Movies

gaporter said:
Well hopefully Criterion picks up The Tragedy of Macbeth for a physical release or something because I've been trying all night to get a free trial for Apple TV to work to no avail. So fucking frustrating.
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Update: for whatever reason it suddenly decided to start working last night. 🤷‍♀️ I'm not gonna complain.

Anyways The Tragedy of Macbeth was really good! Probably not a surprise that a Coen brother directs one of the most visually stunning films I've seen recently. I'd like to give it a second watch with subtitles though.
 
gaporter said:
Update: for whatever reason it suddenly decided to start working last night. 🤷‍♀️ I'm not gonna complain.

Anyways The Tragedy of Macbeth was really good! Probably not a surprise that a Coen brother directs one of the most visually stunning films I've seen recently. I'd like to give it a second watch with subtitles though.
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Might check this out tonight.
 
Just watched This Is Where I Leave You. I was in grad school when it came out so that's probably why I missed it then. But I'm so glad I watched it now. It hit the right notes for me with a fantastic cast. One of the better movies I've watched in a while.
 
Hemotep said:
Just watched This Is Where I Leave You. I was in grad school when it came out so that's probably why I missed it then. But I'm so glad I watched it now. It hit the right notes for me with a fantastic cast. One of the better movies I've watched in a while.
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Yeah, it reminds me of Some of those family dramadies from the 90s like Beautiful Girls or Home For The Holidays or Parenthood I love movies like this but they rarely get made anymore.
 
Watching ‘Network’ for the first time and I fully expected this to regress into a dated mess but holy hell, it remains a perfect riff on the evangelical/conservative news cycles we see today. Incredibly sharp writing and on point performances. Even the generational comparisons apply today.

And of course that ending.
 
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Melt Face Molly Drop said:
Watching ‘Network’ for the first time and I fully expected this to regress into a dated mess but holy hell, it remains a perfect riff on the evangelical/conservative news cycles we see today. Incredibly sharp writing and on point performances. Even the generational comparisons apply today.

And of course that ending.
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Ned Beatty just absolutely lighting the set on fire. One of the greatest film monologues.
 
I have watched all the Scream movies over the past month or so...

Scream (96) - I had seen this one before, years ago, but it stayed pretty fresh and fun and gorier than I remembered on this rewatch. It's a classic. The meta nature of the franchise works best in this original form, and it's the one that balances the funny and brutal creepy tones perfectly. Also best opening sequence in all the Screams.

Scream 2 - a pretty damn solid follow-up. The opening sequence here is less great than the first, but still pretty funny and wild. Everything that follows feels pretty logical as a sequel, even when it's kind of dumb. The reveal at the end was the worst part of it for me. Part of the fun of these movies is to try and unravel who the killer(s) are, and this one how it all winds up is just...bad to me.

Scream 3 - again, it almost does feel logical to follow up the meta nature of Scream with them going full-tilt into Hollywood itself. Whether or not it totally works is up to you. I think some of works, but largely it forgoes the fun and creepiness of the first one (and the second) for a goofier movie. The mystery isn't as compelling, and the reveal sucks.

Scream 4 - I saw this one in the theater, so I remember a lot of it, but I don't remember people enjoying it that much. Although I do find a lot of it weirdly nostalgic for 2011, it does almost feel more weirdly dated than the first one. That said, I will defend this one. I think the new characters are good, the mystery is a lot of fun, and the reveal is actually great. I don't get the hate. Is some of it...less good than the originals? Sure, but to me it easily beats out 3 and almost rivals 2. The opening sequence is a bit too silly for me though.

Scream (22) - I was so excited for this that I guess I should have known it could not live up to the hype I had set for myself. But honestly for big chunks of its running time, I was confused why this was so well received. A lot of it did seem fan-service-y, but it's also making fun of the concept of being fan service-y? Doesn't fully come together. I thought some of the writing was really bad in this one. But, honestly, by the end I was having a lot of fun. The climax is great - even if it's too reminiscent of another one - but that's the point? The reveal is kinda strange, but I liked it overall because it plays with your expectations so much throughout the whole movie. Some of the choices I think are just dumb, but it's fun by the end - and also the goriest since the first one. They really toned down the violence in 2 and 3 especially. I guess I'm interested in whatever the next one will be called, but I don't necessarily think it'll ever match the first one for me. That's the best one, easily. Oh the opening sequence here is really nothing special. Didn't find it fun or intense much at all.
 
I watched Drive My Car last night.

I recently discovered Murakami's books and so far have read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and I'm halfway through Killing Commendatore. Drive My Car really seemed to capture the tone of Murakami's writing with a kind of peacefulness that's occasionally cut by an impactful moment or moments. To be honest I found my attention was swaying a bit during the film as it really is dry at times although, again this does reflect the writing style at times. However, I have also been contemplating the film quite a bit since watching it which, yet again, is something that I have been finding with reading the books too.

All in all, I enjoyed it in hindsight but not sold on it being an incredible film. There is one shot at the end which tracks across the front of parked modern grey/silver cars and stops on the red Saab 900 which I thought was really brilliant. In a way though it just made me realise that there were lots of opportunities for what could have been similiar stunning shots.
 
I finally watch the The Last Duel I really enjoyed it. My biggest gripe was Affleck, he felt like he was acting Medieval set buddy comedy instead of this movie. I kept waiting for him to call Adam Driver’s character, Bro. The rest of the movie was great though. It felt appropriately dirty and gritty. The storytelling shifts in perspective added to the story without feeling overly gimmicky. Matt Damon, Adam Driver and especially Jodie Comer were excellent. Ridley Scott’s direction per usual was brilliant. Too bad Disney/Fox did a terrible job marketing it as it was deserving of a bigger audience. Also, I think some recognition is dues for Damon’s exquisite mullet.
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