In a conceptual sense, yes. The same way someone might consider a Tarrentino film Grindhouse.
He reminds me more than a bit of Robert Altman. I mean, stylistically they’re virtually diametric opposites, but they also have a lot in common: they both make big, shaggy-dog stories that often go no-where in particular and make sense mostly to them, but still manage to pack an emotional wallop. And actors love working with them.
Arthouse grindhouse. The budgets aren’t low, the stars are big, and the marketing is wide.
Oh, did like his movie The Player.
I guess they are hit and miss.
Mountainhead made its entire point in the first twenty minutes and then descended into farce and melodrama. I got the satire that it intended but the good performances were lessened by the tissue-paper-thin script.
I may be alone in thinking this, but it could have been deeper and darker satire if all the characters were villains and the voice of reason saying banally obvious objections eliminated.
Recently watched The Assassination Bureau, Limited starring Oliver Reed, Diana Rigg, and Telly Savalas. Nine months later Rigg and Savalas would be in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
I’d seen the beginning of this film, but never the complete thing. It’s based on a novel that Jack London started but never completed (and he bought the idea from Sinclair Lewis. The novel was completed in 1963 by Robert L. Fish (AKA Robert L. Pike) in 1963, using London’s notes and an outline by London’s wife. An off-the-wall black comedy that feels very 1960s.
Bring Her Back
Highly recommended.
Wow, probably the best movie I’ve seen from 2025 so far(lot’s of time left, though). A powerful movie about loss, coping, and abuse. It is sold as a horror movie, but this thing is a drama. Very well acted by everyone, including a great performance from a 14-year old actor who had never appeared in a movie or TV show in her life.
I would warn that while this it not the most depressing or intense movie out there, it is pretty serious business and deals with the loss of a parent, the loss of a child, and what people will do when they suffer deep loss.
Great movie.
I don’t know how this could have happened, but I’m almost embarrassed to admit that despite being a Wes Anderson fan, I completely missed The French Dispatch, so thank you so much for mentioning it. I just watched it now and thoroughly enjoyed it – what a delight! I loved some of the names they made up – the stories are supposed to take place in the French village of Ennui; in the first story, there’s a distinguished art connoisseur from Liberty, Kansas named Maw Clampette, and the chef in the final story is named Nescaffier, undoubtedly a play on the famous French chef Auguste Escoffier and probably a portmanteu of Escoffier and Nescafé (a brand of instant coffee)! 
It may not be immediately obvious that they’re parodying the New Yorker but there are clues. For instance the title card introducing each story uses the distinctive typeface long associated with the magazine. And if there was any remaining doubt, there’s a list of names at the end of the movie, many of which I didn’t recognize but it began with Harold Ross, who co-founded the magazine and was its renowned editor-in-chief for over a quarter of a century.
The long title of the movie is The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun. In other words, a newspaper in Liberty, Kansas has set up a bureau in France to report on news in France. That makes no sense. The New York Times has enough subscribers to have bureaus in foreign countries. A paper in Liberty, Kansas couldn’t possibly do that. So what’s going on? For some time now, Anderson has lived with a woman who grew up in Lebanon, London, and Saudi Arabia. The two of them (and their daughter) now live most of the time in Paris and in New York City. Anderson wants to make his films more global apparently.
Just wanted to pop back in and say that Dave Made A Maze is now available to watch free on YouTube (two days after I paid for it!)
Blitz (2024). Already reviewed upthread. I’ll just cut and paste this bit and then add my two cents:
I agree with all of this and I consider this to be an outstanding piece of filmmaking in every respect. I cannot imagine what moved so many to be critical of it such that it’s only rated 6.2 on IMDb. Rotten Tomatoes has a much better take on it at 81% from both critics and audience. It’s a powerful film that packs an emotional wallop, the acting is great, the special effects are great. It’s the horrors of the Blitz seen through the eyes of a nine-year-old child lost in London just trying to get home, with some shocking moments along the way, all of it realistic and believable. Highly recommended.
The movie has a narrative about racism, and that inevitably attracts votes of zero (almost 10% of UK voters gave it that score). Whether the theme works within the movie I don’t know, but that topic will always attract hate-raters.
Thunderbolts*
Somewhat recommended.
Yeah, pretty good. Not great, not quite funny enough. But a solid attempt and also a nice new Marvel movie that features returning characters, but a new team.
Do you like the MCU? You will like this movie. It isn’t filled with tons of references to other movies, but it is a solid MCU movie like the ones you like. Not as good as the best ones, way better than the worst ones(Eternals, Iron Man 2).
One positive note is that this movie is actually about mental health. I appreciate that they went in that direction. It was refreshing and also provided a very simple, clear situation for the heroes to deal with both within themselves and our main bad guy, who isn’t all that bad but is simply frustrated/depressed.
Anyway, worth a viewing. I was happy to have seen it.
Note: I still like the MCU. I think Wolverine and Deadpool, GoG 3, and a few other recent entries have actually been excellent, this one being just short of those. I hope the MCU keeps going; I’m still having fun.
I really liked this one, two. It took two viewings, but now I love it. I have a Le Sans Blague espresso cup.
Oh, and I have a bottle of L’Air de Panache, and yesterday I wore my Lobby Boy t-shirt.
This is great. I agree. Of course, I’m also a huge Altman fan.
Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) on Amazon Prime.
I was vaguely aware of this film but never sat down and watched it until last night. It’s not a very good Horror film but it is a good film. The two convalescent home patients claiming to be Elvis and JFK are much more interesting characters than the mummy, whether you believe their claims or not. Apparently there is an expanded universe comprised of a novella and several comic books, but I’m not sure if I want any of the mystery in the film solved. It’s just a cool, weird little film.
That’s probably good advice. On first viewing it wasn’t until the middle of the film that I stopped asking questions and just let the movie play out.
Watched The Hitman’s Bodyguard. An amusing movie with Ryan Reynolds and Samuel Jackson. And a good soundtrack. Then I tried to watch the sequel, which is really crappy; gave up halfway through.
Ballerina
Recommended.
This is a spinoff of John Wick and boy, it is actually really well done. Lots of impressive and jaw-dropping stunt sequences, including one that has flamethrowers and might be one of the best in the series.
Hey, I’m a simple guy. I expect John Wick movie to deliver great stunts and action and this one did. Not as impressive as a couple of the John Wick movies, but very impressive on its own.
It’s simple. If you like John Wick, you will like this movie. If you did not like the John Wick movies, this offers nothing to draw you in.
A re-watch of The Commitments, a movie that I probably rented from the local Blockbuster the first time. The musical numbers were great, the band’s breakup almost painful to watch because of how hard the movie makes you pull for the group.
Also, The Killer, a John Woo smashup. The gorgeous Nathalie Emmanuel wears fabulous outfits and dispatches bad guys by the dozen. Meh, it’s John Woo, turn your brain off before viewing.
Well then, I’m in!