Talk About Movies: Part 4
Somehow threads merged, so here's part 4 of our ongoing movie discussion.
So I'm watching pt 1 of Beatles: Get Back where Hogg is trying to convince the band to do a concert at a Roman amphitheatre in Libya, and getting a lot of resistance. Paul is thinking somewhere in the UK, but doesn't gain much traction. George in particular is against any form of concert.
Just then I think of an idea that could have changed the course of the band. Around that time Monty Python was starting to form. I'm fairly sure that the band would have agreed to a 1 hour show (TV or stage) mixed with Monty Python skits that could have been a huge hit for both parties.
A problem with this idea is that Monty Python did not become a thing until a few months later. However 4 of the members were currently performing on "Do Not Adjust Your Set", a low flying comedy series that caught the interest of Cleese and Chapman. The question then: who would be the person to broach the idea of playing a set of new songs mixed with a comedy troupe?
We all know George later became a big fan of Monty Python and Eric Idle in particular. John was also a big fan of MP and was quoted saying he would have preferred being a member of MP than the Beatles. Paul was too much into the music thing and would probably not want others stealing their light. Ringo would likely see the potential of the show, as he was already breaking thru in film at that time with "The Magic Christian".
The biggest impediment to this opportunity was clearly Hogg. He had one thing in mind: showcasing the Beatles to a world wide audience in a location befitting the event. He was clearly not interested much in a TV show, and only after George left the band did he realize the only role he had was directing a documentary.
I think given the opportunity George could have thought of the Beatles+MP show. He along with John would have given the idea sufficient critical mass to convince Paul of the idea, with Ringo not needing much convincing at all.
The 1 hour time slot fits almost perfectly with MP's half hour program and the material the band had been rehearsing. Perhaps it might have needed a few extra weeks of planning, but the structure of MP's non-continuous skits connected with Terry Gilliam's animation, along with brand new Beatles material being performed live would almost certainly been a huge hit.
COMPANION (2024)
Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid) head to a friend's lakeside house in the boonies for a weekend getaway. Joining them there are the house's owner - a shady Russian guy - as well as 3 other friends. Things go wrong and Iris finds herself fighting for her life.
It's hard to talk about this movie at all because, to do so, would be spoilers. I would say that if you have heard of this movie but don't know much about - DO NOT watch the trailer or even look at the movie poster. Honestly it is criminal how much the trailer spoils the movie. The central theme of this movie has been dealt with for decades in both TV and film but COMPANION does manage to add in little original bits. If you like "damsel in distress" with a twist type of movies, you'll probably like this. I found it entertaining and it's running time of 95 minutes seemed to fly by - I was never bored.
Sophie Thatcher, who also was in the excellent HERETIC a few months ago, definitely seems to be a star on the rise.
Thumbs up!
September 5, 2024, Tim Fehlbaum
Dramatization of the Munich '72 Olympics terrorist attack and hostage taking, told from the POV of the ABC sports broadcasting team, as they scramble to cover the breaking news. It was the first time a terrorist attack had been broadcast live on television.
Great, incredibly tense telling as ABC's crew - including Roone Arledge, Peter Jennings and Jim McKay try to figure out what's going on and how to cover it. Peter Saarsgard, John Magaro, and Ben Chaplin star. They seamlessly edit archival footage of McKay and the hostage taking into their film. It's very documentary "happening now" kind of film.
They do a wonderful job of also getting into the debate of what their responsibility the journalists have in broadcasting potential violence live, on air, but it never sounds preachy, and is instead woven into the dram as actual discussion.
This is an Oscar-nominated film and one worth watching. Very good movie.
The Substance, Coralie Fargeat, 2024
Hmmm.
While I certainly appreciate the project, this one just didn't do it for me. And not because it goes too far, but because it doesn't go far enough. This could've used a little more 80s horror style like Re-Animator or From Beyond. MORE gore and disgust and weirdness....
I mean, don't get me wrong, there are some pretty disgusting SFX in this, but to what point? The metaphor is obvious and overlong at 2:20 of screentime.
Demi Moore is perfectly fine, and I appreciate a woman of her age baring all in both her natural nakedness (she still looks lovely) and in heavy prosthetic makeup, but why exactly is she getting all this awards buzz? She's barely in it. Margaret Qualley is in it a lot more and really gives an interesting performance.
I really enjoyed Fargeat's film Revenge from a few years ago...now THAT was a great feminist revenge thriller.
Weird to think of this as a Best Picture nominee...there's not a lot of story here, just interesting camera angles and body transformations. I mean, the "substance" doesn't even give you what you're looking for, only creates a younger version of you that you have to share your life with, one week on, one week off. Who would agree to that?? I'm probably taking it too literally lol...
It was a somewhat interesting watch, I'll give you that. Qualley is gorgeous, so that was nice to look at. But I'm never watching this again...not because it disgusted me, but because it kinda bored me.
The Substance, Coralie Fargeat, 2024
Hmmm.
While I certainly appreciate the project, this one just didn't do it for me. And not because it goes too far, but because it doesn't go far enough. This could've used a little more 80s horror style like Re-Animator or From Beyond. MORE gore and disgust and weirdness....
I mean, don't get me wrong, there are some pretty disgusting SFX in this, but to what point? The metaphor is obvious and overlong at 2:20 of screentime.
Demi Moore is perfectly fine, and I
Make sure to watch Heretic dom!
I've seen it and really liked it
a formerly great artist...
Unsane (2018) For one reason or another I've tuned out of Soderbergh films post Logan Lucky. My wife insisted we watch this one prior to seeing Presence. So glad I finally caught up to this one. One thing I love about Soderbergh films is how well he captures his actors. Claire Foy photographs incredibly well, has such a beautiful face and he shoots everyone in the film with as much care and precision. I didn't know what to think of the whole shot on iphone thing but it works really well and allows Soderbergh to get some really cool shots and dials up the franticness of a woman being victimized by a system designed to make her go crazy. A really nice vehicle for Jay Pharaoh, someone who seems to elevate any project he's involved in.
Crossing Delancey
Joan Micklin Silver has the right touch. The film stars Peter Riegert and Amy Irving in a great romantic comedy about a guy who sells pickles and a woman who works in a bookstore.
I love films set in NYC. Reigert's pickle seller, Sam, (he owns the store on the Lower East Side) is set up with Irving's Izzy by a shadchan, a Jewish matchmaker. Of course, things don't go well. She's beginning a relationship with a writer (why are male writers such creeps in films? ) and shows no interest in their first meeting at her bubbie's house.
This is the kind of rom-coms where you want to yell at the woman, "What the **** is wrong with you?"
But as typical in rom-coms, love wins in the end. Irving and Riegert make a nice couple, and the actor playing the grandmother is great. The title of the film comes from a story that Sam tells Izzy at their first meeting about a guy and his hat.
This is also the kind of film for Phatmack to review.
Bris: Check
Woman walks in to Gray's Papaya and sings "Some Enchanted Evening": Check
Old Jewish Women taking self-defense class: Check.
I love this one.
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great movie
Check out Kanopy for a number of films by Mark Rappaport. From the Journals of Jean Seberg, a kind of documentary in which Jean Seberg is played by Mary Beth Hurt, is a masterpiece.
He also directed numerous short essay films, such as Rock Hudson's Home Movies.
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If I get a chance I'll watch it again. I saw it when it came out and still remember several scenes. My favorite was when she tries to gift Sam to a friend in a bar -- then decides to keep him for herself. Women! I remember it 35 years after I saw it.
Tonight I'm going to see the 4k restoration of The Third Man. I told my students that if they want to go, I will pay for them.
I hope a few take me up on that offer.
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Guaranteed they will chuckle at the soundtrack.
Are they already familiar with the actors?
Are you students familiar with the concept of the 'Dutch angle?
If so, tell them to pay attention to the shots and to look for the anchoring line in the framing...
If they pay attention, you can nearly always find a line within the shot that anchors the image to the horizontal and vertical lines of the frame itself... like the horizontal eyes on wells in the shot above. good dutch angle does this, bad dutch angle is like watching an episode of batman.
Guaranteed they will chuckle at the soundtrack.
Are they already familiar with the actors?
God, no. They're young. Most young students know little beyond what they've seen in the last ten years.
There were a couple students in the past, though, who surprised me. One wrote on Godard's King Lear and another did Battle of Algiers.
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Please have them pay attention to the way that Carol Reed ends the film with his final shot... in that like life, at times, there can be no happiness
I got another import... From Australia, a beautiful HD release of Lars and the Real Girl
Modern adaption of Greek Pygmalion mythos (and by extension Pinocchio's search to become a real boy) where a Cyprus Sculptor creates such a perfect woman from alabaster that he falls in love with it... The artist prays to Aphrodite to feel the warmth of if her Kiss. Aphrodite grants his wish and his perfect female creation returns his kiss... and thusly a metamorphosis.
in Lars and the Real Girl, the metamorphosis that occurs is in Lars and not in the inanimate Love Doll... As his delusional relationship with the Love Doll deteriorates, Lars is slowly shedding his childhood traumas and becoming more Human until he finally finds his true Alabaster Female companion.
this is a truly great film that requires us to invest and understand the nuances of the story being laid out before us...
or, it could be a stupid movie about a looser that falls in love with a plastic doll.
I love Lars and The Real Girl. One of the key elements in Romantic Comedy is the establishment of a real community by the end of the film.
In Lars that happens throughout the film.
And, yes, I think Lars is a Rom-Com. Just imagine if we could all learn acceptance.
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Great to see The Third Man in a theater. I've watched it quite a few times but never in a theater.
I never paid as much attention as I did tonight. The film is full of suspicious glances throughout.
And why do we feel sympathy for Harry?
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