As always, it’s the weekend, and that means we can talk about anything published this week, or anything you’ve got on your mind. Are you outraged by the outrage overload? Just wanna talk about something great you saw? Here’s the place!
Has anyone had any success getting older family members to watch modern, serialized, non-CBS procedural shows?
I think I successfully got my mom hooked on Arrow and The Flash and Justified, as well (it was just added to Hulu). She didn't like The Good Place. She also hates sci-fi, so something like The Orville and Person of Interest are a no go. She recently got rid of cable, so I'm trying to think of some other shows that may be Boomer-friendly that lend well to binging.
One - Little America on Apple TV+ is so very good. It is a much needed escape from...well, everything.
Two - Speaking of Apple TV+ I think people have been too quick to write it off. I think it is growing both in content and quality. Also, it doesn't have to succeed in the same way that other services need to survive. It is part of the larger Apple ecosystem so as long as they have a few shows people really like they will keep buying Apple products to view them.
Three - Not to get all Oscar prediction-ing but I'm seeing that momentum has been building for 1917 and I'm not mad! It's a pretty great film. If the 2020 Oscars comes down to 1917 and Parasite then we all win.
Hope everybody is doing well! Take care of yourselves out there.
0. Avoiding outrage here, because it's so readily (and justifiably) visible elsewhere.
1. Hoping The Good Place sticks the landing. This week's episode provides a good setup.
2. William Gibson's _Agency_ dropped, but I'm picking up my copy when the man himself visits this upcoming week. Trying to avoid spoilers, but it sounds just as good as The Peripheral.
Watched Serenity (2019) last night. Has to be seen to be believed. And I’m still not sure I believe that it exists. Would make a great WTF double feature with Winter’s Tale.
First, thank you Drew for offering this space every week. Grateful for a place to talk about what I watch with less noise.
I finally got to I LOST MY BODY this week. I wish I took away from it what you did. I lost sympathy for Naoufel early on, and by the time that story intersected with that of the hand, I was largely disengaged.
Life hasn't allowed for a ton of movie watching, but I'm excited to revisit PARASITE (which just landed in my digital library), and I'm considering a rewatch of KNIVES OUT, in the hope it reveals more on second viewing. Later this week I'm seeing JOJO RABBIT again, with Taika Waititi in attendance. Can't wait.
On the TV front, I dove headfirst into THE EXPANSE, and I'm hooked. Also started UNDONE, the rotoscoped Amazon series from the guy who made BOJACK HORSEMAN. I havent wrapped my head around it yet, but I still want more.
Got a new job near the end of last year, so I missed out on some movies, shows, etc... still playing catch up. You may have answered this one, but how do you determine what you’re going to watch on a daily/weekly basis?
In life outside of pop culture, my Dawgs just fixed their biggest issue from 2019 by hiring an OC that can run a modern offense. This means for the first time since Kirby's been in Athens our outstanding defense (projected to be the best in CFB in 2020) will be paired with an offense designed to get the ball to players in space over the middle and down the field for maximum YAC. No more will we stubbornly play inside a 20 yard phone booth, only throwing the ball outside the hashes. As a result, there's not much to complain about right now on that front. Not happy the Braves let Donaldson sign with the Twins, but it was always a leap to expect uninvested ownership to spend like drunken sailors on shore leave.
The backdoor pilot for Green Arrow and the Canaries was okay, but not as good as I was hoping it would be. The last few Arrowverse shows haven't been very good, sacrificing good storytelling and character development for preachy nonsense that appeals to smaller and smaller audiences (check the ratings). It's possible to tell great stories with any message you want (check out any Whedonverse show or most good sci-fi like the original Star Trek, DS9, or BSG for proof of that), but to do so in such an un-artful way makes for painful viewing. I'm not against messages, whatever they may be, in a television show. I just want it to be entertaining, but these newer, younger writers forget to make entertainment their top priority.
Be they novelists, comic book writers, screenwriters, or TV writers: To them, the message is more important than the story. Instead of using allegory or metaphor as a way to reach their audience, they preach. Perhaps they're worried the audience is too stupid to understand? Regardless of the reason, it vastly lessens the impact of the message and shrinks the audience because no one wants to be preached-to or even worse, -at. If you want people to learn a lesson, or consider a different point of view, it's much better to come at them sideways. To bluntly hammer your point home is a quick way to be ignored. You must first seek to entertain. If you can entertain, your desired message will be far easier received. A spoonful of sugar and all that. Someone sit all the millennial writers down and have them collectively binge old episodes of Star Trek and Buffy to see what it means to write entertaining stories that contain important messages.
As far as what's playing at the theater, I'd love to go see The Last Full Measure, if only because God knows how much longer Christopher Plummer will be around and he's a National Treasure. The "true life" story looks amazing, and the cast is solid all around. Other than that, the films getting wide release over the first few months of the year look kinda bleak. I hope Call of the Wild will be good, because I love the novel and Harrison Ford in equal measure. I'm curious about Birds of Prey and if DC can keep its recent win streak alive. I will avoid the ridiculous-looking Taylor Swift documentary Miss Americana because it looks, almost beat-for-beat, like a real-life (and thus incredibly lame and sad) version of the (prescient?) The Lonely Island film: Popstar - Never Stop Never Stopping.
Did anyone else get Popstar vibes when watching that trailer on Netflix? The lack of self-awareness from all involved is baffling. I'll just rewatch It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood to satisfy my documentary ya-yas.
Gonna rewatch The Matrix Trilogy this weekend. Just finished the first and it really is wild how it just plays like gangbusters every time you watch it.
Might also try to dive into Miyazaki for the first time this weekend as well.
Apparently missed the news yesterday Netflix got a deal with Criterion to bring Irishman and Marriage Story on a physical disk. I hope more movies are on the way
I was fortunate enough to see Color Out of Space in my areas only screening. I had about the same amount of excitement going in as I did for Blair Witch. Back in 1999, I walked out totally disappointed and bored. With Color I walked out with a huge smile, and so did my 16-yr-old son. We thought it was a blast.
I missed Hardware when I was in the Navy - I was either out at sea or drunk in a gutter - but I’m going to seek that out. And Dust Devil too. Oh, and Lost Soul is on Prime now.
Thanks to The Movie Crypt for interviewing Stanley, or I would have missed the boat again.
You mentioned Roger Zelazny's THE GUNS OF AVALON in this week's books. I just wanted to <slow clap> that. Zelazny is my literary hero. I just finished that a week ago and am rereading book three of the Amber Chronicles, THE SIGN OF THE UNICORN as we speak. I'm also reading his disciples, Steven Brust's book DRAGON and QUILLIFER from Walter Jon Williams.
Watched THE BLACK HOLE for the first time last night. Not a great movie, but the John Barry score felt like an evolution of MOONRAKER. Nice wireframe graphics on the opening credits as well.
Hey Drew, that TerraMaster NAS you mentioned for Plex. Does that plug directly into your computer or does it need a rack as a bypass? Thinking of upgrading.
There isn't a single movie I'm looking forward to more than Dune. But I'm also terrified because I think the studio might try to sell it as something more "mainstream " than it actually is. Like Jigsaw says: "I wanna play a game ". If you were a marketing executive, how would you market Dune, to make it clear what kind of story it is, but also to appeal to people unfamiliar with it.
My heart goes out to the Bryant family and any Angelinos here and everywhere. I love sports every bit as much as I love movies, and today is a shocking, terrible, sad, awful day. No icon I ever cheered and loved the way Angelinos felt about Kobe Bryant has ever been taken in such a way, so young, and with so much more to give to his community. There had been things Kobe had been putting into motion the last year or so to create a charitable legacy that would've been his lasting mark on the world. We can only hope his wife and family can carry this on his name.
Today brings to mind the lasting message Jonathan Larson left us before he too died far too young:
There's only us. There's only this. Forget regret, or life is your's to miss. No other road. No other way. No day but today.
Saw the Director's Cut of "Doctor Sleep" this weekend. That movie was way better than I thought it would be and I really think Mike Flanagan is turning into a director to look out for. "Hush", "Gerald's Game", "Haunting Of Hill House", "Doctor Sleep"... that guy has quite a track record!
Not this weekend but this week i saw A Beautiful day in the neighborhood. What a powerful movie! The movie doesnt come out til March in my country and we have no relationship whatever with Mr Rogers´ figure but the movie absolutely destroyed me. It is probably the most powerful study in recent years about the experience of being human and try to be a good person. Marielle Heller is a powerful filmaker. The final shot of the movie destroyed me
With Scott Derrickson pulling out of Dr Strange. I think a great replacement would be Richard Stanley and just wanted to back up what Drew said and if you have seen the documentary about the making of The Island of Dr. Moreau please do so!
Seeing that Mr. McWeeny had mentioned in a previous post that he had watched The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock I would like to share an experience I had with some younger(roughly 2 years or so younger then a guy like me who is 30) geeks watching some "big people" focused 50s/60s Sci-Fi movies on a Discord server back in late July 2019.
It was a delightful experience watching these younger people engage with these corny movies on a genuine level appreciation and curiosity. They loved talking about all sorts ancillary details of 50s culture, and the the cliches of 50s monsters movies. For instance, any time a shapely dressed heroic male scientist showed up to explain a movie's pseudoscience, that character was always dubbed Chad by the chat.
They also loved rooting for Dorothy Provine in 30ft Bride and anytime there was giant woman in one of these movies. Even when the movies didn't end the way they would want them too(especially since 30 ft Bride REALLY goes off the rails in the end) they loved seeing these female characters become so assertive and powerful in defiance of 50s culture norms.
It also gave a new found appreciation of the last film of the stream, the 1993 version of Attack of the 50 ft Woman. While that movie is frankly a mess(it opens with three different framing devices and never returns to either of them, WTF man?) it's ending is surprisingly cathartic after watching the previous movies were the giants are gunned down or defeated by other means.
Other highlights from the is stream included:
Several LGBTQ members watching the dancing teens from Village of the Giants and asking if this is what heterosexuality is like.
The affection they had for the bumbling Eddie Deezenesque sheriff's deputy in Attack of the 50ft Woman and his female counterpart in the remake.
Their utter befuddlement at the climax of 30ft Bride and the "single celled heart" explanation of of The Amazing Colossal Man.
Have finally gotten in my first substantial week of moviewatching this year. Watched "Harriet" finally (really good biopic), a short called "Miss Freelance," rewatched the "Bad Boys" flicks in prep for the new one, saw my first theatrical film in Almodovar's "Pain and Glory," rewatched "Top Gun" with my wife, and saw Malick's "A Hidden Life," rewatched "Pulp Fiction" for the first time in years, and showed my wife "2050," which I recorded a critics commentary for.
Of the new films, "Pain and Glory" and "A Hidden Life" probably had the strongest impact on me. "Pain and Glory" felt like a rejuvenating experience for me, much in the same way Banderas's Salvador feels rejuvenated when he revisits his most well-known film, and almost watches it with new perspective, leading him to reconnect with the star he was bitter towards for the liberties he took in his performance. This may be my favorite Almodovar film, and it would be great to see Banderas win an Oscar for the role. "A Hidden Life" spoke to me as an example of a man who is undeterred in his convictions in how he stands up to the evil of Hitler in WWII, even if it means never being able to go back to his life. Malick is someone I am hot and cold on, but this one resonated with me unexpectedly.
After Scorsese’s recent comments, I decided to rewatch Goodfellas. I saw The Irishman in the cinema, and thought it was fine, so I was curious how Goodfellas would hold up for me. And as much as it’s a good movie, I kind of felt the same way I did about The Irishman, it was fine. As much Marvel movies are fun rides, I don’t know that these films are really saying all that much either. But I’m alright with that, I mainly want to be entertained, and if it’s stories aimed at a wide general audience or more adult audience, it’s all the same to me. Maybe. I don’t know.
I did the double feature of the live action Attack On Titan films last night, and while I can see Goodfellas and The Irishman being better films, neither of them have the simple joy of seeing men in rubber suits beating each other up in. That’s where I seem to be at these days.
You have mentioned it before, but the need for movies to now throw everything out of the window so they can franchise and run forever reared its ugly head again with Bad Boys. Whilst I would love to see more craziness like BB2, BB3 was doing a decent job of being a decent action movie like part 1 until that ending. Having his son kill the captain (who is at his daughters Bball game) and then ending the movie instantly wiping that slate and setting the son up as the next hero to follow is hard to swallow. FF did it with Statham but this takes it to a new level. Makes it hard to recommend the movie at all and surprised most reviewers had no issue with it.
My week has been all over the place. Absolutely loved KNIVES + HEART — I kinda thought I didn’t need slashers in my life anymore but this was just gorgeous. Caught WITHOUT RESERVATIONS, one of the only straight romcoms John Wayne ever did, and it was pretty delightful, and hard to find (so thanks TCM). I scored twice on the Criterion Channel with 1) THE PROFESSIONALS, a really fun Lee Marvin heist-y western, and BAXTER, a film I’d never heard of, but belongs right beside WHITE DOG as the darkest dog-movies ever made (basically it’s a Dog-meets-Nazi story). Wanted to love QUEEN & SLIM but only liked; loved most of SLEEPING BEAUTY (the weird sleeping sex one, not the Disney); and then topped if off with the Nazisploitation flick THE BEAST IN HEAT (for reasons). ~Fin~
I recently finished an ebook from Kindle Unlimited titled Pixels to Premieres: A History of Video Game Movies. It was more of a book of reviews of video game adjacent movies in chronological order but I enjoyed it. I've been on a heavy cosmic horror kick as well reading and research wise and cannot wait for Stanley's A Colour Out of Space. I am currently reading The Netherwell Horror by Lee Mountford which I'm enjoying. I usually read a lot of nonfiction about film but I am trying to read more fiction this year.
As far as new stuff I have watched, I got a chance to sit down with A Perfect Host (2019) aka Adonis Complex. It releases next month and I really liked it. It was a weird little thriller and one folks should keep an eye out for,
I remember you had an encounter with Robert Urich. Am watching Yr 2 of Spenser for Hire. Did you like the show any? He was a pretty good TV guy--big screen not so much.
I just saw The Gentleman today and it was surprisingly really enjoyable! Definitely a diverting type of flick but for a January release it was a very pleasant surprise.
I impulse went to see The Turning on Thursday night and kinda loved it and I’m quickly realizing I may be in a very small minority. I liked the ending and the audience seemed really into the movie as a whole until the last ten or so minutes. Gorgeous looking movie at the very least, sadly I think it’ll be forgotten as a dud January horror movie. Curious if anyone else even remotely liked it.
Has anyone had any success getting older family members to watch modern, serialized, non-CBS procedural shows?
I think I successfully got my mom hooked on Arrow and The Flash and Justified, as well (it was just added to Hulu). She didn't like The Good Place. She also hates sci-fi, so something like The Orville and Person of Interest are a no go. She recently got rid of cable, so I'm trying to think of some other shows that may be Boomer-friendly that lend well to binging.
There are very few perfect films but damned if The Apartment isn’t one of them.
Three things are on my mind after this week:
One - Little America on Apple TV+ is so very good. It is a much needed escape from...well, everything.
Two - Speaking of Apple TV+ I think people have been too quick to write it off. I think it is growing both in content and quality. Also, it doesn't have to succeed in the same way that other services need to survive. It is part of the larger Apple ecosystem so as long as they have a few shows people really like they will keep buying Apple products to view them.
Three - Not to get all Oscar prediction-ing but I'm seeing that momentum has been building for 1917 and I'm not mad! It's a pretty great film. If the 2020 Oscars comes down to 1917 and Parasite then we all win.
Hope everybody is doing well! Take care of yourselves out there.
0. Avoiding outrage here, because it's so readily (and justifiably) visible elsewhere.
1. Hoping The Good Place sticks the landing. This week's episode provides a good setup.
2. William Gibson's _Agency_ dropped, but I'm picking up my copy when the man himself visits this upcoming week. Trying to avoid spoilers, but it sounds just as good as The Peripheral.
Watched Serenity (2019) last night. Has to be seen to be believed. And I’m still not sure I believe that it exists. Would make a great WTF double feature with Winter’s Tale.
First, thank you Drew for offering this space every week. Grateful for a place to talk about what I watch with less noise.
I finally got to I LOST MY BODY this week. I wish I took away from it what you did. I lost sympathy for Naoufel early on, and by the time that story intersected with that of the hand, I was largely disengaged.
Life hasn't allowed for a ton of movie watching, but I'm excited to revisit PARASITE (which just landed in my digital library), and I'm considering a rewatch of KNIVES OUT, in the hope it reveals more on second viewing. Later this week I'm seeing JOJO RABBIT again, with Taika Waititi in attendance. Can't wait.
On the TV front, I dove headfirst into THE EXPANSE, and I'm hooked. Also started UNDONE, the rotoscoped Amazon series from the guy who made BOJACK HORSEMAN. I havent wrapped my head around it yet, but I still want more.
Anyone else watching and rewatching the TENET trailer still? Just me? Didn’t realize how much I’d missed High Concept Action Nolan, I guess...
Got a new job near the end of last year, so I missed out on some movies, shows, etc... still playing catch up. You may have answered this one, but how do you determine what you’re going to watch on a daily/weekly basis?
Fair warning... it's all tl;dr.
In life outside of pop culture, my Dawgs just fixed their biggest issue from 2019 by hiring an OC that can run a modern offense. This means for the first time since Kirby's been in Athens our outstanding defense (projected to be the best in CFB in 2020) will be paired with an offense designed to get the ball to players in space over the middle and down the field for maximum YAC. No more will we stubbornly play inside a 20 yard phone booth, only throwing the ball outside the hashes. As a result, there's not much to complain about right now on that front. Not happy the Braves let Donaldson sign with the Twins, but it was always a leap to expect uninvested ownership to spend like drunken sailors on shore leave.
The backdoor pilot for Green Arrow and the Canaries was okay, but not as good as I was hoping it would be. The last few Arrowverse shows haven't been very good, sacrificing good storytelling and character development for preachy nonsense that appeals to smaller and smaller audiences (check the ratings). It's possible to tell great stories with any message you want (check out any Whedonverse show or most good sci-fi like the original Star Trek, DS9, or BSG for proof of that), but to do so in such an un-artful way makes for painful viewing. I'm not against messages, whatever they may be, in a television show. I just want it to be entertaining, but these newer, younger writers forget to make entertainment their top priority.
Be they novelists, comic book writers, screenwriters, or TV writers: To them, the message is more important than the story. Instead of using allegory or metaphor as a way to reach their audience, they preach. Perhaps they're worried the audience is too stupid to understand? Regardless of the reason, it vastly lessens the impact of the message and shrinks the audience because no one wants to be preached-to or even worse, -at. If you want people to learn a lesson, or consider a different point of view, it's much better to come at them sideways. To bluntly hammer your point home is a quick way to be ignored. You must first seek to entertain. If you can entertain, your desired message will be far easier received. A spoonful of sugar and all that. Someone sit all the millennial writers down and have them collectively binge old episodes of Star Trek and Buffy to see what it means to write entertaining stories that contain important messages.
As far as what's playing at the theater, I'd love to go see The Last Full Measure, if only because God knows how much longer Christopher Plummer will be around and he's a National Treasure. The "true life" story looks amazing, and the cast is solid all around. Other than that, the films getting wide release over the first few months of the year look kinda bleak. I hope Call of the Wild will be good, because I love the novel and Harrison Ford in equal measure. I'm curious about Birds of Prey and if DC can keep its recent win streak alive. I will avoid the ridiculous-looking Taylor Swift documentary Miss Americana because it looks, almost beat-for-beat, like a real-life (and thus incredibly lame and sad) version of the (prescient?) The Lonely Island film: Popstar - Never Stop Never Stopping.
Did anyone else get Popstar vibes when watching that trailer on Netflix? The lack of self-awareness from all involved is baffling. I'll just rewatch It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood to satisfy my documentary ya-yas.
Gonna rewatch The Matrix Trilogy this weekend. Just finished the first and it really is wild how it just plays like gangbusters every time you watch it.
Might also try to dive into Miyazaki for the first time this weekend as well.
Apparently missed the news yesterday Netflix got a deal with Criterion to bring Irishman and Marriage Story on a physical disk. I hope more movies are on the way
I miss commentary tracks! Do any of you have any favorites?
I was fortunate enough to see Color Out of Space in my areas only screening. I had about the same amount of excitement going in as I did for Blair Witch. Back in 1999, I walked out totally disappointed and bored. With Color I walked out with a huge smile, and so did my 16-yr-old son. We thought it was a blast.
I missed Hardware when I was in the Navy - I was either out at sea or drunk in a gutter - but I’m going to seek that out. And Dust Devil too. Oh, and Lost Soul is on Prime now.
Thanks to The Movie Crypt for interviewing Stanley, or I would have missed the boat again.
You mentioned Roger Zelazny's THE GUNS OF AVALON in this week's books. I just wanted to <slow clap> that. Zelazny is my literary hero. I just finished that a week ago and am rereading book three of the Amber Chronicles, THE SIGN OF THE UNICORN as we speak. I'm also reading his disciples, Steven Brust's book DRAGON and QUILLIFER from Walter Jon Williams.
Watched THE BLACK HOLE for the first time last night. Not a great movie, but the John Barry score felt like an evolution of MOONRAKER. Nice wireframe graphics on the opening credits as well.
Hey Drew, that TerraMaster NAS you mentioned for Plex. Does that plug directly into your computer or does it need a rack as a bypass? Thinking of upgrading.
There isn't a single movie I'm looking forward to more than Dune. But I'm also terrified because I think the studio might try to sell it as something more "mainstream " than it actually is. Like Jigsaw says: "I wanna play a game ". If you were a marketing executive, how would you market Dune, to make it clear what kind of story it is, but also to appeal to people unfamiliar with it.
My heart goes out to the Bryant family and any Angelinos here and everywhere. I love sports every bit as much as I love movies, and today is a shocking, terrible, sad, awful day. No icon I ever cheered and loved the way Angelinos felt about Kobe Bryant has ever been taken in such a way, so young, and with so much more to give to his community. There had been things Kobe had been putting into motion the last year or so to create a charitable legacy that would've been his lasting mark on the world. We can only hope his wife and family can carry this on his name.
Today brings to mind the lasting message Jonathan Larson left us before he too died far too young:
There's only us. There's only this. Forget regret, or life is your's to miss. No other road. No other way. No day but today.
Saw the Director's Cut of "Doctor Sleep" this weekend. That movie was way better than I thought it would be and I really think Mike Flanagan is turning into a director to look out for. "Hush", "Gerald's Game", "Haunting Of Hill House", "Doctor Sleep"... that guy has quite a track record!
Not this weekend but this week i saw A Beautiful day in the neighborhood. What a powerful movie! The movie doesnt come out til March in my country and we have no relationship whatever with Mr Rogers´ figure but the movie absolutely destroyed me. It is probably the most powerful study in recent years about the experience of being human and try to be a good person. Marielle Heller is a powerful filmaker. The final shot of the movie destroyed me
My girlfriend and I are watching the Nominated films and getting ready for the Oscars.
Nefta Football Club was very fun and I loved the ending.
Life Overtakes Me is very depressing but also showed a different perspective of immigration.
Klaus was a whimsical and enjoyable animated feature that I truly enjoyed.
American Factory was awkwardly eye opening. The difference of work ethics between Chinese and American workers is interesting.
A lot left to view going to go and decompress.
With Scott Derrickson pulling out of Dr Strange. I think a great replacement would be Richard Stanley and just wanted to back up what Drew said and if you have seen the documentary about the making of The Island of Dr. Moreau please do so!
I just watched The Sound of Fury for the first time this morning on TCM. A brutal noir; it would make a hell of a double feature with Ace In The Hole.
Seeing that Mr. McWeeny had mentioned in a previous post that he had watched The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock I would like to share an experience I had with some younger(roughly 2 years or so younger then a guy like me who is 30) geeks watching some "big people" focused 50s/60s Sci-Fi movies on a Discord server back in late July 2019.
It was a delightful experience watching these younger people engage with these corny movies on a genuine level appreciation and curiosity. They loved talking about all sorts ancillary details of 50s culture, and the the cliches of 50s monsters movies. For instance, any time a shapely dressed heroic male scientist showed up to explain a movie's pseudoscience, that character was always dubbed Chad by the chat.
They also loved rooting for Dorothy Provine in 30ft Bride and anytime there was giant woman in one of these movies. Even when the movies didn't end the way they would want them too(especially since 30 ft Bride REALLY goes off the rails in the end) they loved seeing these female characters become so assertive and powerful in defiance of 50s culture norms.
It also gave a new found appreciation of the last film of the stream, the 1993 version of Attack of the 50 ft Woman. While that movie is frankly a mess(it opens with three different framing devices and never returns to either of them, WTF man?) it's ending is surprisingly cathartic after watching the previous movies were the giants are gunned down or defeated by other means.
Other highlights from the is stream included:
Several LGBTQ members watching the dancing teens from Village of the Giants and asking if this is what heterosexuality is like.
The affection they had for the bumbling Eddie Deezenesque sheriff's deputy in Attack of the 50ft Woman and his female counterpart in the remake.
Their utter befuddlement at the climax of 30ft Bride and the "single celled heart" explanation of of The Amazing Colossal Man.
Watched the Shy People with my wife last night. I'm a sucker for anything on the Bayou. Music by Tangerine Dream!
Have finally gotten in my first substantial week of moviewatching this year. Watched "Harriet" finally (really good biopic), a short called "Miss Freelance," rewatched the "Bad Boys" flicks in prep for the new one, saw my first theatrical film in Almodovar's "Pain and Glory," rewatched "Top Gun" with my wife, and saw Malick's "A Hidden Life," rewatched "Pulp Fiction" for the first time in years, and showed my wife "2050," which I recorded a critics commentary for.
Of the new films, "Pain and Glory" and "A Hidden Life" probably had the strongest impact on me. "Pain and Glory" felt like a rejuvenating experience for me, much in the same way Banderas's Salvador feels rejuvenated when he revisits his most well-known film, and almost watches it with new perspective, leading him to reconnect with the star he was bitter towards for the liberties he took in his performance. This may be my favorite Almodovar film, and it would be great to see Banderas win an Oscar for the role. "A Hidden Life" spoke to me as an example of a man who is undeterred in his convictions in how he stands up to the evil of Hitler in WWII, even if it means never being able to go back to his life. Malick is someone I am hot and cold on, but this one resonated with me unexpectedly.
After Scorsese’s recent comments, I decided to rewatch Goodfellas. I saw The Irishman in the cinema, and thought it was fine, so I was curious how Goodfellas would hold up for me. And as much as it’s a good movie, I kind of felt the same way I did about The Irishman, it was fine. As much Marvel movies are fun rides, I don’t know that these films are really saying all that much either. But I’m alright with that, I mainly want to be entertained, and if it’s stories aimed at a wide general audience or more adult audience, it’s all the same to me. Maybe. I don’t know.
I did the double feature of the live action Attack On Titan films last night, and while I can see Goodfellas and The Irishman being better films, neither of them have the simple joy of seeing men in rubber suits beating each other up in. That’s where I seem to be at these days.
*Spoilers for BB3*
You have mentioned it before, but the need for movies to now throw everything out of the window so they can franchise and run forever reared its ugly head again with Bad Boys. Whilst I would love to see more craziness like BB2, BB3 was doing a decent job of being a decent action movie like part 1 until that ending. Having his son kill the captain (who is at his daughters Bball game) and then ending the movie instantly wiping that slate and setting the son up as the next hero to follow is hard to swallow. FF did it with Statham but this takes it to a new level. Makes it hard to recommend the movie at all and surprised most reviewers had no issue with it.
My week has been all over the place. Absolutely loved KNIVES + HEART — I kinda thought I didn’t need slashers in my life anymore but this was just gorgeous. Caught WITHOUT RESERVATIONS, one of the only straight romcoms John Wayne ever did, and it was pretty delightful, and hard to find (so thanks TCM). I scored twice on the Criterion Channel with 1) THE PROFESSIONALS, a really fun Lee Marvin heist-y western, and BAXTER, a film I’d never heard of, but belongs right beside WHITE DOG as the darkest dog-movies ever made (basically it’s a Dog-meets-Nazi story). Wanted to love QUEEN & SLIM but only liked; loved most of SLEEPING BEAUTY (the weird sleeping sex one, not the Disney); and then topped if off with the Nazisploitation flick THE BEAST IN HEAT (for reasons). ~Fin~
I recently finished an ebook from Kindle Unlimited titled Pixels to Premieres: A History of Video Game Movies. It was more of a book of reviews of video game adjacent movies in chronological order but I enjoyed it. I've been on a heavy cosmic horror kick as well reading and research wise and cannot wait for Stanley's A Colour Out of Space. I am currently reading The Netherwell Horror by Lee Mountford which I'm enjoying. I usually read a lot of nonfiction about film but I am trying to read more fiction this year.
As far as new stuff I have watched, I got a chance to sit down with A Perfect Host (2019) aka Adonis Complex. It releases next month and I really liked it. It was a weird little thriller and one folks should keep an eye out for,
I remember you had an encounter with Robert Urich. Am watching Yr 2 of Spenser for Hire. Did you like the show any? He was a pretty good TV guy--big screen not so much.
I just saw The Gentleman today and it was surprisingly really enjoyable! Definitely a diverting type of flick but for a January release it was a very pleasant surprise.
I impulse went to see The Turning on Thursday night and kinda loved it and I’m quickly realizing I may be in a very small minority. I liked the ending and the audience seemed really into the movie as a whole until the last ten or so minutes. Gorgeous looking movie at the very least, sadly I think it’ll be forgotten as a dud January horror movie. Curious if anyone else even remotely liked it.