Talk About Movies: Part 4
Somehow threads merged, so here's part 4 of our ongoing movie discussion.
Chance is so innocent, so without guile, that normal physics doesn't work in him
Another take on Being There ending:
Chance was simply walking on shallow sandbar (or gravel bar) that he could see up close but from a distance it looked like he was magically walking on deep water . This event is in keeping with the theme that everything he said in the movie was simple, but his words were taken to be special because people were so intent on looking for a hero.
Another take on Being There ending:
Chance was simply walking on shallow sandbar (or gravel bar) that he could see up close but from a distance it looked like he was magically walking on deep water . This event is in keeping with the theme that everything he said in the movie was simple, but his words were taken to be special because people were so intent on looking for a hero.
People see what they want to see...
Longlegs, Osgood Perkins, 2024
After his first three films, The Blackcoats Daughter, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives In the House, and Gretel & Hansel, I was really looking forward to Perkins' new film.
Longlegs is damn good...it stars Maika Monroe, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, and an unrecognizable Nicholas Cage. It is a meal of a horror movie, including a recipe foreboding Pacific Northwest locations in the 70s and 90s, a main dish of muted color schemes, a soupcon of satanic panic, and finally a dessert of evil dolls.
Monroe plays an FBI agent who is on the spectrum before they had spectrums, and who also is kinda psychic. Sometimes she just knows things. "It's like someone is touching on the shoulder, showing me things."
Underwood is her superior, and they are after a serial killer of sorts, who somehow coaxes fathers to kill their families and leaves cryptic "zodiac" style notes behind at the scenes - but without actually being there. He's been doing it for twenty years.
I don't want too say much because it will spoil some surprises, but the supernatural is not out of the realm of possibilities when it comes to motivations for these murders.
Monroe is fantastic, Underwood and Witt both terrific, and Cage is, well, "crazy" Cage. There are some small quibbles with Monroe not telling her superiors some things that don't make sense at first, but after the ending, you can figure out why that may be.
Great atmosphere, wonderful sound design, and a creepy, dark foreboding that permeates the whole movie. A warning for those who like their movies tied up in a pretty bow, but Perkins does love him some ambiguity - especially at the end.
Really liked it.
Another take on Being There ending:
Chance was simply walking on shallow sandbar (or gravel bar) that he could see up close but from a distance it looked like he was magically walking on deep water . This event is in keeping with the theme that everything he said in the movie was simple, but his words were taken to be special because people were so intent on looking for a hero.
He puts his umbrella in the water to show that it's clearly deep. Now obviously they used some kind of narrow platform to film the scene, but I can't imagine that the viewer was expected that it was there in the story.
that and the other protagonists and characters didn't see him... only the audience saw him.
Maybe Hal Ashby was just really coked up when he shot it, and that explains everything.
I enjoyed Horizon very much despite all the negative press about how self indulgent it was supposed to be. I can see where the story is going with Costner's character, but I still can not wait for part 2.
Saw this last night and completely agree. Any issues I may are gone depending on how the rest goes. By that, I mean that this was the pilot of a limited series more than a movie.
Almost no resolutions at all, and the arcs that seem like they would be resolved were more like the start of the actual arcs. I don’t know when/if 3 and 4 have been filmed yet, but I can’t wait for part 2 either.
Saw this last night and completely agree. Any issues I may are gone depending on how the rest goes. By that, I mean that this was the pilot of a limited series more than a movie.
Almost no resolutions at all, and the arcs that seem like they would be resolved were more like the start of the actual arcs. I don’t know when/if 3 and 4 have been filmed yet, but I can’t wait for part 2 either.
Agreed I really liked Horizon
I think at 2:30-2:40 instead of 3:00 would have not affected the movie one bit...
I have read that Part 2 is being delayed now. This is a shame because I think part 2 is really where the meat of the story will be as Costner's character develops into what he will become.
Posting Johnnie To link because of his perfect Yojimbo review.
Yojimbo is irreverent... to the Samurai genre.
...
Thelma - not everday there's an action film featuring the very elderly. Richard Roundtree's last film.
Quite a lot of fun. It doesn't flinch in showing how isolating old age can be, and how desperate some can be to retain a sense of independence. That's all balanced out with humour and great performances. Parker Posey and Clark Gregg are always good to watch.
The Conversation was just released with a new 4k uhd treatment...
What an amazing film... and Coppola at his best. Seeing films made in this manner makes me sad for the state of most current films from a stylistic and technical perspective.
They sure don’t make ‘em like they used to!
The Big Lebowski (1994)
The toiletseat’s up, man!
You have no frame of reference, Donny: You are like a child who wanders into the middle of a movie and wants to…
An entire movie with no frame of reference!: It’s down there somewhere. Let me look again!
But it does have a plot that includes Rites of Spring, inept tricksters, and still jerking off manually (Jeff Bridges' worst role, (and yet, and yet he nails it!)).
Actually, not so much a plot, but plot elements: They really tie the room together!
OK: The old man told me to take any rug in the house!
My point, Dude, is why should we settle for twenty grand when we can keep the entire million: Am I wrong?
And I give him a reasonable allowance: He has no money of his own!
I know how he likes to present himself: Hence the slut.
I'm just gonna find: a cash machine!
These young men gave their lives. So did Donny. Donny who loved bowling: Snapless dialog!
And also, Dude, Chinaman is not the preferred …uh … uh... Asian-American. Please: Walter, this is not a guy who built the railroads, this is a guy who peed on my…
Your phone’s ringing, Dude. Thank you, Donny!
Don’t hold much hope for the tape deck: Or the Creedence!
You mean coitus?
I happen to know there’s a Little Lebowski on the way. Yeah, but let me explain something about the Dude!
Man, I’ve had a rough night and I hate the ****ing Eagles: That's it! Outta this ****ing cab!
A paean to Slacker, but not the movie you think it is. One of the best movies ever made. Check it out!
I'm with Lebowski.
I hate the Eagles.
Ban all eagles...
I was lucky and was able to source a super rare DVD release of Snow Trail/Ginrei No Hate...Toshiro Mifune's first film, it's about redemption and internal conflict.
Do you know when that was released (DVD)? Formatting? I've been looking forever...
