On deciding what to watch (or rewatch)

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

The Mosfilm channel has a ton of stuff, some of it canonical classics (Solaris, The Ascent, Ivan the Terrible, etc.) but most of it movies that would be unlikely to get picked up by a Western video label even if sanctions weren't an issue. Last weekend I watched Taming of the Fire, a heavily-fictionalized biopic of rocket scientist Sergei Korolev, which is basically hagiographic but interesting in that the qualities that make him heroic also make him pretty off-putting. You have to put up with a semi-transparent bug in the corner of the screen for the whole movie, which isn't a deal-breaker in my opinion (especially if you ever watched movies on Chinese TV), but YMMV.

Speaking of Chinese TV, there's also an official CCTV-6 channel that's absolutely inundated with direct-to-streaming wuxia and war movies, but I've found some films I've actually heard of and liked: After Separation, Postmen in the Mountains, Feng Shui, Fall of Ming. I'm sure there's other hidden gems in there, but you have to do a lot of digging. If you prefer Hong Kong cinema, Shaw Brothers has a channel with a lot of titles—the most well-known are typically locked behind their members-only "Golden Vault," but there are others of interest, like King Hu's debut The Story of Sue San and the bizarre corporate-espionage musical Intrigue in Nylons.

The Korean Film Archive has a similar channel for South Korean films. It's mostly pre-1990 films of which I know next to nothing, but of the more recent titles I can vouch for, there's Gagman, The Power of Kangwon Province, The Age of Success, To the Starry Island, Nambugun, and A Single Spark. The Fox with Nine Tails is fun if you're in the mood for something like Cat People (the Schrader version more than the Tourneur) with egregious Video Toaster-level CGI.

[domino harvey]

Thank you to those who have suggested thus far for only providing links to official licensor uploads. As a reminder, please do not provide any direct links to illegal uploads or channels hosting illegal uploads (and do not do so and plead ignorance or innocence as to what I mean)

[erok910]

In reference to digger, pointed me to this thread. I definitely wasnt 'hate watching' i just wanted to see it again. It was interesting. Ill watch it a third time too, to be honest. Not to get angry. I was just thinking about it. I dont really dig it, but I definitely wasnt trying to make a thing out of it.

[Noiretirc]

Your not digging Digger but taking a dig at certain posting philosophies may have caused you to dig a slight hole for yourself, but the ensuing discussion has been good. Dig?

[erok910]

Meh, maybe. I dont think so though. I dont think it was a dig at all, you dig?

[Noiretirc]

That's it: I'm watching Digger next.

Someone was reminded of Renoir's The Rules Of The Game!?

I find most bombs go through a cycle: The instant mass pan, then the gradual (but limited) sober second thoughts about some qualities, and then finally outright reappraisal by a few people who are convincing to me.

Digger's cycle seems to be going faster than that of Babylon or Megalopolis, say.

[Matt]

With baseball season finally over (yay Brew Crew), I'm finally committing to addressing my kevyip. Prior to the season, I was going chronologically through my unwatched Italian films, but now I think I'm going to go in reverse order of popularity on Letterboxd. Seems like a fun adventure to start watching things that have fewer than 100 watches and fewer than 20 likes.

First up should be Le Pont-Neuf des amants extra from the Leos Carax set, but I don't want to watch that before I rewatch the film itself, so we're starting with the "Elizabeth Taylor in London" TV special from 1963, moving on to three Wakefield Poole movies in a row, the "Sofia Loren in Rome" special from 1964, then six David S. Friedman sexploitation films. Let's see if I still like movies after this.

[BoosterShane]

With baseball season finally over (yay Brew Crew), I'm finally committing to addressing my kevyip. Prior to the season, I was going chronologically through my unwatched Italian films, but now I think I'm going to go in reverse order of popularity on Letterboxd. Seems like a fun adventure to start watching things that have fewer than 100 watches and fewer than 20 likes.

First up should be Le Pont-Neuf des amants extra from the Leos Carax set, but I don't want to watch that before I rewatch the film itself, so we're starting with the "Elizabeth Taylor in London" TV special from 1963, moving on to three Wakefield Poole movies in a row, the "Sofia Loren in Rome" special from 1964, then six David S. Friedman sexploitation films. Let's see if I still like movies after this.

Do you think you must pay some penance for the Brewers winning? Don’t go too hard, we never know for certain when the 2027 season is starting