On Cinematic Pleasure

For our final episode of season 17, before we go on our summer hiatus, we lean into cinematic pleasure. Provoked by both of us admitting some recent struggles with the relentlessness of film culture, the seeming tyranny of "so much stuff" and the some of the less edifying aspects of film discourse, we think through the hierarchies that are often attached to certain types of pleasure. Dario quotes from an academic article by Rutsky and Wyatt - Serious Pleasures: Cinematic Pleasure and the notion of Fun - which makes pleasure distinct from notions such as joy, fun, distraction and escapism. A key question question arises through the discussion: is a 'pure' form of pleasure beyond a context of either aesthetic intention or ideological meaning, even possible, when "enjoying" a film? As this is the last episode of the season, we also share some summer recommendations for you to dive into with different registers of filmic pleasure in mind.

Neil's Fun Times

The Big Lebowski 

Pacific Rim

Day of the Outlaw

Odds Against Tomorrow

Stop Making Sense

Jarmusch Double Bill of Down By Law/ Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai

Le Samourai

Branded to Kill

Anything by Joe Dante (The Burbs, Matinee, Gremlins)

Quiz Show

Inherent Vice

Dario's delights

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

The Hard Way

A Few Good Men

Training Day

Nightcrawler

Thelma and Louise

True Lies

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

Paterson

All is Forgiven

Cold War

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Music Credits:

‘Theme from The Cinematologists’

Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing