Re: Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
11I made it as far into The Lobster as John C. Reilly being forced to put his hand into a toaster for jerking off and noped the fuck outta there.
Re: Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
12Only seen Lobster and Poor Things. Hated Lobster, Loved Poor Things.
NC with waffles
NC with waffles
Re: Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
13Kind of in between here. I liked The Lobster fine and thought The Favourite was pretty good but I HATED Poor Things with a burning passion, a truly terrible shallow fucking movie with garbage aesthetics. Kind of soured me on his whole thing.
sparkling anti-capitalist
Re: Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
14Dogtooth was great. Absurd, hilarious, cruel, surreal. Pretty much hated The Lobster, though. I have not investigated any of his subsequent Hollywood ventures, although MrsEaster has enjoyed them. Not crap, I guess.
Re: Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
15I too did not enjoy Poor Things. I even overheard a coworker gushing about it, saying it was like existential and like feminist. Sigh.
I've seen everything from Dogtooth through Poor Things. The only ones I've liked are Dogtooth, The Favourite, and Attenberg. Even though it's a bias of my own, but I can't stand Emma Stone and it appears that she will star in everything he makes for the rest of his career. Like Refn, I enjoy his European oeuvre more than the Hollywood one.
I've seen everything from Dogtooth through Poor Things. The only ones I've liked are Dogtooth, The Favourite, and Attenberg. Even though it's a bias of my own, but I can't stand Emma Stone and it appears that she will star in everything he makes for the rest of his career. Like Refn, I enjoy his European oeuvre more than the Hollywood one.
Re: Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
16This is a thing that is kind of driving me bonkers, I do not think that Poor Things is particularly feminist except in the most superficial ways. Certainly the villain (introduced quite late!) is a misogynist and of explicitly misogynistic schemes, and there is a heroic character who is explicitly a feminist socialist sex worker, but the plot arc involves a literally childlike woman engaging in a series of sexual escapades before resolving into a marriage with a man who began the whole film as a arranged and controlling guardian figure. Maybe that would be enough in the 70s but I feel like if you're going to say something is a feminist movie in 2023 you need to have something more to say than that.AdamN wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2024 2:33 pm I too did not enjoy Poor Things. I even overheard a coworker gushing about it, saying it was like existential and like feminist. Sigh.
sparkling anti-capitalist
Re: Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
17So, my housemate read the book and she felt that that was feminist. Themes have never been Lanthimos's strong point (absurdity and uncomfortable cinema are). I'd guess that any claims of this movie being feminist come from the non-media literate mainstream folks he's been drawing since going Hollywood?Ace K wrote: Sat Aug 24, 2024 4:35 amThis is a thing that is kind of driving me bonkers, I do not think that Poor Things is particularly feminist except in the most superficial ways. Certainly the villain (introduced quite late!) is a misogynist and of explicitly misogynistic schemes, and there is a heroic character who is explicitly a feminist socialist sex worker, but the plot arc involves a literally childlike woman engaging in a series of sexual escapades before resolving into a marriage with a man who began the whole film as a arranged and controlling guardian figure. Maybe that would be enough in the 70s but I feel like if you're going to say something is a feminist movie in 2023 you need to have something more to say than that.AdamN wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2024 2:33 pm I too did not enjoy Poor Things. I even overheard a coworker gushing about it, saying it was like existential and like feminist. Sigh.
The more I think back on Poor Things the less I like the film. It started off really promisingly but then devolved into a slapstick comedy with "wonderful sets".
Re: Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
18I took the feminism in the film to be 100% the main character's sexuality. She fucks whoever she wants for pleasure, then for money, but affirms that her promiscuity and sex work don't deny her selectivity in what she participates in. Pretty basic, but then a lot of the rights feminism affirms are pretty straightforward.
Re: Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
20Chiming in a million years later because I finally saw Kinds of Kindness. My guess would be that it won't change anyone's opinion on the director. If you like his detached and absurd madness he's back to firing on all cylinders in that department. After sprinkling in a taste of popular cinema with Poor Things this is sheer brutality. The three 45 minute to an hour entries give you shorter chunks of weirdness and I cringed and laughed equally at various audacious events.
I give it a B+.
I give it a B+.