Thief's Monthly Movie Loot - 2022 Edition

Rape is a devastating crime; not only for the physical horrors perpetrated on the victim, but for the psychological and emotional toll it puts on them. But for many victims, the suffering doesn't stop there, since you have to also deal with the societal aspect in the aftermath, especially if you're a woman in the middle of the 20th Century. That is the situation that Ida Lupino presents in this 1950 thriller.

Outrage follows Ann Walton (Mala Powers), a young bookkeeper who's about to marry his boyfriend. But it all gets blown to hell when she is attacked and raped on her way home after working overtime. Not only does she have to deal with the physical and emotional toll, but with what seems to be the shame of her family, and the collective gossip of everyone around her.

Lupino is no stranger to taboo subjects. She dealt with it in The Hitch-Hiker and The Bigamist, but it is no wonder that this film seems to be buried and unavailable in most platforms. For the most part, her approach to the subject is direct but sober and thoughtful. She is helped by a solid performance from Powers, who conveys the rollercoaster of emotions that the character has to be going through.

Unfortunately, the story gets a bit muddied up in the last act, once Ann meets a caring reverend (Tod Andrews) with whom she develops a close friendship. Not only does that deviate the themes to an unnecessary romantic subplot, but it also trivializes her situation by reducing it to something that can be alleviated by a relationship.

Despite that, the film is most definitely worth a watch, if anything for the incredibly tense first act, a worthy performance from Powers, and a nice, subtle direction from Lupino. For better or worse, she makes us look at the world and its inhabitants all over again.

Grade:

__________________

Just finished listening. Good episode. I enjoyed your singing.

LOL, thanks for listening

I had a couple of quotes I wanted to use as my introduction to this polarizing film. Ultimately I went with the above, not because I think it's a particularly good quote, but first, because I think it encapsulates not only what I see as the main theme of the film, which is to appreciate the things we have before it's too late. The second reason I went with it is because it's not subtle, and if there's something we can say about this film, for better or worse, it's that it is not subtle... at all.

Don't Look Up follows two astronomers (Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio) that discover a comet headed towards Earth, a "planet killer". As they try to alert everyone, they are surprisingly met with apathy and indifference, from President Janie Orlean (Meryl Streep) down to the media and the general public.

Written and directed by Adam McKay, the film is supposed to take shots at climate change and the overall reaction to it. However, the same can apply to numerous crisis and situations that have not been properly dealt with like race, gun violence, and obviously the COVID-19 pandemic. In the process, the film also makes fun of political incompetence, pop culture, technology and social media influence.

Much like the issues it tries to tackle, there seems to be no middle ground with it. You're either on board with it, or you're not. I happen to fall in the former category. McKay does throw everything AND the kitchen sink at us, but I think the lack of subtlety works for what he wanted to transmit. I can say I spent most of the film laughing or chuckling at all the things, institutions, trends, and whatnot that they make fun of.

The cast is stacked, and most of them do a great job. Special notes to Streep and Jonah Hill for probably having the funniest bits, but I also think DiCaprio does a great job as the heart of the film. Because of the size of the cast, some characters are underserved and there are bits that fall flat. The film does feel overloaded, and not every jab lands, but what it lands, it lands well... like a comet hitting the Earth, BOOM!

Grade:

Really liked Don't Look Up. It's overlong and it doesn't seem like the kind of satire which will age well, but as an encapsulation of the past couple years, I think it worked great.

__________________
IMDb
Letterboxd

That is part of the message proclaimed by Martin Luther King, Jr. (David Oyelowo) referring to the obstruction of voting rights of African-Americans in Selma back in the 1960s. "Boycotting the buses in Montgomery. Segregation in Birmingham. Now? Voting in Selma", he says. And the struggle goes on and on. 60 years later, and unfortunately the struggle continues.

Selma follows the events surrounding the voting rights marches led by King in the titular city. The film manages to put the spotlight on many issues that are not necessarily known, at least by someone who is not from the US, regarding the civil rights violations against African-Americans at the time. Sure, laws have been passed, but most of the obstacles continue; from unfair voting registration requirements and stubborn officials hell-bent on segregation to the bureaucracy of the upper echelons of government.

Director Ava DuVernay manages to juggle both the socio-political struggle of the marches with the personal struggles of King, and the toll it takes on his family life. Oyelowo is excellent in the role, along with Carmen Ejogo, who plays Coretta Scott King. The cast is rounded out by Tom Wilkinson as President Lyndon B. Johnson and Tim Roth as Georgia Governor George Wallace, among many others.

As I was putting this film, I knew I would be pissed, and I was right. And I supposed it's good to be pissed at these injustices that happened. But what pisses me off more is that they're still happening. One struggle ends just to go right to the next and the next. Just the day before I saw this film, I was reading some dumb Karen going on a racist rant on Twitter just because a black coach lost his temper and hit his white counterpart. "Let's talk about how blacks are so prone to violence... see the entire continent of Africa", she said, among many other senseless rants.

And that is just a small snapshot of one small person in a deep pool of racism and hatred that still floods every corner of society, politics, business, and whatnot. "What happens when a man says enough is enough?", says King at one point. 60 years later, we're still finding out that not much has changed, and the struggle goes on and on.

Grade:

I had a hard time finding a film from Lithuania that was available for free and that also piqued my interest. With time closing in, I went with this short film that I found on YouTube about a lonely man that is not sure of who he is, where he is, or even what he is.

The short film, which last a little under 20 minutes, is amateur-ish, but still the camera is well handled and has some neat shots. The surreal vibe makes for a somewhat interesting watch, even though some things seem to be thrown in there just because.

Finally, although some performances are spotty or bad, the lead guy (Nerijus Gedminas) is pretty solid at conveying this sense of being lost and aimless. This is probably far from a great film, but it was still an interesting, fun watch, and a good way to check another box, I think.

Grade:

In case anyone is interested...

Set in the late 19th Century, Two Mules for Sister Sara follows Hogan (Clint Eastwood), an American mercenary that stumbles upon Sara (Shirley MacLaine), a nun that is assisting Mexican revolutionaries against French occupying soldiers. Realizing they have similar goals, they decide to work with each other despite their seemingly different backgrounds.

The film features Eastwood in his typical cowboy persona, and although he does a good job as the cool, sardonic Hogan, it isn't much of a stretch. MacLaine is also pretty good as Sara, as she shows to be more than a damsel-in-distress, but rather a convincing partner to Hogan. The supporting cast is comprised of mostly Mexican actors, which is praise-worthy for the time, even if none of them have particularly notable roles.

During the first half, the film is driven mostly by the banter between Hogan and Sara, as they get to know each other and learn to trust each other, while the second half is more action-oriented, as they finally reach the garrison they were targeting. Both halves work fairly well, although I was more interested in the first half back-and-forth between the two lead characters, as we see them handle their differences.



Despite those reservations, the film is fairly enjoyable and the characters are entertaining, even if it's only for the first half. However, once things shift, the action in the last act is well executed by director Don Siegel. The setpieces are decent and the action is well executed, even if there aren't many surprises. That is, beyond the one above, which I didn't see coming and I'm still not entirely sold on, but everybody's got a right to be a sucker once.

Grade:

Alpha and Omega follows two wolves, Kate (Hayden Panettiere) and Humphrey (Justin Long) that are both seemingly different in attitudes and also come from different groups of a warring pack. When they find themselves accidentally taken to another park, they have to work together to get back home while also *surprise, surprise* developing feelings for each other.

I won't deny that this was a "desperate" choice in light of having little time and not so many options available. But I suppose it was a decent one to watch with the kids. Because of that, I saw the dubbed version, so I can't judge the American voice cast (which includes Dennis Hopper, Danny Glover, and Christina Ricci). Still, the Spanish voice cast was okay, I guess.

The film's main issue is probably its lack of originality and somewhat uninspired execution. Everything feels more or less formulaic, lifeless, and dull. The plot is also generic and could probably be 15-20 minutes shorter (the final confrontation felt unnecessary). The animation is also spotty, although there is probably a brief moment during a river flood that stood out for me.

If anything, I give props to the film for not going with the typical good vs. bad template, and trying to send a message of cooperation and peace within the same group. I also liked the way they handled the characters of Garth and Lilly, which felt like an attempt at something a bit fresher. It's a pity that the package around all of this was more or less the same.

Grade:

Also, am I allowed to say that all the innuendo around the whole "you can't howl with her" or "you're not that good at howling" thing was a bit cringey?

Wow, four reviews all in one day. Who do you think you are? Takoma?

Nah, to get at that level, I need to write good first

Before we head into this year's Oscars, check out Special Episode 10 of my podcast, where I do a brief breakdown of one of my favorite scenes in what is one of my favorite Best Picture winners, The Silence of the Lambs:

The Movie Loot - Special Episode X (The Silence of the Lambs)

As usual, you can also listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and most podcast platforms.

And now, for my end-of-month summary for FEBRUARY 2022:

A film with the number 2 (Two, Second, etc.) in its title: Two Mules for Sister Sara
A film with a title that starts with the letters C or D: Cure, Don't Look Up
A film from the TSPDT 1,000 Greatest Films list whose ranking includes the #2 (i.e. 12, 82, 912): Assault on Precinct 13 (#826)
A film from the 1920s: The Unknown
A sequel: Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
A comedy film: Hail, Caesar!
A film featuring the name of a couple in its title: Alpha and Omega
A film with an African-American cast (Black History Month): Selma
A film from Ida Lupino (born February 4): Outrage
A film from Lithuania (Restoration of the State Day, February 16): Brotherhood of Pate (short film)

Freebie: Whiplash, The Boss Baby: Get That Baby!, 400 Petals, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh



Solid month! My favorites was Whiplash, but I really enjoyed Hail, Caesar! and Assault on Precinct 13. Don't Look Up and Selma were also pretty good.

Least favorite, both animated, but The Boss Baby: Get That Baby! and Alpha and Omega.

A very quick rundown of February:

A film with a title that starts with the letters C or D: Children of Paradise (1945)

A film from the TSPDT 1,000 Greatest Films list whose ranking includes the #2 (i.e. 12, 82, 912): Strike (1925)

A film from the 1920s: The Circus (1928)

A sequel: Quantum of Solace (2008)

An comedy film: Sixteen Candles (1984)

A film featuring the name of a couple in its title: Roger & Me (1989)

A film with an African-American cast (Black History Month): If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

Although it had both hits and misses, this was a clear improvement over January. Children of Paradise is a truly wonderful film, rich and moving, filmed under the most inauspicious of circumstances. The Circus is 95% bellylaugh fun, 5% time-period appropriate WTFery depictions of domestic violence. If Beale Street Could Talk is well made but left me kind of cold, though I can't put my finger on why.

Strike is an intriguing time capsule, mostly interesting for its techniques and its demonstration of early agitprop. Roger & Me is more recent agitprop, but I have to say if you zoom out it's kind of hard to see what Michael Moore's goal is here? I mean, okay, it paints a clear picture of this class divide and a certain kind of callousness, but it's a bit odd that the impetus for the film is GM closing Flint plants, but the film lingers on mocking portrayals of efforts to revive Flint through tourism. Sure, those efforts are comical and doomed, but what else is there to do? What Moore really wants is for GM to reopen the plants and treat workers fairly, but the film doesn't really grapple with what that would mean and the philosophy underpinning the idea. In retrospect, Moore's version of socialism seems to anticipate the LOL nothing matters ironic brand of leftism that dominates a lot of online spheres today.

Sixteen Candles has a lot obvious problems that look even worse today (though it should be noted that a lot them were flagged contemporaneously)--racism, sexism, homophobia (some of these are problems of the characters, and some are problems of the film, and each has different implication); it's kind of rapey. But it's also not that funny, right? The first half, especially, is laden with weak half-jokes. Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall are good enough to almost pull it off, and the second half is better. And honestly, if Gedde Watanabe's character had been treated like a human being I think there's a lot of humor to be found there. But Joan Cusack is the real secret star here--says (almost?) nothing, barely appears, and still makes the movie just about worth seeing.

It's not really obvious that Bond films are sequels, but Quantum of Solace clearly is one, following directly from Casino Royale. It's fine? I'm not a huge Bond fan, though I do generally enjoy the Craig version. This is probably the weakest of his films (though I haven't seen the latest).

Hmm, some interesting choices there. I've only seen The Circus, Quantum of Solace, and Sixteen Candles (but it's been a loooong time). Hadn't even heard of some of the others. Thanks for sharing!

Oh man, Children of Paradise is so good, and streaming on Criterion. I can't recommend it highly enough. It's an intimidating length (over three hours) but does have a handy intermission.

Ok, finally updated my categories for this month, MARCH 2022

A film with the number 3 (Three, Third, etc.) in its title:
A film with a title that starts with the letters E or F:
A film from the TSPDT 1,000 Greatest Films list whose ranking includes the #3 (i.e. 12, 73, 834):
A film from the 1930s:
A documentary:
The third part on a film franchise:
A film featuring the word "Spring" in its title:
A film directed by a woman (Int'l Women's Day, March 8): The Power of the Dog
A film with Raúl Juliá (born March 9):
A film from Bangladesh (Independence Day, March 26):


As usual, recommendations are more than welcome!

I had a busy week at work and I was also preparing for a podcast recording on the Oscars yesterday, so I kinda prioritized watching a few nominees. Will post reviews to these soon... The Power of the Dog, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Nightmare Alley, and West Side Story.