The Whale (2022) - psychological drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and written by Samuel D. Hunter, based on his 2012 play of the same name. The film kind of feels like a play. Takes place all in one room. And at times it's tough to watch. As far as the film goes I'd maybe give it a 6.7. Brendan Fraser and Hong Chau turn in really stunning performances which lift my score.
The last time I saw this had to be the mid-'80s. My step-mother was into this film and Basket Case (1982). I remember watching them on VHS, but that was many braincells ago. I love reading them, too! Much better than I like reading mine own. But my ol' lady left me, so all I've got to do is work, music and film. That's a good feeling. Catching up on life.
Sorry about the relationship stuff. Me, I've been too busy with gardening and cutting wood since the weather picked up and haven't held up my end of watching.
It's all good. Thank you. Really, I'm getting more accomplished as a single man than I ever did as a married dude. I wouldn't have had the inspiration that I have now if this didn't happen. I've been super productive and boy have I seen a lot of great films! I'm thinking real hard about driving up to Rochester, NY from Texas to the Nitrate Film Festival at the Eastman Museum. 4 days of nothing but vintage nitrate movies. Ya think I should report back on that?
Living (2022) - Amazon Prime 8/10 Bill Nighy stars in this excellent remake of Kurosawa's Ikiru, this time set in early 1950's London
Blood Waters of Dr. Z (a.k.a., Zaat) (Mystery Science Theater 3000 version)- 10/10 Filmed in and around the beautiful town of Green Cove Springs, Florida AND it's on MST3k, so of course I'm gonna give it a 10/10. The film itself is beyond lousy, but Servo, Crow, and Mike are very funny as usual. The interstitial sketch (or "host segment") in which Crow impersonates the creepy evil narrator is hilarious. "At just the right moment... attack!!!" "Ah yes, my friend the squeegee. I love you."
"Marlowe" with Liam Neeson as Raymond Chandler archetypal P.I. As the title suggests, the film is trying to 'sell' or evoke 'Marlowe', in this case as a somewhat new incarnation. 7.1/10 IMO, no one is going to better Robert Mitchum as Marlowe, but I have to say Neeson is good as projecting a sort of rueful decency and comes across as a sort of Marlowe cousin. Better than Bogart, Gould, Garner. So, there's that - I'd rank him as the second best Marlowe. The other actors have to play off him, and they do quite well, especially Danny Huston. Diane Krueger and Jessica Lange could have dialed it down a bit. The plotting is kind of circular and messy (what else) and the film gets by more on atmosphere than story in the first half. Then it sorts of coheres into a more purposeful movie. The fighting is almost comically attenuated - Neeson is by far the most physical Marlowe and he several times dispatches 2 or 3 bad guys in a blink. Excellent production design though the neon signs look 'designed'. Chinatown remains the class act for evoking that period by not overdoing it. And if you know where it was filmed, the more 'Mediterrean look won't surprise you. Kind of bombed so we probably won't see a sequel, which is too bad because they were almost on to something
Hmmm.. I had thought about this one and maybe I have a little Liam fatigue, I stopped there. Thanks for the tip.
Gray Man - w/Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans and Ana de Armas - Netflix 3/10 - Ryan Gosling is the only reason I didn't give it a lower score. Sort of a poor Jason Bourne copycat. Visuals were good but that's about it. I mean, how does this stuff even get made?
Runnin' Down A Dream (2007) - DVD 8.5/10 Peter Bogdanovich's excellent in-depth (~4 hour long) documentary about Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers. Made me really miss him.
Got bored watching the Clint Eastwood directed film absolute power . Gene Hackman played that role better in the Roger Donaldson film No way out with Kevin Costner 10/10
Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 8.5/10…excellent conclusion to the series and the first good MCU movie since Avengers: Endgame. My only complaint it’s the length.
The Gay Divorcee (1934) 6.7/10 Fred Astaire plays yet another stalker who pesters a woman until she falls in love with him. In 2023 that'll put you in jail. In 1934 it made you want to dance. And they do. Once again Astaire proves that nobody can touch him. The first number he proceeds to make beats, like a kick and a snare, using the heels and toes of his feat. In the second number, "A Needle in a Haystack," he dances wild, in and out of the rhythm, in strange syncopation. Cole Porter's "Night and Day" is beautifully danced and sung by Astaire & Rogers, especially Rogers with some sultry moves, and especially Astaire with his vocals (which I don't say often about his voice). Otherwise, it's a decent plot, some good comedy and some poor. There's 17-minute of "The Continental" at the end, which is fun, with lots of dancing and singing, but not as lavish as the Busby treatment. For some reason, Astaire & Rogers aren't quite as good during this long sequence, but hey, Betty Grable shows up and sings a song, so it's all good. The musical is very fun, but far from perfect. ----------------------------------------------------------- Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) 8/10 At about the 18 minute mark I was about to turn this off. Then Cary Grant discovered what was in the window seat. The movie was brilliant from there. I've never seen anything quite like it. Now, I understand why it was set up the way it was, only they took the long road getting there. Standouts were Peter Lorre and Grant, but everyone did a swell job. Teddy gets annoying, but whatever. The image is stunning, yet there's one area in the middle of the film where there's pretty bad macroblocking. I'm going to show this to friends.
Fistful of Dollars 6.5/10 Its hard to consider this without the context of knowing what it would lead to. Leone is still finding his way, or/and hampered by small budget. Clint talks a bit too much, and is only smart relative to the very dumb and arrogant bad guys. But that opening title, the intense and sometimes almost operatic score, and some of the action sequences and staging suggests the new approach that would soon be fully realized.
Almost Famous Great! 8/10 First time in ages. Saw in on Amazon Prime. Ordered the Paramount Presents Blu-ray on ebay. That was so much better than I remembered.
Paths Of Glory (1957) - 4K UHD 9.5/10 Kirk Douglas stars in Stanley Kubrick's excellent anti-war film.
