The Torch
A documentary focusing on Buddy Guy and mentorship and generational “passing of the torch”, from Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, Little Walter, and others to Buddy and from Buddy to new blues talent like Quinn Sullivan, one of the many young blues guitarists Buddy has mentored over the years. A must see for any fan of the blues, of course, but also a meditation on how great artists get to where they are and how they can affect up and coming artists. For those wondering what I’m talking about, here’s a taste from Buddy’s 80th birthday party (featured in the film)
Everything Everywhere All At Once
It lives up to its title. Michelle Yeoh is given a chance to really act along with showing off her skills in some wild action. I’d summarize the plot, but the title does it better. Expect to see this in the discussion of next year’s Oscar nominees.
7 Days
A rom-com in the time of COVID. Not as sweet as Language Lessons and not as dire as The Pink Cloud, it is a nicely diverting 90 minutes with winning lead performances (practically the only performances) and a predictable, but satisfying plot. Won’t lose anything in streaming.
The Lost City
Almost a reboot of Romancing the Stone, but not anywhere in that film’s league, it is still lifted above some of the recent romance adventure movies by the performances and chemistry of Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum, as well as their commitment to physical comedy and willingness to be ridiculously silly.
Morbius
The latest side character solo movie in the MCU, it moves quickly and has a good central performance by Jared Leto, but ultimately, I don’t think it is going to take off into a series (though future plots are the focus of the in-credits scenes). Not as bad as the critics are painting it, but not a must-see.
Death on the Nile (2022). Mostly castigated by critics, yet we enjoyed it. The cast is good (even Gadot, though she isn’t asked to do too much), and the scenery of Egypt is great.
Branagh is interesting as Poirot, they’ve made the character a little more sturdy. That’s in contrast to David Suchet, who is excellent as Poirot, but we’ve just watched a dozen of those in a row, and I am starting to tire of his fastidiousness. Yeah, I know it’s the character, and yet…
“X”. Saw it twice. Most brilliant horror film I’ve seen in years. It has a point, it’s characters have a point. No spoilers, but (to me) it’s about the horrors of growing old. So well acted, directed, edited. It feels too real.
Started some Jason Statham vehicle, but I can’t remember the name of it. Basically, he rescues an Asian math whiz and then kills everybody he runs into.
Bored, can’t leave the house… watched The Burnt Orange Heresy and was disapointed when it wasn’t about a certain person’s Ford Escape… oh well. Kinda sucked either way.
And a couple plot holes that make the Panama Canal look like a trench, but, yeah. It’s a great film. Just roll with it…
Off topic, but I just wanted to warn anyone that reads that thread and finds out there is a Buckaroo Banzai vs. World Crime League novel - DO NOT BUY IT! It’s quite possibly the worst SF book I have ever tried to read. Buckaroo isn’t even in the first third of the book. What there is in the book is a lot of hokey religion, supernatural beings, way too many flaming farts, and horrible nonsense dialogue. Oh, they toss in some rape and cannibalism too.
It’s written by the guy who wrote the screenplay for the first movie, but he totally misses on this one. One good thing I learned is that a movie will be unlikely as many companies are claiming the rights to it.
One last factoid: At one time Kevin Smith was involved in doing a Buckaroo mini series on Amazon, but the legal battles were dragging on so long he abandoned the project.
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf has long been a favorite film of mine, but I hadn’t watched it for a long time.
After recently mentioning the film in a different thread, I decided to watch it again. Well…it’s even better than I remembered. One of the greatest films ever made. That’s not open for debate, it just is.
From the very first scene, we are drawn into a tour de force of drama, sprinkled with very dark comedy. All this, and it’s basically just 4 people talking for 2 hours (Edward Albee knows how to write a play).
You know it’s going to be a unique film when the most glamorous and beautiful actress in Hollywood history is cast as a dowdy, middle aged wife with the acid tongue of a viper. Elizabeth Taylor gives us a performance that is a masterclass in acting which should be in the curriculum of any acting class worth it’s salt.
And, of course Richard Burton, George Segal and Sandy Dennis rise to the occasion, enhancing Taylor’s superb performance (all 4 received Academy Award nominations. It’s the first film in Academy Awards history to be nominated for every award category in which it was eligible).
It’s a gut-wrenching, painful movie to watch (chronic alcoholism, toxic marriage, failure to succeed, coping with the death of a child…), but essential if you want to see cinema at its very finest.
Looks like a fascinating read. I found this blurb from the book discussing director Mike Nichols:
“He had less than three months to learn how to make a movie, outmaneuver a notoriously combative studio head…and figure out how to direct the world’s most famous couple,” Harris writes, quoting Nichols himself as saying, “‘And I wasn’t entirely sure how a camera worked.’”
Nevertheless, he is described on the set of Virginia Woolf as “successful lion tamer to two of the world’s least controllable celebrities…he would push Taylor and Burton until she would break down in tears and he would be too shaken to come out of his dressing room, and they would still return the next day eager for more.” In 1966, the movie would be a box-office hit and eventually nominated for thirteen Academy Awards, including Best Director. This gave Mike Nichols the cache to make virtually any movie he pleased.
Watched Alita: Battle Angel (2019) on UK TV and was not impressed.
Despite a few swear words and regular violence (usually involving cyborgs so the blood is sky blue) it struck me as a great film for the sort of young teenage girl (or boy of course) who wants an alternative to The Hunger Games or The Twilight series.
For me the film was undermined by trying to stick too reverentially to its Japanese comic book origins.
The worlds most powerful combat cyborg not only has the body of a teenage girl it has the personality of a teenage girl. That seems to be pandering to a certain stereotypical middle aged Japanese male comic fan.
The film decided to use CGI to give the girl large eyes, just as she would have had in the comic. This not only obscured the subtlety of the actresses expressions, the size of the eyes was unintentionally variable. I spent the whole film assessing the quality of this and the other special effects. I had no interest in the film. I’m sitting there thinking “They did that bit well” or “That special effect there is a bit obvious.”
Also the plot legacy was overwhelming. A war on Mars 300 years ago. Hunter Killer cyborgs tracking down criminals (without their crimes being obvious.) A Rollerball type game. A vast hovering spaceship city that the underclass on Earth all want to get to. A spare cybernetic body which is the ultimate weapon (although when finally deployed seemed no more powerful than the body she had before.) And more. And not to any great end.
The teen girl has a sweet crush on a hunky but naughty bad boy… If you were building the worlds deadliest weapon would you design it to do that? Especially since she was apparently over 300 years old herself!
No kidding!