Have you seen this series? It’s about Jane Austen’s sisters after Jane’s death, based on a novel.
I enjoy Chris Evans and Ana De Armas is luscious but this one just too treacle loaded.
This looks like a movie that it was more fun to act in than it will be to watch.
Yeah, I saw Life of Chuck on Friday and also really enjoyed it! I had totally forgotten that I read the short story back in 2020.
(bolding mine)
I know it’s not intentional but given the events surrounding the making of this film, the phrasing of this could be better…
I’m pretty excited. I love the director and am I right this is non-horror?
Thanks. I tend to be a fan of an artist’s work, but don’t have the same level of interest in their life. In the case of Jane Austen, it is compounded by the wholesale destruction of Jane’s letters and other writings by her sister (who seems to be the protagonist of the linked series) which makes any deep insight into Jane Austen the person nearly impossible. Her sister’s destruction of her letters makes Richard Burton’s widow look like a piker.
Yes, it’s one of Stephen King’s sentimental non-horror short stories. Definitely had some of Flanagan’s stylistic touches, like slow push-ins on long speeches.
That’s exactly what the story is about. It attempts a fictional reason why she did it.
Anyway, this is not the forum for TV, so carry on.
Movie night: The Color Out of Space (2019) featuring Nicholas Cage being Nicholas Cage.
Um. Well, I honestly have no idea how to apply a rating to what I just watched. It ranks up there as one of the more disturbing/scary horror movies I’ve seen, and there’s plenty of fuckery afoot. Shades of The Thing (The Thing being, obviously, a vastly superior movie.) The Color itself is pretty, a nice fuscia purple. Ultimately it seemed like a lot of weirdness without a coherent narrative center, so while it scared the bejeesus out of me while I was watching it, I am not left with a lasting impression. It didn’t mean anything. Also there were several references and allusions that were just dropped with no follow-up, and the movie seemed to have half a dozen climaxes so I wasn’t sure when it was going to end.
Nicholas Cage was fine. I actually think the familiarity of Crazy Nick detracted from the sense of alienation that was supposed to be felt by the viewer. In a sense it was like, “Yes, we’ve seen this silly man lose his mind before.”
I can only imagine what it’s like to watch that movie high.
It was entertaining, but I can’t honestly say I liked it.
We watched Fountain of Youth. Couldn’t decide if it was ripping off Indiana Jones, The Mummy or National Treasure. We decided that it was ripping off all 3 PLUS The Da Vinci Code.
Yes - good list …over the top derivative only lofted by star power.
Did not have it sorted til the last 10 minutes.
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Quite the start :o
Watched the first…10? 15? minutes of Electric State. Turned it off whenever Jason Alexander came screaming into the room. I’m not sure if my objection is different or the same as others, especially after giving it so little time, but it smelled so much of other movies, particularly the 80s, that I just wasn’t gripped or even interested. Maybe I’ll pick it up later. (subcategory: “Movies you’ve barely seen recently (Part 2)”
Oceans
Recommended.
More beautiful footage of our oceans, including some newly seen occurrences in nature, meaning newly filmed and discovered. As always, the Attenborough team of camera people gets the best footage.
It’s sad to hear Attenborough clearly giving a farewell of sorts. He knows his life is near its end and while the destruction to our planet is depressing, he offers a hopeful outlook since certain protected regions of the ocean have bounced back much more quickly than expected.
It comes down to “protect the ocean and it will heal itself”.
David Attenborough always makes my list of celebrities I’ll be most sad about when they die. I hope he makes 110 and is still able to go out and at least do the establishing shots for more movies.
If you want to be depressed, look up the Blue Whale population on earth the past 200 years. While it is bouncing back, it’s a very minimal bounce compared to former populations.
Worth checking out, not much more impressive than any other special he has done.
Saw The Phoenecian Scheme. I liked it very much, though admittedly I am predisposed to like Anderson’s movies.
While it definitely checks all the Anderson boxes, I found it a little more fluid and messy than many of his other movies. And I think that while superficially it pokes jokes at religion, it actually comes down as an argument for faith in redemption, or at least absolution.
And that’s actually the hardest part of the movie, since the main character is such an amoral, corrupt, insanely wealthy businessman—he even matter-of-factly admits to personally engineering famines and employing slave labor! In our times, I am not inclined to sympathize with such a person. But perhaps even such people could be redeemed?
In any event, I think this would be as good a place as any—better than some—to start with Anderson’s stuff if you have ever wondered what’s up with this guy. And now is a good time to see it, when it is in theatres, since it definitely benefits from being on the big screen with a good sound system—the original score is mixed loud and proud, and peppered with classical music (including a lot of Stravinsky).
The more I think about this movie, the more I like it. Will definitely see again.
I agree that redemption of an amoral monster is the main theme of it (and the scene in which the Reverend Mother, having condemned the young nun for being too attached to worldly wealth, immediately solicits (and takes without qualm) a “donation” from said monster really throws that theme into sharp relief).
Agreed - lots of Firebird (my favorite Stravinsky piece) and some smatterings of Petrushka, plus a key moment of Mussorgsky’s Pictures At An Exhibition for dramatic effect.
Also: just to note that you don’t see a lot of side-scrolling end credits these days.
Just came back from watching Ballerina, the John Wick spinoff with Ana de Armas. Not quite as good as the John Wick movies, but certainly entertaining if you enjoy that type of thing. Recommended if you enjoyed the rest of the series.
I love redemption stories where the protagonist seems beyond repair. One of the reasons I would rank this one pretty highly.
Rewatched two older films that have held up pretty well over the years. Zulu, which was Michael Caine’s first starring role, and Breaker Morant. Both movies were based on actual events.