Annette (Carax, 2021) – There's a mysterious and troubling relation to Carax's real life, especially through his relationship with Yekaterina Golubeya, who's pretty clearly represented by Cotillard's character in the film (and it's hard not to think that Driver's weird transformation at the end isn't only reinforcing his link to Carax himself, something that was already pointed to through the subtle mimicking of Lavant's acting). The husband being clearly responsible for his wife's death in Annette (who goes overboard like Golubeya's character did in Pola X, a character that ends up killing herself like Carax's wife did some 12 years later), these links add an awkward layer to a film that's already aiming at the bizarre. Still, the film didn't work that well for me, ironically in part due to the limitations of Adam Driver. He's not a singer, and not a comedian, and these constraints should have been interesting, but here – and the physicality he adds to his comedy show really goes that way too – they seemed to only remind us that he is not Denis Lavant. The film starts as an ironic portrait of fame in our technological ages, but quickly goes back in themes to the earlier work of Carax, with impossible love, guilt and poisonous romances. 6/10
I still have not seen much ink for The Tragedy of Macbeth (Coen), Parallel Mothers (Almodóvar), Nightmare Alley (del Toro), Compartment No.6 (Kuosmanen), Jockey (Bentley). But I am so far behind on films this year, not sure I can catch up. I still have not seen half the movies on Kihei's top 20 list.
Truly the Dark Knight of 21st century children's films. It borrows a decent bit of its style from Wes Andersen but it's unfair for me to really rate it because it's very much aimed at young kids with its disgusting amounts of optimism and merriment so difficult to ever really get into. Albeit a decently suspenseful chase scene at the end. Still, I can admire the style and quaintness.
f*** marmalade though they have like peach mango jam and dark chocolate Nutella these days.
A soldier with anger and teenage daughter issues assembles a C Team of unstable social outcasts to get revenge on the men who killed his wife... if he doesn't kill his own men first. Imagine the toughest, most stone-faced military man trying to execute a plan with a trio of nerds with screws loose. I wasn't expecting this to be so low-key hilarious. The subject matter (grief, revenge, bitterness) is pretty dark, so I was frequently caught off guard by the sudden humor out of left field. It may've helped that it's subtitled, since I don't expect subtitles to be funny when I start reading them. A few times, I wasn't even sure if something was meant to be funny (like the guy playing "The Little Drummer Boy" on a French horn), but it struck me as hilarious, regardless. Anyways, I can't really add anything to the reviews by kihei and OzzyFan, so I'll keep this short and thank them for the recommendation. I now await the inevitable English-language remake starring Liam Neeson and Seth Rogan.
A soldier with anger and teenage daughter issues assembles a C Team of unstable social outcasts to get revenge on the men who killed his wife... if he doesn't kill his own men first. I wasn't expecting this to be so low-key hilarious. The subject matter (grief, revenge, bitterness) is pretty dark, so I was frequently caught off guard by the sudden humor out of left field. I think that it helped that it's subtitled, since the vast majority of the foreign movies that I watch are serious, so I don't expect to burst into laughter reading subtitles. A few times, I wasn't even sure if something was meant to be funny (like the guy playing "The Little Drummer Boy" on a French horn), but it struck me as hilarious, regardless. Anyways, I can't really add anything to the reviews by kihei and OzzyFan, so I'll keep this short and thank them for the recommendation. I now await the inevitable English-language remake starring Liam Neeson and Seth Rogan.
I was poking fun at the trend of remaking hit foreign thrillers with low budgets and relatively cheap and non-picky actors like Liam. This film also reminded me of the Norwegian dark comedy/thriller that Liam's Cold Pursuit was a remake of, and, of course, Liam is known for playing characters who get revenge. I could've aimed lower and suggested Bruce Willis.
The Tragedy of MacBeth (2021) Directed by Joel Coen 6A
There are a surprisingly large number of good to great MacBeths out there. If you want to include British TV versions, the number increases even more impressively, including versions starring Ian McKellen, Jeremy Brett, Nicol Williamson, Bryan Cox, Patrick Stewart, and Antony Sher. Bela Tarr directed a Hungarian version which I haven’t seen, and then there’s what some would say is the greatest Shakespeare cinematic adaptation of all, Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood. Throw in excellent versions by Orson Welles and Roman Polanski and one can only conclude that the play has been a great success on film. Though I wouldn’t place it in the first tier of interpretations of MacBeth, Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of MacBeth is certainly eye-catching, The new version is absolutely stunning to look at. Except for a couple of forbidding long distant shots, we actually never see an actual castle. What we do see is misty black-and-white landscapes and shadowy sets, a production design that references German Expressionism, Orson Welle’s MacBeth, Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet, and Carl Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc. Visually those add up to some pretty spectacular antecedents.
Coen’s adaption comes in at a lean 105 minutes, but mostly keeps Shakespeare’s language intact. The mise-en-scene is so captivating that sometimes the actors are almost a distraction. For the most part the cast seems reigned in by the direction—as though understatement is the rule of the day. Francis McDormand makes a fine Lady MacBeth--you can see why she talked her husband into directing her in this play. But in some key scenes toward the end, even her power seems muted. Denzel Washington is good not great as the doomed king. He has classical training, so he doesn’t seem the least out of place in a major Shakespearean role (love to see him tackle King Lear), but his performance seems even more toned down than McDormand’s, especially throughout the first half of the play...that is, before guilt and madness set in giving Washington something to finally sink his teeth into. As Kurosawa realized very well, MacBeth is not merely the downfall of an ambitious king and queen so much as it is regicide that represents a willful violation of nature and the divine order. That doesn’t get communicated at all in Coen’s version. The Tragedy of MacBeth is certainly worth seeing. However, because of its rather aloof approach to Shakespeare's dialogue, I doubt seriously that it will be remembered as among the best productions of the play.
Ruth (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is a woman on the run because she has a mysterious condition which causes her to have seizures which create earthquakes. After being on the run for years she returns to her family home who also have unique abilities to turn objects into dust and to be able to turn back the dust into objects. A quiet and lowkey sci-fi thriller and part family drama, the film is mostly interesting until it quietly turns into a superhero film with a predictable ending. Mbatha-Raw is great in her role, as is Lorraine Toussaint as her mother, but I have superhero film fatigue so even lowkey takes on the superhero origin story are a turn off for me. That said the desolate world Hart constructed where water is at a premium is interesting as are some of the visual effects so I give credit to that, but I wouldn’t mind like a ten year hiatus on superhero films even outside the MCU and DC universes.
In between the Carax films, I've also watched a few turds (late at night, to fall asleep on)
Birds of Prey (Yan, 2020) - The only good thing about this film is that I woke up the last few days with the urge to make some delicious breakfast sandwiches. Everything else is crap. 2/10
Eternals (Zhao, 2021) - Rewatch, but why? I just went back to read my original post about this one, and I did warn myself about low rewatchability. Didn't change my mind: 3/10 My original post
Eternals (Zhao, 2021) - Aren't the Celestials complete dumbasses? We watched that film and just couldn't figure out why they'd continue sending Deviants to kill the apex predators once they realized they were evolving and uncontrollable? They create these new un-evolving Eternal beings to control their first botched invention, but why not just send the Eternals do the job? Or why didn't they create un-evolving Deviants, they look like they had the means for it... Millions of year to figure that out. Anyway, I was curious of that film, because of Zhao and Nomadland, but I thought it was a miss. She manages to define quite a lot of characters in a short time, which is kind of a feat, the humor mostly lands and is not detrimental to the film (which is often the case in the MCU), but other than that... It's just not very interesting nor entertaining, so I fail to see the rewatchability here. I was hoping for more mature themes from Zhao, but in the end, it's a superhero movie (the eternal child yearning to grow as a woman was more interesting in Interview With the Vampire). 3/10
Brazen (Mitchell, 2022) - Ahahahahahaahahaahahahahaahahah. Oh my... I almost quit after the intro scene, but I'm glad I toughed it out. I'm pretty sure the people responsible for this shameful (bland) turd were sure they were making something relevant and probably even "feminist". I will not comment on the result, because it would sure sound misogynistic. 0.5/10
I got a new AV receiver last week, and I've been pleasantly surprised at how much better things sound now, especially movies.
Probably a big part of that, is that it came with a microphone that calibrates the speakers for the room, taking into account their size, dimensions of the room, acoustics, distances of the speakers from listening positions. My Dolby Atmos speakers actually work as intended now.
Now I could see myself eventually also buying some better speakers, but that's a rabbit hole I don't have the money for, and I'm guessing next Black Friday, decent deals will be available.
Onwards to some actual reviews:
Star Trek Beyond (2016) - looks good, sounds good in UHD/HDR, but never was a fan of this story...guy mad at world, wants to destroy it.
Idris Elba felt underutilized, although I've generally been pleased with the main cast in the Kelvin universe, just needs a better Star Trek story.
I did like the characters of Kalara and Jaylah. Probably some of my favorite alien makeup in the movies, although this one was probably inspired by a face hugger.
Loses a point for shoehorning in some Beastie Boys.
5/10
Whipsaw (1935) - One of the downsides with the studio system, were actors under contract, and thus, placed into whatever projects, with the studios producing lots of movies annually, so not everything is going to be fantastic, as some movies were pumped out by paint by the numbers.
Myrna Loy played a jewel thief (!), and Spencer Tracy an FBI agent, hot on her tail. I'm generally not a huge fan of Tracy, but I thought they had good chemistry together. The overall story was predictable, as you knew guy was going to get the girl, and the bad guys had to get their due. It is/was on Youtube, in watchable quality.
I also find some behind the scenes photos from back then very interesting as well, mostly in just how close the cameras and lights were to the actors. And apparently, all the guys did wear suits back then, I only have to wear mine about a dozen times a year, but I couldn't imagine every day.
"In 1925, charismatic Montana based rancher Phil Burbank inspires fear and awe in those around him. When his brother brings home a new wife and her son, Phil torments them."
A great western psychological drama that is very well acted, especially by Cumberbatch who seems to be building a solid resume. Apparently, the title comes from a biblical quote in the book of psalms, the quote essentially asks for protection and deliverance from the wicked that prey on others. If you understand that, you know what this movie is about. I read some complaints about the pacing, but I feel it's fine with a lot on it's mind to tell and moves steadily. I've read there are multiple twists in the film, but following the story closely I honestly only found the ending surprising, and intelligently and powerfully so. Even that said, the ending itself is rational if you pay attention to the little things. And it does just about everything well...story, directing, visuals, score, acting, depth, etc. I've already seen a number of reviews on this board about the movie and think that's about everything I can and/or need to be said without repeating anyone else more than I already have, albeit I can have a discussion about Cumberbatch's character, but could/would ruin the movie...
Cumberbatch is the prototypical example of "Those who speak the loudest are generally using it as a defense mechanism", which Cumberbatch does to hide his insecurities of loneliness, being controlled, being forgotten, and homosexuality. On the outside he is this strong, rich, smart, idolized, and experienced successful rancher, but on the inside he is a broken person who's stable but unglorified personal life is slowly dissipating and changing for the worse around him (as the only meaningful person in his life, his very close brother, has taken on a wife and step son).
Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
2.85 out of 4stars
"When upstart journalist Michael Ward testifies that he saw Joe Briggs at the scene of a murder, Briggs is jailed and sentenced to death and Ward gets a promotion. Later, Michael's conscience and troubling dreams get the better of him as he realizes that Briggs may have not committed the crime."
A good psychological noir that touches on the flaws on the court justice system and the morality of testifying circumstantial evidence. It's a great conversation starter if nothing else, just knowing how many factors actually go into a guilty or non-guilty judgement of a crime and how one side can be favored before a trial has even begun with inconclusive evidence. Some factors include lawyers, judge, attorney picked jurors, and all of their life experiences/abilities/personal views/intelligence/gullibility have notable impact in the judgement decision, and that's before we even talk about evidence. It really makes you think, well actually know that there have been countless people wrongly convicted throughout history for various reasons, some with framed evidence which this movie doesn't even get into. The main character has some narration of his living nightmare paranoia thoughts through a large part of the movie that you will either find intriguing or tiresome, I personally was well entertained by it. Also, Peter Lorre has a very small but very well done memorable role in this.
The Black Cat (1934)
2.65 out of 4stars
"A honeymooning couple and a man who is returning to the remains of the town he defended before becoming a prisoner of war for fifteen years, seek refuge in a home built upon the site of a bloody battlefield after their bus crashes in a storm. There, cat-phobic Verdegast learns his wife's fate, grieves for his lost daughter, and must tangle with the house's mysterious architect owner."
A decent slow burn/atmospheric mystery horror starring Lugosi and Karloff. The first 3/4 of the movie plays out with a back and forth between Lugosi and Karloff with a personal dilemma but there is something else brewing under the surface and some odd shenanigans going on with the stranded couple. Without ruining anything, the last 1/4 of the movie brings everything full circle with some horrific elements and actions in play, including a shadowy/off camera scene that honestly shocked me. Read the least on this movie as you can going in to get the full experience of it if you choose to see it.
Scream 5 (2022)
2.25 out of 4stars
"Twenty-five years after the original series of murders in Woodsboro, a new Ghostface emerges, and Sidney Prescott must return to uncover the truth."
Another mostly repetitive entry into this slasher franchise. The good: there is more meta commentary about the genre and franchise brought to the table, a few decent twists, a couple solid kills, a couple laughs, and a satisfying but highly improbable ending. The bad: most of the kills were fairly ordinary, the new characters were mostly skin deep, unforgivably commentating on franchise/genre idiocies and then repeating them, over-repetitive homages and storytelling choices, and continuing on that note, overuse to a fault of the original cast members.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) - Look, I'm willing to suspend disbelief in sci-fi films, as the plot has to move forward, but really, Will was able to find an apparently undamaged police car, even though there are several damaged around it?
Work Time Fun
Seriously, while the movie was well done, I hate stupid movie scientists. Like in Prometheus, when ethics, judgement, and reasoning go out the window, so does my caring for the characters. Will only cared about the possible side effects after his dad died, but before that?
Nah, that was fine. But the plot had to move forward. 6/10
Currently watching Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and currently just seeing loud and stupid characters, but it's also giving me a serious The Last of Us vibe, and that's pretty cool.
It's an empty calorie film but it does what it does really well so that isn't really f***in relevant. It delivers Norm Macdnald's humour constantly without overstaying its running length. Would have been nicer to have more good jokes written for some of the rest of the cast but so many are here...Macdonald, Rickles, Chase, Farley, Lange, Sandler, Goodman, and directed by Bog Saget. I probably would've loved this when I was 12.
Also you know it's gonna be good when this f***er is playing the bad guy.
The set-up of a party being used to show the façade of the bourgeoisie is a fairly common set-up in a lot of films. Buñuel is most famous for this type of set-up with two of the great master’s films using this type of set-up (The Exterminating Angel, and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie), Vinterberg’s The Celebration is another film in this tradition; there’s a lot of great wealthy “dinner party” movies. Murder mysteries have also made a cottage industry out of this type of set-up. Sally Potter’s The Party very much is influenced by this Buñuelian set-up of the dinner party. In the party, four couples meet up for a dinner party to celebrate the assignment of one of them to being the Shadow Minister of Health in the UK government. However, throughout the tight 71 minute runtime guests reveal information to each other that leads to chaotic consequences. Featuring a star-studded cast (Timothy Spall, Kristen Scott Thomas, Patricia Clarkson – the weakest link in the cast, Bruno Gaz, Cherry Jones, Emily Mortimer, Cillian Murphy), is a good not great comedy that is fairly clever film that is fun for its brief runtime. Anything much longer would have overstayed its welcome a bit, but it's not a bad way to spend an hour.
Knife in the Water / Nóz w wodzie (Roman Polanski, 1962)
On their way to go sailing, a couple picks up a young man hitchhiking and invites him along. Over their journey the two men begin to compete for the wife’s attention leading to dangerous consequences. The first film of controversial (to put it lightly) director Roman Polanski and it is a clever one. It is simultaneously mundane and thrilling. Not too much happens here: the couple goes about their routine setting up to go sailing and are interrupted by an inexperienced young man. The three people go boating and flirt and compete with each other. The danger comes in that they are in the middle of nowhere surrounded by water and the young hitchhiker may or may not know how to swim. Every display of bravado between the two men and every glance caught eyeing the girl becomes thrilling due to the possibility of danger on the open water. It’s a dangerous game they’re playing. Simply shot but with some creative shots and use of blocking, Polanski’s film is an excellent suspense film that shows that sometimes less is more and to trust your audience’s imagination of outcomes.
Naked Singularity (Palmer, 2022) - I wish a real thinking mind would have been at the helm for this project trying to collide the laws of physics and the laws of justice (someone like Raul Ruiz, Alain Resnais, who would have used these ideas properly and reflect them in the construction of the film itself). The film proposes a few things, but always on the side, as a pause to the actual action of the film - and with no effect to the narrative (there's a few glitch, a character that floats, the image that shrinks to darkness, but they're always only decorative). Most of the stuff that is used as intellectual background also feels to be there just for show. The use of both Leibniz's and Voltaire's best of all possible worlds (mainly as theorization of a multiverse) really doesn't feel like neither of their substances were understood - or that one was used to mock the other. Unlike The Matrix - which also missed the point of the material it was using - the film fails at creating anything really interesting on its own. They had their finger on something, but lacked the balls to go all in (both on a narrative level, and as a serious criticism of the justice system). 3.5/10
Knife in the Water / Nóz w wodzie (Roman Polanski, 1962)
On their way to go sailing, a couple picks up a young man hitchhiking and invites him along. Over their journey the two men begin to compete for the wife’s attention leading to dangerous consequences. The first film of controversial (to put it lightly) director Roman Polanski and it is a clever one. It is simultaneously mundane and thrilling. Not too much happens here: the couple goes about their routine setting up to go sailing and are interrupted by an inexperienced young man. The three people go boating and flirt and compete with each other. The danger comes in that they are in the middle of nowhere surrounded by water and the young hitchhiker may or may not know how to swim. Every display of bravado between the two men and every glance caught eyeing the girl becomes thrilling due to the possibility of danger on the open water. It’s a dangerous game they’re playing. Simply shot but with some creative shots and use of blocking, Polanski’s film is an excellent suspense film that shows that sometimes less is more and to trust your audience’s imagination of outcomes.
I'll have to check that out. It sounds a bit like Dead Calm from 1989, with Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman and Billy Zane, which I've always liked for being a hitchhiker thriller on the water.
Edit: I just finished it. It's less suspenseful and thrilling than Dead Calm, but more psychological and unpredictable. It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I liked it and it impressed me.
I randomly stubbed across this on Youtube. Starred Richard Grieco, Mark Hamill, Cynthia Geary, Ron Masak, Chad (not Chris) Everett. Quite a mix of movie and TV listers (Cynthia Geary played Shelly in Northern Exposure, Ron Masak played Sheriff Metzger in Murder, She Wrote...they both played out of character to me here).
Basically, guy travels back in time, in order to put a quarter in a parking meter, but with assassins on his tail.
It sounds ridiculous, but I liked the pacing, and in particular the chemistry between Grieco and Geary; they seemed believable.
Is it amazing, groundbreaking, etc? No. Is it the best movie I've seen this week? Yes. 8/10
It's an empty calorie film but it does what it does really well so that isn't really f***in relevant. It delivers Norm Macdnald's humour constantly without overstaying its running length. Would have been nicer to have more good jokes written for some of the rest of the cast but so many are here...Macdonald, Rickles, Chase, Farley, Lange, Sandler, Goodman, and directed by Bog Saget. I probably would've loved this when I was 12.
Also you know it's gonna be good when this f***er is playing the bad guy.
This is the second Bergman film I have seen and it is my favorite so far - the 1st Bergman film I watched was Wild Strawberries.
The Seventh Seal is a fascinating and surprisingly hopeful exploration of shaken faith and coming to terms with the absence of God. The hopefulness that Bergman communicates in the film is that even if God does not exist, the simple pleasures of life - companionship, family, community - is what gives life meaning and makes it worth living. As somebody who is still trying to come to grips with my own faith, it really spoke to me.
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