I think I’ve seen all three, it’s just been a while
Yes, Deathtrap was wonderful.
Stillwater, Matt Damon and a bunch of people you’ve never heard of. Damon is an out of work oil worker in Texas, with a daughter in a Marseille prison for the murder of her lover. He travels there periodically to see her, trying to get her released. It’s not a bad story line, and Damon is a good actor. But towards the end there is an egregious fault in logic and writing (IMO) that pretty much ruins the film for me. At two hours+, it also needed some editing.
I saw Women Talking yesterday. New movie by Sarah Polley, starring a lot of women talking (Jessie Buckley, Rooney Mara, Judith Ivey, Claire Foy, Frances McDormand (briefly), and more. Based on a book which was spun off of a true story about a Mennonite colony in Bolivia where for years the women were raped in their (drugged) sleep by the men, and made to believe they were hallucinating or being punished by Satan. Those men were eventually caught in the act, tried and found guilty.
The movie consists of a group of women in a similar colony arguing whether they should leave the colony, stay and forgive the men (and probably continue to be abused), or stay and fight for their rights (and probably continue to be abused). This is all complicated by the fact that the women are illiterate, and have never lived in the outside world.
The movie was beautifully made and acted. All dialog, little action. It felt overly long. There were a lot of implausibilities. I liked it, but I wouldn’t want to watch it again. I don’t know that I’d recommend it except for a real film buff.
Ok, as mentioned, the woman I saw Otto with is a Ukrainian born in the Soviet era. We were talking tonight and I quoted Pulp Fiction… “We’re American. Our names don’t mean shit.”
She laughed, and then mentioned that PF was one of her favorite movies but, obviously, she hadn’t seen it in a while… in fact, she hasn’t seen the movie since 1996, in Ukraine, with the dubbing done by ex-Soviet censors who had to find new work. And, of course, they were who they were, so…
So, in effect, she has only seen Pulp Fiction as translated in Russian by (ex) official censors of the Soviet Union.
Amazing, really.
We’re talking about this and she is excited because she wants to see this ONE SCENE because the dubbing was so obviously not what was being said that she wants to know what was being said. And I’m laughing (we are both laughing) at the utter absurdity of the situation as I explain to her that PF is specifically noted for the quality and rhythms of the dialogue, and, in her slight Ukranian/Russian accent, she responds with…
“Yes, I know. But I still want to know what was really being said, because ‘Dead Black American Cemetery Resting Place’ was NOT what the characters were saying in that man’s home. And I want to know what they were saying.”
I haven’t looked this forward to seeing Pulp Fiction again in years. God only knows if the Soviet dubbing even tracked the plot.
I will report back. And soon.
(Please don’t spoil in comments below, I’m going to send her this link. Be kind and say hi.)
The Grand Seduction (2013, Hulu) - A light heartfelt comedy about Tinklehead, a small town in Newfoundland. There’s no fishing so there’s no work, a new petrochemical plant is possible so work may come but this small town will have to convince a big city doctor to stay to make that happen. In typical Brendan Gleeson fashion it was charming and very similar to the 80’s tv show Northern Exposure in plot and feel. B+, would watch again in the future.
Good pick for a Sunday afternoon curled up warm on the couch with your sweetie as a storm rages outside.
I didn’t know this had been remade. The original from 2003 was called Seducing Dr. Lewis in English, and was also very good.
Actually, that plot description sounds a bit like the Michael J Fox film Doc Hollywood.
Sort of.
Deathtrap was a really fun movie. No, I didn’t see the twists coming nor did I try to. I just kind of took it all in as it came at me and it elicited some genuine gasps and “Oh, wow!”'s from me. I was with it 100%, though the goofy little ending twist(?) was just a bit too silly. Like legit the last 2 minutes was a bit much, but everything else was great.
The score was also a little too synthesized for me, but to be honest, that is just a minor point.
Very fun movie, but everyone needs to just go in blind and enjoy the show. Don’t look it up or read anything about it.
Just watched Sundown (2021) starring Tim Roth. That was an hour and 23 minutes I’ll never get back again. I’d describe the plot but there really wasn’t enough to bother. Thankfully, it wasn’t any longer than it was.
I’m glad you enjoyed it. 
The ending of the play is fairly different, and I prefer its ending. Link to it on Wikipedia in a spoiler link. Also, I really like the score, but these things are understandably subjective.
Shotgun Wedding, an Amazon original starring Jennifer Lopez. Comedy adventure about a couple whose whole wedding party gets taken hostage by armed men. So you pretty much know where the story’s going from there but it was still entertaining to watch it play out.
Life of Crime 1984-2020
The first hour of this documentary is a compilation of One Year in a Life of Crime (1989) and Life of Crime 2 (1998). The second hour is a follow-up on the lives of the 3 main subjects (Freddie, Rob, and Deliris) through 2020.
This is a very gritty, very sad, very gut-wrenching look into the lives of 3 drug-addicted, petty criminals from Newark, New Jersey (2 male, 1 female). It follows their intertwined lives from young adulthood in the 80s to the present day.
This is a must-see film for anyone wanting to understand the scope and devastating effects of hard drug addiction. You start off hating the main characters (and even the filmmaker for egging them on) for their crimes against, and total disregard for society. But, as they age, hate turns to empathy as you realize they aren’t really bad people, they’re normal people who grew up in and live in a bad environment and fell victim to the unrelenting grip of heroin addiction.
As they mature, after spending many years as addicts on the street and incarcerated in prison, they each show heartfelt remorse for their actions, and a desire to redeem their lives for themselves, and their broken families and even make amends to their community. You will find yourself rooting for their success.
Spoiler: It’s not a happy ending.
Black Panther Wakanda Forever - Disney+
Note: I think Black Panther was a good, but not top-tier Marvel movie.
Yeah, so this movie was really only OK at best. I’d divide it like this:
Opening 10 minutes: Sad and powerful farewell to T’Challa and obviously Chadwick Boseman.
Next 60-70 minutes: Kind of boring and lame. Clearly needed to be edited down.
Final 60 minutes: This is pretty good. Not exactly thrilling and incredible, but solid and well made.
Overall this is a disappointment, though. I don’t blame them for trying hard to make a sequel without Chadwick Boseman and this being the result. His character and the actor’s presence is missed tremendously. This is not as good as the original Black Panther 2 was likely going to be.
I won’t re-watch this one very often, if at all.
I saw Knock at the Cabin, the new M. Knight Shyamalan movie. There’s not much I can say that wouldn’t involve spoilers, so I’ll just say that it was quite intense. I’d give it a 3 out of 5.
I watched Parenthood, the Steve Martin movie from long ago. I saw it, also long ago and now remember why it was forgettable, other than the performance by a very young Keanu Reeves.
Here’s an old thread where some of us mention our favorite Woody Allen movies:
Wow, Wendell_Wagner !!
I had to go look this old thread up just to see if it rang any bells for me! It didn’t!!
Whatever plan I had at the time (2014!) has escaped what passes for my mind today!
Needless to add, I have no intention of making good on my threat to summarize the results!
I gladly give whatever permission is needed to ANYONE who wants the task of summarizing it!
Memory Lane is apparently closed to me these days!
Zeldar
I just finished “The Card Counter”. Look I love Oscar Isaac, and he’s does well in the movie, but the movie is bad. And it isn’t bad in a fun way like “The Core”, it is just dull. And pointless. And dull. Ugh. Bleh. Yuck.
I think I’m going to go watch “Brewster’s Millions” (the Richard Pryor version) so I know I’ll be watching something good.