Queen of Earth (Alex Ross Perry, 2015)

[garbed_attic]

Surprised not to find a thread for this. While it was produced a year or two back it seems to have only got a release round these parts this year. It's about the soured relationship between two female friends and it's kind of like a Bergman film if Bergman was a 70s exploitation film director.

I didn't actually like it very much... or rather, it felt deeply unpleasant for reasons I am utterly unable to articulate. Which is interesting. Lots of meaningful glances and a slightly mannered, even turgid script. But it's haunted the back of my mind since I watched it two weeks back.

I'm a bit of a sucker for soundtracks with gloaming synths and odd pretty panpipe sounds and the soundtrack for QoE reminded me of Popol Vuh. It also looked a bit like Raúl Ruiz' The Territory (1981), which I'm deeply fond of. Similar sunlight.

If you have no interest in late-period mumblecore arthouse semi-exploitation, then at least watch the trailer, which is great. I want a voice like a 1970s voiceover man.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzPgN8eEI-c

It's one of those films that I'm sure at least a handful of you would absolutely love.

[A Car With No Doors]

I read a review of it in the Sight and Sound and I fear their interpretation may colour the film slightly for me. I know that's my fault but still, I'm not particularly sold on a film being marketed as about "the selfish nature of the millennial generation" or whatever, it seems very finger-wagging to me. Like Cuh Young People: The Movie.

Still, I probably shouldn't let that cloud my judgement, and I probably will see it at some point: I can't say I'm not intrigued.

[garbed_attic]

I read a review of it in the Sight and Sound and I fear their interpretation may colour the film slightly for me. I know that's my fault but still, I'm not particularly sold on a film being marketed as about "the selfish nature of the millennial generation" or whatever, it seems very finger-wagging to me. Like Cuh Young People: The Movie.

I get the impression (from the film itself and interviews) he just likes writing people at their lowest ebb. I don't think any of the characters -except one of the two blokes- are especially horrible. I mean, both of the main characters are grieving and one of them is depressed and arguably psychotic.

It is a bit bicker/dread/bicker/dread/bicker/dread but I honestly don't think it is especially about millennials. Less so than Girls, for instance.

[Herbert Ashe]

Yeah, I don't see the S&S review stance; to me it's pretty much just a fairly objective character study[nb]or a Persona Swap[/nb] (or two, but Elizabeth Moss's character is the focus - she's really great in this). I preferred this to Listen Up Philip, which I didn't dislike, but had that East Coast intellectual milieu setting which, even when it's satire, isn't normally my thing.