[John Riley]

I was just informed FilmStruck is closing down. I’m bummed.

[James Brancheau]

Sorry to hear that, John. Yeah, I'd like to have easy access to more movies, especially after this thread. And a way to somehow get dual subtitles for foreign films. It is a problem- really limits what I can watch... Another movie that crossed my mind is Altered States. Some of the effects are corny, but I still really love the central idea of the movie and William Hurt, and others, had good performances.

[Jayne Osborn]

OMG. I saw Bohemian Rhapsody this evening and will definitely watch it more times...

The film is just MARVELLOUS; it's left me stunned with admiration for the cast, especially as Rami Malek and Joseph Mazzello are American; their English accents were perfect, as were the performances of all the guys playing Queen.

Jayne

[Brian Watson]

Originally Posted by R. Nemo Hill

One of my all time favorite movies is Elisa, Vida Mia, an early film by the great Carlos Saura starring Geraldine Chaplin.

I've only seen this on VHS, long time ago. It might interest you that Elisa, vida mia (Elisa, My Life, Saura, 1976) makes up a triptych of sorts with El espiritu de la colmena (The Spirit of the Beehive, Erice, 1973) and Cria cuervos (Raise Ravens, Saura, 1975).

I don't know the details, but apparently the premise of Elisa, vida mia, was at one point a prologue to Spirit of the Beehive. Then it split into the two films by different directors, Saura and Erice, sharing a common producer, Querejeta.

The Spirit of the Beehive stars the incredible five-year-old Ana Torrent. There's a brief flashback to Elisa's childhood in Elisa, vida mia, wherein the young Elisa is played by the same Ana Torrent, and Chaplin, elsewhere playing the elder Elisa, now plays Elisa's mother.

Cria cuervos uses a similar devise more extensively, in reverse. Torrent plays the child Ana, Chaplin her mother -- and the grownup Ana in a series of flashforwards.

Cria cuervos is one of my all-time favourites, and Spirit of the Beehive has been described as "the undisputed masterpiece of Spanish cinema".

[Roger Slater]

Jayne, it's nice to hear of American actors who can do perfect English accents, since there are so many English actors who can do perfect American accents and it's always amazed me. Still, I'm going to pass on the movie as I fear that I would otherwise be forced to listen to Bohemian Rhapsody being performed.

[R. Nemo Hill]

Yup, yup, and yup.

Spirit Of The Beehive is also one of my favorites. Though I didn't know of the original consciously proposed connection. I just intuited it. And Cria is right up there.

Ana Torrent went on to make movies as an adult, though none as sublime as those when she was a child. Elisa is not available on DVD though I did find a very bad VHS copy online which I now own. I saw it repeatedly in theatres back in the heyday of vintage movies houses in San Francisco. And I've seen a couple of later films by Victor Erice as well, though none compared to Beehive.

Nemo

[Roger Slater]

I found Elisa online, which can be played from your computer here. I watched the first several minutes and it seems to be a good copy with good subtitles. It says you can also download it for free. And Amazon is selling DVD version for $30 or so.

[R. Nemo Hill]

Thanks!
But the DVD is non-USA format.

N

[Mark McDonnell]

Why has Bodhi Dharma left for the East?

is on YouTube. I'm going to dive in and find out.

https://youtu.be/mvyqPHvhhwc

[R. S. Gwynn]

Let me recommend a "little" movie from several years ago that didn't get a lot of notice: Blue Valentine, with Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. It has a bit of Cassavetes's style.

I haven't seen any of the director's other films, but I see that he has several forthcoming.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1120985/

I am at the point where I shudder at CGI, though Dunkirk could have used some to be sure.

I thought that Casey Affleck deserved an Oscar nomination for A Ghost Story, which has been mentioned above, but I understand that some scenes used a stand-in.