Talk About Movies: Part 4
Somehow threads merged, so here's part 4 of our ongoing movie discussion.
Perfect Days lived up to the hype. Like 10 out of 10! I’ve thought about it a lot since.
I Used to be Funny is a small Canadian movie I highly recommend. Won’t say much because the plot is slowly revealed through converging timelines and I found it very engaging. Funny, but has a lot to say about tough topics as well. I’ll watch anything with Rachel Sennott at this point.
Blue Valentine is a tough watch if you’re a fan of love, but well made and 2 strong performances. On the plus side I’m in love with Michelle Williams now, and maybe Ryan Gosling a bit too.
Lucky Star is another small Canadian movie, this one about poker, but mostly degeneracy. They show one full hand history and it’s been tilting me trying to decide whether they thought he was bluffing or not. Other than that, I thought it was shot well and the characters were compelling enough.
Highest to Lowest was pretty rough and even Denzel couldn’t save it. It was a thriller completely devoid of twists and plays out exactly as you expect at minute 20. Jeffrey Wright seemed like he was playing the caricature he invented in American Fiction.
Perfect Days was one of my favorites from the past couple years. That ending will stick with me for a long time. Make sure to look up "komorebi," a word I had somehow discovered before seeing the film.
Wasn't a great idea to remake High and Low.
Curious if any of you have seen Long Day's Journey Into Night by Bi Gan. It's a mesmerizing film, one that I need to watch again. You can find it on Kanopy.
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you would like watching the expanse - very good scifi that was too expensive to make so got canceled but bezos loved the show so bought it to make as a loss for prime - then after a few years they were told to quickly wrap it up and final season(s) drop off a bit as a resultfirst two years are amazing television though and features cara gee in some later years who is a native c
Ahh I haven't heard of Expanse, I'll add it to my list. I haven't noticed that trend. Although I'm kind of out on all things Taylor Sheridan. He was my boy after Sicario, and love Hell or High Water and Wind River. But he made remarks that overshadowed Native American voices. He took credit for passing the Violence Against Women Act through making the movie Wind River. While his story and his message was powerful and a welcome message from an ally, the act was passed on the backs of Native Americans that worked decades to make it happen. This article summarizes that. The story of Wind River is a delicate balance and I believe he made it with great love and respect for Native Americans. It was actually one of his first written scripts and studios tried to buy it from him but he wanted to tell the story. It just rubs me the wrong way for him to swoop in and take credit. And if he's casting non Natives to play Native roles makes me feel better about abandoning his further projects.
Train Dreams - As a Middle aged man constantly questioning my place in this world and how I’ll be remembered, I wept through much of the runtime. This is a beautiful movie. Would love a 4K disc down the road. Edgerton is stoic yet vulnerable. Jones provides warmth and it was wonderful seeing Nathaniel Arcand, the leader of the Indigenous hunters in Sinners. Between Train Dreams and Sing Sing, Clint Bentley is finely tuned in with the human spirit. My highest recommendation to all.
Bugonia - quite a trippy "dark comedy" starring Emma Stone and Meth Damon who were at their absolute best. One of the best movies that I've seen in 2025 imo.
Bonus: unconfirmed but no native Americans were appropriated or harmed during the filming afaik
Train Dreams - As a Middle aged man constantly questioning my place in this world and how I’ll be remembered, I wept through much of the runtime. This is a beautiful movie. Would love a 4K disc down the road. Edgerton is stoic yet vulnerable. Jones provides warmth and it was wonderful seeing Nathaniel Arcand, the leader of the Indigenous hunters in Sinners. Between Train Dreams
been trying to watch this but only show times were at 1:30 in seattle despite that it is a local film made here - don't have netflix and doesn't appear to be popular enough to pirate :(
And if he's casting non Natives to play Native roles makes me feel better about abandoning his further projects.
but... she's super hot... that's gotta count for something
never been a fan of taylor sheridan but that's because i don't like his story arcs - i rage quit yellowstone when the son decided to betray his dad on the slightest of whims because some journalist was like "hey you can be a star" and then... later on she gives her last name, which is nguyen, a name that literally 90% of all vietnamese have as their surname and instead of pronouncing it the correct way where it sounds like win a la scotty nguyen she introduces herself as na-gu-yen and i'm just like wtf, how is that even possible, how is it you want to have a vietnamese character and can't get such a basic thing right - like how did they not have a single person in all of production be like "hey i don't think that's right"
i do take issue with it when it's the docudrama cleopatra where the entire purpose of the show was to tell a false narrative that cleopatra was black - it was to the point that it enraged actual egyptians
- but have no beef with it done otherwise
also the gilded age, where the daughter of one of the most prominent families in america takes a train home by herself, is not in first class but instead riding with the blacks, upon arriving in nyc does not have anyone there to greet her (despite that her family has a good dozen household staff) and doesn't know how to get home by herself... so... in 1880 nyc... goes to... not a man, but a woman... and a black one at that to help her
we then cut to her mother, who is going on and on telling her other children "don't you dare be in the same room as our new money neighbor" and "just kill yourself if you're ever found associating with the irish" etc etc just someone who hates everyone, sees everyone else who is not old money as garbage who can't be associated with and then once her daughter arrives home with a black woman, she happily welcomes the black woman into her home - so she'd rather die than talk to the irish but she's going to be bffs with a black woman... sure jan
expanse early seasons are amazing, has it's own thread https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/159/o...
the modern equivalent of that gilded age pilot is baron trump takes a greyhound home to nyc, doesn't know how to get home so of course wakes up a homeless man sleeping outside penn station and when the man escorts him to trump towers don and melania give the homeless man a big embrace and offer him a cabinet position... come to think of it, that's probably how half our cabinet was appointed
.....
Lucky Star is another small Canadian movie, this one about poker, but mostly degeneracy. They show one full hand history and it’s been tilting me trying to decide whether they thought he was bluffing or not. Other than that, I thought it was shot well and the characters were compelling enough.
....
I watched Lucky Star last night because of your post and I'm a sucker for gambling movies and small indie films like this one. The film is a well-made family drama about an Asian father descending into hustling and gambling, with his family—two daughters in school—also facing financial struggles. They're a likable family, so certain scenes were tough to watch. The father gets scammed, becomes a scammer himself, and even his wife considers getting involved. I wish there were more poker scenes; there’s only a brief sequence. I’m not sure if you were referring to the KhQh hold’em hand—it was a little unclear, and I don’t want to give away any spoilers. Overall, it’s a decent film.
Portraying a murdered 18yo Native girl (at age 25) in an independent film, then immediately going on to play teh Daughter of a white family in a Paramount Network Western series…. Privilegeyish? Hey, she’s gotta make a living too? *shrug*
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FWIW Amber Midthunder from Prey—mother Asian, father Native—was 19 when Wind River was filmed.
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Edit: John Bernthal, who played the white oil worker boyfriend in Wind River, was 40yo during filming. I would not be surprised if irl many teenaged Native girls (and many other non-white girls) have much older white boyfriends under similar circumstances; cf Strom, Jeb, etc.
the modern equivalent of that gilded age pilot is baron trump takes a greyhound home to nyc, doesn't know how to get home so of course wakes up a homeless man sleeping outside penn station and when the man escorts him to trump towers don and melania give the homeless man a big embrace and offer him a cabinet position... come to think of it, that's probably how half our cabinet
Nah, Barron would see the homeless guy spray painting a wall, ask if he could give it a try, then an Escalade would screech up on the sidewalk and a manbun would leap out going omg youre banksy, whisk him inside and go roaring off, while the homeless guy ran after them yelling for his paint cans back.
What are you watching tonight...
For giving thanks, new remaster
Alraune, 1928, wonderful Brigitte Helm as yet another vixen
Perfect Days was one of my favorites from the past couple years. That ending will stick with me for a long time. Make sure to look up "komorebi," a word I had somehow discovered before seeing the film. Wasn't a great idea to remake High and Low. Curious if any of you have seen Long Day's Journey Into Night by Bi Gan. It's a mesmerizing film, one that I need to watch again. You
I didn’t know the word specifically, but knew what you were referring to right away. It’s a beautiful concept I think about often. The Japanese really have a way with words. Agree the ending was powerful.
Didn’t know Highest to Lowest was a remake but that makes a lot of sense as to why Denzel and Spike were interested. The bones for an interesting movie are there but I didn’t like the direction they took with it.
I watched Lucky Star last night because of your post and I'm a sucker for gambling movies and small indie films like this one. The film is a well-made family drama about an Asian father descending into hustling and gambling, with his family—two daughters in school—also facing financial struggles. They're a likable family, so certain scenes were tough to watch. The father gets s
Nice, decent was my grade too with a boost because I’m also a sucker for this kind of movie. More poker scenes could’ve been cool, but be careful what you wish for. They’re so rarely done well enough to not tilt me.
The hand I’m referring to is in the cash game where he 3 barrels 88 (sb vs bb?) on K65, 9, 3 I believe and the villain folds river with an unknown hand.
Perfect Days was one of my favorites from the past couple years. That ending will stick with me for a long time. Make sure to look up "komorebi," a word I had somehow discovered before seeing the film. Wasn't a great idea to remake High and Low. Curious if any of you have seen Long Day's Journey Into Night by Bi Gan. It's a mesmerizing film, one that I need to watch again. You
After reading your post, I watched this film on Kanopy over two sessions. Here are some comments for those who haven't seen it yet. The artsy cinematography earns a grade A+ and really held my attention throughout the movie. The final hour is especially impressive—it’s filmed as a single continuous take, lasting 60 minutes, and was originally shot for theater 3D. Although I watched it on a 2D screen at home, you can still notice some of the effects. There's a moment when a character puts on 3D glasses to mark the beginning of this sequence.
The plot centers on a middle-aged man reflecting on a woman he loved and lost in his youth. It unfolds as a dream or fantasy, following his obsessive search for her among the ruins of Chinese towns. The story is non-linear and blends imagined scenarios with events that may have actually occurred. I admit that I found it difficult to fully understand from just one viewing. From what I've read, the woman in the green dress that the main character obsesses over is a nod to *Vertigo*. The glass of water that shakes references *Stalker*, the singing gangster seems inspired by *Blue Velvet*, and the spinning paddle likely comes from *Inception*. There are likely other homages to other films as well. Despite its title, the movie isn’t related at all to Eugene O’Neill’s famous play; the literal translation from Chinese is "Earth's Last Night," making the English title misleading. The acting was nothing special, but the film is well worth seeing especially for artsy film buffs.
Just ordered Alraune and Student of Prague (1926) as a double pack. I've always wanted to see Alraune.
Being from Ireland, I particularly liked how the Native Americans in Sinners were Choctaw, who helped the Irish during the potato famine, which led to a lasting friendship between us. I reckon Coogler knew this as well as I doubt if having the Choctaw and an Irish vampire was a coincidence.
I had no idea about this, that's actually so cool and something easy to overlook. I'll share this with a group I'm a part of on Twitch, an all Native American stream team, and some Canadians like me.
I'm a part of a regional Critics Circle. They have an aggressive end of year deadline for submitting our top films of the year. This year the cutoff was movies released prior to Nov 21 or something like that. Stuff always gets missed because the best stuff comes out during December. Really sucks but their reasoning is that they don't want to interfere with people's holiday schedule. Bah. Anyway here's my submission for Top 10. This will change as there are a number of notable films I haven't seen, and of course the prestige stuff that has yet to be released.
going on to play teh Daughter of a white family in a Paramount Network Western series
Doesn’t change the broader point but ftr she played the Natvie American wife of a Dutton on the show, not a daughter.
Heh, never watch the show, but was scrolling last night, saw it, put it on for lolz, and there she was. She passes standing with whites but with actual Natives hell no. Show itself seems ok.
Additionally, it reemphasized she was also too old for the Wind River part. You want to tell a story about an 18yo Native girl getting raped & murded after being seduced (possibly groomed) by a MUCH older man—a very serious and very underreported irl problem—cast a teenage Native actress.
Of course, even ‘independent’ studios are afraid to show a dog in distress these days, nvm
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