[Severian]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

which are...

Don’t wanna spoil but it should have ended with a cut to black with the two running through the street. Leave it up to the imagination. So many running scenes already, would have worked.

Japanese accent thing was pointless and weird and cringey. Dude was just performing for these kids. Then they doubled down on it. Weird.

Mayoral race stuff seemed strangely tacked on.

I liked it though. Bradley Cooper’s scenes were excellent. More of that, less campaign stuff left unresolved, I think. Alana Haim was great. I enjoyed it.

[!@#$%!]

oh right there may be spoilers

**LICORICE PIZZA SPOILERS**

so yeah there was a lot of running which was a bit corny hahaha but i can't even remember the last shot. cut to black is for french endings though lol.

the cringe was supposed to be ultracringe which... it's the 70s and they had to deal with the asshole. (eta and apparently based on a real dude from that era). on the racial front there's also the whole jewish thing with the girl and the agent etc. again, the 70s.

i saw the mayoral thing as central to her attempt to, you know, "grow up," only to find out how much adults suck. also there is a bit of a free enterprise vs government going on thematically, which i enjoyed somewhat, but everyone injects their own interpretations and mine provided a symmetry of sorts inside my head. more broadly, there is a lot of rules and rulebreaking, and the people making the rules (cops, politicians, elders, producers, authoritarian parents, deranged customers) are the ones who suck in this story. im not saying it's "right" but it's how the story operates (e.g. i kept expecting the helper kids to die horrifically smashed inside the truck, but the laws of physics didn't apply to them).

ah the unresolved bit... yeah i saw it coming from 5 miles ahead, but sometimes the audience needs their hand held. nevertheless i think the exposition fits a rollicking rambling movie of this style which is not about things implied or french endings. it's *all* said, longwindedly and hilariously and cringeworthily and so on. like several of its characters (and yes fucking bradley cooper hahahahah) this movie in itself is a bit of a motormouth lol. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOb4QNHW_Ss

lol i wanna watch it all over again and laugh.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

oh right there may be spoilers

**LICORICE PIZZA SPOILERS**

so yeah there was a lot of running which was a bit corny hahaha but i can't even remember the last shot. cut to black is for french endings though lol.

the cringe was supposed to be ultracringe which... it's the 70s and they had to deal with the asshole. (eta and apparently based on a real dude from that era). on the racial front there's also the whole jewish thing with the girl and the agent etc. again, the 70s.

i saw the mayoral thing as central to her attempt to, you know, "grow up," only to find out how much adults suck. also there is a bit of a free enterprise vs government going on thematically, which i enjoyed somewhat, but everyone injects their own interpretations and mine provided a symmetry of sorts inside my head. more broadly, there is a lot of rules and rulebreaking, and the people making the rules (cops, politicians, elders, producers, authoritarian parents, deranged customers) are the ones who suck in this story. im not saying it's "right" but it's how the story operates (e.g. i kept expecting the helper kids to die horrifically smashed inside the truck, but the laws of physics didn't apply to them).

ah the unresolved bit... yeah i saw it coming from 5 miles ahead, but sometimes the audience needs their hand held. nevertheless i think the exposition fits a rollicking rambling movie of this style which is not about things implied or french endings. it's *all* said, longwindedly and hilariously and cringeworthily and so on. like several of its characters (and yes fucking bradley cooper hahahahah) this movie in itself is a bit of a motormouth lol. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOb4QNHW_Ss

lol i wanna watch it all over again and laugh.

Fair, fair. And yeah I remember the Jewish nose stuff. Ugh.
Good film though, don’t get me wrong. I really enjoyed it, but it stopped short of being GREAT for me.

Re: the campaign, I was more talking about the aide character who, it seemed, Alana had a connection with, and just as the film is setting that up is says NOPE, OTHER STUFF! And I guess I would have rather had more Bradley Cooper being a psychopath

[!@#$%!]

***MORE SPOILERS***

oh yeah the aide was more of the same for me, i mean... he had to have been in on the secret, no? same hypocrisy. also... do i misremember, or was the whole municipal environment the motivation for the kid finding out about the pinball laws? i remember bits of the scene, but i can't place it in context from memory.

anyway, yeah, i had a ton of fun watching, but it was no la dolce vita for sure, lol.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

***MORE SPOILERS***

oh yeah the aide was more of the same for me, i mean... he had to have been in on the secret, no? same hypocrisy. also... do i misremember, or was the whole municipal environment the motivation for the kid finding out about the pinball laws? i remember bits of the scene, but i can't place it in context from memory.

anyway, yeah, i had a ton of fun watching, but it was no la dolce vita for sure, lol.

Ok yeah, the campaign was how Gary found out about the pinball machine thing, so it does serve the plot.

Also Paul Thomas Anderson fucking LOVES L.A. My god. Arguably more than Scorsese loves New York. All the scenes of LA are always so lovingly and painstakingly crafted in his movies. It’s really something.

[tw2113]

April Fool's Day from 1986

[Severian]

Saw King Richard. It was fine. Good even. Not sure Smith deserved the best actor Oscar for it, but he’s been nominated many times and lost, so this is what eventually happens.

Watched Rudy for the first time (I think). Good stuff. I get it.

Re-watched Drive. Only the second time I’ve seen it, almost 10 years after the first. I’ve rewatched scenes here and there, but this was the first full rewatch. Still a fucking incredible movie as far as I’m concerned. It really chews away on noir and pulp tropes, more so than I remember, but it also blows those tropes to hell and, y’know, proverbially smashes their brains in with a hammer.
Still surprisingly, almost overwhelmingly, sweet all in all.

[_tunic_]

I watched two movies on Netflix that have a lot in common. Both are based on very intriguing true events that happened during WWII (or very shortly before actually in case of the first ), and both are (co)written by the lead actor. But unfortunately both weren't very good in telling the story.


1.

 

It's (co)written by and stars stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard, she grew up in the area, but only heard of it at a later stage in her life. Shortly before WWII started there was a school in England for German girls including the daughters of high-ranked SS militaries.
She does a pretty good job in playing the teacher, and Judi Dench is always a pleasure, but all-in-all it's just lacking.





2.

 

This movie is also based on true events that happened during WWII and is even more intriguing. During the war female spies were sent from the UK to France to support or set up the resistance over there and for communicating between the two countries. This movie tells the story about two of them. One of them was American, and was handicapped (she has a wooden leg). The other one had an Indian father and an American mother. She was born in Moscow and raised in London and Paris. Story wise it should be a full suspense edge of your seat war movie, but unfortunately it is shot like one of those cheapo British crime series, even though it's an American movie. It is actually written (and researched) entirely by Sarah Megan Thomas who plays the handicapped spy.

Even though it's not a top class movie, I would still recommend it if you're interested in knowing more about WWII . It's a chapter I never knew about. It doesn't have a happy ending though....

[Severian]

I watched this movie called Adrift with one of the gals from Big Little Lies.
It was supposed to have a big twist but the twist spoiled itself early on, so there’s all this dramatic build up to the twist when it’s revealed near the end of the movie and I was like, “Uhhhh, of fucking course that’s what’s happening, you kinda explained it to us through exposition, nobody is going to be surprised.”

Anyway, not great but fine. Based on a story about a sailor/boat gal who was … adrift and stuff.

[!@#$%!]

recently:

 

blue velvet is a regular rewatch for me. not maniacally, but every few years or so. and each time it feels new. it's just so fucking good. and criterion has some deleted scenes & alternate takes etc now: https://www.criterionchannel.com/blu...lvet-revisited ... i haven't seen those yet! so that will be next.

also saw GET THRASHED! THE STORY OF THRASH METAL

 

the highest of technical standards were not utilized in this production, but it features original footage and interviews, and it was entertaining and very watchable in spite of some obstacles. i started for curiosity's sake and just kept going. great fun, and often funny too.
https://getthrashed.com/

[Rob Instigator]

Watched about 45 minutes of The French Dispatch and fuck it is so goddamn fey and artsy and mind-numbingly cloying. Could not finish it.

what a shame.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

and fuck it is so goddamn fey and artsy and mind-numbingly cloying.

of course... but didn't you find a heavy amount of self-parody in it also? i'm asking cuz... for me that's actually the absurd and goofy point of all the extreme fey artsiness: a good laugh. if it were a straight-up serious movie it would be unfuckingwatchable, yeah.

[Rob Instigator]

Wes Anderson movies more and more remind me of the whimsical musings of a super rich, spoiled white boy who does not understand what actual life is like.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

Wes Anderson movies more and more remind me of the whimsical musings of a super rich, spoiled white boy who does not understand what actual life is like.

yes, he probably is all of those things (he certainly is some of them), but i forgive him his personal shortcomings because he lets me watch him play with his toys for a couple of hours for the price of admission.

e.g. that horny hilarious prison tale in the french dispatch is certainly no papillon. but if i had to watch papillon on repeat when i'm feeling down, i would probably blow my brains out.

fuck, while on the subject of prisons... watching salò as a study of fascism (and modernity and consumerism) by someone who *really* understood what actual life is like was definitely worth the effort, but it was the hardest "movie" i've seen, and it took me several sittings + recovery sessions to get through all of it, until i finally saw the light of it, so to speak. i could not stomach it all in a single viewing. it was difficult work.

so yeah... sometimes a whimsical boy and his toys is the right pharmaceutical for the moment. it might not cure anything, but it offers temporary relief. other times yeah it can be downright annoying.

--

eta: a good review of salò here: https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2013/...days-of-sodom/

eta, 2: more on pasolini and his death: https://youtu.be/5mwKpi2psS4

[Severian]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

Wes Anderson movies more and more remind me of the whimsical musings of a super rich, spoiled white boy who does not understand what actual life is like.

French Dispatch was one of his worst. I love the guy but he’s taken “my little confection” filmmaking and turned it into something that feels like an highly detailed wedding cake and doesn’t feel like a human experience at all.

Hoping for better in the future, but …

[Severian]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

recently:

 

blue velvet is a regular rewatch for me. not maniacally, but every few years or so. and each time it feels new. it's just so fucking good. and criterion has some deleted scenes & alternate takes etc now: https://www.criterionchannel.com/blu...lvet-revisited ... i haven't seen those yet! so that will be next.

One of my favorites of all time. A movie I can’t help but laugh at because of the overtly black-comic moments throughout.

Did I ever tell you about the time I showed it to a girl I was dating, sure she’d find plenty of camp humor in its campy-humory moments like I did? Well she did not and I’m pretty sure she thought I was a psychopath but such is life.

[Rob Instigator]

Wife and I finally saw The Joker. That movie was sad as fuck. I guess it needed to be really.

[Diesel]

Wes Anderson movies are overtly self conscious, like the most pretentiousness of what French cinema has to offer/shit out. I did enjoy Life Aquatic back in the day but that's down to wor' Bill Murray more than anything.

Speaking of French cinema I watched Gasper Noe's film Climax which strangely feels the need to proclaim in bold text at the start of the movie 'French film and proud'. This wouldn't be so bad however if every idea in the movie wasn't ripped from an American film released a few years prior called #Horror. The thing is, #Horror is utterly panned by so called critics and horror fans yet Noe's Climax is regarded as different quintessential bold cinema. Furthermore, #Horror is left out of the list of movies shown at the start of Climax of which it claims to be influenced by, classics like Suspiria and Possession which to it's credit bravely lists as influence. However, It's not seen as cool or French to list a more recent, universally panned movie that you've directly stole ideas from.

Climax itself is decent once you get past the many 10 minute (TEN FUCKING MINUTES) choreographed dance routines and the acid trip starts. And yet it's still gobbling the pretentious voyeurism throughout, as only those frog munchers know how. Xenophobia aside I'm starting to realise that to call a film French-like is the most detailed insult one could give.

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

Wife and I finally saw The Joker. That movie was sad as fuck. I guess it needed to be really.

For Taxi Driver plagiarism it's not too shabby.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eXoLJEjK2c

[!@#$%!]

hahahahaha

i wrote this some pages back while chatting with antagon about french dispatch:

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

robinstigator will hate it no doubt lolol but thats what makes for horse racing

and yeah, what i like about these discussions is finding out how everyone sees things, because everyone sees differently. and the differences are the interesting part.

anyway, 2 things:

Originally Posted by Severian

French Dispatch was one of his worst. I love the guy but he’s taken “my little confection” filmmaking and turned it into something that feels like an highly detailed wedding cake and doesn’t feel like a human experience at all.

for me his worst ones are isle of dogs (i didn't finish it after having defended his style, lmao. i just lost interest) and the darjeeling limited, which i finished but did nothing for me. wasn't in the mood for either i guess. big yawns.

anyway found this new yorker review that addresses the very points you and rob make about french dispatch, like aesthetic distancing from reality, and excessive elaboration, etc. makes me want to rewatch it now.

and also i'll add... isn't distancing from reality what makes the aesthetic experience desirable? otherwise it's all cannibal holocaust in live 3d.

anyway check this if interested: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/th...ewheeling-film

the guy ends with this:

“The French Dispatch” is filled with the practical aesthetics of clothing, architecture, furniture, food, design, and discourse; it’s also filled with beautiful deeds and sublime gestures, steadfast love and physical courage, amid hostile conditions. There’s a long-familiar tradition in film of refinement meshing with evil, as with the epicurean sadism of movie Nazis and arch-criminals. It’s a demagogic trope that comforts viewers who presume that, conversely, their ordinary tastes must be a sign of their ordinary decency, too. But Anderson understands that the refinement of style can be a way of outwardly facing down the power of the world with one’s inner personal imperatives. Like such artists as Ernest Hemingway and Howard Hawks, he brings together the beauty of heroism and the heroism of beauty. In a sublime gesture of his own, he celebrates not only unsung heroes and those who tell their stories but also those who, like Howitzer and his staff of grammarians and illustrators, provide an accompaniment as stylish and as substantial as the adventures and inventions themselves.

i just thought he makes a good point about the "heroism of beauty" which, maybe this movie isn't beautiful for all, but ok. i'll get the streaming service this summer and revisit.

@diesel:

i haven't seen much of gaspar noé but while climax might be french he's argentinian (double hate for the hand of god? lmao). anyway i saw "love" by him and i can't remember a ton now. i remember i finished it... there was fucking and... sorry, drawing a blank, lol. very annoying characters, i think i recall now? i think voyeurism is his style without much more because all i vaguely recall is busy images. thanks for the warning.