The WHF Film Club

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BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW

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Hi Richard

Words from someone you don't know probably don't mean too much at this time, but I'm really very sorry for your loss. I'm lucky that both of my parents are still around, but when I was living in London, my flatmate, and still good friend, got a call in the middle of the night from his Dad, to tell him his Mum had died suddenly. I'll never forget the absolute, overwhelming sadness in his face as he told the rest of us the news, and how difficult is was for us all to say, or do the right thing to comfort him. That experience has given me an inkling of what your going through, but only an inkling, and if you don't feel like you're ready to watch 'The Vanishing' yet, there absolutely no pressure to do so, it's absolutely not important in the scheme of things.

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richardw42

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Thanks

its not too bad, I have a large family which helps.

ill try and get The Vanishing watched this or next week as I have to go back up to Scotland.
 

strapped for cash

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Likewise, Richard, I'm very sorry to hear of your loss.

There's little I can say to make things easier, though it's good that you have a large family, and that you can call on each other for support. The most difficult times can draw us closer together, as what's really important is pulled into focus.

All the best to yourself and family.
 

expat_mike

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richardw42 said:
sorry for my silence. My mum passed away very suddenly at the end of January. Big shock to us all and I did have to go up to Scotland for a bit.

Sorry to hear about your sad news. I hope that you are coping well, but it can take a while to come to terms with the event.

On to Mysterious Skin.

The early sections of the film lived up to the billing « not for the squeamish”, but afterwards became less difficult.

It was clear that Neil had been abused, and the initial assumption was that so had Brian. I presumed that the middle section of the film, would be the precursor to the two boys exacting revenge on the baseball coach during the final section. How wrong I was.

The middle section of the film, gradually becomes more like a standard coming of age movie. We were introduced to the other three main adolescent characters, Wendy, Eric and Avalyn.

Wendy has known Neil since the start of the film, and clearly has feelings for Neil, but also knows that her love must remain always unrequited.

Avalyn also believes she was abducted by aliens. She starts to form a fragile friendship with Brian, but when she tries to instigate a sexual interest in him, he reacts with intense panic and refuses to speak to her again. I think we are left to assume that her belief in abduction by aliens, must have been caused by sexual abuse within her farming community.

The role of Eric is not initially clear – he is obviously gay and is attracted by Neil, but he is gently warned off by Wendy telling him that Neil does not have a heart, but rather "a bottomless black hole, that you fall into". Eric gradually becomes a more sympathetic character, and eventually forms a platonic friendship with Brian, and is key in enabling Brian and Neil to meet, when Neil returns home for Christmas.

During this middle section of the film, Brian maintains his belief that he was abducted by aliens, and keeps experiencing dreams and flashbacks, that seem to often trigger nosebleeds. These flashbacks convince him that he needs to discover what really happened to him during those missing hours after one baseball game.

Neil in contrast, falls into a career as a male prostitute, a career that he continues when he moves to live with Wendy in New York city. His encounters as an urban male prostitute, gradually awaken his compassionate side, and a feeling that he is following a self-destructive path. This feeling is reinforced when he is tricked by a large man into snorting cocaine, before being raped, beaten and left for dead.

The final section of the film focusses on Neils return home for Christmas. He meets Brian, then breaks into the home that was previously rented by the baseball coach, and explains how the coach groomed both boys to make the abuse seem normal and acceptable, and how a bluish porch light shining through the bedroom window gave the abusive incidents an eerie atmosphere. Neil then tells Brian that the coach made them kiss each other before he kissed them both and then made them perform sexual acts on him. Brian breaks down and collapses into Neil's arms.

I did find the early sections a bit unnerving to watch, and thought that the middle section did seem to drag on – maybe a few of the scenes could have been trimmed a bit. Nevertheless I did find the film strangely positive, in that hopefully Neil and Brian could now move on to a better future, now that they had hopefully come to terms with their experiences with the coach. I did find a sympathetic bond with Neil, Brian, Wendy and Eric.

The film also seemed slightly unusual in that the underlying theme was driven by sex, but none of the 5 adolescents was having sex with each other.

I presume that the subject matter did make this a contrversial film to make/distribute - thankfully great care was taken when filming the initial sections of the film, to avoid filming the adults and children at the same time, meaning that the scenes that appear on screen, are the result of rigourous use of script and editing tools. Certainly a controversial subject matter when filmed, and unfortunately all the recent revelations about Saville, Glitter, politicians, other DJs, care workers, etc, begin to give the impression that such abuse was commonplace.
 
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BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW

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Thanks for your synopsis, Mike.

'Mysterious Skin' was quite uncomfortable viewing at times, and with the problems I was having with my stream of the film, I did actually think about not watching it. I did though, and I'm glad I did.

I'm uncertain as to whether Neil would have grown up to be gay, or his experiences with the coach as a young boy had convinced him that he was. There's no doubt that he had a unhealthy attitude to sex, and his own safety, but I'm guessing this is a result of his sexual abuse as a child. We didn't find out, but I'm presuming that his violent rape by a client would've changed this.

As for Brian, I'm presuming that the Director/Writer believes that a lot of people who claim to have been kidnapped by Aliens are actually victims of sexual abuse, or some kind of traumatic experience at least.

'Mysterious Skin' is not a film I would keep in my collection, and it's not a film I would rush to see again, but I wouldn't have a problem in recommending it to anyone who is open-minded.

Good choice, I think.
 
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BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW

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That looks quite interesting, thanks for the recommendation, Richard.

I've watched a couple of films recently. First one was a Dario Argento film 'Deep Red', which was ok, but I'm not sure I'm a fan of his. The 2nd film was a horror called 'The Conjuring', which started off really well, but descended slightly into cliched terrirtory in the 2nd half. It did make me jump though.
 

expat_mike

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BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW said:
I'm uncertain as to whether Neil would have grown up to be gay, or his experiences with the coach as a young boy had convinced him that he was. There's no doubt that he had a unhealthy attitude to sex, and his own safety, but I'm guessing this is a result of his sexual abuse as a child. We didn't find out, but I'm presuming that his violent rape by a client would've changed this.

You are right that those are a few questions that don't get answered during the film.

This has made me think that 'Mysterious Skin' may be similar to the film 'As If I Am Not There', in that one needs to also read the original book, to get a deeper understanding of the thoughts inside the lead characters mind.

BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW said:
As for Brian, I'm presuming that the Director/Writer believes that a lot of people who claim to have been kidnapped by Aliens are actually victims of sexual abuse, or some kind of traumatic experience at least.

I think that is medically accepted that some people suppress traumatic memories - I think that medical view is that this is an inbuilt response by the brain, to avoid the risks of greater psychological problems being caused by regularly remembering the trauma. Some of these people then experience flashbacks later, triggered by specific circumstances, which seems to be what was happening to Brian. In the meantime they do feel the need to find an explanation for themselves, about what happened during the suppressed time period.

Yes, it is not clear if the Writer believes that "people who claim to have been kidnapped by Aliens are actually victims of sexual abuse, or some kind of traumatic experience at least.", or whether this is just a convenient plot construct.
 
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BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW

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David, have you got anything to add about 'Mysterious Skin'?

I'm gonna try and watch 'The Vanishing' this weekend.
 

expat_mike

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I went to watch the Steve Jobs film on Saturday, expecting the cinema to be fairly full. In reality I was the only person in the cinema, until another six people turned up just before the start of the film. I get the sense that people are now in love with Apple, rather than Steve Jobs.
 

strapped for cash

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expat_mike said:
I went to watch the Steve Jobs film on Saturday, expecting the cinema to be fairly full. In reality I was the only person in the cinema, until another six people turned up just before the start of the film.

The last few films I watched at the cinema were nearly empty screenings. Best way to watch a film in my opinion.

When The Exorcist was re-released years ago, I popped along to an AM screening while on holiday from work. That's the only time I've sat in a cinema by myself. I hadn't seen the film before and it was quite a strange experience. It was showing on the largest screen, so the cinema felt cavernous, and all the more empty because of it.

There are a couple of films released in the UK this week I'd like to see, so I'll probably pick one for a Friday night outing. I can't decide between Anomalisa and The Witch.
 

expat_mike

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It does feel slightly strange sitting there on your own. I started to think of all the cinema staff (well all 3 of them), who had been paid to come to work and give me a private film show.
 
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BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW

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I haven't been to the cinema for quite a long time (probably 'It Follows'). There are a number of reasons for this, but the main reason is that there's rarely a film I want to see at my local cinemas (Odeon/Cineworld).

There's a cinema club which opened in the theatre district of MK, which seemed quite good, but we went once or twice, and decided that both sound and picture were far better at home, so never bothered again.

I've also got access at home to the very latest films, and plenty of DVDs I've still yet to watch, so I've really no reason to go to the cinema and pay £10 or more to sit next to some annoying idiots that just want to talk all the time.

I remember living in London, and there was a fantastic cinema in Brixton called The Ritzy. I went there on a few occasions on week days, once for 'Amores Perros' and another time for 'Requiem For A Dream', and for both of those films the cinema was virtually empty. I actually prefer it when it's quite empty.
 

expat_mike

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BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW said:
I haven't been to the cinema for quite a long time (probably 'It Follows'). There are a number of reasons for this, but the main reason is that there's rarely a film I want to see at my local cinemas (Odeon/Cineworld).

There's a cinema club which opened in the theatre district of MK, which seemed quite good, but we went once or twice, and decided that both sound and picture were far better at home, so never bothered again.

I've also got access at home to the very latest films, and plenty of DVDs I've still yet to watch, so I've really no reason to go to the cinema and pay £10 or more to sit next to some annoying idiots that just want to talk all the time.

I remember living in London, and there was a fantastic cinema in Brixton called The Ritzy. I went there on a few occasions on week days, once for 'Amores Perros' and another time for 'Requiem For A Dream', and for both of those films the cinema was virtually empty. I actually prefer it when it's quite empty.

Like you I have a pile of DVDs and TV series to watch, so I don't visit the cinema often. However I have made more effort recently, so over christmas I went into toulouse twice and visited the large gaumont complex (15 euros for the films in version originale, ie english), but I have also watched Star Wars and Steve Jobs at my local town cinema (much cheaper at 5 euros 50, but the films are dubbed in french) for a bit of practice.
 

Frank Harvey

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expat_mike said:
Now that David has had a few days to recover after Bristol, we also need him to nominate his films.
Glad you have reminded me - I'd forgotten! Been a busy week, and this week isn't going to be any different...

I'll nominate by Thursday (day off - give me some time to think).
 

Frank Harvey

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Ok, I've mostly gone for movies I haven't seen before - I've only seen one of these. I can't remember now what has or hasn't been nominated before, so let me know if any of these don't count and I'll choose replacements. These are all on Netflix or Amazon Prime. If you don't have Prime, they're available to buy for less than a tenner.

Amores Perros http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0245712/

The Strange Colour Of Your Body's Tears http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2733258/

Biutiful http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1164999/

Gamorrah http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0929425/

One thought on the nomination process - even though four films are chosen and are rated by the group - is there anything stopping the initial selection of five, or even six films? The group can still give out ratings to whichever four films they want to, meaning some films may not receive any points. Just a thought, as the only other variant is the amount of points given.
 
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BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW

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David@FrankHarvey said:
One thought on the nomination process - even though four films are chosen and are rated by the group - is there anything stopping the initial selection of five, or even six films? The group can still give out ratings to whichever four films they want to, meaning some films may not receive any points. Just a thought, as the only other variant is the amount of points given.

I think 4 as a maximum is probably best, though the option is there to nominate 3 if you wanted. If you wanted to initially propose more films (like I did) to see if others have seen them before, that's ok, but to nominate more than 4 and have some films not getting any points wouldn't work IMO.

Coincidentally, I have actually seen 2 of your 4 films, one I would like to see again, one I wouldn't want to, and I'll vote accordingly.

One important thing, when you nominate your films, can you also cast your votes as the proposer now votes, and I think it's better if he votes first.
 
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