring a soft balance to the dominating hectic drama filled cinema. But above all it is a masterful portrait of poetry. During our discussion we praise the achievements, but also examine how some viewers felt dissatisfied. We also explore the poetic elements of the film and bring up some examples of real magic on screen. Spoilers: We spoil the plot, so do watch the film beforehand.

This time we dwell into a subject matter that both me, or my mother, have any experience about: college in United States in the 1980’s. Fortunately we are very familiar with the director, Richard Linklater, and his masterful career as a filmmaker. Upon viewing Everybody Wants Some!! we saw an opportunity to open a discussion on his films and how this particular movie represents his thematic and stylistic motifs. Next to Linklater we explore High School movie tropes and nostalgia in movies. Spoilers: We do reveal the end scene, so be aware.

After discussing in depth about Spectre with Vincent Gebruers, we spend a lot of times entertaining ourselves in all topics about Bond. One of the continuous comments that caught my interest was when certain movies were referred to as “James Bond copy cat movies”. This came up most notably whenever we dared mention the Mission Impossible series, which has a conflictive history with Vincent. So we decided to get together (with Liisa also this time) and see how far the rabbit hole we can go tracing back action/gentleman/spy movies to their original British influence. After getting through the obvious Tom Cruise example, we take the challenge to identify other ways the modern action movies have shaped themselves from Bond (and maybe even the other way around). The idea of how far or close other movies get to copying Bond is also fascinating subject in itself. We met on the same table, but we had only one mic, so some voices might be more clear than others. We also had a tea dispenser next to the mic which you

This is the second part of our discussion on Todd Solondz’ career. Last time we started things off with Wiener-Dog (2016) and the various connections of themes and characters it opened to Solondz’s previous films like the cult film Welcome to the Doll House (1995) and Palindromes (2004). Now we concentrate on his arguably most famous movie, Happiness (1998), and the various crossroads it takes us within Solondz’s oeuvre. Not to forget the uncomfortable rooms it opens when exploring the human condition.

We have been wanting to talk about Todd Solondz for a long time. For us, and arguably for most people, his twisted cinematic universe was introduced with Welcome to the Doll House (1995) and Happiness (1998). Understandably after watching them the audience might not want to see another film by him, or be left intrigued for more. Me and my mother fell in with the latter and gracefully watched whatever he was able to produce. This is the first part of our in depth discussion and analysis of Solondz career and themes in his movies. We start with his latest movie Wiener-Dog (2016) which seems as good place as any to crack open his challenging mirror of our world. Spoilers: We don't spoil major plot points in any of the movies we discuss.

Despite of our in depth discussion with my mother on the Japanese culture and thematic concepts explored in Martin Scorsese's Silence, we could not help no to dedicate another discussion on the matter. But instead of the usual mother-son chit chat, I sit down with Eddy Van der Borght, a professor at the The Faculty of Theology at VU University Amsterdam. He was an amazing conversationalist with whom I got to share thoughts on the theological weight of Endo's story. Next to the themes of the film and novel, we go through a lot of the history of jesuits and Christianity in Asia. We also talk about theology and how religion relates to people today as well as the role of movies in challenging our morals. Spoilers: I repeat the same warning as before and advice that you first see the film before listening, if you want to avoid spoilers. Also if you are familiar with the story it will help to join in the topics related to the film.

Martin Scorsese is one of my mother's absolute favourite filmmakers. She always manages to go into the deeper levels of his narrations. She is also crazy about the cultural history of Japan. So when Scorsese utilises his thematic moral core to the Japanese culture and brings onscreen a massive epic religious drama, for sure we will have some thoughts about it. We talk about and compare both the film and the original novel. And as the culture plays a big role in the story, we also paint the landscape of an historical rural Japan in 1600’s. Of course we don’t forget to put down our own two cents on the whole issue of a silent God. I was having a cold during our talk so my voice is not in the best shape. Also it happened to be that my baby girl was born during these months when we recorded the episode and her crying can be heard in the background, because the apartment where we stayed is not big enough. Sorry about that. And try not to worry about it, she is taken care of. Spoilers: We talk openly about the p

So my mother somehow finally got around to see Peter Jackson’s adaptations of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Listen us remember our own personal introductions to Tolkien’s books and how we both couldn’t not get over the first page. And then how the movies won us over and why especially for Aharon the first trilogy has a special place in his heart. We also go examine certain noticeable perks in Tolkien movies and fantasy genre in general and take the opportunity to mention our love for Christopher Lee. The story about Michael Jackson wanting to play Jar Jar Binks I heard from the amazing I Was There Too podcast. I mention that Christopher Lee was satisfied with his character treatment in Return of the King. Actually I remembered it wrong. He was disappointed for a good reason. Spoilers: We mention openly plot details, so if for some reason you have not seen them already, you might want check them out first.