DISMANTLE WHARF

WOMAN IN THE DUNES !

Ding ding ding!

Sexy sandy 1964 Japanese fun.

OMG I can't believe I finally knew one, what a rush!!!
I haven't seen this in a really long time and these images look so beautiful, I'm feeling moved to rewatch.

Will pop in soon with my mystery frames...

It's tough to choose just one frame, but I'm excited to add another if no one guesses...

more:

Secret of Roan Inish?

Ding ding ding!

Yes, a beautiful folk tale about selkies and an island off the West Coast of Ireland. I love it so much <3

https://youtu.be/ZfddSj3bkxk

This trailer is low res and fuzzy, but the film itself is reaaaaaally beautiful. John Sayles, folk tales, seal women, and lots of walking around on an isolated island

I watched it last night for free on Tubi. I cried about 5 times (in a good way). The wee lassie looks a bit like you and your mom when you were little, @meadows!



For this one, my pick will be tangentially related to the previous pick. When it is guessed, I will also share another great film that shares themes with The Secret of Roan Inish.


Guess away:

She does look like baby [mention]meadows[/mention]!

I swear that's not why I love this movie! But it is accurate, I pretty much looked like that as a child.

[mention]RCH[/mention] I am so close to guessing this, I recognize it but it hasn't clicked into place yet.

I do not know it!

I think I do but I'm going to wait because I did a tiny cheat to double check my idea.

OK- is it The Crying Game??

Please--let's all give a hand to Sally for winning this round!

The Crying Game is a premier film, I would say a classic indie romantic drama.
It was written and directed by one dude (infers the highest quality), Neil Jordan.

It had a big critical buzz when it came out; I was 10 and believe it or not was already hopelessly tuned in to new media and criticism. It was said to be a thriller with a very dramatic twist. I distinctly remember asking my grandmother, who saw it in LA, what the deal was and she was just like "it's for adults."

The deal is that the obligatory femme fatale love interest is trans, and her suitors know that and are open in their courtship of her. Reviews sensationalized it beyond the promotion of the film itself. I watched the stars and director on Charlie Rose when it came out, the interview was a good example of that.

*****/5

The Crying Game (1992)
starring Stephen Rea, Miranda Richardson, Forest Whitaker*, and Jaye Davidson

*He is not known as a romantic lead but he is so winning in this role

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6N426QCQ-Y

BONUS TRAILER


After The Secret of Roan Inish, I watched another indie writer-director movie about kids with magical connections to animals!

This movie is amazing... it is set in nomadic Mongolia with a family with two young children. A little girl discovers a companionable dog in a cave but her parents forbid her to keep him as a pet.

THE CAVE OF THE YELLOW DOG (2006)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xlan8eCU-sE

I haven't seen The Crying Game in maybe 20 years, could be time for a rewatch!
I also remember that when it came out it was framed as something really salacious. How incredibly dumb.

how about adding this

Is it Fame?

You're a winner, baby!

I have a soft spot for song and dance movies, and this is has the great extra layer of the school environment. There's something very romantic about it! Eating lunch in a leotard, singing on the street! Plus, Irene Cara is really wonderful in it.

I love for me that that was my high school experience (grades 10 and 11). Leotards for 4 hours a day while learning mime, going to old downtown casinos to get a slice of pizza pie for lunch, constantly doing our disruptive performance art improvs out in the streets. God bless the public school system

Here is a screenshot I almost used, because it's so lovely! I thought it might be too obtuse.



I love that, RCH. I thought of you when I visited that school as a college admissions counselor!
When I was a child and pre-teen I was in a dance company and spent my afternoons and evenings in leotard form, and I thought it was deeply cool to bring my dance bag to school. Turns out no one else thought that, but it just goes to show those kids that now I am actually in no way at all a dancer!!!! Just a normal and pretty inflexible adult.

[mention]meadows[/mention], you might not have taken the dance company path, but there is a reason no one can don a Pierrot like you!

I need to re-watch fame. All I really remember is “trés jolie, coco,” that tragic photo shoot scene...

Here we go!

Hmm. I'm getting break-in, hostage, job-gone-wrong vibes. The shirtless man in dungarees suggests a plumber or perhaps art installer.

Man on the couch with martini... he looks comfortable, but like it's forced.

Woman in men's shirt... maybe she's the wife of Martini and he caught her in bed with Plumber. In fact, her presence leads me a step away from my initial heist premise.

I assume the setting is a private residence but it hilariously suggests an upscale antiques market.

The face of Martini is familiar but just beyond my grasp.

What could it be, Coco!

Solid sleuthing! You haven’t quite nailed it but you’re impressively adjacent. I will say that of the three, martini is the most well-known—look closely and see if you recognize his face behind that ‘stache.

Another still from the same flick:

Is it The Long Goodbye?

Ooooh! Is blue shirt Gould, the hunk??

Stache is familiar but I just cannot recall a name.

<strike>Faces</strike>

Not Faces, Images. (Another Robert Altman film)

Is Martini the AQUAVIT guy???

A few hints & one more image and I’ll release you from this purgatory!

Martini is Gene Hackman,
The film is from the ‘70s,
And it features the screen debut of:

Shoot. I wanna say Meg Ryan.

<Spoiler: it was Melanie Griffith, daughter of Tippi Hedren.>

I am literally cursing for not realizing I was looking at Gene Hackman!

NIGHT MOVES (1975)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdlLWziBggM

The question is, was Meg Ryan the bootleg Melanie Griffith?

Correct, a big hand for our winning contestant!

This is a very ‘70s noir, similar in spirit to The Long Goodbye but less stylish. Hackman’s a retired baseball (or is it football?) player turned private dick, happily living life on the margins. Melanie Griffith turned 18 during the promo for this movie; she was underage while shooting this film, which is definitely dodgy as she plays a young runaway who uses sex as a way to either frighten or control older men (Hackman is, fortunately, indifferent to her advances).

Directed by Arthur Penn, of Bonnie & Clyde fame. Also Sean Penn’s father! Celebrity dynasties abound!

Wait, what!? [mention]RCH[/mention] we watched this LAST NIGHT! This here is Poltergeist! How did you know? AM I HAUNTED?

Haha you guessed it! Sometimes I just "know things," no one knows why.

Wow. I loved this scene where Mom and Dad are smoking weed in their bedroom and horsin' around.

Before I saw it, somehow Poltergeist and the Exorcist kind of blended together in my mind and I thought I didn't like either of them because they were too gross and bleak.

But if you haven't seen it, the whole Poltergeist franchise is quite charming and the special effects are completely amazing.

Oh man, I saw it as a too small kid and have been afraid of it! I need to face my fears; I wanna see horsin' around.

Your turn, [mention]joni[/mention]!

just wanna belatedly thank this thread for introducing me to Yi Yi back in April, which was languishing on my to-watch list until I finally got to it tonight and LOVED it! [mention]marijke[/mention]—another one for the "normal life but quietly dark family drama with nice scenic shots" category.

Ooooh, friday night, it's movie time! Thank you [mention]infopetal[/mention]

I would also like to thank the board and this group in particular for steering me toward Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains, which we watch on Saturday night. What a gem!! How is it that I have never seen that film and yet know the song Waste of Time well from forever? [mention]yourfriendclaire[/mention] is that because of Joel or just because reasons? Whenever I know some seemingly obscure song I assume it came from all those years of living with Joel B.

I don’t remember Joel playing it for us but YACHT recorded a cover of Waste of Time that we played live for many years so I imagine you must have seen us do it at least once!

Ha! No doubt.