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Kinda boring really.
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The Native erasure is weird, and something that felt to me like the creators just didn't want to touch. You almost get the impression that white people wouldn't have been in the film if it weren't for certain plot points requiring their presence. Bass Reeves is the real person I know the most about, and this film was clearly taking a lot of liberties with the "real" characters.
The liberties are precisely why I feel the film muddies its own message. It's trying to use the dramatic cache of real, unsung Western figures and insists that this makes the film important, then tells a story that has nothing to do with them and strips any racial complications or history away. A real "tried to have cake and eat it" situation.

I would LOVE a Bass Reeves movie, for the record. From his escape to Indian territory, to becoming a lawman and having to hunt his own son (similar to the fabricated plot for Nat Love's family dynamics) would make a hell of a movie.

I would also love another black Western that is earnest in being detached from actual history. Sukiyaki Western Django style.



I would LOVE a Bass Reeves movie, for the record. From his escape to Indian territory, to becoming a lawman and having to hunt his own son (similar to the fabricated plot for Nat Love's family dynamics) would make a hell of a movie.
AGREED!

Every year I read Bad News for Outlaws to my class and they love it.

I would also love another black Western that is earnest in being detached from actual history. Sukiyaki Western Django style.
Also agreed!






Wildland -

Snake Eyes -

Ron's Gone Wrong -

Hotel Transylvania 3 -

Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania -



SF = Z for all five films.


[Snooze Factor Ratings]:
Z = didn't nod off at all
Zz = nearly nodded off but managed to stay alert
Zzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed
Zzzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed but nodded off again at the same point and therefore needed to go back a number of times before I got through it...
Zzzzz = nodded off and missed some or the rest of the film but was not interested enough to go back over it




Turbulence (Jon McCormack, 1997)
so back on CGI tech-demo vibe this one's a little more screensaver-core than The Mind's Eye but it has the more consistent vibe i wanted with some hushed narration () and also a lot of the music rules. there's even brief noise piece in there!! i'd say its probably on the same level as Mind's Eye overall.


but at the end of the dvd (i paid $15 for this half hour package secondhand apparently?) there's a bonus short that kind of stole the show:


(low quality video because google had no screenshots)
ENS (Jon McCormack, 1990)
this definitely isn't screensaver-core and has some mixed media elements that add some cool textures and i couldn't really make out the narration but it vibed like crazy.



I forgot the opening line.

Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10470111

Red Desert - (1964)

Half movie, half painting, Red Desert is something my younger self would have met with outright hostility. I would have hated that it had the gall to just be all mood and virtually no plot - having it's characters just basically wander around an industrial landscape for it's entire running time, talking about the desire to escape or leave their lives behind. The main focus is Giuliana (wonderfully performed by Monica Vitti - perpetually frazzled) who, after being in a car crash, is subject to panic attacks and is in a constant state of anxiety. When she meets the equally troubled Corrado (Richard Harris) you can sense that he might be able to heal her, and the temptation to run from her life starts to build. In the background (and foreground - everywhere really) is an artist's view of modern machinery spewing it's steam and fire as a thing of beauty - as, aside from nature, it is purely human. This is a visual film first and foremost - and every scene just looks dazzling and beautiful. At times though, I'd get bored and frustrated with it. Aside from the alienation felt by it's characters, I felt there was a lot I didn't get. I'm attracted to, and repelled by, Red Desert.


Visually 10/10
But for me, overall, 6/10

Foreign Language Countdown films seen : 71/100
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Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10470111

Red Desert - (1964)

Half movie, half painting, Red Desert is something my younger self would have met with outright hostility. I would have hated that it had the gall to just be all mood and virtually no plot - having it's characters just basically wander around an industrial landscape for it's entire running time, talking about the desire to escape or leave their lives behind. The main focus is Giuliana (wonderfully performed by Monica Vitti - perpetually frazzled) who, after being in a car crash, is subject to panic attacks and is in a constant state of anxiety. When she meets the equally troubled Corrado (Richard Harris) you can sense that he might be able to heal her, and the temptation to run from her life starts to build. In the background (and foreground - everywhere really) is an artist's view of modern machinery spewing it's steam and fire as a thing of beauty - as, aside from nature, it is purely human. This is a visual film first and foremost - and every scene just looks dazzling and beautiful. At times though, I'd get bored and frustrated with it. Aside from the alienation felt by it's characters, I felt there was a lot I didn't get. I'm attracted to, and repelled by, Red Desert.


Visually 10/10
But for me, overall, 6/10

Foreign Language Countdown films seen : 71/100
The movie deliberately basks in a certain unresolved feeling, reflective of Vitti's character's difficulties in adapting to modern life. That probably made it a bit frustrating for me during my initial viewing, but also made it a movie I'm in the habit of revisiting regularly (in the hope that the feeling does resolve, so to speak), which also means that it's grown on me significantly over time.



The movie deliberately basks in a certain unresolved feeling, reflective of Vitti's character's difficulties in adapting to modern life. That probably made it a bit frustrating for me during my initial viewing, but also made it a movie I'm in the habit of revisiting regularly (in the hope that the feeling does resolve, so to speak), which also means that it's grown on me significantly over time.
that feeling is my definition of movie magic



I haven't, and I cannot overstate how uninterested I've always been in watching Scarface. I mean, go ahead and convince me, but you've got some heavy lifting ahead of you!
I'll do my best; first off, I get the reluctance to check it out, considering how trashy it is (although it's an "appropriate" kind of trashy, if that's possible), as well as how it's one of those works of media where some people have wrongfully decided to idolize the protagonist, just because they seem like an "alpha male" or something, as seen here...



...to the point that I actually got into the fun by making this meme of my own...



...but like usual, those guys are completely missing the point, since Montana was an obnoxious scumbag from frame one, who only got worse with the more power he got. I mean, the peak of his success was just glossed over in a now-infamous montage sequence (which skips us ahead to the beginning of his downfall), he literally
WARNING: spoilers below
murders his best friend at one point,
and the overhead shot of him in the huge bathtub wasn't to show off of how rich he was, but to show how his lifestyle was dwarfing him, and how isolated he had made himself with his bad attitude, so Tony is no more the "hero" of Scarface than Walter was on Breaking Bad (I mean, there's literally a scene of Walt wrongfully idolizing Tony at one point; c'mon, people!).


Besides that, I'd also say that it has a pretty compelling external character arc for Tony in his rise to and fall from power, an arc that's always propulsively moving forward despite the movie's length (although you may want to split it up across two sittings anyway), and the filmmaking is pretty virtuosic in general, especially the cinematography, like when it goes from a handheld shot inside a motel room to a crane shot that goes across a street, and all the way back again? So ****ing good. Anyway, I don't expect you to be a big fan of it, but I do think it's worth watching at least once for the reasons I mentioned, and if you're looking to be any sort of a De Palma completionist, it's certainly worth checking out a lot more than The Black Dahlia, IMO.



The Avengers -


why is Harry Dean Stanton in this
Because they were trying to add some life to what was otherwise a really generic Superhero movie?




Dune - 2021

I really wanted to check this movie out in theaters, as Villeneuve is one of the few people in Hollywood I'd actually like to support. He actually gives you a reason to go to a theater and watch a movie. However I finally got around to watching the flick, I bought a blu ray which I haven't done in years. Villeneuve produces bangers, so even though I was not familiar with the Dune universe, I've heard of it, I trust Villeneuve to give me something worth watching.

First off, the movie is beautiful. All of his flicks are eyegasms and this one is no different (I still think Blade Runner nudges it aesthetically, no shame). The real question is as a casual did it draw me in? I'd say yes. It's meant to be a block buster that they want to make more of. I'd definitely like to revisit this world. The movie had to do a lot of heavy lifting world building. Was it perfect? I don't think so but it got the job done efficiently enough where I believe they can play around and be flexible enough with the audience in the 2nd one and any others going forward. Bottom line is I think the movie did it's job well enough to grab the casual's attention. What's that Leo Django quote? "You had my curiosity, now you have my attention" I really think Villenueve hands will be free to really play in the 2nd one, from the sounds of it the Dune sandbox is a big box.

I thought all the performances were good. Stand out was Ferguson to me. Timothy did well. I'd like to see him bulk up a bit for the 2nd, hard to take a string bean serious as an ass kicker. I'm still not sure why Zenedya character is important but she is, i'll hold judgement on her for the 2nd movie. I also don't know why I didn't care for Momoa's character. He felt like he was in another movie. He was just being Jason Momoa, just took me out of the movie whenever he was on screen.

Anyways I did enjoy the flick and it was a beauty to watch. Gets a knock for ending abruptly which I get, always meant to be at least 2 movies, because of the enormous source material. I'll be able to judge it a bit more fairly once I see the 2nd. As a world building set up movie I think it's about as good as you can do.



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101 Favorite Movies (2019)



Power of the Dog 8/10



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The Contract (2006)





Some of the best action sequences i've seen, Morgan Freeman is a bad guy or anti-hero in this movie and he does a great job of it. They could have explained and revealed the plot a little better which was its only shortcoming.





A bit too long, too many characters, a villain that we could do without and lots of missed opportunities.





Re-watch. Good movie.
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Dune - 2021

I really wanted to check this movie out in theaters, as Villeneuve is one of the few people in Hollywood I'd actually like to support. He actually gives you a reason to go to a theater and watch a movie. However I finally got around to watching the flick, I bought a blu ray which I haven't done in years. Villeneuve produces bangers, so even though I was not familiar with the Dune universe, I've heard of it, I trust Villeneuve to give me something worth watching.

First off, the movie is beautiful. All of his flicks are eyegasms and this one is no different (I still think Blade Runner nudges it aesthetically, no shame). The real question is as a casual did it draw me in? I'd say yes. It's meant to be a block buster that they want to make more of. I'd definitely like to revisit this world. The movie had to do a lot of heavy lifting world building. Was it perfect? I don't think so but it got the job done efficiently enough where I believe they can play around and be flexible enough with the audience in the 2nd one and any others going forward. Bottom line is I think the movie did it's job well enough to grab the casual's attention. What's that Leo Django quote? "You had my curiosity, now you have my attention" I really think Villenueve hands will be free to really play in the 2nd one, from the sounds of it the Dune sandbox is a big box.

I thought all the performances were good. Stand out was Ferguson to me. Timothy did well. I'd like to see him bulk up a bit for the 2nd, hard to take a string bean serious as an ass kicker. I'm still not sure why Zenedya character is important but she is, i'll hold judgement on her for the 2nd movie. I also don't know why I didn't care for Momoa's character. He felt like he was in another movie. He was just being Jason Momoa, just took me out of the movie whenever he was on screen.

Anyways I did enjoy the flick and it was a beauty to watch. Gets a knock for ending abruptly which I get, always meant to be at least 2 movies, because of the enormous source material. I'll be able to judge it a bit more fairly once I see the 2nd. As a world building set up movie I think it's about as good as you can do.




i saw most of this in theatres with a friend and i just couldn't hear what they were saying a lot of the time.



27th Hall of Fame (REWATCH)

Apocalypse Now (1979) -


I watched the Redux version several years ago and, while I loved certain parts of it, it dragged for me in some other scenes and I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would. Since I hadn't seen the theatrical version prior to this Hall, I was curious as to how well I would respond to it. I expected for it to be an easier watch than the Redux version, but what I wasn't expecting was for it to trump my own expectations. To get it out of the way, yes, the animal cruelty scenes (the water buffalo being killed and the rough handling of the dog) are hard to watch and indefensible, but other than that, this film is truly excellent and is quite possibly the best representation of a descent into madness I've ever seen. I've seen many critics argue that the journey to Kurtz's compound is a metaphorical descent into madness and that was what stood out the most to me while watching this film. The first stop with Lt. Col. Kilgore shows the first stage of this descent. On the surface, it's a fairly conventional raid scene (albeit one which is technically outstanding), but that Kilgore orders some soldiers to surf during the raid and expresses his gratitude towards a Vietnamese soldier who fought in spite of being seriously wounded adds an undercurrent of surrealism to to that sequence. The second stop where hundreds of soldiers watch a Playboy show at a supply depot shows the next stage of this descent. Many soldiers in that scene yell sexual remarks at the women and try to rush the stage, showing more of their unhinged behavior. The third main stop at a remote U.S. army outpost expands on this descent. Several soldiers seem desperate to get into their boat in an attempt to return home and the other soldiers in the outpost seem to have no idea who their commanding officer is. There doesn't seem to be much order in that outpost and the whole scene maintains a hellish atmosphere. And, of course, Kurtz's compound is the final stage of this descent. I love how his monologues in that scene feel simultaneously avant-garde and narrative-driven at the same time. Though Kurtz appears to be talking about great insights in his speeches, half of what he says doesn't make any sense. Topped with how his face is either partially or entirely obscured in darkness throughout those scenes makes them some of the best movie monologues I've ever seen. Topped with some excellent cinematography and some outstanding soundtrack choices (Ride of the Valkyries and The End), this film is definitely a top 10 war film for me. Thanks to jiraffejustin for nominating this one
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Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)

Ever think about seeing Peter Lorre and Elisha Cook, Jr. in the same movie? Well, here you can. One is a psychotic murderer, the other is the man falsely accused.

In a story not dissimilar to Hitchcock’s later film, The Wrong Man (1956), a newspaper reporter witnesses a cab driver standing over the dead body of a murdered hash house owner. His subsequent scoop for his paper results in a rise up the totem pole, along with a weekly pay raise. But after his girlfriend hears the accused in court pleading that he is innocent, she emotionally believes that the cabbie may not be the murderer. This puts a nagging doubt in the mind of the reporter, who eventually learns the truth.

At 64 minutes the picture barely qualifies as a feature film. But there’s a lot packed into its short running time, chiefly the impressive chiaroscuro photography of the greatNicholas Musuraca (Out of the Past, Clash by Night). His shadows, lighting, and unusual camera angles would soon be staples of noir.

Many point to this picture as the first film noir, but there were two earlier films from 1940 that might qualify as well: Rebecca, and They Drive by Night. Also there were isolated films all the way back into the silent era that one could argue were noir. “Stranger” is more pure German expressionism, along the lines of M (1931), or Nosferatu (1922).

Lorre turns in an ultra creepy performance of a man who we later learn was likely an escapee from a mental institution. The key role of the girlfriend is played by the lovely Margaret Tallichet, who only made 4-5 pictures before she married director William Wyler (The Best Years of Our Lives, Ben-Hur), and retired to raise a family. The newspaper reported is played by John McGuire (Where the Sidewalk Ends), who earlier in his career played leading men, but later had mostly shifted to character roles.

My guess is that, although this film is interesting today, it did not get much notice, and therefore was not really influential in starting the noir movement in Hollywood. That distinction goes to The Maltese Falcon (1941).

Available on YouTube.

Doc’s rating: 6/10