Talk About Movies: Part 4
Somehow threads merged, so here's part 4 of our ongoing movie discussion.
Christie was looking more like this in Don't Look Now. More like Jill Ireland to me. In fact if you look right above at your pictures, it much more resembles the bottom one (Ireland).
Kill Bill the Whole Bloody Affair was fun. Some minor differences. You can really tell how important editor Sally Menke was to Tarantino. Since she died, his work, while still damn good, is a little bloated. Sort of like when Stephen King got so big he no longer had to listen to his editors and just wrote giant tomes.
For example, the first fight with Vivica Fox has some extra footage that is cool to see, but completely unnecessary. You can see what Menke did to really make it flow and move faster.
There is also an extended sequence in the O-ren Ishi animated section that is not in Vol. 1 at all - between when O-Ren, as a child, kills the mob boss who murdered her parents and when she is a grown assassin - about exacting revenge on the mob-bosses' right hand man. It's interesting to see - and very violent - but I can see why Menke originally excised the whole segment.
Of course, the House Of Blue Leaves fight will always go down as one of the most incredible set pieces in cinema history, and there does seem to be "more" to it than before. The biggest change is that it does not go to black & white during the most bloody parts - it stays in color. I always liked the switch, but man...so red lol.
But I will say I prefer Menke's edit of both films better than this version. Still great, tho.
But what really stands out seeing this on the big screen for the first time since it was released...is the performances. Just astounding - from lead Uma Thurman down to the most minor characters, every actor brings it. Special shout outs to:
Michael Parks
David Carradine
Lucy Liu
Michael Madsen
Darryl Hannah
Gordon Liu
and especially Sonny Chiba.
RIP Chiba, Carradine, Madsen, Parks, and Menke.
Nice write-up, Dom. Sally Menke is definitely missed and I agree, there's something about his films that have taken a hit in sharpness, even emotion which is something that comes from a great editor. Sad to reflect on how many people have passed on since those films were shot.
Jay Kelly - Blown away. Feel like it’s been a while since I loved George Clooney in a movie. (Hail, Caesar back in 2016?) This is a friendly reminder that Clooney is top notch when given the right material. Sandler is outstanding and will likely get a ton of buzz come trophy season.
I love the way Baumbach set the framework, that Jay remembers his life through his movies and as he reflected on his life, intimate moments with loved ones are cinematic AF. I was floored by this choice and it is bloody effective.
Is this the year where filmmakers tug my heartstrings by pitching me movies based on middle aged men reflecting on their life choices? You son of a bitch, I’m in.
Kill Bill the Whole Bloody Affair was fun. Some minor differences. You can really tell how important editor Sally Menke was to Tarantino. Since she died, his work, while still damn good, is a little bloated. Sort of like when Stephen King got so big he no longer had to listen to his editors and just wrote giant tomes. For example, the first fight with Vivica Fox has some extra
The Japanese version always had it in colour, I saw it years ago as a mate had the dvd, really makes a much better difference.
The Japanese version always had it in colour, I saw it years ago as a mate had the dvd, really makes a much better difference.
I remember getting a region free DVD player specifically for this and Battle Royale.
I'm a big Sonny Chiba fan but until the credits rolled the first time I saw it, I didn't realize that it was Sonny Chiba. Also a big Michael Parks fan, but only picked out one Michael Parks.
Took in the Hamnet flick at the theater last night. Good period piece reflecting the brutal struggle that life was then. Shakespeare's wife character comes across as the heroine. The twin sister of their son Hamnet becomes deathly ill, but recovers. William returns home for the celebration (he lives and works in London, his family in the country and not wanting to live in the city), but when he arrives for the celebration, his son Hamnet has taken ill and died.
Hamnet is apparently a variant of Hamlet, and William named his son after the character ... versions of the story of Hamlet already being in existence.
I expected the film to be littered with poetic Shakespearean turns of phrase, and it was scarcely in evidence for the first two hours. Shakespeare is still working away in London separated from the family, and his wife has come to despise that. He had been working on a comedy when the family disaster struck, and she thinks he still is.
At the end, he is directing the players thru rehearsals, and the legendary language is now in full force. I thought it might end there. A banner is dropped over the gate of the amphitheater announcing the beginning of the run, and the plague torn locals are strolling in. I thought it might end there, just hinting at the dramatics to come. But the play starts, with his wife in the gallery, thinking loathesomely that he has written a comedy toward his fame and fortune.
The tragedy of Hamlet begins, enacting scenes verbatim from William and Hamnet's life. There are tragedies and there are tragedies. A child dying in agony of bubonic plague while a single mother fights for all she is worth is the second kind. But when she sees the storyline and the intimate scenes from their own home on the stage, she is dumbstruck, and a glimmer of healing reaches her. Some measure of peace is reached between the bitterly estranged couple. What he couldn't deal with at home he immortalized in art, and it reached her spirit.
Been watching only Christmas movies since Thanksgiving. Tonight I watched one of my favorite "new" Christmas movies. Lovehard on Netflix. I think it's a netflix original? Anyway it is a really satisfying Christmas romcom if you like that sort of thing.
Stars Jimmy O. Yang (goofy Asian kid from Silicon Valley) who catfishes a Los Angeles writer. She goes to Lake Placid NY to surpise him for Christmas. Story goes as expected 😀 The title comes from her Christmas favorite (Die Hard) and his (Love Actually). I saw this for the first time last Christmas season and I expect to watch it every Christmas until I am tits up. Highly recommended!
Dracula: A Love Tale Even cheesier than Francis Ford Coppola's version. But cheesy in a madder, more fun, embrace the stupid way. Gothic scary castle is really gothic scary. Lightning flashes are timed with openings of imposing doors. Weird synchronised dancing in period outfits. Dizzyingly over the top acting and dialogue. Heaving bosoms, emphasis on the heaving and bosoming. Luc Besson Bessonning hard. All quite enjoyable.
Nouvelle Vague
Linklater's film about Godard making Breathless. I was amazed at how many of the actors looked like the characters they portrayed. The film looks at Godard's rather unusual film making, working two hours one day, taking a day off, saying he's sick but spends that time playing pinball.
Jean Seberg is so pissed at Godard she threatens to quit after a few days of filming. Belmondo thinks he might never work again.
I enjoyed it because I know about the critics turned filmmakers, Rivette, Truffaut, Chabrol, and others who wrote for Cahiers du Cinema and admired so many American filmmakers.
As someone said, "There was before Breathless and after Breathless."
Nouvelle Vague captures the sense of Godard's guerilla filmmaking, and if you know Breathless, you will recognize many of the scenes. It's still a nice film even if you haven't seen Breathless.
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Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
I really enjoyed the first Daniel Craig Knives Out movie quite a lot, the 2nd one didn't work for me at all....and the third one is somewhere in between.
Writer/Director Rian Johnson seems to want to say something meaningful about the political divide in this country and the power of acceptance and forgiveness, all wrapped up in a fun, little murder mystery...but whatever point he is trying to make is muddled at best.
There's a great cast that is mostly wasted with little to do but look guilty or not guilty depending on the scene. The exception is Josh O'Connor as the new priest in town who is immediately suspected of murdering the old priest. He's great and has an astonishing American accent so good, that if I did not already know that the actor is English, I would've thought he was born and raised here. I mean, this is a guy who won an Emmy for The Crown, playing Prince Charles.
And the beginning bits seems rushed...in these types of Agatha Christie style of mysteries, we need to know how Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple came to be on the Big Case, but in this movie, Craig's Benoit Blanqe just sort shows up out of of the blue to offer assistance in solving whodunit. It's weird.
Still, it's mildly entertaining but nothing special.
I was surprised QT didn’t have an updated tribute list in the credits.
I read some articles about Menke, and her (utterly foolish & totally preventable) death profoundly affected him & his work. Clear before/after dividing line. Hollywood is a mess. Watchable (mostly; certainly not always listenable) but a mess.
The Running Man (2025)
I've quite liked some of Edgar Wright's films and am a fan of King's novel and was heartened that this was to be a more faithful adaptation of it, but this was ultimately quite the disappointment, that started off well but was totally ruined by a just plain moronic conclusion. It's also all over the place tonally, with it unsure of itself on whether to be a thriller, black comedy or action flick. King's novel is actually quite bleak and I think Wright should have gone that route. While I thought the original was a terrible adaptation and not one of Arnie's best, as a stand alone genre flick it was reasonably entertaining, but this version just fails and again its conclusion is a total cop out.
I watched the Knives Out film. The "mystery" seemed obvious, especially given that the caretaker and Wicks looked so much like each other.
Brolin was so over the top that it made the movie fun.
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The Running Man (2025)I've quite liked some of Edgar Wright's films and am a fan of King's novel and was heartened that this was to be a more faithful adaptation of it, but this was ultimately quite the disappointment, that started off well but was totally ruined by a just plain moronic conclusion. It's also all over the place tonally, with it unsure of itself on whether to be
That sucks. I was looking forward to this one. Maybe I'll just go reread the book, which is what I suggested people who loved The Long Walk book do, instead of watching the movie.
I watched the Knives Out film. The "mystery" seemed obvious, especially given that the caretaker and Wicks looked so much like each other.
Brolin was so over the top that it made the movie fun.
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Yeah, Brolin was great....wish Church had more to do, tho. Same with Andrew Strong.
*****
Edgar Wright has made some disappointing movies this past decade
That sucks. I was looking forward to this one. Maybe I'll just go reread the book, which is what I suggested people who loved The Long Walk book do, instead of watching the movie.
I thought The Long Walk film was good, but the book is far better, for me. Running Man had the potential to be great but Wright just fumbled things badly after around the hour mark.
Btw sorry for the double post re Running Man, the forum has been acting really glitchy for me the past couple of days with timeouts, and by the time I realised it I couldn't delete. I reported it to the mods anyway
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out MysteryI really enjoyed the first Daniel Craig Knives Out movie quite a lot, the 2nd one didn't work for me at all....and the third one is somewhere in between.Writer/Director Rian Johnson seems to want to say something meaningful about the political divide in this country and the power of acceptance and forgiveness, all wrapped up in a fun, littl
I loved the first one, enhanced by a synchronicity I had with it. The very day I saw it I had received a gift package from Switzerland that included a knife, and we joked in Whatsapp that now I had a "real Swiss Knife." I took a picture of the American Swiss knife and the Swiss Swiss knife and sent it to her, joking about it. Then I went to the movie and there was all this stuff about real and fake knives. If I remember right the bad guy tried to kill somebody with a fake knife out of the display. Anyway, all that seemed a weird coincidence. I call these types "accompaniment synchronicities" ... almost like props to your life showing up like that.
Loved Craig's role and the whole spirit of the thing. I didn't know part 3 was out or even coming out.
I thought The Long Walk was great for people who don't know how it's supposed to end, lol.
I do think a big problem is the studios are petrified at possibly offending anyone, and think the public won’t accept any sort of ending that isn’t a clear ‘win’ or pwnage, no matter how childish or implausible, and they’re probably right about that.
BREAKING NEWS
Two people found dead in director Rob Reiner's house....potentially he and his wife. This doesn't look good.
