IMPORTANT NOTE: please use a VPN whenever visiting Hextube, or anywhere else on the internet, for that matter. Protect your privacy.

For this extra-long edition of Sunday Kino Night, we’re starting with one of the all-time classic French films, A Man Escaped (1956)! It strips the prison film down to its most basic elements, centering on a French Resistance fighter’s attempt to escape a tiny cell under the eyes of his Nazi captors. The director is Robert Bresson, whose donkey tale Au Hasard Balthasar (1966) we previously watched. This is commonly considered his magnum opus, and is a staple of lists of greatest films; it currently ranks #86 on Letterboxd’s Top 250.

After that is Boy and the World (2013), a dialogue-free Brazilian surrealist peace about a boy who leaves his village to find his absent father, and his subsequent journey through the urban, industrial, consumerist hellscape of the modern world. It received rave reviews across the board, and garnered a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the 2015 Oscars. It is the best-known and best-regarded work to date of director Ale Abreu. We were going to watch this last night, but it started after midnight, so everyone went to bed instead. I moved the showing to this evening instead.

Third up is the highly-anticipated highly-acclaimed new blockbuster, Dune Part Two (2024), the second half of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s epic sci-fi novel. We will be watching a camrip. It is decent quality, though a watermark wanders around the screen for the whole movie. That’s just the price we pay for good early rips, I guess.

We’ll start at 7PM EST on Hextube, right here:

https://live.hexbear.net/c/movies

Be there, comrades!

Letterboxd:

• A Man Escaped: https://letterboxd.com/film/a-man-escaped/
• Boy and the World: https://letterboxd.com/film/boy-the-world/
• Dune Part Two: https://letterboxd.com/film/dune-part-two/

Doesthedogdie.com links:

• A Man Escaped: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/41444
• Boy and the World: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3183630/parentalguide?ref_=tt_stry_pg
• Dune Part Two: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/1070684

CWs for A Man Escaped:

• Suicidal ideation.
• Prison.
• Nazis.
• Torture.
• Claustrophobia.
• Blood.

CWs for Boy and the World:

• Strip club.
• Police brutality.
• Capitalism.
• Chld endangerment.

CWs for Dune Part Two:

• Abusive parents.
• Gaslighting.
• Drug use.
• Deaths of animals.
• Snakes.
• Bugs.
• Someone is physically restrained.
• Cutting of flesh.
• Someone struggles to breathe.
• Throat mutilation.
• Someone is crushed to death.
• Someone is burned alive.
• Someone is buried alive.
• Head squashing.
• Unconsciousness.
• Someone has a seizure.
• Torture.
• Someone falls to their death.
• Stabbing.
• Death of parent.
• Jump scares.
• Trypophobia.
• Vomiting.
• Someone is eaten alive.
• Spitting.
• Destruction of priceless artifact.
• Needles.
• Violent mentally-ill person.
• Sudden loud noises.
• Screaming.
• Flashing lights.
• Fetuses.
• Orientalism.
• White savior narrative.
• Ableist languae.
• Discussion of religion.
• Implied sex.
• Nudity.
• Male character ridiculed for crying.
• Fat suit.
• Sad ending.
• Nuclear explosion.
• Blood and gore.

Links to movies:

• A Man Escaped: https://tankie.tube/w/haXDfWccXLUwUNQbkYnEm4
• Boy and the World: https://tankie.tube/w/5vxfFCU2M9Dc6wFrpHdbLu
• Dune Part Two: https://tankie.tube/w/4wmegiWzySPA1E8nGiLsmh

IMPORTANT NOTE: please use a VPN whenever visiting Hextube, or anywhere else on the internet, for that matter. Protect your privacy.

For this Friday Movie Night, since the Oscars are coming up soon, we’re doing a double feature of Best Picture nominees. First up is The Zone of Interest (2023), a family drama about SS-Obersturmbannführer Rudolf Höss’s efforts to build his dream house for his family in a fabulous new property he acquired right next door to Auschwitz. The camp’s horrors are not directly shown, but they nevertheless keep impinging on his attempts to live an idyllic, peaceful life with his family. Banality of Evil: The Movie. We already watched director Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin (2013) on Hextube, and it was a hit, so let’s give another one of his films a shot.

After that is Poor Things (2023), a magical-realist/sci-fi/black comedy/romance/feminist drama/weird thing from Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster [2015], The Favourite [2018]). Emma Stone stars as a corpse brought back to life with the mind with a child by a Frankenstein-esque scientist (Willem Dafoe), and she steadily takes back control of her life and sexuality from the shitty men who manipulate her. Pretty much everyone lists this as one of the best films of the year, so let’s check it out.

We’ll start at 9PM EST on Hextube, right here:

https://live.hexbear.net/c/movies

Be there, comrades!

Letterboxd:

• The Zone of Interest: https://letterboxd.com/film/the-zone-of-interest/
• Poor Things: https://letterboxd.com/film/poor-things-2023/

Doesthedogdie.com links:

• The Zone of Interest: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/1067040
• Poor Things: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/749562

CWs for The Zone of Interest:

• Nazis.
• Holocaust. Although the horrors of the camp are not directly depicted, disturbing sounds are often audibe.
• Someone is burned alive.
• Torture (albeit offscreen.)
• Cheating.
• Natural bodies of water.
• Vomiting.
• Screaming.
• Antisemitism.
• Hate speech.
• “Sexual content”. Seems pretty tame from what I can see, though.
• Sad ending.

CWs for Poor Things:

• Sex.
• Nudity.
• Sexual assault. A woman who does not understand sex is touched by a man in a lascivious manner. However, she does not express any fear or refusal, and initiates sex later. Sexual liberation is one of the film’s main themes.
• Pedophilia, following on from the above, since the main character has just been born, albeit in an adult body.
• Sexualization of minor, in the sense that the main character has been reborn in an adult body.
• Necrophilia, since the main character is a revived corpse.
• Someone leaves without saying goodbye.
• Abusive parents.
• Abused person forgives their abuser.
• Stalking.
• Domestic violence.
• Abused becomes the abuser.
• Gaslighting.
• Child abuse.
• Drug use.
• Alcohol abuse.
• Deaths of animals.
• Animal abuse.
• Body horror.
• Someone is drugged.
• Someone is physically restrained.
• Chloroform rag.
• Prostitution.
• Cutting of flesh.
• Disfigurement.
• Throat mutilation.
• Someone struggles to breathe.
• Decapitation.
• Choking.
• Someone is lit on fire.
• Amputation.
• Unconsciousness.
• Someone falls to their death.
• Eye mutilation.
• Stabbing.
• Blood and gore.
• Death of child.
• R-slur.
• Disabled character played by able-bodied actor.
• Kidnapping.
• Death of parent.
• Cheating.
• Natural bodies of water.
• Razors.
• Someone wets themselves.
• Vomiting.
• Spitting.
• Audio gore.
• Farting.
• Mental hospital scene.
• Cancer.
• Mental illness.
• Self-harm.
• Violent mentally-ill person.
• Dissociation.
• Suicide attempt.
• Unstable reality.
• Meltdown.
• Misophonia.
• Jump scares.
• Crying baby.
• Shaky cam.
• Screaming.
• Obscene language.
• Someone is watched without their knowledge.
• Death of pregnant woman.
• Age-gap romance.
• Religion.
• Objectification of female characters.
• BDSM.
• Someone loses their virginity.
• Chronic illness.
• Homelessness.
• Debate over existentialism.
• Drowning.
• Gun violence.

Links to movies:

• The Zone of Interest: https://tankie.tube/w/sVkspww6SXPfMnHRd714L2
• Poor Things: https://tankie.tube/w/ePUvWzN2yYyiRTBTRP48Kj

For this Sunday Kino Night, we’re starting with one of the classics of the New Hollywood era: They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969). Set during the Great Depression, it centers on a sadistic competition for poor people to dance endlessly for a cash prize. Will they survive to the end? I guess we’ll find out. It’s pretty much God Damn America: The Movie, and arguably the magnum opus of director Sydney Pollack (otherwise best-known for Tootsie [1982]). Rave reviews everywhere for this one; it is often considered one of the best films of the 1960s.

After that is one of the highest-rated Brazilian films on Letterboxd, A Dog’s Will (2000), which was ranked #3 on the site’s Top 250 films of all time until a change in methodology last year. It is a fantasy-comedy in the vein of Terry Gilliam about a pair of petty swindlers who roam the Brazilian countryside, meeting strange people and finding themselves in many wacky and odd situations, all the while dealing with their dimming prospects of going to heaven. This is by far the best-known and best-regarded film of director Guel Arraes. Apparently, Brazilians love this movie and consider it a cultural icon. We have not touched much of anything from Brazil so far (Black God, White Devil [1964] is the only one we’ve watched, unless I’m forgetting something), so let’s give this one a whirl.

We’ll start at 9PM EST on Hextube, right here:

https://live.hexbear.net/c/movies

Be there, comrades!

Letterboxd:

• They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?: https://letterboxd.com/film/they-shoot-horses-dont-they/
• A Dog’s Will: https://letterboxd.com/film/a-dogs-will/

Doesthedogdie.com links:

• They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/12332
• A Dog’s Will: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/23391

CWs for They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?:

• Gaslighting.
• Death of horse.
• Discussion of sexual assault. Not depicted.
• Gun violence.
• Someone falls to their death.
• Sad ending.

CWs for A Dog’s Will:

• Death of dog.
• Cheating.
• Spitting.
• Self-harm.
• Homophobic slurs.
• “Sexual content”. Looks pretty tame to me, though.

Links to movies:

• They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?: https://vimeo.com/916526328
• A Dog’s Will: https://vimeo.com/916374090

For this Friday Movie Night, we’re starting off with Gangs of Wasseypur: Part 1 (2012), one of the highest-rated Bollywood movies on Letterboxd. It is the first part (of two) of the story of a young man in 1970s India who pursues revenge against the man who killed his father. As with many Bollyword blockbusters, this movie is a whole bunch of things mashed into one, including gritty gangster violence, over-the-top melodrama, action scenes, broad comedy, and musical numbers. Our last foray into Indian cinema, Nayakan (1987), was a hit on Hextube, and this one is on every list of “movies to watch if you’re new to Bollywood” in existence, so we’re giving it a try. After that is The Circus (1928), as we have, surprisingly, never watched any Charlie Chaplin films, despite having dipped into Buster Keaton’s filmography a few times. The Tramp joins the circus as a handyman, and falls in love with the owner’s daughter; hilarity ensues, including all sorts of animal antics. This is considered one of Chaplin’s best films, so let’s give it a whirl.

We’ll start at 9PM EST on Hextube, right here:

https://live.hexbear.net/c/movies

Be there, comrades!

Letterboxd:

• Gangs of Wasseypur: Part 1: https://letterboxd.com/film/gangs-of-wasseypur-part-1/
• The Circus: https://letterboxd.com/film/the-circus/

Doesthedogdie.com links:

• Gangs of Wasseypur: Part 1: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1954470/parentalguide?ref_=tt_stry_pg
• The Circus: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018773/parentalguide?ref_=tt_stry_pg

CWs for Gangs of Wasseypur: Part 1:

• Nudity.
• Sex scene, but no nudity.
• Prostitution.
• Kissing.
• Blood and gore.
• Gun violence.
• Cutting of flesh.
• Stabbing.
• Beating with blunt instruments.
• Genital trauma (offscreen.)
• Someone is tied up.
• Profanity.
• Smoking.
• Alcohol.
• Drug use.
• Broken bones.
• Dismemberment.
• Dead animals.

CWs for The Circus:

• Slapstick violence.
• Smoking.

Links to movies:

Forthcoming. I have the files, and will upload shortly.

For this Saturday Anime Night, first up is Swan Lake (1981), based on the classic fairy tale and featuring a score straight from Tchaikovsky’s ballet. Get ready for some high melodrama. This is supposed to be a good version, and the track record for these Toei fairy tale films has been great, so let’s check it out. Director is Kimio Yabuki, who also did Puss ‘n Boots (1969), which kicked ass. After that is Stormy Night (2005), from renowned auteur Gisaburo Sugii (Night on the Galactic Railroad). which is about a goat and wolf who become friends. Will their bond overcome their natural enmity? I guess we’ll find out. This one has an awesome aesthetic.

We’ll start at 9PM EST on Hextube, right here: https://live.hexbear.net/c/movies

Be there, comrades!

Letterboxd:

• Swan Lake: https://letterboxd.com/film/swan-lake-1981/
• Stormy Night: https://letterboxd.com/film/stormy-night/

Doesthedogdie.com links:

• Swan Lake: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/1030221
• Stormy Night: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0498465/parentalguide?ref_=tt_stry_pg

CWs for Swan Lake:

• Suicide.
• Character deaths.
• Natural bodies of water.
• Interspecies romance.

CWs for Stormy Night:

• Blood and gore.
• Deaths of animals.
• Death of parent.
• Carnism.

Links to movies:

• Swan Lake: https://vimeo.com/852226260
• Stormy Night: https://vimeo.com/852805736

This is a special Tuesday edition of Anime Night by popular demand, following on from the A-ko 1&2 night we did back in June. It’s the legendary inexplicably-superpowered schoolgirl OVAs Project A-ko 3 (1988) and Project A-ko 4 (1989)! They are pretty much Chicks Rock: The Movies. 3 has been remastered, but 4 will have to settle for a VHS rip.

We’ll start at 9PM EST on Hextube, right here: https://live.hexbear.net/c/movies

Be there, comrades!

Letterboxd:

• Project A-ko 3: https://letterboxd.com/film/project-a-ko-3-cinderella-rhapsody/
• Project A-ko 4: https://letterboxd.com/film/project-a-ko-4-final/

Doesthedogdie.com links:

• Look, I'm just gonna link the page for the first one, since all of them feature similar stuff: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/886553

CWs:

• “Man in a dress” jokes. The aliens look like men who dress as women. The characters barely acknowledge this fact directly, but the depiction is still problematic.
• Bugs.
• Stalking.
• Mention of sexual assault (but no depiction).
• Someone struggles to breathe.
• Kidnapping.
• Bath scene.
• Flashing lights.
• Plane crash.
• Gun violence.
• Nuclear explosion.
• Objectification of female characters.
• Panty shots of high-school-aged girls.

Links to movies:

• Project A-ko 3: https://vimeo.com/852226260
• Project A-ko 4: https://vimeo.com/852805736

For this Saturday Anime Night, first up is Toei’s The Little Mermaid (1975), adapted from the Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale. A mermaid gives up her voice to pursue a human prince. Surely she will live happily ever after, right? I guess we’ll find out. We are inching ever-closer toward seeing every anime feature film released before 1980; there are not that many left. After that is A Letter to Momo (2011), from director Hiroyuki Okiura (Jin-Roh), concerning a preteen girl who befriends a trio of goblins to cope with her dad’s death. Hijinks ensue. Looks pretty cool, and reviews everywhere are great, so let’s give it a whirl.

We’ll start at 9PM EST on Hextube, right here: https://live.hexbear.net/c/movies

Be there, comrades!

Letterboxd:

• The Little Mermaid: https://letterboxd.com/film/hans-christian-andersens-the-little-mermaid/
• A Letter to Momo: https://letterboxd.com/film/a-letter-to-momo/

Doesthedogdie.com links:

• The Little Mermaid: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/11971
• A Letter to Momo: Sorry, nothing on DTDD or IMDB. The movie is rated PG.

CWs for The Little Mermaid:

• Deaths of dogs.
• Nude mermaids throughout the movie, but their chests are drawn in a vague Barbie-doll way whenever their hair doesn’t cover them.
• Suicide.
• Blood.
• Sad ending.
• Death of child.

CWs for A Letter to Momo:

• Death of parent.
• Depression.
• Cartoon violence and mischief.
• Farting.

Links to movies:

• The Little Mermaid: https://vimeo.com/851969806
• A Letter to Momo: https://vimeo.com/851970719

This is a second, special Monday edition of Anime Night by popular demand, following on from the A-ko 1&2 night we did back in June. It’s the legendary inexplicably-superpowered schoolgirl OVAs Project A-ko 3 (1988) and Project A-ko 4 (1989)! They are pretty much Chicks Rock: The Movies. 3 has been remastered, but 4 will have to settle for a VHS rip.

We’ll start at 9PM EST on Hextube, right here: https://live.hexbear.net/c/movies

Be there, comrades!

Letterboxd:

• Project A-ko 3: https://letterboxd.com/film/project-a-ko-3-cinderella-rhapsody/
• Project A-ko 4: https://letterboxd.com/film/project-a-ko-4-final/

Doesthedogdie.com links:

• Look, I'm just gonna link the page for the first one, since all of them feature similar stuff: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/886553

CWs:

• “Man in a dress” jokes. The aliens look like men who dress as women. The characters barely acknowledge this fact directly, but the depiction is still problematic.
• Bugs.
• Stalking.
• Mention of sexual assault (but no depiction).
• Someone struggles to breathe.
• Kidnapping.
• Bath scene.
• Flashing lights.
• Plane crash.
• Gun violence.
• Nuclear explosion.
• Objectification of female characters.
• Panty shots of high-school-aged girls.

Links to movies:

• Project A-ko 3: https://vimeo.com/815920769
• Project A-ko 4: https://vimeo.com/824571386