I think maybe there’s something there about the difference between performative self-flagellation and living in a delusion where you don’t have to take any accountability, both of which are sinister in their own ways. But yeah it’s interesting how much anyone can read into it.
Just a few random thoughts …
This film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival this past September. It’s well made and very powerful and centers on an intriguing story so I see where you’re coming from, but I wasn’t as enthralled as you were. I think mainly because it’s so relentlessly apocalyptic, or perhaps one might say bleak and grotesque. I haven’t seen 28 Days Later in a long time, but it has that same sort of depressing dystopian vibe.
I’m glad I saw it because it was well worth seeing, and it’s an accomplished piece of writing and filmmaking, but not the sort of movie I’m likely to want to see again. Unlike The Wrath of Becky, which despite all the blood and gore has elements of humour, and even some of the gory bits are intentionally cartoonish. That one I’ll probably watch again. It’s shallow and unrealistic, but smartly done and lots of fun!
It kinda raises the enduring philosophical question: what exactly is a “good movie”? I’m surprised at how much I liked Wrath of Becky because I generally dislike mindless “action” movies, but this one was just smartly done. I note that some dude over at the Roger Ebert site gave it a paltry one-star review. I’m sure Roger himself would have been much more generous. I almost always agreed with Ebert’s reviews. I note also that this particular critic sports an enormous beard, making him look a lot like Richard Brody, the film critic at The New Yorker whose reviews I never agree with. The moral I take away from this is that critics with enormous beards are usually wrong and cannot be trusted. 
Without a Clue (1988). There’s not much in this gentle comedy to give you big belly laughs, but it’s a pleasant enough diversion. Michael Caine is an incompetent Sherlock Holmes with a penchant for drink, and Ben Kingsley as Dr Watson is the actual brains behind the operation, perennially resentful that Holmes gets all the glory and attention. This conceit is wrapped around an actual Sherlock Holmes type story involving currency printing plates stolen from the Royal Mint by no less a fiend than Professor Moriarty. I wouldn’t go out of my way to find it, but worth a look if it comes your way and will provide a few smiles.
“I’ve got it. HIs real name is Arty Morty.”
In the 45 years I have known my father (a hardcore Holmes fanatic) I have never seen him laugh at anything as hard as this 1 minute scene many years ago. Tears raining down, red faced, struggling to breathe. Happy memories.
We streamed Things Heard and Seen last night.
Let me put it this way. We actually saw it before, but didn’t realize it till halfway through.
The Caller
Somewhat Recommended.
A man’s car breaks down and he meets a woman in a house, asking to use her phone. Both people are clearly hiding secrets and are not what they seem, but what is up with them?
Once all secrets are revealed, the movie seems…pretty good.
It reminded me of Death Trap, but Death Trap was quite a bit better. This was very much like a play, only two actors in the entire movie.
Give it a look, it’s only 90 minutes or so.
OK, I take that back about “no belly laughs” … 
Streamed (and LOVED) A Haunting in Venice.
Streamed and am still unpleasantly bewildered by The Turning
WTF?
Charley Varrick. Walter Matthau as the title character, a small-time crop-duster who couldn’t quite make ends meet so resorted to small-time bank robbing. He has his gang pull off a heist and ends up with three quarters of a million dollars in Mafia money, which was sitting in the bank temporarily until it could be moved out of the country for laundering. Oops. Now he has not only the FBI but, much worse, Joe Don Baker, a Mafia hit man, out to get him. Good stuff. Matthau has always been one of my favorites.
Pulp Fiction. I like to pull the DVD off the shelf and give it a play every now and then. I don’t think there’s anything I can say about it that hasn’t already been said, but I’ll offer the comment that it’s one of the more quotable movies you’re likely to encounter.
The Shining. My son recently finished King’s novel and wanted to see the movie. So sure, of course. I’m always up for some Kubrick, and the scene where Jack stalks Wendy around that big room talking nastily about what to do with Danny is, in my opinion, one of the most criminally underrated scenes in the history of cinema. I mean, I dunno. Maybe that’s just me, but still. And “Danny’s not here, Mrs. Torrance” is just purely bone-chilling.
I hate most of Kubrick that I’ve seen, but I thought The Shining was really well done.
How did your son like it?
Have you seen Paths of Glory? It’s great. Dr Strangelove is a fun comedy and highly quotable.
He liked it pretty well. He didn’t gush over it or anything, but his general impression was a thumbs-up.
The steadicam was so important in that movie. It really helped with so many shot. I think this was the first major feature to use it. It was certainly the most prominent one at the time.
I thought Strangelove was funny, but not great. I’ve seen A Clockwork Orange and… Uh, hmm. Maybe I just hate A Clockwork Orange.
I just don’t care for the loooong slooow camera shots.
Oh, no! I saw Eyes Wide Shut too! In a theater with my mother! I’ll never forgive him for that.
nevermind.
The Frighteners (1995, Prime, rent) - I wanted to scare my kids for Halloween so I picked something that scared me when I was their age. This film leans heavily on it’s special effects which at almost 30 years old were not enough to impress my son.
Over all I thought the film was rather clunky and more chopped up than I remember. Perhaps that is the result of having to film most of your scenes with people that aren’t really there. It’s still ok, but showing age and not as funny as I remember either.
Seeing it was almost a disappointment, like I was burying a childhood memory. The 13 and 10 year old though it was good, but had I recalled all the swearing I might have just gone with The Shining.
Check out Paths of Glory. It’s really well done.
I understand very well that ACO is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, to be sure. I guess no movie is, really, but this is probably one that merits that comment more than most. But as an exercise in filmmaking, I think it’s fantastic.
What I like most about Dr. Strangelove, among its numerous things to like, is the way the story is put together. Everything that happens seems to be 100 percent inevitable, but nothing feels “ho-hum predictable.”
It’s George C. Scott’s greatest performance. It is hard to be funnier than Peter Sellers, but he was. He full-blown steals the whole movie. His character is one of the most memorable in movie history.