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Movies You've Seen Recently | June 2020
- Thread starter Divius
- Start date
My dad and I have been watching some movies on Criterion Channel during lockdown, mostly trying to catch up on films widely considered classics that neither of us had seen before. For the most part, it's been a huge success—I've loved almost every movie we've checked out. I've written up some brief thoughts on a few below.
The Red Shoes 10/10: A recurring theme in the films we've been watching has been that many feel full decades ahead of their time visually, and The Red Shoes is the most mindblowing example of this. That this was made in 1948 is unbelievable. On a technical level, this feels far beyond other movies of that era, often looking more like a film from the mid-to-late 60s. The extended dance performance halfway through the movie is not only amazing in terms of sheer spectacle, but in the tug-of-war story it tells purely visually, at times reminding you what you're seeing are the characters putting on a staged performance before pulling you in the opposite direction, making you wonder if Victoria and company are literally experiencing their show's haunting narrative.
This movie also feels like a precursor to a lot of Paul Thomas Anderson's movies. I make the connection not only in terms of the intricacies and extravagance of its production, but in the how its characters are
Sansho the Bailiff 10/10: I can't help but compare Mizoguchi's Sansho to Ugetsu, which came out just a year before. Both are grim, adult fairy tales. Both are also beautifully shot and refrain from cynicism despite their darkness. There's always hope in these stories, always opportunities for the characters to learn and better themselves. I'd say I prefer Ugetsu because it leans more into the story's inherent surreality, but Sansho is a masterpiece in its own right.
Stagecoach 7/10: I typically prefer spaghetti westerns to American productions, but I liked this one quite a bit. Each of our ragtag crew was given a good amount of screen time, and though most are ultimately pretty two-dimensional, they become more than the sum of their parts in how they reflect the clash of civilized and frontier culture as the Wild West era drew to a close. (Sidenote: it wouldn't surprise me if Dan Houser took major cues from this film in writing the first Red Dead Redemption). According to the Criterion description, this was John Wayne's first starring role, and while I've never been a John Wayne fan, it's interesting to watch him command the screen with a natural charisma before he wound up a caricature of himself.
Ford's direction of the action here also feels ahead of its time, with some effective chase sequences and surprisingly abrupt violence.
Breathless N/A: I think I need to read about this movie and revisit it in a few months before I can be sure of how I feel about it. There's a lot of enjoyable swagger to the opening of the film, and the ending is really affecting (and disturbing) in
The middle stretch—including the extended convo in Patricia's bedroom, as well as her interview with Parvulesco—seem to hinge around social and artistic critiques that aren't registering for me as someone who's neither French nor of that era. I do, however, appreciate the simplicity and pithiness of the dialogue. As a rusty French-speaker, I was able to understand most of what was said without needing to glance at subtitles, which is always a plus.
The Big Heat - 5/10: This is the only real disappointment of the batch of films we've checked out so far. Critical response to this movie is overwhelmingly positive, but I don't see anything remarkable or forward-thinking here at all. Beyond the fact that it was directed by Fritz Lang, I'm surprised this is even part of the Criterion Collection. This is just a pretty typical noir/revenge story, complete with a murdered wife and a boringly terse rogue detective played by Glenn Ford. The only thing occasionally elevating the proceedings beyond mediocrity is Gloria Grahame's great performance as Debby Marsh, a character who believably goes from cheerful and happy-go-lucky to an even more brutal conduit for revenge than our protagonist. Her arc deserved a movie of its own; it'd be better than what we got here.
We've also watched Andrei Rublev, Battle of Algiers, Anatomy of a Murder, Battleship Potemkin, and Sword of Doom. I haven't written up my thoughts on those yet, but I'll post here again once I have. Next in our queue is Aguirre: The Wrath of God. If anyone has any Criterion Channel recommendations, let me know—we're trying to keep things to movies from the mid-70s and before.
The Red Shoes 10/10: A recurring theme in the films we've been watching has been that many feel full decades ahead of their time visually, and The Red Shoes is the most mindblowing example of this. That this was made in 1948 is unbelievable. On a technical level, this feels far beyond other movies of that era, often looking more like a film from the mid-to-late 60s. The extended dance performance halfway through the movie is not only amazing in terms of sheer spectacle, but in the tug-of-war story it tells purely visually, at times reminding you what you're seeing are the characters putting on a staged performance before pulling you in the opposite direction, making you wonder if Victoria and company are literally experiencing their show's haunting narrative.
This movie also feels like a precursor to a lot of Paul Thomas Anderson's movies. I make the connection not only in terms of the intricacies and extravagance of its production, but in the how its characters are
co-dependent in a way that at first seems mutually beneficial, but becomes increasingly toxic and dangerous.
Sansho the Bailiff 10/10: I can't help but compare Mizoguchi's Sansho to Ugetsu, which came out just a year before. Both are grim, adult fairy tales. Both are also beautifully shot and refrain from cynicism despite their darkness. There's always hope in these stories, always opportunities for the characters to learn and better themselves. I'd say I prefer Ugetsu because it leans more into the story's inherent surreality, but Sansho is a masterpiece in its own right.
Stagecoach 7/10: I typically prefer spaghetti westerns to American productions, but I liked this one quite a bit. Each of our ragtag crew was given a good amount of screen time, and though most are ultimately pretty two-dimensional, they become more than the sum of their parts in how they reflect the clash of civilized and frontier culture as the Wild West era drew to a close. (Sidenote: it wouldn't surprise me if Dan Houser took major cues from this film in writing the first Red Dead Redemption). According to the Criterion description, this was John Wayne's first starring role, and while I've never been a John Wayne fan, it's interesting to watch him command the screen with a natural charisma before he wound up a caricature of himself.
Ford's direction of the action here also feels ahead of its time, with some effective chase sequences and surprisingly abrupt violence.
Breathless N/A: I think I need to read about this movie and revisit it in a few months before I can be sure of how I feel about it. There's a lot of enjoyable swagger to the opening of the film, and the ending is really affecting (and disturbing) in
how casually its protagonists destroy one another.
The Big Heat - 5/10: This is the only real disappointment of the batch of films we've checked out so far. Critical response to this movie is overwhelmingly positive, but I don't see anything remarkable or forward-thinking here at all. Beyond the fact that it was directed by Fritz Lang, I'm surprised this is even part of the Criterion Collection. This is just a pretty typical noir/revenge story, complete with a murdered wife and a boringly terse rogue detective played by Glenn Ford. The only thing occasionally elevating the proceedings beyond mediocrity is Gloria Grahame's great performance as Debby Marsh, a character who believably goes from cheerful and happy-go-lucky to an even more brutal conduit for revenge than our protagonist. Her arc deserved a movie of its own; it'd be better than what we got here.
We've also watched Andrei Rublev, Battle of Algiers, Anatomy of a Murder, Battleship Potemkin, and Sword of Doom. I haven't written up my thoughts on those yet, but I'll post here again once I have. Next in our queue is Aguirre: The Wrath of God. If anyone has any Criterion Channel recommendations, let me know—we're trying to keep things to movies from the mid-70s and before.
Kiki's Delivery Service
I'm not usually one to ask for TV adaptations of beloved movies, but if ever there was one that deserved to be a series, it's this. I could spend hours upon hours in this universe, just tagging along for the ride. Doesn't reach the emotional highs of Ghibli's best, but this is essentially a perfect film.
Mo' Better Blues
Nobody filters orange light through windows quite like Ernest Dickerson. And golly, I think that Denzel kid might just be a star.
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
As unique a police procedural as I've seen, in that it really has no interest in the traditional investigative playbook, utilizing a fairly straightforward murder case as grounds for an intimate character study of three men seeped in the Turkish criminal justice system—a police commissioner, a doctor, and a prosecutor. The film begins at night, as three cars snake through a series of dark, barren roads in search of a corpse, their headlights the only source of light for miles. Needless to say, it's a very gripping and atmospheric opening, reminiscent of countless genre works, especially those of David Fincher (and also of Kiarostami, the maestro of car rides), but where other directors zig, Ceylan zags. There is no big mystery afoot, the perpetrators are already in custody, in fact they are accompanying the officers; the only issue is the location of the corpse, which they can't seem to remember because of drinking too much. So Ceylan guides us from one possible location to the next at an assured but measured pace, his hand rarely less than perfect, while the characters talk about mundane topics like yogurt, prostate issues, their families, their jobs—real life stuff, as far removed from crime as possible. He deliberately immerses you in the long, thankless hours of a night on the job, focusing on unexciting downtime rather than the twists and turns we are accustomed to seeing in stories like this. As such, I would dub this an anti-procedural. But the dialogue is rife with enough humorous anecdotes and pointed observations that it never feels boring. These are people who know each other, with established relationships, and it feels all the more real and engaging for it. Eventually, at around the hour and a half mark, the corpse is finally located, as the movie trades night for day, but not before a pit stop at a local village for some dinner and a little R&R. This section has by far the most astonishing moment for me, a scene of such purity and magic I was legit taken aback. I am of course talking about the part where the mayor's daughter brings out a platter of tea in the midst of a blackout, her stunning (and sad) visage illuminated by a single lamp. One of those scenes that's almost unfair in how masterfully conceived it is.
The rest of the picture is damn good as well.
I'm not usually one to ask for TV adaptations of beloved movies, but if ever there was one that deserved to be a series, it's this. I could spend hours upon hours in this universe, just tagging along for the ride. Doesn't reach the emotional highs of Ghibli's best, but this is essentially a perfect film.
Mo' Better Blues
Nobody filters orange light through windows quite like Ernest Dickerson. And golly, I think that Denzel kid might just be a star.
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
As unique a police procedural as I've seen, in that it really has no interest in the traditional investigative playbook, utilizing a fairly straightforward murder case as grounds for an intimate character study of three men seeped in the Turkish criminal justice system—a police commissioner, a doctor, and a prosecutor. The film begins at night, as three cars snake through a series of dark, barren roads in search of a corpse, their headlights the only source of light for miles. Needless to say, it's a very gripping and atmospheric opening, reminiscent of countless genre works, especially those of David Fincher (and also of Kiarostami, the maestro of car rides), but where other directors zig, Ceylan zags. There is no big mystery afoot, the perpetrators are already in custody, in fact they are accompanying the officers; the only issue is the location of the corpse, which they can't seem to remember because of drinking too much. So Ceylan guides us from one possible location to the next at an assured but measured pace, his hand rarely less than perfect, while the characters talk about mundane topics like yogurt, prostate issues, their families, their jobs—real life stuff, as far removed from crime as possible. He deliberately immerses you in the long, thankless hours of a night on the job, focusing on unexciting downtime rather than the twists and turns we are accustomed to seeing in stories like this. As such, I would dub this an anti-procedural. But the dialogue is rife with enough humorous anecdotes and pointed observations that it never feels boring. These are people who know each other, with established relationships, and it feels all the more real and engaging for it. Eventually, at around the hour and a half mark, the corpse is finally located, as the movie trades night for day, but not before a pit stop at a local village for some dinner and a little R&R. This section has by far the most astonishing moment for me, a scene of such purity and magic I was legit taken aback. I am of course talking about the part where the mayor's daughter brings out a platter of tea in the midst of a blackout, her stunning (and sad) visage illuminated by a single lamp. One of those scenes that's almost unfair in how masterfully conceived it is.
The rest of the picture is damn good as well.
Da 5 Bloods (2020): If ever there was a cultural moment tailor-made for the release of a new Spike Lee film, we're living it right now. Da 5 Bloods was advertised as Lee's contribution to the Vietnam War film canon, in dialogue with the likes of Apocalypse Now and Rambo, but it ends up being most directly a riff on The Treasure of Sierra Madre -- though Lee also makes the point that black soldiers apparently comprised about a third of US forces in Vietnam, something you'd certainly never guess from watching most films set there. As with a lot of his films, it's somewhat scattershot (and in this case, definitely too long), with a number of elements that are more interesting in concept than execution. But he's a vital, interesting filmmaker, and there's any number of really compelling sequences and characters here. Delroy Lindo walks away with the film, acting-wise.
Funny People (2009): While waiting for Judd Apatow's newest comedian star vehicle to become available to watch at a price more commensurate to my immediate interest level, I decided to check out instead one of his older films that I hadn't seen before. This one is kind of fascinating in retrospect going off the release date because it's got a number of actors who were literally right on the cusp of rising to greater prominence, including two impending Parks and Rec series regulars. Structurally this feels like Apatow essentially strung two films together when it might have been more effective if he'd just made one or the other. But Sandler and Rogen are both really good here. And this made me realize I hadn't seen Eric Bana in anything in a while.
365 Days (2020): When I heard reports a few months ago about a Polish Fifty Shades of Grey knockoff that brought the sexual politics of Rudolph Valentino's The Sheik into the modern era, needless to say I was amused; when it showed up on Netflix, I felt like watching something that was obviously not going to have any real artistic merit. Not that erotic thrillers, etc. can't be art, but there's none to be found here; instead you have really terrible film and music editing, and an approach to consent borrowed from an old bodice ripper novel of a sort that I figured had been mostly relegated to AO3 fanfic. Not that there's anything wrong with enjoying that as a literary kink, of course, but it's always jarring to see that translated to film with actors. Also, commits the egregious sin of ending on a cliffhanger.
Funny People (2009): While waiting for Judd Apatow's newest comedian star vehicle to become available to watch at a price more commensurate to my immediate interest level, I decided to check out instead one of his older films that I hadn't seen before. This one is kind of fascinating in retrospect going off the release date because it's got a number of actors who were literally right on the cusp of rising to greater prominence, including two impending Parks and Rec series regulars. Structurally this feels like Apatow essentially strung two films together when it might have been more effective if he'd just made one or the other. But Sandler and Rogen are both really good here. And this made me realize I hadn't seen Eric Bana in anything in a while.
365 Days (2020): When I heard reports a few months ago about a Polish Fifty Shades of Grey knockoff that brought the sexual politics of Rudolph Valentino's The Sheik into the modern era, needless to say I was amused; when it showed up on Netflix, I felt like watching something that was obviously not going to have any real artistic merit. Not that erotic thrillers, etc. can't be art, but there's none to be found here; instead you have really terrible film and music editing, and an approach to consent borrowed from an old bodice ripper novel of a sort that I figured had been mostly relegated to AO3 fanfic. Not that there's anything wrong with enjoying that as a literary kink, of course, but it's always jarring to see that translated to film with actors. Also, commits the egregious sin of ending on a cliffhanger.
Diamonds Are Forever (1971) **1/2 / *****
The Vegas strip car chase is extremely cool, and Shirley Bassey's theme is the best Bond song since...Shirley Bassey's previous theme for Goldfinger. Otherwise a mediocre and messy affair that gets worse and worse as it goes on, with very little thought put into it. Take the weirdo bagmen Kidd and Wint, at first they're cooly competent and unsettlingly off. Gradually the film turns them into idiots, and also they're gay and that is very funny and strange apparently (?). Similar arc for Tiffany Case. At first she's catty and clever, two steps ahead of everyone and eager to let everyone know that. In a blink of an eye she becomes a far less interesting bikini-clad ditz. Par for the course for Bond girls perhaps yet made dissatisfying all over by setting the bar higher to start.
There's a third character following this pattern of hypercompetent and intriguing to hollow bore: Blofeld. This Blofeld sucks! He commits the most egregious examples of a villain neglecting to kill Bond. He captures Bond and can do whatever he want. Hey, if he wanted to hang him from a slowly-fraying rope over a piranha tank I'd go along for the ride, that's the kind of thing I'm watching these for, not the logical choice to just put a bullet in 007's head and be done with it. Instead his solution is to gas him and drop him in a segment of pipeline that has an escape hatch. I could escape that. And then Blofeld is defeated by a sitcom device of "Oh no I mixed up the tapes!" and being swung around in a dippy looking submarine like he's on an amusement part ride. Quite undignified.
John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns (2005) *1/2 / *****
A minor character says early on that when you see cigarette burns in a movie you know something is about to happen. This...is false? I mean flatly false. Given they happen at reel changes, a cigarette burn more commonly accompanies a lull. A change in angle or even scene, after which some reestablishment work is needed to get to any something.
Anyway don't let anyone fool you, this is purely for auteurist completists and it largely sucks. Even ardent defenders will let you know this: Norman Reedus's performance is garbage. Sincerely one of the worst lead performances I've seen in any moving image work in a long time. His demeanor, which Carpenter in a DVD feature complimentarily calls "muted" or some such, just about undoes the film right off the bat. This isn't a spoiler because it happens in the first five minutes, but as proof of the existence of a legendarily sinister film the mysterious benefactor played by Udo Kier leads him to a room where chained on a turntable slouches a literal fucking angel. This should be shocking not merely for their ghastly appearance and the rough open scar tissue protruding from their back where wings, now severed, used to be. It should also be shocking because it's proof of angels. Presented in front of Norman Reedus is unassailable proof of the existence of angels and demons right out of Abrahamic scripture, of the existence of a heaven and a hell and a God, and it's rotating with a spotlight on it like a brand new appliance at the fucking mall. Reedus has zero reaction. Not a muted reaction where he's swallowing his shock, not a guarded fascination. Nil. Nothing. It is baffling, and immediately lends the impression that the actors don't give a shit about this movie and Carpenter must not either so why in the world should the audience.
That inexplicable moment sets the tone. Reedus is wholly unequipped to sell any sort of maddening obsession with the cursed film at the center of all of this. None of what the psychos who have scraps of information on it say is remotely lucid. The writers pepper the dialogue with references to like Pauline Kael and Argento or whatever, the kind of thing I would have done a decade ago if I were setting out to write a referential screenplay and wanted to prove my cred. Even as a teenager I'd've moved that script to trash though and somehow these adults were shameless enough to push it through.
That could be bearable if the script had an iota of momentum otherwise. What we get is a bloodless (maybe not literally but certainly figuratively) slog until the finale. Throughout Carpenter does his best to prove the early suspicious that he plain does not give a shit and is just filming with the most rudimentary and simplistic setups possible—zero sense of legitimate visual economy or precision in framing and movement—so he can go home and smoke weed and play DOOM with his son (whose score, by the by, is pretty good). Which, go off dude I would too. At that finale one or two gonzo moments instill a moment of pause: is this film actually interesting? Was there a something there in the preceding 55 minutes? Then the movie abruptly clunks to an end and you get your answer.
Josie and the Pussycats (2001) [rewatch] ****1/2 / *****
What's that old aphorism—a pessimist is an optimist with experience? This can be taken to mean that once you've had some experience in the cold, uncaring, vicious world you wake up and become a pessimist, never to go back. Oftentimes I'd agree—except I know myself and know that what this really means is that I'm an optimist safeguarding with pessimism, and I'd give anything to return to optimism and let it take me over.
That's why I adore Josie and the Pussycats, or Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, or—fuck it, nobody probably expected to see these side by side—Charlie Chaplin films. These are movies about characters whose utter naivety and unfettered optimism take them on a journey that tests that optimism and finally proves it right. These characters find lifelong love and artistic success and in some cases save the entire world from destruction and tyranny, all while remaining simple-minded and even infantile. Their purity of being is infectious and giddying and put forward as an ultimate ideal.
In Josie and the Pussycats the girls' idealism is challenged by a megacorporation brainwashing teenage listeners into endless consumerism via subliminal messaging, planting messages that the new color is green, the new soda is Fresca, the new sandwich is Subway. It's a pretty straightforward representation of how those at the top wish they could get pure capitalism to function: perpetual churn and demographics that will buy what, where, and when the data expects them to (or the data tells them to). Where the satire gets truly bold is when it becomes clear that this isn't being done via the most popular products and media. Everything is infected. The culture is controlling you, and the counterculture you believe sprung up to resist the culture is also controlling you. No choice you make is yours, and whether the stripes you wear are that of the culture or counterculture you are trapped in the monoculture. "One holistic system of systems. One vast and immane, interwoven, interacting, multi-varied, multinational dominion of dollars."
Josie and Valerie and Melody escape this system and smash the monoculture to shards. Get bent, Ned Beatty. (Okay—they don't take down the government, who are shown to be supportive of the evil plans. But the government is also shown to have zero actual conviction and to technically still be beholden to the people in the end, so I'm still giving the girls the win.) And they do it by being kind and true to each other, by refusing to give up on each other or allowing their guileless ideals to be overrun and dominated by the clothes and images and food and cars and music that assault them from every angle. I could see either their exaggerated, genuine goodness or the corporate villain's comical evil being grating, but they cancel each other out in precisely the right way. The satire retains maximal bite, yet minute-to-minute you can simply crack up at any dodo-brained non sequitur from Melody or flustered faux pas from Josie or wry comeback from Valerie. Or you can jam along to the truly awesome grungy power pop soundtrack. I have had "Three Small Words" stuck in my head since I saw this years and years ago. Or, and best of all, you can bask in the deep, complicated-but-simple, overwhelmingly loving relationship between the three bandmates.
Funnily enough I think I was introduced to this in the same milieu as a lot of its cult following: girls' sleepovers. I saw plenty of "girly" movies in that setting, though you may notice I am male. Usually this would be while staying with my aunt and cousins, where my cousin-who-is-basically-my-sister would often pick the movie. (I have seen every single Adventure of Mary Kate and Ashley.) I have a vivid memory of watching Josie and the Pussycats while staying at the Rometty's for a night. They were neighbors we knew somewhat well, but due to a PTA raffle or something they were watching my brothers and I overnight while my parents had fun downtown. The Rometty girl my age must have put this on. Being a dumb 12-year-old boy, unable to consume anything girly for fear of ridicule or to foresee that I'd likely have a crush on this very girl sometime over the next 5 years and should probably at the very least feign interest in what she was sharing with me, my reaction must have been mildly nonplussed at best or actively derisive at worst. But I've thought about this movie a lot in the fifteen/sixteen-ish years since I first saw it, and suspected it contained greatness I wasn't ready for at the time. I am exuberant to be proven right—sometimes optimism pays off.
The Vegas strip car chase is extremely cool, and Shirley Bassey's theme is the best Bond song since...Shirley Bassey's previous theme for Goldfinger. Otherwise a mediocre and messy affair that gets worse and worse as it goes on, with very little thought put into it. Take the weirdo bagmen Kidd and Wint, at first they're cooly competent and unsettlingly off. Gradually the film turns them into idiots, and also they're gay and that is very funny and strange apparently (?). Similar arc for Tiffany Case. At first she's catty and clever, two steps ahead of everyone and eager to let everyone know that. In a blink of an eye she becomes a far less interesting bikini-clad ditz. Par for the course for Bond girls perhaps yet made dissatisfying all over by setting the bar higher to start.
There's a third character following this pattern of hypercompetent and intriguing to hollow bore: Blofeld. This Blofeld sucks! He commits the most egregious examples of a villain neglecting to kill Bond. He captures Bond and can do whatever he want. Hey, if he wanted to hang him from a slowly-fraying rope over a piranha tank I'd go along for the ride, that's the kind of thing I'm watching these for, not the logical choice to just put a bullet in 007's head and be done with it. Instead his solution is to gas him and drop him in a segment of pipeline that has an escape hatch. I could escape that. And then Blofeld is defeated by a sitcom device of "Oh no I mixed up the tapes!" and being swung around in a dippy looking submarine like he's on an amusement part ride. Quite undignified.
John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns (2005) *1/2 / *****
A minor character says early on that when you see cigarette burns in a movie you know something is about to happen. This...is false? I mean flatly false. Given they happen at reel changes, a cigarette burn more commonly accompanies a lull. A change in angle or even scene, after which some reestablishment work is needed to get to any something.
Anyway don't let anyone fool you, this is purely for auteurist completists and it largely sucks. Even ardent defenders will let you know this: Norman Reedus's performance is garbage. Sincerely one of the worst lead performances I've seen in any moving image work in a long time. His demeanor, which Carpenter in a DVD feature complimentarily calls "muted" or some such, just about undoes the film right off the bat. This isn't a spoiler because it happens in the first five minutes, but as proof of the existence of a legendarily sinister film the mysterious benefactor played by Udo Kier leads him to a room where chained on a turntable slouches a literal fucking angel. This should be shocking not merely for their ghastly appearance and the rough open scar tissue protruding from their back where wings, now severed, used to be. It should also be shocking because it's proof of angels. Presented in front of Norman Reedus is unassailable proof of the existence of angels and demons right out of Abrahamic scripture, of the existence of a heaven and a hell and a God, and it's rotating with a spotlight on it like a brand new appliance at the fucking mall. Reedus has zero reaction. Not a muted reaction where he's swallowing his shock, not a guarded fascination. Nil. Nothing. It is baffling, and immediately lends the impression that the actors don't give a shit about this movie and Carpenter must not either so why in the world should the audience.
That inexplicable moment sets the tone. Reedus is wholly unequipped to sell any sort of maddening obsession with the cursed film at the center of all of this. None of what the psychos who have scraps of information on it say is remotely lucid. The writers pepper the dialogue with references to like Pauline Kael and Argento or whatever, the kind of thing I would have done a decade ago if I were setting out to write a referential screenplay and wanted to prove my cred. Even as a teenager I'd've moved that script to trash though and somehow these adults were shameless enough to push it through.
That could be bearable if the script had an iota of momentum otherwise. What we get is a bloodless (maybe not literally but certainly figuratively) slog until the finale. Throughout Carpenter does his best to prove the early suspicious that he plain does not give a shit and is just filming with the most rudimentary and simplistic setups possible—zero sense of legitimate visual economy or precision in framing and movement—so he can go home and smoke weed and play DOOM with his son (whose score, by the by, is pretty good). Which, go off dude I would too. At that finale one or two gonzo moments instill a moment of pause: is this film actually interesting? Was there a something there in the preceding 55 minutes? Then the movie abruptly clunks to an end and you get your answer.
Josie and the Pussycats (2001) [rewatch] ****1/2 / *****
What's that old aphorism—a pessimist is an optimist with experience? This can be taken to mean that once you've had some experience in the cold, uncaring, vicious world you wake up and become a pessimist, never to go back. Oftentimes I'd agree—except I know myself and know that what this really means is that I'm an optimist safeguarding with pessimism, and I'd give anything to return to optimism and let it take me over.
That's why I adore Josie and the Pussycats, or Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, or—fuck it, nobody probably expected to see these side by side—Charlie Chaplin films. These are movies about characters whose utter naivety and unfettered optimism take them on a journey that tests that optimism and finally proves it right. These characters find lifelong love and artistic success and in some cases save the entire world from destruction and tyranny, all while remaining simple-minded and even infantile. Their purity of being is infectious and giddying and put forward as an ultimate ideal.
In Josie and the Pussycats the girls' idealism is challenged by a megacorporation brainwashing teenage listeners into endless consumerism via subliminal messaging, planting messages that the new color is green, the new soda is Fresca, the new sandwich is Subway. It's a pretty straightforward representation of how those at the top wish they could get pure capitalism to function: perpetual churn and demographics that will buy what, where, and when the data expects them to (or the data tells them to). Where the satire gets truly bold is when it becomes clear that this isn't being done via the most popular products and media. Everything is infected. The culture is controlling you, and the counterculture you believe sprung up to resist the culture is also controlling you. No choice you make is yours, and whether the stripes you wear are that of the culture or counterculture you are trapped in the monoculture. "One holistic system of systems. One vast and immane, interwoven, interacting, multi-varied, multinational dominion of dollars."
Josie and Valerie and Melody escape this system and smash the monoculture to shards. Get bent, Ned Beatty. (Okay—they don't take down the government, who are shown to be supportive of the evil plans. But the government is also shown to have zero actual conviction and to technically still be beholden to the people in the end, so I'm still giving the girls the win.) And they do it by being kind and true to each other, by refusing to give up on each other or allowing their guileless ideals to be overrun and dominated by the clothes and images and food and cars and music that assault them from every angle. I could see either their exaggerated, genuine goodness or the corporate villain's comical evil being grating, but they cancel each other out in precisely the right way. The satire retains maximal bite, yet minute-to-minute you can simply crack up at any dodo-brained non sequitur from Melody or flustered faux pas from Josie or wry comeback from Valerie. Or you can jam along to the truly awesome grungy power pop soundtrack. I have had "Three Small Words" stuck in my head since I saw this years and years ago. Or, and best of all, you can bask in the deep, complicated-but-simple, overwhelmingly loving relationship between the three bandmates.
Funnily enough I think I was introduced to this in the same milieu as a lot of its cult following: girls' sleepovers. I saw plenty of "girly" movies in that setting, though you may notice I am male. Usually this would be while staying with my aunt and cousins, where my cousin-who-is-basically-my-sister would often pick the movie. (I have seen every single Adventure of Mary Kate and Ashley.) I have a vivid memory of watching Josie and the Pussycats while staying at the Rometty's for a night. They were neighbors we knew somewhat well, but due to a PTA raffle or something they were watching my brothers and I overnight while my parents had fun downtown. The Rometty girl my age must have put this on. Being a dumb 12-year-old boy, unable to consume anything girly for fear of ridicule or to foresee that I'd likely have a crush on this very girl sometime over the next 5 years and should probably at the very least feign interest in what she was sharing with me, my reaction must have been mildly nonplussed at best or actively derisive at worst. But I've thought about this movie a lot in the fifteen/sixteen-ish years since I first saw it, and suspected it contained greatness I wasn't ready for at the time. I am exuberant to be proven right—sometimes optimism pays off.
anybody want to do pick 3, or pick 1 or 2?
quick little form here if so:
forms.gle
if people want to do it we can have it open through the weekend and pick movies at the start of next week?
edit: I think it was requiring an email address before, that should be gone now.
quick little form here if so:
movie era pick 1/2/3 for 6/17/20
forms.gle
edit: I think it was requiring an email address before, that should be gone now.
Last edited:
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films - A pretty good documentary about a company who made a lot of B movies in the '80's. Watching and reading up on them it surprised me how many of them I'd seen as a kid when we first got a vcr. = 3.5 out of 5
I have one of the best movies of the year right here folks, 100% guaranteed. Just released today. WATCH IT
I almost wanted to just make a new thread how good it was. This thread is kind of dead.
www.rottentomatoes.com
Certified 93% currently.
Babyteeth
The concept has been done but not this well in a very long time. Feels like the type of movie on a bullet train to Criterion Collection or some shit. There isnt a negative thing i can think about it. Many feels to be had.
5/5 easy.
Extra mind blow spoiler not related to the story or movie but the cast...
I almost wanted to just make a new thread how good it was. This thread is kind of dead.
Babyteeth
Rotten Tomatoes, home of the Tomatometer, is the most trusted measurement of quality for Movies & TV. The definitive site for Reviews, Trailers, Showtimes, and Tickets
www.rottentomatoes.com
Certified 93% currently.
Babyteeth
The concept has been done but not this well in a very long time. Feels like the type of movie on a bullet train to Criterion Collection or some shit. There isnt a negative thing i can think about it. Many feels to be had.
5/5 easy.
Extra mind blow spoiler not related to the story or movie but the cast...
it's the damn young girl from Sharp Objects. I knew she looked familair. She gonna win an Oscar one day.
I remember when I started this, glad to see pick 3, see 3 is still going strong.anybody want to do pick 3, or pick 1 or 2?
quick little form here if so:
if people want to do it we can have it open through the weekend and pick movies at the start of next week?movie era pick 1/2/3 for 6/17/20
edit: I think it was requiring an email address before, that should be gone now.
Graduation (2018, dir. Cristian Mungiu) - Mungiu is a master at constructing low-key narratives that are morally complex and steeped in realism. He's 2 for 3 in my book (didn't enjoy Beyond the Hills). This was another home run. An unforgiving look into the mundane corruption that plagues Romania and other impoverished countries. The specter of the relatively recent revolution hangs over all aspect of society. I have yet to see a bad film from the Romanian New Wave and each one struck me on an anthropological level. Excited to delve further into Corneliu Porumboiu and Cristi Puiu's filmography.
It was a good idea! In this instance it's not going too strongly though, me and MidnightCowboy are the only people doing it lol. Whatever, I'll get 3 movie picks out of it which is what I wanted.
If anyone else would like to join I'll keep it open through the weekend:
movie era pick 1/2/3 for 6/17/20
forms.gle
Climax - Wildly uneven descent into madness that starts off strong with a well done dance number.
The film has multiple long takes that call attention to themselves & a 7 minute stretch where the camera is inside down. Those long takes are well done technically, so I'll give it that.
It hints at something more sinister going on only to resolve in an unsatisfying and illogical manner. Most of the horror comes from a droning sense of dread, punctuated with
A bit boring, watching drugged out & drunk people is exhausting. = 2.5 out of 5
Dead & Buried - Tense and quickly paced horror film from 1980 set in a small sea side town with gore FX by Stan Winston that are mostly well done outside of one death that looks terrible.
Unfortunately the plot leads nowhere, the reveal is non sensical and the implications for what came before it make no sense. I was going along with it until then. = 3 out of 5
The film has multiple long takes that call attention to themselves & a 7 minute stretch where the camera is inside down. Those long takes are well done technically, so I'll give it that.
It hints at something more sinister going on only to resolve in an unsatisfying and illogical manner. Most of the horror comes from a droning sense of dread, punctuated with
violence against a pregnant woman, child death & incest.
A bit boring, watching drugged out & drunk people is exhausting. = 2.5 out of 5
Dead & Buried - Tense and quickly paced horror film from 1980 set in a small sea side town with gore FX by Stan Winston that are mostly well done outside of one death that looks terrible.
Unfortunately the plot leads nowhere, the reveal is non sensical and the implications for what came before it make no sense. I was going along with it until then. = 3 out of 5
Intolerance: Love's Struggles Throughout the Ages (1916): I'm confused at the movie length. It's supposed to be 3 hours and 17 minutes. The Amazon Prime Video version I watched is 2 hours and 8 minutes. The YouTube version is 2 hours and 48 minutes. What did I miss? Was there more coverage of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre? More scenes with Jesus? Because those don't get as much focus as Babylon and modern day. There are impressive set and action pieces, especially for its time. The modern times story is the most complex of them. Also interesting is how none of the characters have proper names unless they're historical figures, so they're called The Boy, Mountain Girl, or Brown Eyes. It's a lengthy movie, even at 2 hours, but it does teach history and how hate can lead to tragedy.
This movie has supplanted The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) as the oldest feature-length movie I've seen.
This movie has supplanted The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) as the oldest feature-length movie I've seen.
Roma (2018) Didn't like it as well as I hoped. It's a fine movie as it is with a unique cinematography, great sound, good acting and some intense scenes, but it ended up being a bit boring. It wasn't able to fill the gaps for me like in Burning. Still better than Green Book by far. 7/10
Artemis Fowl (2020) Yeesh. Take it from a guy that thought the Percy Jackson movies were decent; this movie is terrible. The fight scenes were a mess and difficult to follow, the acting was dull overall and the teases to the next film was downright pathetic. I don't even need to go over the massive changes to the book to show how terrible it is 3.75/10
Da 5 Bloods (2020) Initially, I was going to give this glowing reviews. I loved the differences in filming between the lady and present. The acting ranged from great to phenomenal (Delroy Lindo's performance was Oscar worthy). I also liked how they did a take that to The Irishman by forgoing de-aging CGI and still made it believable. Yet other posters mentioned how the Vietnamese perspective was shafted, and they do have a point here. I know Spike Lee was using a modified script to make it more palpable to black leads, but I hope there's a movie that can put in the full experience for all sides involved. Still, it's my second favorite movie this year so far. 8.25/10
Turn the Key Softly (1953) I wanted to see an example of a Fille fatales character, and I don't think it gets better than Terrence Morgan. And as a cat burglar too! As for the leads, all three ladies did a great job as released convicts trying to return to society. I also have to remember that foreign films were able to escape the confines of the Hays Code. 8/10
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) Speaking of which, this was a tough one to compare. If the director was looking for a sleazy drifter to cast, then Jack Nicholson fit the bill perfectly. Yet I can't help but think that the character here didn't make sense for the plot. Jack Garfield matched the bill for the novel far more. And the ending was downright omitted in this adaptation. But man was that love scene raw as fuck! Jack and Jessica Lange narrowly had Jack and Lana Turner beat in chemistry and I hardly ever say that against Golden Age actors. I just with the physical appearance made it more believable. I gave the 40s edition an 8.25/10, so I'll give this one an 8/10.
Artemis Fowl (2020) Yeesh. Take it from a guy that thought the Percy Jackson movies were decent; this movie is terrible. The fight scenes were a mess and difficult to follow, the acting was dull overall and the teases to the next film was downright pathetic. I don't even need to go over the massive changes to the book to show how terrible it is 3.75/10
Da 5 Bloods (2020) Initially, I was going to give this glowing reviews. I loved the differences in filming between the lady and present. The acting ranged from great to phenomenal (Delroy Lindo's performance was Oscar worthy). I also liked how they did a take that to The Irishman by forgoing de-aging CGI and still made it believable. Yet other posters mentioned how the Vietnamese perspective was shafted, and they do have a point here. I know Spike Lee was using a modified script to make it more palpable to black leads, but I hope there's a movie that can put in the full experience for all sides involved. Still, it's my second favorite movie this year so far. 8.25/10
Turn the Key Softly (1953) I wanted to see an example of a Fille fatales character, and I don't think it gets better than Terrence Morgan. And as a cat burglar too! As for the leads, all three ladies did a great job as released convicts trying to return to society. I also have to remember that foreign films were able to escape the confines of the Hays Code. 8/10
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) Speaking of which, this was a tough one to compare. If the director was looking for a sleazy drifter to cast, then Jack Nicholson fit the bill perfectly. Yet I can't help but think that the character here didn't make sense for the plot. Jack Garfield matched the bill for the novel far more. And the ending was downright omitted in this adaptation. But man was that love scene raw as fuck! Jack and Jessica Lange narrowly had Jack and Lana Turner beat in chemistry and I hardly ever say that against Golden Age actors. I just with the physical appearance made it more believable. I gave the 40s edition an 8.25/10, so I'll give this one an 8/10.
I remember watching it before, but I didn't connect the dots until now. I wasn't planning on watching the sequels, so yeah I would like to know more.
Oh my god yes! I never wanted someone to die so badly in a horror film.
Mysterious Skin (2004): Joseph Gordon-Levitt nobly perseveres in performing with a truly terrible haircut. I've often seen this cited as Gregg Araki's best film, and I suppose after this and a few others I can just conclude that his storytelling instincts don't really work for me. Watching this also reminded me that it's been a while since I saw Michelle Trachtenberg in anything.
Minority Report (2002): I hadn't watched this in a number of years, so I was interested to revisit it. As a sci-fi/action/noir, this remains an excellent piece of filmmaking, and it's a relatively rare example of this sort of future mystery story that doesn't go to the Blade Runner aesthetic well. The one area where I don't think it measures up to its own ambitions is the way the moral questions around Precrime are handled, between the fact that the moral schema of the movie seems to act like we don't already punish people for attempted offenses (the guy Cruise arrests in the opening sequence is clearly guilty of attempted murder but is charged with "future murder" and presumably released at the end of the movie, for instance), and the way that the basic dilemma around Precrime's operations is then compounded with a bunch of authoritarian add-ons that aren't intrinsic to the question. Oh, and also, the most clearly objectionable thing about Precrime's core operation is the treatment of the Precogs themselves (clear violation of the 13th Amendment), but the movie doesn't really focus on this.
Knives Out (2019): Second viewing, several months after the theatrical run. This is probably my second-favourite Rian Johnson film after Looper, those being the only two films of his that I've unambiguously loved. Really well-put-together (even if everything to do with Fran is a very obvious narrative contrivance) and now that it's apparently going o be the basis for a franchise, I'm intrigued to see where Johnson takes this next.
Chariots of Fire (1981): I watched this on Friday night in tribute to Ian Holm, after having had it sitting on my DVR for about a week, so that's good/unfortunate timing. A perfectly okay movie, most notable for its unconventional use of Vangelis' contemporary score instead of the more expected classical composition. Weird that this was Holm's only Oscar nomination; the part is fine, but in the grand scheme of things he would go on to have more more significant roles.
Minority Report (2002): I hadn't watched this in a number of years, so I was interested to revisit it. As a sci-fi/action/noir, this remains an excellent piece of filmmaking, and it's a relatively rare example of this sort of future mystery story that doesn't go to the Blade Runner aesthetic well. The one area where I don't think it measures up to its own ambitions is the way the moral questions around Precrime are handled, between the fact that the moral schema of the movie seems to act like we don't already punish people for attempted offenses (the guy Cruise arrests in the opening sequence is clearly guilty of attempted murder but is charged with "future murder" and presumably released at the end of the movie, for instance), and the way that the basic dilemma around Precrime's operations is then compounded with a bunch of authoritarian add-ons that aren't intrinsic to the question. Oh, and also, the most clearly objectionable thing about Precrime's core operation is the treatment of the Precogs themselves (clear violation of the 13th Amendment), but the movie doesn't really focus on this.
Knives Out (2019): Second viewing, several months after the theatrical run. This is probably my second-favourite Rian Johnson film after Looper, those being the only two films of his that I've unambiguously loved. Really well-put-together (even if everything to do with Fran is a very obvious narrative contrivance) and now that it's apparently going o be the basis for a franchise, I'm intrigued to see where Johnson takes this next.
Chariots of Fire (1981): I watched this on Friday night in tribute to Ian Holm, after having had it sitting on my DVR for about a week, so that's good/unfortunate timing. A perfectly okay movie, most notable for its unconventional use of Vangelis' contemporary score instead of the more expected classical composition. Weird that this was Holm's only Oscar nomination; the part is fine, but in the grand scheme of things he would go on to have more more significant roles.
It was a good idea! In this instance it's not going too strongly though, me and MidnightCowboy are the only people doing it lol. Whatever, I'll get 3 movie picks out of it which is what I wanted.
If anyone else would like to join I'll keep it open through the weekend:
movie era pick 1/2/3 for 6/17/20
i didn't see this! i'm in!
T2 has had a very unfortunate history on home video when it comes to DNR. It's a damn shame, that's for sure.
a shame indeed. It's like they left the DNR at the highest setting. I can usually tolerate moderate amounts of this stuff but with t2 it's very distracting. the whole movie looks like it was processed with a cheap instagram filter. maybe that's why they did it...
Beasts Clawing at Straws (2020)
★★★★
The wonderfully-titled Beasts Clawing At Straws don't shy away from its influences. This South Korean crime thriller clearly draws from films like Shallow Grave, Pulp Fiction, and Fargo. Kim Yong-hoon's non-linear debut doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it does execute familiar elements with confident style.
Beasts Clawing At Straws drops that favorite plot device of a bag of money into the lives of eight people, each with their own desperate reasons for desiring the cash. While the story beats are well-trodden, the devilish personalities, offbeat mean streak, and industrial-noir vibe of port city Pyeongtaek are riveting. Early on, a chapter structure stretches out the plot and results in a narrative that seems more like an anthology of stories. Pulp Fiction succinctly established intriguing hooks, teased the wider canvas of personalities; "Beasts" doesn't quite gel as smoothly, lining up introductory chapters before gradually entangling the fates of its cast.
But once all the players and conflicts are established, Yong-hoon upends their lives in a black comedy of violent errors. All tumble and collide towards a satisfying - and bloody - conclusion. The whole cast is solid but among each story, certain characters shine. In a complete 180 from her widow in Secret Sunshine, Jeon Do-yeon steals the show as my favorite neo-noir femme fatale since Linda Fiorentino in The Last Seduction. It's a chameleonic display of devious wile. There's also the grinning menace of a local loan shark. His mute intestines-devouring enforcer. The grouchy dementia-stricken mother. The city is a character too, its neon alleys and sleek modern architecture adjacent to blue-collar fishing town sensibilities.
Beasts Clawing At Straws is a fantastic addition to the South Korean genre canon, and a promising start for Kim Yong-hoon. Can't wait to see how his filmmaking evolves from this debut.
Across 110th Street
★★★★½
My familiarity with blaxploitation films has been limited to parody (Black Dynamite) and homage (Jackie Brown), so Across 110th Street was an exceptional proper introduction to the genre. Similar to how Caliber 9 was a brutal gateway into Poliziotteschi, this was a bleak white-hot thriller of an underworld thrown into violent upheaval, in a community powderkeg of racial scars and societal change. A robbery of racket money goes sideways, leaving bodies from the Mafia, Harlem mob, and NYPD riddled with bullets. Now a three-way vice crushes the city streets with tension and bloodshed, as Italian enforcers, detectives, and thieves all converge in their attempts to punish, pursue, or survive respectively.
It's a nihilistic tangle of shifting power and shifting culture, as this spark - desperate men trying to escape their hopeless lives - erupts into wider conflict. Between a nervous Mafia and a defiant Harlem boss: the former fearing loss of control, the latter seeing an opportunity for dominance. Between Anthony Quinn's head-busting racist old bastard of a detective, and Yaphet Kotto's young black lieutenant, a sign of a progressive future. There is no partnership among the pair, no mutual understanding. Their policework unfolds uneasily amid Quinn's overt disdain (towards "politics" making a black man his boss) and Kotto's barely-suppressed anger (towards dehumanizing loathing at every turn).
Unleashing angry denouncements and squib-spurting bullets in equal measure, Across 110th Street wraps a clash of class, race, and impoverishing systems in a run-all-night action-thriller across the decaying streets of '70s New York.
Shaft
★★★★
After seeing Across 110th Street, wanted to explore more of the blaxploitation genre and thought I might as well get acquainted with the most well-known name in that arena.
1971's Shaft is private-eye noir transplanted from stark black-&-white and alley smoke to the rough-&-tumble grit of '70s New York and Richard Roundtree's unflappable own-the-room cool. John Shaft and his eponymous film have the hallmarks of noir, but are given action-thriller edge and tough-guy personality. The plot about the Mafia moving in on a Harlem boss' turf is nearly perfunctory and tension-less, existing as a stage from which Roundtree, Gunn, and the rest of the cast have fun being the most macho badasses in the Harlem underworld.
Come for Roundtree's super-fly hero, smarter than anyone else in the room, as smooth with snappy comebacks as he is with fists, guns, and women. Stay for the jazzy score, grimy time-capsule Manhattan, and stylish fashion.
★★★★
The wonderfully-titled Beasts Clawing At Straws don't shy away from its influences. This South Korean crime thriller clearly draws from films like Shallow Grave, Pulp Fiction, and Fargo. Kim Yong-hoon's non-linear debut doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it does execute familiar elements with confident style.
Beasts Clawing At Straws drops that favorite plot device of a bag of money into the lives of eight people, each with their own desperate reasons for desiring the cash. While the story beats are well-trodden, the devilish personalities, offbeat mean streak, and industrial-noir vibe of port city Pyeongtaek are riveting. Early on, a chapter structure stretches out the plot and results in a narrative that seems more like an anthology of stories. Pulp Fiction succinctly established intriguing hooks, teased the wider canvas of personalities; "Beasts" doesn't quite gel as smoothly, lining up introductory chapters before gradually entangling the fates of its cast.
But once all the players and conflicts are established, Yong-hoon upends their lives in a black comedy of violent errors. All tumble and collide towards a satisfying - and bloody - conclusion. The whole cast is solid but among each story, certain characters shine. In a complete 180 from her widow in Secret Sunshine, Jeon Do-yeon steals the show as my favorite neo-noir femme fatale since Linda Fiorentino in The Last Seduction. It's a chameleonic display of devious wile. There's also the grinning menace of a local loan shark. His mute intestines-devouring enforcer. The grouchy dementia-stricken mother. The city is a character too, its neon alleys and sleek modern architecture adjacent to blue-collar fishing town sensibilities.
Beasts Clawing At Straws is a fantastic addition to the South Korean genre canon, and a promising start for Kim Yong-hoon. Can't wait to see how his filmmaking evolves from this debut.
Across 110th Street
★★★★½
My familiarity with blaxploitation films has been limited to parody (Black Dynamite) and homage (Jackie Brown), so Across 110th Street was an exceptional proper introduction to the genre. Similar to how Caliber 9 was a brutal gateway into Poliziotteschi, this was a bleak white-hot thriller of an underworld thrown into violent upheaval, in a community powderkeg of racial scars and societal change. A robbery of racket money goes sideways, leaving bodies from the Mafia, Harlem mob, and NYPD riddled with bullets. Now a three-way vice crushes the city streets with tension and bloodshed, as Italian enforcers, detectives, and thieves all converge in their attempts to punish, pursue, or survive respectively.
It's a nihilistic tangle of shifting power and shifting culture, as this spark - desperate men trying to escape their hopeless lives - erupts into wider conflict. Between a nervous Mafia and a defiant Harlem boss: the former fearing loss of control, the latter seeing an opportunity for dominance. Between Anthony Quinn's head-busting racist old bastard of a detective, and Yaphet Kotto's young black lieutenant, a sign of a progressive future. There is no partnership among the pair, no mutual understanding. Their policework unfolds uneasily amid Quinn's overt disdain (towards "politics" making a black man his boss) and Kotto's barely-suppressed anger (towards dehumanizing loathing at every turn).
Unleashing angry denouncements and squib-spurting bullets in equal measure, Across 110th Street wraps a clash of class, race, and impoverishing systems in a run-all-night action-thriller across the decaying streets of '70s New York.
Shaft
★★★★
After seeing Across 110th Street, wanted to explore more of the blaxploitation genre and thought I might as well get acquainted with the most well-known name in that arena.
1971's Shaft is private-eye noir transplanted from stark black-&-white and alley smoke to the rough-&-tumble grit of '70s New York and Richard Roundtree's unflappable own-the-room cool. John Shaft and his eponymous film have the hallmarks of noir, but are given action-thriller edge and tough-guy personality. The plot about the Mafia moving in on a Harlem boss' turf is nearly perfunctory and tension-less, existing as a stage from which Roundtree, Gunn, and the rest of the cast have fun being the most macho badasses in the Harlem underworld.
Come for Roundtree's super-fly hero, smarter than anyone else in the room, as smooth with snappy comebacks as he is with fists, guns, and women. Stay for the jazzy score, grimy time-capsule Manhattan, and stylish fashion.
Gretel and Hansel (2020)
Oh, this was good. I've loved everything Oz Perkins has done prior to this but I might have to downgrade those to just "really, really liked" because H&G is a film I really love.
It is hard to do a fairy tale movie I think, no matter if you are doing one directly based on a "classic" or just something in the mold of one, the problems of thin characters, thin motivations, thin plots, they are always there. It seems the best ones(Disney's Sleeping Beauty, The Company of Wolves, Tale of Tales, by my reckoning) get by by steering directly into those apparent shortcomings, they don't try to beef up the parts that are wanting but instead they rely on style, mood, thematic weight, and craft to elevate. There is only so much you can add to something like Hansel and Gretel before it ceases to be Hansel and Gretel.
Perkins' film does some reworking of course, but it is delightfully restrained in fleshing out its world. It recenters the story onto Gretel and that focus and its accompanying thematics necessitates some new stuff but it goes out of its way to not expand the scope of things. Very few characters have names, places have no names, motivations and goals stay simple. The dialogue is also wonderful, I'm not sure how to describe it, it isn't flowery or overwrought nor is it really "old timey" or anything like that...I guess it is just sightly more formal than normal? I don't know, it is great and I guess that is all that matters.
All the above, combined with the gorgeous look of the film and the great score, the whole thing gains that elusive primal power films of this nature are always looking for. It is a film about two siblings who meet a witch in the woods but it has weight to it.
To highlight my bit about the dialogue:
And finally I would be remiss if I didn't point out that the film is basically a mic drop for cinematic hats.
Oh, this was good. I've loved everything Oz Perkins has done prior to this but I might have to downgrade those to just "really, really liked" because H&G is a film I really love.
It is hard to do a fairy tale movie I think, no matter if you are doing one directly based on a "classic" or just something in the mold of one, the problems of thin characters, thin motivations, thin plots, they are always there. It seems the best ones(Disney's Sleeping Beauty, The Company of Wolves, Tale of Tales, by my reckoning) get by by steering directly into those apparent shortcomings, they don't try to beef up the parts that are wanting but instead they rely on style, mood, thematic weight, and craft to elevate. There is only so much you can add to something like Hansel and Gretel before it ceases to be Hansel and Gretel.
Perkins' film does some reworking of course, but it is delightfully restrained in fleshing out its world. It recenters the story onto Gretel and that focus and its accompanying thematics necessitates some new stuff but it goes out of its way to not expand the scope of things. Very few characters have names, places have no names, motivations and goals stay simple. The dialogue is also wonderful, I'm not sure how to describe it, it isn't flowery or overwrought nor is it really "old timey" or anything like that...I guess it is just sightly more formal than normal? I don't know, it is great and I guess that is all that matters.
All the above, combined with the gorgeous look of the film and the great score, the whole thing gains that elusive primal power films of this nature are always looking for. It is a film about two siblings who meet a witch in the woods but it has weight to it.
To highlight my bit about the dialogue:
Upon meeting someone and leaving his company, Hansel wonders why they didn't stay with him:
And there is a moment when Gretel attacks, uh, something to get it away from her brother, it turns its gaze towards her and she responds with a wonderful:
It is such an odd little line but it is wonderful coming out of Sophia Lillis
And finally I would be remiss if I didn't point out that the film is basically a mic drop for cinematic hats.
Time to continue the remake comparisons with:
Cape Fear (1991) Just like with Postman, this one is tough to compare with, partially because the remake is no longer restricted by the Hays Code. Scorsese does a number of subtle changes to the characters which nevertheless transforms the movie. No longer going out for revenge on a witness, Cady now seeks revenge for his perceived betrayal by his public defender. Likewise, Bowsen is a more flawed individual and his daughter more rebellious in nature. This new dynamic puts a new spin in the story that makes it distinct from the original film. While Thompson deftly bypassed his limitations with implied violence, Scorsese is far more explicit in depicting the depravity of Cady. It made for a terrifying finale that matches that in the original despite being significantly tweaked.
And yet.
I think Scorsese went a bit too far in depicting Cady's invulnerability. It turned a thriller into more of a slasher film where you have to take big steps to suspend your disbelief. How you feel about the ending is probably the matter of opinion, but here's my take:
Still, this is a rare example where you can get two different experiences of the same script and enjoy them in their own way. The original gets an 8.5/10 while the remake gets an 8.25/10.
Cape Fear (1991) Just like with Postman, this one is tough to compare with, partially because the remake is no longer restricted by the Hays Code. Scorsese does a number of subtle changes to the characters which nevertheless transforms the movie. No longer going out for revenge on a witness, Cady now seeks revenge for his perceived betrayal by his public defender. Likewise, Bowsen is a more flawed individual and his daughter more rebellious in nature. This new dynamic puts a new spin in the story that makes it distinct from the original film. While Thompson deftly bypassed his limitations with implied violence, Scorsese is far more explicit in depicting the depravity of Cady. It made for a terrifying finale that matches that in the original despite being significantly tweaked.
And yet.
I think Scorsese went a bit too far in depicting Cady's invulnerability. It turned a thriller into more of a slasher film where you have to take big steps to suspend your disbelief. How you feel about the ending is probably the matter of opinion, but here's my take:
While the original has Bowsen take Cady back to jail for a likely even greater sentence, the remake has Cady sink to his death handcuffed to the remains of the boat. I guess it depends on whether which punishment you think Cady deserves, but I suppose it fit the nature of the films. In the original, Cady tries to push Bowsen to the breaking point and force him to break his faith of the law just as much as Cady felt about it. Yet Bowsen remains firm in the end. In the remake, Cady is upset that Bowsen did not follow the law to help him to the fullest extent all while preaching about the idea of free will which should allow individuals to do what they please. While seeing him die was satisfying, the ending didn't feel as poetic. Bowsen doesn't even get to do the finishing blow. It's just speculation of what could have been.
Still, this is a rare example where you can get two different experiences of the same script and enjoy them in their own way. The original gets an 8.5/10 while the remake gets an 8.25/10.
Watched Agora (2009) over the weekend, and really liked it. It's a historical drama, but has a pretty unique setting - Egypt during the 4th century AD. At this time Christianity had recently been legalized by the Byzantine empire (who controlled Egypt at this time), and you get this clash between different cultures and civilizations - with the people worshiping old Roman gods, Jews, and new Christians (who are portrayed as pretty barbaric). Has Oscar Isaac and Rachael Weisz as main characters and seems largely based on a true story about Hypatia, a hellenic philosopher who lived in Alexandria at this time.
8/10
Really wants me to seek out more movies about the ancient world, so if anyone else has recommendations let me know.
Oh and I also watched half of HBOs Watchmen. Some of the best match cuts I've ever seen.
8/10
Really wants me to seek out more movies about the ancient world, so if anyone else has recommendations let me know.
Oh and I also watched half of HBOs Watchmen. Some of the best match cuts I've ever seen.
The Vast of Night (2020)
The atmosphere established in the first act is so good. The wide shots and interaction between the two protagonists sets a tone that involved me in the reality of their world along with a constant eerie feeling. Even if the later parts are not as strong.
Funny how the framing device of a Twilight Zone show made me think that I was getting into another one of these nostalgia fests, but fortunately the movie carries the opposite idea, of looking ahead, to observe the unknown with wonder and terror. The conversation about future techonology and the desire to leave the town enforces that. As well as the moments in the radio and phone switchboard focusing on the stories being told, not the "look how cool old tech is".
Solid start from first time director Andrew Patterson. Looking forward to see how he'll develop and evolve his style, unless he become another one grabbed by a major studio to make mediocre blockbusters.
The atmosphere established in the first act is so good. The wide shots and interaction between the two protagonists sets a tone that involved me in the reality of their world along with a constant eerie feeling. Even if the later parts are not as strong.
Funny how the framing device of a Twilight Zone show made me think that I was getting into another one of these nostalgia fests, but fortunately the movie carries the opposite idea, of looking ahead, to observe the unknown with wonder and terror. The conversation about future techonology and the desire to leave the town enforces that. As well as the moments in the radio and phone switchboard focusing on the stories being told, not the "look how cool old tech is".
Solid start from first time director Andrew Patterson. Looking forward to see how he'll develop and evolve his style, unless he become another one grabbed by a major studio to make mediocre blockbusters.
I have one of the best movies of the year right here folks, 100% guaranteed. Just released today. WATCH IT
I almost wanted to just make a new thread how good it was. This thread is kind of dead.
Babyteeth
Rotten Tomatoes, home of the Tomatometer, is the most trusted measurement of quality for Movies & TV. The definitive site for Reviews, Trailers, Showtimes, and Tickets
Certified 93% currently.
Babyteeth
The concept has been done but not this well in a very long time. Feels like the type of movie on a bullet train to Criterion Collection or some shit. There isnt a negative thing i can think about it. Many feels to be had.
5/5 easy.
Extra mind blow spoiler not related to the story or movie but the cast...
it's the damn young girl from Sharp Objects. I knew she looked familair. She gonna win an Oscar one day.
I'm glad I read your post a few days ago. I agree this was incredible! I couldn't predict the characters actions from scene to scene right up until the end. I haven't seen a better movie this year.
So after my downer with the wax faced instagram-photo-filtered streaming version of T2 I wisely decided to rent Terminator Dark Fate to continue my streak of disappointment. It's amazing to me that a movie of this incredibly low quality but at such a high budget can get made. This abomination which btw I turned off after an hour out of boredom, combined with the fucked up T2 remaster makes me wonder whether James Cameron has lost it.
Images (1972)
★★★★½
One of the most disconcerting unnerving films I've ever seen.
Not scary as much as it is nightmarishly uncomfortably askew, Robert Altman's Images immerses every frame within the schizophrenic headspace of protagonist Cathryn. A tale of identity, guilt, and isolation (I think?) shatters the conventions of cinematic continuity to unsettling effect. Voices and dialogue overlap, characters swap places and personalities, scenes bleed between each other, hallucinatory reality skips time and defies space. Susannah York is magnetic as the increasingly unmoored housewife, matched only by the uninviting autumnal landscape of pale greens, yellows, and grays. Storybook prose narrates in the background, further twisting this psychological horror into a kind of domestic nightmare Alice-In-Wonderland.
Prime Cut (1972)
★★★★
Michael Ritchie's Prime Cut is a prime example of doesn't-get-made-anymore '70s crime thriler.
Lee Marvin is a steely Chicago enforcer, tasked with collecting skimmed mob money from Gene Hackman's human-trafficking Kansas kingpin. The opening credits set the tone, as a sequence of slaughterhouse processing nonchalantly hints of something other than cows being turned into meat. A warning is sent back to the mob in the form of nicely-wrapped human sausages, so when Marvin arrives in the small country town, tensions are already high.
Prime Cut wrings a substantial amount of Hitchcockian suspense and heartland sleaze from its killer premise, while Marvin and Hackman make the hardboiled pulp look effortless. The former is in classic form, all sophisticated intensity with a good heart as he helps Sissy Spacek's sex slave escape this rural hell. Hackman is a gross cackling scumbag who treats his doped prostitutes like fattened livestock to auction. The juxtaposition of sharp Chicago muscle navigating wheat fields and country fairs - suits and SMGs versus overalls and buckshot - never loses its distinct oddball flair. The action is particularly fun, including a North-By-Northwest riff with a combine harvester and a cracking gunfight among towering sunflowers. The build-up to the finale as Marvin prepares for war under a storming Midwest sky is fist-pumping genre poetry.
Narrow Margin (1990)
★★★½
An action-thriller as tightly wound as a train knuckle. In Narrow Margin, Gene Hackman plays an LA DA protecting a woman who witnessed a mob hit. There's a pair of hitmen after her and everyone ends up on a Pacific coast train towards Vancouver. The action starts early with a white-knuckle truck-v-helicopter chase through the wilderness, and only grows more claustrophobic from there.
Peter Hyams injects the premise with crackling energy, letting Hackman bring the gravitas as the outnumbered and outgunned hero. The action is pure b-movie excitement and the stunts are great, especially when the thrills move to the exterior. Narrow Margin is 90 minutes of slick '90s cat-&-mouse suspense, with the space for a one-liner and the patience to let scenarios unfurl into intensity. Anne Archer's witness is bland despite a few good scenes and the ending is almost hilariously textbook, but overall this is the kind of no-nonsense thriller that is exceedingly rare today.
The Narrow Margin (1952)
★★★★½
Only learned after watching Peter Hyams' film that it was a remake of this 1952 noir. Hyams' version added an action-movie kick to the premise, but lost all the personality and striking black-&-white visuals of Fleischer's original. Early on, a stairwell ambush is preceded by a shot of an assassin cloaked in shadows, waiting in silence. Classic noir visuals, and the film is all classic noir attitude too.
In Hyams' version, Hackman and Archer played the familiar '90s archetypes of everyman hero and nervous woman-in-danger. Here, the ward is a hunted mob wife, played by Marie Windsor with an actual personality beyond being scared. She and Charles McGraw's detective butt heads throughout as a woman who has no problem letting an innocent take a bullet for her and a stony just-doing-his-job cop. Their contentious dynamic turns the whole premise on its head in unexpected and clever ways.
Where the remake's train merely served as a set-piece playground, Fleischer's train is a near-seamless jigsaw puzzle: each character, encounter, and dialogue a piece that fits together to form an anxious brutish whole. At 71 minutes, not a minute is wasted. The Narrow Margin is hardboiled train noir in a constant flux of conflict, twists, and bursts of brutal violence.
★★★★½
One of the most disconcerting unnerving films I've ever seen.
Not scary as much as it is nightmarishly uncomfortably askew, Robert Altman's Images immerses every frame within the schizophrenic headspace of protagonist Cathryn. A tale of identity, guilt, and isolation (I think?) shatters the conventions of cinematic continuity to unsettling effect. Voices and dialogue overlap, characters swap places and personalities, scenes bleed between each other, hallucinatory reality skips time and defies space. Susannah York is magnetic as the increasingly unmoored housewife, matched only by the uninviting autumnal landscape of pale greens, yellows, and grays. Storybook prose narrates in the background, further twisting this psychological horror into a kind of domestic nightmare Alice-In-Wonderland.
Prime Cut (1972)
★★★★
Michael Ritchie's Prime Cut is a prime example of doesn't-get-made-anymore '70s crime thriler.
Lee Marvin is a steely Chicago enforcer, tasked with collecting skimmed mob money from Gene Hackman's human-trafficking Kansas kingpin. The opening credits set the tone, as a sequence of slaughterhouse processing nonchalantly hints of something other than cows being turned into meat. A warning is sent back to the mob in the form of nicely-wrapped human sausages, so when Marvin arrives in the small country town, tensions are already high.
Prime Cut wrings a substantial amount of Hitchcockian suspense and heartland sleaze from its killer premise, while Marvin and Hackman make the hardboiled pulp look effortless. The former is in classic form, all sophisticated intensity with a good heart as he helps Sissy Spacek's sex slave escape this rural hell. Hackman is a gross cackling scumbag who treats his doped prostitutes like fattened livestock to auction. The juxtaposition of sharp Chicago muscle navigating wheat fields and country fairs - suits and SMGs versus overalls and buckshot - never loses its distinct oddball flair. The action is particularly fun, including a North-By-Northwest riff with a combine harvester and a cracking gunfight among towering sunflowers. The build-up to the finale as Marvin prepares for war under a storming Midwest sky is fist-pumping genre poetry.
Narrow Margin (1990)
★★★½
An action-thriller as tightly wound as a train knuckle. In Narrow Margin, Gene Hackman plays an LA DA protecting a woman who witnessed a mob hit. There's a pair of hitmen after her and everyone ends up on a Pacific coast train towards Vancouver. The action starts early with a white-knuckle truck-v-helicopter chase through the wilderness, and only grows more claustrophobic from there.
Peter Hyams injects the premise with crackling energy, letting Hackman bring the gravitas as the outnumbered and outgunned hero. The action is pure b-movie excitement and the stunts are great, especially when the thrills move to the exterior. Narrow Margin is 90 minutes of slick '90s cat-&-mouse suspense, with the space for a one-liner and the patience to let scenarios unfurl into intensity. Anne Archer's witness is bland despite a few good scenes and the ending is almost hilariously textbook, but overall this is the kind of no-nonsense thriller that is exceedingly rare today.
The Narrow Margin (1952)
★★★★½
Only learned after watching Peter Hyams' film that it was a remake of this 1952 noir. Hyams' version added an action-movie kick to the premise, but lost all the personality and striking black-&-white visuals of Fleischer's original. Early on, a stairwell ambush is preceded by a shot of an assassin cloaked in shadows, waiting in silence. Classic noir visuals, and the film is all classic noir attitude too.
In Hyams' version, Hackman and Archer played the familiar '90s archetypes of everyman hero and nervous woman-in-danger. Here, the ward is a hunted mob wife, played by Marie Windsor with an actual personality beyond being scared. She and Charles McGraw's detective butt heads throughout as a woman who has no problem letting an innocent take a bullet for her and a stony just-doing-his-job cop. Their contentious dynamic turns the whole premise on its head in unexpected and clever ways.
Where the remake's train merely served as a set-piece playground, Fleischer's train is a near-seamless jigsaw puzzle: each character, encounter, and dialogue a piece that fits together to form an anxious brutish whole. At 71 minutes, not a minute is wasted. The Narrow Margin is hardboiled train noir in a constant flux of conflict, twists, and bursts of brutal violence.
Well, Proxima was probably the most humane movie about space travel I've ever seen. First movie from Alice Winocour I've seen, but won't be the last. Eva Green shines in this. I was surprised to see Ryuichi Sakamoto's name pop up as composer for the soundtrack - wonder how Winocour got the idea to work with him (maybe she enjoyed The Wings of Honnêamise like the rest of us). Also, I now have 'You're High' from Agar Agar (played during credit roll) on repeat - discovering them was worth the price of admission alone.
I feel for my local small theatre tho. It's run mostly by volunteers, they can fit only a handful of people in their theatres and spirits seemed low. We watched the movie with about 10 people.
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Color out of Space -2020
Nicolas Cage stars in this adaption of an H.P. Lovecraft story about an infectious meteorite and it's horrible effects on a family farm.
Unlikable cliched characters, overacting by Cage (I know), and a number of dumb story beats detract from the horror.
Some nice gore, creature effects and visuals are what kept my attention. = 3 out of 5
Under the Skin -2013
Scarlett Johansen is
who preys upon single men in Scotland. There's a real sense of bleak unease that builds, a feeling of off-ness. Alternating between grounded camera work with impressive wide shots & very stylized artistic scenes. A bit full frontal nudity including Johansen, along with visible erections on the men which is nice, it's something you don't usually see in a movie like this.
The largely plotless film with minimal dialogue is very strong in the first hour and then takes a turn that, while consistent with what happening, isn't as gripping. The ending doesn't fully work for me as you don't really feel for the main character.
I won't forget a lot of this and it held my attention through out. Verging on being great for me. = 4 out of 5
Nicolas Cage stars in this adaption of an H.P. Lovecraft story about an infectious meteorite and it's horrible effects on a family farm.
Unlikable cliched characters, overacting by Cage (I know), and a number of dumb story beats detract from the horror.
Some nice gore, creature effects and visuals are what kept my attention. = 3 out of 5
Under the Skin -2013
Scarlett Johansen is
an alien
The largely plotless film with minimal dialogue is very strong in the first hour and then takes a turn that, while consistent with what happening, isn't as gripping. The ending doesn't fully work for me as you don't really feel for the main character.
I won't forget a lot of this and it held my attention through out. Verging on being great for me. = 4 out of 5
I have one of the best movies of the year right here folks, 100% guaranteed. Just released today. WATCH IT
I almost wanted to just make a new thread how good it was. This thread is kind of dead.
Babyteeth
Rotten Tomatoes, home of the Tomatometer, is the most trusted measurement of quality for Movies & TV. The definitive site for Reviews, Trailers, Showtimes, and Tickets
Certified 93% currently.
Babyteeth
The concept has been done but not this well in a very long time. Feels like the type of movie on a bullet train to Criterion Collection or some shit. There isnt a negative thing i can think about it. Many feels to be had.
5/5 easy.
Extra mind blow spoiler not related to the story or movie but the cast...
it's the damn young girl from Sharp Objects. I knew she looked familair. She gonna win an Oscar one day.
Damn, these look dope. Thanks for the reviews!Gretel and Hansel (2020)
Oh, this was good. I've loved everything Oz Perkins has done prior to this but I might have to downgrade those to just "really, really liked" because H&G is a film I really love.
It is hard to do a fairy tale movie I think, no matter if you are doing one directly based on a "classic" or just something in the mold of one, the problems of thin characters, thin motivations, thin plots, they are always there. It seems the best ones(Disney's Sleeping Beauty, The Company of Wolves, Tale of Tales, by my reckoning) get by by steering directly into those apparent shortcomings, they don't try to beef up the parts that are wanting but instead they rely on style, mood, thematic weight, and craft to elevate. There is only so much you can add to something like Hansel and Gretel before it ceases to be Hansel and Gretel.
Perkins' film does some reworking of course, but it is delightfully restrained in fleshing out its world. It recenters the story onto Gretel and that focus and its accompanying thematics necessitates some new stuff but it goes out of its way to not expand the scope of things. Very few characters have names, places have no names, motivations and goals stay simple. The dialogue is also wonderful, I'm not sure how to describe it, it isn't flowery or overwrought nor is it really "old timey" or anything like that...I guess it is just sightly more formal than normal? I don't know, it is great and I guess that is all that matters.
All the above, combined with the gorgeous look of the film and the great score, the whole thing gains that elusive primal power films of this nature are always looking for. It is a film about two siblings who meet a witch in the woods but it has weight to it.
To highlight my bit about the dialogue:
Upon meeting someone and leaving his company, Hansel wonders why they didn't stay with him:
And there is a moment when Gretel attacks, uh, something to get it away from her brother, it turns its gaze towards her and she responds with a wonderful:
It is such an odd little line but it is wonderful coming out of Sophia Lillis
And finally I would be remiss if I didn't point out that the film is basically a mic drop for cinematic hats.
The New Zealand International Film Festival just posted their schedule. I'll investigate myself, but if you could help pick out anything notable, I'd appreciate it :)
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www1.nziff.co.nz
Here's a Letterboxd list of the features
letterboxd.com
Whānau Mārama: Find by Collection
www1.nziff.co.nz
Here's a Letterboxd list of the features
New Zealand International Film Festival 2020
A list of the features screening/streaming at the 2020 New Zealand International Film Festival www1.nziff.co.nz/2020/ Letterboxd is missing: Before Everest, The Girl on the Bridge, LOIMATA The Sweetest Tears, Rūrangi and Tupaia’s Endeavour
letterboxd.com
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From Here To Eternity (1953) I have a feeling I watched this before, but my memory was fuzzy enough to need a rewatch. I liked the performances all around, not much to say about this one. 7/10
Splash (1991) For romances at that time, this one is... alright. Tom Hanks is a bit pushy in regards to Madison despite holding back the secret as a mermaid. Freddie was a creep and wasn't that entertaining, but I felt bad for Walter. Spending all that time to satisfy his father and it did him no good. In a way, The Shape of Water is an inverted update to this story and I think it was done better there. This is still a decent movie. 6.5/10
Baby Face (1934) This movie only shows the potential that was getting kneecapped due to the Hays Code. Besides the rare depiction of a morally ambiguous lady, there's even some comeradery with her black servant Coco. She's just someone you can't help but Root for despite ruining so many people. The ending is messy, but felt right for the film. 8.5/10
Splash (1991) For romances at that time, this one is... alright. Tom Hanks is a bit pushy in regards to Madison despite holding back the secret as a mermaid. Freddie was a creep and wasn't that entertaining, but I felt bad for Walter. Spending all that time to satisfy his father and it did him no good. In a way, The Shape of Water is an inverted update to this story and I think it was done better there. This is still a decent movie. 6.5/10
Baby Face (1934) This movie only shows the potential that was getting kneecapped due to the Hays Code. Besides the rare depiction of a morally ambiguous lady, there's even some comeradery with her black servant Coco. She's just someone you can't help but Root for despite ruining so many people. The ending is messy, but felt right for the film. 8.5/10
Let's see, what else haven't I posted about yet... oh right, the Kiju Yoshida set!
Eros + Massacre: A film that's quite difficult to sum up properly, and all the better for it. One part intellectual ghost story and another part philosophical quagmire about how we interact with the past and its ability to influence our present and shape our future, the dual story of contemporary students leading different lives as they investigate the past history of the earlier parts of the 20th century, leading to the dramatization of the many loves of real-life revolutionary Sakae Ōsugi, and in particular the affection of Noe Itō that he would eventually die alongside for their cause. The timelines here get marked with differing visual approaches to keep things easy to understand in the first part, yet the way it's all woven together in such a way where one can detect a purposeful temporal imbalance with how the past and present often intersect in the most unusual ways, particularly in the film's post-intermission segment that drives this home very clearly with the timelines being fully integrated at times for a surreal and potent effect. With so much to grapple on virtually every level, the film does not care to go down easy for anyone, but even for folks that don't have an intimate knowledge of the real-life scenario that powers the film's plot, it's hard not to be swept away in both its scope and willingness to engage with the concept of what's actually the most important aspect of learning from history to its ripest potential. At 3.5 hours long, it's a veritable cornucopia for thought on top of its striking visual balancing act that knows when to assault the senses and when to caress them instead, never lacking for nourishment of any kind or for any taste. Yet another fantastic start to a box set of what will be more challenging films for me to eagerly dig into.
Heroic Purgatory: A film that very much feels like the second part of its title, we find a group of people that knew each other as they find themselves slipping backwards and forwards in time, replaying events in locations that likely never were where they had transpired originally, involving people that were never a part of them, all while they themselves feel compelled to play them out. Little attempt is made to tell a conventional story here, but following our small group of doomed individuals as they replay their glory days to their ill-fated conclusion, even as they age up and down past where they actually would have ended up, gives the film a deeply compelling vibe of near-genuine hypnosis, as you yourself find your thoughts beginning to mirror theirs for your own purposes. As there's no dual timeline at play here, Yoshida leans heavily into the askew visual presentation that marked the modern day scenes in Eros + Massacre to, at times, truly astonishing results with how disarming a change to depth of field can impact the composition of a shot, or the angles that are captured here that feel like feats of impossible geometry. An even tougher film to grapple than its predecessor in terms of all that it's throwing out at you and a decidedly less emotionally-inclined story at the center of it, but just as rewarding for those willing to hop on its wavelength.
Coup d'Etat: As straightforward as this was compared to Yoshida's previous two films, this is nevertheless an unconventional sort of biopic of the final times of noted revolutionary Ikki Kita, focusing much more on his headspace as victory for his ideals seem so close and the impact that it has on his well-being as a result. Definitely not an inviting film as a result, with little in the way to root for and the stark reality of the situation being immersed in all kinds of doom, but it nevertheless manages to be compelling in its portrayal of conviction in the most impossible of odds, along with Yoshida's impeccable eye for framing given even more help than usual with star Rentaro Mikuni's unmistakable visage giving the camera a lot to work with in his strong performance. The jarring soundtrack cues also help with the bleak atmosphere as well, even breaking out the synthesizers to help drive home the growing tension of inevitable failure and dubious morality. Good stuff, though after the one-two punch of Eros + Massacre and Heroic Purgatory, it can feel somewhat mundane in comparison.
Eros + Massacre: A film that's quite difficult to sum up properly, and all the better for it. One part intellectual ghost story and another part philosophical quagmire about how we interact with the past and its ability to influence our present and shape our future, the dual story of contemporary students leading different lives as they investigate the past history of the earlier parts of the 20th century, leading to the dramatization of the many loves of real-life revolutionary Sakae Ōsugi, and in particular the affection of Noe Itō that he would eventually die alongside for their cause. The timelines here get marked with differing visual approaches to keep things easy to understand in the first part, yet the way it's all woven together in such a way where one can detect a purposeful temporal imbalance with how the past and present often intersect in the most unusual ways, particularly in the film's post-intermission segment that drives this home very clearly with the timelines being fully integrated at times for a surreal and potent effect. With so much to grapple on virtually every level, the film does not care to go down easy for anyone, but even for folks that don't have an intimate knowledge of the real-life scenario that powers the film's plot, it's hard not to be swept away in both its scope and willingness to engage with the concept of what's actually the most important aspect of learning from history to its ripest potential. At 3.5 hours long, it's a veritable cornucopia for thought on top of its striking visual balancing act that knows when to assault the senses and when to caress them instead, never lacking for nourishment of any kind or for any taste. Yet another fantastic start to a box set of what will be more challenging films for me to eagerly dig into.
Heroic Purgatory: A film that very much feels like the second part of its title, we find a group of people that knew each other as they find themselves slipping backwards and forwards in time, replaying events in locations that likely never were where they had transpired originally, involving people that were never a part of them, all while they themselves feel compelled to play them out. Little attempt is made to tell a conventional story here, but following our small group of doomed individuals as they replay their glory days to their ill-fated conclusion, even as they age up and down past where they actually would have ended up, gives the film a deeply compelling vibe of near-genuine hypnosis, as you yourself find your thoughts beginning to mirror theirs for your own purposes. As there's no dual timeline at play here, Yoshida leans heavily into the askew visual presentation that marked the modern day scenes in Eros + Massacre to, at times, truly astonishing results with how disarming a change to depth of field can impact the composition of a shot, or the angles that are captured here that feel like feats of impossible geometry. An even tougher film to grapple than its predecessor in terms of all that it's throwing out at you and a decidedly less emotionally-inclined story at the center of it, but just as rewarding for those willing to hop on its wavelength.
Coup d'Etat: As straightforward as this was compared to Yoshida's previous two films, this is nevertheless an unconventional sort of biopic of the final times of noted revolutionary Ikki Kita, focusing much more on his headspace as victory for his ideals seem so close and the impact that it has on his well-being as a result. Definitely not an inviting film as a result, with little in the way to root for and the stark reality of the situation being immersed in all kinds of doom, but it nevertheless manages to be compelling in its portrayal of conviction in the most impossible of odds, along with Yoshida's impeccable eye for framing given even more help than usual with star Rentaro Mikuni's unmistakable visage giving the camera a lot to work with in his strong performance. The jarring soundtrack cues also help with the bleak atmosphere as well, even breaking out the synthesizers to help drive home the growing tension of inevitable failure and dubious morality. Good stuff, though after the one-two punch of Eros + Massacre and Heroic Purgatory, it can feel somewhat mundane in comparison.
Black Girl
Similar to Killer of Sheep, here's a film that tackle the ennui of racism, the crushing boredom of living a life that is completely boxed in by your white employers. At just under an hour, the movie is maybe too short and imo doesn't give you enough of a portrait of Diouana's life or mindset to really feel her journey, even though she's narrating the whole thing. But what's here still resonates. And while the recent cultural examination of black lives on film tends to lean predominantly American, this film is a helpful reminder that this shit is absolutely pervasive around the world.
7/10
Da 5 Bloods
Thought this was really good, if maybe a little too long and a little unfocused in its second half. Delroy Lindo is a standout but the whole ensemble is great. I saw an article recently praising Spike Lee as Hollywood's most underrated action director, but I thought the action here was kind of shitty? And a couple hilarious vfx shots that look like they were pulled from Twin Peaks: The Return (thinking of especially the firecrackers and the snake). While there are some missed opportunities with the story -- a lot more could've been done with the Otis' daughter subplot (there's basically nothing to it as is) and a more generally reckoning of the atrocities that these men in particular, but black American soldiers more broadly, committed in Vietnam and juxtaposing that against what they face back home -- I think overall it's a powerful, if slightly unwieldy, film. The convo at the beginning, when Paul takes out his MAGA hat and the rest of the group groan and say "Oh, so you were the one?" cracked me up.
8/10
Late Spring
About 30 minutes into this I kept thinking, Oh no, this is my first Ozu and it's so boring. But then it wasn't! As Noriko's character gives way from someone who is perpetually smiling through every scene and every line of dialogue, an actual conflict begins to quietly emerge as she becomes increasingly fed up with everyone trying to marry her off. The story and Noriko's resistance to getting married may be slightly undermined by cultural or generational differences for me -- as ultimately the reason Noriko is so anti-marriage is not because she wants to live her own independent single life, but rather she wants to remain at home forever and be subservient to her father, which just doesn't carry quite the same oomph -- but it's a credit to Setsuko Hara's performance (who turns 100 this month) and Ozu's perhaps overly patient direction that they're able to squeeze as much understated drama as they can out of the premise.
7/10
The Trip to Italy + The Trip to Spain
I could listen to these guys say "come come, Mr. Bond" for hours. Both films are improvements on the first; the locations are certainly more beautiful, the over-the-top melodrama has been tuned way down, and they're just generally funnier. The thing I like most about these movies I think is the increasingly warming rapport between Steve and Rob. In the first film you get the sense that Steve was often exasperated by Rob and had to be dragged into most of their improv back and forths. But in these two, especially Spain, Steve is much more willing to play along in the skits rather than acting like he's just humoring Rob. And the more fun they have personally, the more fun it is to watch.
8/10 for both
Similar to Killer of Sheep, here's a film that tackle the ennui of racism, the crushing boredom of living a life that is completely boxed in by your white employers. At just under an hour, the movie is maybe too short and imo doesn't give you enough of a portrait of Diouana's life or mindset to really feel her journey, even though she's narrating the whole thing. But what's here still resonates. And while the recent cultural examination of black lives on film tends to lean predominantly American, this film is a helpful reminder that this shit is absolutely pervasive around the world.
7/10
Da 5 Bloods
Thought this was really good, if maybe a little too long and a little unfocused in its second half. Delroy Lindo is a standout but the whole ensemble is great. I saw an article recently praising Spike Lee as Hollywood's most underrated action director, but I thought the action here was kind of shitty? And a couple hilarious vfx shots that look like they were pulled from Twin Peaks: The Return (thinking of especially the firecrackers and the snake). While there are some missed opportunities with the story -- a lot more could've been done with the Otis' daughter subplot (there's basically nothing to it as is) and a more generally reckoning of the atrocities that these men in particular, but black American soldiers more broadly, committed in Vietnam and juxtaposing that against what they face back home -- I think overall it's a powerful, if slightly unwieldy, film. The convo at the beginning, when Paul takes out his MAGA hat and the rest of the group groan and say "Oh, so you were the one?" cracked me up.
8/10
Late Spring
About 30 minutes into this I kept thinking, Oh no, this is my first Ozu and it's so boring. But then it wasn't! As Noriko's character gives way from someone who is perpetually smiling through every scene and every line of dialogue, an actual conflict begins to quietly emerge as she becomes increasingly fed up with everyone trying to marry her off. The story and Noriko's resistance to getting married may be slightly undermined by cultural or generational differences for me -- as ultimately the reason Noriko is so anti-marriage is not because she wants to live her own independent single life, but rather she wants to remain at home forever and be subservient to her father, which just doesn't carry quite the same oomph -- but it's a credit to Setsuko Hara's performance (who turns 100 this month) and Ozu's perhaps overly patient direction that they're able to squeeze as much understated drama as they can out of the premise.
7/10
The Trip to Italy + The Trip to Spain
I could listen to these guys say "come come, Mr. Bond" for hours. Both films are improvements on the first; the locations are certainly more beautiful, the over-the-top melodrama has been tuned way down, and they're just generally funnier. The thing I like most about these movies I think is the increasingly warming rapport between Steve and Rob. In the first film you get the sense that Steve was often exasperated by Rob and had to be dragged into most of their improv back and forths. But in these two, especially Spain, Steve is much more willing to play along in the skits rather than acting like he's just humoring Rob. And the more fun they have personally, the more fun it is to watch.
8/10 for both
Annie (1999): Rob Marshall's directorial debut, a TV movie adaptation of the stage musical in which he also did the choreography. It has a great cast, but it's hampered by the need to fit the whole thing into ninety minutes (the more famous Huston version is over a half-hour longer), as well as budgetary limitations. Interesting to compare with the former film (for instance, having Victor Garber instead of Albert Finney means that Warbucks can actually sing), but definitely the inferior version.
Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965): Really cool thriller that feels like a forerunner of psychological horror/paranoia films that would become more commonplace in the late 1960s and especially the 1970s -- the specific examination of societal dismissiveness of female concerns especially feels like Rosemary's Baby. The climax is overlong and kind of exhausts the tension, but really worth seeing.
Cape Fear (1991): Martin Scorsese makes one of his great contributions to pop culture by inspiring one of the very best episodes of The Simpsons, while also giving Robert De Niro a platform for a very different sort of performance from his usual (though he's still playing an evil criminal, so we're not going too too far off the map in some ways). Scorsese's direction is wildly over the top, which I think works in some instances but in others it just takes the thing way over the line into camp.
But I'm A Cheerleader (1999): Quite amusing satire of the ex-gay movement, starring an almost distractingly fresh-faced Natasha Lyonne (whose naive character does not at all resemble the world-weary niche she would come to occupy as an actress in later decade). Also features cameos from people like Michelle Williams and (for some reason) Julie Delpy.
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972): I was really tired last night and probably not in the right headspace to watch a subtitled film, but all the same, this didn't do much of anything for me. Having now watched two of Bunuel's films, I don't think I'm really in sync with him as an artist; ah, well.
Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965): Really cool thriller that feels like a forerunner of psychological horror/paranoia films that would become more commonplace in the late 1960s and especially the 1970s -- the specific examination of societal dismissiveness of female concerns especially feels like Rosemary's Baby. The climax is overlong and kind of exhausts the tension, but really worth seeing.
Cape Fear (1991): Martin Scorsese makes one of his great contributions to pop culture by inspiring one of the very best episodes of The Simpsons, while also giving Robert De Niro a platform for a very different sort of performance from his usual (though he's still playing an evil criminal, so we're not going too too far off the map in some ways). Scorsese's direction is wildly over the top, which I think works in some instances but in others it just takes the thing way over the line into camp.
But I'm A Cheerleader (1999): Quite amusing satire of the ex-gay movement, starring an almost distractingly fresh-faced Natasha Lyonne (whose naive character does not at all resemble the world-weary niche she would come to occupy as an actress in later decade). Also features cameos from people like Michelle Williams and (for some reason) Julie Delpy.
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972): I was really tired last night and probably not in the right headspace to watch a subtitled film, but all the same, this didn't do much of anything for me. Having now watched two of Bunuel's films, I don't think I'm really in sync with him as an artist; ah, well.
Cries and Whispers (1972) I didn't feel much for this movie. The acting is alright and th2 cinematography was well done, but there wasn't much else eye opening about this film for me. 5/10.
Parasite (Rewatch) (2019) - Watched this with some siblings this time around. They had no idea how much of the movie was CGI and were blown away when I revealed that to them. Otherwise... they didn't think much of it. They haven't watched that many of the Best Picture nominees so they weren't sure what was the best last year. But I enjoyed it all the same.
Parasite (Rewatch) (2019) - Watched this with some siblings this time around. They had no idea how much of the movie was CGI and were blown away when I revealed that to them. Otherwise... they didn't think much of it. They haven't watched that many of the Best Picture nominees so they weren't sure what was the best last year. But I enjoyed it all the same.
Poetry
"I don't have any beautiful memories. I'm sorry. For 20 years, I lived in a basement room. Six years ago I finally leased an apartment in this town, which had a low deposit and monthly rent. So I moved here. I guess that was my most beautiful moment. I laid spread-eagle on the floor feeling that I owned the world."
Well, this certainly wasn't the movie I was expecting; what I thought would be a fairly quaint, moving portrait of an elderly woman fighting off Alzheimer's through the use of poetry and linguistic/artistic stimulation instead revealed itself to be a story of sinister, patriarchal proportions. While that thread still exists, it's not the main thrust of the narrative—Mija's Alzheimer's is in the early stages and only manifests in a few forgotten words here and there, predominantly in the first half, though the weight of her diagnosis lingers throughout (suffice to say, the scene where she recounts one of her earliest memories to her poetry class while fighting back tears is incredibly poignant, the prospect of losing such a formative jewel too devastating to accept, for her and for us.) Rather, her poetic interest derives from what I assume fuels most poets, a desire to view the world in a new light and as a means of self-expression. And what a self to express! Mija, in all her chic floral glory, is a wonderful protagonist: meek, shrewd, eccentric, burdened by a thankless grandson (more on this little shit in a bit), and at that age where society starts to move passed you despite having so much left to give. The word endearing was created for people like her. Yoon Jeong-hee's performance is nothing short of colossal, if not in presence, in skill, the kind only an old master can churn out. I know very little about the Korean film industry and its many players, but somehow I know no one else could have played her.
And what of the other thread? I won't mention it in detail because while it's not a twist per se, it's enough of a curveball to keep in the dark. I'll just say that Wook, Mija's grandson, is one of the most ungrateful SOBs I've come across in a while, every parent's worst nightmare, a pig slob without an ounce of remorse. I just wish I could reach into the screen and slap some sense into him. Yet as the movie goes on, you can see how he could end up like that (thankfully not due to his loving grandma), essentially abandoned by his mother and raised in a society that, at least as presented, has insidiousness baked into its core. The men and boys in this movie aren't outwardly monstrous, which only serves to strengthen the monstrosity of their actions. And so Mija's quest for self-expression evolves and takes on new meaning, all the way up to the film's stunningly ambiguous ending in which she finally finds her voice by inhabiting someone else's. It's a truly bittersweet denouement, heart-wrenching but also strangely uplifting. The power of empathy I suppose.
"I don't have any beautiful memories. I'm sorry. For 20 years, I lived in a basement room. Six years ago I finally leased an apartment in this town, which had a low deposit and monthly rent. So I moved here. I guess that was my most beautiful moment. I laid spread-eagle on the floor feeling that I owned the world."
Well, this certainly wasn't the movie I was expecting; what I thought would be a fairly quaint, moving portrait of an elderly woman fighting off Alzheimer's through the use of poetry and linguistic/artistic stimulation instead revealed itself to be a story of sinister, patriarchal proportions. While that thread still exists, it's not the main thrust of the narrative—Mija's Alzheimer's is in the early stages and only manifests in a few forgotten words here and there, predominantly in the first half, though the weight of her diagnosis lingers throughout (suffice to say, the scene where she recounts one of her earliest memories to her poetry class while fighting back tears is incredibly poignant, the prospect of losing such a formative jewel too devastating to accept, for her and for us.) Rather, her poetic interest derives from what I assume fuels most poets, a desire to view the world in a new light and as a means of self-expression. And what a self to express! Mija, in all her chic floral glory, is a wonderful protagonist: meek, shrewd, eccentric, burdened by a thankless grandson (more on this little shit in a bit), and at that age where society starts to move passed you despite having so much left to give. The word endearing was created for people like her. Yoon Jeong-hee's performance is nothing short of colossal, if not in presence, in skill, the kind only an old master can churn out. I know very little about the Korean film industry and its many players, but somehow I know no one else could have played her.
And what of the other thread? I won't mention it in detail because while it's not a twist per se, it's enough of a curveball to keep in the dark. I'll just say that Wook, Mija's grandson, is one of the most ungrateful SOBs I've come across in a while, every parent's worst nightmare, a pig slob without an ounce of remorse. I just wish I could reach into the screen and slap some sense into him. Yet as the movie goes on, you can see how he could end up like that (thankfully not due to his loving grandma), essentially abandoned by his mother and raised in a society that, at least as presented, has insidiousness baked into its core. The men and boys in this movie aren't outwardly monstrous, which only serves to strengthen the monstrosity of their actions. And so Mija's quest for self-expression evolves and takes on new meaning, all the way up to the film's stunningly ambiguous ending in which she finally finds her voice by inhabiting someone else's. It's a truly bittersweet denouement, heart-wrenching but also strangely uplifting. The power of empathy I suppose.
Just finished Netflix' Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga and really enjoyed it.
it was lighthearted and fun, was a mixture of cool runnings and pitch perfect.
It's a feel good turn your brain off movie but I really found myself loving it.
it was lighthearted and fun, was a mixture of cool runnings and pitch perfect.
It's a feel good turn your brain off movie but I really found myself loving it.
Black Venus (2010): The depressing story of Sarah Bjaartman, rendered in signature Abdellatif Kechiche style, which is to say, imagine if Elephant Man had been almost three hours long and consisted virtually only of the scenes where the protagonist is made to humiliate themselves for other people's entertainment. The first Kechiche film I saw, many a year ago, was Blue is the Warmest Colour, which I thought and still think is brilliant; having seen other films by him in recent months, he's clearly a believer that scenes being long is intrinsically good, whether this approach really fits the project or not. In Blue the length worked (other than the sex scenes) as they served to draw out character nuances. Here I'm kind of conflicted on it, because simultaneously the length very deliberately puts the audience in Bjaartman's shoes and won't let them leave; at the same time, there's not really much happening in any given scene, so the result is that they all make their point and then keep going, which also makes it hard not to check out at a certain point.
In A Lonely Place (1951): Rewatched before it leaves the Criterion Channel. This is Bogart's best acting role, in my opinion, taking all his roguish charm that was usually applied to jerks hiding a heart of gold and instead wielding it on behalf of a guy whose superficial charms mask a lot of violent and possessive tendencies. If anything, the only thing about the movie that maybe doesn't work is that we're supposed to regard the dissolution of the central relationship due to the murder investigation as a tragedy, but Gloria Grahame's character is really fortunate to be getting away from him.
In A Lonely Place (1951): Rewatched before it leaves the Criterion Channel. This is Bogart's best acting role, in my opinion, taking all his roguish charm that was usually applied to jerks hiding a heart of gold and instead wielding it on behalf of a guy whose superficial charms mask a lot of violent and possessive tendencies. If anything, the only thing about the movie that maybe doesn't work is that we're supposed to regard the dissolution of the central relationship due to the murder investigation as a tragedy, but Gloria Grahame's character is really fortunate to be getting away from him.
F For Fake **** 1/2
Amazed on how far ahead of this time this is, it almost as if predicts certain debates that would continue to be posed on the nature of art, it's often rapid and almost too fast-moving for it's own good, but Orson Welle's narration and style makes it a seriously fun film to watch.
Amazed on how far ahead of this time this is, it almost as if predicts certain debates that would continue to be posed on the nature of art, it's often rapid and almost too fast-moving for it's own good, but Orson Welle's narration and style makes it a seriously fun film to watch.
Watched a lot of movies during quarantine. One I highly recommend is:
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion
Gian Maria Volonte is great.
It's about a sociopath police chief who commits a murder to demonstrate to himself that he can't be arrested no matter how obvious it is that he is the killer.
Fun soundtrack by Morricone.
I prefer the original Cape Fear. Robert Mitchum's character feels more real, and the perfect family from the late 50s being targeted by this guy is a bigger contrast than in the remake.
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion
Gian Maria Volonte is great.
It's about a sociopath police chief who commits a murder to demonstrate to himself that he can't be arrested no matter how obvious it is that he is the killer.
Fun soundtrack by Morricone.
I prefer the original Cape Fear. Robert Mitchum's character feels more real, and the perfect family from the late 50s being targeted by this guy is a bigger contrast than in the remake.
Only movies I watched this month are Dark Skies (2013) and You Should Have Left (2020)
Dark Skies was just a random Neflix movie I decided to watch yesterday, and one of those I couldn't remember if I'd seen or not. Like it looked familiar, and then as I started watching I was like...maybe I haven't seen this, and then by the end I realized I had. It was an alright little movie though, nice twist on the alien invasion story.
You Should Have Left I rented on a whim and went half/half on someone I was hanging out with. The concept was interesting and there was some cool sequences, but ending and overall plot ended up being pretty dumb and cliche.
Dark Skies was just a random Neflix movie I decided to watch yesterday, and one of those I couldn't remember if I'd seen or not. Like it looked familiar, and then as I started watching I was like...maybe I haven't seen this, and then by the end I realized I had. It was an alright little movie though, nice twist on the alien invasion story.
You Should Have Left I rented on a whim and went half/half on someone I was hanging out with. The concept was interesting and there was some cool sequences, but ending and overall plot ended up being pretty dumb and cliche.
Now on to a couple of swashbuckling films:
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) You can't help but love the charm and athleticism of Errol Flynn. He was the rare person who can do it all: act, fight, humor and do crazy stunts. With that said,, that was part of the time as a hedonist that would need a look into in the present time. Nevertheless, this movie gets right about what people want in a Robin Hood film, archery, taking down the establishment and wooing the Maid Marian. All and all, it's the best Robin Hood movie I've seen so far and it's insane no other live-action movie has come close. Just slap Stephen Amell in there and add more archery shots. How hard can that be Hollywood? I'm looking straight at you Otto Bathurst. 8/10
The Mark of Zorro (1940) Talk about typecasting. Eugene Pallette basically plays the same role he did as Friar Tuck two years ago. He's as great as he was back then as well. This is basically the 4th Zorro film I've watched so far, following the Antonio Barrages films and the 1920 one with those insane stunts.While the stunts here aren't quite as impressive, the plot holds better here. But I was mainly here to see what many consider to be one of the best sword fights of all time and it didn't disappoint. It made the Errol Flynn's swashbuckling as Robin Hood look like in slow motion. It's also poetic for the lieutenant to be taken down by Zorro without ever knowing that it was the alter ego. I'll give this movie the edge for the slightly better fights and romance. 8.25/10
Sheesh, Tyrone Power and Flynn died within one year of each other? Ouch.
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) You can't help but love the charm and athleticism of Errol Flynn. He was the rare person who can do it all: act, fight, humor and do crazy stunts. With that said,, that was part of the time as a hedonist that would need a look into in the present time. Nevertheless, this movie gets right about what people want in a Robin Hood film, archery, taking down the establishment and wooing the Maid Marian. All and all, it's the best Robin Hood movie I've seen so far and it's insane no other live-action movie has come close. Just slap Stephen Amell in there and add more archery shots. How hard can that be Hollywood? I'm looking straight at you Otto Bathurst. 8/10
The Mark of Zorro (1940) Talk about typecasting. Eugene Pallette basically plays the same role he did as Friar Tuck two years ago. He's as great as he was back then as well. This is basically the 4th Zorro film I've watched so far, following the Antonio Barrages films and the 1920 one with those insane stunts.While the stunts here aren't quite as impressive, the plot holds better here. But I was mainly here to see what many consider to be one of the best sword fights of all time and it didn't disappoint. It made the Errol Flynn's swashbuckling as Robin Hood look like in slow motion. It's also poetic for the lieutenant to be taken down by Zorro without ever knowing that it was the alter ego. I'll give this movie the edge for the slightly better fights and romance. 8.25/10
Sheesh, Tyrone Power and Flynn died within one year of each other? Ouch.
I bought the 4K Bluray release of Apocalypse Now.
I never seen it before and holy cow, what a fantastic ride that was. It was a long sit but definitely worth it.
As for the 4K restoration, some shots looked fantastic while some parts of the screen remained a bit blurry which was a bit distracting at times.
I never seen it before and holy cow, what a fantastic ride that was. It was a long sit but definitely worth it.
As for the 4K restoration, some shots looked fantastic while some parts of the screen remained a bit blurry which was a bit distracting at times.
Few things I watched over the weekend:
Disclosure (2020) - 4/5
A poignant and necessary documentary about the state of transgender representation in Hollywood & TV. People already in the know probably won't learn anything new, but for a lot of people this will open their eyes to exactly why having cisgender actors playing trans roles might be problematic or why not all representation is good representation.
A note of criticism though, it's painfully obvious who paid for the documentary. This is a Netflix Original and lo and behold, at the point in the documentary where a bunch of examples of good representation is mentioned, every show mentioned is a Netflix Original. The only show that's mentioned by name as having good representation in front of and behind the camera is Amazon's Transparent, which is then immediately tied to the Jeffrey Tambor allegations (so the general feeling after that section is negativity). Meanwhile, Euphoria (HBO) and A Fantastic Woman (Oscar winning film about trans issues with a trans actress playing the main role) are noticeably absent apart from a short compilation at the beginning. Also, most people featured as talking heads are directly related to either Pose (Netflix Original outside of the US), Sense8 or Orange Is the New Black.
I really feel that documentaries like this (exploring a real and important issue in the film & tv business) are being lessened when they seem to be excluding great examples of good representation just because they were made by different companies. I can't fathom why else you wouldn't feature Euphoria and actress Hunter Schafer when your documentary specifically focuses on the importance of showing younger audiences that being trans is normal.
Honey Boy (2019) - 4/5
So, this is a pretty great movie. I have always liked Shia LaBoeuf and seeing him in this role tackling his personal trauma was beautiful. This visit was especially noticeable however because it was the first time since March (!) that I have been in a cinema, yay! It certainly was an odd experience with the social distancing, but I'm glad cinemas here have their act together and I am able to go to them with no issues and minimal risk.
This Magnificent Cake! (2018) - 4.5/5
Still a great movie. Its satire is incredibly powerful and on-point, it looks wonderful and is funny as hell. It's depressing how relevant this movie still is, as just a month ago we still had prominent Belgians downplaying the horrors of what Belgium did in the Congo. Fuck 'em all.
Disclosure (2020) - 4/5
A poignant and necessary documentary about the state of transgender representation in Hollywood & TV. People already in the know probably won't learn anything new, but for a lot of people this will open their eyes to exactly why having cisgender actors playing trans roles might be problematic or why not all representation is good representation.
A note of criticism though, it's painfully obvious who paid for the documentary. This is a Netflix Original and lo and behold, at the point in the documentary where a bunch of examples of good representation is mentioned, every show mentioned is a Netflix Original. The only show that's mentioned by name as having good representation in front of and behind the camera is Amazon's Transparent, which is then immediately tied to the Jeffrey Tambor allegations (so the general feeling after that section is negativity). Meanwhile, Euphoria (HBO) and A Fantastic Woman (Oscar winning film about trans issues with a trans actress playing the main role) are noticeably absent apart from a short compilation at the beginning. Also, most people featured as talking heads are directly related to either Pose (Netflix Original outside of the US), Sense8 or Orange Is the New Black.
I really feel that documentaries like this (exploring a real and important issue in the film & tv business) are being lessened when they seem to be excluding great examples of good representation just because they were made by different companies. I can't fathom why else you wouldn't feature Euphoria and actress Hunter Schafer when your documentary specifically focuses on the importance of showing younger audiences that being trans is normal.
Honey Boy (2019) - 4/5
So, this is a pretty great movie. I have always liked Shia LaBoeuf and seeing him in this role tackling his personal trauma was beautiful. This visit was especially noticeable however because it was the first time since March (!) that I have been in a cinema, yay! It certainly was an odd experience with the social distancing, but I'm glad cinemas here have their act together and I am able to go to them with no issues and minimal risk.
This Magnificent Cake! (2018) - 4.5/5
Still a great movie. Its satire is incredibly powerful and on-point, it looks wonderful and is funny as hell. It's depressing how relevant this movie still is, as just a month ago we still had prominent Belgians downplaying the horrors of what Belgium did in the Congo. Fuck 'em all.
Which version did you watch? Final, Redux or Theatrical? I still need to watch the Final Cut, but the Theatrical Cut is just so perfect that I dread it.
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The Final Cut, I had no point of reference with other versions and didn't feel like scenes were unnecessary or could have done without.