Talk About Movies: Part 4

The Third Man. A favourite, but a long time since I watched it. Such a compact, perfect film. Orson Welles nails it. And the GOAT soundtrack. What kind of unusual instrument is a zither?

The whole film is revolving around you, and you have a few seconds to appear and be Harry Lime, both evil and charming at the same time.

Shallow Grave - Long time blindspot for me, was so glad I caught this one. I've owned the Criterion blu-ray for years! Monster performances from the three leads and was fun to see early Peter Mullan. It was fascinating watching Eccleston play a (at first) meek character then slipping into madness. It also made me a little sad. Not sure what happened between McGregor and Boyle after A Life Less Ordinary but feel like they could have done great work together for a long time.

Such a great film with the greatest reveal ever. That ending shot is as memorable as any.

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I think Woody nods to Charlie. The final shots of Manhattan and City Lights.

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Just watched the last hour of Black Phone on SyFy. As great as I remembered.

Unedited too, except for they didn’t show

I actually won my bet with myself about it.

One day China will realize how weak and unserious we really are and sail right into Kao-Hsiung Harbor, if not Pearl Harbor and Port of LA.

Heat rewatch, probably north of a couple dozen times now. Still slaps so hard. My favourite of all time.

If this Heat 2 thing ever gets off the ground, please god do not butcher it.

edit: Also just made me super nostalgic for the golden era of De Niro and Pacino. They are 82 and 85 respectively and with a lot of these vintage actors and actresses from our generation dying it makes me sad that those two are near that point. Weird to see these stars start to pass.

Watching Jason Goes to Hell on AMC… been watching for the last hour and haven’t seen Jason once -__-

What the hell were they doing with these movies after like the third one?

Later is Jason Lives and Jason Takes Manhattan….can things get any worse???

A consecutive schedule would be nice.

Couldn’t agree more on every point

Last time I watched it, that scene where De Niro and Brenneman are above the LA lights just HIT ME and I got so nostalgic for that period of time in LA and in Hollywood (and over the top synth, and probably my youth)….inject that into my veins

I guess it’s just getting old and everyone goes through it but I sure do miss it all. I want someone to start a pod where some old actors just reminisce about Hollywood in the 70’s/80’s

I watched the 1983 film Danton yesterday. Tremendous, completely engrossing, vitally important, etc. Gerard Depardieu's performance deserved at least 3 Oscars and reminds one how great an actor this man was before he turned into whatever it is he is now.

Danton is a great movie

I saw the last movie he was in, Claire Denis's Let the Sunshine In, and he's great in the final short scene in the film.

Movie also stars Juliette Binoche, so that's another reason to see it.

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BP2 is ok. It actually would’ve been a fantastic novel by Joe Hill & Dad. But it’s maybe half as good as the first one. Really drags in comparison and the suspension of disbelief is hard re it being a blizzard in the Rockies. Lots of expository dialogue. At least three classic horror films were quite influential on the makers, and there were winks n’ nods at a couple more.

If you loved the first one you should see it though, it’s not painful to sit through aside from the truly lame usage of a classic rock song. But the major plot twist is well done.

Just watched it. "The world doesn't make any heroes" -- delivered in a war torn city -- is a classic line. Not quite true, I don't think.

Right after The Third Man it auto keyed up one called Dead Reckoning. Bogie narrating his lead character as only he can. It's a dandy. "I always get even," he quips threateningly to a copper in a double entendre, right after getting a damsel even in the casino.

Rabbit Trap, Brynn Chainey, 2025

Gorgeous, dream-like, part fairy tale part folk horror, this captivating story about trauma is not for everyone, as it might leave you confused and unsure what it is you just saw. However, it's worth the effort, as I think it's quite straight forward, once you think about it - and I bet a 2nd viewing will clear it up some. Patel is having nightmares of something hoor-inducing - his past - and McErwan seems to be recovering from something, as well - maybe a lot child or pregnancy? It's never quite spelled out.

Dev Patel and Rosey McEwan play a married couple who go to a remote Welsh cabin to record the sounds of nature and put them in McEwan's new album. But they get to know a local child, played by Jade Croot, who may or may not be a Welsh ancient fairy-like creature, who insinuates herself into their lives. All the actors are great, but Croot really is spectacular, as the actress is a 25 year old woman, but in this she plays a young, male teen.

This is shot on beautiful Kodak film and takes place in 1976 and has a gorgeous grain to it. The sound design is equally great, as there are a lot of scenes with Patel and McEwan using a professional tape recorder and microphone out in the foreboding, beautiful Welsh countryside. It's use of sound recording reminded me of Coppola's The Conversation in that way.

Surreal, obtuse, metaphoric, and stunning to look at...this is one you need to turn out all the lights and turn up your sound bar. And just let it wash over you. Like with David Lynch, this movie is not necessarily about the destination, but the journey.

Physical media bros, apparently there's going to be a Criterion Flash Sale today on the site itself. I haven't seen it yet. For anyone in Canada, Unobstructed View has 50% off Criterion discs. I ordered 4K Mean Streets, Raging Bull, and Sorcerer. Fixing two major blind spots with the Scorsese films. Can't wait!

Sounds like a Brigitte Lin role.

Watched The Long Walk last night. I may be done watching movies of books I love. It was good, but why the **** do you change the ending? I guess it was fine if you didn't know what really happened, but changing it up for no apparent reason just blows.

Ive actually read this book many years ago and loved it. Do you think id like the movie?

I think I would suggest that people who love the book skip the movie, you'd be better off rereading the book. That said, I think they did an ok job with the movie, but the more I think about it the more I remember that was left out or changed, especially the ending.

I'm about to finish a long series, maybe I'll go back and reread the book to see if I'm overreacting, lol. Maybe the movie's actually better?!

No you’re not and no it isn’t—though aside from the ending they probably did about as good as possible. The changed ending might’ve worked if:

Other than the ending and the hysterically bad casting of one of the main characters it’s fine. I got semi-tilted trying to figure out if the miles walked numbers synched with the days though lol.