Movie You're Watching Tonight

Right. Well. I hated the short story, but I love Cousin Greg, so this’ll be fun.

Isabella Rossellini is in this? I’m confused.
Well, it’s somewhat better than I expected so far, perhaps because it does veer into the horror territory more than the story. Nicholas Braun is much better here than the girl imo, but then I do always like his vibe. Overall Robert is definitely profoundly weird, which is the point, but he’s also kind of… feel for him, maybe because he’s traditional.
Feels like a bizarre and uneven thing regardless, though not in a bad way. I always felt for Robert in the story, if anyone (definitely not Margot), and the same applies here. Margot seems quite confused about her own life philosophy and all sorts of things — I suppose that’s intentional, but it prevents me from feeling for her much. The myrmecology angle feels forced and random (it’s the fashionable thing of giving female protagonists who were ‘unemployed’ in the source material a vocation to supposedly make them more human — as a review of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella said last year, giving a female character a job doesn’t make her any deeper or more interesting per se). I find it very believable that Robert would be into ants but Margot — not so much.
Despite all this, so far I’m quite enjoying the thing for some reason.
Margot’s family being wealthy is a bit random.
The mother is actually pretty likeable and wise, though it’s all ****ing depressing. The Marilyn Monroe bit was funny.
Relate to the asexual ex somewhat. He’s funny. I have a good friend who recently went through an asexual ex and I feel for her, but I probably feel for him a little more.
Margot imagining what ‘busy week at work’ might look like is hilarious.
Them talking about film all the time is very meta but a bit odd here, doesn’t seem to have a particular raison d’être.
Margot thinking about being murdered is sad and incredibly believable.
So bloody annoying that she talks during the movie all the time. Would send me over the edge. Can’t imagine going on a date to the movies, feels so high stakes. (That’s the whole point, I guess — he loved the movie and she hated it, and that can totally be a dealbreaker). I actually did cave about two years ago and went to watch ‘Smile’ which I loved but the guy really ruined for me, but at least it wasn’t my first viewing.
What on Earth is the problem with Margot being twenty?! What the hell is wrong with people?! I will never understand humans. Of course any ‘progressive’ movie has to shit on age gap relationships.
The scenes with Robert’s (imaginary, I take it) therapist are hilarious.
Right, so my verdict is that this film fails at what it’s trying to do because I kind of love Robert?! (Surely that’s not the point). Margot dissing Indiana Jones removed the last vestiges of my sympathy for her. She is a spoilt brat. (Joking, but only just). The film seems to justify contempt towards Depeche Mode and anything pre-noughties, it seems (well, I say that, but Margot listens to Britney). I kind of agree with the mother: what an unfortunate young lady Margot is.
The sex is beautifully revolting — kudos on that. The unbelievable stuff he says is just… Christ almighty. Wow. I have not squirmed this much in a really long time. The ‘good girl’ bit takes the biscuit though.
This is actually a pretty accurate take on the story, I’ll give it that.
The trend of giving friends access to one’s phone is utterly incomprehensible to me.
That final text chain is pretty horrific, I’ll give it that.
Never thought I’d say that, but I… liked this? That in itself is no mean feat on the movie’s part.
The ending seemed better in the short story, though.
Found this one quite interesting:
https://slate.com/human-interest/2021/07/cat-person-kristen-roupenian-viral-story-about-me.html

Rewatch.

Forgot good ole Jaws was in this.

That was an odd little high-concept movie.

Might have fun with a Fulci Western

'Preciate the suggestion. I too am sick of some of the Limburger being put out today. So I fired up Dressed to Kill (1946), and loved it.

I've likely seen the majority of the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Holmes series, but it was nice to get back to them. Such an engaging duo, and Rathbone certainly defined the role.

In modern times I really enjoyed the series Sherlock (210-2017) with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. Cumberbatch imbued Holmes with an off-beat, almost neurotic flavor which fitted the character well.

Thanks for flagging that! Added to watchlist. I don’t think I’ve ever properly seen it — long overdue. Always down for a neurotic Holmes (I say that as someone who’s historically felt none of the adaptations pay sufficient attention to the cocaine addiction, but I guess one can’t have everything. Never liked the Downey Jr. stuff much, though it tried to honour that).

The Basil Rathbone series is charming (and at times disarmingly so). I’m watching it out of order whenever I’m down for something old-fashioned and reliable — expect to get back to it tomorrow.

Too bad, I thought it was pretty good. And I loved how it escalated as it went on.

It has not been smooth sailing for me with this one (took me absurdly long to even get a hold of it as it never seemed to be available in the U.K., so lots of hassle there; then when I did, it wouldn’t load; the screen kept randomly cutting to black and it took me a while to gather this wasn’t authorial intent).

It’s odd that it didn’t work for me because this seemed like something I’d love on paper (I adore Tilda and I do miss my sexy LGBT films; besides, it’s a thoroughly postmodern film, which again, technically I should have loved). It could be that I was just in the wrong mood for it… But it was more probably the set-up that got to me, the way it’s so explicitly framed as a play and shot on a stage, and how modern clothes randomly make an appearance, then go away. This isn’t something I usually dig as it really takes me out of the story (though there are exceptions — I think the stage does work in Dogville). Then again, I didn’t find the attraction/passion/chemistry — whatever you want to call it — between Edward and Gaveston convincing (gimme some Hannibal, people…?).

The fact that everyone spoke in Marlowe’s original language also didn’t help (again, I’m sure there have been exceptional cases where I didn’t hate that, but it’s usually something that takes me out of the story). Maybe I’m just not in the right headspace for this stuff right now (I used to think I loved Orlando, which is quite similar and has the magical realism dimension to boot, but recently rewatched it and… Meh. Didn’t do anything for me at all.) Ah well, my horizons definitely haven’t been expanded enough yet @Jeff.

I enjoyed your review, Takoma — unlike you, I do love my ‘terrible people being terrible’ entertainment, but I agree with many of your points, such as the lack of wholesome sex (I would call it the lack of ‘sexy’ sex but I do think we’re making a similar sort of point — there’s little sex, or much else, to root for). Also concur that Gaveston being terrible works and is somewhat ironic.

Which reminds me I really need to get a grip and start posting reviews in the reviews section. Never say never.

I love Jarman but Edward II is one of my least favorite of his, he had 2 kinds experimental and narrative The Last of England and Caravaggio are the best of each for me.

I need to explore his stuff a bit more — this one really caught me off guard.

Was a classic provocateur, also found War Requiem extraordinarily moving, if you see that, the emotional peak for me there is when Tilda Swinton twirls her hair while that mighty Benjamin Britten music plays.

I watched all of his films, in order, last year. I really clicked with him. The way he frames images and the way he sustains high emotional charge are just really excellent.

These types of films can be hit or miss for me also. I think that deliberate artifice (shot on a clear stage, mixing modern style with original text, etc) either sings or it's incredibly grating.

Jarman does this same thing a few times in other films---mixing classic dialogue with more modern scenes. I would think you'd enjoy Sebastiane.

Putting this on hold, but it's very good, the author lady's speech early on was studded with resonate observations and ruminations, about the bittersweet realities, human tendencies leaving much to be desired, vastly prefer 70's Ken over 90's Ken.

Thanks for the tip — that’ll be my next stop then.

Nyad

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