Thief's Monthly Movie Loot - 2021 Edition

As usual, thanks for joining on the fun!

Doomsday sounds like, uhhh, a lot of fun, yay

As for your Kurosawa project, I'm more or less on the same, although at a decidedly slower pace (another one of many, many "projects" I have ongoing at the pace of a snail). Anyway, I've heard this is a good one, so I'll see when I can sneak it in.

Thanks for sharing!

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Honesty goes a long way in relationships. Even if it's harsh truths, it's usually better to just get things out of your chest before things get complicated and it's harder to walk away. That's probably why Mr. Cohen (Bob Ari) asks Leonard (Joaquin Phoenix) the above question point-blank when inquiring about his relationship with his daughter Sandra (Vinessa Shaw); "Are you a f**k-up?". That honesty, or the need for it, seems to be at the core of the relationships in this little-known film from 2008, directed by James Gray, even if its characters don't always embrace it.

Two Lovers follows Leonard, a young man suffering from bipolar disorder and reeling in from depression and several suicide attempts related to his break-up from his fiancée. Now living with his parents, he tries to make ends meet working at their laundromat in NYC. Unbeknownst to him, he is set up with Sandra, the well-intentioned daughter of his father's business partner. At the same time, Leonard also gets involved with Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow), a troubled neighbor that's also having an affair with Ronald, a married man from work.

This is one of those films I didn't know anything about, didn't even know it existed, until last week. However, it has pretty good reviews on most critic sites. The premise is fairly simple, starting with the film title, but the script and performances elevate it slightly above the average romantic drama standard. There is a certain complexity in the way this man handles these relationships and how he navigates the honesty/dishonesty between both. I think the film dedicates a bit too much emphasis to Michelle and Ronald, sometimes at the expense of Sandra's character, who gets a bit of the short stick out of the three leads. The fact that Ronald is well played by Elias Koteas helps smooth that wrinkle a bit, though.

In the end, the film could've used a bit more focus between the two relationships and perhaps a bit more exploration into the characters. I'm still torn about the ending which I felt was decidedly tragic, even if I kinda felt the film was trying to sell it the other way. But I think that the fact they did things the way they did was somewhat bold, at least from the point of view from which I interpreted it. At the end of the day, honesty does go a long way, even if it's to walk away from something you should to avoid pain, suffering, and heartache to others. Whether the characters did that or not, I guess that's up to you.

Grade:

Not being quite as cool as Captain Terror, I only managed 5 this month:

A film with a title that starts with the letters C or D:
Christine (2016): see my review here.
Cowards Bend the Knee: Canadian porn is wild, y'all.
Doubt: Excellent performances but some of the writing is very on the nose, perhaps due to its theatrical origins.

A film from the Criterion Collection whose number includes the #2 (i.e. 12, 82, 912):
Dr. Strangeove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (#821): One of Kubrick's best for me, what can I add?

A film from the 1920s:
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927): Considered the earliest true Hitchcock thriller, you can see early versions of several of his themes (obessions)--the relationship between violence and sex; mistrust of authority; blonde women--along with his mastery of technique.

A sequel:
The Dark Knight Rises: Maybe it's because I'm watching this so much later, or because I tend to go easy on comic book films, but I didn't mind this as much some people seem to. The plot does get very ludicrous, and there's no matching Heath Ledger's scintillating perfromance, but I generally had a good time watching this, and sometimes that's good enough.

A comedy film:
9 to 5: Mini-review here.

Good month overall, nothing truly terrible.

During the early 1990s, a series of conflicts occurred in what was known as Yugoslavia, resulting in the breakup of its constituent republics. One of the most severe conflicts was the Bosnian War, which took place from 1992 to 1995 between the forces of Radovan Karadžić, who rose to power during the crisis, with support from Slobodan Milošević, who was the President of Serbia. After the war ended, both Karadžić and Milošević were tried for war crimes committed during the conflict.

The Serbian Lawyer follows Marko Sladojevic, an international attorney assigned to defend both Karadžić and Milošević. What is notable is that Sladojevic was a Serb that was against Milošević during his youth, and had to flee the country eventually. The documentary attempts to chronicle the inner struggles of the lawyer in trying to do his job while trying to balance it against his own beliefs and his personal life.

Unfortunately, the documentary is not very successful. Despite setting up some compelling drama in terms of Sladojevic's conflicts and the details of the crimes and the trial itself, director Aleksander Nikolic never really delves into anything, but rather chooses to jump from topic to topic without much cohesion. Also, most of what little analysis is done about the case, never feels properly closed or finished.

I don't know how involved Sladojevic was in the preparation of the documentary, but in many ways, the documentary feels more like a self-absorbed attempt to "save face". There's a lot of time spent with him musing thoughts and opinions, without never really reaching any sort of conclusion or unified thought about both the accused, the events, or himself. But he does manage to promote an upcoming book he's writing. In that aspect, it makes sense that he's asking himself what is "the truth", because I was left asking the same thing myself.

Grade:

Nice.

Being as much of a fan of Philip Seymour Hoffman as I am, I don't know why I still haven't seen Doubt (or Capote for that matter). Need to get on that.

Dr. Strangelove is indeed a lot of fun. George C. Scott's performance is a treasure.

Glad you liked The Lodger. That's a film that didn't really land on me until a second watch, but now I think it's pretty darn good. Still have some issues with the very ending, but like you said, you can see the Master was growing up.

As for TDKR, my reaction is more or less similar to the two previous films: I had a decent amount of fun with it, but it just doesn't hold up to closer examination, which makes me feel baffled by the amount of praise they get now. Especially The Dark Knight, but well.

I also had a lot of fun with 9 to 5, which I revisited last year.

Thanks for joining in!

LOL, I now realize that I misinterpreted this the other day. I didn't notice that "a" and "film" weren't capitalized. Thought you were watching A Serbian Film and wondered why you would do that to yourself.

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Captain's Log
My Collection

If it were available streaming, that's the one I would've chosen without hesitation. Finally see what all the fuss is about

Ok, so this was my final tally for FEBRUARY 2021:

A film with the number 2 (Two, Second, etc.) in its title: Two Lovers
A film with a title that starts with the letters C or D: Crawl, Don't Torture a Duckling
A film from the Criterion Collection whose number includes the #2 (i.e. 12, 82, 912): The Battle of Algiers (#249)
A film from the 1920s: The Passion of Joan of Arc
A sequel: Creed II
A comedy film: Monty Python's Life of Brian
A film featuring the name of a couple in its title: Bonnie and Clyde, When Harry Met Sally...
A film with an African-American cast (Black History Month): Antwone Fisher
A film from Serbia (Statehood Day, February 15): The Serbian Lawyer
A film from Robert Altman (born February 20): Images


Another solid month. My favorite first-time watches were probably Shame and Grave of the Fireflies.

As for a least favorite, that would probably be between One Child Nation and Broken Blossoms.

So, here is the challenge for MARCH...

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 Criterion Collection whose number includes the #3 (i.e. 13, 230, 830):
A film from the 1930s:
A documentary film:
The third part on a film franchise:
A film directed by a woman (Women's History Month):
A film with the word "Spring" in its title:
A film from Russ Meyer (born March 21):
A film from Greece (Revolution Day, March 25):


Anybody can join, anybody can share recommendations as well.

Yeah, I understand the ending was basically a case of studio interference (the more things change...) but there's so much else to like I can overlook it.

It's a high bar, don't beat yourself up over it.

I was already a fan of Rebecca Hall, but I thought she was terrific here and I'm kind of bummed that I rarely hear anyone talk about it.

Yeah, she makes it work. It's a tough movie to watch emotionally, though.

I'm probably the only person to have watched it without knowing what it was about beforehand. I'd put it on my watchlist just because I'd liked a previous Campos film. The Chubbuck story was vaguely rattling around in my memory banks but I certainly didn't remember her name. It wasn't until midway through the film when I was like "Wait...is this the woman who...?"

Who was Oscar Grant? The answer may vary depending who you ask. A young man from Hayward, California? a good co-worker? a black man? a troublemaker? a pothead? an ex-convict? Despite whatever labels one might feel compelled to apply to him, there are some that we can say are facts. Oscar Grant was a son, a friend, a boyfriend, and a father of a young girl.

Based in real life events, Fruitvale Station follows the events surrounding Grant's death at the hands of two police officers at the titular train station. Grant (Michael B. Jordan), who was coming from celebrating New Year's Eve with his girlfriend and friends was either involved or in the vicinity of a fight on the train, which resulted in the police detaining him along with others, when one of them shot him in the back as he was lying down.

This is the directorial debut from Ryan Coogler. He was interested in developing the project since he was a film student at the University of Southern California. According to Coogler, he "wanted the audience to get to know this guy, to get attached". Through the film, we get to see a snapshot of Grant's life during the day before his death, as well as some flashbacks. One of the decisions that I respect from Coogler, who also wrote the script, is that he didn't try to paint Grant as some sort of "angel". Instead, we get to see different facets of him: as a friend, as a boyfriend, as a convict, and as a father. And even though he might not be perfect in any of those roles, he seems to be trying to make things work out.

Even though the film veers close to melodrama at some points, it never tips over. It also feels a bit overlong, but Coogler manages to keep it together for the most part. But if there's anything deserving of praise here, it's Jordan's performance. He is so effortlessly good in the role, without overselling the part. Octavia Spencer and Melonie Diaz are also pretty good as Grant's mother and girlfriend, respectively.

As is expected, the death of Grant and the ensuing trial of the two policemen involved resulted in protests and riots, mostly aimed at what was seen as a tame conviction to only one of the officers. Regardless of what one might think about the events and the aftermath, it's important that we know who Oscar Grant was, and that we know that on that day, in an event that probably could've been easily avoided, a mother lost her son, a girlfriend lost her boyfriend, and a daughter lost her father. That was Oscar Grant.

Grade:

Whoever's approving reviews today is on fire Thanks

Set some years after World War II, In a Glass Cage follows Angelo (David Sust), a young man that seems to be set on taking revenge on Klaus (Günter Meisner), a former Nazi doctor and pedophile murderer. To do this, Angelo poses as a nurse interested in taking care of Klaus, who is bound to an "iron lung" after a suicide attempt. Despite the reluctance of Klaus' wife (Marisa Paredes), Klaus insists, which leads to Angelo taking control of the house while torturing and tormenting the doctor by reenacting his former crimes.

It is not clear why Klaus insists in hiring Angelo, it might've part blackmail, part intrigue from his part, but it is clear why Angelo wants to be there. After all, it's pretty obvious he's one of Klaus' former victims. The above exchange occurs at a point when Klaus realizes that Angelo is up to no good and that he and his family are actually in danger. However, Rena (Gisela Echevarría), his young and "naďve" daughter, who has taken a liking to Angelo, is more dismissive. After all, he's just changing things up and "fixing the house".

Pulling this curtain here... putting some wire fence there... burning this furniture here... getting rid of the housekeeper... and torturing the Nazi pedophile murderer in the "iron lung". Those are some of the items on Angelo's checklist to "fix the house". Rena, who is a victim of abuse from her mother, welcomes him because she sees it as an opportunity for things to change. But pretty soon she realizes that Angelo's goal is not to "fix" or change things, but to change himself, and as a result, those around him, for better or worse.

In a Glass Cage was controversial due to its themes of pedophilia, torture, and murder. But even though I agree that the content is disturbing, I was surprised to see that there's more under the surface. In a way, it reminded me of Martyrs, which is also a disturbing, tough-to-watch film that ultimately is much more than meets the eye. This film ends up being an interesting exploration of the effects of violence and abuse, and the resulting endless cycle it begets.

The budget does show from time to time, but overall, Villaronga's direction was clean and the performances were quite solid, particularly Sust. This is made more impressive by the fact that this is the first film for both of them. As for the story, I think it has a nice pace as things escalate gradually, and the ending packs a punch.

Grade:

Only seen four of your watches since I last commented and for two of those (Bonnie and Clyde or When Harry Met Sally) it's been an awful long time since I watched them, both okay movies from what little I remember but not had any real desire to revisit either.

I quite like the atmosphere in Don't Torture a Duckling and the way it builds slowly toward its final act. Didn't like the opening though and generally prefer his out-and-out horrors. Thought Fruitvale Station had a good lead performance and was a decent enough watch.

Of those I've not seen I'll probably try to get round to In A Glass Cage for the upcoming countdown (assuming I can find it) and I was surprised by quite how much I enjoyed Creed (not being much of a fan of the Rocky franchise beyond the original) so Creed II will most likely get a watch at some point too.

Since I've only seen this whodunit thriller and a western from Fulci, I guess it's time for me to dive into his horror films. Considering how much of a horror fan I am, I'm surprised I've never stumbled upon one of his films.

And let me know what you think about In a Glass Cage and Creed II. I'll be curious to read your thoughts.

Be interesting to see what you make of his out-and-out horrors.

Creed II will probably have to wait until one of our cable channels carries it. Had a squint on Amazon for purchasing a copy of In A Glass Cage and sadly it's not very available and priced well above what I'd be prepared to pay for what is there so I'll have to scour the legal parts of the interweb at some point.

It's on Tubi if you happen to be in the US (or use VPN).

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