This reminds me of hearing ads on the TV about G.I. Jane pre and post Lord of the Rings. Pre Lord of The Rings, only Demi Moore’s name was mentioned, post Lord of the Rings, Viggo Mortensen was suddenly added. Admittedly he has a large role in the film, but most people would not have recognized the name.
Back to the topic at hand, I recently watched The Mitchells vs. the Machines and found it to be a lot of fun and with great visuals. I am not sure I agreed with all the stylistic choices they made, but it is something I can see myself watching again.
Rudderless (2016, Amazon Prime). A man whose son dies unexpectedly comes across his stash of self-created music CDs. The plot veered in a direction that I did not see coming, which is best left unspoiled. Not a great movie, but definitely worth a watch.
Words on Bathroom Walls (2020, Amazon Prime). A teen with schizophrenia. The film maker made the unwise choice of allowing us to see the protagonist’s hallucinations as he sees them; this is done in a very awkward and unpleasant way. Also, the acting and dialogue ring very false to my ears. The movie is currently at 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, which astounds me. I pretty much hated it.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020, Netflix) A stellar cast, tight writing, maintained its intrigue even though I knew the story. Maybe a bit too long. Worthy of its Best Picture nomination, but I wouldn’t have rooted for it to win over The Sound of Metal.
Girlfriend’s Day (Netflix) - Bob Odenkirk plays Bob Odenkirk as a Romance Card writer with writers block. Divorced, , injured, unemployed and drunk he fights in the hardscrabble world that is the greeting card industry to get his mojo back. Eh. Very reminiscent of ‘The Big Lebowski’ in it’s quirky humor, but it’s often just too strange and silly to bring you into the story. Rotten Tomatoes’ Audience Score gives it a 37%, which I think is a bit low, but I won’t fight anyone over it. It’s light, at least, and clocking in at 110 Min is a fair opening appetizer for better movie fare later in the evening.
The story is centred on a mysterious inspector, who investigates the socially ambitious Birling family and a dinner guest following the suicide of a young woman.
Takes place in a hoity-toity British home in 1912. I didn’t expect much from it. But it was great. Highly recommended.
Just as Rhodes laughs, ridicules and humiliates his audience of obedient supporters, Trump, Conservative media and all the right wing talking heads similarly regard their legion of stupid, blind saps who worship/follow them and feed them with ratings and money. Disgusting and prophetically profound.
A rare little gem of a horror movie. Made for CBS television 40 years ago, but well made and looks like a full movie. Jay Bauman from Redlettermedia recommended it and it streams on Amazon Prime free with prime membership.
Not scary at all, really, but has a great creepy vibe and is very well made.
We watched Fear of 13 the other night. Its a compelling story about a man wrongly put on death row and later exonerated. That man, Nick Yarris, tells his story but it seems like he is “overacting” or as someone else put it, auditioning to play himself. That said, its worth the time to watch.
Went to an actual cinema to see Demon Slayer - Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train. It turns out that my local cinema are really serious about the 15 rating, and as my daughter (who wanted to see it and who has watched the television show) is under 15, we got booted.
But they let us go watch Peter Rabbit 2 instead. Which was fine - an unremarkable but otherwise solid family film with a few genuinely funny moments.
Bit of a difference between the two but OTOH we were literally the only two people watching the film so could chat at will.
Just watched Ava (2020) with Jessica Chastain as the protagonist. I must admit I started off with low expectations, but the movie was well-directed and well-acted, if a little slow at times. Chastain really shines as the assassin getting in touch with her emotions. And a nice soundtrack too. Well worth a watch.
A Star is Born (1954) (HBO Max) The Judy Garland/James Mason version. It’s one of those movies where you’re not sure if you’ve seen it, or have just seen so many clips and highlights over the years. So last night we sat down to watch the whole thing. We only got as far as Intermission – yes, there’s an Intermission.
There was an introduction by a TCM host who told how the studio was unhappy with director George Cukor’s cut - they felt it was too long, so they hacked it. The cut footage was lost, but the entire soundtrack remained. So somebody “restored” it by synching publicity stills to the soundtrack to recreate the lost material, and that’s the version we were about to see.
Well…the studio was right. The official version runs 2:25; with the restored cuts its 2:50. We’re not talking Dr Zhivago here – this is “Boy meets girl/girl becomes a star/boy becomes a bitter drunk/tragic ending”. No way this story couldn’t be told in a brisk 1:45.
One reason it’s so long is the “Born in a Trunk” number right before intermission. It goes on for 20 minutes while the story is completely on hold.
Interesting tidbit: there’s a Wilhelm Scream. Probably one of the first instances, since the original scream was recorded in 1951 (according to Wikipedia). You may be wondering why there’s a Wilhelm Scream in a showbiz musical. Well, I’ll tell you. Judy’s first day at the studio she is introduced to the studio head, who’s in a screening room watching a western.
Killing Them Softly (2012), a film where Brad Pitt eventually shows up in the title role. I was surprised by this one. For having such a well known actor in it, it seems fairly obscure, which might ordinarily signal doom, but here I thought this was actually really good. It’s a grounded sort of crime drama, with short bursts of violence (not unlike 2011’s Drive in that regard), and the sense that, for the most part, its characters are acting as real people might in a similar situation (dirt poor, with few opportunities for income apart from crime, anything but criminal masterminds, but still by no means comical: it’s misery and dread if anything).
This is, like, the anti-John Wick. Both in its focus and in how grounded it is. Which isn’t to say it’s not an engrossing film or there is no action. Only that one shouldn’t watch this for the thrill.
ETA: The trailer for this film really does it a disservice. I just watched it, and it makes the movie seem like a buddy comedy. It’s not. It’s so not it’s not even funny. Which I guess is the point I’ve been getting at.
This is a very divisive and brilliant film. Its dark and relentless. Its about the compromises some communities have to make to survive and the price they should pay. There are no heroes here. This is revisionist western filmmaking at its best.
Ohh, and a brilliant villain performance by Geoffrey Lewis.
