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The Modern Way (2022)

Kinda fun little film about the Mods/Rockers/Skins that made a resurgence in the 80s after punk. Drug dealing gone wrong because of some slaaaaaaaags. It's fun but just too far fetched even though the acting is fine. It's a cut above the Craig Fairbrass "Essex Boys" dross and has a low budget charm.



Repeat Viewings


Curse of the Demon - Even though director Jacques Tourneur and screenwriter Charles Bennett butted heads with producer Hal E. Chester it still manages to be an effectively atmospheric thriller. Can't help but wonder though what kind of movie they would have come up with if they had stuck with Bennett's original screenplay and left Tourneur to his own devices. 85/100



I Walked With a Zombie - Another immersive Tourneur classic. Val Lewton's contribution as producer and J. Roy Hunt's cinematography should always be mentioned. 85/100


Them! - This is probably the first giant mutated insect movie and set the stage for countless others that followed. If you discount the early King Kong films or The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (which preceded it by a year) you could say it started the genre. 89/100





The Martian, 2015

Mark (Matt Damon) is a botanist who is part of a crew on a mission to Mars. When a sudden storm threatens the crew, they evacuate, but Mark is left behind, believed dead. But Mark is not dead. And left on his own with logistics meaning that rescue is hundreds of days away, he must find a way to survive with limited rations. Back on Earth, NASA realizes that Mark is not dead and hustles to mount a rescue mission.

I realize the old it's not as good as the book argument can be tiresome. Howevah! I think that this film is an interesting case in what happens when a film adapts a book that tried to avoid certain film-ish tropes and ends up stranded between loyalty to the source material and wanting to go fully cinematic with the premise.

Nowhere else is this contradiction more apparent than in Damon's performance as Mark. To be really clear, I think that Damon actually captures the tone of the character---ie a nerdy sarcastic type---really well. And then he takes off his shirt and you're like "Oh, right. They tried to put this nerdy character in a gym-toned celebrity body." This lack of coherence spills over into every aspect of the film. Things that were dismissed in the book explicitly as "If this were a movie, then everyone would XYZ." And then in the film . . . . everyone does.

I'm sorry, guys, but you can't have it both ways. You can't have a film where one current is pulling the narrative in the direction of realistic science and debates about strategies and then have your main character flying around space "like Iron Man." I constantly had whiplash from these competing narrative desires.

What makes this worse is the comedy, which takes the sardonic commentary from the book and amps it up to shots that could be straight out of a cartoon. After Mark's first attempt to synthesize water has explosive results, he sits down to film a video log and he is literally still smoking. At one point a character clicks a pen open by pushing it against Kristen Wiig's character's head. I really did not care at all for the silliness.

My favorite element of the film was the way that it used its supporting cast to show the complex range of scientific and ethical questions that come with a situation like the one in the film. Sean Bean brings a weary warmth as the man responsible for the wellbeing of the crew on the Mars mission. The always welcome Benedict Wong plays the scientist whose team is repeatedly given orders to produce usable technology on incredibly tight time frames. While I didn't love the way that Wiig's character was treated--and repeatedly used as the outsider that all the science people can explain things to--she is a very funny person, and I laughed out loud at her disgust when the scientists decide to call a secret meeting the Council of Elrond.

The premise of the film is also very strong. Imagine being alone on a planet. Imagine knowing that you will not see another person for at least two years, if ever again. Mark's decision to live his life on Mars one day at a time, solving one problem at a time, is just neat to watch a lot of the time. The look of Mars is really beautiful, but also vast and intimidating. Space stuff always gets me, because it manages to be claustrophobic and agoraphobic at the same time.

It's impossible to know how I'd have felt about this one if I hadn't read the book first, but the overall issue with the clash of tones and objectives is something that doesn't have to with the fact that it's an adaptation. The cast was stacked with great actors, and it was a pleasant enough viewing.




I forgot the opening line.

By Source: [1], Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=944724

Quills - (2000)

Four actors really get to strut their stuff in Quills - a prancing, sexual Geoffrey Rush as the Marquis de Sade, delighting in ruffling the feathers of hypocritical prudes, a lively and joyous Kate Winslet as Maddy, a seething Michael Caine as real life historical personage Dr. Royer-Collard - he plays bad so well - and Joaquin Phoenix as the Abbé de Coulmier - another real life figure. There's more than high melodrama at play - censorship, religion, sex and love combine in ways that seem particularly on edge just a few years after the French Revolution. Enlightenment seems to be at a critical stage in it's battle against ignorance, and people's lives were the casualties of this war. Dr. Royer-Collard rails against the Marquis' lude prose, and yet forces a girl hardly 16 years-of-age into a sexual relationship with him. Power is used arbitrarily, religion is payed lip service, and perversion is only ever possible if it comes from the downtrodden - never the powerful. This film, directed by the great Philip Kaufman, never stops getting darker - and some will pay a heavy price before we get to the end credits. I love how it didn't bend to the usual (and predictable) narrative conventions at the time.

8/10


Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34213560

The Darjeeling Limited - (2007)

A lot of people consider this Wes Anderson's worst film, and I tend to agree. Unlike the Coen Bros however, with films like The Ladykillers, Wes Anderson's worst is still kind of good. It seems a little rushed, and although it's full of good moments it doesn't cohere as a whole. His films usually feature oodles of characters, and if one is particularly irksome it doesn't throw the whole film off. Here, we've got Francis, Peter and Jack played by Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman respectively - and all three have character flaws that make them hard to appreciate. There is little else - we're firmly focused on the spiritual journey these three brothers are on, and the stark symbolism doesn't make for a movie that you can spend hours analysing. So, as a whole not great - but like I said, Anderson has made up for it a little by filling the film with funny and enchanting moments - it's a power he has, and it helps to make The Darjeeling Limited bearable.

7/10
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By Source: [1], Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=944724

Quills - (2000)

Four actors really get to strut their stuff in Quills - a prancing, sexual Geoffrey Rush as the Marquis de Sade, delighting in ruffling the feathers of hypocritical prudes, a lively and joyous Kate Winslet as Maddy, a seething Michael Caine as real life historical personage Dr. Royer-Collard - he plays bad so well - and Joaquin Phoenix as the Abbé de Coulmier - another real life figure. There's more than high melodrama at play - censorship, religion, sex and love combine in ways that seem particularly on edge just a few years after the French Revolution. Enlightenment seems to be at a critical stage in it's battle against ignorance, and people's lives were the casualties of this war. Dr. Royer-Collard rails against the Marquis' lude prose, and yet forces a girl hardly 16 years-of-age into a sexual relationship with him. Power is used arbitrarily, religion is payed lip service, and perversion is only ever possible if it comes from the downtrodden - never the powerful. This film, directed by the great Philip Kaufman, never stops getting darker - and some will pay a heavy price before we get to the end credits. I love how it didn't bend to the usual (and predictable) narrative conventions at the time.

8/10
My all-time favorite movie. Always a pleasure to see someone else watch and enjoy it.



I forgot the opening line.

By https://www.empireonline.com/movies/...nder-pressure/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69064252

Boiling Point - (2021)

Boiling Point looked good, and was available on Amazon Prime so I took the opportunity to watch it - Philip Barantini does a great job keeping the tension strung tight for this film's entire runtime, and Stephen Graham never fails to provide exactly what's needed. He plays Andy Jones - head chef at a good restaurant who has personal issues that are about to impact on all who work with him, and his customers. The high pressure stakes of this place make for a good film on an ordinary day - but the night this takes place on will be the dramatic crescendo of where this character has been heading. Like Help (another 2021 film which featured Graham) it gives us a snapshot of the perfectly ordinary in extraordinary circumstances with an exacting pace and strains all of the characters in different ways, meaning whoever we follow, we understand their particular circumstances and problems. Another good kitchen/chef drama!

7.5/10

Edit - PS : The entire film is one of those one-shot deals - so impressive.



Repeat Viewings


Curse of the Demon - Even though director Jacques Tourneur and screenwriter Charles Bennett butted heads with producer Hal E. Chester it still manages to be an effectively atmospheric thriller. Can't help but wonder though what kind of movie they would have come up with if they had stuck with Bennett's original screenplay and left Tourneur to his own devices. 85/100



I Walked With a Zombie - Another immersive Tourneur classic. Val Lewton's contribution as producer and J. Roy Hunt's cinematography should always be mentioned. 85/100
Two of my favourite horror movies, nice to see someone else enjoying Tourneur so much



Wildlife (Paul Dano, 2018)


Solid nuanced film with strong performances that make it quietly emotionally stirring. A very good debut.


Good Time (Joshua Safdie, Benny Safdie, 2017)


Big fan of Uncut Gems but was disappointed with this. The story and the characters weren't likeable and I found everything quite disorientating and uninteresting, not really caring about the stakes unlike Gems.

So glad you liked Wildlife...I loved it and think Carey Mulligan should have gotten an Oscar nomination for it. and I agree wth everything you said about Good Time.



Repeat Viewings


Curse of the Demon - Even though director Jacques Tourneur and screenwriter Charles Bennett butted heads with producer Hal E. Chester it still manages to be an effectively atmospheric thriller. Can't help but wonder though what kind of movie they would have come up with if they had stuck with Bennett's original screenplay and left Tourneur to his own devices. 85/100



I Walked With a Zombie - Another immersive Tourneur classic. Val Lewton's contribution as producer and J. Roy Hunt's cinematography should always be mentioned. 85/100


Them! - This is probably the first giant mutated insect movie and set the stage for countless others that followed. If you discount the early King Kong films or The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (which preceded it by a year) you could say it started the genre. 89/100
A trio of absolute classics.
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I forgot the opening line.

By The poster art can or could be obtained from Channel 4 Films., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11129542

East is East - (1999)

Just plopped this on figuring I'd found a good movie to doze to, and my dozing kept on being interrupted by how good the movie is. The opening credits were the first tip-off (they manage to impart a good amount of information - but end up being better the second time you watch the film) - and yes, I did sit up to watch the whole film again, properly, due to it's quality. It's a good comedy - as you can tell from that opening, but it's also a good drama. A clash of tradition versus modern western values, and a pig-headed Pakistani man who reaps destruction by forcing his family to follow painful traditions, and erupting in violence when they don't. It's based on a successful 1996 play by Ayub Khan-Din. The credits (below) give a good account of the lengths the family goes to hide the fact that they're not exactly devout Muslims, but just wish to be part of their community.

8/10




By http://www.impawards.com/2022/men_ver2.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70021359

Men - (2022)

I don't mind so much if symbolism is obvious - who's to say it has to be vague or complex? The "folk" part of the horror always manages to entrance me, and as such I really enjoyed watching Men. If a movie does come out and it uses abstract, hallucinatory visuals to put forward ideas about toxic masculinity it has to be absolutely profound or else it's dismissed as lousy. It has to teach us things or else it's not worth watching. I just like to enjoy good horror films - and it helps if they're not standard genre outings that skimp on the performance-aspect or shy away from going to places that feel uncomfortable. Men does neither of those things, and instead settles for a surreal 100 minute nightmare about misogyny from a man's perspective. Is Alex Garland trying to earn his feminist credentials? Is he trying to say something profound? I just thought he was using something that elicits discomfort in modern society to imbue his horror film with unease - and it worked for me.

8/10



Squid game 7/10
Vagabond 9/10
The Menu 8/10





Re-watch. Leo & Brad are excellent in this movie.
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