Amph What was the last movie you saw? (Ver. 2)

Sounds like a VERY old movie

 

The Irishman

Perfect for Netflix viewing, this latest mob film from Scorsese will defy expectations. It isn't GoodFellas or Casino, it isn't a glitzy affair with larger-than-life characters, over-the-top violence, before it all comes crashing down. No, this is a very different film, which shouldn't surprise anyone - after all, Casino was 25 years ago. It's a different film because Scorsese and his principal actors are all a lot older, it all looks that bit different. As a result this is an almost anti-glitz look at the mob, which will also likely be Scorsese's final film on the matter. It doesn't look at the top mob leadership, it isn't about the lofty heights, instead it's about those at the bottom. Those given orders and expected to follow them, even Russell.

Talking of whom, Pesci is very much not following his earlier roles of an unhinged, off the rails psychopath. Be under no illusion, Russell is not a good man, but he doesn't need to rage or kill someone, he has people for that. It's quieter, and in a way, much, much scarier.

The violence is both brutal and incredibly concise, but then again, how long does shooting someone in the head twice really take? It's seconds and so that's how it happens.

But where the film really diverges and goes against the grain is the age of the cast. Even at the start, Frank isn't a young man when he heads towards being in the mob, he's early forties. The other characters are also older and later, Scorsese follows through on that all the way to the end. And the end doesn't pull any punches.

Spoiler

The film saves its hardest hitting card until the end. Frank was under the delusion his kids didn't really know what he was doing, that they lived in benign ignorance of his malign acts to 'protect' them. At the end, one of his daughters drops the bomb on him that of course they knew, how could they not? It's how his eldest knew he had killed Hoffa without saying a word. Whatever he thought he was doing it for, it simply wasn't. And at the end? Frank is all alone with no one. Everyone else? They're dead. The family he has that is alive? Wants nothing to do with him. All that remains for Frank is to die.

It's a very well-executed, yet very quiet, finale.

It's always funny when I come across the notion that Scorsese glams up crime. Like the idea that Trainspotting is pro-drugs, that tells me someone hasn't seen the film. It's the same here. If you wanted a better 'crime does not pay' motif, it's hard to top this. Throughout the film the fates of various characters are flashed up as captions, the majority? Do not end well. Why not show the murders? Because there were so many, it'd numb the viewer but fate-by-caption? The edge never goes off that.

This is a really, really smart, brilliantly executed film that rewards the viewer investing 3.5 hours in it.

 

About Frank....

Spoiler

I just don't buy that the didn't know (or at least strongly suspect) his own kids didn't know anything about what he did and who he hung out with.

 

It also feels like a deliberate inverse of The Wolf of Wall Street, in which Belfort and his cohorts' debauchery and hedonism were omnipresent.

WRT the last act:

Spoiler

That scene were Frank is talking about how doesn't want to be buried in the earth or cremated because it would feel too "final", is one of the grimmest things I've seen in a 2019 release.

 

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

 

Sand Castle (2016)
A squad of ordinary soldiers trying to get through the Iraq war in 2003. It was a lot more of an honest, accurate, and believable film than The Hurt Locker.

 

Finally saw Joker. I’m sold. That was a masterful comic book movie. Very timely, well written, and perfectly acted. Probably won’t rush to rewatch it any time soon, but I’m on board with all the accolades it’s been getting.

 

Spoiler

I think he knew he messed up by allowing Peggy to see him beat up Joe. And that was a very unheroic sequence where the sheer nastiness of the violence is emphasised instead.

After that, Frank is more careful but also more deluded. And yes, part of him probably did know they were aware but he convinced himself it wasn't so.

For a film whose tagine could be 'it is what it is', Frank's focused on what isn't.

 

Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets

Side note: Shirley Henderson, who played Moaning Myrtle, voiced Babu Frik in Rise of Skywalker.

 

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Melissa McCarthy , Richard E Grant.

McCarthy plays a struggling writer who turns to forging letters by famous writers to make some money. I like Melissa McCarthy , and she's good in this. I think its based on a true story , its got some comedy but really its played straight and you can't help feeling for her.
And she and Grant have some good chemistry , they should do more together.

 

Two movies today

Maleficient: Mistress of Evil (2019)
I like Angelina Jolie. I sincerely think she's a marvelous character actor and seems to really enjoy her roles. I thought the movie was pretty good. I like the character; far more than pretty much any of the other characters in the two live action Sleeping Beauty movies. Elle Fanning (Aurora) and Harris Dickinson (Phillip) were pretty dull in their roles. Michelle Pfieffer had a somewhat interesting if not cliche character. For the most part the story was kind of predictable as you're paying attention from the beginning; but I think it still held its own.

1917 (2019)
Certainly a different kind of movie. I'm not sure offhand if this was based on a true story, but it certainly was a compelling one. The only actor I recognized throughout the entire film was Benedict Cumberbatch; and he only had a minor role. But nonetheless, all of the actors including the leads did a remarkable job. I've certainly got no qualms that this movie earned the GG win for best picture.

 

The director has said that he heard the story from his grandfather.

 

That part in the credits I remember; wasn't sure if meant this particular story was true, or if the movie itself was just a tribute to his grandfather who was in the war.

 

Apparently it's loosely based on actual events:

https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/19...rld-war-sam-mendes-accuracy-explained-1358467

 

Almost there... almost there...


Herbie Goes Bananas (1980)
The silliness is in Mexico this time. Chloris Leachman and Harvey Korman are mildly entertaining with over-the-top performances, and Herbie's appearance in the bullfighting ring is amusing. The rest is forgettable. Were the earlier Herbie movies big hits south of the border? VW has had factories there for years.

 

Supposedly, for Herbie Fully Loaded, there was talk about trying to get Dean Jones to reprise his role as Jim Douglas in a cameo appearance.

 

Ghostbusters II

I still love this movie. Nothing can beat the original, but this is a very entertaining sequel with so many great one liners. Rick Moranis in particular is freakin' hilarious.

 

The Killing. This is just as much meticulously-planned-heist fun as you would expect an early-Kubrick fifties B-movie to be. Sterling Hayden is notionally the lead, and he was born for fifties B-movies, but it’s really an ensemble piece, carefully following the whole crew through the planning and execution of a racetrack robbery. The standout is Elisha Cook, Jr., who has an absolutely fantastic performance as a sad-sack clerk whose awful, greedy wife threatens to derail the whole operation. And the ending is just amazing. Even if the rest of the film wasn’t great, which it is, it would be worth watching just for the ending.

 

@Havac
Glad to know of another fan of The Killing. Nice review.
It's definitely one of my favorites in that genre and the type of film that rewards rewatches. I recently upgraded to blu ray for it and it looks terrific.

 

Dolittle

A little silly at times, it doesn't deserve the low reviews it's getting.

 

There's room for silly - my sights are set on Star Wars, but Dolittle is among the top five list of currents I'd enjoy seeing.

 

Dolemite is My Name

 

Holy ****, Sarah Silverman's bit in that movie . . . it's, um, a problematic scene to say the least, but, man, she knocks it out of the park. That's honestly the only scene in the movie I really remember.

 

is he playing all the characters?