House of Gucci was constrained by its need to conform somewhat to the historical record, and suffered by comparison to Succession in the the dysfunctional rich family genre. (Here’s hoping Discovery+’s Unprecedented about the Trumps fares better).
Instead of a fairly solid theme with a good arc, about a middle class woman who takes the runt of a rich clan under her wing but creates a Frankenstein; with a revenge-of-the-jilted-wife sting at the end, they brought in Jared “the poor man’s Johnny Depp” Leto and Al Pacino. Does Al get at least one yelling scene? Of course he does.
The Sting 1973. I watched many years ago and enjoyed it then, and upon re-watch recently, it still holds up to my memory. There was even one twist I had forgotten about. Robert Redford and Paul Newman star, as well as Dana Elcar of MacGyver fame. And enjoyable movie for anyone that likes heist films.
Official Competition
If you avoid “movies about the movies”, then you’ll miss a real treat. A black comedy that skewers everything that goes into an art film, it forgoes the easy gags for carefully aimed daggers. You can also spend some of your viewing time trying to figure out which directors Penelope Cruz is drawing on for “inspiration” in her performance as the eccentric, award-winning director. As a side note, except for two minutes in a single film, this is the first time Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas have shared the screen.
Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song
Since his death, it seems like there have been about a hundred documentaries on Leonard Cohen. This is another one. However, I found it to be an interesting dive into the creation and subsequent canonization of a song that, when it was first recorded was not deemed worthy of release in the US. It goes without saying, that while a number of artists are featured, if you aren’t a fan of Cohen’s music, don’t watch.
Both Sides of the Blade
A french love triangle describing the chaotic results of the reintroduction of a past lover on the lives of an older couple. While there is no new ground plowed by the plot, the two lead performances keep you invested in the outcome. Besides, Juliette Binoche at 58!
Two films, one an impulse and one a recommendation:
Tomorrow At Seven: A millionare is menaced by a figure known as the Black Ace, who foretells the man’s death Tomorrow At Seven. Decent 1930’s mystery with unneeded “comic relief” but I do like these types of movies and the general 30’s and 40’s ascetic in general. Amazon Prime.
Everything Everywhere All At Once: Could maybe have used some light trimming, but all around a great and thoughtful film I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone (my mom would have trouble following it-not her cup of tea) but if you’re hesitant about it for some reason-don’t be because it’s pretty amazing. Netflix DVD.
MotW was Brian and Charles. A Welsh loner inventor makes a new friend. Quasi-comedy ensues.
The big handicap, esp. for the first part of the film, is the quasi-documentary style where Brian talks to the camera explaining what he’s doing, etc. But then it gets better. Esp. when the character Hazel becomes more prominent.
Note that it is common is such films for the woman to be the damsel in distress type. But they don’t go that way. Nice little touch.
Plus Happy Together is used in the soundtrack. 3rd time I heard it in the past week.
A Call to Spy is a 2019 historical drama, available on Amazon, based on real-life characters. It’s the story of a little-known group of female spies sent by the British government to report back on activities in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. The story unfolds at a slow, methodical pace, too much so for some critics, but for me it worked. Real-life spying involves a lot more shadowy subterfuge than it does blowing things up. The acting is not flashy, but effective. My reaction to a movie often boils down to whether I care about the fate of the characters. Do I believe in them? In this, I did, and I’m glad there are still movies being made for adults.
The Four Musketeers
A fun if relatively mindless (and definitely historically-inaccurate) sequel to the swashbuckling movie The Three Musketeers, with all of the cast returning. Michael York and Raquel Welch are both good as the romantic leads, and as before, Charlton Heston is surprisingly good as a scheming but courtly Cardinal Richelieu.
Operation Mincemeat
So-so World War II drama, based on a true story, about a British espionage operation which tried to misdirect the Germans as to an upcoming invasion site. Good cast but the movie just never quite took off, I’d say.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Also underwhelming, a comedy about humans and toons mixing it up in Golden Age Hollywood. I hadn’t seen it since its first release in 1988, and meh, I can’t say it’s improved much in the meantime.
Pompeii
A 2014 swords-and-sandals epic about the volcano-doomed Roman seacoast town, told through the eyes of a surly gladiator and the young highborn woman who falls for him. Nice to look at but just not a very compelling story, although it tries.
All is True
Terrific movie about Shakespeare after he retires from the theatrical world, leaves London and returns to Stratford to reunite with his wife and daughters, to whom he is, by then, almost a stranger. Kenneth Branagh and Judi Dench lead a great cast. This is a quiet, often funny movie that really draws you in, with lots of clever references to longstanding controversies about the Bard. A minor quibble; there is, I would say, one dramatic revelation too many, given the arc of the film. Best scene: Shakespeare gives an unwelcome fanboy a not-entirely-polite brushoff.
I enjoyed the movie’s interaction with the Los Angeles of about the time of my birth, so I found it quasi-historically fun to watch. Heh, the Arroyo Seco Parkway – my favorite freeway.
The Sea Beast, a Netflix original. Think How to Train Your Dragon, except with pirates instead of vikings. Very derivative and nothing unexpected, but well enough executed. Good enough to keep kids occupied.
It’s interesting that they chose someone to play Anne Hathaway (Shakespeare) who’s 26 years older than the person they chose to play William Shakespeare. In reality, Anne was only 8 years older than William. It’s much more common for having a real couple being played by an actor and an actress where the actor is considerably older than the actress, even more so than they were in reality.
It would be too bad if they don’t ever have Anne Hathaway play Anne Hathaway, just as it was too bad that they never had Richard Burton play Richard Burton.
I was surprised the other day when Laura Dern mentioned the 20(!) year gap between her and Sam Neil, who was her love interest in Jurassic Park. I had no idea she was that young at the time.
An American Tragedy , a TV movie from 1972. My dad was a draftsman working in the aerospace industry, not a full engineer like George Kennedy in the movie, but the shock of having the rug yanked away was the same when the economy shifted in that era. The theme I took was “no matter what, we just have to stay middle class!”
I was going to post something similar. Tom Hanks was a major distraction, both for being unmistakably Tom Hanks (and so never really getting to see “The Colonel”, always just Tom Hanks in a fat suit) and for his attempt at an accent. It was kind of like Al Paccino as Jimmy Hoffa, except worse because (1) at least Pacino wasn’t faking a foreign accent, and (2) The Irishman was already an uninspired and dull film, so miscasting was the least of its problems.
Anyway, I think Elvis could have done better as a miniseries. There was plenty of material to work with. Enough to sustain four to six hour-long installments at least, while hashing out some of the settings and supporting characters in a little more detail without risk of dragging (keeping in mind of course that you wouldn’t have to tackle the whole thing in a single sitting, unlike seeing this movie in a theater).
I think the movie holds up and is a great war movie, one of the best I’ve seen set in Vietnam. The famous first half, featuring boot camp, is simply incredible. I hadn’t seen this movie in 15+ years, but it held up entirely.
The second half(which is more like second 65% or so) is the Kubrick war movie people were hoping for when this movie was released. I think the final sequence with the sniper is incredibly gripping and while I can definitely tell they were on sets instead of doing location shooting, the movie is just so well made, I can forgive it.
Yeah, I really like this movie. I’ve seen it two or three times before and kind of want it to come back to theaters for its 35th anniversary, which is happening this year.
If the second half of that film was as good as the first, it would probably be my favourite film of all time. As it is, it’s merely an average of ‘very good’.
Regarding the ‘shot on location, but not really’, I remember reading that many palm trees were planted to try and make the backdrop seem more authentic. Makes me chuckle to think that it was shot amongst derelict buildings on the Isle of Dogs in east London, where there are now several skyscrapers. Incidentally this is also where the helicopter pre-title sequence for Bond film For Your Eyes Only was also filmed.
