Last Movie You Watched and Rate It | Spring 2021 Edition

[Osprey]

Robin and Marian (1976) - 5/10 (Didn't like or dislike it)

An aging Robin Hood (Sean Connery) returns to England after 20 years, reconnects with Marian (Audrey Hepburn) and faces his old nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham (Robert Shaw). This romantic adventure film isn't your typical Robin Hood story about archery contests, robbing the rich and rescuing damsels. There's a little bit of action, but it's more about settling down and the romance between the two main characters. I liked that older Robin is still playful and a bit immature, not totally changed and cranky like Luke in the new Star Wars movies. It's perhaps best exemplified in a humorous moment when Marian, tussling with Robin, says "Oh, grow up, Robin" and he responds with "I'm trying to s(h)ave you!" The younger, chivalrous Robin is still in there and Connery is a good match for it. He and Hepburn have good chemistry and I could feel that the characters truly loved one another. That's perhaps the greatest strength of the film. I also liked the cinematography, locations and production design. The world looks authentic and lived in. The cast is good, as well. Besides the three stars, Richard Harris, Denholm Elliott and Ian Holm all have brief roles. Unfortunately, everything wasn't as engaging as I would've liked. I'm not sure that I wanted to see an old Robin Hood in the first place and this story didn't really prove me wrong. Instead of a fun adventure, it's more of a sad love story. Despite that, I was leaning towards liking it overall until the ending, which I found much too melodramatic and derivative. Overall, the film was a bit disappointing all around, but it was nice to see Connery as Robin Hood, Hepburn in a rare later career role and Shaw not being eaten by a shark.

 

[OzzyFan]

Nomadland
3.00 out of 4stars

People are likely going to see this faux-documentary in 1 of 2 ways, as I believe posters have previously discussed on. 1, it's a movie about a super low income American migrant worker traveling within the United States place to place and job to job and interacting with people, some repeatedly, some not, doing everyday things poorer people do in a nomadic fashion, which some equate as boring. 2, it's a piece of art that portrays how some are living after major local or pandemic or otherwise recessions that have/had nothing to their name and no background/education/experience/qualifications for them to hold anything beyond a near minimum wage job and needed to travel to survive.

I lean more towards the latter answer, but I'm not completely sold this is a masterpiece either. It's effective, yet tedious. Meaningful, yet plain. Informative, but wandering. It's a story that's complete in what it wants to do, yet is classically underdeveloped and rough around the edges in many ways (probably because of style of how it was made). Also, someone loves Ludovico Einaudi's music and wide shots when they made this film, probably for contemplative and visual purposes. Not complaining, just stating. I am an Einaudi fan for the record. And McDormand is perfect among the non-actor actors she works with. Some good messages in there too.

 

[Puck]

Judas and the Black Messiah, Directed by Shaka King, 7.5

Bill O'Neal infiltrates the Black Panther Party per FBI Agent Mitchell and J. Edgar Hoover. As Party Chairman Fred Hampton ascends, falling for a fellow revolutionary en route, a battle wages for O'Neal's soul.

It's a good film but from an entertainment standpoint, I did not find this 'activist' flick as good as The Trial of the Chicago 7. It was however a bit more shocking. I found the acting very good, but Daniel Kaluuya seemed a bit old for playing Hampton who was just over 20. It might have been more interesting if the movie had focused more on Hampton but it pivots too much into the betrayer's story and the brutal and manipulative police tactics used to bring down Hampton. In other words, it spends too much time on Judas and not enough on the Messiah IMHO. It's a broody, foreboding story, Martin Sheen plays a hauntingly sinister J Edgar Hoover. I recommend it but you have to be in the mood for a gloomy tale and sad ending. Very educational though during Black history month and in the aftermath of the year's BLM protests.

 

[Osprey]

Nomadland (2020) - 5/10 (Didn't like or dislike it)

Living in her van a few years after the 2008 "Great Recession," a widow (Frances McDormand) travels from state to state, taking odd jobs and meeting other people living the same way. This slow, poetic character study explores the nomadic culture of people who, for economic or personal reasons, choose to live on the move. As always, McDormand is very good and carries the film. It's beginning to feel like a familiar character for her, but she plays it well. The cinematography is also good, with many wide shots putting scenes in context with nature. I was not a big fan of the story, though, which wandered (like its main character) and relied on a number of coincidences (like running into the same person in multiple states). What I liked the least, however, is that I found it a bit depressing. It's not sad, per se, but there's little happiness in it. I don't think that it's so much the subject because I loved Leave No Trace, which is about more extreme homelessness. It may be it's because it's just perpetually grey and cloudy, with not enough bright spots to balance things. McDormand's character is also a little standoff-ish and hard to connect with, and doesn't change much. That and every other character being likable made the story feel a little bland. It's like a documentary showing an average year in the life of a nomad, with no real lows or highs. It felt like a film trying to be meaningful because of the weight of its topic, not because of the quality of its story. It'll receive award nominations because of its topic and the fact that it's technically well made, but it didn't do much for me, personally. If you think that you may appreciate it better, though, you can now find it on Hulu.

 

[OzzyFan]

Judas and the Black Messiah, Directed by Shaka King, 7.5


It's a good film but from an entertainment standpoint, I did not find this 'activist' flick as good as The Trial of the Chicago 7. It was however a bit more shocking. I found the acting very good, but Daniel Kaluuya seemed a bit old for playing Hampton who was just over 20. It might have been more interesting if the movie had focused more on Hampton but it pivots too much into the betrayer's story and the brutal and manipulative police tactics used to bring down Hampton. In other words, it spends too much time on Judas and not enough on the Messiah IMHO. It's a broody, foreboding story, Martin Sheen plays a hauntingly sinister J Edgar Hoover. I recommend it but you have to be in the mood for a gloomy tale and sad ending. Very educational though during Black history month and in the aftermath of the year's BLM protests.

Yeah, I too found it interesting that the more intriguing character of the film was the supporting actor in Hampton. While O'Neal's personal struggle is interesting and his involvement with the FBI is central to the story, far and away Hampton is the more interesting and important figure historically. It's pretty much like you said or at minimum hinted at, who would make a movie centering on Jesus and give Judas more screen time? Especially when you see and consider (at least as how it played out on screen) that O'Neal feels like a very mindless and selfish troubled person, creating his own misery and putting himself in poor situations repeatedly. Also, because of Kaluuya's performance and the material, I think he has to be the favorite for best supporting actor.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Before The Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) - 6/10

I don't know wtf Marissa Tomei is doing in this film or who directed her to act this way. Anyways, the rest of the movie is way too relentlessly bleak to enjoy. Just feels very monotonic. The multiple perspective botched robbery thing probably would've worked great had the Coen brothers or someone directed it instead of an old Sidney Lumet.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Knock Knock (Roth, 2015) - Prime has been pushing this to me for a while now, so I bit. Not only did I watch it, but this being a remake, I also went out of my way to watch the original film, and the film that inspired the original film... At first I thought Roth was trying to make his own sexy female version of Funny Games, but was kind of relieved to realize it was based on sleaze from the 70s (I guess not aiming to the skies makes it less of a failure at landing). The intention is not clear, and Keanu Reeves' bottom of the barrel performance crosses out pretty much any attempt at suspense or shock - seriously, that's the worst performance of all three films, and the first one was pretty much amateur reels. 3/10

Maybe a little context on the story/ies: A man, happily married (or not married at all), mélomane, arranger or ex-DJ, relunctantly gets into (or initiates) sexual encounters with two young girls. The girls just won't leave his house, and when he loses patience, they inform him that he is a criminal (admitting or pretending to be minors), and decide to make him pay. It seems some have tried to push feminist themes to these films, but they (at least Roth's film and its direct origin) are clearly misogynistic fantasies, ironically trying to make misandry the subject of a film where women are the objects.

Death Game (Traynor, 1977) - Disputes on set between a first time director and his crew and more experienced actors (two of them having Academy Awards nominations- !!!- both in '68, and Cassel for Cassavetes' Faces) are used as explanation for its lack of focus: the director wanting more comedy and sleaze, the crew wanting more suspense and intrigue as that's what was presented to them when they signed up (result: everybody lost, it's neither funny, sexy or suspenseful). Still, this is the only film of the three having a signature, even if a very poor one. Aesthetically, it's often bordering on horror - but Traynor, not really knowing what he was doing, seems to readily confuse chaos with directing style. This whole mess probably explains why Roth's remake - which remains surprisingly close to this one - lacks in clear tone and intention. 2.5/10

Little Miss Innocence (Warfield, 1973) - This looks like the true origin of Knock Knock's core. Pure sexploitation, it is less guilty than the other two of straightforward migogyny. It's directed by a guy who was making sleaze illicit 8mm reels before porn was a thing - and it is clearly more honest than the other two films. The male character is not presented as the innocent victim of the two malicious young girls - well not entirely - and the ending might open some possible other readings. The version I was able to find is heavily cut - to the point of confusion at the end - so I might have missed some angle. I can't really rate it, but I can say I enjoyed it more than the other two (even with the 30 minutes missing - or maybe because it was such a short watch).

 

[kihei]

Judas and the Black Messiah, Directed by Shaka King, 7.5

Bill O'Neal infiltrates the Black Panther Party per FBI Agent Mitchell and J. Edgar Hoover. As Party Chairman Fred Hampton ascends, falling for a fellow revolutionary en route, a battle wages for O'Neal's soul.

It's a good film but from an entertainment standpoint, I did not find this 'activist' flick as good as The Trial of the Chicago 7. It was however a bit more shocking. I found the acting very good, but Daniel Kaluuya seemed a bit old for playing Hampton who was just over 20. It might have been more interesting if the movie had focused more on Hampton but it pivots too much into the betrayer's story and the brutal and manipulative police tactics used to bring down Hampton. In other words, it spends too much time on Judas and not enough on the Messiah IMHO. It's a broody, foreboding story, Martin Sheen plays a hauntingly sinister J Edgar Hoover. I recommend it but you have to be in the mood for a gloomy tale and sad ending. Very educational though during Black history month and in the aftermath of the year's BLM protests.

Yeah, I too found it interesting that the more intriguing character of the film was the supporting actor in Hampton. While O'Neal's personal struggle is interesting and his involvement with the FBI is central to the story, far and away Hampton is the more interesting and important figure historically. It's pretty much like you said or at minimum hinted at, who would make a movie centering on Jesus and give Judas more screen time? Especially when you see and consider (at least as how it played out on screen) that O'Neal feels like a very mindless and selfish troubled person, creating his own misery and putting himself in poor situations repeatedly. Also, because of Kaluuya's performance and the material, I think he has to be the favorite for best supporting actor.

I think the movie is indeed meant, in part, to be an educational document. Ironically, it will probably be at least as educational to my generation, the generation who were contemporaries to these events, as it will be to younger generations. Back in the day, white moderates and liberals were very comfortable with some civil rights figures, like Martin Luther King, who preached non-violence, but decidedly uncomfortable with others, Malcolm X, and all the leading Black Panther figures whose "freedom by any means" message scared the shit out of white folk generally. Obviously the view of the Black Panthers that the media presented back then reinforced this divide between "peaceful" and "violent if necessary" protest, stoking the fear and promoting the notion that these were just a few hot heads. When it came to how the authorities handled the Black Panther movement, a lot of people didn't ask too many questions. I think the movie does a laudable job of depicting why black activists were so angry and how justified that anger was. This different perspective may prove bracing to some of my contemporaries, I suspect.

Which is one of the reason why I think the movie needed to devote as much attention as it did to the Judas figure. Because it is through his interaction with the authorities that we see where the lion's portion of the violence came from. Subtract him and you have to severely limit the role of the FBI agent, the portrayal of the racism so deeply embedded in the system, and the machinations of J. Edgar Hoover, who might have been the second most powerful man in Washington at the time. I think to lessen the focus on the informer would be a bad idea because Judas and the Black Messiah is certainly drawing a parallel between systemic authoritarian racism then and systemic authoritarian racism now. It is worth remembering that the Black Panthers, a local phenomenon initially, were brought into national prominence by the murder of an unarmed 17-year-old black kid in Oakland. Obviously the contemporary parallels are pretty hard to miss.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Plonger (Laurent, 2017) - I wasn't aware that Mélanie Laurent was now a filmmaker. Watching it, with the artist's struggle and the quest for one's self themes, I thought for sure it was her first film, but no, she already had a few under her belt at that point. It kind of drags and ain't overly engaging, but it's a beautiful film, with very good performances, and it avoids most clichés (apart from the overdone above-mentioned themes). 4.5/10

Peppermint (Morel, 2018) - How many films have I seen with this woman secretly trained into a killing machine? Couldn't say exactly, 'cause I can't remember a single one, but I know it's a lot. This is pretty much the female version of Bernthal's Punisher: witness to her family's murder near a carousel, took a bullet to the head but survived and comes back against the whole system. Big yawn, not better or worse than the batch of films it imitates. 3/10

 

[Puck]

I think the movie is indeed meant, in part, to be an educational document. Ironically, it will probably be at least as educational to my generation, the generation who were contemporaries to these events, as it will be to younger generations. Back in the day, white moderates and liberals were very comfortable with some civil rights figures, like Martin Luther King, who preached non-violence, but decidedly uncomfortable with others, Malcolm X, and all the leading Black Panther figures whose "freedom by any means" message scared the shit out of white folk generally. Obviously the view of the Black Panthers that the media presented back then reinforced this divide between "peaceful" and "violent if necessary" protest, stoking the fear and promoting the notion that these were just a few hot heads. When it came to how the authorities handled the Black Panther movement, a lot of people didn't ask too many questions. I think the movie does a laudable job of depicting why black activists were so angry and how justified that anger was. This different perspective may prove bracing to some of my contemporaries, I suspect.

Which is one of the reason why I think the movie needed to devote as much attention as it did to the Judas figure. Because it is through his interaction with the authorities that we see where the lion's portion of the violence came from. Subtract him and you have to severely limit the role of the FBI agent, the portrayal of the racism so deeply embedded in the system, and the machinations of J. Edgar Hoover, who might have been the second most powerful man in Washington at the time. I think to lessen the focus on the informer would be a bad idea because Judas and the Black Messiah is certainly drawing a parallel between systemic authoritarian racism then and systemic authoritarian racism now. It is worth remembering that the Black Panthers, a local phenomenon initially, were brought into national prominence by the murder of an unarmed 17-year-old black kid in Oakland. Obviously the contemporary parallels are pretty hard to miss.

Good analysis. I read in a Variety article that another reason for using the Judas figure more prominently was that it was difficult to find the financing needed to make the movie if it was primarily just Hampton in the story. Which is similar to your point I suppose, that using a Black Panther symbol is uncomfortable in some circles and this is a good workaround. Come to think of it, it might also have been a reason in One Night in Miami to use a boxing legend everyone knows (Ali), a football great (Brown) and music star (Cooke) in order to introduce and educate an audience to a more controversial and uncomfortable figure, Malcom X.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Den of Thieves

with Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber, and lots of muscly guys with tattoos and penetrating stares.

An armoured car robbery and theft in LA leaves several people dead after a bloody shootout. An unwashed, unshaved Gerard Butler and his cadre of detectives show up to work the case, and soon set their sights on the recently-paroled Pablo Schreiber and his crew of various pumped-up former marines. They kidnap the unarmed driver and do some arm-twisting to gain a man on the inside, but the thieves quickly suss him out and use him to feed bad info back to the scruffy cops. They definitely are planning a heist however; they've got their sights on the heavily guarded Federal Reserve building, and their aim is to steal loads of money that's about to be shredded. Much macho posturing ensues.

Meh. Saw it last night and barely remember a thing. Had to look up the ending. They spend a lot more time standing around flexing than doing anything. The main cop gets a divorce/shitty father subplot that could've easily been cut. 50 Cent also shows up and does not much. He and his muscly, tattooed buddies intimidate his daughter's terrified prom date in another pointless scene. Yawn. Action movie with no action.

On Netflix, where there are thousands of other, better movies to watch instead of this.

"If you tell *anyone* how many steroids I did to get jacked for this stupid movie...!!"

 

[kihei]

Good analysis. I read in a Variety article that another reason for using the Judas figure more prominently was that it was difficult to find the financing needed to make the movie if it was primarily just Hampton in the story. Which is similar to your point I suppose, that using a Black Panther symbol is uncomfortable in some circles and this is a good workaround. Come to think of it, it might also have been a reason in One Night in Miami to use a boxing legend everyone knows (Ali), a football great (Brown) and music star (Cooke) in order to introduce and educate an audience to a more controversial and uncomfortable figure, Malcom X.

They actually all really did meet after the fight, crazy though that sounds. Of course, no one knows what they talked about, but the meeting did occur.

 

[nameless1]

They actually all really did meet after the fight, crazy though that sounds. Of course, no one knows what they talked about, but the meeting did occur.

That meeting seems to have gone up in importance as the years passed. It does not make the cut in Spike Lee's Malcolm X, but then in the new millennium, Michael Mann puts it in Ali, though it focuses on Malcolm and Ali, while Cooke and Brown are either not there, or cut out of frame very quickly.

 

[nameless1]

Good analysis. I read in a Variety article that another reason for using the Judas figure more prominently was that it was difficult to find the financing needed to make the movie if it was primarily just Hampton in the story. Which is similar to your point I suppose, that using a Black Panther symbol is uncomfortable in some circles and this is a good workaround. Come to think of it, it might also have been a reason in One Night in Miami to use a boxing legend everyone knows (Ali), a football great (Brown) and music star (Cooke) in order to introduce and educate an audience to a more controversial and uncomfortable figure, Malcom X.

To be honest, if people want to know more about Malcolm X, Spike Lee's movie about him is probably the best one they can watch. Not only does it have artistic merit, it is quite accurate too.

 

[Chili]

Hell is for Heroes-1962

Realistic war film about a small battle on the Siegfried Line WWII, a small squad is left to hold a wide area on the Allied side (apparently Stanley Kubrick's favorite war movie, JFK watched it many times). Steve McQueen playing a role close to his off screen character(he was a loner and marine for 3 years who had trouble following military rules, busted multiple times). His kind of script, very few lines.

VGood cast. Squeezes in some humor with Bob Newhart. Dark and to the point.

King Solomon's Mines -1937

A treasure map, a dangerous journey through the desert & angry natives face Alan Quartermain and friends in the quest to find a diamond mine. Much of the movie filmed on location. Paul Robeson, great voice, sings several songs. Interesting adventure tale.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Before The Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) - 6/10

I don't know wtf Marissa Tomei is doing in this film or who directed her to act this way. Anyways, the rest of the movie is way too relentlessly bleak to enjoy. Just feels very monotonic. The multiple perspective botched robbery thing probably would've worked great had the Coen brothers or someone directed it instead of an old Sidney Lumet.

To Live (1994) - 7.5/10

It's bleak just like the movie I reviewed earlier but this is an enjoyable bleak. It isn't monotonous, its got its share of amusing scenes and has actually more tension than the actual crime thriller plus acting which feels on par with an actual film. It does lay on the melodrama a bit thick at times but you can actually empathize and connect to characters here, there's a human side to them. I always think of the government when I think of communist China so it's nice to see a film give face to the ordinary people.

 

[kihei]

Hell is for Heroes-1962

Realistic war film about a small battle on the Siegfried Line WWII, a small squad is left to hold a wide area on the Allied side (apparently Stanley Kubrick's favorite war movie, JFK watched it many times). Steve McQueen playing a role close to his off screen character(he was a loner and marine for 3 years who had trouble following military rules, busted multiple times). His kind of script, very few lines.

VGood cast. Squeezes in some humor with Bob Newhart. Dark and to the point.

My favourite Steve McQueen role in this vein is The War Lovers, another World War II movie in which he plays a pilot of a bomber who has a little bit more than the average amount of psychopath in him.

 

[nameless1]

Before The Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) - 6/10

I don't know wtf Marissa Tomei is doing in this film or who directed her to act this way. Anyways, the rest of the movie is way too relentlessly bleak to enjoy. Just feels very monotonic. The multiple perspective botched robbery thing probably would've worked great had the Coen brothers or someone directed it instead of an old Sidney Lumet.

Lumet can be all over the place in terms of quality, but I honestly do not see any problems with his direction. This turned out to be his final work too, so as a big Lumet fan, I am probably softer on it than I normally would. It is not a masterpiece, but I also think it is not a bad way to end a career either.

 

[kihei]

Before The Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) - 6/10

I don't know wtf Marissa Tomei is doing in this film or who directed her to act this way. Anyways, the rest of the movie is way too relentlessly bleak to enjoy....

"Relentlessly bleak" can equal some damn good movies. Here's a whole bunch off the top of my head (in no particular order):

Manchester by the Sea
Sophie's Choice
The Hunt
Cries and Whispers
Au Hasard Balthazar
Loveless
Amour
4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days
Scenes from a Marriage
Irreversible
45 Years
Away from Her
Three Colors: Blue
Leviathan
Hope
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
You Were Never Really Here
Blue Valentine
The White Ribbon
Brokeback Mountain
Mystic River
The Hours
Elephant
Breaking the Waves
Dancer in the Dark
Vera Drake
12 Years a Slave
Come and See
Lilya 4-ever
The Piano Teacher
Happiness
Boys Don't Cry
Leaving Las Vegas
The Road
Kes
Hotel Rwanda
Million Dollar Baby
The Turin Horse

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Amar (Crespo, 2017) - The film opens at that moment of symbiosis where you think feelings are pure and eternal, overflowed with light. It goes on a loop and comes back to the original "I am you" exchange, but with no conviction anymore ; 1+1 doesn't equal 1. The innocent simplicity of the whole thing has its charms, but comes with stifling contraints - but as limited as the main story is, the secondary characters all come with the impression of unexplored depths and complexities which is a very nice touch. 4.5/10

 

[Puck]

Yeah, I too found it interesting that the more intriguing character of the film was the supporting actor in Hampton. While O'Neal's personal struggle is interesting and his involvement with the FBI is central to the story, far and away Hampton is the more interesting and important figure historically. It's pretty much like you said or at minimum hinted at, who would make a movie centering on Jesus and give Judas more screen time? Especially when you see and consider (at least as how it played out on screen) that O'Neal feels like a very mindless and selfish troubled person, creating his own misery and putting himself in poor situations repeatedly. Also, because of Kaluuya's performance and the material, I think he has to be the favorite for best supporting actor.

A lot of people seem to agree with you about the strength of the Daniel Kaluuya performance. He is getting a lot of buzz since the Judas film was released on HBO Max on February 1. While the film's spotlight may have focused on the Judas character more, Kaluuya's acting performance as Hampton may wind up eclipsing Stanfield's in the end anyway. Current favorites for Best Supporting Actor seem to be Kaluuya; Chadwick Boseman, (Da 5 Bloods); Leslie Odom Jr., (One Night in Miami); Jared Leto, (The Little Things); Sacha Baron Cohen, (The Trial of the Chicago 7)

This film was not on many people's radar before Feb. 1, its popularity is skyrocketing now. My personal pref is still Nomadland and Trial of Chicago 7. But I am rating Judas higher now than Ma Rainey's, or One Night in Miami.

My only complaint about Kaluuya was his age. But I gather the Director was looking more for a strong acting performance than finding someone that looked more 20 like Hampton, than 30. They might not have been able to find such a younger actor to carry the load.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Nomadland (2020) - 5/10 (Didn't like or dislike it)

Living in her van a few years after the 2008 "Great Recession," a widow (Frances McDormand) travels from state to state, taking odd jobs and meeting other people living the same way. This slow, poetic character study explores the nomadic culture of people who, for economic or personal reasons, choose to live on the move. As always, McDormand is very good and carries the film. It's beginning to feel like a familiar character for her, but she plays it well. The cinematography is also good, with many wide shots putting scenes in context with nature. I was not a big fan of the story, though, which wandered (like its main character) and relied on a number of coincidences (like running into the same person in multiple states). What I liked the least, however, is that I found it a bit depressing. It's not sad, per se, but there's little happiness in it. I don't think that it's so much the subject because I loved Leave No Trace, which is about more extreme homelessness. It may be it's because it's just perpetually grey and cloudy, with not enough bright spots to balance things. McDormand's character is also a little standoff-ish and hard to connect with, and doesn't change much. That and every other character being likable made the story feel a little bland. It's like a documentary showing an average year in the life of a nomad, with no real lows or highs. It felt like a film trying to be meaningful because of the weight of its topic, not because of the quality of its story. It'll receive award nominations because of its topic and the fact that it's technically well made, but it didn't do much for me, personally. If you think that you may appreciate it better, though, you can now find it on Hulu.

It's funny because for me I think its fairly low-key pitch and lack of drama is one of its strengths. I like that it ultimately avoids any sort of dramatic cliches or big events. Interesting aside is that my wife, when we talked afterward, said she spent the entire moving worried that Fern was going to be assaulted or raped at some point. Woman out there in the world mostly alone it's really easy to imagine the story making a much more dramatic turn toward something like that in the hands of other writer/directors. I like that it doesn't do that. Nor does it have any big fights or confrontations or sudden revelations. I get why some folks may want that and/or expect that and lacking that, they see this as bland.

I didn't think it was depressing. Melancholy is the word I'd use. There's not really a bad person in the movie (maybe the in-laws in their brief scene) but on the whole Fern herself and her world are generally humane and giving and supportive people. The circumstances are tough, but there is hope and uplift there. And freedom. I like the ambiguity of the ending. Fern has made a step. But to what?

I think Nomadland has plenty to say about loss and grief and capitalism and a few other topics but it does it fairly quietly, often just with images. It's a small movie about big things. It's so small in fact that while I won't spoil the biggest dramatic moment in the movie (at least IMO), when it occurs it truly stunned me. It's so small that if I said what happens anyone who hasn't seen movie would probably say WTF is this idiot talking about but in the scheme of these characters and this movie it was almost heartbreaking to me ... That the issue winds up being resolved fairly easily I think says everything about Fern and the movie itself.

In addition to Leave No Trace I'd also draw a parallel to Wendy and Lucy as another story of economic hardship where the character's world is so small every event is so big.

 

[Chili]

My favourite Steve McQueen role in this vein is The War Lovers, another World War II movie in which he plays a pilot of a bomber who has a little bit more than the average amount of psychopath in him.

All I can remember from that film is the climax, will check it out again. Currently reading a biography on the 'King of Cool' (by Christopher Sandford). Real rough childhood and reading about his life some of the film characters he played are eerily similar. Le Mans was a film it took him several years to get made. He was into racing anything with wheels and walked away from seemingly dozens of crashes. He comes across as a bit like Errol Flynn (babes), Lee Marvin (booze) and Howard Hughes (eventually paranoid).

 

[OzzyFan]

I think the movie is indeed meant, in part, to be an educational document. Ironically, it will probably be at least as educational to my generation, the generation who were contemporaries to these events, as it will be to younger generations. Back in the day, white moderates and liberals were very comfortable with some civil rights figures, like Martin Luther King, who preached non-violence, but decidedly uncomfortable with others, Malcolm X, and all the leading Black Panther figures whose "freedom by any means" message scared the shit out of white folk generally. Obviously the view of the Black Panthers that the media presented back then reinforced this divide between "peaceful" and "violent if necessary" protest, stoking the fear and promoting the notion that these were just a few hot heads. When it came to how the authorities handled the Black Panther movement, a lot of people didn't ask too many questions. I think the movie does a laudable job of depicting why black activists were so angry and how justified that anger was. This different perspective may prove bracing to some of my contemporaries, I suspect.

Which is one of the reason why I think the movie needed to devote as much attention as it did to the Judas figure. Because it is through his interaction with the authorities that we see where the lion's portion of the violence came from. Subtract him and you have to severely limit the role of the FBI agent, the portrayal of the racism so deeply embedded in the system, and the machinations of J. Edgar Hoover, who might have been the second most powerful man in Washington at the time. I think to lessen the focus on the informer would be a bad idea because Judas and the Black Messiah is certainly drawing a parallel between systemic authoritarian racism then and systemic authoritarian racism now. It is worth remembering that the Black Panthers, a local phenomenon initially, were brought into national prominence by the murder of an unarmed 17-year-old black kid in Oakland. Obviously the contemporary parallels are pretty hard to miss.

Thanks for this. Background context and purpose in this regard make that Judas choice more understandable. I obviously didn't grow up or live through that, but now I see the reasoning. I just found Hampton with Kaluuya much more powerful and intriguing when on screen and really wanted to see more of what he had to say, believe in, and do, factual or fictionalized (not that the side story wasn't important or worth telling). I get it though. Thanks.

 

[OzzyFan]

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