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

[BigBadBruins7708]

Salem's Lot (2024) - 6/10

I really wanted to like this one more, but they just tried to cram way too much material into a movie run time.

I love the novel and the original mini series. At this point Salem's Lot needs to be done as a 1 season series like Chernobyl to properly tell the story and fit all the material in. The original mini series does a very good job of it in its 3 hours run time, but even that had to drop subplots and combine a few characters into one (notably the adultery angle and the amount of time between Danny disappearing and the next attack). The latest attempt unfortunately cuts out pretty any character development moments to where to where they're all just faces on the screen with no identity to connect to. It simply jumps from big moment to big moment from the book and plays out like a book report written by a 6th grader.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice - 5/10

Finally got around to taking the boys and some of their friends to see this. Had them watch the original a month or so ago. Overall, it's (obviously) all about the nostalgia and the main reason it even got the 5 rating. As a stand-alone movie, there are a number of different plots that make the movie jumbled and confusing at times. I think Burton had all these ideas over the years, and when it was finally greenlit, he decided to cram all of them into one movie. Plus, not a shocker as it's Tim Burton, but parts were just really weird.

Overall, it's a fun trip down memory lane and they did a good job bringing back characters and linking to the first one. Got a few chuckles too. However, it was a mess as it jumped from one story to another.

 

[kihei]

Conclave (2024) Directed by Edward Berger 4A

Handsomely mounted, well acted, elegantly photographed, oozing gravitas like a supertanker leaking oil, a peek into the inner workings of the Catholic Church when it comes to electing a new Pope, Conclave is a fun ride until near the end when it gives way to the dumbest, most preposterous, totally ludicrous self-inflicted ending that I have seen in many a year. This papal thriller has other problems, too.

Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), Dean of the College of Cardinals, is tasked with organizing the conclave of Church Cardinals that always follows the death of a Pope. Though I would have expected the Dean to be neutral, he actually is wheeling and dealing to ensure that a more progressive candidate (Stanley Tucci) wins the vote rather the racist arch-conservative Italian candidate whose skullcap could very well read Make Catholicism Great Again. Like victims in a murder mystery, various candidates bite the dust not because of poison in their tea but because of scandal. All this culminates in said stupid ending that caused snickers and the odd guffaw of laughter in my theatre. Now to the other problem: Conclave doesn't even disguise the fact that it is about the upcoming US presidential election as much as it is about electing a new Pope. Clearly the good guys are the progressives and the bad guys are the fiendish conservatives who want to turn back the clock and take away all the Church's reforms. To say the least, the movie is ill-served by this stacked-deck, grandstanding political maneuver. Well, you do get an excellent performance from Fiennes, but the flaws of Conclave are too overwhelming to ignore.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Motivated by the Best Horror Movie of the 70s thread, I knocked out the two movies on that list that I hadn't seen before.

The Tenant. It's kinda reductive to parallel this to Rosemary's Baby and yet you can't not given that it's about a tenant in an apartment building who may or may not be going crazy and whose neighbors may or may not be up to some supernatural shit and how those things may or may not be related. I liked it in general. Roman Polanski is a masterful crafter of a paranoid thriller/horror and this has some wonderful moments and some interesting themes/meanings that loom over the story. The weakness is that he also happens to be the star. He's not really a bad actor, but I couldn't help but feel this is a better movie with a better actor in the key role. Not to mention having Polanski himself at the center of a movie about a man who may or may not be the target of persecution ... well, real life intrudes a little too much for me there. I'm a fairly liberal separate-the-art-from-the-artist person and this was made before his legal issues ... but let's just say he's a hard person to really feel for.

Valerie and Her Week of Wonders. Holy crap I loved this. A weird, dark fairy tale of a movie with maidens and lurking evil (wonderful swirling, enveloping cape work in this!) and a castle of a sort. The kinda dreamy movie that makes me wonder if Ingmar Bergman and David Lynch like it. It feels like they'd really dig it. (There's a rather obvious character reason in the movie for me making those specific connections, but the feel and themes all match as well). Beyond seeing future David Lynch in this, I also got a lot of Ken Russell as well. Engaging if you're stone-cold sober, but is probably also gangbusters if you're trippin' balls too. Also would play well in the background of a party or bar. Real four-quadrant movie for me.

 

[kihei]

Daughters (2024) Director by Angela Patton and Natalie Robinson 8A (documentary)

At a medium security prison in Washington D.C., four young girls, aged five to eleven, prepare to meet their incarcerated fathers in a prison programme called Date with Daddy Dance. Both groups prepare in their own way for what has the potential to be a wrenching though perhaps life altering experience for both sides. This particular prison, like many for-profit prisons in the US, no longer allows inmates personal visits (contact is allowed via infrequent telephone calls or skype-type hook ups--is this not crazy as hell?). So the result is that neither parent nor daughter may have had anything more than cursory contact with one another or no contact at all. Obviously this is a big, big deal for the hopeful little daughters who count the years until Daddy comes home, but it is also a big, big deal for the nervous dads who agree to undergo a ten-week training programme to get ready for the big day. When the big moment arrives, believe me, you are going to need Kleenex, though the documentary, a model of restraint really, goes out of its way not to unnecessarily tug at your heartstrings. Daughters also shies away from any kind of elaborate political statement about the controversial prison environment in the US where black convicts make up slightly over 37% of the inmates while representing roughly only 13% of the general population. The focus is entirely on the daughters and fathers and what the aftereffects are of the Date with Daddy programme. The documentary claims that 95% of the participants in this programme do not return to prison after they are released. Daughters is well worth everybody's time. I can't think of the last documentary that I found as moving as this one.

Netflix

Best of '24 so far

1. Anora, Baker, US
2. Flow, Zilbalodis, Latvia
3. Caught by the Tides, Jia, China
4. All We Imagine As Light, Kapadia, India
5. Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, Jude, Romania
6. Green Border, Holland, Poland
7. The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Rasoulof, Germany
8. Daughters, Patton and Robinson, US (documentary)
9. Here, Devos, Belgium
10. Pictures of Ghosts, Filho, Brazil

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

The Tenant. It's kinda reductive to parallel this to Rosemary's Baby and yet you can't not given that it's about a tenant in an apartment building who may or may not be going crazy and whose neighbors may or may not be up to some supernatural shit and how those things may or may not be related.

It is refered to as the "apartment trilogy" (with Repulsion - three amazing films).

Glad you liked Valerie too! Love both these films, but have a preference for The Tenant (I included it in the Panic thread).

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

It is refered to as the "apartment trilogy" (with Repulsion - three amazing films).

Glad you liked Valerie too! Love both these films, but have a preference for The Tenant (I included it in the Panic thread).

I didn't put that trilogy together but that certainly makes a ton of sense

 

[Nakatomi]

It is refered to as the "apartment trilogy" (with Repulsion - three amazing films).

Glad you liked Valerie too! Love both these films, but have a preference for The Tenant (I included it in the Panic thread).

Wow, it was not until your reply that I realized he did not say Tenet and was not talking about the Nolan film. I have not seen Tenet and felt that I understood why people were confused because the previews did not seem to be about what was described here at all, haha. Please, carry on.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Been on a major early 2000s kick lately for some reason.

Scary Movie(2000) - 8/10

Honestly this movie is iconic, so many funny scenes.

TLDR everything sucks now ranting here: Not going to lie one of the main things I despair the loss of in contemporary cinema is the disappearance of dumb ridiculous analog movies like this one. I'm sure people are still doing good satire somewhere but stuff like Ace Ventura, Dumb and Dumber, Anchorman, Happy Gilmore, The Wedding Singer, Old School, Jay and Silent Bob, Zoolander and the ones that came before them like Caddyshack, Revenge of the Nerds, Blazing Saddles, Animal House, National Lampoons, Slapshot etc will always hold some special luster for me.
Could just be garden variety nostalgia now that I've written it out but it seems like every comedy in theatres these days has to be topical and relatable. Don't get me wrong there's plenty of good ones, some impressive dry wit out there. But leave a dollar for the cheap laugh.


Lots of jokes that would be bending the lines these days but none that offended my bleeding heart liberal sensibilities. Some of the supporting actors make it happen, the sheriff and Gale Summers the reporter have some hilarious scenes. When the sheriff is interviewing Cindy and showing her pictures of himself in a speedo Not generally a huge Wayans brothers guy but they had good parts in this, the obviously gay not gay QB made me laugh more than once. Would put Anna Faris's dumb bitch up against anybody. WARNING: it is basically illegal to not be very stoned watching this

Charlie's Angels(2000) - 7/10

Had at least a little crush on each of these actresses at one point as a teenager. Would probably still saw off a pinky toe for a drink on the beach and a friendly game of cornhole with Cameron Diaz.

Pretty quality ensemble action comedy. Sam Rockwell(always enjoy him) plays the client/villain. Luke Wilson, TIm Curry, Matt LeBlanc, and Tom Green are all in this because of course they are that makes sense. Bill Murray ties things together nicely as Bosley. Stunts are excellent and the soundtrack bangs. We begin by getting to know our angels, their quirks and their backgrounds. There's Dylan(Barrymore) the tomboy who could rip your arm out of your socket and rides a sportbike. Alex(Liu) who is as cold and calculating as she is deadly. Great scene leading a bunch of geeky engineers in a seminar dressed as a full leather daddy dominatrix. Natalie(Diaz) the late blooming bumbling blonde beauty. Great intuition in anything other than men and potent dancing skills.

They have to use their impressive guile and skill and feminine wiles in increasingly imaginative ways to save Bosley and their boss Charlie from being murdered by a powerful madman. Looked like a lot of fun to make, something the GF and I could both laugh a lot in.



Shanghai Noon(2000) - 5,5/10 & Shanghai Knights(2003) - 6.5/10

I'll be a Jackie Chan fan till I die. Could be said he invented a genre, or at least created a niche of his own within a genre. A Jackie Chan movie is a very specific and unique thing, the stunt work Jackie puts in is seriously incredible. Also always thought he had an underappreciated comedic timing.
Just a small and not at all comprehensive list of some of his injuries over the years:

• Skull fracture, bone cave-in behind left ear, and brain bleeding from falling out of a tree: The Armour of God (1986)
• Broken eye socket and nearly lost an eye during a fight with actor Hwang Jang-Lee in the 1978 kung fu classic Drunken Master
• Broken vertebra during the pole slide stunt in Police Story
• Burns, electrical shocks, and a broken vertebra during the pole slide stunt in Police Story
• Broken sternum in Armour Of God 2: Operation Condor
• Broken nose four times
• Dislocated shoulders
• Damaged spine
• Broken ankle
• Injured eye
• Cut lip
• Broken teeth

Have no idea how he's still upright that is one tough little dude from Hong Kong.

Chan(Li aka John Wayne) and Owen Wilson(Roy O'Bannon) team up in these unlikely buddy cop Western action comedies. There's some solid scenes in these two movies. Jackie jumps around and kicks ass, Wilson delivers some decent one liners. By no means great or even all that memorable movies but some heartfelt moments and good chemistry with the actors made these worth the rewatch. The stunt scenes are well choreographed and flow effectively. Humor can be hit or miss but definitely hits more often.

The first movie(Noon) Chan is tasked with finding the princess by his Emperor. She has been kidnapped and taken to the wild west of America. After a string of racial mishaps he's introduced to Wilson and they team up to bust out of jail. Encounter a string of colorful characters and face off against several baddies. Starts well but loses steam for me in the final act, not sure why exactly. Didn't have enough complexity or something maybe, they announce the plot and it unfolds kind of exactly as you expect. Something didn't payoff the way they had hoped it would I think, but not like that ruined it all together. Still a very competent what you see is what you get film.

The second movie(Knights) Chan enlists Wilson to go to London to save his sister and recover the Imperial seal after Wilson loses all their money on a blimp investment. This one you could tell had more of a budget. More refined, better bigger story with a bigger better cast. One of those instances where the sequel outshines the original. Lord Fannybottom has teamed up with a leader in the Boxer rebellion to steal China's future right out from under them, with a plot to ascend the Lord to the crown. Our heroes race against time to save the whole day and are helped by a certain Inspector Arthur Conan Doyle. Couple fun historical references like that and some running gags, Wilson has a more developed role and he delivers on it.

Solid concept and solid delivery. Not a ton to them but enough there to see them through.

 

[17futurecap]

Saw Conclave (6.5/10). Thought it was solid, the over dramatic score was hilarious. I’m a bit surprised this has Oscar nom buzz though, thought it was just fine with seemingly a new twist every ten minutes.

 

[Osprey]

Saw Conclave (6.5/10). Thought it was solid, the over dramatic score was hilarious. I’m a bit surprised this has Oscar nom buzz though, thought it was just fine with seemingly a new twist every ten minutes.

"Saw Conclave" sounds like some kind of Catholic torture porn. I'd probably watch that. We could use more Inquisition films.

 

[Nakatomi]

Waiting for Mr. Goodbar (1977) - 7/10

*Note: I am going to avoid any key spoilers, but this is a powerful film that you would be best served watching before reading too much about.*

Wow, what a tough watch. Diane Keaton plays a repressed young woman who lives a life as a sweetheart of a school teacher for deaf children by day and tries to find solace at night by seducing men at local dive bars for one night stands.

There is a ton of subtext here on oh so many levels. Were the free wheeling 60's and 70's and the sexual liberation it brought really of benefit to people? How does faith and one's upbringing impact their adulthood?

I will say, not every scene really works now all these decades later, but that final scene. Goodness, I think that will stay with me a while.

I'd say this is one to go in knowing less rather than more so how things unfold can have their fullest impact. I only learned after watching that it has been slated for a 4k disc release that ships in a month, haha. So it may be worth waiting since this movie, notably, never had a release on VHS, DVD, or blu-ray! Perhaps the most well known/renowned older film to have that distinction now. From what I understand, it was largely a music rights issue as this is a movie very much of its time featuring lots of disco.

This film also has Richard Gere along with William Atherton and Tuesday Weld. It is also based on a true story, but again, do not go looking for that until after you watch!

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Waiting for Mr. Goodbar (1977) - 7/10

Well I was curious enough and passed a deal with the gf to watch 2 films, each of us choosing one. Thanks for the recommandation, it was nominated for Academy Awards, but I had never heard of it.

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (Fabian, 2022) - Shameless "feel good" movie about poor people daring to dream of luxury. 2h advertisement for Dior and the picture perfect progressive European culture of the 50s. Good luck not throwing up in your mouth watching this. It does have Isabelle Huppert*. 2/10

Looking for Mr. Goodbar (Brooks, 1977) - What a weird little piece. Narratively, it's a mess, especially in the first few minutes of the film. You get used to its weak storytelling and editing, but it's certainly not a nice film, in any sense of the word. Great cast, and amazing performance by Keaton. It's unique enough to be enjoyable, despite its reactionary bleakness. The source material was written by a woman (and wikipedia tells me she "detested" the movie), I don't know if she too flirted with misogynistic undertones, but here it doesn't always (nor often) feel like its part of a critical reflection. 4.5/10


*Kind of ironic seing this the day after The Substance, as Huppert was famous for being superbly picky about the projects she'd accept to appear in, now at 69 y/o doing this shit (she still looks to only pick very particular projects, a luxury that's probably rare for an actress her age, so probably just a brain freeze when she signed for that one)

 

[kihei]

The Shadowless Tower (2024) Directed by Zhang Lu 7B

A character study of Gu Wentong, a rumpled middle-aged food critic working in his hometown of Beijing and maybe or maybe not about to begin a romance with a young woman who takes photographs of the not exactly glamourous restaurants they visit, The Shadowless Tower is a movie that in an impressive way is all little slivers of information sometimes communicated obliquely. The film doesn't make big points about anything. In fact there are few big points to be made outside of a reawakening of Wentong's relationship with his father who was kicked out of the family decades ago for supposedly groping a stranger. That doesn't mean important things don't happen to our shambling anti-hero, these events are just on a smaller, more everyday scale. There are the people in his life: his young daughter Smiley who lives with his sister and her husband, his ex-wife with whom he is still occasionally in touch, and, of course, Wenhui, his photographer and perhaps lover-to-be. Outside of Smiley, his approach to the others might be described as weary stoicism. He is in a definite rut at a bad time of life to be in one, and he has chosen to withdraw, sometimes taking refuge in alcohol. The movie is all little details and quiet insights, not much of anything that could be described as action takes place. Wentong just strolls around a very untouristy part of Beijing and the camera follows him and whomever he is with. From little hints and unstressed clues, we put things together.

The editing is so subtle in this movie. The scenes flow like water into one another rather than seeming to be constructed of discrete bits and pieces spliced together. Little motifs pop up early in the film only to be subtly revisited later in the film; a reverberating metaphor is constructed around that big shadowless tower of the title. In terms of structure, Wentong is a reticent, patient guy, and The Shadowless Tower seems to take its cue from its protagonist's personality. It's not neo-realism on display, much less some kind of cinema verite or even natualism. In fact, the script and technical execution do wonders to disguise the exertion that has gone into the construction and attention to detail evident in this film. In the end, we have a rich, complex picture of the life of a fairly ordinary guy who has taken politeness and turned it into a wall to hide behind, a safe barrier that allows him to keep his distance from others. And we know exactly why he has done so even though the people in his life all seem likeable. The Shadowless Tower is among the most extraordinary achievements that I have seen this year at the movies.

subtitles

available on Criterion Channel


Best of '24 so far

1. Anora, Baker, US
2. Flow, Zilbalodis, Latvia
3. Caught by the Tides, Jia, China
4. All We Imagine As Light, Kapadia, India
5. Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, Jude, Romania
6. Green Border, Holland, Poland
7. The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Rasoulof, Germany
8. The Shadowless Tower. Zhang, China
9. Daughters, Patton and Robinson, US (documentary)
10. Here, Devos, Belgium

 

[Unholy Diver]

Hitpig - 7/10

Animated film about a bounty hunter pig who tracks down and returns escaped and missing pets and animals, this time he has to track down an abused elephant that was sprung from a vegas sideshow by an animal activist, but as Hitpig is bringing in his target he has a change of heart and becomes friends with the elephant and decides to change his ways, eventually being aided by the activist and other critters that he had previously captured. Some good humor, voicework was pretty good from Jason Sudeikis as Hitpig, and the random cast of Lilly Singh, RuPaul, Flavor Flav and others

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Barton Fink. Outside of Spielberg, the Coens are probably the filmmakers I've had the next longest relationship with. The realization that a person (or persons) are behind the camera and/or sitting at that typewriter. Saw Raising Arizona on cable in 1988 and love its Looney Tunes zaniness and pretty much have been hooked on them and their distinct sensibilities ever since.

I was about 13 when Barton Fink came out. I read about it in movie magazines. I knew Arizona by heart and while my young self didn't fully grasp everything going on in MIller's Crossing. It was COOOOOOOL. So then this arrives and the moment I could rent it (couldn't sell my parents on a theater experience) I jumped on it and I was ... perplexed. Cool ending, but man there was a lot of talking about nothing. A few years pass, another couple Coen movies come out and I revisit it and I'm still just flummoxed by Barton Fink. I think I gave it a third try probably a few years after that (call it post-college, mid-20s) and while I did get it, it didn't move much beyond the bottom of my mental Coen ranking.

FINALLY got around to rewatching. Call it about 20 years later and boy did it hit me like it's never hit before. I don't know if it's age. Maybe a touch more experience with real world anxieties or systems that can suck up and spit out the best intentioned. I don't know if it's that I'm much more used to this type of character study by the Coens (Lleweyn Davis and A Simple Man have similar men tested by a possibly vengeful god, but also funny, vibes).

What a perfectly calibrated, darkly funny movie. John Tuturro is a ball of anxieties and ideas and when it finally bursts out in a wildly funny dance scene/rant/bar fight ... god I laughed. Lots of recognizable faces and Coen regulars (Steve Buscemi, Jon Polito, Tony Shaloub) doing good work in the margins, but I think the real reason to watch this is John Goodman as Barton's amiable hotel neighbor. Michael Lerner got a surprise supporting Oscar nomination for this and while he's good I cannot fathom how someone can watch this movie and walk away singling out him over Goodman. As beloved as his Walter Sobchak is in The Big Lebowski, that's a pretty one note character (granted, a FUNNY note). But here Goodman gets to be the helpful but irritating travel confidant not unlike John Candy's Del in Planes, Trains and Automobiles -- watch how subtly he conveys hurt or annoyance -- before that gives way to something much more volcanic and primal. It's as good as he's ever been.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Barton Fink.

Indeed a very good film! My favorite by the brothers.

 

[NyQuil]

I was about 13 when Barton Fink came out.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

I forgot about this. Second only to the fantastic Naked Lunch joke.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Barton Fink. Outside of Spielberg, the Coens are probably the filmmakers I've had the next longest relationship with. The realization that a person (or persons) are behind the camera and/or sitting at that typewriter. Saw Raising Arizona on cable in 1988 and love its Looney Tunes zaniness and pretty much have been hooked on them and their distinct sensibilities ever since.

I was about 13 when Barton Fink came out. I read about it in movie magazines. I knew Arizona by heart and while my young self didn't fully grasp everything going on in MIller's Crossing. It was COOOOOOOL. So then this arrives and the moment I could rent it (couldn't sell my parents on a theater experience) I jumped on it and I was ... perplexed. Cool ending, but man there was a lot of talking about nothing. A few years pass, another couple Coen movies come out and I revisit it and I'm still just flummoxed by Barton Fink. I think I gave it a third try probably a few years after that (call it post-college, mid-20s) and while I did get it, it didn't move much beyond the bottom of my mental Coen ranking.

FINALLY got around to rewatching. Call it about 20 years later and boy did it hit me like it's never hit before. I don't know if it's age. Maybe a touch more experience with real world anxieties or systems that can suck up and spit out the best intentioned. I don't know if it's that I'm much more used to this type of character study by the Coens (Lleweyn Davis and A Simple Man have similar men tested by a possibly vengeful god, but also funny, vibes).

What a perfectly calibrated, darkly funny movie. John Tuturro is a ball of anxieties and ideas and when it finally bursts out in a wildly funny dance scene/rant/bar fight ... god I laughed. Lots of recognizable faces and Coen regulars (Steve Buscemi, Jon Polito, Tony Shaloub) doing good work in the margins, but I think the real reason to watch this is John Goodman as Barton's amiable hotel neighbor. Michael Lerner got a surprise supporting Oscar nomination for this and while he's good I cannot fathom how someone can watch this movie and walk away singling out him over Goodman. As beloved as his Walter Sobchak is in The Big Lebowski, that's a pretty one note character (granted, a FUNNY note). But here Goodman gets to be the helpful but irritating travel confidant not unlike John Candy's Del in Planes, Trains and Automobiles -- watch how subtly he conveys hurt or annoyance -- before that gives way to something much more volcanic and primal. It's as good as he's ever been.

It left me indifferent the first time I'd watched it but fell in love on the second.

One of the funniest scenes of all-time. Tony Shaloub is perfect here.



'He's a great writer...'
'A GREAT SOUSE!'

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

It left me indifferent the first time I'd watched it but fell on love on the second.

One of the funniest scenes of all-time. Tony Shaloub is perfect here.



'He's a great writer...'
'A GREAT SOUSE!'

SOUSE!

 

[Spring in Fialta]

SOUSE!

'He's in great pain because he can't write...'
'He manages to write his goddamn name on the back of the check every week!'

 

[kihei]

Juror #2 (2024) Directed by Clint Eastwood 7A

94-year-old Clint Eastwood continues to direct movies and Juror #2 is one of his good ones, certainly better than his most recent efforts like Cry Macho and Richard Jewell. Juror #2 is an old-fashioned court room drama that is not so much a whodunnit as a thorny moral quandary. Justin (Nicolas Hoult), reluctantly picked for jury duty, begins to realize that he may have vital information in regard to what happened to the man on trial for killing his girlfriend. The problem is that the information could be misunderstood which would lead to him incriminating himself. What to do; what to do? The Prosecutor (Toni Collette) has an election to win, so her personal interests become part of the equation, too--it would be to her benefit to get a conviction, here, whatever doubts she might develop later on. Both juror and prosecutor are good, decent people. Juror #2 neatly sets up its premise and then examines all the tricky issues involved in finding justice for the murdered girl.

As usual, Eastwood's direction doesn't call attention to itself. But it is good enough to cover over some of the logical shortcomings of the script. If not the most suspenseful court room drama that I have ever seen, Juror #2 is at least a pleasingly tense one, thanks to the performances that Eastwood gets from Hoult and Collette. Although there is a fair amount of meat on the bone to chew on, I think Clint finds just the right way to end the movie in a manner that washes away a lot of the self-interested rationalizing that has gone on previously. But he is never preachy. All in all, Juror #2 is a thoughtful piece of work by the nonagenarian.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Indeed a very good film! My favorite by the brothers.

Miller's Crossing for me I think. Or A Serious Man. No Country and Barton Fink on a similar plane after that.

The Man who Wasn't There is really underrated as well.

 

[kihei]

Blitz (2024) Directed by Steve McQueen 6A

It was impossible for me to watch Blitz and not immediately think of Stephen Spielberg's Empire of the Sun, starring a very young Christian Bale. Both movies are about children who get lost during the war and struggle to return home. True, the focal point is somewhat different. In Spielberg's movies, the horrors the child faces are directly related to the brutality of war. However, in director Steve McQueen's case, while the horrors of war are not ignored, there is a greater emphasis on the level of racial discrimination this biracial 9-year-old must confront in his journey home, seemingly a contradiction to the comfortable image of the plucky Brits all pulling together to fight the Nazis. While McQueen's approach is as valid as Spielberg's, it leads more to point making than a gripping movie.

The only time when Blitz really soars is when the carnage of war is focused on, as occurs in a brilliant opening sequence and, much later, when an upper-class club full of dead people is looted by a street gang right out of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist. These are the sort of genius scenes I expect from McQueen, and they do bring home the terrifying nature of war. However, they are few and far between in Blitz. The narrative itself is a bifurcated one with our attention divided between George struggling to get home after hopping off a train that was taking him to safety, and Rita who is desperately trying to find her son amidst the seemingly hopeless morass that is London during the blitz. The Rita part of the story relies on sentimentality more than one would expect from McQueen, and the George part of the story takes the form of a picaresque tale that is by nature episodic, the better able to provide examples of the various forms of racial discrimination that the child faces along the way. Although I think McQueen accomplishes much in this movie, by his high standards Blitz is somewhat disappointing, a bit lacking in terms of his usual clear-eyed and acerbic focus. Ultimately too conventional and not cohesive enough, the movie will not be considered among his signature works. In short, Blitz never comes close to having the emotional impact that Empire of the Sun had.