God, of course, you’re right, not sure why I had William S Burroughs on my mind!
Thanks for the correction!
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We finally watched 1917 Saturday night. Pretty remarkable film. I don’t know if it was shot in one continuous take or not, but it certainly appeared to be. I can recall only one moment where there could have been a cut - a scene in a tunnel that goes pitch-black.
And I thought Netflix’s The Dig was very good. Ralph Fiennes was terrific. The only fly in the ointment was the love story involving a secondary character played by Lily James of Downton Abbey/Lady Rose fame. It added nothing to the development of the main story and seemed a tacked-on distraction, IMO.
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1917 was staged to appear to be one continuous shot, but is not.
Unlike Russian Ark which actually is a one-take single 96-minute continuous shot.
Wonderful movie I’d never heard of: “Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day” on Prime.
IIRC, no one gets killed. I could be wrong. Great cast and performances.
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Apparently, he is not married.
Yes, Interstellar. I won’t admit to how many times I saw it in the theater. I got a little sentimental about Cooper’s relationship with his daughter.
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I’ve always enjoyed Tarkovsky’s “Stalker” and “Solaris”; as well as “Andrei Rublev”. More to observe and think about rather than endless action. The types of film that one catch watch several times and always glean new things every time.
One more from the horror genre is Nacho Cerdà’s “The Abandoned” from 2006.
Very slow, deliberate and atmospheric.
Japanese otherwordly classics like “Onibaba” and “Ugetsu”.
Just thought I’d throw these into the mix.
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NORTHERN LIGHTS (1978) is independent film that dramatizes the founding of the Nonpartisan League in North Dakota, a populist political movement in the American Midwest in the early 1900s.
The film was produced, directed, written and edited by John Hanson and Rob Nilsson, and starred Joe Spano, Robert Behling, Susan Lynch and Michel Wagner. It was filmed on location in North Dakota during the fall and winter of 1977, and used many locals as extras.
The filmmakers filmed in grainy black-and-white 16mm as a conscious rejection of Hollywood production values, and about a third of the dialogue is in Norwegian.
Due to the extreme cold winter weather, with temperatures reaching as low as –40, many of the outdoor scenes had to be shot in short bursts, as cameras and other equipment only functioned for a short time before freezing up.
The film was awarded the Caméra d’Or at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival for best first feature film (defined as "the first feature film for theatrical screening (whatever the format; fiction, documentary or animation) of 60 minutes or more in length, by a director who has not made another film of 60 minutes or more in length and released theatrically.
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I’ll have to check that one out.
At first glance, it reminds me of “Matewan” and “Harlan County, USA”, sans romantic lovers and all that. The miners in this country, as I suppose miners everywhere, always fight the hardest, suffer the most and deal with the worst hardships. Good people…each and every one of them.
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This Simpsons episode showing Neil wearing a Santa Claus hat on a poster in a theater in Springfield, came out in March of 2004. Matrix 4 will be released this year in December on the 22nd, a few days before Christmas.
Odd coincidence?
Was in Dune today (IMAX)…gorgeous sets, great movie. In the US it probably was launched a year ago already 
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I’ve read the Frank Herbert Series and put him up there with Asimov and others, in the greatest Sci-fi series writers. I cannot wait to see this in NYC. Covid did us no favors last year.
Denis Villeneuve did a marvelous job with Arrival and Blade Runner 2049. From your sentiments, it seems he did a good job with this one, also.
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I loved the new Blade runner, too. And yes, here fantastic visual impressions, too…even more continuously. Go IMAX 3D if you can.
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If they show it, I will go…
The Dune series is one of the greatest SciFi reads of all time for me. Engrossing, riveting, can’t put it down … you get it. But I’ll tell ya I feel burned to this day by David Lynch’s bomb. Which left me thinking if a director with that cred couldn’t pull if off, maybe Frank Herbert’s vision just isn’t adaptable to film. Won’t be the first time that’s happened. I intend to see Dune (2021), but I’m going first for the richness of plot and characters don’t care how fantastic the visuals are. I’m skeptical but open minded to being pleasantly surprised. We shall see.
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I streamed The Suicide Squad in 4K two nights in a row last week. It is the new version by my favorite director, James Gunn. It’s the best movie of all time, it’s the worst movie of all time. It’s so dumb. Oops, now that scene almost seemed smart.
A new low. Can’t wait to own a copy.
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Yes, it both comes together quite good enough here!
The Go-Between (1971 Losey version). My favourite film. Some of it will be lost on those not enmeshed in the British class system, but its evocation of a heatwave is superb.
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