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| bartist |
 Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 12:05 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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(reposted to remove from page break)
bartist wrote: I liked "Vice," an amusing and unapologetically mocking dark comedy, but it definitely has some weak spots. Steve Carell is somehow just wrong as Donald Rumsfeld and made me intensely aware that he was Steve Carell doing a caricature. Almost cartoonish. And I could say much the same about Sam Rockwell as GW Bush (admittedly, Josh Brolin is a tough act to follow). I would also question the degree of coldness that is imputed to Cheney (not that he wasn't a bastard) in regard to his daughter's congress race and her tossing her sister under the Sanctity of Marriage bus. While one can argue that Cheney was some sort of evil puppet-master of the W administration, I tend to think it was likely more of an ensemble effort. There were some informative sidebars and captions that deliver some interesting information (a bit reminiscent of The Big Short) for younger viewers who may not have been aware of Cheney's adherence to the concept of the "unitary executive."
It's the kind of movie that should send any honest person off to spend a few hours fact-checking. Unfortunately, most viewers will probably just place a few checkmarks on either a Knew That checklist or a Fake News checklist. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 3:45 pm |
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bartist wrote: I liked "Vice," an amusing and unapologetically mocking dark comedy, but it definitely has some weak spots.
I kinda liked it, but not all that much. The best thing I can say for it is that it's a step up for director Adam McKay after the debacle of...wait for it...
Sorry to disappoint the myriad friends who've told me I would love "Vice." I didn't. But I admired some of it. It's got the same problems FOR ME that infested ALL of "The Big Short," Adam McKay's previous much-loved and me-reviled 2015 hit. It's edited to a fare-thee-well, narrated to a fault, cutesy as all get-out, and self-satisfied to the max. The tone varies from semi-documentary to Second-City-style snark. This obviously is the intention but I found it mucho annoying.
That said, the movie is occasionally very funny and acted with extreme artistry. Christian Bale as Dick Cheney and Amy Adams as his wife Lynne are aces. Top-level support is provided by Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld, Sam Rockwell as W, and Jesse Plemons as a narrator whose identity is very cleverly revealed. Bottom line: if you liked "The Big Short" there's a mighty good chance you will adore this movie. Me, I loathed "Short" and kinda-sorta liked "Vice." That's something, at least. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2019 1:07 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: AZ
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| Netflix has some god movie choices. Private Life was good. I’d watch Katherine Hahn in anything. I loved her as the rabbi in Transparent. Check out The Cakemaker, too. It takes the trophy for subtle. A very unusual story going from Berlin to Jerusalem and back. A lot of yummy desserts and some fluid sexuality. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2019 1:34 pm |
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| One should combine those last two with some caution. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2019 5:11 pm |
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bartist wrote: One should combine those last two with some caution.
You're speaking from experience? |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2019 6:47 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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| Well, sometimes "easy as pie" is misleading. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2019 10:03 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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| Has anybody here seen If Beale Street Could Talk? I see it's winning awards and is based on a James Baldwin. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2019 6:09 pm |
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Okay, now I'VE seen it. I remember something of Baldwin's non-fiction from high school, but this was a bit later so I wasn't acquainted with it. Despite the title, this takes place in New York. Baldwin's even more confusing because it begins with the quote
Quote: Beale Street is a street in New Orleans, where my father, where Louis Armstrong and the jazz were born. Every black person born in America was born on Beale Street, born in the black neighborhood of some American city, whether in Jackson, Mississippi, or in Harlem, New York. Beale Street is our legacy.
Which thoroughly confused me because I thought Beale Street was in Memphis. (It is. Bourbon Street's the one in New Orleans.) Apparently intended as a metaphor since the two streets played similar roles.
Anyway, the movie concerns a pregnant teenager's efforts (Tish, played by Kiki Layne) to free her lover, who has been imprisoned on a rape charge. The charge is clearly false, since it took place on the west side of town, miles away from where the boyfriend was, and the officer who accused him's beat was also on the East River. However, the officer managed to to elicit a spurious lineup identification, and here we are.
This has some powerful scenes, including the future mother-in-law condemning the child as a product of sin (she's a religious fanatic), but it gets sluggish in places and I suspect suffers from being condensed from a novel. This is Barry Jenkins's follow-up to Moonlight, and once again he gets great supporting performances, particularly from Regina King as Tish's mother. I think she'll get an Oscar nomination, and may actually win if Olivia Colman is put in the lead category. As for other nominations, picture, score and adapted screenplay are likely, but wins are not, because people will be comparing it to Moonlight which is clearly better. Also, I found the leads less compelling than some of the supporting performances. |
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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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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2019 5:34 am |
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Location: New York City
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Two movies have knocked my socks off this week, not least because I fully expected not to like them very much and wound up ready to put them in the top five of the year.
"Roma" is a black-and-white film by Alfonso Cuaron which follows the life of a live-in maid in the Roma section of Mexico City c. 1971. That very description primed me to expect a kitchen-sink borefest. What a surprise. This movie is as profoundly powerful as any I can remember. The acting is wonderful, but that's almost the least of the film's virtues. The cinematography by Cuaron himself is as Oscar-worthy as it is possible for cinematography to be. Every single shot is a miracle of composition, lighting, camera movement, you name it.
And the arc of the story, which I will not describe because I want you to experience it for yourself, leaves one in a state of wonder. The story is uneventful (though in its own way fascinating) for the first half, but the second hour or so contains no less than three scenes which rank among the most stirring of my entire moviegoing experience. And there is not one single boring moment in the entire movie. "Must-see" must be redefined.
The second thrilling movie of my week was even more unexpected. I was never a huge fan of the original "Mary Poppins." I liked it a lot and thought the songs were catchy and cute, but it never came close to rocking my world. But the sequel, "Mary Poppins Returns," was enchanting from beginning to end. Again, not one boring moment in this Rob Marshall-directed beauty.
Is it sacrilege to say I preferred Emily Blunt's take on Poppins more than the iconic Oscar-winning turn by Julie Andrews? Okay. I stand guilty. Blunt is "practically perfect in every way." She is supporting splendidly by a trio of utterly charming children, a tremendously likable Lin-Manuel Miranda and Emily Mortimer, and an absolutely brilliant Ben Whishaw as an adult version of Michael Banks, the new paterfamilias.
Blunt, Whishaw, Miranda, and Mortimer alone would make this movie a huge plus, but the direction by Marshall is the equal of his best work (that is to say, as marvelous as "Chicago" and far better than "Into the Woods"). And the songs, though not as instantly memorable as the ones from the original (there's no "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" here), but they exceed the originals in the area of emotional connection. Miranda's opening/closing song is as sweet-but-not-saccharine as they come, and Blunt's gorgeously emotional ballad about loss would be a worthy award-winner IMO. I urge you to see this movie. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2019 12:41 pm |
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| Billy.....Did you see this in a theatre or on Netflix? If it’s still in theatres I highly recommend that experience. It’s a powerful film. Black and white. Huge crowd scenes. My experience with it was painful. I don’t think there’s another film that has made me feel the pain that that one did. So vivid and relentless. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2019 10:48 am |
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Befade wrote: Billy.....Did you see this in a theatre or on Netflix? If it’s still in theatres I highly recommend that experience. It’s a powerful film. Black and white. Huge crowd scenes. My experience with it was painful. I don’t think there’s another film that has made me feel the pain that that one did. So vivid and relentless.
Actually I saw it on Netflix, and although I can imagine it's even more powerful in a theater (where I plan to see it some day), I can't imagine it affecting me any more than it did on the "small" screen. Unbelievable. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2019 7:27 pm |
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| I don’t know: SPOILERS AHEAD........I was there when the baby was stillborn. The boyfriend dumped her. The poop was scooped up in the drive. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 2:35 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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I put on Roma too late last week and fell asleep in perhaps a record 3 mins. Barely made it past the floor washing credits. Need to see it.
Has anyone seen Paul Schrader's First Reformed?
I'm not too big on religious films, but will go with it if it's good enough. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 5:24 pm |
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I saw First Reformed a while ago. I think Ethan Hawke is a revelation. An interesting connection: I decided to go back and watch Ingmar Bergman’s Winter’s Light. The plots are almost identical. A minister with a small congregation doubting his faith and dismissing a woman he had a sexual relationship with. The sets are very spare. Both Hawke and Paul Schrader, the director and writer are church goers. It is an intense drama about alienation.
The thing that struck me about Beale Street (I’ve read other James Baldwin’s books but not that one) was its unconvincing period piece style. Were black men that nice to women (one exception)? Did black husbands wear gold wedding bands? Were the blacks that sweet to each other? Yes, the discrimination and injustice were there. And there was a sadness and nobility to the story. I don’t think it was Regina King’s finest performance. But I like seeing her in anything. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2019 10:59 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Befade wrote: I saw First Reformed a while ago. I think Ethan Hawke is a revelation. An interesting connection: I decided to go back and watch Ingmar Bergman’s Winter’s Light. The plots are almost identical. A minister with a small congregation doubting his faith and dismissing a woman he had a sexual relationship with. The sets are very spare. Both Hawke and Paul Schrader, the director and writer are church goers. It is an intense drama about alienation.
I've avoided knowing too much about it.
But have heard that the borrowing from other films/directors is pretty blatant. Winter's Light. Bresson (Diary of a Country Priest and oddly enough a bit of Pickpocket!). And some Tarkovsky in the middle.
I'll probably give it a whirl once it turns up on these shores. |
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