Saturday, December 10, 2022

Weekend Open Thread

30 comments:

  1. Hi everyone!

    I was about to complain about Gene Tierney's face in WHIRLPOOL (1950), which I watched tonight, but then I found out that they all moved their faces that way back in the day (1940s-ish). I hate it but that was the style. Where the women are basically trying not to move their faces at all except for their eyebrows and their lips. And they have that fakey weird low, slow voice. We have such weird trends. Like when we created a fake, classist, US-mixed with-UK accent (like Cary Grant's), which no longer exists.

    THE LADY VANISHES (1938), director Hitchcock.
    I meant to watch this after reading Casual's positive review. I thought it was SO GOOD. So charming. Hilarious. Slapstick. Well done. Highly recommend. Hithcock's style works remarkably well here- he was already a master of suspense but his signature visual touches were only scattered here and there in this movie, which was all kind of refreshing.

    That kiss was aDORRable. Michael Redgrave. What a cutie. He and Margaret Lockwood were on fire together. (Also, Vanessa Redgrave looks a lot like her grandpa).

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    1. Are you thinking about Natasha Richardson, Meredith? Vanessa Redgrave is Michael's daughter. The Lady Vanishes is more lighthearted than most of Hitchcock's work. Although the threats in the film were real, they are treated in an entertaining way.

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    2. Ah, the Transatlantic accent (as known as Mid-Atlantic accent). I first became aware of its existence watching old war movies. There's an informative wiki page on it. Apparently that's the accent that Mr. Burns is using. I had never noticed before, but makes perfect sense now.

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    3. Ohhh, yes, Casual, sorry. Michael is Vanessa's dad. I'm aging everyone. I watched the recent remake of The Lady Vanishes...and I'd like to read the source material (but I won't), because it is SO different. Plotwise, even.

      At one point in Hitchcock's version I was like "Oh, this is a big budget, Hollywood movie", even though it happens on a train. There's a lot of slapstick and action.

      Paul - ah, if I knew Mr. Burns or The Simpsons I would understand. Katherine Hepburn also had a Transatlantic accent. Strong one.

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    4. Natasha Richardson looked a lot like her grandfather (Michael).

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    5. There's other modern examples. Kelsey Grammer in the TV show Frasier. Darth Vader! You must have heard of him.

      I hadn't realized they were doing the same thing before reading through that wiki page, but now it all makes sense. I would have called it a hoighty toighty accent.

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    6. Yeah I had to just watch a Darth Vader clip because I had no idea. Because.....I don't watch Star Wars. (gasp). And I've never seen Frasier. Grew up without any TV. Kind of funny Darth Vader has a hoity toity accent.

      Casual, have you seen Joely Richardson's daughter? Wow. The looks in that family really carry.

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    7. Actually he's the leader of a space empire, right? So yeah.

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  2. Good weekend to everyone. The past two months have had themes (horror and Noirvember), so why not December. I am calling it Around The World With Cinema month. It gives me a reason to catch up with the many international films in my watch list. Going from all genre watches to serious cinema is not easy, though.

    PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (2019, dir. Céline Sciamma) – Very French and very sad. Sciamma makes the period film a critique of the lack of control in women’s lives, among other things (art, homosexuality, discrimination). PORTRAIT has the finest digital cinematography I have yet encountered. I loved the rhythm of the editing. One that I will revisit. It is interesting to see this featured in the recent Sight And Sound poll.

    MANILA IN THE CLAWS OF NEON (1975, dir. Lino Brocka) – Also known as Manila in the Claws of Light, this Filipino film is a cinematic gut punch. Julio is a young man from a rural fishing village struggling to survive in Manila while searching for his girlfriend, who seemingly has been trafficked into prostitution. Few of his experiences are positive in nature. The film veers toward melodrama as the inevitable downbeat conclusion nears. Manila itself is a character, a place filled with corruption, poverty, and violence. The way Lino Brocka captured the city is remarkable, with many scenes having the air of being shot without any warning to bystanders. If you can take a downer film, this is highly recommended.

    THE GOLDEN THREAD (1965, dir. Ritwik Ghatak) – Ghatak is an Indian filmmaker I have heard about for years. The Golden Thread, available on the Mubi website, is my first watch of his work. The story is of Hindu refugees from modern-day Bangladesh trying to make a new life for themselves in a newly independent India. A man, his younger sister, and a boy separated from his mother grow up together to face many struggles as the 1940s move on into the 1960s. Ghatak seemed to have had a lot to say about Indian society at that time. There are challenges to watching a film from a culture that you do not know a lot about.

    LA NUIT DE LA VÉRITÉ / NIGHT OF TRUTH (2004, dir. Fanta Régina Macro) – My first film from the West African country of Burkina Faso. This has sat on the DVR for two years. The "night" of the title refers to is a celebration for a peace agreement for a civil war in an African country. As the leaders of the warring factions meet for event, the hatred of the war has unfortunately not yet completely had its last act. Despite being the bleakest subject for anything I watched all week, NUIT is the most optimistic film.

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    1. I missed Portrait of a Lady on Fire when it first came out, but I keep hearing of people mentioning it lovingly. And now it's on the Sight and Sound list. I should make a point of watching it soon.

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    2. It is worthwhile, Paul. Being such a recent film, I was surprised to see it so high in the Sight and Sound poll. It does seem like films delving into the topics PORTRAIT covers received a lot of votes this time. JEANNE DIELMAN as the best film ever made? I would not say that. Then again, these kind of lists are intended to create debate.

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  3. THE FABELMANS (2022) I drove for three hours (and back!) to the only theater I could find playing this. Fortunately, the movie is beyond stellar. Some might argue that the “healing power of the movies” thing is a bit much, but not for folks like us.

    EXCESS BAGGAGE (1997) Classic ‘90s romcom quirkiness. Benecio Del Toro is cast against type as the romantic lead, and Alicia Silverstone is against type as the bad girl. It doesn’t quite work, and yet the weird casting makes this stand out among other movies of this kind.

    ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (2017) I thought I knew what I was in for: a low-budget zombie flick shot all in one take. But then the movie becomes something else altogether, and it’s delightful. Highly recommended!

    TREMORS (1990) Freakin’ Melvin.

    ELF (2003) An incredibly goofball movie that doesn’t make a lot of sense. (Is Buddy human, or is he magic? The script can’t decide.) But the cast commits 100 percent, and they make it work.

    BRAHMASTRA PART ONE: SHIVA (2022) Weird to see this pop up on Disney Plus, but why not? It’s basically a Marvel movie, all huge production value, CGI fights, and convoluted mythology. It’s big dumb popcorn fun, though, and it won me over. I feel like this is what Eternals could have been.

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    1. Yesterday, I wouldn't have been willing to drive 3 hours to see The Fabelmans, but now having seen it, I think I would! Thankfully it was playing only 3 km from me.

      It's crazy to think that Elf is already (nearly) 20 years old. My my, time flies.

      One Cut of the Dead has been on my watchlist for a while. I just added it to my Junesploitation list, where it's less likely to be buried.

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  4. I hope everyone had a nice week full of movie love. I’m looking forward to watching some holiday movies in the coming weeks.

    Highlights of what I’ve watched lately:

    Batman: The Movie (1966) might possibly be the best Batman movie of them all? Maybe not, but it might just be the most fun to watch. I finally got around to seeing The Batman (2022, dir. Matt Reeves) and now I wish I had seen it in the theatre. I bought the amazing score (by the prolific Micheal Giacchino at his very best) and have been listening to it a bunch.

    Amazon is terrible at advertising their movies, and such is the case with Thirteen Lives (2022, dir. Ron Howard) which was quietly released on Prime. It’s about the rescue of the Thai kids from that flooded cave. I thought it was excellent and no one I know has even heard of it. BTW, there’s a documentary about the same event on Disney+ which I’ve heard great things about, called The Rescue (2021).

    Speaking of tense, Fall (2022) isn’t terribly good, but it has some of the most tense and nail-biting sequences I’ve seen in a while. Worth a watch, and it’s impressive how much they squeezed from such a basic premise.

    I wouldn’t have even known about Aquateen Forever: Plantasm (2022) except for Mashke’s recommendation (thanks!). I was a fan of the show, but haven’t watched it in years. It was fun revisiting the characters again, especially the pixelated aliens. It’s hilarious and only 75 minutes long.

    I had resisted watching the reincarnation of The Muppets but watched Muppets Most Wanted (2014) and was pleasantly surprised. It was so much fun and the evil Russian Kermit was an instant favourite. I often find Ricky “Did you know I’m an atheist” Gervais kind of annoying, but you can’t deny his comedic timing.

    I rewatched Dances With Wolves (1990, dir. Costner) and it’s still one of my favourites. It was mentioned on the podcast a couple weeks ago. It isn’t forgotten by me, and I want to rewatch it right now again.

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    1. Batman running around on the dock trying to get rid of the bomb is hilarious. It seems like the 1966 film tried to be even more ridiculous than the television series.

      Speaking of The Muppets, Paul, I have been watching some clips on Youtube of Swedish Chef skits from The Muppets Show. "Bork, bork, bork." They are still funny. I watched that program every week as a young child.

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    2. The "running around the docks" was a stand-out scene, comedy wise. I loved how there were big signs labelling everything throughout the movie.

      Last Christmas after watching one of the Muppets Christmas specials, we found some clips of the Muppet show on Youtube. The Swedish Chef was always a hit. I was a baby when The Muppet Show first was on the air, but in later years we had a couple VHS tapes with the show on them.

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  6. I also went last night to watch The Fabelmans, which just opened here, despite coming to VOD on Tuesday. Saturday night, 9:30pm showing, downtown theatre, seats for 244 people....and I was the single person there. What is happening??

    There is a scene in the opening few minutes where a character is at a movie, and the camera is panning over a completely full theatre, and the difference to my experience was stark.

    But I really loved it! Perhaps my favourite of the year. What a picture! Not really a spoiler, but my favourite bit was when they were watching the WW2 movie, and things were getting bloody, an older girl was shocked and covered the eyes of her little sister. But the little sister whipped off the hand to reveal a face full of glee from the movie watching experience. It's like a 1 second moment but perfectly embodied Movie Love.

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  7. HO ho ho!

    Christmas Bloody Christmas (2022 shudder)

    A fun little killer robot santa flick. Feels like a mashup of High Fidelity + Silent Night Deadly Night + The Terminator. I love the premise but the robot santa effect played out more like guy in santa suit acting a bit like a robot for 2/3rds which kinda diminished it a tid bit. Still a great christmas midnight horror flick!

    The Equalizer 1 and 2

    How did i sleep on these flicks!?! Part one in particular really blew me away. Its a perfect companion movie to the Wick series and Nobody.
    Dig it!!!

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    1. I've somehow never seen the Equalizer movies either. I love Denzel, but the first one came out when I wasn't in a movie watching phase, and there's been a lot of great Denzel movies to catch up since then.

      I had completely forgotten about Nobody too. I think it was mentioned favourably on the podcast, but I didn't get to it. Maybe after I watch Ambulance, which is my plan for my day off tomorrow.

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    2. HAZAA! yea, i was on a Denzel kick recently with some Tony Scott flicks so the transition to Equalizer was easy..my goodness he's an amazing actor.

      Nobody is very much worth checking out. There's obviously been a zillion action flicks trying to jump on the Wick bandwagon..most to diminishing degrees..but i found Nobody to be a super fun action flick and really a cool/different performance from Odenkirk.

      Let me know what you think of Ambulance!

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  8. The Fabelmans rules so much. Michelle Williams is a GREAT screen crier.

    DUAL (2022) honks and I hated it.

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  9. I think we need Yassine Bounou in the movies.

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  10. Sorry to hear about your flat getting flooded. Hopefully it's sorted out sooner rather than later.

    I hated the first Spiderman when it came out. Enough that I didn't watch any of the sequels (although I wasn't watched movies much at all during that period). Until recently, that is, where I watched them with my son and gained a new appreciation for the Raimi version of Spiderman. I LOVED number 2. Doctor Octopus was so good and threatening. I think it might be my favourite superhero movie, but there might be some recency bias combined with a fatigue the the MCU.

    Hope you find some time to watch some holiday movies in the coming weeks!

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    1. At this point, I just wonder why censorship struck again, and my post disappeared. This is so frustrating and stupid.

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    2. That's weird. I mean, it existed for awhile. I saw your post and responded to it, and now it's gone. The other times I've had a post disappear it happened immediately. I'd post and refresh, and it wouldn't be there.

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    3. Maybe it's something I did accidentally while trying to delete spambot posts? I'm usually pretty careful so I hope not. I have no idea why that would happen. I'm very sorry.

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    4. Yo Derk...odds are its some Blogger glitch..the system isnt perfect and acts up a bunch..i was randomly unable to post on it for a bit...the F This gang doesnt unnecessarily cut posts out.

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    5. The Blogger software seems to periodically mess with all of us, Derk. I can be frustrating.

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    6. Thank you for your replies. Since I wanted to be less "on the internet machine" and more out there (or in front of the screen watching movies), I maybe should take this for a sign. :D

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