They were both separated at the time. He was in love with someone else (who cheated on him, and wouldn’t even return his phone calls) and she was not in love, but felt obligated to try again with her husband. I feel the bleaker outcome was for her, stuck with a man she didn’t really like. He got to go to London and start over again.
Allied (2016), directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard and others. Nice to look at but I was not very interested in the story.
Arbitrage (2012), directed by Nicholas Jarecki, starring Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon and others. Pretty well made, by any standard, although the story might not be for everyone on any given day.
Fences (2016), directed by Denzel Washington, starring Denzel Washington, Viola Davis and others. Hell of a film, I thought. Great acting, thought-provoking scenes and what I found to be an unusual amount of expectation building up toward the end, just to see how it resolves, because there’s nothing really extraordinary going on, just the private lives of some neighbors on the other side of the fence.
The Deadly Affair (1967), directed by Sidney Lumet, starring James Mason, Simone Signoret and others. Acting, direction and photography are top-notch, IMO, and I’d call it a minor classic that isn’t without certain flaws, as many others have noted in reviews. The only real problem for me—and I think this is why I didn’t care for the film the first time I saw it—are the scenes of the protagonist’s dysfunctional relationship with his unfaithful wife. I understand that it’s an unusual detail that adds depth to the protagonist, especially insofar as creating a more interesting, realistic and relatable superspy character, and I know that the marital troubles are part of the backstory of John le Carré’s George Smiley character (different name in this film, for legal reasons), but I found said scenes to be clumsy and unconvincing. In particular, I thought Mason’s interpretation of anger and/or dread toward his character’s wife was just weird, although I suspect it was exactly what he and Lumet were shooting for. Anyway, I liked everything else in the film, dated as it is. It’s heavy on atmosphere, which is something I like in older films, and London has never looked so bleak and depressing (due to a technique by which the film is exposed to light to fade the colors). I found the pacing (editing) to be right on the money. There’s an extraordinary scene toward the beginning with Simone Signoret (which I why I gave her second billing). Mason’s character goes to meet her for the first time, and, from the minute she opens the door, he’s as struck by her as we are and is hanging on every detail of her movement, explanations, demeanor, etc., just as we are. Very strong acting there and well-written dialogue, IMO. Harry Andrews also delivers a notable performance as the sidekick. Great fun to watch him, until he gets angry and becomes something to fear. In short, lots of reasons to see this film several times, and not just to get past the more unfortunate parts.
The Fabelmans A surprisingly touching movie by actors facing an impossible situation: playing the director, the directors mom, and the directors dad, as the director explores the reasons for his parents divorce.
Acting as Stephen Spielberg’s cheating mom in a movie directed by Stephen Spielberg alone earns Michelle Williams a B Actress nod, and her bang-up job at this may earn her the award. Paul Dano was great too, and I have no idea if this is just perfect casting or a bit of CGI, but Dano looks JUST like how you would expect Stephen Spielberg’s dad to look, even genetically.
The music was fantastic, from John Williams’ score to the soundtrack selections - there is one scene set to Eric Satie’s Gymnopedie #2 which may be the most perfectly emotive scene Spielberg has filmed.
Lastly, the very final shot in the film is a treat. My God, what an entertainer!
Speaking of the Fabelmans soundtrack, there’s a little musical easter egg that I noticed. I’ll spoiler tag it, so as not to ruin the fun for anyone else.
When Sammy is editing his senior ditch day footage, he has the soundtrack album for the 1947 Tyrone Power film, “Captain from Castile”. When he shows the final product, it does indeed include that bit of music.
The reason this is recognizable is because the University of Southern California marching band has adapted the 1947 soundtrack into a fight song; or, as they call it, "college football’s most celebrated battle cry…“Connnnnquest”.
Since Spielberg has a connection to USC he’s undoubtedly aware of this.
Watched No Country For Old Men for at least the third time. It really holds up well.
What Lies Beneath (2000). Michelle Pfeiffer, Harrison Ford star in this Zemeckis production. Remember when they would make $60m movies based upon original material w/ no thought of franchising the IP?
No, me neither. But this movie proves they existed.
The New York Times has an article (gift link) about how prestige dramas like that are lately not making nearly enough at the box office to cover their costs. Many people, me included, often wait for them to be available on a streaming service.
Tangentially, I recently amused myself with a thought experiment of an alternate universe in which Iron Man tanked and Marvel was heard from no more, but Master and Commander spun off a huge Aubrey/Maturin universe, with all the books, plus spin offs, TV series and theme parks.
My favorite would be Master and Commander and Predator.
“Chronicles of Killick”
LOL
“My name is Bonden… Barret Bonden.”
(from On His Majesty’s Naval Service)
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, on Netflix, is very beautifully animated. But it’s also completely weird. Sadly, despite the high praise it’s receiving from the critics, I don’t think I liked it. Too dark and bizarre for my tastes.
A double feature last night; Emily the Criminal, a film with an unreliable moral compass and The People We Hate at the Wedding about horrible people acting horribly but in a funny way.
Not sure if it’s technically a movie or a concert, but I watched:
last night, and it was awesome.
Megamind, an animated kid’s movie from 2010, with Will Ferrell and Tina Fey. The soundtrack had some good 80s rock, other than that, it was just alright.
Wish that was true.
White Noise
A sort of surreal take on a suburban apocalypse. I liked it. It is a Noah Baumbach film, so it’s “first world problems”, but it has (IMHO) a Wes Anderson feel to it which, since I like the deliberate, mannered approach of Anderson, kept my interest throughout (even through the rather over the top ending).
Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical
Based on the Broadway musical, it is not quite as good as the 1996 film, but it has good tunes, talented kid actors singing and dancing, and still tugs the heartstrings. Worth checking out if you liked the earlier film.
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
A documentary on Nan Goldin, her life, and her battle to extract some sort of justice from the company (and the Sackler family, who owned it) behind unleashing Oxycontin on the world. If you don’t recognize the name, she’s one of the art world’s most famous photographers of the last 30-40 years. The documentary spends about equal time on her life and career and on her somewhat quixotic campaign to wipe the Sackler name off of the art world’s map. Definitely worth seeing and definitely expect to see it among the Oscar nominees next year.
One Fine Morning
Léa Seydoux in film about a single mother in Paris. No violence, no bloodshed, no one dies, no CGI, yet it is by turns devastating and bittersweet. Highly recommended if you just want to be drawn into someone’s life for a couple of hours.
Saw The Fabelmans tonight. I consider myself a pretty big Spielberg fan and while I certainly liked many parts of it – especially the growth of young Fabelman (Spielberg) as a filmmaker – I wasn’t completely taken by the movie as a whole. The heavy-drama dialogue scenes were a little too “on point” I thought, lacking in subtlety to the point of contrivance. Still, moderate thumbs up for me. Did notice a, umm, personal coincidental/kismet moment at the end. I’ll tell you if you ask, but it’s a slight spoiler. Probably best to wait until you’ve seen it.
Inside by Bo Burnham on Netflix. It’s a film in which he performs a bunch of comedy songs written and filmed during lockdown, and it is a film about the process of making a film in which he performs a bunch of comedy songs written and filmed during lockdown, and it’s a film about the mental toll of writing, performing and filming during lockdown, and there’s also various social commentary and shit. Basically, for everything that it is, it is the thing, and it is a parody of the thing and it is a commentary on the thing, all at once. There aren’t many laugh out loud moments (although there are some) but Burnham is a very clever man. It won’t be to everyone’s tastes but I enjoyed it.
Netflix also has a whole separate film comprised of outtakes (because it took him a year to write and film, and there was a lot of extra material) which you will like if you liked the film.
Also watched RRR. Wow. That is all kinds of over-the-top. The plot is as subtle as having a steady stream of bricks dropped on your head for three hours and the scenery chewing is excessive but damn, the action and dance sequences have to be seen to be believed.
I really enjoyed that. David Cross as Ferrell’s alien-fish-in-a-gorilla-suit henchman was hysterical.
Favorite line:
Shouted from the crowd: “We love you, Metro Man!”
“I love you too, random citizen.”