Talk About Movies: Part 4

On my flight I watched The Covenant, Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, and The Northman

Covenant was the best imo. It had some ridiculous scenes that should have been done in a less stylish way in order to be more realistic, but overall it was a solid story with good performances and not too much of Guy Ritchie's trademark directing which would have been out of place for the serious subject matter.

I agree with Mschu and Pokerlogist's views on the films, unfortunately I'm a bit too much of a nit regarding fight scenes and some of the plot to have enjoyed this as much as them (I thought there was one other review from someone talking about how this is an anti-war war film. I remember the review being great but I could not find it by searching "The Covenenat", if anyone knows the post, I'd love to reread it now that I've seen the film.):

Dungeons and Dragons was a lot of fun and pretty much the perfect plane movie. It's great to see the movie immediately acknowledge that it's not a serious film, and embrace the campiness. A ton of fun with good production values, a good enough story to be engaged and a very fun execution. The movie padded its length quite a bit, but did so in humorous ways that made me now mind.

I was expecting to enjoy The Northman more than I did unfortunately. I think the execution of the story far exceeded the story itself. It's hard for me to comprehend the lifestyle and culture of the time period, but the film's exploration of these things really lay it out clearly. I feel like I have a better understanding of the time period because of the film and I'm glad it sought to really engage in this way. The story itself was pretty cliche and could have been better.

i was shocked how much i enjoyed dungeons and dragons

remember seeing the previews and thinking that was just another soulless money grab

but then a bunch of people told me how much they enjoyed it

one of the better fantasy films in recent times imo

never heard of covenant, everyone i know who saw the northman felt like it was bad but apparently anya taylor joy is scantily clad in it so i could be persuaded to check it out

Dungeons and Dragons did a great job of embracing the fun ridiculousness of the game, where the journey is far more important than the destination or even the story. How they get from place to place is far more important than why. Very funny, very fun, and lots of creativity.

I don't recall many scantily clad scenes of her, but I also watched it on a plane so it's possible they got cut out. I can't imagine the movie being worth watching just for that. If the time period is of interest to you then definitely watch it. The story is expertly told imo, but the story is just not that great. It's also a very grim and dark time, so certainly not for everyone. If I weren't such a nerd for historical fiction then I don't think I would have liked it at all.

In When Harry Met Sally, Harry and Sally stop while driving from Chicago to NYC at a diner. The diner's jukebox is playing Ramblin' Man when they enter and Don't Pull Your Love when they are about to leave. I think that means something.

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Happy New Years, you rat bastards!

If Nora Ephron scripted it, it means something. Nice catch.

HELL YES!

I thought you guys knew this...

Zack Synder was set to direct the Star Wars saga just as Disney originally took over and when he went in to corporate to pitch the film/series, the executives immediately showed him the door.

he wanted a MUCH DARKER and more 'R' rated version of the Star Wars universe... and this series of 'Rebel' Moon films are his original vision of that. So when you see similarities, it's because it IS in fact a different story line of Star Wars.

you can clearly see the Light Saber in these two screen caps from the new trailer...

Part 2

Also... There will be an R rated version of the each rebel moon films in the series, but contractually they can not be released for 3 months after the initial PG airing.

Couple random movies over the last few weeks.

Jingle All The Way (1996) was a Christmas eve viewing, only because it rounded out an Arnold Schwarzenegger filmography rewatch. Had to wait til the Holidays to watch it. Anyways it's pretty damn bad. Phil Hartman is the only good part of it. I'm not a Christmas movie kind of person though. 1.5/5, but 3/5 if you're into Christmas stuff I guess.

Witness (1985) was with Harrison Ford protecting an Amish boy who witnessed a crime. I'm surprised it got as many accolades as it did, it was fine but overall a very cliche story that wasn't that deep. 3/5

Babylon (2022) we had to finish over multiple viewings. 3 hours long, it had been on my list for a while to get through and unsurprisingly it was a slog. Just a muddy, messy, self-indulgent movie from Chazelle who had a pretty good track record up until this. Frantic, manic, whatever you wanted to call it, it tried to overload you with all sorts of stuff visually and musically, and it was all just a mess. Pitt was the lone bright spot for me. Also I'm going to throw it out there, not a big Margot Robbie fan. 2/5

i never understood why witness got so much hype

TCM was playing a special on the first 50 years of the AFI lifetime achievement award. Clips of most of the ceremonies.

Ephron's speech during Meryl Streep's ceremony was fantastic. Also Carrie Fisher during George Lucas' ceremony very funny.

Overall, a really entertaining hour-fifteen.

Speaking of TCM...

TCM just killed it today, they played a BUNCH of original language letterboxed 1960s Godzilla films, but then they are immediately going into nearly the complete Marx Brothers catalog.

This film is so confusing. I honestly don’t whether it’s a 1/5 or a 5/5. Did I love it or hate it? There were scenes that were easy to put on either side, but the whole thing was just so goddamned much that I appreciate it for that alone. I’m a big fan of intent and I feel like Chazelle did exactly what he wanted to do.

Interesting. I like it more than the other posters. What makes the script perfect?

Saltburn (2023) tonight was certainly an experience. Barry Keoghan really plays a certain type of character well, I don't know if it's natural but he's well suited to these creepy, brooding, ominous characters. Ultimately I think the themes in this one or whatever Fennell is trying to say is a bit over my head. 2.5/5 I guess? I'm just glad I didn't turn it on with my parents over Christmas holidays.

It's very close to Pasolini's Teorema, which features a great performance by Terence Stamp as a visitor, perhaps a Christ figure, who seduces an Italian bourgeois family. I recommend Teorema over Saltburn, but those bathtub and grave humping scenes were something else.

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Percentage of pet owners who, given the choice between saving the life of one person or one dog, would choose the dog

: 21

Who, given the choice between saving the lives of one hundred people or one dog, would choose the dog

: 18

Essentially, Knock at the Cabin is a version of the trolley problem, which poses the question do you choose to sacrifice the life of one person you know or save the lives of five strangers.

I think the film is well done although I believe the four strangers right from the beginning. Perhaps it could dispense with the gay marriage and conspiracy theory stuff, and it would feel more ominous without all that.

I used the statistic from Harper's Index because we seriously need to question who we are. I think Knock at the Cabin does question that. But even if you can't buy the film's thought experiment, see it for Dave Bautista's performance.

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I don't remember it too well. I saw it in the theater, but I do remember that dance scene and enjoyed the movie.

Edit: I looked to see the director is Peter Weir and one of the themes in his films is the clash of cultures. He also directed Fearless, a film nobody seems to mention much anymore and I recommend highly.

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One Life (2023) Stellar Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham-Carter, Romola Garai, Lena Olin, Jonathan Pryce.

Retells the story of a younger Anthony Hopkins who plays Nicholas Winton, who helped save hundreds of Central European children from the Nazis on the eve of World War II.

I think it is a great movie but for those that didn't like the 2nd half of Oppenheimer it might be a bit of a drag although the movie is significantly shorter than Oppenheimer which would help.

There's a number of interesting movies on Criterion this month. Last night I watched The Incredible Shrinking Man, which may have one of the strangest endings of any of these types of '50s sci-fi l/horror/I don't know what films. If you haven't seen it, I doubt any of you can predict the ending.

Also available this month are a bunch of Ken Russell films, including The Devils, one I've never seen. I began watching it, and I will probably finish it tonight, but I'm not convinced it will hold up well.

Of particular interest to me is Russell's Altered States, a movie I went to on a "first date" with an ex-girlfriend (I say first date because we had been out together numerous times but never on an official date). I remember this night well. It was December 8, 1980 on a Monday, the night John Lennon was killed. We heard the news while driving to the theater. I almost can't believe this was 43 years ago.

I always tell my students to bring a first date to a horror film because they will grab onto you at the first jump scare. If they don't, then, well, that's not a good sign.

Anyway, I recommend Altered States.

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lol I went on a date to see Altered States in a theater, as well...weird ass movie. I loved it.

I just watched it again, and I remembered so little of it. But 43 years is a long time ago. For those who haven't seen it imagine 2001 in reverse.

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It's taught a lot in screenwriting classes as the perfect 3-act structure, and it is. But it also does something interesting in that in most scripts, you have the main plot - A - carry the bulk of the story, while you have other sub-plots happening, as well. B, C, etc.

Witness inverses that, where the main plot - John Book's discovery and investigation of his dirty colleagues - fits perfectly in a 3-ACT structure of a screenplay (plot points, etc.), yet actually has very little screentime.

The subplot - Book and Rachel's romance - takes up a lot more screentime than the main investigation plot.

While the romance has various story beats, it is not the main story of the movie, nor does it fit into a 3-ACT structure. It works as a subplot, tho.

Still, you don't have to like it if you don't want to lol.