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

Devotion (2022)
Best movie I've seen all year. I'll be going back to see it again, guaranteed.

 

I can't wait to see The Fabelmans.
Nice review Guidman.

 

The Silence (Tystnaden) (dir. Ingmar Bergman, 1963) Blu-ray

The setup: two sisters, Ester and Anna (Ingrid Thulin and Gunnel Lindblom, respectively) travel with Anna's young son through an unspecified country, and check in a grand hotel that mostly seems empty. Ester, a translator, is gravely ill and possibly dying. As the little boy amuses himself by exploring the mostly empty hallways of the hotel, Anna's longstanding grievances towards the dying Ester gradually boil over.



This is, supposedly, the third in a loosely thematically connected "trilogy" of films having to deal with God's silence. This left me upon initial viewing slightly confused; unlike the previous two films in this trilogy, there are direct references to such a thing, no characters struggling with their faith or lack thereof. We must therefore see the characters in the film and their interactions as allegorical (not novel in Bergman's euvre). But I'm not going to speculate on that here.

And according to Bergman, the title does indeed stand for "God's silence." True to its title though, there is also relatively little dialogue in it; most scenes are wordless. In an introduction to the film filmed in 2003, when Bergman was 85, he grumbles that there are still too many lines in the film.

Bergman, again no stranger to revisiting his themes, would also explore conflicts between women in Persona and Cries and Whispers. Whereas I found those two films to be mindblowingly excellent, I did not think this one quite reached that level of quality. In other words, very good Bergman, not great Bergman. That's my opinion, anyway -- as opposed to Roger Ebert, who counted this film in his "great films" list.

One thing that Bergman does always do amazingly well is shoot closeups of faces (see photo). This film too has spades of that. In fact the cinematography is gorgeous throughout.

Amusingly, the film was considered extremely risqué for its time; one of the characters masturbates at one point, and there also are a couple of short sex scenes with very brief partial nudity. Nothing that we'd even raise an eyebrow over these days, but in 1963, the ensuing controversy caused this to be Bergman's most financially successful film. Weird, huh.

So, yeah. Frozen for grownups. Rating: 4 empty hallways out of 5.

 

I’ve been jonesing to see the fablemans

 

Road to Bali. Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour were on their sixth film in the series, so they have the formula down pat. Exotic (backlot) locations, musical numbers, Crosby and Hope fighting over Lamour, fast-talking shenanigans, fourth-wall-breaking humor. It’s all there, and it all works well enough to keep things humming along. But not even the introduction of color can give the film, made after a five-year layoff, fresh energy. It’s hard to keep the same zip and zest to the routine six entries in. It’s amusing, easygoing, bantering fun, but it doesn’t have the crackle you’d like to see from a fast-paced, irreverent comedy.

 

I love Force Majeure. I just adore every misanthropic, cringe-inducing, nasty minute of it. I was a bit disappointed in The Square which was Ostlund taking on the art world. Did you see that one? It had some amazing scenes, especially one involving Terry Notary as a performance artist whose whole schtick revolved around pretending to be an ape. That could have been a ten minute short film all by itself. And Elisabeth Moss was great. But I wasn't sure how I felt about him expanding from toxic personal relationships to a toxic culture. I have trepidations about Triangle of Sadness, but I'll probably check it out. He'll probably never top Force Majeure for me; he seems to be getting more and more ambitious in terms of the scope of his films and, for me, that tight focus on interpersonal relationships was what really made Force Majeure so compelling.

 

Was watching Smallville S1 ep 7 or so and Amy Adams was the ep villain…it triggered me into watching Man of Steel today. Now I’m a bit into BvS Ultimate. I hated this movie so much..I would have left the cinema during if I wasn’t with other people. It’s not as bad with the ability to hit pause. Not sure what is “new” with this edition vs the one I saw back then.

 

So Smallville had three actresses who played or would play Lois Lane: Erica Durance as that show's Lois; Teri Hatcher in a cameo; and Amy Adams.

As for the last movie I saw...Glass Onion. It was good, but I won't reveal any spoilers.

 

Black Panther 2

I actually liked it better than the first one.

 

@Rogue1-and-a-half - The Square is on my to do list.

 

Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders. Bringing back the audibly elderly Adam West, Burt Ward, and Julie Newmar for a self-mocking animated reprise of the sixties campfest series, this is a project without a strong rationale. The TV show is still out there, and this movie doesn’t have much to offer aside from nostalgia for whatever audience is genuinely nostalgic for that show, and self-aware send-ups of the show’s campiness. But the whole oooh-look-at-how-silly-we-are approach doesn’t really work; a work satirizing itself rarely comes off. Everybody has been joking about the show for years; there’s nothing new to say. It’s just a bunch of silliness that feels lazy because all the jokes are worn out. It ends up as a nostalgia cash-in without much entertainment value. A few jokes land, but mostly it’s dull. Not my thing.

 

Finished BvS Ultimate. Better than original version.

Am now rewatching Justice League(this movie was horrible) and 1st time Synder cut a bit at a time side by side. Big difference. Synder cut is much better so far.

 

The Madness of King George (1994)

It's fun seeing period pieces done in almost a comedic light, since so many are strictly serious and overly dramatic. The costume and setting are incredible too.

 

The Automat (2021)

Once upon a time, there were dozens of unique restaurants throughout New York City and Philadelphia with a unique feature; vending machines embedded in the walls where for some nickels you could get a really good meal. This documentary features interviews with a slew of celebrities and prominent figureheads who grew up in The City and appreciated both the simplicity and yet wholesomeness of the Automat restaurants. Mel Brooks, who even gets in a newly composed song about the Automat, is among the primary interviewees. He trades bashes with Carl Reiner (of course) about their own anecdotes about the Automat. RBG and Colin Powel add their own memories as well. Of course there's plenty of archival footage, and a handful of historians as well as the descendants of the original owners are included among the interviews. They interview Howard Schultz, who at an early age visited an Automat with his family and decades later became the CEO of a relatively popular coffeehouse from Seattle. Believe it or not, the last Automat closed in 1991. My parents had gone to them, being from New York City of course.



It actually made an appearance in Marvel's Agent Carter.

Spoiler

 

John Wick 3

The first one was a dull, never ending series of close range headshots. The second one was much more creative and found a good balance. This third one gets eyerollingly absurd in it's world building, even for this series, yet is not as creative as the second.

There are a few highlights. The knife throwing and axe swinging in the museum. The dogs, complete with body armor. There are more lowlights. Halle Berry, who joins Wick and the dogs for another very long sequence of boring, close range gun fu. Boban Marjanovic. The entire raid on The Continental is just an extremely tired sequence. The bulletproof mooks. The ninjas. And the worst: horses that kick at Wick's will.

And finally, Keanu is really looking his age. Wasn't moving too well in this one.

I'm just not a fan of the main action of this series, which is Keanu Reeves headshotting an endless number of mooks. It's just so utterly boring and physically unimpressive.

 

When I was in Italy in 2002, we went to a roadside Automat on the highway and it was shockingly amazing. Everything was fresh and delicious. Damn good sandwiches. Haven't been to one - or even seen one - since.

 

Never Say Goodbye. In 1946, Errol Flynn’s career was entering its long, terminal decline, and this is an early entry in the file of disappointments. This likable but lightweight romantic comedy is in line with the handful of other romantic comedies he’d done, okay but nothing an audience would respond to like his adventure movies. Flynn just couldn’t diversify his image, as hard as he tried, and his alcoholism, physical decline, and legal troubles all took their toll on his ability to get good roles and hold an audience. Flynn is a funny leading man here, but audiences just didn’t go for it; you can see the outline of a shift that might have staved off his decline, but it didn’t work.

Flynn isn’t helped tremendously by the material. The script is co-written by I. A. L. Diamond, so there’s some definite wit to it, but it’s also very uneven, with haphazard plotting and a struggle to really get momentum going. Flynn plays a roguish artist whose flings with his models got him divorced from Eleanor Parker. But, devoted to his young daughter and repentant after a year of divorce, he tries to reconcile to bring the family back together. Flynn and Parker are both still in love, but she can’t trust him, and accidents keep getting in their way. There’s Flynn’s latest model, Parker’s meddling mother and the dullard lawyer she’s trying to set Parker up with, and a Marine introduced through an implausible sequence of events, and this inability to focus in on one obstacle is typical of the film’s slapdash construction. It’s pleasant, with good lead performances, but never really feels like it’s going anywhere. Had it kept the madcap energy of a highlight sequence in which Flynn, disguised as Santa, raises hell all over Parker’s home while the lawyer, also dressed as Santa, descends into confusion and rage, it would have stood out. As is, it’s several good components in search of a working configuration.

 

SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)

This is one of those classic movies I somehow never saw - two speak-easy musicians (Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis) witness a mob hit (basically, the St Valentine's Day Massacre) and have to go on the run, so they disguise themselves as women and sign on with an all-female band doing a three week stint in Florida. Assorted wackiness ensues, dealing in part with the Curtis' character's infatuation with the band's singer, played by Marilyn Monroe (who is, what a shock, absolutely stunning AND also very much evidencing that "something extra" that makes for a movie star and not "just another pretty face").

Had a great time with this - very funny. Tony Curtis' character is a bit of a jerk if you think about it too much but given the tone of the movie its a pretty safe bet things will turn out okay ;-) . Similarly, Marilyn Monroe's character seems to feel the best quality in a husband would be money (perhaps understandably) and yet she comes off as rather sweet versus cold and materialistic. And the gangsters were a real treat - as my wife noted, "you just dont see faces like that in movies anymore". The assortment of "criminal mugs" on display is great fun.

Lots of laughs for sure. Well worth a watch!

 

A Call to Spy (2019)

Based on a true story; a few years into World War II, Britain realizes that victory would not only be achieved by boots on the ground and planes in the air, but resistance behind enemy lines working for them. Vera Atkins recruits two women to infiltrate occupied France and work with others in the resistance to aid the Allies and infiltrate the Nazi regime through extreme measures. It's a really inspirational story, all the more moving because the main characters were all real people.

 

Dunkirk - first viewing

I like it for what it is. There's an endless building tension for characters I didn't really give a **** about at all. I'm actually glad Nolan didn't bother with dialogue or personal stories or whatever, that was definitely the right choice and the best invention of the movie. The reality of it does all the work, as it should. I've seen people compare it to a video game, but I think it's more like old war footage you'd see on the History channel. My complaints are minor and didn't sour my experience. There are times when the score is really good, but others when I wish it just wasn't there at all. I mean, this definitely could have been a silent movie. My biggest complaint is the three different timelines that get out of order, it makes it unnecessarily confusing and I don't think a whole lot is gained by it. There are times when I wanted to keep moving forward, but was annoyed that the timelines made me go back to rewatch a scene from a different perspective. I had to think too much just to understand what was going on and when, and that shouldn't be happening in a movie as minimal as this. That's just Nolan's obsession with tinkering with time being thrown in to the detriment of the experience.

I always wanted to see a war movie done this way, and while ideas like this often make for crappy movies, this one was made into a very satisfying reality with Dunkirk.

 

Glass Onion

I've been out to the movies more times in the last three weeks than in the last three years. The whole family went out last night, and we had a nearly empty theater to ourselves. Really the entire Regal Cinema in Chicago was a ghost town on post-Thanksgiving Friday, which seemed odd. They look like they've barely survived the pandemic. Maybe there's nothing playing now that anyone wants to see.

It's a fun movie; over the top, but fun. The premise is a bit too cute, but I'm not anywhere near being bored of mocking tech billionaires, so it's satisfying at least on that level. I think it would have done well with a legitimate theater run.

 

I liked it better on rewatches, when I understood what was going on with the timeline and when things were happening.