Thanks for the reply. I've never heard of "Everything Everywhere All At Once", but I'll keep my eyes out for it on streaming. Hollywood seems to have passed me by with their new releases and I don't see anything starring actors who are vocally politically. But the good news is I have enough DVDs to last for my lifetime, so I'll just enjoy moves from the past. I'll just skip most of the the new stuff ...
My wife and I pay close attention to all the new releases, and generally see at least three films a week.
Avatar 2 The Banshees of Inisherin (which was shown in English with English subtitles - and that was a good thing )
I just got an "Unlimited ticket" for a local theatre chain, and now I'll probably go nuts for a while. Tomorrow I'll see "Everything Everywhere All at Once" and right afterwards "Triangle of Sadness". Wednesday it's "She Said". Maybe on Monday I'll squeeze in "Babylon".
Puss and Boots: The Last Wish. Perfectly good animated movie, I saw some calling it a masterpiece. I don’t think I’d go that far.
Well, seeing these two films back to back was quite a ride. "Everything Everywhere All at Once" was a mixed bag for me. At first, I thought it was just fantastic and original, but after a while I found some of the humour a bit too infantile. And the final sequence was too drawn out for me and hammered home the message a bit too heavily. But all in all I enjoyed it a lot. "Triangle of Sadness" was simply great imo, though a lot of scenes could have been shorter for my taste, especially the aftermath of the Captain's Dinner. Spoiler The only scene that was too short, was the final one. WTF?!
We just saw a revival of Roman Holiday, the first film with Audrey Hepburn. She was perfectly lovely and I enjoyed it far more than the terribly overrated Breakfast at Tiffany's, where she played a dishonest sex worker alongside Mickey Rooney doing the most cringe-worthy performance in film history.
The second of three films today was Missing, by the same people who did Searching a few years back. Both are a type of Cinéma vérité in which everything you see is from a screen being viewed by the main character - their webcam or their phone. An 18-year-old girl is left alone in the house while her mother jets off to Columbia with her boyfriend, and when the girl goes to pick her mother up, she's not there - so she has to try to find out what happened to her, by searching the web, web cameras, breaking into the boyfriend's email. Very clever idea and really enjoyable film. According to Vickie, one of the producers, director Timur Bekmambetov (Night Watch and Day Watch) discussed this idea in an interview years ago, and she said at the time she didn't grasp what he was talking about.
The third film of the day was Women Talking by writer/director Sarah Polley, and I didn't like it in the slightest. Part of my annoyance was the fact that, if you were to describe the plot to me, I would expect that it would move me deeply, possibly moving me too tears. But it was so mannered and had so little to do with actual human behavior that it left me cold, despite having a huge amount of acting talent in the cast. I was most reminded of Lars Van Trier's Dogville, a film that I absolutely despised. I can see where some people might enjoy this film, but I suspect they might "admire" it more than enjoy.
I enjoyed this one too. Life's getting in the way a bit much at the moment so I wanted to be uplifted and so this fitted the bill perfectly. Well knock me over with a feather. I had no idea that Tom Hank's son played his younger self. I just noted a captivating on-screen presence and the most expressive eyes I've seen on a movie screen for a while - an essential bit of kit for an actor. That young man will go far!
The last movie I saw in a theatre was TOP GUN in 1986. (1st version) VHS movies were popular back then so I guess I got lazy and stayed confined to my lounge room.
Here's an interview with Bekmambetov where he discusses the "Screen life" concept: Timur Bekmambetov on 'Profile,' Making an Alien Invasion Movie With Ice Cube, and His Approach to the 'Searching' Sequel
Yesterday I watched "Babylon" and I found it a mixed bag. On the one hand, I couldn't help but be impressed by it. It was kinda spectacular and a visual feast. On the other hand, it was often totally over the top and exhausting. But in the end I was entertained until the end and can't say I was bored for a minute (of its very many minutes). I'm glad I caught it on a big screen, before it vanishes.
Women Talking I seem to have had exactly the opposite reaction to this film as @Chris DeVoe , as I found it profoundly moving and was in fact moved to tears. The whole cast was wonderful, but Rooney Mara, Ben Whishaw, Jessie Buckley, and Claire Foy shone especially bright. I have been waiting all of 2022 for a film I could call my favorite of the year, and this is unquestionably it. There is no action in this film, it is literally just women (and one man) talking, but what they were talking about completely reeled me in.
I couldn’t stay away from that cast, and I loved the previews I saw. Spoiler I will say that I thought the movie was very anti-men in general, and was wondering what the man sitting next to me thought! What did Vickie think of it? I went with two other women; one liked it, one hated it. I am the only one who gushed over it. But I have a history of gushing over performances by most of this cast.
I saw "She Said" today. I found it good, but not great. A decent film about an important subject, but somewhat conventional and unremarkable.
The next films I've got tickets for are "Holy Spider" (an Iranian film, though not filmed in Iran), "Till" and "Broker" (because Chris recommended it so highly). Too bad I didn't manage to see "The Menu", before it disappeared from theatres here. This "All-you-can-watch-ticket" is costing me a lot of time. But I guess I won't keep up this level.
Saw Left Behind Rise of the Antichrist today and though it was a different beast altogether from the original Nicholas Cage one from 2014 it was still very good overall. Talkative with little to no action it was still quite thrilling in its own right. Thought-provoking, interesting, well acted, here's hoping that if they make another one they don't wait eight years this time.
'All the Beauty and the Bloodshed' (2022) - Nan Goldin documentary. Very good indeed. Side note - I found it amusing that it is rated 18 in the UK for 'strong sexual images'. The different way sex and violence are treated regarding certification continues to baffle me.
