Now Watching 2023

[chuckrh]

1 hour ago, Beltmann said:

 

Listen, at one point while watching Plane I shouted "Holy BALLS!" with a big smile on my face except it wasn't "balls" it was something else and I don't know what more we need from a January action movie but now I'm mad that I didn't get more popcorn.

Ya, it was definitely a good popcorn movie.

[Analogman]

Adventures in Rainbow Country (1970-1971) 

 

This seems to be some sort of an action adventure show for the whole family.  

[Beltmann]

It’s been nearly 30 years since I last watched Ace in the Hole, which stars Kirk Douglas as Chuck Tatum, an unprincipled journalist who exploits Leo, a local man stuck in a collapsed cave, for self-serving headlines. It's no surprise to see that Billy Wilder's 1951 film noir has lost none of its cynicism, savagery, and relevance. This time around I was especially struck by how the pocket-sized hole that traps Leo is used in relation to other locations in the film. The movie opens by placing Tatum in his own parallel series of claustrophobic spaces, including a broken convertible, a modest newsroom where he begs for a job, another car that obviously travels only via rear projection, a narrow mountain tunnel where he searches for Leo, and a small, empty diner where he calls his editor, seen through a window that frames him as a tiny, conniving man.

 

At the 55-minute mark, however, there’s a closeup of Tatum that slowly fades to black. What follows, I think, is perhaps the most pivotal shot in the movie. Positioned on the top of the mountain, the camera at first captures only a hulking drill grinding its black gears, but when the camera pans toward the steep slope, a much larger crew of workers is revealed. Then, startlingly, the camera refuses to slow, and we glimpse a massive pipe being hoisted up the mountainside. Below, at the base, there is a parking lot crowded by vehicles, moving trucks, and rows of congregating people. Without cutting, the camera tilts to reveal the sheer scale of the gathering, with tents, buses, and humming roadways in the distance. In this moment, the film broadens its visual canvas, replacing tiny spaces and rear projection with real locations, wide vistas, and a towering mountain. In this moment, the desperate, scoop-hungry Tatum is freed from his confined cell of obscurity and the effort to rescue Leo explodes into a large-scale, frenzied spectacle that will prove fruitful for the media, the capitalists, the politicians, and the crowd. Meanwhile, Leo’s cramped hole never changes. The exploitation keeps expanding, but we keep returning to that airless cavity, and that juxtaposition only becomes more conspicuous--and clarifying--as the story marches toward its inevitable conclusion.
 

 

[Analogman]

That's one of those movies I saw as a kid on a Saturday afternoon - most likely. 

[Beltmann]

I enjoyed Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes, which opens with a couple arriving at a mysterious German castle. What begins as a funny pastiche of '60s Eurohorror splinters into something entirely different, and the result becomes a meta experiment that blurs the line between reality, make-believe, the supernatural and movies. The introduction of a second couple creates thematic ripples between the various layers. All that doubling plays simultaneously as a parody of European art cinema and a sincere replica. There's also a practical gore effect that memorably exists, um, in the realm of the senses.

 

 

[TCP]

I saw this movie once in high school but I don't think I was paying close attention because I didn't remember any of it. But it's one of those films I always hear about so I decided to give it another go. Anyways, this movie sucks. There's some charm to the music and setting but I don't feel like it does representing early 90s Seattle. Heck, I think Twin Peaks is a better representation of that period (not Seattle but in the general vicinity, so close enough). Ultimately it feels like Seattle and the grunge music is just kind of superficially sprinkled in.

It felt like it should have been a TV show, because it has a ton of characters but outside of the main two you don't spend enough time with any of them to get to know them. And if it was a TV show they would have basically had the same premise of Friends but a few years earlier. Also the fact that the main guy's idea for "super train" was "great coffee and great music" was pretty hilarious. This guy's idea of great music is probably Alice In Chains and that is not a band I want to listen to at 8:15am. 

I watched the movie Before Sunrise last year. It's kind of a similar concept but I thought Before Sunrise did a much better job at using its location as a character. 

The older I get the more I just can't stand Cameron Crowe. Almost Famous was a favourite of mine growing up but I don't want to revisit it and risk having it ruined for me.

 

However, Singles was a cinematic masterpiece compared to another movie I also watched on the same night:

Every character in this movie is as obnoxious as hell. I was rooting for the capitalist guy at the end to shut down the store because I hated everyone so much.

 

Ok let me recommend something actually good:

We all knew The Last of Us was going to be fantastic, so Poker Face is the big surprise of winter 2023 for me. Each episode is a self contained story. It's not really a "whodunnit" but more of a "howcatchem". Natasha Lyonne is fantastic. Honestly some of these scripts are so tight you almost feel like you're watching a movie. Soundtrack is great too! 

[calvino]

We finished all three seasons of the Inbetweeners -- what a great, awesome, funny show. It held it's own all 18 episodes.

 

Yesterday, I watched Slacker  (Linklater's 1990 movie) --- I don't think I have watched it before - but could be wrong. I can see why I may have forgotten if I watched it or not -- the movie did not do much for me. Interesting concept, I guess. But it just seemed way to forced. Too soliloquy, which I guess was the point. I did like the old man and his daughter who walked into their home while someone was robbing it. The whole bit worked. The film was nicely shot nice -- never been to Austin, Texas but I definitely caught a vibe - especially when the old guy and young robber were walking around town. Linklater shot that whole scene nicely.  

[Beltmann]

On 2/24/2023 at 10:10 AM, TCP said:

However, Singles was a cinematic masterpiece compared to another movie I also watched on the same night:

 

So true. Singles hasn't dated well, and Empire Records has always been total cringe. I rewatched the latter not too long ago just to see if I had been unfair way back when. Nah.

[Beltmann]

22 hours ago, calvino said:

Yesterday, I watched Slacker  (Linklater's 1990 movie)

 

Slacker always peters out for me, but I've seen it countless times and keep going back to it. It's one of those early '90s movies that proved extremely formative and inspiring for this burgeoning cinephile, pushing me deeper into movie love.

[Beltmann]

Netflix's The Good Nurse offers proof that sometimes good performances aren't enough. There's nothing wrong with the way Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne bring to life the true crime story of a night nurse who suspects that her new coworker has poisoned a patient. But we all know from the headlines that serial killer Charles Cullen confessed to dozens of murders at several hospitals and most likely killed hundreds more, which renders inert the movie's main dramatic gear: Will Chastain elicit a confession from Redmayne? There is no edginess, no suspense as the answer evolves. I was interested in The Good Nurse mostly for director Tobias Lindholm, who located real tension in A Hijacking and internal complexity in A War. Unfortunately, that urgency completely escapes him here. The listlessness is exacerbated by the monotonous cinematography that turns every shot into dull, colorless, murky sludge. This commonplace visual design stopped looking like an aesthetic choice a long time ago--now it just looks lazy, cheap, and ugly.
 

 

[Boss_Tweedy]

This movie seemed a bit long, but as someone who unfortunately has personal experience dealing with narcissists I found this movie to be both powerful and triggering. Kate Blanchett absolutely nailed Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Kudos to her on a fantastic performance.

 

[calvino]

I have a old Bose system in my basement, where I watch movies that I know the rest of the family wouldn't be too interesting in --- just realized one the RCA chord inputs popped out ---- I just figured Linklater shot Slacker in black and white.

 

Was watching a 99 Stones DVD, I got through 3/4 of it and was wondering why they decided to shoot it in black and white --- I then thought to look at the back of the unit and sure enough one of the inputs popped out. 

 

Maybe I should re-watch Slacker and see if opinion changes...

[calvino]

16 hours ago, Boss_Tweedy said:

This movie seemed a bit long, but as someone who unfortunately has personal experience dealing with narcissists I found this movie to be both powerful and triggering. Kate Blanchett absolutely nailed Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Kudos to her on a fantastic performance.

 

 

 

This past week, we watched this ---- I thought it was pretty great - Blanchett was indeed fantastic. It was cool what the director/writer didn't show --- the alleged past incidents that occurred. The ending was interesting to. 

[uncool2pillow]

33 minutes ago, calvino said:

The ending was interesting to. 

I really enjoyed this movie. I feel like Blanchett was, from time to time, just over the top enough to create some humor. A bit more subtle than, say, J.K. Simmons in Whiplash. I had to do some Googling to fully understand the ending, but also thought it was great.

[brownie]

I enjoyed Tár, but thought it was too long.  I think the exposition establishing the character in the first part of the film could have been cut substantially.  Cate Blanchett was amazing, and deserving of an Oscar for her performance.  As for the end, I think she got what she deserved.  

[Boss_Tweedy]

Very much enjoyed this movie and laughed out loud occasionally. It's so over the top at times that it's hilarious. But it also makes the viewer do some thinking. It did seem a bit tedious at times, but overall I'm a fan of this film. 

 

[Boss_Tweedy]

Two enjoyable films. Having finally seen all of this year's Best Picture nominees, I still feel that Everything Everywhere All at Once is my favorite, but this year's group of nominees includes some excellent films. The Banshees of Inisherin may be my runner up.

 

[Boss_Tweedy]

[Beltmann]

Royal Warriors is the kind of '80s Hong Kong actioner where somebody said, "Hey, let's jump this car over two cars for real!" and then somebody said, "Yeah, and then let's do it again, but with a bus!"
 

 

[Beltmann]

Is it hyperbole to compare to Buster Keaton the celebrated scene in Yes, Madam! where goofy criminal Tsui Hark evades an assassin within the confines of his tiny, jerry-rigged apartment? Well, the scene is fast enough and clever enough that I insisted my son Keaton take a look. (Then I watched it a third time, with my wife.)

I watched both Royal Warriors (1986) and Yes Madam! (1985), along with The Stunt Woman (1996), on the Criterion Channel, as part of an eight-film curated collection called "Michelle Yeoh Kicks Ass." (I had previously seen the other five titles, and those are worth checking out, too!)

 

 

[Beltmann]

The documentary Aftershock addresses an important subject--the maternal health crisis affecting Black and Brown pregnancies--and it contains compelling portraits of lived experiences. Still, it spends nearly 90 minutes to deliver stories and data that could have been learned in five minutes were this instead a well-researched and well-written article published in, say, The Atlantic. The topic deserves a deeper, less boilerplate exploration, or at least a more cinematic approach. I don't want to gripe too much, because Aftershock is a worthwhile movie, in its relentlessly conventional way. But I'm afraid I've simply grown allergic to this kind of nonfiction activism.
 

 

[Beltmann]

I pretty much never stopped laughing, because there's a peculiar tension between this movie's efforts to impeccably and affectionately revive the '90s teen movie and its simultaneous interrogation of those tropes. Do Revenge doesn't stick the landing, but otherwise I kind of had a blast. Kudos to the music department. Gen Z, thank your forebears.

 

 

[Boss_Tweedy]

[Beltmann]

The 15-day Milwaukee Film Film Festival ended Thursday, May 4 (although some virtual options continued through Sunday). I managed to see 58 feature films and 64 shorts, all while teaching fulltime. I'm feeling half-dead, but exhilarated, too. I'm glad it's over and sad it's over.

Boss_Tweedy, you might be interested to hear that the fest's centerpiece selection was Little Richard: I Am Everything. The post-film Q&A with director Lisa Cortes was a blast.

As always, I wrote about the festival for three area newspapers and over the next few days I'll probably re-post some of those thoughts here, too. I'm eager to recommend some cool stuff!

[gogo]

14 hours ago, Beltmann said:

The 15-day Milwaukee Film Film Festival ended Thursday, May 4 (although some virtual options continued through Sunday). I managed to see 58 feature films and 64 shorts, all while teaching fulltime. I'm feeling half-dead, but exhilarated, too. I'm glad it's over and sad it's over.

 

I will never understand how you manage this.  But I'm always impressed, and always appreciate your reviews!