Movie Talk

drummerboy said:

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

I believe POOR THINGS comes to streaming this week. Has anyone seen it? Do you recommend it be seen in a theater on a big screen? I've been trying to get to this movie for weeks. 

I saw it and I recommend the big screen. It's visually stunning. Amazing art direction. The look is kind of steam punk-ish and sort of reminds me of the video game Bioshock.

Thanks, drummer. If I can stay awake, I'm gonna dash into the city after work today and catch Poor Things before it goes to streaming.

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

drummerboy said:

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

I believe POOR THINGS comes to streaming this week. Has anyone seen it? Do you recommend it be seen in a theater on a big screen? I've been trying to get to this movie for weeks. 

I saw it and I recommend the big screen. It's visually stunning. Amazing art direction. The look is kind of steam punk-ish and sort of reminds me of the video game Bioshock.

Thanks, drummer. If I can stay awake, I'm gonna dash into the city after work today and catch Poor Things before it goes to streaming.

I made it into the city last night to see this film. What audacity! So much to talk about in this film - i enjoyed it very much. I tend to dislike whimsy in films - I don’t like Wes Anderson’s films for that reason. This film teetered on whimsy at times but I enjoyed the look and design of it and Emma Stone’s performance was marvelous. 

I see that the animation festival is playing in Montclair if anyone is interested.  

bub said:

Where were you able to watch the animated shorts?

They have been available at The Claridge in Montclair.

Just started a WWII war movie about Moe Berg. Pretty Good!

Netflix: The Catcher Was A Spy

re: Oscars: Glad to see Poor Things won some awards, Mosty tech awards but still. I loved that movie. And I wasn't surprised that Oppenheimer got Best Pic. It was predicted by everybody. All in all, a fun time. Not much in the way of skits, dance numbers, etc. but that's fine. 

I saw a few of the.bp nominees. I think Oppenheimer was a good choice. It had some remarkable movie making in there. Nolan is clearly a genius.

didn't watch the show though. Don't have enough patience . but I'm gonna seek out the gosling dance number. Heard it was great.

I think the Ryan Gosling performance must have been better in person than on TV.  My favorite non-award moment was Jimmy Kimmel's response to a real live tweet about his performance from Trump, which starts about 50 seconds in, on this clip:

drummerboy said:

I saw a few of the.bp nominees. I think Oppenheimer was a good choice. It had some remarkable movie making in there. Nolan is clearly a genius.

didn't watch the show though. Don't have enough patience . but I'm gonna seek out the gosling dance number. Heard it was great.

We only saw Barbie and the animated shorts (last week at the Claridge).  I was underwhelmed by Barbie.  I like Greta's other movie work but this was overstuffed, big budget everything-but-the-kitchen-sink Hollywood fare.  It was far from the whip smart take on a toy that the Lego Movie was.  I liked all of the animated shorts but the winner would not have gotten my vote.  The winner was the most accessible, Hollywood sentimental of the bunch and I guess that's why it won.  The other shorts were darker, more demanding and more imaginative.  I would have voted for Letter to a Pig or 95 Senses.

bub said:

We only saw Barbie and the animated shorts (last week at the Claridge).  I was underwhelmed by Barbie.  I like Greta's other movie work but this was overstuffed, big budget everything-but-the-kitchen-sink Hollywood fare.  It was far from the whip smart take on a toy that the Lego Movie was.  I liked all of the animated shorts but the winner would not have gotten my vote.  The winner was the most accessible, Hollywood sentimental of the bunch and I guess that's why it won.  The other shorts were darker, more demanding and more imaginative.  I would have voted for Letter to a Pig or 95 Senses.

I agree with you about the animated shorts. I would have gone with 95 Senses too. tbh though, none of them blew me away, either by subject or technique.

re animated shorts, my earlier post about them talked about Wild Summon, which I just learned was a combination of live footage and CGI. I thought it was an amazing new form of CGI.

Society of the Snow is on Netflix - very well done.  I remember reading the book a long time ago - Alive.

jamie said:

Society of the Snow is on Netflix - very well done.  I remember reading the book a long time ago - Alive.

I also like it very much. (And there was a prior filming of the story (Alive; 1993 with Ethan Hawke.) 

Struggled through most of the Oscars. My highlights were the acceptance speech by the Ukranian documentary film makers and Jimmy Kimmel's response to the rude comment by the rudest politician in history.

Reel 13 on last Saturday a wonderful film about Alzheimer's Of Mind and Music 2014

Set in  Wonderful!

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3057572/

I think it's on Pluto

Just saw Perfect Days or as I call it, Zen and the Art of Public Bathroom Cleaning.  Loved it. Amazing performances, direction, cinematography, music. 

Next time is next time. Now is now.

dave said:

Just saw Perfect Days or as I call it, Zen and the Art of Public Bathroom Cleaning.  Loved it. Amazing performances, direction, cinematography, music. 

Next time is next time. Now is now.

yup

the whole idea of the film is pretty audacious. how did wenders sell it to the studio?

on that subject,  I guess this answers that question

https://brooklynrail.org/2023/12/film/Wim-Wenderss-Perfect-Days

Irony of ironies, Perfect Days was originally financed by The
Nippon Foundation, the philanthropic manager of The Tokyo Toilets, who
“invited” the beloved German director to make the film for them. Though
they promised Wenders total creative control, the initial invitation was
to devise a character who would embody Japan’s unique “welcoming
culture” in relation to a newly iconic boutique public restroom project.
Nippon, an ardently nationalistic enterprise (its founder, Ryoichi
Sasakawa, was a great fan of Mussolini’s) has gotten in trouble several
times in the past for promoting eugenics and whitewashing war crimes,
and appears to operate with a vested interest in furthering
international perceptions of Japanese superiority. Perhaps that’s why
the toilets Hirayama cleans never seem dirty in the first place.

drummerboy said:

the whole idea of the film is pretty audacious.

”Not since Boyhood have I seen such an audacious success.”

— Pauline Kohler

drummerboy said:

dave said:

Just saw Perfect Days or as I call it, Zen and the Art of Public Bathroom Cleaning.  Loved it. Amazing performances, direction, cinematography, music. 

Next time is next time. Now is now.

yup

the whole idea of the film is pretty audacious. how did wenders sell it to the studio?

on that subject,  I guess this answers that question

https://brooklynrail.org/2023/12/film/Wim-Wenderss-Perfect-Days

Irony of ironies, Perfect Days was originally financed by The
Nippon Foundation, the philanthropic manager of The Tokyo Toilets, who
“invited” the beloved German director to make the film for them. Though
they promised Wenders total creative control, the initial invitation was
to devise a character who would embody Japan’s unique “welcoming
culture” in relation to a newly iconic boutique public restroom project.
Nippon, an ardently nationalistic enterprise (its founder, Ryoichi
Sasakawa, was a great fan of Mussolini’s) has gotten in trouble several
times in the past for promoting eugenics and whitewashing war crimes,
and appears to operate with a vested interest in furthering
international perceptions of Japanese superiority. Perhaps that’s why
the toilets Hirayama cleans never seem dirty in the first place.

Interesting. I bet Big Noodle was behind Tampopo. Same actor, as well.  He even eats noodles in both movies. 

More irony: Koji Yashuko (Hirayama) was bitten by the acting bug after seeing "The Lower Depths" by Maxim Gorky. (RT)

DaveSchmidt said:

drummerboy said:

the whole idea of the film is pretty audacious.

”Not since Boyhood have I seen such an audacious success.”

— Pauline Kohler

yeah, but one was well executed, the other just a gimmick.

While I usually agree with Mr. T, my wife and I stuck it out on this movie, and thought it was very well done, excellent acting, and a compelling psychological French court drama and whodunnit.  It won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress.

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

Started to watch ANATOMY OF A FALL (2023) on Prime. (A woman is suspected of her husband's murder, and their blind son faces a moral dilemma as the main witness. In English, French and German.) After about 45 mins, I shut it off. Too slow, too boring. Too annoying. 

Jasmo said:

While I usually agree with Mr. T, my wife and I stuck it out on this movie, and thought it was very well done, excellent acting, and a compelling psychological French court drama and whodunnit.  It won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress.

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

Started to watch ANATOMY OF A FALL (2023) on Prime. (A woman is suspected of her husband's murder, and their blind son faces a moral dilemma as the main witness. In English, French and German.) After about 45 mins, I shut it off. Too slow, too boring. Too annoying. 

Perhaps I'll give it another try. 

darn. Wanted to see Knox Goes Away today but it's gone from theaters already.

However, Hundreds of Beavers is playing tomorrow, so I'll check that out.

I saw Late Night With the Devil the other day. It was pretty good I thought. Interesting idea, presented as a found footage documentary. Lots of holes in the plot though, and I'm not totally sure what happened at the end. I don't recall seeing the lead,David Dastmalchian, before, but I thought he was quite good. He carried the film - was on-screen close to 100% of the time.

I also saw Love Lies Bleeding with Kristen Stewart and Ed Harris. meh. The 3 main characters were all dirt bags to one degree or another, so there was no hero. The plot was nutty enough to maintain interest though. There were a couple of surreal moments (I guess they were hallucinations) that I thought didn't work. Too jarring and just didn't fit. There was a definite Thelma and Louise vibe. Might be worth streaming when it comes around.

I like trashy movies as much as the next guy, and loved the original Roadhouse, but the Roadhouse remake has no redeeming features.  

jeffl said:

I like trashy movies as much as the next guy, and loved the original Roadhouse, but the Roadhouse remake has no redeeming features.  

same here about the original. Was thinking about seeing the remake but it seems to have been trashed by everybody, so maybe not.

Poor Things: lots of technical skill, great cinematography, great cast, but left me cold (obviously the  intention). I didn't get the director's point. He may just like making weird and disturbing movies with quaint titles. **

NYAD: Followed up with this exceptional movie based on real people. Exceptional acting and production. What a relief after experiencing the hellish Poor Things.  ****

drummerboy said:

I saw Late Night With the Devil the other day. It was pretty good I thought. Interesting idea, presented as a found footage documentary. Lots of holes in the plot though, and I'm not totally sure what happened at the end. I don't recall seeing the lead,David Dastmalchian, before, but I thought he was quite good. He carried the film - was on-screen close to 100% of the time.

David Dastmalchian plays the "cop" they capture during the assassination attempt in The Dark Knight. Since then, I've seen him in Blade Runner 2049 as the Police Forensic Guy, The Suicide Squad as Polka Dot Man, and as Piter De Vries, Baron Harkonnen's Mentat in Dune Part One. EVery time he pops up in something I know I'm going to get a great performance.

Dastmalchian was also the cyber expert on Ant-Man’s team.

drummerboy said:

I also saw Love Lies Bleeding with Kristen Stewart and Ed Harris. meh. The 3 main characters were all dirt bags to one degree or another, so there was no hero. The plot was nutty enough to maintain interest though. There were a couple of surreal moments (I guess they were hallucinations) that I thought didn't work. Too jarring and just didn't fit. There was a definite Thelma and Louise vibe. Might be worth streaming when it comes around.

I also saw Love Lies Bleeding and I think I enjoyed it a bit more than you. Kristen Stewert is so much fun to watch and the noir-ness of it was quite enjoyable. And yes, the hallucination scenes, like when the character blows up to gargantuan size, left me a bit cold, after a brief chuckle.  

I'm a big Ed Harris fan. Here's a fantastic actor who has almost never had the lead in a serious movie. His role here was a throwaway, unfortunately, although I liked the make-up. 

Roadhouse is an oddity.  A truly terrible, supremely dumb movie but somehow entertaining.  You can't look away.  

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

drummerboy said:

I also saw Love Lies Bleeding with Kristen Stewart and Ed Harris. meh. The 3 main characters were all dirt bags to one degree or another, so there was no hero. The plot was nutty enough to maintain interest though. There were a couple of surreal moments (I guess they were hallucinations) that I thought didn't work. Too jarring and just didn't fit. There was a definite Thelma and Louise vibe. Might be worth streaming when it comes around.

I also saw Love Lies Bleeding and I think I enjoyed it a bit more than you. Kristen Stewert is so much fun to watch and the noir-ness of it was quite enjoyable. And yes, the hallucination scenes, like when the character blows up to gargantuan size, left me a bit cold, after a brief chuckle.  

I'm a big Ed Harris fan. Here's a fantastic actor who has almost never had the lead in a serious movie. His role here was a throwaway, unfortunately, although I liked the make-up. 

I didn't mean to come off so down on it. I agree with you about Stewart and the noir-ness and Ed Harris. It was actually an enjoyable movie and never slow.