Rate The Last Movie You Saw

I don’t think I’ve read the book. I think I’ve seen the movie. Not my fave thing to watch IIRC, but I did finish.

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I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.

Dark Days, 2000

In this documentary, the director follows a community of homeless individuals who live in the subway tunnels underneath New York City. The film follows their day-to-day survival, their struggles, and eventually what happens when Amtrak decides it doesn't want them there anymore.

This was a solid, compassionate look at the people in the heart of a complicated issue. Further, it presents a compelling portrait of just how hard it can be to move forward against certain obstacles.

Something that I liked about this film is that it doesn't pretend at objectivity. The director--who had befriended this community before filming them--clearly has a lot of affection for his subjects. He allows them to share their own stories--letting them say as much or as little as they want. The short, sterile interview with an Amtrak suit (whose concern about the wellbeing of the homeless people in the tunnels seems, um, much less than genuine) is almost all the time that is given to anyone who might oppose their presence in the tunnels.

By giving time and space to understand the personalities of these people and their concerns and aspirations, the film diffuses a lot of very obvious criticisms. Many of the people in the tunnels emphatically do not want to go to shelters--they do not want to deal with the theft or drug availability that they think they might find there. Whatever kind of "beggars can't be choosers" mentality you might have about people who are homeless, there is no denying that these people have worked hard to create the best environment they can for their needs.

At the same time, the film doesn't shy away from some of the choices that were made by the film's subjects. In some ways, this is where I wanted more background at times. One young man opens about having left home at the age of 16 due to severe physical abuse from his father. Other people have serious addictions, mainly to crack cocaine. (It is not always clear if the addiction came before or after the homelessness). Some of them allude to having spent a lot of time in jail. But you know what? Maybe it doesn't matter. Whether the people in the tunnels were victims of their own poor choices or victims of poor circumstances, or some mix of the two, they are here now and they are trying to survive.

I really became invested in many of the stories of the people in the film. I wanted the best for them and every time they took a positive step forward--like going to rehab or getting a job--I really wanted them to succeed. I would love to know what became of many of them. I know it might not all be happy endings.

I'd certainly recommend this one.

I'm a big fan of the novel. It gets more into the rabbit religion/culture and way of life than the film.

The House is Black, 1963

This short documentary film captures glimpses of the lives of men, women, and children living in a leper "colony" in Iran.

This is a very brief, but moving portrait of the lives of people living with a disfiguring, frightening disease. While there are a few isolated shots of the effects of leprosy, most of the images of the people are in action: children in a classroom, a woman nursing a baby, men smoking pipes or cigarettes against a wall. The drooping eyelids, missing noses, and mangled fingers are all normal in this setting.

Underneath it all, there is narration consisting of religious text and poetry from the woman who made the film. There is an undercurrent of irony as the chanting students thank God for giving them eyes . . . even as leprosy is robbing them of their vision.

The final shots, however, give a call to action. Leprosy is treatable. If the poor are treated well, the disease can be eradicated. It is a push for compassion, to replace fear with love and caring.

Dick Johnson is Dead, 2020

When her father, Dick, begins showing signs of dementia, his daughter and documentary filmmaker Kirsten, asks if he'd be willing to stage a film where they repeatedly film his death. The movie is a mix of footage of Dick's changing life, the staged fake deaths, sequences of Dick on a staged set of the afterlife, and reminisces on the family's loss of Dick's wife to Alzheimer's disease.

Oh, golly. This one got me right in the feels.

Something that is apparent all the way through the film is just how beloved Dick is by his family and friends. Beyond them going along with the very strange documentary requests, you can tell that he has had a genuine impact on them. Dick worked for decades as a therapist, and it's clear that his compassion has come back to him in the form of the people he's helped and nurtured.

The great heartbreak of the film is watching a kind, gentle man go through the progression of dementia. Having lost his wife (and the filmmaker having lost her mother) to progressive dementia just years earlier, the whole family is essentially reliving a horrible trauma. As a mental health worker, Dick knows what to expect and is able to analyze it, but this does nothing to ward off the confusion and fear that he begins to feel as the disease progresses. If anything, there is something particularly cruel and utterly devastating about Dick's awareness of what is happening to him.

This movie could have easily been a tearjerker from opening to closing credits, but what makes this film really special is an impish strain of humor that runs through it all. This humor shows up in very overt and also very subtle ways. The "heaven" sequences are a great example. As Dick plays a clarinet, lithe young dancers wearing oversized black and white photos of Dick and his late wife in their youth twirl and spin. An actor playing Jesus looks on in exasperation as the pair tears up the dance floor. But the humor can also be more nuanced and even sneaky. You can never be 100% sure in this film what is real and what isn't. That uncertainty, that literal fear of "is this really happening?" puts you in the shoes of Kirsten and her father in a way that is slow-burn but powerful.

I spent the last 30 or so minutes of this film crying almost non-stop. The humor and heartbreak are pitch-perfect, and yet that doesn't stop the tragedy of it all from punching you right in the gut. It's not just the literal loss of Dick's impending decline and death, it's the process of it all.

A friend who lost her mother recently posted something that I thought was amazing. (I'm not sure if these were her own thoughts or something she found somewhere else). She wrote that losing a loved one (and specifically a parent) is like falling in love. For a while, you have to let yourself be totally swept away with emotion for this person, and accept that your emotional life is going to revolve around them for a while.

Anyway, I thought that this was absolutely amazing. No complaints. If loss is a fragile subject for you (especially the loss of a parent or of someone elderly), approach with caution.

I think the effects look very good. They are more measured than in current movies so they feel more natural in my opinion.

I love this movie so much.

"There's a dog loose in the woods!"

Agreed.

You're right of course, but I liked the way the movie captured it given the limited time. But I did love the rabbit mythology. Felt as real as anything.

Wow. You have my curiosity.

Jesus, Jaws is so damn good.

Poignant, topical drama set in Mali about a family of cattle herders whose lives are torn apart by a brutal regime of Jihadist fundamentalists that impose themselves on the village. Stunningly shot in the Director's home country of Mauretania, it's a real achievement.

I enjoyed it. It has something of a Blue Valentine vibe plus something Neo-realistic like I, Daniel Blake or The Florida Project. A man released from prison attempts to start a new life after a chance encounter with an old flame.

Maybe it has an ending that touches on an ambiguous slightly magical realistic tone, but the 2 lead performances shine.

It is not 'too bleak' or 'too miserable'. Don't listen to reviewers who label any art like that.

9/10
...only because the movie doesn't last longer...

I also recommend it. It's really good.

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Probably my favorite short documentary. If you're curious, here's what I wrote on it last year or so:

https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5529951/?ref_=ur_urv

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The Buccaneer (1958)

Generally speaking ++
All out enjoyment and genuine pleasure at just how much better it was than anticipated ++++

As Anthony Quin's only directing stint, this theatrical, Hollywoodized bit of Historical cinema using mostly Studio Sets centers on Captain Jean Lafitte's eventual assistance in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812 with General Andrew Jackson.
Though the funding and studio assistance did not allow a full realization, thereby bringing a truly epic sense to this film, it still made one helluva a run for it regarding the leading cast.
With all the charm, eloquence, and presence that Yul Brynner seems to ooze without even trying, playing the romantic idealism of a rogue pirate (excuse me, as he says at one point, in jest - Privateer) Lafitte.
Secondly, with an equal knack, Charlton Heston towers as General Andrew Jackson, who becomes the seventh president a decade or so later. Instilling equal moments of stoic grit, pride, and at times, away from others, moments of frailty.
Wrapping up this trifecta, doing what he does best, Charles Boyer plays a charming Number Two to Brynner's Lafitte. A cavalier exterior hiding the humble man beneath, he, like the other two, captivates us, the viewers, as he strides through every scene.
Backing them up is a surprisingly large cast of pirates, citizens of New Orleans, American and British troops. Including a small cameo of TV Western Bonanza fame, Lorne Greene.

I was hooked from the opening with a professor giving a short oratory of the importance of New Orleans and its part of the recent Louisiana Purchase to the winning British forces who had already taken Washington DC and burnt the White House down. His playful last words about what Lafitte had to do with all of this and how "That is our story" continually grew and grew as their story played out. Causing me to fall completely in love with this film.

Utterly f@ckin charming, amusing, intriguingly tons of fun, an ideal Afternoon or evening of popcorn chomping enjoyment.

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I think it's a great adaptation and manages to capture a lot of what is special about the book while still coming in at a reasonable runtime.