Talk About Movies: Part 4
Somehow threads merged, so here's part 4 of our ongoing movie discussion.
I loved the books (the first 4 not the later ones, I never read those), but if I remember correctly, the first book had a somewhat unsatisfying ending.
Even though it did come to some sort of a climax, it wasn't even the full story of the main guy (Paul / Muadib).
The second book, Dune Messiah, is the conclusion of the story about him.
It was much shorter than the first book though, so probably would only take one (third) film to cover the same level of detail as the two for the first book. In the
+1
If anyone's goal is to see the first several books in film version blended together nicely, then the Sci-Fi miniseries are the answer.
American Fiction (2023) is about a fed-up author who writes a satirical novel, only for it to garner critical fame and pull him into a scandal. I think that's my best attempt at a one-line summary that keeps it vague but interesting.
It was great. Sharply written like a Sorkin screenplay but not to the point where it felt like the characters had all the perfect answers. Wright was fantastic, as was Sterling K. Brown who I usually don't like. The layers of the satire/parody were woven in beautifully. Won't win a thing awards wise, but along with The Holdovers, it just felt like one of these films that Hollywood produces less and less of nowadays.
4/5
On my 2023 rankings:
3. The Holdovers
7. Past Lives
8. American Fiction
13. Anatomy of a Fall
I gave them all 8/10 though.
Do we get to see the rest?
I like that you discriminate. I can't assign number values to films, but I sort of agree with yours (although I would have Anatomy much higher).
Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk
Ranking them is a pretty silly process tbh. Some movies need multiple watches, some are best the first time. It’s always fluid. If you go 15 years without watching something, how well can you say you liked it. Etc, etc, etc. Even a movie like Air that I saw in first third of 2023 - can I say for certain that I liked it more than Past Lives? Absolutely not. In fact, I’m sitting here looking at those rankings and I’m pretty sure I should change it lol.
US was great until it kind of fell apart imo. I thought there was no way he could follow up Get Out with something good in such a short timeframe, but was pleasantly surprised by how good this was. Will definitely be seeing Nope at some point because of this.
I am in the market to watch:
- Anatomy of a Fall
- The Holdovers
- American Fiction
- Past Lives
Anyone care to rank them for me to prioritize?
Anatomy of a Fall will be the winner of the 'Overlooked for Awards' award. It's the sort of intelligent, unflashy, nuanced film that provokes plentiful discussion but won't win a big prize, because awards (and the general public) like in your face movies. Sandra Huller should be a shoo-in for Best Actress.
Anatomy of a Fall will be the winner of the 'Overlooked for Awards' award. It's the sort of intelligent, unflashy, nuanced film that provokes plentiful discussion but won't win a big prize, because awards (and the general public) like in your face movies. Sandra Huller should be a shoo-in for Best Actress.
Sandra Huller is terrific. If you haven't seen Toni Erdmann, you should.
I'm going to see All of Us Strangers Wednesday night. I think Andrew Haigh's 45 Years was a great film, and it starred Charlotte Rampling, who even in her 70s is impossibly beautiful, and Tom Courtney. I'm looking forward to what Haigh does in Strangers.
Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk
Ranking them is a pretty silly process tbh. Some movies need multiple watches, some are best the first time. It’s always fluid. If you go 15 years without watching something, how well can you say you liked it. Etc, etc, etc. Even a movie like Air that I saw in first third of 2023 - can I say for certain that I liked it more than Past Lives? Absolutely not. In fact, I’m sitting here looking at those rankings and I’m pretty sure I should change it lol.
Some of my friends think I am a film snob, and when I tell them I loved Guardians of the Galaxy, they think I'm kidding. I'm all in favor of your ranking that and John Wick 4 in the top twenty.
I haven't seen Air, but given your recommendation, I will.
Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk
air was hot garbage
I enjoyed Air quite a bit
Also enjoyed Air. Not the type of movie I'd expect to be called hot garbage either.
US was great until it kind of fell apart imo. I thought there was no way he could follow up Get Out with something good in such a short timeframe, but was pleasantly surprised by how good this was. Will definitely be seeing Nope at some point because of this.
Nope is the best of all of them by far imo
It finished and I was like “wait wtf was that” and then slowly over the next week couldn’t stop thinking about it and came to the realization that it’s great
speaking of being a snob... I was able to find a new source for bootleg films.
the quality is amazingly good for under the counter goods.
I got these three this week.
I love these two Synders... no snob intended.
when Sandler acts, his performances are GREAT
From this morning's Numlock:
Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 was the top-selling cassette last year, with 18,000 sales; Vol. 2 moved 16,000 units and Vol. 3 moved 13,000 units, and including the TV soundtrack, the Guardians sold a total of 52,500 cassettes last year. All told, all four of the Guardians mixtapes have sold 295,000 copies on cassette as of February 15, 2024. Take note: The market obviously craves a mixtape resurgence.
I'm going to see All of Us Strangers Wednesday night. I think Andrew Haigh's 45 Years was a great film, and it starred Charlotte Rampling, who even in her 70s is impossibly beautiful, and Tom Courtney. I'm looking forward to what Haigh does in Strangers.
"45 Years" was an excellent film. I thought Charlotte Rampling was going to win the Academy Award that year in 2016. The ending of the film by her was one of the best non-dialogue real world endings of a film I have ever seen. But Brie Larson won for "Room" which was another small film that probably caught people by surprise. And Saoirse Ronan could have easily won for "Brooklyn" which was another small film and a visual love affair through color of 1950's Brooklyn.
From this morning's Numlock:
Meh, lets not get all pumped about bringing back cassette tapes as some sort of great format.
That, just like vinyl, are largely based on nostalgia.
True digital recordings are better, much like 4k is better than 1080p, most people really can't see the difference but it is there.
Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk
Finally saw The Zone of Interest. Hell of an achievement but I think I knew too much going in so it didn’t have the impact on me I felt it should have had. I think I went into it paying more attention to how it was doing what it was doing instead of what it was actually doing. I’m honestly quite bothered by that.
All that’s left is Poor Things and I’m getting very impatient waiting for it to come to streaming.
All of Us Strangers is a heartbreaking film about the ways our brains work to help us feel safe, to protect us from the terrors the world has in store for us.
I was kinda speechless by the end when "The Power of Love" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood plays over the closing images.
Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk
Meh, lets not get all pumped about bringing back cassette tapes as some sort of great format.
That, just like vinyl, are largely based on nostalgia.
True digital recordings are better, much like 4k is better than 1080p, most people really can't see the difference but it is there.
Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk
Nobody has convinced me that hollow-state amps are better than solid state amps, but making mix-tapes was a lot more fun than burning CDs or, gag, creating play lists on Spotify or YouTube.
Nobody has convinced me that hollow-state amps are better than solid state amps, but making mix-tapes was a lot more fun than burning CDs or, gag, creating play lists on Spotify or YouTube.
That's not a digital format, that is playback.
I love those old bulky amps sound too.
Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk
Finally saw The Zone of Interest. Hell of an achievement but I think I knew too much going in so it didn’t have the impact on me I felt it should have had. I think I went into it paying more attention to how it was doing what it was doing instead of what it was actually doing. I’m honestly quite bothered by that.
All that’s left is Poor Things and I’m getting very impatient waiting for it to come to streaming.
I watched Zone of Interest last night and I find it hard to put in to words how I feel. Achievement may be the best word to describe it, but I'm never watching it again.
