Butcher’s Crossing with Nicholas Cage, who, surprisingly, wasn’t the worst thing about the movie.
Even though it itself has yet to reach the screen, Blood Meridian continues to influence the Western genre. And, as Blood Meridian itself is derivative of Moby Dick, Cage brings the Ahab to this visually impressive but morose and gory movie. If the number of prairie dog holes were half that of the plot holes, they’d have to shoot every horse, mule in it. Some random objections:
They come upon a hunter slain by natives, but this threat never reappears in a movie that needs more action. A Chekov’s squirt gun.
The skinner, Starbuck-like, objects to the overkill as beyond his capabilities. In reality, the skinner would stake the bison by the nose and drag the hide off with mules.
Open spoiler: all their efforts come to naught when “the bottom fell out of the hide market.” But the story takes place in the winter of 1874-5. The Panic of 1873 would have made their hunt pointless before they even began, assuming that it caused factories to cancel orders for bison leather machine belts.
A documentary about Christopher Lee’s life. However:
No clips of Christopher Lee talking or giving interviews.
A marionette doll of Lee talks throughout, narrating. It’s an imitation voice by Peter Serafinowicz. Yes, you read this correctly. It’s painfully bad, the doll…everything.
They only got Peter Jackson(big get), John Landis, and his son-in-law to speak to the camera. A few other associates, but no close relatives or other great directors and actors that worked with him.
Clips from his movies are either non-existent or extremely brief. No clips from Lord of the Rings, for example. They got almost no rights from his movies, just a few behind the scenes clips of footage.
All in all, it is OK, but not the true great documentary about Christopher Lee that I would hope for. They do spend a good amount of time on Jinnah, a movie that meant so much to Lee.
Based solely on this thread, I watched Hundreds of Beavers yesterday. Um… wow.
I laughed quite a bit, and was surprised at how emotionally invested I became as well. Saying anything more would be spoilerish.
I highly recommend everyone check this movie out. Don’t do any research; go in totally blind. If it doesn’t grab you within 10 minutes, you may go on your way. But if it does, you’ll be in for a hell of a ride.
It took me about 40 odd minutes to really get it, and thought worth it when it got near the final stretch. It ties up sutprisingly well from a lot of bafflement.
Having finished up my easily-accessible copies of A Christmas Carol, I put on the colorized version of the 1933 King Kong last night to wrap presents by, followed by the 1961 George Pal movie Atlantis the Lost Continent. With the Paul Frees narration (and him dubbing so many characters) it almost feels like a Disney movie.
I underrated this movie the first time I saw it. It’s one of the best ones of the year, probably in my top 10. In a post-rapture world, many have had their vocal chords cut to not speak and pay penitence; a girl runs to avoid being sacrificed.
Samara Weaving is a real talent to watch. She carries this movie and is great.
Captain Philips 2013 Tom Hanks and a cast of Somali actors as the pirates
I remembered the news coverage in 2009. The movie was still very intense. The pirates were shown chewing a drug that kept them wired and unpredictable.
I found the movie very enjoyable. The action continues to escalate as the pirates get more desperate.
Short clip. Tom describes filming the intense scene when the pirates burst into the cabin.
Ok, not really. It’s called Qat, or Khat. It’s a leaf grown in Somalia, Yemen and Ethiopia. It’s chewed for a mild brief buzz very similar to drinking coffee. I think it would be more common world wide, particularly in Muslim regions, except it loses potency as soon as it’s cut and it isn’t grown anywhere else as far as I know.
George C Scott was always my favorite color version of A Christmas Carol, but a few years ago I changed my mind. I love the Patrick Stewart version now.
The improvised scene where the medic gives him aid after he is rescued is great acting. I heard something about that medic getting negative feedback from her colleagues. She was 100% real and just trying to do it as it would be done in real life. Hanks did a great job melting down.
I was struck by the realism of that scene. The captain was so stoic and calm. Trying to protect his crew and ship. Then when the crises is over the Captain completely loses control.
Recently, a scene from Gentlemen Broncos popped up on my TikTok and I had no idea what it was. With a little researching, I found out the movie and then this morning I was up too early because the dog had to go outside and I saw that it was available on Prime.
Very much in the vein of Napolean Dynamite, the movie featured a town full of outlandish oddballs doing oddball things and features a young guy who writes science fiction stories and an established writer who steals one.
Heretic - There’s been a lot of praise for Hugh Grant’s performance and he earns every bit of it, as do his two costars. He plays a seemingly affable man whom two young Mormon missionaries are trying to convert. The premise of the movie is very timely in light if the current religious climate, though it could take place at any time in the last two decades. I will say that the last third is not as good as the rest of it, but I was completely engaged and had no idea how it would end. Highly recommend.
