Interesting that that movie poster shows all the character names except for Steve McQueen’s. I thought that maybe he was unnamed, but apparently he was “Vin Tanner”.
Even Dwarfs Started Small
Werner Herzog’s second movie and what a weird movie this is. An asylum(?) of little people revolts against its management(who, by the way, are also little people). They overthrow them, descend into anarchy and chaos, and that is basically the movie.
Very strange. I feel like David Lynch watched this when he chose to have a little person act quirky in Twin Peaks.
I think David Lynch’s inspirations are all chemically induced.
I finally got around to seeing **A Quiet Place II. It was quite good.
The ending: it seemed to end too soon. I thought it could have used some more follow-up.
Men
An impossible movie to discuss without getting into the spoilers about the last 20 minutes or so. I won’t discuss it here, but I think if we go back over the most “unforgettable scenes” in movies the past 5 years or so, I think Men will be right up there in the top 5 at the very least. The is a scene/sequence at the end of this movie that is possibly…never mind.
Is the movie good? Yes, though I am now hearing it is quite divisive with movie-goers. I liked it quite a bit, though I will not pretend that I understand what its actual theme or message is.
For those interested: It is about a recently widowed woman who takes a retreat to get away for awhile. While there, she has concerning interactions with various men…who are all played by the same actor. Beyond that, you’ll just have to check it out.
The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970)
When Roger Moore reflected on his career he said this movie was his best performance.
“It was a film I actually got to act in, rather than just being all white teeth and flippant and heroic.”
I loved his performance. It was perfect for the story of this movie. Moore played a high ranking business executive named Harold Pelham working in the heart of London. A man who is extremely formal, a creature of routine, and very conservative in his approach to life to the point of being stiff to those who know him. Harold Pelham lived a life the complete opposite of James Bond. He did have the gentlemanly manner typical of Moore but without the charm and desire to enjoy the finer aspects of life. After surviving a car crash Pelham returns to his family and work life picking up where he left off prior to the accident. But it is at this point things get weird as people claim to have seen him at places he has no memory of being at, having conversations about things he has no memory of talking about, agreeing to meet at a time and date he has no memory arranging. Initially the claims are benign enough to think he was the subject of a practical joke from colleagues and associates who decided to have a bit of fun at his expense following the accident. But as the film progresses and the claims become more specific, bizarre and frankly disturbing we see Moore as Pelham descend from the stiff man who displays hardly any emotion go into a state of confusion, denial, anger and madness as he tries to figure out what is going on.
That sounds fantastic! Where did you see it?
I’m not sure if I’m allowed to post the link but type in The Man Who Haunted Himself 123movies and you’ll find it immediately. I came across it while reading about Roger Moore’s other movies. A few weeks ago I posted about watching The Sea Wolves which he starred in with Gregory Peck, David Niven and Trevor Howard but his character was basically Bond-lite. The Man Who Haunted Himself is a side of him I’ve not seen before.
Last weekend, just for fun, I started watching Zombie Strippers with Jenna Jameson and Robert “Freddie Kruger” Englund. The first 20 minutes were a lotta fun – it seemed they were spoofing zombie films, a la Shaun of the Dead and the cast were obviously having a ball. Then they moved to the strip club and, believe it or not, the movie ground ( 
) to a halt. DOA. Absolute Dullsville. Sayonara, Jenna.
Netflix’s $200 million-dollar “The Gray Man” debuted Friday. It’s got a flawed hero you love and a smarmy villain you just love to hate. Lots of looooooong fight sequences. Much too many, and much too long, actually. And I was uncomfortable watching downtown Prague utterly destroyed, even fictionally.
It’s an entertaining couple of hours of mindless escapism. I can’t see it fostering a franchise with the same character, though I hear that’s the plan.
The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020), an indie werewolf horror/dark comedy. What a strange little film…it attracted my attention because the IMDb was low (6.2) but RT (89%)/Metacritic (67) reasonably good. It also features the great Robert Forster’s last feature film performance, plus Riki Lindhome (of comedy team Garfunkel & Oates, & the film Knives Out).
For the most part it worked, though where it really suffered was that the protagonist was such an asshole that it was hard to have much interest in his emotional growth (which is interesting, because the director, writer, and lead actor are all the same person). Some of the comedy is also uneven, but some of it works quite well.
On the whole I’m glad I watched it, but I’m not 100% sure I recommend it.
Kanopy has it if you have a library membership with a library that subscribes to it.
We finally got around to watching The Mitchells vs. The Machines, which was getting excellent reviews from everyone.
I watched through the first gratuitously long fight scene and realized I had no interest in this series.
Yesterday I watched The Lion in Winter from 1968, with Peter O’Toole and Katharine Hepburn. I didn’t intend to watch it, as I had just come in from a rainstorm and was passing through the living room on my way to get a towel, but it hooked me that fast. Snappy dialogue that Tarantino would envy.
By James Goldman, screenplay based on his own stage play. James was screenwriter William Goldman’s (Princess Bride, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and tons of others) younger brother.
Anthony Hopkins first movie role and the other brother is Nigel “Excalibur [Arthur]” Terry. Timothy Dalton’s in there somewhere, too, isn’t he?
Yep, playing the King of France.
Keeping Rosy (Amazon Prime)
I have no idea if this British production from 2014 was a theatrical release or what. It kind of has a made for tv feel but not in a bad way.
It’s about a very upright, uptight woman whose posh regimented life starts to spiral out of control when she loses her high falutin’ job and that’s the least of her problems. Some would find it too slow, as it’s a character study more than anything, but for anyone who really enjoys good performance, Maxine Peake is astonishingly good in this. There’s also some really tense, dark moments so it’s not all talk.
I re-watched Indecent Proposal (1993). It’s a bit dated and somewhat heavy-handed, but it’s well-acted and the story is compelling. Some criticized Robert Redford’s performance, saying he played the billionaire too charming and suave—too Robert Redord-ish. I disagree. I believe his detached performance was spot on and put focus on the married couple’s psychological ordeal, which is where it should be. Good film.
Also watched Jane Fonda in Five Acts (2018). I used to find [Hanoi] Jane overly-divisive and annoying, but I’ve softened my view on her. And, she has softened and matured with age (now 84 and going strong). She is a fascinating woman from a Hollywood dynasty with a troubled past (mother committed suicide when Jane was 12; father Henry, though well-intentioned, didn’t know how to show love without a script) and an intriguing life. On balance, Jane Fonda did more good in the world than bad, IMHO. The documentary did a fine job highlighting her life and times.