Two films, one old and one new:
It holds up rather well, with a good cast, a brisk pace, and fantastic stunt work. I've never understood why they're called musketeers when they never touch a musket, but only a sword.
This just came out: a semi-spoof western, not spaghetti but perhaps BBQ, with a mostly black cast (excellent), that both adopts and pokes some fun at the tropes of the Western shoot-em-up. (Lots of graphic, bloody violence which might put off some people.) I liked it. There's a subtle nod to Chadwick Boseman: keep your eyes peeled.
Yazeh (November 8th, 2021)
Saw Michael Powell's 1937, The Edge of the World.... Amazing B&W photography...
Powerful story, told with simplicity and no Digital special effects....
Last night we watched "Hector and the Search for Happiness"
Hector is a quirky psychiatrist who has become tired of his humdrum life, yet he's offering advice to patients who are just not getting happier. So he embarks on a global quest in hopes of uncovering the elusive secret formula for true happiness.
Yazeh (November 9th, 2021)
Dune, the latest version. A difficult book to put to film, but I was satisfied with the effort and really appreciated the casting. If a sequel appears, I’ll be there.
Last edited by VertOlive; November 15th, 2021 at 01:15 PM.
"Nolo esse salus sine vobis ...” —St. Augustine
Yazeh (November 15th, 2021)
I tried to watch the Tomorrow War. I got bored stiff. It's the type of film when you prefer the monsters demolish the protagonists, the writers and especially the producers
Watched The Green Knight. We hated it, for different reasons. She, because it had garish colors, ugly disturbing images, and made no sense.
Me, (with considerable knowledge of quest romances, and the literature of that era) because it was sloppy, with anachronisms (Byzantine icons were far in the future and far to the east). There was eerie singing and screeching in alleged Middle English, not spoken 'til after the Norman conquest (1066) while the Arthurian legends were set in the 5th and 6th centuries: Old English was brought to England by Anglo-Saxon invaders around the fifth century. The letters and scrolls, however, were written in modern English.
It lacked the narrative strength and symbolic coherence of traditional Grail legends and European romance literature. There was scant interest in character, except as a source of bad behavior. The main propulsive force seemed to be a desire to subject the viewer to trumped-up atmospherics and rude visual shocks.
Complete mess. Annoying as hell.
"No time to die", the latest James Bond flick with a fitting ending to a five movie story arc.
daniel-craig-no-time-to-die-800.jpg
My Dog Tulip (2009), an odd and stylish animated film that's very unlike the stock sentimental dog movie.
We both liked it a lot.
Yazeh (November 21st, 2021)
We watched a fascinating movie/documentary on Amazon: ”The Lost Leonardo”. If you like Art, History, and Mystery, you may enjoy this short history of a long lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci, the Salvator Mundi. The film included many of the principal players offering their perspectives, with the quiet voice of the conservator running through the whole of it. Did it garner the most spectacular final bid at Christie’s because it’s genuine, because we want it to be, or because enough was spent for it to make it so?
Last edited by VertOlive; November 23rd, 2021 at 12:47 AM.
"Nolo esse salus sine vobis ...” —St. Augustine
Yazeh (November 23rd, 2021)
@VertOlive yeah I read about that one. Now it's floating on some Sheik's yacht.
Tried to watch Passing... Beautifully shot in black and white. But there was something lacking in the story....
Liked Passing (gorgeous cinematography) but the idea that Ruth Negga could pass for white (with a husband who hated black people) was not believable. She looked like a normal black woman who'd been bleached.
The film hits the essential plot points from the manuscript. (See the Synopsis–)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Ga...e_Green_Knight
Casting Dev Patel as Sir Gawain is no doubt a red flag to traditionalists. He's a good actor, but not convincing in this context. What annoyed me was the lurid, garish staging and the lack of reflection. It was like a graphic novel colored with magic marker, frame after frame. There were quite a few gratuitous images (rotting corpses, etc.) thrown in. The Green Knight wore a cheesy tree-bark mask.
Given what it cost, they could have done better.
Last edited by Chip; November 26th, 2021 at 04:22 PM.
With a 30 day free trial of Amazon Prime (which I've already canceled, but it runs until December 4th), I watched Knives Out, a fairly recent whodunit. Strong cast, well acted and directed, story rather stupid, especially when they wrap things up, but I've decided not to be hypercritical.
Started watching the Alfred Hitchcock classic To Catch a Thief last night, but couldn't get into it and gave up after half an hour. Grace Kelly hadn't even made her appearance yet.
"If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."
G.K. Chesterton
"The Lineup" with Eli Wallach.👍
Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
M: I came here for a good argument.
A: No you didn't; no, you came here for an argument.
M: An argument isn't just contradiction.
A: It can be.
M: No it can't. An argument is a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition.
A: No it isn't.
M: Yes it is! It's not just contradiction.
A: Look, if I argue with you, I must take up a contrary position.
M: Yes, but that's not just saying 'No it isn't.'
A: Yes it is!
M: No it isn't!
14 Peaks, recently released on Netflix.
A documentary of a Nepali mountaineer who attempts to summit all 14 of the world's 8,000 meter peaks in 7 months.
One of the most profound stories of the human spirit that I've ever seen.
14 peaks.jpeg
Last edited by dneal; December 2nd, 2021 at 04:37 PM.
"A truth does not mind being questioned. A lie does not like being challenged."
The Gallant Hours starring Jimmy Cagney as Adm 'Bull' Halsey. I first saw it as a pre-teen when it came out in 1960. I stumbled upon it this afternoon. It is a movie docu-drama/biography of one of the pivotal campaigns of WWII and a great leader. I give it two thumbs up and five stars all the way.
P.S. Try to keep a dry eye at the end.
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