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inlareviewer

Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 7:46 pm

Joined: 05 Jul 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: Lawrence, KS

The Tragedy of Macbeth, though more visually than verbally poetic, is uncommonly vivid -- a monochrome fever dream pitched somewhere between early Truffaut and earlier Lang by way of earliest Buñuel on Escher's dime. Mr. Coen's streamlined adaptation of the Bard's text certainly delivers the narrative thrust with accessible clarity, albeit to the expense of gradually expanding tension. Cannot say that Denzel! and La McDormand have absolute chemistry together, yet both carry the essential measure of their roles with assured authority throughout. Technical aspects are superb, especially Carter Burwell's eerie score and Bruno Delbonnel's astonishing chiaroscuro-embracing cinematography. The supporting cast, valiant given how heavily their roles are cut, is extremely well observed, all diving into the chaos, with Bertie Carvel's thunderous Banquo, Brendan Gleeson's understated Duncan, Alex Hassell's much-expanded Ross, Corey Hawkins's imploding Macduff, Harry Melling's wry Malcolm and Kathryn Hunter's unsettling, contortionist Witch(es) standout presences. More to be admired than loved, it won't displace either Welles or Kurosawa, and Shakespearean purists may well cry foul -- Ian McKellen and Judi Dench under Trevor Nunn's direction remains the definitive reading of this particular work, in any case-- it's nonetheless extremely impressive.

Last edited by inlareviewer on Mon Jan 10, 2022 1:03 am; edited 2 times in total
_________________
"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim

inlareviewer

Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 9:31 pm

Joined: 05 Jul 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: Lawrence, KS

Watching the Gilded Globules on a silent, ever-refreshing blog with YouTube-esque prerecorded HFPA video segments is about surreal as it gets.

_________________
"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim

inlareviewer

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 1:15 pm

Joined: 05 Jul 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: Lawrence, KS

Well, it's changed again, and here's our final tally.

1. Summer of Soul
2. West Side Story
3. Flee
4. Drive My Car
5. Belfast
6. The Power of The Dog
7. Mass
8. Parallel Mothers
9. Passing
10. Spencer
11. The French Dispatch
12. Pig
13. tick, tick...BOOM!
14. CODA
15. The Tragedy of Macbeth

and, in a class all its own, Messterpiece of The Year: Annette

And, seriously, Mr. Rasmussen's genre-blender 'Flee" is finally unlike anything we've quite seen, even as it recalls items like "Persepolis" and "Waltz with Bashir"; at once a documentary, an animated feature, a personal memoir (or confessional) and a startlingly effective study of universal themes that register all the more potently because of the specifics in both technique and content. Am still vibrating. Groundbreaking, rending, indelible -- possibly A Film For The Ages, certainly A Film For This Age. Do. Not. Miss.

_________________
"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim

inlareviewer

Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2022 10:08 pm

Joined: 05 Jul 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: Lawrence, KS

Deleted for irrelevance.

Last edited by inlareviewer on Mon Jan 24, 2022 2:40 pm; edited 1 time in total
_________________
"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim

gromit

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 1:58 am

Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai

I have exactly one store here, and I'm not sure what the schedule is for new art house films to turn up on Blu Ray. The only thing I've seen on your list is Pig which I thought was nonsense. Just didn't work for me on any level. I'm sure I'll get to MacBeth, Spencer, West Side, Licorice Pizza and others when available. Though none of that has me excited.

_________________
Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number.

billyweeds

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 10:40 am

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City

West Side Story is my favorite of the year and is the best iteration of the classic musical since the original Broadway production, which I was lucky enough (and born early enough) to have seen c. 1957. Spielberg's new version is so much better than the Oscarwinner from 1961 that there's no comparison. It's already on my all-time top-ten list.

Last edited by billyweeds on Fri Jan 28, 2022 1:37 pm; edited 1 time in total

bartist

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 9:08 pm

Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6944 Location: Black Hills

Having seen only five of Inla's top 15, I didn't want to rush to comment before some catching up, but I can assure INLA that he's not tossing his reviews and rankings into a void AFAIC.

Weeds, hello to you prodigal one, and agree that the new WSS vastly exceeds the 60s film. Though I will always have a fondness for the 60s Gee Officer Krupke. But even there, the 2021 staging (with the faux Krupke on the receiving end) is clearly better and more credible somehow.

Like Gromit, I am sure to catch Macbeth when it comes my way. And Flee, which I was mostly unaware of.

May the year of the tiger find you all well. I have omicron, but thanks to vaxxing it is largely proving to be only a glancing blow. Seems more like a good old-fashioned cold.

_________________
He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days.

Befade

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2022 6:25 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 3784 Location: AZ

My son wasn’t vaxxed and he got omicron….just a few days of a head cold.

I just watched Annette. What a wake up! Extreme‼️ With Adam Driver and the director of Holy Motors. A trip seldom taken. Mostly a musical with a tragic undertow.

Also…..underwhelmed by Licorice Pizza. No makeup to exaggerate this odd romance.

And…..expected to like the Iranian A Hero. But did not enjoy the downward journey of the main character. His angry outbursts didn’t help.

_________________
Lost in my own private I dunno.

inlareviewer

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2022 2:50 pm

Joined: 05 Jul 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: Lawrence, KS

gromit wrote:

That's completely understandable. It's all so subjective. There are many fillums that former colleagues have gone ape over that left me "Meh." Whatchagonnado?

billyweeds wrote:

West Side Story is my favorite of the year and is the best iteration of the classic musical since the original Broadway production, which I was lucky enough (and born early enough) to have seen in c. 1957. Spielberg's new version is so much better than the Oscarwinner from 1961 that there's no comparison. It's already on my all-time top-ten list.

We've spoken of this, and the only reason it comes in second to "Summer of Soul" is because that one hit me first and lingered longest. WSS is really something. Am hoping it turns out to be the Big Winner at that, uh, film society. There. NOW I've done it.

bartist wrote:

Bless your heart. Already deleted that really irrelevant and self-pitying post, and that's good to hear. Candles lighted for the variant recovery

Befade wrote:

Goodness gracious. Again, candles lighted. Just started A Hero, so it's very helpful to learn this (can only take so much downbeat of late, better to be prepared than not). Had a feeling about Licorice Pizza, haven't been able to drag myself to see it (playing at the local art house). And yeah, Annette is, to put it mildly, a trip.

_________________
"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim

Befade

Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2022 3:28 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 3784 Location: AZ

Wow…..Inla….I’m so glad to hear your feedback. You seem to get around to some of the movies I gravitate to. I can’t get over Annette. That is a rare film experience‼️ I’d like to get around to West Side Story with my granddaughter. And plan to see Parallel Mothers soon. Please give your thoughts on A Hero.

_________________
Lost in my own private I dunno.

inlareviewer

Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2022 4:38 pm

Joined: 05 Jul 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: Lawrence, KS

Befade wrote:

Well, that's nice to know -- have felt particularly unmoored for some time now, and the mere fact of this forum still being in existence is a comfort. Yeah, Annette, what can I say? It's unlike anything else out there, and it's hardly going to be for all tastes, but it holds true to its own aims throughout. Like I said, Messterpiece of The Year. WSS would be a really good thing to see w/a grandchild, seems to me, and Parallel Mothers is really good Almodóvar and astounding La Belle Penélope and Ms. Smits, even if it does veer into tonally jarring socially "relevant" areas at the end, which apparently bothers some viewers who expect Pedro to go full-throttle campy soap opera. Anyhoo, I dug it, greatly.

And then, A Hero. Am conflicted. Asghar Farhadi is a great fave of mine; A Separation and The Past were among my top fillums of their respective years, and am always happy to see Mr. Farhadi's refusal to paint anything or anyone in purely good/bad terms. Moreover, the now-patented mix of professionals and amateurs is near-documentary in its verisimilitude here -- you really do feel like youre watching life unfold -- and the young actor that plays the stuttering son, whose name I am unforgivably blanking on, is achingly acute. That said, was not entirely convinced at the end what I was meant to feel. The tale of an imprisoned man (Ahmil Jamadi, subtle and unpredictable) out on leave to try to pay back the debt that got him locked up to begin with, only to fall into a social-media fueled trap of his own good intentions, is, on its face, extremely pertinent and timely. Certainly the auteur's penchant for taking a situation and pulling it forward into unforeseen twists is in evidence. Even so, was increasingly uncomfortable rooting for the hapless hero even as part of the pull was wanting to see him prevail. By the final shot, suddenly suspected I'd been taken on a round robin ride that basically drop-kicked me into a slightly perplexed conundrum, wondering if I'd been had or not. Didn't hate it, and it's worth seeing, whether or not you like Mr. Farhadi, but am unsure that it's quite as great as it's been hailed as being. Will have to think about it.

_________________
"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim

billyweeds

Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 1:46 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City

Had forgotten about "A Hero," but now that I know it's on Amazon Prime, that's the movie for tonight. "A Separation" iis my #13 movie of all time.

Befade

Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:17 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 3784 Location: AZ

I liked A Separation. Did not like Salesman. And was disappointed by A Hero. But there are other Iranian film makers I like: Abbas Kiarostami for Taste of Cherry, Certified Copy, and especially Like Someone in Love. Also, Jafar Panahi for This is not a Film, Taxi, and 3 Faces.

_________________
Lost in my own private I dunno.

bartist

Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2022 12:29 pm

Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6944 Location: Black Hills

Both A Separation and About Elly knocked my socks off.

Having read David Graeber's brilliant Debt:the first 5000 years, I feel bound to see A Hero even if it's not top tier Farhadi. That whole topic has always fascinated and baffled me.

_________________
He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days.

Syd

Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2022 10:23 pm

Site Admin Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 12889 Location: Norman, Oklahoma

Befade wrote:

But I really love "The Past" (and "A Separation" which is my choice for the best movie of the last fifteen years). I was disappointed by "The Salesman" too.

I was heavily into Iranian films ten or fifteen years ago, and should probably go back. They're one of the great national cinemas, not least because of the courage of their filmmakers.

_________________
I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament

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