Andrew POE! Posted January 11 Posted January 11 Selected movies today....mostly all bangers today. Dogfight (Criterion Channel, leaving on 1/31) - 4.5/5 stars Spoiler There's a bit of chauvinism in Dogfight. The nature of the contest, where four Marines are to find the 'ugliest women' to go on dates and whoever has the ugliest wins the pool of money, is the height of this. It's also bit of a demeaning aspect for the men too, as if they can't take a woman considered beautiful on a date or shouldn't. One scene showed a guy flat out rejecting a pretty woman who takes a shine to him and is looking for someone too. Eddie Birdlace (River Phoenix) is involved in such a contest with three other friends. The movie has the start and early parts involved with the men going to a bus stop in San Francisco and 'receiving their orders' before they are to leave for Okinawa. He goes to a cafe and meets Rose Fenny (Lili Taylor), who is considered a 'dog' for this contest. In some respects, Rose has the same kind of isolation that Tracey Turnblad had in John Waters' Hairspray. Rose isn't ugly, she just has terrible hair with her hair nearly as high; "the higher the hair, the closer to God," as Dolly Parton would be purported to say. Rose's outlet is the folk music of the 1960s; Eddie's first meeting of Rose is while she's playing a 1960s folk song. Eddie is fascinated with this and seems to have a knowledge of the music, although a bit limited. In an alternate universe, Eddie and Rose would likely be married at the end of the movie and would be folk singers. The movie has the other guys and Eddie meeting at a club for their dates. The various women that were shown earlier being 'wooed' by the guys appear at the club (with a bit of a gross commentary about transgendered women, but sadly that's the 1990s for you). Rose overhears in the bathroom an argument about the contest and one of her friends was told to remove her teeth for her 'date.' Eddie 'wins' the contest and is given a lot of money as he leaves with Rose. The crux of the movie is Eddie realizing how wrong he was for this contest; he tries to take Rose on a proper date. He pins a sign on her bedroom window and the two walk around San Francisco. One scene called back to Kurosawa's Ikiru as they are sitting in swing sets; swing sets in movies seem to be a common image that reminds characters of their childhood innocence and their brokenness. What I liked were the scenes where Eddie and Rose go to a sitdown restaurant. The two get a 'fancy suitcoat' (with the price tag still on it) that Rose makes up is for a funeral that Eddie is attending. They finally get into the restaurant and eat together; although Rose is the only one to eat. What I found funny is Eddie is admonished for saying "fuck" and "shit" and other 'curse words' after every other word and Rose orders her food doing the same exact thing. The act puts them in solidarity, against the classism of the restaurant they are going to. In a lot of ways, Eddie and Rose's night together reminded me a bit of Claudia Weill's It's My Turn. Like this movie, the couple from that just spend time together; I was especially called back to that movie during the scene where Eddie and Rose in a room with player pianos and music boxes. Eddie puts a coin in each one as they dance around and share a kiss. A scene I liked was Eddie and Rose lying in bed listening to Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice It's Alright." The song epitomizes their dynamic, since Eddie literally will be leaving the next day. The song is played over the scenes of Eddie leaving and walking down the hill. In some respects, Eddie and Rose are the album cover of Freewheelin' Bob Dylan with Dylan and Suze Rotolo walking arm in arm. Eddie ditched the other men for the night as they get tattoos and receive blowjobs in a movie theater. Eddie and Rose part with Rose giving him her address so that she can write. What's interesting with Eddie is the fact that he lied about who he spent his evening with; he tells the guys that he spent the night with an 'officer's wife' and tears up the address and throws it out of a bus window. A lot of the critical action of the movie involve buses, at the start, here, and towards the end too. What I found interesting is the act of doing so completely removed any thought that the evening 'changed' Eddie. Eddie saw the evening as a way to brag to his buddies, but he lied about it too. The deeper connection and change that Eddie experienced wasn't what stayed with him. Yet for Rose, she experienced something deeper and more meaningful. She begins to write songs and stares longingly in the distance with her guitar. The movie progresses, in rather quick fashion through the times. Eddie and his friends are in Vietnam (not as "consultants for Vietnam to fight off communism" and "it'll be a few months" like he told Rose) with Eddie sustaining injuries. Rose is shown with her mother as JFK is killed. Eddie rides back to San Francisco and stops into the cafe after arriving. It's as if the two just picked up right where they left off as they embrace. Dogfight as a movie is a bit of a lower budget movie and some aspects of that are apparent (especially during the Vietnam scenes with the POV shots covering up for this). The story is mostly focused on Eddie and Rose and their characterizations; it somewhat felt like we were 'cheated' out of any progression for Eddie due to what he did later. It made his arrival in San Francisco at the end a bit of an 'afterthought' as he is now drifting into town. He gets asked about 'being a baby killer' due to what he's wearing. If the movie were longer, I would think there would be more about them as people and more for River Phoenix and Lili Taylor to work with. It's more about the possibilities for the characters than the realization for the characters. If it were longer, Eddie would show up in San Francisco with an acoustic guitar and singing Woody Guthrie songs, meaning that what Rose told him had an impact on him. Rose would be at the same place, playing her originals and selling 45s of her songs. But still, Dogfight is a nice romantic movie about people meeting at a tumultuous time in history. I Was A Stranger (saw in the theaters) - 3.5/5 stars Spoiler Quite honestly, this is Angel Studios' best movie they've ever done. I Was A Stranger should serve as a 'launching point' for people. If you want movies about the Middle East that are depicted with humanity at its core, No Other Land, From Ground Zero, The Voice of Hind Rajab, Palestine 36, and All That's Left Of You exist. I Was A Stranger will not take the place of those and it can be argued that the characters in I Was A Stranger are almost non-existent. What seem to be the strongest character wise were Amira (Yasmine Al Massri), Marwan (Omar Sy) and Stavros (Constantine Markoulakis). The rest seem to be almost nameless, faceless people from Syria with barely a defining characteristic. Mustafa (Yahya Mahayni) has a crisis of conscious due to his dad being on a list and meeting some bald headed bad guy from a Jason Statham movie. While his conflict renders the more exciting moments of the movie, it's somewhat empty as it cuts to the next section. Mustafa is incidentally the border guard that finds Amira and her daughter Rasha (Massa Daoud). Then he shows up to be a refugee too. The thing that's remarkable about I Was A Stranger is how the director Brandt Andersen filmed it. There's elements of the Italian Neorealism of Visconti/Di Sica/Rosselini as handheld cameras are used and follow the actors through the scenes. I especially loved the onsie following Amira at the start of the movie and then following her in a Syrian hospital. The stories for I Was A Stranger interlock and characters for one story appear in another story; it's similar to Crash in some ways, but I also thought about Traffic as I was watching this (although this isn't as stylish as Traffic was). Amira and Rasha are smuggled out of the country after a bombing where their family was killed. They go to a border crossing where the camera shows them in the car boot. Mustafa is a soldier in the Syrian army who witnesses a child being executed and then (conveniently) is assigned as a border guard; he meets Amira and Rasha, expecting to execute them too. A smuggler Marwan cares for his child before 'going to work' where he barks orders at people to appear at 5 am to go into Greece. A family of five from the camp journey to the beach; what's interesting is some of the same scenes from the smuggler's POV are shown as they arrive and ask for life jackets. Stavros goes about his day as a member of the coast guard. The scene I liked that addresses the bias of privilege is Stavros' family asking him how many were rescued. "I quit counting," he said. How many died? "I stopped counting at 1,000," he says. The refugees from the smuggler's story are shown being rescued. The story returns to Amira in Chicago as she cleans the trash and puts a note on the doctor's desk about treatment. To be honest, Amira's story in America is the most tragic; the medical degree she obtained in Syria matters not in America. Yet in America, the arbitrary immigration system would require her to spend money she doesn't have to be a citizen in the United States and then spend money she further doesn't have to be licensed to practice medicine in the US too. Meanwhile, the namesake of the Trump Tower at the start of the movie wants to send people like her to Nigeria or El Salvador for the 'crime' of not being US citizens and for 'being here illegally' while the ICE officers shoot and kill unarmed civilians because they 'perceive' they will get hit by a SUV. There is no solution other than just open the US border and if you are skilled enough to get a medical degree in Syria, you should be allowed to practice medicine here too (after learning to read and write English of course). Of course, this movie isn't a typical "Angel Studios movie" and those that voted to put the above immigration crisis into place in the US will probably be angry at how 'woke' Angel Studios is for this movie. They won't watch No Other Land, From Ground Zero, The Voice of Hind Rajab, Palestine 36, or All That's Left Of You either. You Can Count On Me (Criterion Channel, leaving on 1/31) - 4.5/5 stars Spoiler My hometown growing up was a lot like Scottsville. For most of my teens through high school years, it was one main stretch of road leading to the interstate with the downtown further away. The downtown had a close to decaying life; the movie theater got turned into a shitty dive bar (and is still the same shitty dead end dive bar today). While watching You Can Count on Me, I knew people like Sam (Laura Linney) and her son Rudy (Rory Culkin). They struggle the best they can with the town as it is the best they can. Terry (Mark Ruffalo) is like a lot of people too strange or too weird or too mad at the town to warrant staying there. There's something Thornton Wilder-ish about You Can Count on Me; it feels rooted in stageplay. Much like how Martin McDonagh would have his movies feeling close enough to be "plays with locations that are filmed," You Can Count on Me does too. Terry's arrival upends everything that Sam has going for her. I was practically sinking in my chair as Terry recounts how he spent time in jail in Florida for beating up the boyfriend of a stripper. Through the experience of being in the town and being around Rudy, Terry learns more about himself and about the idea of stability. He resolves at the end of the movie to go back to Worcester for something with his girlfriend Sheila (Gaby Hoffmann) then 'getting a job out west.' It's not anything definitive, but it's something more than when he started. With the experience Sam also has changes. Sam is less sure of herself than at the start; she has an affair with her bank manager boss Brian (Matthew Broderick). At the start of the movie, she almost has to keep hidden that she picks up her son and is expected to find a ride for Rudy. Never mind the fact that Brian's own wife is pregnant and he doesn't understand what's going on. The affair resets the dynamics between the two and has Brian trying to maintain the 'professional hat' and 'personal hat' while failing at both. With Terry a lot of what happens with him and Rudy is Terry's attempts to 'connect.' He tries to take Rudy to a bar to play pool, he buys fishing poles, and takes Rudy to a construction project. What I found interesting with Terry is his views on religion, or the lack thereof. Sam pushes religion onto him with Terry pushing back on it. "It's a dull, narrow town full of dull, narrow people who don't know anything except what things are like right around here," Terry says to Rudy. The scenes with Ron (Kenneth Lonergan) are actually pretty funny; the minister doesn't know any more about why religion would work either and how to answer for things like affairs. Eventually, Terry leaves. The movie's ending is working in parallel: Terry is on a bus and looking outside of it while Sam is driving a car and looking outside of it. The drawback with You Can Count on Me is a lot of the drama for the movie is solely within the town. There isn't much of changes to the characters other than minutely. In other movies, Terry's arrival would lead to him staying and making a life of himself, but, much like real life, some things are too ingrained in a person to actually cause a permanent change. For the most part, You Can Count on Me is a movie to count on. Primate (saw in the theaters) - 2.5/5 stars Spoiler Watching Primate actually made me feel sad and old. Every actor involved in this is supernaturally pretty. Even Troy Kotsur as the dad Adam (with his Fabio-esque flowing locks). Johnny Sequoyah Friedenberg as Lucy is incredibly pretty; I never felt comfortable talking to girls like her growing up when I was her age. I had went to a bar and got wasted on two Long Island Iced Teas and was shy. Jessica Alexander as Hannah is even really pretty (with a booty that has its own zip code); I would want to 'holla at that' (as the kids say), but I would feel awkward. Even the men are pretty. Nick (Benjamin Cheng) I would want to hang out with and drink shots and argue about Final Fantasy games. He would make me want to hit the gym more and drink pre-workout mix. The two losers that get killed are even pretty. It makes whatever story that is there for Primate almost impossible to relate to. How do I as a 40 something year old man relate to really pretty men and women dealing with a chimpanzee that has rabies? It's a tall order. Whatever story that's there never follows up on it. Lucy is told at the start that 'her family went through a lot' and the movie never tells us what that is or even how it relates to the rest of the movie. Hannah and Lucy's rivalry is never explained either; we just accept the fact that they are 'frenemies.' Hannah yells like an annoying teenager that would make a guy guzzling down a rum and coke before takeoff yell "shut up!" I wonder at times if the writers Johannes Roberts and Ernest Riera think this is what today's 20 somethings talk and act or if this is how they naturally are now? I hope there are no 20 something year olds that don't talk like this. I would push them if front of the crazy monkey. So since the story is dogshit and the characters are almost so, how is the craft of the movie, the technical aspects? Some of it is good and others of it is a bit bad. Roberts does a great job at building suspense throughout the movie with the camerawork and angles. Most of the movie is in the swimming pool with the various characters trying to think of ways to escape, distract or hit Ben. A somewhat funny scene has Nick falling to his death as the camera literally follows him down as he hits his head; the problem with that is it takes away the horror of it. A better way to do it would be to keep the camera on the women in the pool as Nick is heard screaming and falling. Less is more in that case. I did like the scenes with Adam showing the absence of hearing (although some assholes at my showing decided to talk loudly to the screen). It was used greatly towards the end as Adam tries to fight off Ben. Despite some technical aspects not being good, the soundtrack is pure John Carpenter. It actually elevates the movie. The finale fight with the organ sounds like something from a Carpenter horror movie. Honestly, if you're going to see Primate, ignore the story and the movie. Probably just shut your eyes and listen to the soundtrack. It's that good. So Primate is an okay horror movie with traces of Cujo and Congo in it. Pariah (Criterion Channel, leaving on 1/31) - 5/5 stars Spoiler "I'm not running, I'm choosing." Pariah is a hard movie to watch, but it feels like real people are being seen and shown. Lee (Adepero Oduye) has a difficulty with finding an identity, even for a 17 year old. She goes to a club with her friend Laura (Pernell Walker) and dresses a certain way. She dresses the way men dress, much like Laura does. The hats, the polos, the caps. Watching a dancer on a pole as Laura throws out money. Then on the bus ride back, she changes out of that. She adopts a different identity. She looks like a girl with an "Angel" shirt on, coming home late. She sees her mother Audrey (Kim Wayans), who remarks about the shirt. So much of Pariah is about Lee (or Alike) trying to find acceptance and comfort with her identity. The identity that's authentic. Her mother pushes back throughout the movie and never fully accepts her. She asks her to stop hanging out with Laura. She wants her to dress a certain way for church. Her father Arthur (Charles Parnell) just wants Alike to be happy. It's interesting that he calls her Alike, while her mother calls her Lee. Even with the name choice, there's a conflict. Music also presents a conflict for identity. The movie starts with Lee hearing "My Neck" at a club, then later a rock band with her 'girlfriend.' What's interesting is how Arthur and Audrey act around other people when talking about their daughter. At a liquor store, a guy makes a crack at lesbians and compares Lee to a lesbian that cause Arthur to get mad and almost attack him. Audrey pulls out a top to a co-worker and the co-worker immediately assumed it was for the youngest daughter Sharonda (Sahra Mellesse). Lee's relationship with Audrey is the most thorniest. Religion is the cornerstone of Audrey's life and, like a lot of people raised in mostly Baptist churches, she cannot reconcile that Lee is gay. She suggests that Lee hang out with Bina (Aasha Davis) as opposed to Laura; it turns out that Bina harbors feelings for Lee too. They share a kiss that makes Lee leave immediately and goes to Laura's place. Laura pushes her away. That's the thing as well, everywhere Lee turns for answers about her identity, she's pushed away. The only thing that doesn't push her away is her writing, her English teacher. Writing helps Lee so much that she's able to finish high school early and enroll in college for a writing bootcamp. The most devastating scenes throughout the movie all occur one after another. Laura gets her GED and shows it to her mom, who opens the door and doesn't even talk to her. Lee breaks up with Bina. "I'm not 'gay gay,' I just want to try it out," Bina says. Audrey and Arthur discover Lee's sexuality. Audrey slaps her and have to be restrained. Lee goes to live with Laura. The rooftop scene with Arthur and Lee is heartbreaking to watch as Lee tells her what will happen. It's heartbreaking to watch Audrey and Lee have a final conversation in the movie. "Mom, I love you," Lee says. "I'll pray for you," which is like a dagger in the heart from her mother. In a lot of ways, Audrey sees Lee's sexual identity as a failure on her part; when she's angry at Lee and at Arthur, she's angry at herself. The technical aspects for this are great with a lot of tight closeups. In fact, the entirety of the story is told with closeups on the actors. It does change things as Lee runs home after breaking up with Dina and trashes her room then falling down in a heap, crying. Quick cuts are used as rock music plays out. The ending is utterly incredible, as voiceover is used while Lee reads her poem to her English teacher. Lee climbs onto a bus for her new life ahead as a writer. " Heartbreak opens onto the sunrise for even breaking is opening and I am broken, I am open. " Honestly, anyone with a heart should be open to this movie.
Curt McGirt Posted January 11 Posted January 11 Re: Primate, dude, one of the primary things about watching slasher movies is watching pretty people get killed. Your envy of them or hatred of them for being beautiful yet dumb is part of the point. It makes seeing them get torn to pieces all the better. (The problem with classic slashers is that to a person almost none of the "kids" were ever actually attractive. The '80s had this problem with what they perceived as beauty versus what they decided to put on the screen. Big Time.) It's kind of like complaining about the movie for people having to die in it, it's arguing against a crux of its existence.
Brian Fowler Posted January 11 Posted January 11 True Romance at least would've been a lot different with QT behind the camera. Both because it wouldn't have been told in a linear order, and because Clarence wouldn't have lived. 1
Curt McGirt Posted January 11 Posted January 11 Well, it is the only time I can tolerate that Aerosmith song, so kudos on that end. 2
Andrew POE! Posted January 12 Posted January 12 10 hours ago, Curt McGirt said: Re: Primate, dude, one of the primary things about watching slasher movies is watching pretty people get killed. Your envy of them or hatred of them for being beautiful yet dumb is part of the point. It makes seeing them get torn to pieces all the better. (The problem with classic slashers is that to a person almost none of the "kids" were ever actually attractive. The '80s had this problem with what they perceived as beauty versus what they decided to put on the screen. Big Time.) It's kind of like complaining about the movie for people having to die in it, it's arguing against a crux of its existence. I know, but Primate went overboard on it. They are all Abercrombie & Fitch models or came out of CW TV network shows. Most of the time it has no effect on me, but this time it did. I blame having watched better movies that day and thinking about Mark Ruffalo and Laura Linney in You Can Count on Me while watching Primate. 1
Andrew POE! Posted January 12 Posted January 12 Selected movies today....all 2+ hour movies. Red River (Criterion Channel, leaving on 1/31) - 4.5/5 stars Spoiler It's easy to start into Red River and want to turn it off after five minutes. As we know now, the characters depicted aren't good people; they steal land that didn't belong to them and shoot someone that had a claim on the land. They kill a Native American that the movie depicts as hostile (got to love how Hollywood depicts those that lived here originally as the 'bad guys' and have a derogatory and racist term to describe them used frequently). The chickens never come home to roost. Thomas Dunson (John Wayne) leaves a group he was in and takes Groot Nadine (Walter Brennan) with him. He also leaves behind a woman that loves him that we never see again. Thomas Dunson is not a good person, but the movie is aware of this. He makes speeches like this, "Ten years and I'll have the Red River D on more cattle than you've looked at anywhere. I'll have that brand on enough beef to feed the whole country. Good beef for hungry people. Beef to make 'em strong, make 'em grow. But it takes work, and it takes sweat, and it takes time, lots of time. It takes years." He'll also force a mutiny on him; it's much like Humphrey Bogart in The Caine Mutiny. He shoots three of his own men as part of the cattle drive. As one of the characters Sims Reeves (Hank Worden) says, "Plantin' and readin', plantin' and readin'. Fill a man full o' lead, stick him in the ground an' then read words on him. Why, when you've killed a man, why try to read the Lord in as a partner on the job?" Much of it is Dunson's own doing; he chose to be this way. He acts as though what he did is correct, that shooting a man that works for someone is correct, shooting a Mexican is correct when they go into Mexico, that shooting Native Americans is correct, and that killing people deserting him is correct. He's rewarded for failing upwards. Much of this is reflective of the person playing the character. If a writer and a director wanted to and wanted to see this character meet the consequences of his actions, Dunson would die at the end of the movie. Yet, it wouldn't be fair to simply lump Dunson into 'being a villain,' despite the character displaying villainous behavior even outside of the modern lens. Matt Garth (Montgomery Clift) was found at the start of the movie suffering PTSD. The cattle drive that Dunson leaves are killed due to a conflict with Native Americans. Dunson tries to take away his gun, which makes him angry. Garth eventually teams up with Dunson and Groot (it makes me wonder if Guardians of the Galaxy's Groot was inspired by this). 15 years pass and they start on their cattle drive to Missouri. Matt Garth does this in an effort to please Dunson, but that's a wasted motion. Dunson cannot be pleased. Matt meets Cherry Valance (John Ireland), who have a budding friendship with him. Just watch how they look at each other while swapping guns and shooting a tin can. It's almost like what was done with Johnny Ringo and Doc Hollywood in Tombstone; there's mutual respect but also a rivalry. (It's somewhat a shame that the two didn't have a gunfight at the end of the movie like was hinted). A modern director would have Cherry and Matt actually have a romance - Ang Lee did in Brokeback Mountain. The screen practically is smouldering with those two. Cherry's line to Matt almost tells you what he's really interested in: "There are only two things more beautiful than a good gun: a Swiss watch or a woman from anywhere. Ever had a good... Swiss watch?" Matt later meets Tess Millay (Joanne Dru), but it's almost a forced relationship. Tess if anything makes Matt angry because she almost gotten killed when Native Americans attacked their camp. They share a kiss and there's a romance, but another director would have Cherry be jealous of Tess or possibly there be a rivalry between Matt and Cherry over Tess. Most of Red River depicts the cattle drive; the cattle drive isn't easy. The men lose their minds and some lose their lives. It starts with promise; the quick cuts between the faces of the men as they yell, hoot, and holler is a wonder of editing. The drive through the river with a camera mounted in a wagon. But there are moments where nature rears it's head. The stampede that occurs because of a man reaching for sugar and causing pots and pans to fall. The stampede is a feat of horror in some ways; the camera cuts to a man who gets trampled. The scene in the fog where Tess meets up with Matt is like something out of a horror movie too; an ambush is to be expected, yet doesn't happen. It just rains. Even with that, Dunson experiences a tinge of regret. He tells Matt to pay the man killed to the man's wife and 'anything else you can think of.' Matt says 'a pair of red shoes.' Dunson is driven mad with the cattle drive; so after killing three men that want to desert, the rest of the group has enough. They go with Matt to look for a railroad. It would be thought that the action would lead to contrition for Dunson, but it emboldens him. Dunson decides to go on a quest for revenge. Once Dunson and the group splits, the movie takes on a dual focus. The group getting to the railroad then to the town where they can sell the cattle and Dunson finding men to hunt after Matt. The movie never shows the lies Dunson told those men or what he offered to join him; it's naturally assumed that 'he's in the right' when he was wrong to begin with. I also found it interesting that the negotiation for Matt regarding the cattle didn't take him for a ride and the cattle being bought for less than what Matt and his group deserved. To be taken for a ride is the essence of capitalism anyway. Dunson finally catches up with Matt Garth and looks to aim to kill him. Tess shoots the gun out of Dunson's hand and has an impassioned speech laying out the problems between both men are worthless. Yet that changes things. "You better marry her," Dunson says to Matt. The conclusion and final scene has Dunson changing the branding to signify a partnership with Matt Garth. Red River on a technical level is a wonder to behold. The shots of the terrain and the physicality of the locations and of the cattle is impressive to watch. I just wish that there were more of a reckoning for Dunson and for the other men including Matt Garth, but I think that's a modern reading playing into it. John Wayne actually gives a good performance that shows he's not just a meathead with a gun; his character regrets what he's done after it happens, but there isn't a way to turn back. Red River is a beautiful movie although some aspects haven't aged well. No Other Choice (saw in the theaters) - 5/5 stars Spoiler "I lost my job. Well, actually I didn't lose it, it lost me. I am over-educated, under-skilled. Maybe it's the other way around, I forget. But I'm obsolete. I'm not economically viable." -Falling Down Globalism and AI have taken jobs from people that thought their jobs were safe. In America, we had people like David Perdue run for US Senate after sacking more 7600 people at Pillowtex. The items that people buy in stores and online lead to people losing their jobs. With No Other Choice, the same thing happens, but with paper mills. Yoo Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) has worked for the same company Solar Paper for 25 years. He's married to Lee Mi-ri (Son Ye-jin) and has two kids. The movie starts with his thinking literally that 'he has it all' as he buys shoes for his wife and his daughter is taking cello lessons. Americans come and he soon find himself out of a job - except the Americans don't directly fire him. They just breeze in and breeze out in SUVs before Man-su has even the chance to deliver a speech he's practiced at the start of the movie. Man-su hatches a plan after trying to interview for a job in the same industry but finding that his competition is in the way. In some respects, the themes of No Other Choice are applicable with Falling Down. The difference being that Man-su doesn't wield a shotgun and yell about a hamburger while shooting up Los Angeles. His anger is more targeted and more direct, although he nearly fumbles out of doing it and failing at it. He tries to scout out the first target Goo Beom-mo (Lee Sung-min), who is out of work too and has a record collection. He sets up a fictitious company that attracts Beom-mo's attention and hoping to hear from him. All don't exactly go as planned; in absolutely hilarious scenes, Man-su is bitten by a snake with Beom-mo's wife Lee A-ra (Yeom Hye-ran) helping him (and getting the directions to remove venom wrong). "I did this for a part one time," she says. Man-su eventually pulls a gun on Beom-mo after removing various mitts and while a song from his Beom-mo's record collection is playing. As is expected, it doesn't go as planned and Beom-mo is shot....although A-ra did it. Man-su's next targets are Ko Si-jo (Cha Seung-won) and Choi Sean-chul (Park Hee-soon). Si-jo works at a shoe store and Man-su shoots him on a highway. Sean-chul is made to be intoxicated (with a great shot of Man-su drinking a bomb shot) and buried in the backyard. Eventually, Mi-ri starts to suspect something and there is friction between Man-su and her over her relationship with a dentist Oh Jin-ho (Yoo Yeon-seck). Mi-ri then decides to resolve to be supportive of Man-su, which includes covering up the various murders he did. The police suspect something, but then zero in on the rivalry between Beom-mo and Si-jo and think one shot the other. Man-su essentially gets away with murder at the end. "Do you want me to roast a pig?" he asks. "No," says Mi-ri and her son in unison. Park Chan-wook does a lot of the tricks of Hitchcock, Haneke, De Palma, and other American suspense thriller directors for this movie. There's a lot of cross-fades, split diopter shots, and match cuts used; it's practically embarrassing how well Chan-wook does as a director with using the tools that a lot of directors today don't use. Lee Byung-hun has the same 'everyman' qualities American actors like James Stewart and Michael Douglas carry in their roles, but more for a South Korean audience. The scenes involving Man-su planting a tree near a dead body reminded me a bit of the Argentinian noir The Bitter Stems, which is also about a man losing his self-respect in view of his family. Which is a theme in No Other Choice; what does someone think is important with the eventual slide in humanity? Man-su ends up having the overwhelming feeling of willingly losing his humanity. “No other choice” is a repeated refrain from him and other characters. I imagine somewhere, there's a coked up Hollywood executive that will watch No Other Choice and think there should be an American remake. "It'll work in America," he'll think between lines of coke. "People will see this. Because it'll be done by Americans, more people will see this, but we got to tone it down so we don't get moms calling my secretary to complain about it." No Other Choice works because it speaks specifically to a country like South Korea but with elements of universal cross cultural appeal. Losing a job is not necessarily unique to South Korea. In America today, a female character like Mi-ri wouldn't be willing to stand by her husband and would leave. There would be arguments, thrown and broken objects, punches and slaps exchanged. Remaking this for Americans would be a very stupid idea. As it is, No Other Choice shows a great director at his best with actors involved at their best too. The Big West (Criterion Channel, leaving on 1/31) - 2/5 stars Spoiler If you took a shot every time someone says the derogatory term for Native Americans in this movie, you'd be dead. Or better yet, swap it for the word that white people around the time this movie came out use to describe black people. The problems with The Big Sky is story wise it takes what was done in Red River and does it worse. Jim Deakins (Kirk Douglas), Boone Caudill (Dewey Martin), and Teal Eye (Elizabeth Threatt) is the least compelling 'throple' I've ever seen; Jules Et Jim this is not. The movie is about Deakins and Caudill meeting with Boone's uncle Zeb Calloway (Arthur Hunnicutt) after spending a night in jail for starting a fight. They're bailed out by "Frenchy" Jourdonnais (Steven Geray) and go up the Missouri River with a crew. That's literally where the story ends, the rest of the time is padding and 'running out the clock' until the end. A lot of the drama for the movie is almost empty and meaningless; it tries to have a sense of "us against the world" that Only Angels Have Wings did, but there's none of the stakes or none of the interesting characters and relationships. Almost everyone involved is a caricature, a cartoon. There's Poordevil (Hank Worden), who is intended as comic relief and basically is acting in 'redface.' There's various French men including Buddy Baer as Romaine. No one has a sense of nuance or semblance of reality. Deakins loses his finger in a scene, but that's just it. The crew fights off against a trapping company and against Indians, but there's no sense of survival or desperation, like there was in Red River. It doesn't feel like any of the main characters are in mortal danger for undertaking this journey, like Deacon was in Red River. They just as well be Looney Tunes characters, although I think Looney Tunes had more humor and nuance happening. The other major problem is the quality of the movie uploaded on Criterion Channel. The footage is degraded to the point that it appears warped and extremely darken with poor sound in a lot of places. In other scenes where the picture and sound are more clear, it's a bit better. It would be great if there were a 4K restoration for The Big Sky. It won't improve the actual script and the pedestrian acting, but it would be better to watch. The lone saving grace is Kirk Douglas, who acted with the same degree of manic energy as he did in Sunset Boulevard and Ace in the Hole. It's too bad the material wasn't up to his tempo. The movie ends with Deakins and Caudill going their separate ways, Caudill having married Teal Eye. This is probably the worst of Howard Hawks' movies. 2
odessasteps Posted January 12 Posted January 12 Red River is one of those where you wonder how it would be different if it was made by Ford and not Hawks. 1
caley Posted January 12 Posted January 12 23 hours ago, Andrew POE! said: I Reveal hidden contents Quite honestly, this is Angel Studios' best movie they've ever done. I Was A Stranger should serve as a 'launching point' for people. If you want movies about the Middle East that are depicted with humanity at its core, No Other Land, From Ground Zero, The Voice of Hind Rajab, Palestine 36, and All That's Left Of You exist. I Was A Stranger will not take the place of those and it can be argued that the characters in I Was A Stranger are almost non-existent. What seem to be the strongest character wise were Amira (Yasmine Al Massri), Marwan (Omar Sy) and Stavros (Constantine Markoulakis). The rest seem to be almost nameless, faceless people from Syria with barely a defining characteristic. Mustafa (Yahya Mahayni) has a crisis of conscious due to his dad being on a list and meeting some bald headed bad guy from a Jason Statham movie. While his conflict renders the more exciting moments of the movie, it's somewhat empty as it cuts to the next section. Mustafa is incidentally the border guard that finds Amira and her daughter Rasha (Massa Daoud). Then he shows up to be a refugee too. The thing that's remarkable about I Was A Stranger is how the director Brandt Andersen filmed it. There's elements of the Italian Neorealism of Visconti/Di Sica/Rosselini as handheld cameras are used and follow the actors through the scenes. I especially loved the onsie following Amira at the start of the movie and then following her in a Syrian hospital. The stories for I Was A Stranger interlock and characters for one story appear in another story; it's similar to Crash in some ways, but I also thought about Traffic as I was watching this (although this isn't as stylish as Traffic was). Amira and Rasha are smuggled out of the country after a bombing where their family was killed. They go to a border crossing where the camera shows them in the car boot. Mustafa is a soldier in the Syrian army who witnesses a child being executed and then (conveniently) is assigned as a border guard; he meets Amira and Rasha, expecting to execute them too. A smuggler Marwan cares for his child before 'going to work' where he barks orders at people to appear at 5 am to go into Greece. A family of five from the camp journey to the beach; what's interesting is some of the same scenes from the smuggler's POV are shown as they arrive and ask for life jackets. Stavros goes about his day as a member of the coast guard. The scene I liked that addresses the bias of privilege is Stavros' family asking him how many were rescued. "I quit counting," he said. How many died? "I stopped counting at 1,000," he says. The refugees from the smuggler's story are shown being rescued. The story returns to Amira in Chicago as she cleans the trash and puts a note on the doctor's desk about treatment. To be honest, Amira's story in America is the most tragic; the medical degree she obtained in Syria matters not in America. Yet in America, the arbitrary immigration system would require her to spend money she doesn't have to be a citizen in the United States and then spend money she further doesn't have to be licensed to practice medicine in the US too. Meanwhile, the namesake of the Trump Tower at the start of the movie wants to send people like her to Nigeria or El Salvador for the 'crime' of not being US citizens and for 'being here illegally' while the ICE officers shoot and kill unarmed civilians because they 'perceive' they will get hit by a SUV. There is no solution other than just open the US border and if you are skilled enough to get a medical degree in Syria, you should be allowed to practice medicine here too (after learning to read and write English of course). Of course, this movie isn't a typical "Angel Studios movie" and those that voted to put the above immigration crisis into place in the US will probably be angry at how 'woke' Angel Studios is for this movie. They won't watch No Other Land, From Ground Zero, The Voice of Hind Rajab, Palestine 36, or All That's Left Of You either. You Can Count On Me (Criterion Channel, leaving on 1/31) - 4.5/5 sta I have such a soft spot for this movie. It was one of the first I watched largely because of reviews that was outside the mainstream (This, 'Far From Heaven' and 'Punch Drunk Love', really) and went "Huh, there's this whole group of really good movies that are just out there and nobody really talks about them." I remember watching it with a girl who was just NOT into it and I was sorta playing along with her but still enrapt. I remember being so SAD at the ending Spoiler [spoiler]I just wanted Ruffalo's character to STAY and be a part of their lives but knew he wasn't going to[/spoiler]
Ace Posted January 12 Posted January 12 On 1/9/2026 at 10:26 AM, The Natural said: Kevin Conroy for Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. Mark Hamill for Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. Robin Williams for Aladdin. Ellen Degeneres for Finding Nemo. 1
Curt McGirt Posted January 12 Posted January 12 13 hours ago, Andrew POE! said: bomb shot FYI to everyone since I had to look it up myself, this is a boilermaker (shot dropped in a glass of beer). 1
twiztor Posted January 12 Posted January 12 5 hours ago, Curt McGirt said: FYI to everyone since I had to look it up myself, this is a boilermaker (shot dropped in a glass of beer). technically, a boilermaker is specifically whiskey into beer, while a bomb shot can be anything into anything. Popularized after Jägerbombs (Jägermeister into Red Bull) became super common. 1
colonial Posted January 13 Posted January 13 TIL that "Song Sung Blue" director Craig Brewer is the grandson of the most famous 1962 New York Met of all, "Marvelous" Marv Throneberry. I got nothing else to say about that ... just found that interesting.
Andrew POE! Posted January 13 Posted January 13 Movies today... The Prison in Twelve Landscapes (Criterion Channel, leaving on 1/31) - 3.5/5 stars Spoiler The Prison in Twelve Landscapes never directly says what the director thinks about the American prison system, but it lets those in the documentary say it. The portion about the guy running the library in a coal mining town says it all - he wants there to be a prison there because the town truly has nothing for it. The corporations that run the coal mines dried up the land, the resources, and the people; when they left, the jobs left too. Those administering prisons and those serving as police officers are usually poor or poorly educated whites; the police isn't a tool of justice, it's a tool of harassment. Those being harassed are the black and brown people. They spend 3 nights in jail for a trash can lid. They stand outside a school turned into a court house to pay whatever arbitrary fines and hear whatever arbitrary sentences. While a defense attorney stands out and says 'this court isn't the most fine excessive court.' While a judge complains about having a video camera turned on and how 'the media would love to be up here' (complaints about news reporters is a dog-whistle for Republicans). They serve as firefighters, but can't talk to anyone because they are in prison. They talk about how different municipalities have different standards for drivers' license and how white people could literally shoot them because their lives don't matter. They get arrested and fined for driving without a license even though they aren't driving a car. They protest and chant "hands up, don't shoot." Everything is working against them because those corporations that left the coal towns rigged the game against them. The police and the prison system rigged the game against them. It's like a chess match in Washington Square Park where the opponent is several moves ahead at the start and then complains about the other person being disadvantaged 'cheating.' The woman in NYC at 34th and 7th had it right: It all goes down to money. So whatever corporations or jobs that are there in America buy up sections of Detroit and sell mortgages to other people, obviously not knowing or being aware that the people doing mortgages may be on the brink financially. They probably live in towns like the one in Kentucky. Those working there laugh as they go down the street, because they don't remember the news footage of 1967 with burning of buildings. With Governor Romney and President Johnson telling how things need to change while young men are harassed and made to put their hands against a police car. So what is the solution? Is there a solution? The Prison in Twelve Landscapes as a documentary tends to stretch itself a bit thin narrative wise; unless you are already keenly aware of the subject or are of a particular political inclination, this documentary will not benefit you much less teach you anything. It becomes a series of images with interviews. It's not quite to the level of the documentary I saw about bunkers where it just shows the subjects and is relatively uninteresting. How it's done - mainly through voiceovers overlapped on top of footage - are the most interesting parts of it. The Hottest August (Criterion Channel, leaving on 1/31) - 3.5/5 stars Spoiler The Hottest August is a continuation of what was started with The Prison in Twelve Landscapes. Brett Story expands her focus with focusing on New York City and the climate change crisis. Some of it feels scattershot, but others crystalize the problems through the interviews. Climate change involves everyone doing what they are normally doing today and ignoring the signs of the world collapsing. Those interviewed, like the guys in the skate park, realize their future won't be painted by them and are being snatched from them. "Just kill all the rich people!" says one in laughter. (Honestly, with the way things are, he's onto something although it's extremely misguided). Another, like the mathematician/economist that went to Emory thinks that capitalism is the best system we have despite those in capitalism abusing the aims of capitalism. If you can't get the economic data you want and if capitalism isn't doing what you want fast enough as President, just have the DOJ investigate the head of the Federal Reserve and I'm sure that'll solve the problem. There's also the misguided person that thinks 'robo-socialism' is a solution despite so many ideas introduced that don't work that will make my head spin to explain it. What he describes will turn us into the people in the floating chairs from WALL-E.... Supposedly 'blue collar' white people from New York are interviewed that say "I'm not racist, but..." while denigrating immigrants then "wanting to see what Trump will do." There's also bar patrons looking at Brett Story suspiciously and repeating the right wing talking points about welfare while saying "you don't discuss politics in the bar, only sports." (Then what do you call what you're doing, dude?) The Hottest August is a documentary that was part of PBS' Independent Lens and produced by the Corporation of Public Broadcasting. Which given our current administration have shut down. Someone should ask the mathematician/economist if this happening shows that capitalism is working. Brett Story's message is nihilistic and fatalistic. She recounts how "apres moi le deluge" happens; those destroying the world could care less for the immediate consequences because it will not affect them. The waters will rise, a gate for a bridge being built won't stop a hurricane. "Or the 300 year storm," as one resident puts it. The animal life that sustains the Earth are watched only by a few, like the guy in the boat who recounts how he was admonished for saying that humans are animals. It's just that these animals will kill us all. How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days (Netflix, leaving on 1/22) - 4/5 stars Spoiler Part of me throughout the entire movie wished that Matthew McConaughey's character Ben would end up with Kathryn Hahn's Michelle because real dudes go for the minky brunettes over blondes any day. (But I digress...) How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days is a nice postcard view of a New York City that no longer exists. A time in which people read magazines regularly and bought them at newsstands and a time in which advertising agencies doing ad campaigns for diamond jewelry actually mean something. Today? The magazine would downsize, advertising agencies would merge and shut down with “the internet” taking over on both and AI doing the work at both. The movie is a fantasy - watching it, you think "That's what I want my experience in New York City to be! I want jobs like those!" For undergrads in 2003, this isn't to be. They major in marketing from Duke and in journalism from Columbia and it isn't the case. Ben and Andie (Kate Hudson) are the lucky ones. In some respects, the premise does borrow heavily from Sex and the Single Girl but also Truffaut's The Man Who Loves Women. A man making a bet that he get a girl to fall in love with him and then leave her to secure an account and a woman making the same bet to get a man to fall in love with her for an article. Andie's actions are a bit reprehensible even with the structure of the bet. She portrays herself as purposely being emotional over everything, which for anyone else would be a turnoff. She had to suspect at some point that Ben was starting to figure out her game or at least figure out his game during it. The poker game scenes would have been a dead giveaway. Her meeting Ben's parents and his mother telling her "don't break his heart" is sad in some respects. Ben, in turn, is also emotionally manipulative with him obviously been money driven to continue the relationship. Both are actually horrible people if you think about it. (Also, what's up with the movie having their characters drink Budweiser? Uncultured swine.) It comes to a head at a black tie gala where Ben and Andie lay it out to "You're So Vain" in comically bad singing. Andie writes her article and realizes that she lost something with the breakup. The conclusion set to Gin Blossoms' "Follow You Down" has Ben racing on his motorcycle to find the cab where Andie is. True love wins in the end. (Although I wished a better, healthier ending would be both realize they don't need each other in a relationship and are better as friends). Donald Petrie directed a movie that is quintessential New York City. I really liked how dialogue was handled in the movie; the shots show both actors in dialogue in the frame with it cutting back and forth for their reactions. Although it's a bit conventional at times with its direction, the clothing and makeup for the actors stand out a bit. Kate Hudson looked beautifully in the gala scenes and at the bar earlier in the movie. The Grey Zone (Criterion Channel, leaving on 1/31) - 4/5 stars Spoiler Like a lot of movies about the Holocaust, The Grey Zone is difficult to watch. The dialogue delivery seem like people under extreme duress and barely able to contain their anger; they aren't detached, but they aren't unemotional. They are spent people trying not to rise to the level of a shout. This is probably David Arquette's best movie as he plays Hoffman, a Jewish worker at Auschwitz who leads other Jews to their deaths. Hoffman along with others like Abramowics (Steve Buscemi), Max Rosenthal (David Chandler), and Simon Schlermer (Daniel Benzali) learn word of a revolt happening that is quietly passed around. After leading Jews to their death, they learn of a girl (Kamela Grigorova) who survived the gas chambers. During this, two women Dina (Mira Sorvino) and rosa (Natasha Lyonne) are smuggling gunpowder but are eventually found out. What's interesting is how the characters speak English but yet some characters like Eric Muhsfeldt (Harvey Keitel) don't understand what they are saying while speaking English too. Meaning we're hearing the translations of both their languages into English. It's much like the effect that was done in The Death of Stalin, except not for comedy. Muhsfeldt has a relationship with Dr. Miklos Nyiszli (Allan Corduner) that's transactional in nature; Dr. Nyiszli is kept alive because of what he does for Muhsfeldt. Eventually, the uprising occurs and those involved die, but not without destroying the majority of the gas chambers. The girl is killed too while trying to flee. Tim Blake Nelson did a movie that's very in line with stageplays but is also somewhat like a TV movie with how the scenes play out. It's a bit more simplistic and actor focused compared to his previous work. When the movie finished, I felt numb, but also disturbed too. Unfortunately today, there are people that want us to forget this happened and are creating conditions for it to happen again.
Curt McGirt Posted January 13 Posted January 13 7 hours ago, twiztor said: Jägerbombs I forgot about the existence of these. That might've helped out a bit.
twiztor Posted January 13 Posted January 13 9 hours ago, Curt McGirt said: I forgot about the existence of these. That might've helped out a bit. in my experience, Jagerbombs rarely help out.... 4
Curt McGirt Posted January 13 Posted January 13 There's nine I know and four I got full, correct names on.
J.H. Posted January 13 Posted January 13 (edited) No one should miss Eric Roberts. The guy is in everything. Hell, this morning when my alarm went off and I didn't want to get up Eric Roberts was there to get Sandy off to school before going to shoot "Stalked By My Doctor... AGAIN!!" James Edited January 13 by J.H. 3 1
Andrew POE! Posted January 13 Posted January 13 I only recognized Bill Duke, Eric Roberts, and Keith David (I think). I don't know who the other dudes are. Is one William Petersen or Tim Roth? See, I don't pay attention.
Technico Support Posted January 13 Posted January 13 (edited) Using a super young pic of Sizemore is cheating, though! I got six. Would've been 7 but all I could think was "Parkinson's guy from Ray Donovan." They could have really fucked with us by posting both Keith David and David Keith. Please note: I have Generic White Guy face blindness. My last company hired two very generic white dudes at the same time and I could never remember which was which. Also, when I was younger, I mixed up Kurt Russell and Jeff Bridges constantly. One time I got home really late and I was in deep shit. I'd only gone to the movies but my dad didn't believe me. I'd seen Tango and Cash and he demanded to know who was in it. Yeah, I was fucked. Edited January 13 by Technico Support 1
Zimbra Posted January 13 Posted January 13 Needs more Craig Bierko. Am I so old that Vinnie Jones is an "Oh hey, it's that guy" guy?
Curt McGirt Posted January 13 Posted January 13 For some reason my mind said "Bullet-Tooth Tony" but not Vinnie Jones Mad that I got Bill Duke's last name wrong.
J.H. Posted January 13 Posted January 13 I want say Zac Braff on upper right but that can't be right James
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now