I saw The Kitchen last night. Way grittier than I expected but relatively satisfying as these things go.

I'm reposting this from FB, because some of the folks who post here aren't on FB:

What movies do you find visually striking? For whatever definition of "visually striking" you care to use (because, on my list, some are really gorgeous, and some are just...striking, but not gorgeous). My initial list:

*The Talented Mr. Ripley
*Moulin Rouge
*Far From Heaven
*Sin City (the 2005 one; I didn't see the 2014 one)
*Fido (a really excellent zombie movie that's not scary or gross and is SO worth seeing) (seriously)

I'm amused that 3 of these are set in the 1950s, which I guess was a cinematically gorgeous decade?

Then msbelle added The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, which -- definitely striking!

The first one that comes to mind - possibly because Ryan and I are currently watching it - is Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse.

Also The Grand Budapest Hotel, I think.

The first one that comes to mind - possibly because Ryan and I are currently watching it - is Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse.

Oh, HELL yes. I can't believe I forgot that one!

I am very excited for Knives Out. Also for Parasite and JoJo Rabbit, so Vonnie will be living my dream.

:)) Can't wait for the full schedule to come out so that I can agonize over what to pick for which slot!! It is painful AND great.

What movies do you find visually striking

Blade Runner, both the original and follow-up. All of Guillermo del Toro films but especially Pan's Labyrinth. In the Mood for Love (pretty much all Wong Kar Wai really). Zhang Yimou and his color poetry, Hero in particular. More recently, Kogonada's Columbus, which is full of static, long shots, which gives it a lovely, contemplative stillness (one of my favourite films in recent years and steaming on Hulu!)

What movies do you find visually striking? For whatever definition of "visually striking" you care to use (because, on my list, some are really gorgeous, and some are just...striking, but not gorgeous).

Almost anything technicolor.
Most film noir.
Almost anything by Lubitsch.
Anything by Powell & Pressburger.

In terms of more modern films:
Anything filmed by Roger Deakins, but especially The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Skyfall.

Jeunet & Caro's first two feature films and Jeunet's Amélie.

Stylized action with interesting framing. John Wick immediately comes to mind, but Atomic Blonde was even more striking on that score. Jeremy Saulnier's films Blue Ruin and Green Room are the most beautiful grim films you'll ever see. Also, Coralie Fargeat's Revenge.

Other films from the last few years that I'd recommend on cinematography and visuals alone include Annihilation; The Ballad of Buster Scruggs; Blade Runner 2049; Cold War; Columbus; The Florida Project; A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night; The Handmaiden; The Hateful Eight; Ida; Les Innocentes; Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter; Lady Macbeth; The Light Between Oceans; The Love Witch; Mad Max: Fury Road; Mudbound; Paddington 2 (for the pop-up book animation alone but overall a gorgeous film); Phantom Thread; Roma; Sunset Song.

Some of these are striking. Most are gorgeous. Mostly I like pretty, pretty pictures, but if the films themselves don't match up I find they don't stick with me. So there are very few films on this list I didn't like overall.

ETA: Yes, Vonnie, anything by Zhang Yimou!

Powell and Pressburger! YES YES. Black Narcissus and Red Shoes are probably the most striking, but really all of their films look so amazing. GOSH I LOVE THEM *gibbers in excitement*

Yes, Vonnie, anything by Zhang Yimou!

Did you have the chance to catch his latest, Shadow? I don't think the story is that memorable (blah blah court intrigue, interspersed with badass visually inventive martial art-fu) but it's one of the most extraordinary-looking films I've ever seen. There are colours, yes, but everything is deliberately set up in shades of grey so that every frame looks like a Chinese ink painting. Trailer: [link]

Powell and Pressburger! YES YES. Black Narcissus and Red Shes are probably the most striking, but really all of their films look so amazing. GOSH I LOVE THEM *gibbers in excitement*

Right? I was so very excited when I saw the Criterion Channel add a Powell and Pressburger collection to their line-up that I immediately began to wonder which I should watch first! And then I had to remind myself that I owned most of them and could actually WATCH THEM AT ANY TIME.

What movies do you find visually striking?

Pacific Rim and Sleepy Hollow come to my mind.

Crimson Peak

Beetlejuice

Coppola's Dracula

Midsommar