Especially, as I say, because in the stage play there’s a very dramatic staking of Dracula on-stage. I haven’t been able to find a picture or video of it, but here’;s the vcoffin from the final scene from the 1979 revival, by Edward Gorey:
“Border” (2018) - 7/10
This German woman can smell fear, and so she works doing border security - customs… And then she meets someone like her. Kinda.
I’ve had the time, but just can’t get into the groove, and have only seen a handful of movies this year. This movie is drama, sci-fi, horror, mystery, and the fact I didn’t turn it off after 30 minutes makes it good enough for me. I need unique, but nothing too weird; although many would consider this movie weird, and it is, but can also be about the constant hell misfits go through in society.
Satan’s Slaves
And Indonesian movie from 2017. A mother dies and her children learn that they were all offspring resulting from…some kind of Satanic cult. Now, the zombies/slaves of that cult are coming back to claim the children, especially the youngest.
It sounds terrible on paper, but it is very well made. I did not find it overly scary, but the final sequence(where the “slaves of Satan” attack/invade) was very effective.
It has a sequel right now called Satan’s Slaves 2: Communion. It’s only on Shudder right now, which I no longer have.
Anyway, I hope to catch it soon on Blu-ray. This was a fun movie.
I just saw “North by Northwest” last night at a local theater that is very old and charming and mostly shows artsy movies and old movies and “North by Northwest” is such a great movie.
While I had seen the movie before I had never seen it in a theater. The crowd was really into it and it was a lot of fun. Best time I have had in a theater in a long time.
They are doing “My Girl Friday” later this week which is probably the best rom-com ever (or second best…close for me with “Blithe Spirit”…the 1945 version). Sadly I cannot go. Bummed about that.
The German version of All Quiet on the Western Front. Predictably depressing and dreary account of WWI from the German point of view, which was pretty much the same as from the Allies point of view.
One of my favorite factoids about NBW is that the actress who played Cary Grant’s mom was only a few years older than him.
American Gigolo, on The Rewatchables and I couldn’t remember if I had ever taken the time to see it. It was OK (and, no, the movie was completely unfamiliar to me).
Kiss The Girls, Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd in one of novelists James Patterson Alex Cross books-turned-movies. Rather paint by numbers, more than a bit unbelievable, loved how they were in Research Triangle (North Carolina) and only could mention “the university” (UNC, Duke, and Wake Forest make up the triangle.)
Margin Call, Zachary Quinto, Kevin Spacey, and Jeremy Irons in the hands-down, single best film about the 2008 financial crisis. Written in four days, shot in 17, this film refuses to talk down to the audience and may suffer for that. Whatever. It’s a penetrating look into the cold-blooded ruthlessness of the men who made the decisions, why they made them, and how they justified them. 45 minutes in this movie Jeremy Irons literally flies in with almost no introduction and takes charge. “Talk to me like I’m a golden retriever.”
I know The Big Short has its fans, and lord knows its the more popular of these films, but it suffers from the same flaw all Michael Lewis-penned stories about the Street has - it makes heroes out of morally bankrupt men. Even Russell Crowe’s character made out like a f-in bandit, and we cheered him on and wistfully told ourselves “I wish I, too, could make a billion dollars while beating my chest about the unfairness of the American system and how the little guy keeps getting crushed”.
Margin Call avoids that by not giving a single character one redeeming moral value (except maybe Stanley Tucci and, in the end, he still comes back for his $176,471/hour pay day). They’re not bad people, not by movie standards, but they are empty. An acting tour de force, this movie is made on the small moments - Spacey’s clapping, Bettany’s phone calls when the MBS products are being dumped, the Firing Ladies brushing past Spacey at the end.
If Wall Street is your bag, if you like films about white collar professionals going through work-related things, this is great, great stuff. Cannot recommend it highly enough.
Ticket to Paradise, in theaters. It was exactly what I expected it to be, a romantic comedy, that is mostly entertaining because of George Clooney and Julia Roberts. It does do some things well, like deal with the fact that main characters are actually older adults, even if they have their moments of childishness. A very standard fluff movie that entertained me while I watched it and may be worth a re-watch when I am in the mood for that kind of fare.
I understand that it will be available on the Peacock streaming service 45 days after it’s release in theaters, so maybe keep it in mind for some light entertainment when if you have a subscription.
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The Wolf of Snow Hollow - Jim Cummings is exceptional in this. This is more of a character study/drama than a horror/thriller. And it’s great. His character is under tremendous internal pressure due to his sick father, who’s sheriff, plus dealing with the murders. Fantastic. I’m going to watch it again tonight.
Low-key Canadian sci-fi about a bland dude with the cumulative knowledge of all his parallel existences, and his encounters with slightly different Tilda Swintons in several of them. It begins brilliantly with a police investigation into a burglary/homicide in which the only item taken was the victim’s brain; indeed, there are a plethora of exposed brains - rat and human – seen in tanks, ranking it up there in that category with The Final Programme (1975). The film has several effective scenes, gorgeous locations, engaging concepts and transitions to recommend it, notwithstanding some bad/pretentious writing, loose ends and a non-ending. Still, on the whole, I found it more interesting and thought-provoking than most Hollywood fare.
Yes, interesting movie - there are a couple of reviews upthread including mine, it did stick in my head.
The Wolf of Snow Hollow
Skip it, it was actually really boring. I was disappointed. This streams included with Prime and I heard it had positive reviews, but I found almost all of it boring. I give it credit, as it does something somewhat creative with the standard werewolf story. Anyway, I was disappointed and might have quit had I not had nothing else to watch.
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.
I can think of worse ways to spend election night. Mom and I were thoroughly entertained, but especially when it turned into an action movie parody.
Don’t Worry Darling (HBOMax) A bit of Stepford Wives mixed with Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, this was engaging and disturbing at the same time.
Set in a 1950s company town out in the desert, what seems to be an ideal life for housewife Alice turns out to be something else.
Florence Pugh is outstanding as Alice and Harry Styles does very well also but Chris Pine really takes the cake in this one. Highly recommend it.
A Stolen Life with Bette Davis. Twice! She plays twins. One twin is quieter and over shadowed by her more assertive outgoing sister. Outgoing sister steals her quiet sister’s “beau” and marries him. Then, married sister dies in a boating accident with her sister (total accident — no foul play), and the unmarried sister pretends to be the other to be with her true love.
Made in 1953, it’s at the tail end of all those 1940s “women’s pictures,” but it’s a decent one. Amazingly realistic depiction of the the two sisters for the time with no CGI. If this is your sort of thing I recommend it.
Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966)
I loved this movie, with Vanessa Redgrave and David Warner as the very Mod, gorilla-obssessed psychopath who wants to win her back, as a teenager. Black and white, full of frantic energy and cheeky dialogue, typical of a certain strain of gritty comedy of its time, “The Knack”, “Billy Liar” and “A Hard Day’s Night”, and I’d never seen a film where clips of old movies like nature documentaries or King Kong and Tarzan were sprinkled throughout the proceedings. Still, Morgan seems considerably less charming nowadays - when a woman says no, you ought to back off, and getting your pal the wrestler to assist in kidnaping her isn’t funny and will get you both deserved time in the nick.
I watched it with a friend, who I’d been talking up this flick to as something we must see, on Kanopy (a free streaming service); she needed to have the subtitles switched on, and it was very annoying that the dialogue transcription was often way off from what you were hearing. I hope that poor job isn’t universal to all versions.
The Banshees of Inisherin
New film from the team behind In Bruges, which was a major pull for me as that is one of my favourite films of the 21st century.
Starts off as a fairly gentle comedy, albeit certainly a black one, but descends into something really quite disturbing. The Irish scenery is starkly beautiful and the acting from all is impeccable. One of those films that I am likely to rewatch and revise my opinion further upwards if anything. Recommended.
Wow, I saw that one first run when it was new. I’d forgotten almost all the details until you brought some of them back to me — how in the blue hell could I forget the gorilla??? About the only thing it brought to mind before your reminders was the final scene where Julie Christie is watching David Warner working in the garden at the asylum, and she mutters “Oh, Morgan” or something like that.
Sausage Party I hope parents don’t automatically let their kids watch because it’s animated.
Yeah, that was surprisingly filthy. (And blatantly atheistic, as well.)