[artfilmfan]

Jean-Pierre Léaud & Chantal Goya in "Masculin Féminin" (Jean-Luc Godard, 1966)

[serviceable-mechanism]

Deeply fascinated by the contrast between the tone and style of Wes Anderson’s films, and their actual subject matter, especially through a sexual lens. He could be on here with the rest of us, making tranny incest flop posts, but that veneer of twee dreamlike sadboy innocence gives a sense of broader respectability that smooths over those rough edges.

He gives us (entirely unrequited) teacher-underage student in Rushmore, brother-sister romance (adopted, but raised as siblings since early childhood) in the Royal Tenenbaums, a frank depiction of early sexuality in Moonrise Kingdom, and the uncertain sexuality of M. Gustav in the Grand Budapest Hotel, a character depicted with a clear foppish manner, who references his own homosexuality frequently and is called a faggot on multiple occasions, yet is only ever actually depicted having sex with women.

Nearly all his films, one way or another, are about romance and sexuality. But of a very specific type. Deviant and societally unacceptable, but only ever up to a point. Only in limited degrees. It’s almost a restrained viewpoint; that of a man desperate to explore the topic of abnormal sexual desire through his art, but also incapable of conceptualizing anything truly out of the bounds of traditional societal mores. He wants to be a freak. But is it either his own limited perspectives, or the maintenance of his position as an indie darling, that prevent him from ever truly being one

I think that’s solvable though. Many filmmakers have one work the defines the entirety of their career. An opus, that expresses the ideas they work into each of their pieces in the finest and clearest way they are capable of. Their true legacy. I believe that Wes Anderson’s opus exists, as of yet, only in potentia. It could be made, but doing so would require unshackling the man himself

With only six months locked in the boiler room beneath my apartment building, fed a steady diet of only the very best HDG fiction, transgender incest smut, conversations with Asian women about their fetishization by mediocre white dudes, and estrogen, I believe this could be achieved.

[thedawnlist]

A Prophet (2009) dir. Jacques Audiard

"You just want to use us. So? As long as it's good for everyone."

Though often praised as a gritty, realist masterpiece - a saga that traces the evolution of a voiceless Arab prisoner to a figure of quiet power - beneath the stylistic brilliances lies a deeper discomfort; the film never quite escapes the outsider's lens.

While Malik is the film's protagonist, he's not fully given interiority - he's shaped by violence, used by systems, and watched by the camera with a kind of cold fascination. Arab and Muslim identity in the film is never explored in its own terms. Which is why it is no surprise that Malik becomes powerful not by reclaiming his own heritage, but by navigating and eventually mimicking the tools of his opressors.

Arabness is appropriated and Islam only appears in half-baked gestures. Malik's spiritual life is muted, as his growth is not measured in soul, but in strategy. The film posits Malik as both other and object - sympathetic, but not self-defined. It perfectly plays into the textbook defintion of Orientalism.

In the end, A Prophet tells a compelling story - but from a distance. And while the result may be cinematically stunning, it doesn't ask what it means to be Arab in the West, but instead uses those identities to build myth, to project meaning. However, considering the backlash of Audiard's Emilia Pérez (2024) in its exploitation and trivialisation of Mexico's war on organised crime, this is no surprise.

[rreskk]

[ilikemovieshopeutoo]

[radicallymaxton]

Be careful who you wish for 🪄

[tinyuglyworld]

what sources do u recommend to learn about palestine

books:

the hundred years war on palestine by rashid khalidi

my people shall live by leila khaled

on zionist literature by ghassan kanafani

zionist colonialism in palestine by fayez a. sayegh

the question of palestine by edward said

perfect victims by mohanmed el kurd

gaza writes back by refaat alareer

films:

jenin, jenin (2003) dir. by mohammad bakri

the stones cry out (2013) dir. by yasmine perni

the palestinian (1977) dir. by roy battersby

they do not exist (1974) dir. by mustafa abu ali

voices from gaza (1989) dir. by antonia caccia

introduction to the end of an argument (1990) dir. by jayce salloum and elia suleiman

gaza fights for freedom (2019) dir. by abby martin

children of shatila (1998) dir. by mai masri

where should the birds fly? (2013) dir. by fida qishta

the settlers (2016) dir. by shimon dotan

palestinian women (1974) dir. by jocelyne saab

on our land (1981) dir. by antonia caccia

more things to read:

decolonize palestine - a website with information debunking zionist talking points, stuff about history, etc

the wounded memory of the nakba by basel al araj

in gaza, you die a thousand times - written by an anonymous writer from gaza in 2022, just a year before genocide (this article really helped give me an idea on how bad things were in the gaza strip before october 7th)

i'll keep adding to this list as i find more stuff

[violenttradwife]

[ndylaurent]

"Goodbye and good riddance, Frenchie. Don't ever come back."

Beau Travail (1999) dir. Claire Denis

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Voyage to Cythera, Theo Angelopoulos (1984) :: [h/t Edward Smith]

* * * *

"When the last tree is cut, the last fish is caught, and the last river is polluted; when to breathe the air is sickening, you will realize, too late, that wealth is not in bank accounts and that you can’t eat money."

-Alanis Obomsawin

[anonymousanomalyinthebuilding]

[theinternetarchive]

a few great films that are free on the internet archive

in decent quality too!

here is the archive collection of these films so you can favorite on there/save if desired.

links below

black girl (1966) dir. ousmane sembene

the battle of algiers (1966) dir. gillo pontecorvo

paris, texas (1984) dir. wim wenders

desert hearts (1985) dir. donna deitch

harold and maude (1973) dir. hal ashby

los olvidados (1952) dir. luis bunuel

walkabout (1971) dir. nicolas roeg

rope (1948) dir alfred hitchcock

freaks (1932) dir. tod browning

frankenstein (1931) dir. james whale

sunset boulevard (1950) dir billy wilder

fantastic planet (1973) dir. rené laloux

jeanne dielman (1975) dir. chantal akerman

the color of pomegranates (1969) dir. sergei parajanov

all about eve (1950) dir. joseph l. mankiewicz

gilda (1946) dir. charles vidor

the night of the hunter (1950) dir. charles laughton

the invisible man (1931) dir. james whale

COLLECTION of georges méliès shorts

rebecca (1940) dir. alfred hitchcock

brief encounter (1946) dir. david lean

to be or not to be (1942) dir. ernst lubitsch

a place in the sun (1951) dir george stevens

eyes without a face (1960) dir. georges franju

double indeminity (1944) dir. billy wilder

wild strawberries (1957) dir. ingmar bergman

shame (1968) dir. ingmar bergman

through a glass darkly (1961) dir. ingmar bergman

persona (1961) dir. ingmar bergman

winter light (1963) dir. ingmar bergman

the ascent (1977) dir. larisa shepitko

the devil, probably (1977) dir. robert bresson

cleo from 5 to 7 (1962) dir. agnes varda

alien (1979) dir. ridley scott + its sequels

after hours (1985) dir. martin scorsese

halloween (1978) dir. john carpenter

the watermelon woman (1996) dir. cheryl dune

EDIT: part two here + the letterboxd list

edit: part three here

[lascitasdelashoras]

Yasujiro Ozu Posters

[tinyuglyworld]

movies free on youtube part four

fantastic planet (1973) dir. by rené laloux

the prince of egypt (1998) dir. by steve hickner

django unchained (2012) dir. by quentin tarantino

salt in their veins (2024) dir. by rita hencke

black girl (1966) dir. by ousmane sembéne

female trouble (1974) dir. by john waters

velvet goldmine (1998) dir. by todd haynes

the virgin spring (1960) dir. by ingmar bergman

safe (1995) dir. by todd haynes

the legend of suram fortress (1985) dir. by sergei parajanov

suspiria (1977) dir. by dario argento

the time that remains (2009) dir. by elia suleiman

rabbits (2002) dir. by david lynch

the education of sonny marson (1974) dir. by michael campus

carrie (1976) dir. by brian de palma

kirikou and the sorceress (1998) dir. by michel ocelot

millenium actress (2001) dir. by satoshi kon

mid90s (2018) dir. by jonah hill

the letterboxd list

the youtube playlist (doesn't contain all of them because some of them had saves turned off)

part one - part two - part three

[firlexgremlin]

i am not articulate enough to make this sound coherent rn. but the cycle of familial violence portrayed in gdt's frankenstein, set against the backdrop of the cycle of violence in society with the constant references to the wars. the creature finding beauty and connection in nature, feeding the deer until it is shot dead. his speech about the wolves and the sheep, how they don't hate each other, it's just in their nature to kill and be killed.

it seems like these cycles will never end but they can. you can turn your ship around. you can forgive your father. you can walk into the snow and feel the sun upon your face. you can, you can, you can.

[the-kestrels-feather]

People on Letterboxd complaining that Frankenstein (2025) is just 'Daddy issues the movie' as though the original novel doesn't feature Victor's father telling him alchemy is bullshit, Victor going 'and I took that personally', and then becoming a deadbeat science dad to the Creature about it

[wretched-ham-eater]

Parenthood, and Victor's rejection of it, is one of the key themes of the novel, and why I've always been firmly in the camp of "actually you can 100% refer to the Creature as Frankenstein because he is Victor's son and inherits his name, even if neither of them are particularly happy about that fact".

Del Toro just brought it to the forefront of the text, validating my pedantic ass forever.

[leftlovetragedy]

I think all book purists and ardent lovers of Shelley's novel who are jumping on GDT's Frankenstein movie and are raging against it already because it's different from the novel need to take several things into account:

GDT is a big fan of monsters. He loves monsters. He takes monsters' side over humans all the time or most of the time.

In his movies monsters are often complex and sympathetic, while the humans are the real monsters.

GDT personally made fix-it fanfic movie Shape of Water based on Creature from the Black Lagoon where fish monster and main female character had romance and ended up together.

At one point during promotion of his Frankenstein GDT said that his fave Dracula adaptation is Coppola's Dracula. Yes, he read the novel. No, the differences don't matter to him.

Because GDT doesn't care about book purism and book fidelity or book canon in general. Here's what he also said while promoting his Frankenstein: "What I find beautiful is that when you create a universal myth, whether it's Frankenstein, Pinocchio, Dracula, or Sherlock Holmes, the myth itself rises so far above the original material that any interpretation is equally faithful if done with sincerity, power, and personality. If you think in terms of fidelity to the canon, you would be completely paralyzed."

Now, taking into account points 1-5 here's a very simple message and conclusion: GDT has never been a person you should or can expect perfectly faithful adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel from. He was never a guy for this job. He was always going to make his very own take with his very own brand of approach. Yes, with extra villainous Victor, yes, with uber sympathetic Creature, yes, with some Elizabeth and Creature romance, yes, with everything else he cut, changed and all that.

So instead of jumping on GDT or his movie you can either approach it as its own thing and vibe with it, or if you can't manage to do that then really, you still have Shelley's novel, nobody's taking it from you, just reread it, watch other adaptations of it, like that ballet or the Hallmark miniseries.