S/D: weird modern films that represent the bizarre microgenre (that i maybe invented) that embraces retro tech (think The American Astronaut, The Call of Cthulu)

Not looking for stuff that is just filmed in black and white, or moments in otherwise modern looking movies, but stuff where there is a conscious effort to use discarded film technology, and often to flaunt it (admittedly, sometimes due to $$$ constraints). The two I listed in the thread title are pretty brazen, but other stuff that sort of fits the bill:

Shadow of the Vampire
The Saddest Music In The World (kinda)
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra (caveat: the faux-kitsch of this kind of disqualifies it, but whatever)

NOTE: unless you really feel strongly about it and are willing to totally derail the conversation, maybe leave Grindhouse out of the discussion maybe? Sure it sorta fits, but its all tarantino-tainted and we know how that ends up

would really appreciate any heads up on other stuff that works here, sort of on a kick for this sort of stuff right now

almost all of Guy Maddin's films do this

oh and if there is already a thread or two that addresses this, plz feel free to shame me and point me in their direction

xpost: oh yeah, ive got them bumped to the top of my netflix queue because of a residual memory of seeing them a long time ago in lol college

they're really great. Careful is really great, as is the one with Shelly Duvall, the title of which I can't remember right now.

does City of Lost Children count? or does it have to be retro tech

well see thats the trick, because a bunch of the "Call of Cthulu" stuff is apparently done with green screen, but I wouldn't have known that until I watched the extras on the DVD, so IDK? my heart says no wrt to City of Lost Children (which is fantastic, don't get me wrong) but maybe because it seemed so clearly animation informed that that outweighed this influence maybe?

to be fair I'd have to watch it again to really be sure, I'm working off of memory here

I just remembered reading that in filming City of Lost Children, Jeunet painted all the actor's faces white and then shifted the white balance until they become flesh colored again on film - thus giving the film its characteristic look..

Ok I didn't know that, so it def fits in some ways. Having a similar problem w/ "bram stokers Dracula" because there's a bunch of mirror tricks and dissolves that fit (some of Burton's stuff too) but the feel kind of isn't there somehow?

Also biased because I hate that Dracula movie

The Illusionist, which I thought was mostly a stupid, pointless movie, uses some pretty sweet understated silent movie tricks - iris dissolves and such iirc - in its opening sequences.

haha not sure i can bring myself to watch that again, but now i am curious. most of my memories of it are angry memories

Just watch the first 15 minutes, that was the least annoying bit.

had a look at the trailers for some of the movies mentioned in the original post and I think I kinda 'get' the idea better; the stuff I'm thinking of is more wildly processed to get a 'certain look' rather than being shot with a straight face on old movie equipment

anyway, couldn't help but think of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, which it seems actually got decent reviews! gonna have to rent it

I'm trying to remember if there was any of this in "Forgotten Silver"

some googling reveals that "A Polish Vampire in Burbank" was shot on Super 8; judging by the clip I found it doesn't look too good haha

Gondry's The Science Of Sleep comes to mind.

Also The Good German. If memory serves, the whole thing was filmed with vintage lenses, staging, lighting, and a 1.33:1 aspect.

John Baumgartner's War Story (2001)

Buffalo '66 was shot on 35mm Reversal film which gives it that beautiful dreamlike quality; iirc, Vincent Gallo had to get Kodak to specially manufacture the stock for him because they no longer made it.

what an asshole

ahhahahah

Primer has this "made for $7000" mythology. Shot on Super 16 for budget reasons, but they turned a lot of the low-budget stuff into production design strengths, especially with sound.

otm.

love lost skeleton of cadavra

independencia looks like it will qualify (filmed with "early talkies technology" according to the nyt, including painted backdrops, etc)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5rVvv9s8z4

how is this not steempunk for movies

It is. Especially if The Call of Cthulhu is a reference point. Great movie, but steampunk is definitely a fair description.

the completely loopy "La Antena" from 2007

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWtWib9k7hs

I'm not sure if this quite counts as what you're looking for but Peter Tscherkassky's Cinemsascope trilogy is 3 really amazing short films where he takes old film from other movies and meticulously edits the shit out of them (non-digitally) to create some spooky ambient shit. It ends up feeling like something kinda like a film equivalent of Fennesz or Philip Jeck and is very indebted to Man Ray's old dadaist cutup style. Here's one of them on youtube, but YT's compression doesn't even start to do these films justice. They're all full of really gorgeous and visceral tiny details.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTarJ0Op7W8

also, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0jXCxOjZqY

thanks for all the tips, excited to check them out once i am not at work!

also, i dont think this really is all that steempunky, any more than using analog gear for recording is. it isnt like these dudes are trying to build some alt future retro universe vibe, theyre just using old tools for a desired effect. and cheapness obv. the films im thinking of are making a conscious decision to reflect their subject matter in the methods they used - if someone made a tech-thriller this way then i could see a steempunk thing going on, but none of this really seems to fit idk

sad you don't like the coppola dracula!

i should prob give it another shot - i was watching a doc on vampire movie history and they talked a lot about the fact that it gave coppola the chance to basically fuck around with all these tricks that would never really work in his standard fare and that he kinda went hog wild, which i recall, but i think i was annoyed by at the time. also, iirc keanu is in it which was pretty much an instant dealbreaker for me for a good stretch of time.

it's a pretty stupid movie but it's gorgeous to look at.

it's a pretty, stupid movie

i think harker is supposed to be lame tho!

Who is that filmmaker that NIN ripped off for their "closer" video?

I thought he was ripping off photographer Joel Peter Witkin...

according to Wikipedia, Romanek drew on the Brothers Quay film 'street of Crocodiles' for the stop motion animation look and feel. Which I hadn't ever seen or heard of and now will have to investigate. Loved that video.

he didn't make any movies? shame...

Fetchboy, thanks for those short films, they are gorgeous!

i guess if you consider stop-motion 'retro' nearly all the Quays and Jan Svankmajer stuff might count.

I'm a big Maddin fan, but the one w/ Shelley Duvall is a chore to watch.

svankmajer stuff is pretty insane, but it feels pretty modern outside of the stop motion - every time i finish a svankmajer film i spend a few days trying to decide if i hated it or not

Does Shadow of the Vampire fit in here?

damn, of course in the first post. i gotta take a break here.

Sarahel so otm

I mean making Buffalo 66 at ALL was an asshole move, but going to those lengths... if only he was the kinda guy he makes out he is, he might've od'ed by now

Begotten. It's by the Shadow of the Vampire guy, only way way way more purposefully art-damaged.

And what about something like James and the Giant Peach? Seems like a direct nod to the old Rudolph and Frost specials, right?

Frosty

LOL at the images I was given by reading about James & the Giant peach immediately after begotten.

NP - LBI

I try to be well-rounded :)