Yes, I think you missed an important detail @JohnT
One more point on Conclave - sorry if this was obvious to everyone else, but the more I think about it the more I realize just how much was set up by the late Pope.
We are told early on in the conversation about chess that the Pope was always “eight moves ahead”. I now am convinced that Tremblay wasn’t lying about the Pope asking him to transfer that nun - the Pope did it to sandbag both him and Adeyemi. And he deliberately kept Benitez off the radar to sandbag Tedesco. And he refused to let Lawrence resign because he knew Lawrence would ensure (unintentionally) that all happened as planned.
Although I’m pretty sure he didn’t plan the bomb attacks. I guess they needed to let the will of God factor in as well.
I’m curious why you say it’s a commercial. Who is going to buy Barbie products after watching it?
To me, the movie felt like a deconstruction of Barbie. Kind of the opposite of a commercial.
Well, it’s based on Cormac McCarthy’s book and that’s often the way he writes. I’m happier that they didn’t veer off and wrap it up in a bow at the end.
For a moment I thought you were talking about Barbie and my mind went to a very weird place.
GMTA!
(Go away, Discourse.)
Exactly.
In a better movie, one that wasn’t scared of it’s own theme,
she would’ve gotten away with her schemes. Killing her at the end…
was slapping a Hayes Code morality on a movie which didn’t need it. It was forced.
I’m watching the TV Movie Kojack The Marcus-Nelson Murders. It’s very good. The movie opens with Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech.
Based on Career Girls Murders on Aug 28,1963
George Whitmore Jr. was suspected and charged. He was later exonerated. The 1966 Supreme Court ruling created the guidelines for the Miranda Rights.
Pretty sensitve material for a 1973 TV Movie. The Kojack tv show was created with Telly Savalas and new supporting cast.
It’s on Amazon for purchase. Can’t rent it.
The tv show is available to Prime Members. But the movie is separate.
Nitpick: Kojak.
Someone pointed that out to @aceplace57 a few weeks ago but it didn’t stick.
So, would you call it a “hijak”?
Kojak, bang bang!
I forgot Kojak is spelled uniquely. My fingers automatically add the C.
I follow a lot of crime cases. I have never heard of the Career Girls Murders in New York. It reminds me of the Boston Strangler Case between June 14, 1962, and January 4, 1964. Same time period as the New York case.
I like horror, but I’m not into zombie flicks—shambling, brain-munching corpses feel overdone and they just don’t scare me. But when The Dead Don’t Die (2019) showed up in my feed tonight, I hesitated for one reason: the cast. Bill Murray? Adam Driver? Danny Glover? Steve Buscemi? Tilda Swinton wielding a samurai sword? Tom Waits living off-grid? More comedy than horror? Sold! I figured I’d give it 10 minutes. If it’s awful, I’ll bail and act like it never happened.
Turns out, those 10 minutes turned into the whole movie. It pulled me in and didn’t let go—kind of like a zombie after your brain. The humor? Bone-dry. It’s not the kind that triggers belly laughs but the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it type. And the performances? Pure gold. They even sneak in 4th-wall breaks so subtle you’re left thinking, “Did that just happen?” (It did. And it’s brilliant.)
If you’re expecting the usual gore-drenched zombie shenanigans, this isn’t it. But if you’re into slow-burn, deadpan dry comedy that’s quirky and charming, you’re in for a treat. Lean into the oddness, and before you know it, you’ll be laughing—and wondering why.
Bottom line: The Dead Don’t Die is worth a shot—I give it 4/5 stars. Just don’t be surprised if Murray’s deadpan gaze and Driver’s monotone delivery haunt your dreams. I’m going to check out more of writer/director Jim Jarmusch’s work—he seems to be a good quirky filmmaker.
Night on Earth is a fave of mine - an anthology film with five stories that take place at the same time in different cabs in different time zones from Los Angeles to Helsinki. “Quirky” sums it up well.
I enjoyed Stranger Than Paradise too but it’s more “generically indie” than comedy.
All Of Us Strangers (link contains spoilers). A gay man develops a relationship with the only other occupant of his apartment block. He visits his childhood home and inexplicably encounters his long-dead parents, then begins visiting them regularly, updating them on his life and revisiting issues of the past. 96% on rotten tomatoes.
The Eight Mountains (link contains spoilers). Italian with English subtitles. Two boys in the Italian alps form a friendship, separate for many years, then reconnect as adults trying to figure out their lives. 91% on rotten tomatoes.
Both good movies, although they tell sad stories.
Digging deep into an obscure Aussie film: Audrey.
A very … odd film, even by Australian norms. A dysfunctional family dominated by a washed up actress who wants to return to the limelight, teaches acting to kids, etc. The oldest daughter and title character is being pushed by the mom into acting. Another daughter, in a wheelchair, is the non-star of the family. The husband is …, well, not happy and is looking for something to improve his life.
Audrey gets herself into a coma which the mother resents for all the usual psycho reasons. Movie ensues.
This movie is really out there. It has several R scenes and such. The oddness is sometimes funny but is also quite non-funny at other times. I like odd films, but this is a bit too much even for me. Great acting and stuff, but …
Give it 2 lemons.
The Bikeriders. About a relatively tame 1960’s motorcycle club. Packed with A-list actors but less story than any single song by The Shangra-Las. Not surprising for a film based on a book of photography.
A Christmas Story 1983 Peter Billingsley
It’s almost Christmas, of course I’m watching A Christmas Story.
I think it captures a child’s memories really well. How Ralphie remembers his parents, his day dreams, and childhood friends. It’s a very, very good movie.
A Christmas Story Christmas 2022 Peter Billingsley and includes many of the younger cast members from the original movie.
Peter Billingsley is one of the producers.
Ralphie and his family return home to see his mother and celebrate Christmas. Ralphie wants his kids to have a great Christmas similar to his own childhood memories.
It’s pretty good. Unfortunately Darren McGavin and Milinda Dillion had already passed away. But they cast someone else to play Ralphie’s mother. Many of Ralphie’s friends were cast with the original actors.
I enjoyed it. They came close to recreating the wholesome, family vibe of the original. Ralphie has to deal with the passing of his father. I think it was handled well.
Both films are on MAX. I spent this evening watching them.
Two movies, about 6 1/2 hours of fun…
The Brutalist (3:35 including a 15 minute intermission, thank god) For the record, I hate Brutalist architecture. But the movie is a compelling saga of the postwar immigrant experience, beautifully shot, with a magnetic central performance by Adrian Brody (and in a smaller role as his wife, Felicity Jones gives as good as she gets). It will be prominent during the awards “season” and will most likely be singled out by those who haven’t seen it as an example of how screwed up the award nominations are. Because of the direction and cinematography, try to see this one in a theater, even though there are no spacecraft, spandex, or explosions.
The Count of Monte Cristo (2:58) A retelling of one of the most retold books (Wiki lists 22 film adaptations of the Dumas classic), the filmmakers do a pretty good job of simplifying the tangle of characters in the novel, while carrying out the plot lines and memorable scenes. Even at three hours, it moves along briskly and doesn’t lag or spend a lot of time on long expository scenes. It is a French production, so subtitles must be read. Not great art, but an engrossing film.