Absolutely! Those visual images are what really stuck in my memory.
The political drama was a large part of Oppie’s life and of a big section of the book “American Prometheus”. Oppenheimer was harassed and browbeaten after the war, accused of being a communist, and had his clearance denied for renewal. It was shameful treatment.
I’m watching Zulu for probably the fourth time. Michael Caine in the role that got him his first big break in film. Faking a posh accent somewhat successfully, he nailed the snotty British officer perfectly. The scenes with the Zulu warriors is worth the watch.
The Marvels - now on Disney+
Highly recommended.
I saw this in the theater with my daughter and loved it. Now, we re-watched it streaming on Disney+ and it is terrific. One of the more fun Marvel movies with a few laugh-out-loud moments that rival anything Guardians of the Galaxy has done.
Check it out, though I do think it helps to have watched Ms. Marvel, the show featuring Kamala Khan.
An underrated 2023 release.
I agree with that. Another great scientist who was persecuted even more after being of immeasurable assistance to his country during wartime was Alan Turing. And we do owe it to the legacy of these people to remember our nations’ failings in that respect. I was just saying that I was hoping to see more science, because I’ve always been fascinated by the details of the Manhattan Project.
You might enjoy this article about how the entire thing was shot on an iPhone 5.
The sci-fi horror thriller Significant Other that I posted about upthread was originally going to be shot on an iPhone as well, because it was intended to be a super low-budget production – almost a “make it up as we go along” kind of thing. As the story evolved, the filmmakers realized they had something pretty good, the budget went way up and it became a profession production, and the iPhone idea was abandoned.
I don’t know how or why anyone would use an iPhone for serious cinematography anyway as proper digital cinematography equipment is easy to rent and not necessarily all that expensive even to buy. For instance certain models of Canon EOS professional DSLR still cameras with video capabilities can be adapted with elaborate lenses, monitors, and professional cinematic camera mounts and have been used in major film productions where the director and DP have opted to go digital. .
Jack Reacher Never Go Back Tom Cruise
I liked it better than the first movie. The 1st movie is good too. I just felt the 2nd had a story that better fit Reacher’s world. He was more invested in the outcome
I’ve seen the 1st Amazon series and prefer Cruise’s interpretation of Reacher. He plays him with more emotion and intelligence than Alan Ritchson. I see more emotional pain in Cruise’s eyes.
It unfortunate they didn’t make a 3rd movie with Cruise.
I highly recommend Jack Reacher Never Go Back It’s on Paramount +.
Haunted (1995). Two brothers, a sister, and their apparently mentally disturbed grandmother live in a huge isolated English estate. The siblings’ parents apparently died in India years ago. The grandmother is obsessed by visions of the parents. The siblings invite to the estate a professor of psychology specializing in debunking supernatural phenomena, hoping he can help the grandmother. The professor has his own emotional baggage resulting from the drowning death of his twin sister when they were both young children.
That is all I can say without major spoilers. Suffice to say that this is not an ordinary haunted house story. It has its flaws, but it’s really quite well done. As a side note, I sometimes don’t pay much attention to credits and realized only later than the pretty young woman playing the sister was Kate Beckinsale.
Great review, @peccavi !
Past Lives is indeed a deeply relatable and moving film. The cinematography reminded me of Edward Yang’s acclaimed film Yi Yi (2000).
Incredibly, Past Lives can currently be viewed on Hoopla Digital, which is free if you have a card from a participating library.
Out of Darkness a prehistoric survival thriller. A small band of people 40,000 years ago washes up on a distant shore. They battle hunger and a mysterious danger lurking in the dark.
It was a nice diversion for an hour and a half, though even at that length there were parts that dragged. I’m not at all sure if prehistoric life was accurately portrayed, but it kept me interested.
Jackie Brown this one holds up, I like the story and the characters, and the music. Of course, too much reliance on the N word and the obligatory close ups of Bridget Fonda’s feet, but otherwise it’s a good one.
Oh, I get it. The endless quotes from the transcripts and the analysis of the hearing nearly made me stop reading the book. He was a brilliant man by all accounts, but he made some serious enemies.
I watched Bank Of Dave last night, on Amazon. It’s one of those British feel-good “little guy against the system” movies, formulaic as all get-out, but charming and worth a watch. Based loosely on a true story.
Yes, I agree. It had its flaws but was ultimately pretty good. I read the book, and surprisingly it wasn’t as good as the movie. It’s usually the reverse.
Just watched Harold and Maude last night. It was the third (?) time I’ve seen it, but the first time in a loooooong time. It really held up. It must have really imprinted itself on my brain, because I remembered almost every single scene. And the dialog. Very enjoyable even with that.
I just watched Eternals on FX. Man, what a fucking mess. Some great scenes and stuff, but the cast was just too large and the plot made no sense.
Okay they threw in a half assed explanation of why the Eternals werent there to help the Avengers beat Thanos, but it doesnt hold up. See, Thanos second plan was to restart Life in the universe, which was totally against everything the Eternals were placed on Earth for.
That is the problem when you try to splice in a half assed mythology on top of a several decades old set of stories and myths. It’s was a badly spliced as the Lady of Pain from D&D. Also Athena was in Marvel comics, along with Hercules, Zeus, etc.
And, why were all their names some slight variation of Greek gods and such? And why get the ancient Greek pronunciation of Circe so totally wrong.
It wasnt horrible, and I dont want my 158 (!!!) minutes back, but I am glad I didnt pay good money for it.
The MCU had a good thing going with the Avengers, the second most famous Superhero group, so ending them was a damn stupid move.
I think it is the worst Marvel movie and Iron Man 2 was embarrassing.
The Devil’s Advocate (1997). Another great oldie that I had somehow missed and watched for the first time. Stars Keanu Reeves in a great performance as hot-shot defense lawyer Kevin Lomax, Charlize Theron as his wife, and Al Pacino as John Milton, the head of a big high-powered New York law firm but who turns out to be much more than that. Lomax is lured to New York from his Florida practice by the promise of a big paycheck if he takes on a case for Milton’s firm and is eventually hired by them.
Definitely recommended, and if you’re going to watch this, I also recommend that you turn on the subtitles right at the start because you’re gonna want them. The dialog is important, and is sometimes easy to miss.
Love that one, I watch it every time I run across it. Did you know that’s Trump’s actual apartment?
There were several apartments in that movie. I was going to say that the one that Kevin Lomax and Mary Ann moved into after he joins the firm seemed much too tasteful to be Trump’s. But from this blurb it appears that Trump’s garish shit-bag apartment in Trump Tower was used to portray the home of Alexander Cullen, a rich asshole who is accused of a triple homicide. Seems fitting!
Also, the use of Trump’s ridiculously ostentatious apartment explains a rather strangely useless throwaway line in the movie. When the Lomaxes are invited to a fancy party featuring the Rich & Famous – where all the characters are fictional – someone says “Donald Trump was supposed to be here but he was called away on business”. Trump must have salivated over that line! I wonder if he didn’t insist on it himself, the way he insisted on doing a cameo in Home Alone 2. Just imagine any sane person today using the Trump name as a marker of prestige! 