General Movie Thread 2025

[Hobo]

Went to see Nosferatu last night.

It is a brilliant cinema experience. I think Eggers works best in this period of history. The film is full of nods to the German expressionism of the original, even shooting night scenes to give them the same greenish-black-and-white look of the original movie. Other times, it looks like 19th-century portraiture.

Spoiler

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And it's horny. It opens with an orgasm, Orlok has a visible dick, humps Thomas while he's biting him and is so busy fucking Ellen it kills him. The movie is about Ellen and societal attitudes towards her sexuality. It ties Orlok to her as a manifestation of her sexual desires and of disease. Which is I don't think is new ground for vampire movies but the difference here is probably that Ellen much more the protagonist than any of the male characters. Particularly Thomas.

I haven't seen Herzog's filme in a while and I haven't seen all of the original movie either. I love Herzog's film, and it's to my memory a lot more focussed on the plague and disease metaphor than sex because Herzog films tend not to be particularly focused on sex at all. It's also bloody and visceral but I don't think gory.

I like that Eggers, as is his way, went with as historically accurate a look for Orlok as he could. Although I think he winds up looking a little like Jessie Ventura.

I enjoyed it a lot more than The Northman and The VVitch, I had more fun watching it in the cinema than I did The Lighthouse (although I think I like The Lighthouse a little more still - it is at least close)

[gunnar hendershow]

I still rank The Lighthouse above the rest, but Nosferatu is definitely a great experience to see in the cinema. I don't think the actual presentation of an early 19th century Transylvanian vampire has been better visually. There were some blemishes (Eggers really took his time on certain scenes) but in terms of the established atmosphere it all came together so well.

Should go through the other "2024" (as in, made available to me in 2024) films I've really liked recently.

Hundreds of Beavers - completely sets out to be a blend of 1920s slapstick, 16-bit video games, and Let's Plays and works so well it feels like an entirely new brand of comedy. Hilarious movie. Funniest of the year, and really the funniest movie in years, by miles.

Red Rooms - Quebec continues punching above its weight, with two great horror flicks the last year (Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person the other). This is a movie that needs to be experienced, especially for anyone skeptical of our modern voyeurism of true crime. And maybe even more mandatory viewing for true crime obsessives.

Conclave - A very strong thriller that has all the potential to emerge victorious in awards season. Ralph Fiennes anchors the film with an extraordinary assist by Isabella Rossellini. Flies by and never treats its audience like they're stupid (something far too many thrillers of late love to do, sadly).

[Hobo]

1 hour ago, gunnar hendershow said:

I still rank The Lighthouse above the rest, but Nosferatu is definitely a great experience to see in the cinema. I don't think the actual presentation of an early 19th century Transylvanian vampire has been better visually. There were some blemishes (Eggers really took his time on certain scenes) but in terms of the established atmosphere it all came together so well.

It's funny. While there are slow moments and lingering moments, it also moves by pretty quickly. I think Kinski's Dracula remains my favourite version of that character. But Skarsgard's Orlok is as rooted in reality as an undead Romanian from the 14th century can be.

I actually need to see Hundreds of Beavers and my girlfriend really wants to see Conclave but I've just not paid any attention to anything about it.

[gunnar hendershow]

2 hours ago, Hobo said:

I actually need to see Hundreds of Beavers and my girlfriend really wants to see Conclave but I've just not paid any attention to anything about it.

It's very Catholic 

[Your Mom]

Behind the scenes on The Substance. In spoilers because the scene is from later in the movie

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[K]

Carry on

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I'm sorry did that police officer just look novichok up on Wikipedia

 

[Hobo]

On 05/01/2025 at 18:19, gunnar hendershow said:

It's very Catholic 

Funnily enough so were my parents and my girlfriend's parents

[Skummy]

I haven't seen any other Eggers, but enjoyed most of Nosferatu. Thoughts!

Spoiler

Echoing everything Hobo said about the cinematography; to the point that it's almost showing off at points.

I wasn't a fan of Orlok being a kind of manifestation of Ellen's desire - or, as I understood it, somehow either awakened or psychically bonded to her through a combination of her desire and her shame, that her calling out into the void for companionship is what tied them together. I guess it's an attempt to justify Orlok pursuing her, with something beyond the original's "sees her photo in a locket" motivation, or the Francis Ford Coppola approach of having her look like his lost love from centuries earlier and trying to make it vaguely romantic, rather than him being an abusive monster. But I don't think it quite lands, and instead you get, "it's a woman's fault that this monster exists, and that woman has to die to stop the monster", which I very much doubt is what Eggers had in mind. It reminds me of a friend of mine who loves old ghost stories, and always complains about modern ghost stories or folk horror, because, "I don't want the ghost to be a metaphor for grief, I want it to be a fucking ghost". Sometimes a vampire should just be a vampire.

Speaking of the ending, that's my other criticism - the final act is very flat, because Von Franz tells you what they're going to do, and then they do it. There's no subversion, no additional obstacles put in their place, Orlok doesn't try and stop them, everything just happens exactly as you're told it will. Whatever sense of intrigue is attached to it all is born of whether you think Von Franz is a madman or whether he knows what he's talking about, but unlike everyone in the film who might have reason to be conflicted, you know that you're watching Nosferatu, so he's going to be right. 

One thing I loved, though, was the use of Orlok's shadow. That's the most famous image from the original film, and to use it not just as cinematic shorthand, but as an active source of horror and oppression within the film, is fantastic.

 

[Hobo]

37 minutes ago, Skummy said:

I haven't seen any other Eggers, but enjoyed most of Nosferatu. Thoughts!

  Hide contents

Echoing everything Hobo said about the cinematography; to the point that it's almost showing off at points.

I wasn't a fan of Orlok being a kind of manifestation of Ellen's desire - or, as I understood it, somehow either awakened or psychically bonded to her through a combination of her desire and her shame, that her calling out into the void for companionship is what tied them together. I guess it's an attempt to justify Orlok pursuing her, with something beyond the original's "sees her photo in a locket" motivation, or the Francis Ford Coppola approach of having her look like his lost love from centuries earlier and trying to make it vaguely romantic, rather than him being an abusive monster. But I don't think it quite lands, and instead you get, "it's a woman's fault that this monster exists, and that woman has to die to stop the monster", which I very much doubt is what Eggers had in mind. It reminds me of a friend of mine who loves old ghost stories, and always complains about modern ghost stories or folk horror, because, "I don't want the ghost to be a metaphor for grief, I want it to be a fucking ghost". Sometimes a vampire should just be a vampire.

Speaking of the ending, that's my other criticism - the final act is very flat, because Von Franz tells you what they're going to do, and then they do it. There's no subversion, no additional obstacles put in their place, Orlok doesn't try and stop them, everything just happens exactly as you're told it will. Whatever sense of intrigue is attached to it all is born of whether you think Von Franz is a madman or whether he knows what he's talking about, but unlike everyone in the film who might have reason to be conflicted, you know that you're watching Nosferatu, so he's going to be right. 

One thing I loved, though, was the use of Orlok's shadow. That's the most famous image from the original film, and to use it not just as cinematic shorthand, but as an active source of horror and oppression within the film, is fantastic.

 

Spoiler

I didn't see it as much as Ellen's "fault" but as a consequence of how the world around Ellen treated her. She sleepwalks one time and ends up naked and having an orgasm in a garden and gets punished for it.

I felt that the final act that it was was about the revelation that Thomas had been led away on this other errand by Von Franz to let the exact thing Thomas didn't want to happen, happen, because it was the only option. Because Von Franz is the only person who actually knows what is going on and understands Ellen's situation. She has to fuck the monster to death.

 

[Commander Komander]

Longlegs

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Shit.