Talk About Movies: Part 4
Somehow threads merged, so here's part 4 of our ongoing movie discussion.
I have more than a few that have stuck with me.
Shoplifters
A Ghost Story
Aftersun
Toni Erdman
Arrival
Perfect Days
Past Lives
Drive My Car
Paddington 2
Banshees of Inersherin
No Bears
Baby Driver
Another Round
Perfectly a Strangeness
The Singers
World of Tomorrow
The last three are short films, and I'm cheating a little with World of Tomorrow (2015).
A couple of the others are just fun.
Two, Toni Erdman and Aftersun, are about father/daughter relationships and mean quite a bit to me personally.
There's one film about yearning and missed opportunities (Past Lives), another about the nature of families (Shoplifters).
I saw the house especially built for Banshees a couple years ago in Ireland on one of the Aran islands.
I've seen many other great films these past few years but I doubt they will stick with me.
The ending of Perfect Days. The face can reveal so much and the choice of using Nina Simone's version of "Feeling Good."
No Bears directed by Jafar Panahi. He's been banned from Iran and directs the film remotely from Turkey while the rest of the crew and actors are in Iran. A pure act of resistance.
And finally for Arrival.
Spoiler
I'm not the crying type but my eyes watered with Arrival. Glad the theater was still dark. Unlike Cro, I figured out what was happening soon into the film. I'm not sure why.
Arrival hit me hard because I, too, knew the future. Near the end of her life, my wife sat me down and told me what she wanted after her death. She and I knew that she would die before me. I listened to her and did exactly what she wanted, simply saying ok when she finished. I didn't interrupt her, just listened. I knew and she knew the future.
The film asks that important question: Would you do it all again knowing what will happen? I know I would. I would not trade those years for anything in the world. Those years with her, I hope, made me a better man.
Also, the teenage girl sitting next to me with her mom offered me some of her popcorn before the film began. Memory encompasses so much, the good, the bad, regret, and laughter and love, too. You need to treasure that.
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Link to World of Tomorrow. Emily Prime is voiced by Hertzfeld's three year old niece.
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There's a ton of them that have stuck with me.
Paddington 2: I like recounting the plot to a table of captive poker players: And then he sez, It's only one red sock! How can it be breaking and entering if I haven't broken anything? CRASH!!!
I, Tonya was in the last ten years. I'm not sure it was a pleasant watch, but I still think about it.
Death of Stalin. I love slapstick horror. Especially in these times...
There's a ton of them that have stuck with me.Paddington 2: I like recounting the plot to a table of captive poker players: And then he sez, It's only one red sock! How can it be breaking and entering if I haven't broken anything? CRASH!!!I, Tonya was in the last ten years. I'm not sure it was a pleasant watch, but I still think about it.Death of Stalin. I love slapstick horro
Paddington 4 is being written by the writers of Death of Stalin and Veep.
I'm expecting better than Paddington 3.
I miss Sally Hawkins in her role as the mother.
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OT tl, dr
Spoiler
Nietzsche’s Eternal Recurrence. Stephen King’s story Afterlife explored this in depth. I’m a firm & easy no, just due to some genetic considerations if nothing else, never mind school & work. There are MANY treasured memories. But it’s not a close decision for me. Please don’t feel bad for me, I made peace with it long ago, and have been sober over two years. I simply missed too much along the way. 99.49999992% my fault. .6 Daddy, .00000008 Mommy, waawaawaa poor me.
I may have mentioned elsewhere that Chrissie Hynde replied “No, not if I didn’t have to” which surprised me. I’m guessing she was tired & hungry when asked at the end of a very long interview.
Dom, do you mean Tarkovsky? Where do you get to see this?
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Yeah, that one will lift your mood.
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Solaris slots comfortably between 2001 and Lifeforce.
You know what cheered me up? Having this for dinner last night, at work, on the clock, free of charge.
Apex (2026)
A grieving Charlize Theron must battle for her life in the hostile Aussie outback in this formulaic but watchable thriller/Horror. Not linking the trailer as it has spoilers.
Revisit:
Witching & Bitching (2013)
Two inept armed robbers and their hostages stumble across a village full of witches in this rather demented and quite funny in parts Spanish fantasy Horror/actioner from the director of The Day of the Beast (1995)
Also revisited The Negotiator (1998) & Double Jeopardy (1999), as I hadn't seen since their releases, and both were entertaining enough although serious suspension of disbelief is required from both. What cracks me up about these type of films where the protagonist is framed, is that they then promptly break about a bazillion laws to prove their innocence and never face consequences for it.
Dom, do you mean Tarkovsky? Where do you get to see this?
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Yes, at the Beverly in Vegas. I'm glad I saw it, it's brilliant, but I never want to see it again.
lol I love that one.
Spoiler
but I like the Soderberg one better
Two popular horror films now a made by YouTube guys and attracting a mostly Gen Z audience.
I always recommend a horror movie as a first date to my students because your date is bound to grab on to you at some point.
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Two popular horror films now a made by YouTube guys and attracting a mostly Gen Z audience.
I always recommend a horror movie as a first date to my students because your date is bound to grab on to you at some point.
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One of my friends and co-workers from my days in the midwest went to Silence of the Lambs on a first date. They later got married, and still were when I came out west, but I've lost touch with them long ago.
The author of Sideways did not like the film director’s wife. https://www.palatepress.com/straight-dis...
I had passed on seeing the movie Nope when it came out a few years ago because I am not really into horror films. But someone recently told me that no it is maybe more Sci-Fi and so I finally watched it and it was good. It is best to go in cold, therefore I won't say much, but if you enjoy films, then you give a wide range of films a try. This is worth seeing if for no other reason than to make your own opinion.
Watch it on as big a screen as you can as it is visually awesome.
Two popular horror films now a made by YouTube guys and attracting a mostly Gen Z audience.
I always recommend a horror movie as a first date to my students because your date is bound to grab on to you at some point.
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Seeing them both soon. GF and I just love the whole Back Rooms internet/YouTube mythology. Obsession has been getting amazing notices.
Two popular horror films now a made by YouTube guys and attracting a mostly Gen Z audience. I always recommend a horror movie as a first date to my students because your date is bound to grab on to you at some point. Sent from my Pixel 10a using Tapatalk
Seeing them both soon. GF and I just love the whole Back Rooms internet/YouTube mythology. Obsession has been getting amazing
I’m not into
Spoiler
body horror, poop etc, animal/kid abuse
so Obsession among many others isn’t for me, but I could get into Back Rooms. There are several long empty office buildings near me and I love the abandoned cubicles etc.
At the mortuary/crematorium my mother’s open casket was in an otherwise entirely empty white room. It was unsettling being alone in there with the door closed, no muzak nothing. And she really did look just asleep. Got an oogie that the door might be locked…
And then all the portraits on the walls back outside I hadn’t noticed before, including a three star AF general. Sheesh.
Aside: My mother’s death was long expected even hoped for, and her estate was about as simple as could be, and I still was enraged at things.
I cannot imagine dealing with a sudden loss, or battles over the services, heirlooms, money lol, etc. My buddy had to use every ounce of self-control not to attack his brother after their father died over thirty years ago, and still can’t really be around him for long, though they were never close.
Normal (2025)
Bob Odenkirk's small town sheriff uncovers a conspiracy while responding to a bank robbery in this weird actioner that's tonally all over the place, with Odenkirk basically being the exact same as he is in the Nobody films. I'm not a major fan of the director Ben Wheatley but I did kinda like this one overall, weird as it is.
Hokum (2026)
A troubled (and rather douchey) American Horror author travels to a hotel in Ireland, that's reputedly haunted by a witch, only to get drawn into a mystery in this cliched and overrated but nonetheless watchable and effectively creepy in parts slice of um, hokum.
Revisit:
Arachnophobia (1990)
Found this on youtube and it's still great fun, a very enjoyable family friendly comedic Horror that should have arachnophobes squirming in their seats. Was then unpleasantly surprised and saddened to then hear one of the actors was murdered only two days ago.
Wasn't quite sure if I should post this here or the music thread? Last week Bob Dylan rolled around on the old ipod. It also happened to be Dylans 85th birthday. Tonight I finally broke down and watched A Complete Unknown. Loved it! After seeing Marty Supreme and this I think this Chalomet kid has some chops despite the unsettling way he spells his first name. And also that Marty Supreme kinda sucked.
Anyway I love Dylan and this movie was great. My all-time favorite Dylan is obviously Highway 61. But after that? Easily Dylan going electric with Maggies Farm! Strangely this movie ended 60 years ago and Dylan is still going strong 😀 I am not a "rap music" fan but a lot of Dylans music is a rap precursor. "Johnnys in the basement mixing up the medicine I'm on the pavement talkin bout the goverrnment". And many other fast talking rap like lyrics. He was/is amusical genius.
Just wondering about films made in the last ten years or so that have stuck with you. I know for me it's not that many although I have seen many great films. I liked One Battle After Another but could barely tell you the plot. Sometimes I try to figure out what kind of movies stick with me and discern a common theme. But I'm not sure if there is one. Sent from my Pixel 10a usin
Can’t imagine anyone thinking that one battle is anything other than the best movie in at least 10 years but I know people find it divisive because of their political stance. Anyways for me it was about parenthood as imperfect men in hard times. I think you should watch it again; in time it will go down as one of the best films of all time, depending of course if we go full autocracy. Some of the elements felt cartoonish and I think that is part of what makes it so special. It’s just a wild ride.
The other films that have stuck with me are:
Arrival - I can’t ever remembering gasping in a theater. There aren’t enough words for how this ending lands as a parent
The Hugh Grant horror movie stuck with me but probably just because I hate organized religion…..his performance was great too though
Banshees
Nope - I never expected this to stick but it sure did. It’s an amazing film with themes that stick with you in unexpected ways
Both Mad Max’s - can’t say enough about these movies. Some of the most fun I’ve ever had watching movies in theaters
Sinners - cliche at this point but I domt care; fresh and great fun. Loved the secret scene at the end
