Movies: Last Movie You Watched and Rate it | {Insert Appropriate Seasonal Greeting Here}

[Ben Grimm]

That's a two hour movie (Dead Man) that felt like a four hour movie because of its episodic structure which tends to be delivered in miniatures. Liked it even less this time, as I have a low tolerance for quirkiness for the sake of quirkiness and the movie veritably wallowed in quirk. ...

You may want to avoid this artist then. @kihei

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[kihei]

You may want to avoid this artist then. @kihei

​

Well, yes and no. That song has at least got structure, and Zappa is not pretending it's background music in a Western. On the other hand, I am a very selective when it comes to Zappa and Don't Eat the Yellow Snow ain't even close to making the cut.

 

[kihei]

Thought that might jog a memory. Oh well. I'm definitely a fan of that film. Jim Jarmusch is an acquired taste, he is so far off the hollywood style films. He has this slow, methodical way of telling stories, often in black in white. I think it's Down by Law where the first image is of a hearse, which Neil Young would have appreciated (i.e. Mortimer Hearseburg, Neil's first car). Really liked Neil's score in Dead Man.

I think we are pretty much on opposite sides of the fence on Dead Man and Jarmusch in general, though with a big caveat. I just looked up Jarmusch's filmography and to my surprise I have seen every one of his movies except his first Permanent Vacation and Limits of Control. His early work--Stranger than Paradise; Mystery Train; Down by Law; and Night on Earth--are a blur to me; I literally could not differentiate between them to save my soul except to say that one of them has a funny performance by Roberto Begnini. A big part of my problem is his offbeat style--from which my mind does long walkabouts while I am watching his movies. Where it wanders I don't know, but I can't remember much about the movies two months later.

But here is the caveat: I absolutely love Only Lovers Left Alive and Paterson, the former of which is probably in the nether regions of my top 100 films (later: close 127). I find both movies more heart-felt, less self-consciously hip, with less miscellaneous wankering, and, well, just more memorable, as though Jarmusch has suddenly become more concerned with story telling and character and less concerned with being stylistically idiosyncratic. So on those two at least we can agree.

 

[Ben Grimm]

I ...

I gotta share this unbelievable stat with you. In 2019 Tom Cruise was running on a broken ankle and doing his own stunts. At that time he was the same age as Wilford Brimley was in Cocoon. @kihei

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007) 7/10

Pretty funny movie with a star-studded cast led by John C. Reilly as the titular Dewey Cox. Walk Hard parodies popular music biopic films like Walk the Line, and Ray. There are also a ton of references and representations of many famous musicians throughout the years as well.

The movie follows the tragic story of musician Dewey Cox, who accidentally kills his brother, spurring him on to achieve greatness in the music industry. It follows his career though musical eras starting in blues, then moving toward doo-wop, rock & roll, punk-rock, counterculture, and beyond.

In typical Judd Apatow style the movie is quite irreverent in style and has a lot of goofiness to it. I find that 2 hours 5 minutes is a bit lengthy for a comedy movie, but this one actually has somewhat of a good story and the shift through the eras of the movie doesn't make it drag too much.

The music in the film is actually pretty good, the quality of the tracks and the variety of each musical era was very good. The soundtrack was nominated for a Grammy and a Golden Globe. The song "A Life Without You" is truly a very good period song, in my opinion. John C. Reilly actually sang all of the songs in the film and was surprisingly good.

I'm not generally a fan of many irreverent comedies, but I thought that this film was very well done and the cast was incredible. I'm surprised that it was actually a flop at the box office, earning only $20.6M against a $35M budget.

 

[Ben Grimm]

View attachment 765501
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007) 7/10

Pretty funny movie with a star-studded cast led by John C. Reilly as the tit...

Wow. You post an image of his nipples and chose this word. Freud would have something to say about this.

 

[Fripp]

View attachment 765501
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007) 7/10

Pretty funny movie with a star-studded cast led by John C. Reilly as the titular Dewey Cox. Walk Hard parodies popular music biopic films like Walk the Line, and Ray. There are also a ton of references and representations of many famous musicians throughout the years as well.

The movie follows the tragic story of musician Dewey Cox, who accidentally kills his brother, spurring him on to achieve greatness in the music industry. It follows his career though musical eras starting in blues, then moving toward doo-wop, rock & roll, punk-rock, counterculture, and beyond.

In typical Judd Apatow style the movie is quite irreverent in style and has a lot of goofiness to it. I find that 2 hours 5 minutes is a bit lengthy for a comedy movie, but this one actually has somewhat of a good story and the shift through the eras of the movie doesn't make it drag too much.

The music in the film is actually pretty good, the quality of the tracks and the variety of each musical era was very good. The soundtrack was nominated for a Grammy and a Golden Globe. The song "A Life Without You" is truly a very good period song, in my opinion. John C. Reilly actually sang all of the songs in the film and was surprisingly good.

I'm not generally a fan of many irreverent comedies, but I thought that this film was very well done and the cast was incredible. I'm surprised that it was actually a flop at the box office, earning only $20.6M against a $35M budget.

Ya halved me, Dewey!
Tim Meadows in the refer scene absolutely kills me. So many quotable lines.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Felon. (2008)

Basically a poor man's 'American History X'.
A 100 minute-long yard fight, with little plot.. but lots of California prison clichés and memes.
Val Kilmer plays an (unconvincing) badass loner.
And at the very end, the screen goes black and flashes a generic stat about America's incarceration rate. It felt so out of place and shoehorned, after a meaningless view in to prison slice-of-life, I chuckled out loud.
Just seemed like the actors weren't given much story/purpose to work with..

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Ya halved me, Dewey!
Tim Meadows in the refer scene absolutely kills me. So many quotable lines.

Yes Meadows was absolutely hilarious. "you don't want any of this Dewey!" and then proceeds to explain how amazing it all is lol.

I loved the part at the end with the father "I under-estimated how easy it is to accidentally cut someone in half with a machete".

Wow. You post an image of his nipples and chose this word. Freud would have something to say about this.

What can I say? I'm a big fan of John C. Reilly lol

 

[Chili]

I think we are pretty much on opposite sides of the fence on Dead Man and Jarmusch in general, though with a big caveat. I just looked up Jarmusch's filmography and to my surprise I have seen every one of his movies except his first Permanent Vacation and Limits of Control. His early work--Stranger than Paradise; Mystery Train; Down by Law; and Night on Earth--are a blur to me; I literally could not differentiate between them to save my soul except to say that one of them has a funny performance by Roberto Begnini. A big part of my problem is his offbeat style--from which my mind does long walkabouts while I am watching his movies. Where it wanders I don't know, but I can't remember much about the movies two months later.

But here is the caveat: I absolutely love Only Lovers Left Alive and Paterson, the former of which is probably in the nether regions of my top 100 films. I find both movies more heart-felt, less self-consciously hip, with less miscellaneous wankering, and, well, just more memorable, as though Jarmusch has suddenly become more concerned with story telling and character and less concerned with being stylistically idiosyncratic. So on those two at least we can agree.

Agree. We see Jim Jarmusch films differently. Which is cool and no surprise, the glacial pace of some of his films is sure to frustrate some. And the structure at times, what there is of it, can seem improvised. But I enjoy that in his films.

Westerns were my favorite for a long time. Generally though, there are only a few different story lines. Greed, revenge, survival...Specifically in Dead Man, I found it way out of that box. The Nobody character especially was fresh, inspired by his admiration for a poet. Can't see John Wayne in this film. (like I'm glad Samuel Fuller insisted on Gene Evans instead of the Duke in The Steel Helmet). It's a unique western for me but I fully understand it's not for all.

I have seen Permanent Vacation, it's probably not one of his best but I still found it interesting. Liked the concept of Broken Flowers, searching out old flames. Stranger than Paradise is very slow paced but I do like road trip films. Down by Law was brought to life by Roberto Benigni, who didn't speak english back then. Funny to see him refer to his notes ('my notabook is waterful'). Haven't seen any of the other Jarmusch films but plan to check out Coffee and Cigarettes.

 

[kihei]

Agree. We see Jim Jarmusch films differently. Which is cool and no surprise, the glacial pace of some of his films is sure to frustrate some. And the structure at times, what there is of it, can seem improvised. But I enjoy that in his films.

Westerns were my favorite for a long time. Generally though, there are only a few different story lines. Greed, revenge, survival...Specifically in Dead Man, I found it way out of that box. The Nobody character especially was fresh, inspired by his admiration for a poet. Can't see John Wayne in this film. (like I'm glad Samuel Fuller insisted on Gene Evans instead of the Duke in The Steel Helmet). It's a unique western for me but I fully understand it's not for all.

One problem that I had in the movie was Depp, who I thought did a lot of "sympathetic" mugging toward the camera. I don't think it was a Depp role anyways; I think it was a Keanu Reeves role. He would have been great in it and it would have broadened his resume a little.

Do add Paterson and Only Lovers Left Alive to your Jarmusch must-see list. They both are definitely worth a try.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Do add Paterson and Only Lovers Left Alive to your Jarmusch must-see list. They both are definitely worth a try.

Love Jarmusch. I'd have these two in my top 5 alongside Mystery Train and Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai. The 5th spot is a coin flip between Down By Law or Night on Earth.

Paterson is such a lovely movie. Also has one of my favorite super random cameos with the two kids from Moonrise Kingdom playing a couple of bus passengers.

Never been high on Dead Man. Gary Farmer is a delight though. He's on the show Reservation Dogs lately and is still a great comic presence.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I'm not a big fan of Jarmusch myself, and I tend to agree that he's often a little too hip (or thinks he is) for my tastes. I was not much of a fan of Only Lovers Left Alive either and thought it was absolutely guilty of that hip wannabeness - but I did love that Funnel of Love cover by Sqürl (Jarmusch's band) which was fantastic. I don't remember much about Dead Man, but I know I liked it when I saw it (could even be my favorite Jarmusch film), one thing for sure - and again going to contradict kihei on this (!) - I love the soundtrack. It was improvised by Young while watching the first cut of the film. Broken Flowers might be my favorite one, but I haven't seen everything, haven't seen Paterson.

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007) 7/10

If every director who made a biopic watched Walk Hard beforehand, we'd have a lot less shitty biopics.

 

[kihei]

The Great Escaper (2023) Directed by Oliver Parker 5A

It's a very nice story. In 2014, as the 70th anniversary of D-Day was getting under way in France, Royal Navy veteran Bernie (Michael Caine), now nearly 90-years-old and not in great health, escapes from his old-age home and heads for Normandy. His lifetime partner Irene (Glenda Jackson in her last role), despite being very ill herself, gives her blessing and encouragement and stays behind to wryly observe the developing situation. Based on a true story, The Great Escaper has heart, I'll give it that. But when it comes to fleshing out the bare bones of the story, the movie quickly runs out of steam. Once Bernie is on his way he, luckily, meets a new and generous friend, visits the mammoth 5000 grave cemetery and eventually returns home where, unbeknownst to him, he has become a media celebrity. There are some bargain-basement flashbacks, a sub-plot dealing with Bernie's unfounded sense of guilt, and much ruffling of feathers back in the old-age home. But way too much of this stuff just seems like standard filler. What earns The Great Escaper an extra point, though, are the wonderful performances by Caine and, especially, Jackson. Jackson's time-ravaged face and slow gait disguise a mischievous personality and a droll wit. I wish she could have gone out in a better movie, but she is marvellous here.

 

[Chili]

First heard about the film Dead Man when I was reading Neil Young's book Special Deluxe, great book about all the vintage cars that he has owned (and he drew good pictures of all of them). He called the film a masterpiece. For anyone who has seen the film, don't know if they picked up on this (I didn't): part of the soundtrack was recorded from NY's 1959 Lincoln Continental Convertible while travelling over back roads. Just the sound of the car's engine and real loud crickets in the background.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Dune 1984 3/10

Perhaps I should have watched this before the 2021 version. I laughed alot in this one.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

I disliked Paterson and really liked Only Lovers Left Alive from his recent stuff but the latter is def really flawed despite how good it is (and the former struck me as enormously trite - I mean, his poetry on the screen?) Very uneven. It's been many years but I remember liking Stranger Than Paradise. I've been wanting to watch his samurai film from the 90s.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

A Bronx Tale (1993) - 8.5/10

Excellent mob movie, Deniro’s directorial debut based on the play by Chazz Palminteri, who plays Sonny. Senior also stars as Calogero’s father Lorenzo.

Set in the 1960s film follows the story of Calogero (Lillo Brancato, Francis Capra) also known as C, as he grows up in a tough neighborhood in the Bronx with a heavy mob presence. At 9 years old C garners favor from the local boss Sonny after refusing to snitch when questioned by police about a violent altercation he witnessed.

C is taken under Sonny’s wing and mentored in the school of the streets, much to the chagrin of his parents. A power struggle between Sonny and C’s father persists throughout most of the film, as his parents try their best to keep C away from the mob crowd.

Despite Sonny’s tough demeanor he truly cares for Calogero and tries his best to teach him street smarts while actively trying to discourage him from the tougher sides of it.

The movie touches on a slew of different issues like trust, morality, racial tension, loyalty, and the father-son dynamic between different ideologies.

I really enjoyed this film, I thought Deniro does a great job of showing the environment and feeling of the mafia culture without focusing too much on the Mob itself.

The characters were all pretty well acted and had their own backstories and colorful personalities. Great soundtrack and some great messages sprinkled throughout.

One of my main criticisms is that the relationship between Jane and C felt a bit forced and rushed. Like they wanted to shoe-horn in this part of the story to anchor the racial tension angle, but the relationship didn’t feel very authentic.

All in all, excellent movie. Some pretty familiar faces in the mob cinema scene.

Goodfellas (1990) - 9.5/10

Goodfellas is a titan in the discussion of mob flicks… Based on the book Wiseguys, the film follows the true story of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) and all his mafia exploits and descent into madness and ruin.



The film follows Hill’s life as he grows up in a neighborhood with a heavy mob influence and works his way up the chain.



Hill attempts to balance his illicit activities with a family life to mostly disastrous results. A major turning point in the film occurs when Henry and some of his associates are sentenced to 10 years in prison. Henry sets up a gig where he utilizes his wife Karen (Lorraine Bracco) to smuggle drugs in which he then sells to another inmate from Pittsburgh.



After his release from prison, Henry attempts to expand his small cocaine operation and it all goes downhill rapidly from there. I’ll leave it at that.



Not sure what I can say about this one. It’s an absolutely fantastic film. One of the high points of Scorsese’s directing career and huge iconic roles for many involved. It’s brilliantly directed and acted from top to bottom. There’s no shortage of action depicting the grimy underbelly of mafia life.



Just a phenomenal film all-around. The film feels dramatic in all the best ways. A beyond star-studded cast, and high octane pretty much from start to finish.



Liotta’s character narrating the film throughout really helps keep the story cogent and moving as well as adding that extra layer of insight to the viewer.



Sort of the other end of the spectrum from my review above, as this film focuses pretty much entirely on the seedier side of mob life.

 

[Chili]

The Great Gatsby-1974

From the classic F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, the mysterious Gatsby (Robert Redford) and the love of his life Daisy (Mia Farrow). The lives of the wealthy and the class structure of the era which doesn't prevent dalliances with the other classes. Bruce Dern as Daisy's husband and Karen Black as his mistress reteamed a year or two later in Hitchcock's Family Plot. Robert Redford is pretty laid back in the role although seems like he is in less than half of the scenes. Daisy's cousin (Sam Waterston) nicely plays the go-between to re-unite her with Gatsby. The plot reminded me some of the Thomas Ince story and the film The Cat's Meow. It's a good film, thought it captured the era well with the cars, yachts and lavish parties.

The novel was published in 1925 and first filmed in 1926 (believe it's now a lost film). His publisher wasn't crazy about the name at first, two of the other titles considered were Gold-hatted Gatsby and The High Bouncing Lover. One of FSF's letters to his publisher in 1924 recommended a young man he met in Paris named Ernest Hemingway ('I'd look him up right away. He's the real thing.'). Have seen the 2013 version with Leonardo DiCaprio, lots of 'old sport' in that one too.

The Ghost Writer-2010

A writer (Ewan McGregor) is hired to help a former British Prime Minister (Pierce Brosnan) finish his memoirs. He is replacing someone who had died mysteriously while doing some research for the book. What seemed like a straight forward assignment for the accomplished writer turns into a intriguing mystery. McGregor is very good as he pursues the truth. Great cast as some familiar faces show up, even Eli Wallach. Intriguing story, excellent ending.

Stranger Than Paradise-1984

Eva, a young girl from Hungary, comes to America. On arriving she stays with her cousin Willie in New York for a few days before moving on to Cleveland. After winning some ill gotten gains, Willie and his friend Eddie hit the road and visit Eva. Memorable tune by Screamin' Jay Hawkins 'I put a spell on you' overplayed a bit. Road trip film ala Jim Jarmusch, so a slow, methodical story that has a home movie feel. Interesting film with fun and twists.

The Unbelievable Truth-1989

Driver to hitchhiker: Where you headed? Hitchiker: Home. Driver: Where you coming from? Hitchhiker: Prison. Screeecchhhing brakes. Shades of Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath to start the film. Josh (Robert Burke) is returning home after years in prison. The story of his crime is told slowly over the course of the film even with details he didn't know. He meets Audrey (Adrienne Shelly) who is drawn to him and a relationship develops. Great little film from Hal Hartley, his first feature, well written and buoyed by strong performances from Adrienne Shelly and Robert Burke.

JFK-1991

The story of Jim Garrison and his search for the truth about November 22nd, 1963. A historic event is worthy of an epic film, which this one delivers. Watched the Mr X (Donald Sutherland) scene a couple of times, there are so many revelations. Col Fletcher Prouty was the officer who was interestingly sent to Antarctica in real life and was partial basis for Mr X. Donald is brilliant in the scene, made the film for me. Interesting twist, Jim Garrison appears briefly in the film playing Judge Earl Warren. Dream cast, meticulous replaying of the fateful day, great film, where have 60 years gone?

 

[kihei]

Nyad (2023) Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin 6A

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin make excellent documentaries usually about mountain climbing (14 Peaks; Free Solo; Meru) but with the notable exception of The Rescue, a superb bite-your-nails recounting of the rescue of a Thai boys' soccer team trapped in a cave. While Nyad is their first venture into the biopic format, the movie also deals with an extreme athlete. Diane Nyad is a 64-year-old woman when she makes the last of several attempts to swim from Cuba to Florida without stopping, roughly a 55 hour journey. It is a feat that has never been done by any gender at any age and she herself first failed in an attempt to swim across when she was 28-years-old,

All the old sports biopic cliches remain in evidence--she is crazy; the feat can never be accomplished; all her relationships become strained possibly beyond repair--are in evident. If they don't make these familiar beats all shiny and new, Vaarhelyi and Chin have the skill to freshen them up considerably. One reason that this is so is that Nyad (Annette Bening) is an interesting, out of the ordinary subject: an abrasive, driven, insensitive, egocentric athlete who somehow by the power of sheer will is able to get people to do exactly what she needs them to do. Bening pulls no punches in a vanity-free performance and Jodey Foster does a fine job as her long-suffering best friend. I liked the directors uncompromising approach which extended to the many swimming sections. A solo swimmer in the ocean, that's got to be boring to watch, right? Not in Vaarhelly and Chin's hand, whose reputation is significantly dependant upon their ability to ratchet up extreme tension in their films. Here they do so very effectively.

I had significant mixed feeling about the portrayal of a mature woman athlete accomplishing something no man has done but doing so in such an edgy, monomaniacal way. In male sports biopics, the same behaviour is often just presented as gritty determination and a quest for excellence. But by all accounts, the portrait of Nyad in the movie is an accurate one. So you could say that Vaarhelyi and Chin played well the hand that they were dealt or, perhaps, they are making a larger point: that those successful in conquering the impossible may often not be very nice people. Being a self-absorbed schemer concerned with no other goals but your own may simply be the only way to get the job done.

 

[shadow1]

The Killer (2023) - 8/10

An assassin goes against his philosophy by working a job with personal ties.

Michael Fassbender stars as an unnamed killer, who abides by a strict set of rules to keep him successful at his job. However, after an unexpected turn of events following a hit job, "The Killer" finds his profession blowing back onto his personal life. While trying to reconcile his detached philosophy conflicting with his personal emotions, "The Killer" begins working on a new assignment...

The Killer was directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. The film is based on the 1998 French comic book series of the same name, which was written by Alexis Nolent. Fincher had been trying to adapt the series dating all the way back to 2007, and was finally able to after signing a deal with streaming service Netflix. How does it fare?

I loved it, but it may not be for everyone (more on that later). The Killer tells a simple tale, but is effective thanks to a number of factors. One is the strong cinematography, which meshes well with the backdrop of numerous cities and countries this film is set in. It also works well to convey the tension our protagonist is feeling, who is often more paranoid and less collected than he thinks he is.

Speaking of which, I thought Michael Fassbender was great in the role. Most of his acting is done with his face, as "The Killer" probably has less lines than I have fingers. However, we do understand the psyche of the character through voice over, and he's a conflicted character who is often fighting with himself to stick to his self prescribed rules of forbidding empathy and only fighting the battle he's paid to fight. I enjoyed watching the character use a combination of tricks - sometimes complex, sometimes shockingly simple - to gain access to his targets.

With that said, the combination of voice over and the lead character constantly listening to The Smiths may make the film come off as pretentious to some (it should be noted the V.O. was used in the comics). Personally, I was bathing in this film's nihilism; concerningly finding myself identifying with our psychopath main character...but your mileage may vary. However, my personal negative was a fight sequence which I thought was poorly done, thanks to choppy editing and artificially sped up action that did not work in this otherwise slow burn of a movie.

Overall, The Killer is a movie that may become a personal favorite of mine over time. However, its slow pacing, light plot, and subtle character development may not work for everyone. Before you rely solely on my recommendation, check out @kihei's review for a different perspective, as I would not want to direct you towards a 2 hour movie you may not enjoy. The Killer was made with a $175M budget as a Netflix movie, and earned $362K during a brief theatrical run.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Chiming in on The Killer discourse. Like @shadow1 I too really enjoyed it, though I'd also lump it into the "lesser" Fincher movies. Not really an insult since he has such as high hit rate, but it's fairly light and slight compared with some of his other work.

The thing that I really enjoyed about it was how much it kinda plays as a B-side to Fight Club. Both nameless protagonists. Both heavily (and with debatable reliability) narrating the movie with a lot of droll humor, rules and philosophies — rules and philosophies that are being broken almost right as they're being espoused. Though @kihei is right that it's a really low heartrate performance from Fassbender, I was consistently amused by his voice over saying things like don't be empathetic and don't be emotional while all of his actions are that of an empathetic and emotional man. That he doesn't play that overtly, I thought was part of the joke. A joke the character doesn't seem to get ... Does it register to him that he's violating his own rules?

Both are dripping with commentary about consumerism. But while Fight Club rejects it, The Killer, again humorously I think, embraces it. An abandoned WeWork is a hideout. McDonald's is fuel. Amazon is a supplier. PostMates is a cover. The final boss is a billionarie nerd in a SubPop records t-shirt.

And we ARE catching the protagonist at what turns out to be a strange time in his life.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky. As far as midnight movies go this one ranks WAAAAAYYY up there. I was first introduced to this back in college where it was often the closing act of a drunken/chemically altered evening. And man, it always plays to the crowd. Rewatched it for the first time in probably about 15 years (if not longer) and almost definitely the first time stone-cold sober and you know what ... still plays like gory, comedic gangbusters. You can't even say it's the sort of movie where you're watching and thinking "They're not going to do THAT are they?" because some of the violence they come up with in this you wouldn't even think to think about. Few movies are this genuinely unhinged. Can't recomend it enough.

Battle Royale II: Requiem. The first one dares you to be entertained by the kid-on-kid violence (and succeeds!) in a psychotic dystopian Lord of the Flies riff. This one just loudly lecutres you about corrupt goverments and the horrors of war with a Michael Bay-level fetishizing of slow-mo, orchestra-backed honorable death-for-the-cause bullshit.

Sneakers. One of those enjoyable why-don't-they-make-em-like-this-anymore mid-level thrillers. Great cast. It's so by the book. But the book is fun. The only thing that struck me this time is that as inherently charming as Robert Redford is, he actually feels a tad wrong for this part. He's too high status to fully pull off the scrappy underdog vibe he's supposed to have. Still a pleasant night at the movies.

Dirty Mary Crazy Larry. Cult classic car movie (and, I believe, a Tarantino favorite). Grindhousey stunts and grit mixed with a fumbling "ohhhh I HATE you (but I actually might LOVE you!!!) dynamic from the titular Mary and Larry. I LOL'd loudly at the ending. And I do not think I was supposed to LOL loudly at the ending.

 

[kihei]

Dream Scenario (2023) Directed by Kristoffer Borgli 7A

Dream Scenario is kind of like a wildly different take on Nightmare on Elm Street as if written by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich; Adaptation) and directed by Iorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth; The Killing of a Sacred Deer). Nicholas Cage plays Paul Matthews an unexceptional, somewhat awkward college professor of evolutionary biology whose pedestrian life is changed forever when he inexplicably starts turning up in lots of people’s dreams. At first, he is just passing through everyone’s dreams, just there in the background, inescapable but non-threatening. Initially this weird situation brings about a degree of celebrity which Paul tries to manipulate to his advantage. But then his presence in people’s dreams turns much more disturbing, and suddenly his moment of fame evolves into to something far more sinister with all kinds of unintended consequences.

Dream Scenario manages to be a pitch-black comedy, an intelligent horror movie, and a sometimes scattershot but pointed commentary on celebrity, cancel culture, herd mentality, triggering, and social media. The fact that Dream Scenario is a movie with a lot of smart ideas and even cleverer social commentary is one of its two central strengths. The other is Cage who is terrific as an average schmuck who finds himself going further and further down a rabbit hole that has no discernible bottom. For all the fun, the feel of the movie is a strange one, sad and disquieting in part because of its underlying premise that during the past quarter of a century, the advent of social media has irreparably altered us as a society but not for the better.

Best of '23 so far

1) Riceboy Sleeps, Shim, Canada
2) Anatomy of a Fall, Triet, France
3) Oppenheimer, Nolan, US
4) Barbie, Gerwig, US
5) El Conde, Larrain, Chile
6) Close Your Eyes, Erice, Spain
7) Dream Scenario, Borgli, US
8) Talk to Me, Philippou brothers, Australia
9) The Crime Is Mine, Ozon, France
10) De Humani Corporis Fabrica, Castaing-Taylor and Paravel, France