2024 MOVIES DISCUSSION THREAD

[Execproducer]

49 minutes ago, Andrew POE! said:

What's crazy is both movies came out in the same year. I guess let's give that version a Criterion Collection edition too!

As a Ken Takakura mark, I fully support this notion.

[odessasteps]

 

[Andrew POE!]

Movies watched today....

When Strangers Marry / Betrayed (Criterion, leaving at the end of the month)

Spoiler

Robert Mitchum movie that's not very good. Some interesting choices with multiple images occurring over each other, but that's about it.

Luzifer (Mubi, leaving on Wednesday)

Spoiler

The beginning of the movie was interesting but soon turned into quasi-religious weirdness with a recovering drug/alcohol addict and her son.

The scene where the men come to force the woman to sign over the deed of the land, I thought "great, the son is going to get revenge for her and fuck their shit up like a Jason from Friday The 13th or the Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

Nope, he just mumbles about "mama" and hits his mom with a Bible while she coughs away sick.

The cinematography and location shots are incredible, but it can't save the movie.

Kiss The Blood Off My Hands (Criterion, leaving at the end of the month)

Spoiler

Rather cool noir movie that has impressive photography and the story isn't too bad. I can foresee a remake of this movie with Bradley Cooper as Burt Lancaster's character and Carey Milligan as Joan Fontaine's character. It might actually work.

 

[Andrew POE!]

Movies watched today....

Booksmart (Peacock, leaving at the end of the month)

Spoiler

Not bad high school comedy movie.....doesn't quite reach the level of '80s high school comedies like Fast Times At Ridgemont High or Ferris Bueller's Day Off but has a few memorable moments.

Made in Heaven (Criterion Channel, leaving at the end of the month)

Spoiler

The movie started out great - first 30 minutes or so had an interesting story albeit not really good. Emmet (Debra Winger) was a character out of a David Lynch movie.

After Mike Shea (Timothy Hutton) and Annie Packert (Kelly McGillis) are told they can't stay together (why? because reasons), the movie turns very uninteresting.

So they cram in Neil Young, Ric Ocasek and Tom Petty to attempt to make it interesting. And Timothy Hutton is now Elmo Barnett and Kelly McGillis is now Ally Chandler and they deus ex machina get together at the end.

That isn't to say it's all bad - Timothy Hutton and Ann Wedgeworth have an incredible scene in the car that helps the movie, but those are few and far between.

This isn't a bad movie, just a disappointing movie.

Melo (Mubi, leaving at the end of the month)

Spoiler

I dug this movie quite a bit more than Love Unto Death. Love Unto Death had some pacing issues but this unfolds like My Dinner With Andre or Before Sunset in some respects - just conversations between characters.

Romaine Belcroix (Sabine Azema) is gorgeous but also a bit unhinged. It's easy to see that Romaine and Marcel (Andre Dussoiller) having an affair, but even then she very easily broke it off too.

It's rather difficult having a movie where the principal action is in three rooms, but Alain Resnais pulls it off.

 

[Andrew POE!]

Movies seen today....

Pacific Rim (Hulu, leaving at the end of the month)

Spoiler

Guillermo Del Toro's movies tend to veer wildly from one extreme to another. I loved Pan's Labyrinth but a lot of his work since then haven't been nearly as strong as it should be (I haven't seen The Shape of Water yet or his earlier movies). His films seem to be divided into two camps: the movies where he has to produce a blockbuster and his personal statements as a director.

This obviously falls into the former than the latter.

First off, the characters aren't good, the story is mildly uninteresting, and the ending to the movie got stolen from a James Bond movie.

But the sheer bombast and spectacle helps a bit - I saw this at home and I wonder if it would have been even more incredible in a theater. Idris Elba understood the assignment and is terrific (I can see why people wanted him to be James Bond). Charlie Day is fine as comedic relief or a twitchy neurotic type that's played for comedic relief. Almost all of the other characters aren't memorable enough to matter.

Having seen a few Del Toro's recent movies, I would rank this behind Crimson Peak but ahead of Nightmare Alley. But far far behind Pinocchio and of course Pan's Labyrinth.

Wild Mountain Thyme (Hulu, leaving tomorrow)

Spoiler

Yes, the accents are terrible. Christopher Walken has a terrible Irish accent and sounds like himself trying to sound Irish. Emily Blunt's accent is also equally terrible. She sounds English but with a head cold, not Irish at all.

At times, this is a great movie; other times, it's merely okay to borderline terrible.

The "I'm a honey bee" scene is awful and pretty much derails the movie. Thankfully, the movie is over not much too soon after that.

Gotta remember that the director for this did Joe Versus The Volcano (which depending on who you talk to is either the best worst movie ever or just absolute crap). And plenty of well written plays too.

The good parts were the cinematography. Shooting anywhere in Ireland always leads to great photography and nature scenes.

I'll need to track down Doubt, which I heard is great.

Love Is Strange (Hulu, leaving at the end of the month)

Spoiler

Absolutely sweet movie despite the "Bury Your Gays" ending. Alfred Molina and John Lithgow are charmingly cute and sweet as a couple in this movie; Marisa Tomei is incredible as a stressed out author trying to deal with her uncle now moved in due to his partner being fired. Wonderful cinematography throughout the movie and Chopin as music for the movie elevates it a bit.

Somewhat wished the movie made more of a political statement about the Catholic Church firing someone for being gay rather than a passing point; instead, the main focus is about the couple trying to deal with living at other people's apartments while they find a new apartment they can afford.

Pacific Rim Uprising (Hulu, leaving at the end of the month)

Spoiler

This managed to be a big budget Made For DVD / Blu Ray movie that got released to theaters. The first Pacific Rim, despite it aiming to be a summer blockbuster, was better and had story elements that made sense. This had plot twists for no reason (hey let's have Charlie From Always Sunny... be the main villain!) and felt like those Starship Troopers sequels that missed the point of the original movie.

Somehow, someway, John Boyega always ends up in terrible movies (Rise of Skywalker, this). He deserves so much better. Scott Eastwood is Channing Tatum on a budget and seriously can't act. Avoid.

Blind Spot (Mubi, leaving at the end of the month)

Spoiler

While I respect and love the premise of the movie - woman leaving her family to research a forgotten pioneer in history in a particular town - a lot of the movie seems pointless and aimless.

The character in the movie Elsabeth (Rebecca Pauly) seems almost a blank slate except for the fact that she wants to research beyond what is written or shown about Flora Tristan. She records conversations, footsteps, sounds. I half way expected the lone historian who heard of her to go "What the fuck do you want me to do with this tape recording of footsteps?"

A lot of the scenery is repetitive because Elsabeth goes to the same places in Lyon. Inexplicably, she vomits milk in a gross scene (did she stupidly drink sour milk while on this Don Quixote like quest for Flora Tristan?). Near the end, she loses her mind after finding out that Flora Tristan isn't even buried in Lyon. She takes a shower with her clothes and starts singing a song in English. She plays the violin for money at the train station she arrived at the start of the movie.

I'm perfectly fine with movies that have long takes and seemingly don't have anything going on. With this, I'm not sure there was a point beyond the premise. It's sad that the director Claudia von Alemann hasn't done a major film since this.

 

[Andrew POE!]

Movies seen yesterday....

Undercurrent (Criterion, leaving next week)

Spoiler

Movie is rather tedious at the start and starts as a whip smart comedy (where Katharine Hepburn is at her best) but turns into a pseudo-Hitchcock noir melodrama. Robert Taylor's character is almost abusive (a bit of Stockholm Syndrome I guess). Nice to see Robert Mitchum (who bears a strong resemblance to my grandfather) play a 'good guy' for once - although he was a good guy in When Strangers Marry but that was a crappy movie.

Superbad (Peacock, leaving next week)

Spoiler

Movie has some cool moments, but the characters (especially Jonah Hill's) aren't that good. I had an easier time relating to the characters in Booksmart (which was directly inspired by this movie) and enjoying its story more than this.

Hard to believe that this past year's winner for Best Actress (Emma Stone) was in this movie with a douchebag like Jonah Hill.

The only remotely artistic bit about this movie were the opening credits.

Challengers (saw at the theater)

Spoiler

Nonlinear stories usually don't work or result in confusing to attempt to follow what's going on. Nonlinear stories aren't a new conceit in filmmaking - it started with Intolerance from D.W. Griffith and Destiny from Fritz Lang. The trick is making something nonlinear also compelling enough to maintain attention and is easy enough to follow that the audience isn't confused if they're paying attention.

Challengers takes on this...well, challenge and beats it. Zendaya practically seethes with anger throughout the movie with her character - she's angry at herself for her injury, angry at her life for settling for the man she chose, angry at the one she didn't pick coming back into her life. The two male leads - Mike Faist (Art) and Josh O'Connor (Patrick) have a playful relationship starting out but things change once Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) suffers a career ending injury.

Honestly, this should result in a Best Actress nomination for Zendaya.

 

[driver]

Watching  Big Trouble in Little China all the way through for the first time. Damn is it good and I'll leave it at that.

 

[Andrew POE!]

Movies watched today....

Reality Bytes (Peacock, leaving next week)

Spoiler

Pretty much St. Elmo's Fire for the grunge generation. Yes, all the characters in the movie are stereotypes; but it manages to speak of issues facing people in post-college life. The approach is different and rooted in MTV, but the result is the same.

It's not quite perfect due to story threads ignored - like Vicki Miner (Janeane Garofalo) finding out if she has HIV or not or what happened to Sammy Gray (Steve Zahn) when he finally came out to his parents. Instead, it focuses on Lelaina Pierce (Winona Ryder) and her relationship with Troy Dyer (Ethan Hawke) while grappling with her relationship with Michael Grates (Ben Stiller).

My favorite moment was when the movie played two of my favorite bands, Squeeze and Crowded House, back to back in scenes.

It isn't a bad movie and a lot better than people give it credit for.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower (Paramount+, leaving next week)

Spoiler

“Why do nice people chose the wrong people to date?”
“Are we talking about anyone specific?”
“Yes.”
“We accept the love we think we deserve.”
“Can we make them know they deserve more?”
“We can try.”

Wonderfully great coming of age movie about a guy having to deal with high school and his recovery from mental health issues. Logan Lerman as Charlie, Emma Watson as Sam and even Ezra Miller as Patrick are great (although Ezra Miller was a tad annoying at times). Emma Watson's natural British accent slipped in and out (I wonder if the movie would have been the same if they just had her be a British foreign exchange student with an American mother and a British dad, but oh well).

A bit melodramatic at points but all high school movies are. The music and bands that the main characters bond over are the culmination of every '80s/90s band....pleasantly surprised they didn't insist upon throwing in current for 2012 alternative/indie bands.

Also, Paul Rudd is in the pantheon of coolest high school teachers in movies.

One False Move (Mubi, leaving next week)

Spoiler

Decent Tarantino-esque noir film although it turned into melodrama by the end. I'm one of the few people who likes Billy Bob Thornton, although I feel like in about half the movies he's in, he's pissed off. Bill Paxton and Cynda Williams were great in their parts and you can see where it influenced later movies (especially Jackie Brown).

We Grown Now (saw at the theaters)

Spoiler

Wonderful beautiful movie. I came out of the theater on the verge of tears. Even though the movie is about inner city Chicago, it did make me reflect on the people you meet in your life and how they always stay with you, even after you leave them.

Such standout lines and scenes throughout the movie. “If you don’t grow, these babies won’t.”

“How do you say goodbye to somebody?” “I don’t know if you ever really do.”

I loved the scenes where Eric and Malik visit the art museum - might be the same museum as in another Chicago movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

The actors playing Eric and Malik display maturity for their age - especially Eric.

Movie has a limited run so worth checking out.

Gaslight (Max, leaving next week)

Spoiler

Movie kinda meanders a bit until the last 30 minutes or so after a great intro. The street scenes turn into costume drama and blended together. Ingrid Bergman did really well at that point, Charles Boyer was a complete jerk, and it just kinda resolves. I don't have a problem with older movies (Heaven Can Wait and A Matter of Life And Death got the highest ratings possible for me) but this did nothing for me.

 

[driver]

Watching One False Move for the first time in years. Still as good now as it was then.

[zendragon]

Quentin Tarantino's 'The Movie Critic': How It Fell Apart (hollywoodreporter.com)

[Andrew POE!]

Movies today....

The Personal History of David Copperfield (Hulu, leaving next week)

Spoiler

Decent although a bit long and takes some liberties with the source material. Aneurin Barnard as James Steerforth literally looks like a younger version of Tom Baker as the 4th Doctor, so his scenes with Peter Capaldi felt on brand for Doctor Who.

Dev Patel honestly is great in nearly everything he's in (although I wasn't keen on Monkey Man as other people are).

Not too bad, although it may be a little long at times.

The Mummy (1999) (saw at the theater for $5)

Spoiler

I pretend this is what Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was.

Lost Illusions (Mubi, leaving next week)

Spoiler

Even though it's French and set during the times of Honore de Balzac, the movie speaks to our times and the 24 hour news cycle. It serves as a nice counterpoint to having watched The Personal History of David Copperfield earlier today. Both David Copperfield and Lucien have the same ambitions, but with Lucien its inversed and flipped.

13 Going on 30 (Netflix, leaving next week)

Spoiler

My dream girl for the longest time has been Jennifer Garner in this movie. I would literally melt into a puddle if I ever met a girl that smiled at me the way Jennifer Garner smiled in this movie. I've seen bits and pieces of it (like I saw the first 30 minutes then somehow saw the last 20 minutes) and this is the first time I've seen it all the way through.

First, the bad parts to the movie: Yes, it's not original. Yes, it leans in a bit too hard on being a direct ripoff of Big. Yes, there's too many scenes with music playing in the background as opposed to letting acting/dialogue set the mood the music substitutes - the movie uses a song about an unwanted pregnancy (Liz Phair's "Why Can't I?") at least twice, along with Madonna's "Crazy For You" twice and The Go-Gos "Head Over Heel" at least twice. Yes, Jennifer Garner is almost too much as a 30 year old who thinks she's 13 (the scene with her asking out a 13 year old boy should have been cut).

But overall, the good parts is the movie leans into its inspiration and Jennifer Garner really sells it. There's something to be said for a person realizing what they have and what's important and being true and authentic to it. Some of those Christian movies could probably learn something from 13 Going on 30.

No, the movie isn't going to be the greatest, but it hits the spot for me.

 

[odessasteps]

Cant recall if I’d seen this years ago or not 

Short film by Wes Anderson for Prada 

[Andrew POE!]

Movies watched today...

Secretary (Mubi, leaving this week)

Spoiler

Interesting movie but ultimately a bit vacant. Once the shock of the premise is past, it turns into a weird romantic film. There are really only two characters in the movie and the movie is set up for their relationship rather than anything substantial for their character growth. Probably only worth seeing if you want to see Maggie Gyllenhaal naked.

The Temptation of Isabelle (Mubi, leaving this week)

Spoiler

A few things I learned from this movie:

- Go to a hotel with your girlfriend have her ex-boyfriend surprise her by being there, that's TOTALLY a normal thing to do.
- Try to have sex with a girl that has Obi Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel movie's rat tail. You won't feel like you should be in Joe Dirt, not in the least.
- Walk up to women in public and ask them to read something you wrote on a cigarette box. They won't think you're creepy at all. One of them will ask you to go get a coffee. I think I'll try that and see what happens.
- Having a taxicab deliver a message from you to a girl you're trying to get with is totally not a waste of money, oh no. A New York taxicab driver would be like, "It's your money, why do I care?"
- It's even smarter to walk 15 miles AFTER the taxicab has already left.
- Grabbing and throwing the dad of your girlfriend won't get you arrested and punched in the face.

The best part of the movie was seeing one of the French dudes climbing the side of a building and crappily making pancakes. Oh and same French dude gets struck in the leg with a piece of wood and apparently doesn't get hurt. He's a French Terminator.

This movie is for idiots by an idiot. Avoid. In all seriousness, I enjoy French movies quite a bit - My American Uncle and Melo were a lot better than this. Late August, Early September was slightly better than this. For Ever Mozart was just insane to watch and even that was better than this.

Unsung Hero (saw this at the theater)

Spoiler

Emotionally manipulative movie with the male lead being the worst offender. While the premise leads to some genuine emotions, some of the acting wasn’t there and wasn’t good. The kids were rather generic and faceless as actors. I went through 90% of the movie thinking the kid in glasses was a girl. A lot of the direction wasn’t there either; the director seemed to rip off better directors for a few of the scenes. Daisy Betts as the mother was the best actress in the movie; Terry O’Quinn did great although I wondered why his character seemed unable to send his son any money if he supposedly loved him.

This isn’t to say there weren’t some good parts to the movie. The opening shot was great and the train scene was really good.

The movie left me wondering why anyone would listen to Christian music because that industry seemed more cutthroat and evil than the secular music Christians love to attack. It seems Christian music has just as many assholes as the rest of the music industry.

I also wonder how difficult things would have been if the family weren't white or weren't relatively pretty. A family of people of color (or even LGBTQ) would have a harder time in the US versus a family that talked "English in a funny accent" that moved to the South.

Waking The Dead (Criterion Channel, leaving this week)

Spoiler

Good to great at times, but bit of a slog to go through. Really great if you want to see Jennifer Connolly naked, but little else beyond that.

It made me think that Sarah Williams (Connolly) was in fact alive and was under a new name.

Four Weddings And A Funeral (Peacock, leaving this week)

Spoiler

Mildly funny comedy although has very few memorable scenes. The funeral was the more memorable part. Andie MacDowell and Hugh Grant are two very pretty people.

I always got confused between this and the much superior My Best Friend's Wedding and thought they were sequels.

 

Edited April 29 by Andrew POE!

[odessasteps]

Watched the Ex Mrs Bradford, an RKO picture with William Powell and Jean Arthur as a divorced couple where she is a mystery writer who kept getting her husband mixed up in plots. As TCM said, the only of the 5 movies Powell made in 1936 that got no Oscar nominations. There’s also a radio version with Powell and Claudette Colbert. 
 

it’s fun, but it’s no Thin Man. (No shame in that) 

[J.H.]

Got my Criterion 4k of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and it is just as delightfully batshit insane as I remember it being when I saw it in the theater lo'those many years go. It might be my fave Gilliam movie.

James

[odessasteps]

I think it showd for maybe 1 week in Newark in one theater, IIRC, right before Batman came out. 

[Andrew POE!]

3 hours ago, J.H. said:

Got my Criterion 4k of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and it is just as delightfully batshit insane as I remember it being when I saw it in the theater lo'those many years go. It might be my fave Gilliam movie.

James

I always try to watch Adventures of Baron Munchausen back to back with Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai.

[Andrew POE!]

Movies seen today....

Kin (leaving Max this week)

Spoiler

Giant oof at this movie. The older brother was Chris Pratt on a budget and having Zoe Kravitz and Carrie Coon in smaller parts didn't save this movie.

Plus, it's obvious setup for a sequel that never came. Nice visuals but having 90% of the movie being an urban crime barely functional "on the run" movie wasn't helping.

Probably most of the visual FX budget went to the part near the end where Eli finds out what he really is.

Recorder: The Marion Styles Project (leaving Criterion Channel this week)

Spoiler

Utterly fascinating documentary about someone who, while was hoarding, was also trying to preserve memory of an era that would be lost despite being recorded.

Deal of the Century (leaving Criterion Channel this week)

Spoiler

If this movie came out 20 years later and was directed by The Coen Brothers, it would earn rave reviews. Satire so sharp it bleeds, Deal of the Century is a lot better than it is given credit. Gregory Hines, Chevy Chase, and Sigourney Weaver just make the film work with its commentary on the US military, arms dealer, military manufacturers that are still around today, and dictatorships wanting to buy weapons from mostly US based companies.

The drawback to the movie is the ending sequence with Gregory Hines in the fighter jet was a bit unnecessary and went against the tone of the movie.

William Friedkin can make anything and it would be great, seriously.

Alien (saw at the theater) - It's game over, man. Harry Dean Stanton does Harry Dean Stanton things and there's a cat.

[Tabe]

On 4/27/2024 at 8:59 PM, Andrew POE! said:

Movies today....

The Personal History of David Copperfield (Hulu, leaving next week)

  Reveal hidden contents

Decent although a bit long and takes some liberties with the source material. Aneurin Barnard as James Steerforth literally looks like a younger version of Tom Baker as the 4th Doctor, so his scenes with Peter Capaldi felt on brand for Doctor Who.

Dev Patel honestly is great in nearly everything he's in (although I wasn't keen on Monkey Man as other people are).

Not too bad, although it may be a little long at times.

The Mummy (1999) (saw at the theater for $5)

  Reveal hidden contents

I pretend this is what Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was.

Lost Illusions (Mubi, leaving next week)

  Reveal hidden contents

Even though it's French and set during the times of Honore de Balzac, the movie speaks to our times and the 24 hour news cycle. It serves as a nice counterpoint to having watched The Personal History of David Copperfield earlier today. Both David Copperfield and Lucien have the same ambitions, but with Lucien its inversed and flipped.

13 Going on 30 (Netflix, leaving next week)

  Hide contents

My dream girl for the longest time has been Jennifer Garner in this movie. I would literally melt into a puddle if I ever met a girl that smiled at me the way Jennifer Garner smiled in this movie. I've seen bits and pieces of it (like I saw the first 30 minutes then somehow saw the last 20 minutes) and this is the first time I've seen it all the way through.

First, the bad parts to the movie: Yes, it's not original. Yes, it leans in a bit too hard on being a direct ripoff of Big. Yes, there's too many scenes with music playing in the background as opposed to letting acting/dialogue set the mood the music substitutes - the movie uses a song about an unwanted pregnancy (Liz Phair's "Why Can't I?") at least twice, along with Madonna's "Crazy For You" twice and The Go-Gos "Head Over Heel" at least twice. Yes, Jennifer Garner is almost too much as a 30 year old who thinks she's 13 (the scene with her asking out a 13 year old boy should have been cut).

But overall, the good parts is the movie leans into its inspiration and Jennifer Garner really sells it. There's something to be said for a person realizing what they have and what's important and being true and authentic to it. Some of those Christian movies could probably learn something from 13 Going on 30.

No, the movie isn't going to be the greatest, but it hits the spot for me.

 

I've had a crush on Jennifer Garner since forever. Totally understand. 

[odessasteps]

 

[Andrew POE!]

1 minute ago, odessasteps said:

 

That's just fucking nasty to piss in bottles like that. You only do that if you're driving and you don't know if your car will start back up again when turned off (even then that's nasty). But to get paid millions to crappily read lines in movies smh.

[tbarrie]

1 hour ago, odessasteps said:

 

So are people mad because he's wasting time or because he's saving time? Make up your minds!

[Andrew POE!]

Movies today....

Welcome To Marwen (Max, leaving at midnight PDT)

Spoiler

I loved Robert Zemeckis' work in Forrest Gump (despite how bad the story was) and was okay with The Polar Express (despite how much of an asshole the conductor was) but this is just bad. Despite Mark Hogancamp (Steve Carrell)'s issues and trying to recover from his attack, there's just something inherently creepy about it. Seemingly every character in the movie is fine with Mark and not asking him to stay away or filing a restraining order against him.

There's some touching moments and Leslie Mann brings a genuine sweetness to her role, but egads do I need a shower after this.

Also, this is the second movie I've seen where Joni Mitchell's "Help Me" shows up (the first movie being Kin).

The Other Side of the Mountain (Netflix, leaving at midnight PDT)

Spoiler

Beautifully shot movie and Marilyn Hassett's smile could melt the snow off the mountains. Beau Bridges was decent at times in the brief appearances he made. Sadly, the movie wasn't as good as the cinematography.

True Mothers (Criterion Channel, leaving at midnight PDT)

Spoiler

Genuinely emotionally affecting albeit with some parts that dragged in the middle (especially when we saw the original mother at the "Baby Baton" agency). When the movie focused on the parents going through the adoption process and their son's life, it really shined. A little bit melodramatic at points and the parts toward the end may not have been necessary.

I will definitely seek out Naomi Kawase's other films.

The Four Seasons (Netflix, leaving at midnight PDT)

Spoiler

Legitimately hilarious. Spring and Summer parts were probably the funniest things I've ever seen (the scene where they lose the anchor on the boat had me laughing for five minutes straight).

The movie did run out of road by the end but genuinely great and funny.

 

Edited Wednesday at 09:49 AM by Andrew POE!

[HarryArchieGus]

On 4/14/2024 at 10:38 PM, Andrew POE! said:

Movies I saw today...

La Chimera (saw at the theater)

  Hide contents

This would be like if Robert Altman and Pier Pasolo Pasolini worked together and directed a movie about archaelogy. I'll have to track down the other movies Alice Rohrwacher directed, but there were parts I liked and parts I didn't. The first hour dragged somewhat, but it did pick towards the end and had a satisfying conclusion (even though the main character is pretty much dead).

Except for the main character Arthur (Josh O'Connor) and Flora (Isabella Rossellini), there weren't really that many interesting characters. The various people around Arthur just as well been one person. Italia (Carol Duarte) tried but seemed to exist in the movie to be put down by Flora. The scene where she gets angry over Arthur and the people working with him robbing graves was the only bit of character work she showed.

Robert Altman-esque bits were where characters spoke over each other in certain scenes.

It's not a completely terrible movie though. I love some of the shots that were set up in the movie (the upside camera angle was particularly inventive).

Worth checking out.

Civil War (saw at the theater)

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For me, films are about capturing a specific feeling or emotion and having a story embody it thoroughly. There's a lot that Civil War does right. There's a few things that it does wrong. What it does right is the sound design - gunshots in the movie sound like actual gunshots or close to it. A lot of the scenery is setup beautifully.

The main crux of the movie - civil war - isn't exactly spelled out why people involved are fighting. It never tells you the reasons but you can somewhat guess (more likely the end of the road that the US is currently on with the current political parties).

Having played a lot of video games and recently going back into watching films, lots of scenes remind me of scenes I've seen in The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II. The movie invoked a lot of the same feelings those games did - anxiety and paranoia throughout the story.

Kirsten Dunst was really great throughout the movie and is not the same woman seen in the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man trilogy or Mona Lisa Smile. Her sighs and worn facial expressions convey so much of the character's trauma and history.

What was troublesome is how Dunst's character Lee Smith and Stephen McKinley Henderson's character Sammy die almost senselessly. There was no grand speeches or gasping for last breaths - they just get shot and killed.

The other troubling thing is how apparent the film tries to 'both sides' journalism in armed conflicts. The film not definitely saying what the civil war was about or spell out the aims of each side leads the film to not saying anything directly. The crux coming out of the film seems to be "war is bad, mmkay" rather than why the president is wrong (or why he's right). Journalism seems to be about "if it bleeds, it leads" and taking graphic pictures of people being killed rather than those journalists making a direct statement.

Despite all of this, this is a great piece of cinema and will be talked about in the years to come.

 

I finally saw La Chimera last week. We definitely saw the same film. This is the second Alice Rohrwacher film I've seen - the first being the previous Happy As Lazzaro. This felt like somewhat of a repeat. Like Lazzaro there was something missing for me. That said, and like the previous film, the performances were terrific, especially O'Connor in the lead. Honorable mention to the director's charming sister Alba Rohrwacher in a nice supporting role. The cinematography was strong and worth noting as were many of the production choices. I didn't love the movie, but I did like it. It also made my imagination run wild (alongside a matinee buzz) which is troubling for movie focus, but sometimes a welcome experience with a less engaging yet creatively rich film. There are some Godard films that work similarily for me. Looking forward to seeing both Challengers and Civil War shortly. 

Curious, what is your movie watching schedule? How do you pack so many titles into a day?

[Andrew POE!]

2 hours ago, HarryArchieGus said:

I finally saw La Chimera last week. We definitely saw the same film. This is the second Alice Rohrwacher film I've seen - the first being the previous Happy As Lazzaro. This felt like somewhat of a repeat. Like Lazzaro there was something missing for me. That said, and like the previous film, the performances were terrific, especially O'Connor in the lead. Honorable mention to the director's charming sister Alba Rohrwacher in a nice supporting role. The cinematography was strong and worth noting as were many of the production choices. I didn't love the movie, but I did like it. It also made my imagination run wild (alongside a matinee buzz) which is troubling for movie focus, but sometimes a welcome experience with a less engaging yet creatively rich film. There are some Godard films that work similarily for me. Looking forward to seeing both Challengers and Civil War shortly. 

Curious, what is your movie watching schedule? How do you pack so many titles into a day?

Yeah, I wonder if La Chimera will work for me better on a repeated viewing (I'll track down the Blu Ray). What's strange for me is I dug Challengers a hell of a lot more than I did Civil War, even though the cinematography of Civil War was unmatched.

My movie watching schedule is a little intense. Basically, I get up and before work, I watch a movie. I do work stuff, but try to schedule a movie around lunch time then finish up work for the day. I finish the movie after work. I then watch two (or three if I'm lucky) movies in the evening.

For longer movies (that take two to three hours), I break it up during the course of a day. For longer than 3 hours (like Norte End of History recently), I won't watch it in one sitting and it may take multiple days. There have been instances (like The Turin Horse, Lost Illusions and Neighbouring Sounds) where it can be a long movie and completely engross me all the way through.

On Thursday - Sunday night, I try to catch movies in the theater through AMC A-List.

The main thing for me is if I find I'm getting bored with the movie on a streaming service, I take a break or in some cases, just don't finish it. Lightning Strikes Twice (which left Criterion Channel) was that way for me. The movie just wasn't appealing to me. Mubi had a few that I never finished from April as well for the same reason.

Edited Wednesday at 02:45 PM by Andrew POE!