Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Who is your favorite Shaw Brother? Run Run? Runme? Robert?

Alia Shaw....kat.

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I expected this to be good, glad to hear it.

Holy shit, that's amazing, what's that from?!

The Fly II. I haven't seen it (afraid of it messing up my love for Cronenberg's film), but I've seen that gif a bunch of times.

It's a more than solid horror sequel that gets ignored because it's

1) not made by its auteur originator
2) isn't as good as the original
3) is more exploitative

So basically, it's Psycho 2 all over again.

Ah, I only saw this once, like 30+ years ago.

One of my main take aways from The Glass Key was, "put this on the list of movies that directly fed into Miller's Crossing."

Extraordinary, moving, beautiful documentary about a couple (Maurice and Katia Krafft) who dedicate their lives to getting up close and personal with boiling bubbling volcanoes.

Some of the footage of old lava flows and explosions is stunning and looks like it could be shot by an old master like Kubrick. These two people are kindred spirits and the film, narrated by Miranda July, delves deep into their powerful bond.

One of the best documentaries of the year. 9/10

[Not to be confused with Werner Herzog's recent documentary on the same married couple!!]

It was on my list of movies that fed Veronica Lake.*

By providing her with a paycheque.*

Okay, this list is just every movie she’s ever acted in.

Clean (2004) -

This is a pretty good drama about addiction recovery and the arduous process of starting over. Forced to do this is Emily (Maggie Cheung), a former VJ and heroin addict who is traveling with her musician partner in Canada when something tragic happens. What follows is a series of two steps forward, three steps back as she relapses, takes various low-paying jobs and reaches out to her few remaining connections in the music industry, some of whom want nothing to do with her. Besides getting back on her feet, Emily has another goal: take custody of her estranged son, who is living with her father-in-law (Nick Nolte).

The movie starts with beautifully shot yet grim footage of power plants and factories in Canada belching steam into the sky, and the impressive cinematography continues until the end, which is aided by having Paris, London and San Francisco as locations. The parallels between these industries' actual toxicity and the other kind of toxicity in the music industry is apt, especially the commentary about how it encourages drug use. That real musicians have cameos in the movie is a bonus; they include Tricky, James Johnston of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (who plays Emily's partner), David Roback of Mazzy Star and one of my favorite bands, Metric. The real star here, though, is Maggie Cheung, who gives a strong performance that lets her exhibit the gamut of emotions and that proves she wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty. While she was no longer romantically involved with director Olivier Assayas at the time, it wouldn't be wrong to assume that the role is a gift to her since it's the kind that wins awards, which she did at Cannes. Despite her very good work and the high quality of the production, the movie doesn't do much to distinguish itself from other recovery dramas, music-related or otherwise. I don't think it's bold to say that there are some scenes that wouldn't be out of place in similar Lifetime or Hallmark movies. With that said, if you're a fan of Assayas, Cheung, some of the artists who show up in it or interested in the early '00s music industry, it’s worth seeking out.

I only watched The Fly II because it was included in a box set I bought, and going in with zero expectations I thought it was a lot of fun. It was directed by an effects guy and it shows.

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Captain's Log
My Collection

Maybe I'll keep an eye out for it. Not a huge 'watching entire horror franchises' guy, but since it's just one film, it might be easier to make time for it.

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IMDb
Letterboxd

The Glass Tributary.


Sullivan's Tributary fed into two Lakes.

I can't remember the Fly sequel since I watched it when it came out and my kid brain didn't retain it (I think I liked it as a...12 year old?). But as for Psycho 2


-is it really ignored, at least anymore? I find it is generally considered as a 'overlooked classic' at this point. Sure, not canon, and people not cool enough for the horror club might not be aware of its greatness, but certainly not ignored. At least not Fly 2 levels of invisibility.

-whoever directed it was no Hitchcock, but that thing oozes style and personality. It of course in many ways needs the original to prop up a lot of its ideas and transgressions, but for the most part, it holds up as a piece of film pretty well.

-is it really that much more exploitative than the original? I'd argue it might have even been less so. Hitchcock's version was kind of one of the first (or maybe even the first) mainstream film to go right into the (at least at the time) gutter. On screen violence the likes which had never been seen before, absurd manifestations of mental illness, cross dressing, it oozed sex and women in black bras, and let's not forget toilets. Never forget the toilets.


When it comes to Fly 2, it's actually a movie I frequently forget even exists. And I have no memory of that gif happening in that movie. But if it is any indication, it must be the shit. That guys face just slides off like a yet to settle lasagne. I watched it, partially nauseated, partially in wonder, over and over again for like ten minutes last night. You can become lost in it.

I recorded this, and might check it out sooner than later. "La Grande Illusion" is a favorite of mine, although my first viewing on this grainy VHS from the library kinda ruined the first viewing (and watching it at 4am after I couldn't fall back asleep) and also felt the same about "The Rules of the Game", which I attribute to a documentary that went deeper, and got me to view again.



If you like Jean Gabin, I highly recommend, "Le Jour Se Le Vie" (Marcel Carné) which I loved every viewing. "The Cat" and "The Horse" are just as excellent, in his later life in the early 70s. "Le Chat" is basically a more natural, domestic, and better kind of movie compared with "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf"

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https://www.youtube.com/c/LoyalOpposition

Uncut Gems, 2019

Howard (Adam Sandler) is a precious gems dealer in New York who owes a lot of money due to gambling, including a huge sum to a family member named Arno (Eric Bogosian). As the debt collectors become increasingly aggressive, Howard holds out hopes that he will make a huge profit off of a rare opal he has imported from Ethiopia and hopes to sell at auction. But a series of short-term decisions Howard makes in the days leading up to the auction have the potential to make or break him.

This movie got pretty glowing reviews when it first came out and I consider Good Time to be a pretty masterful mix of comedy, drama, and thriller. I thought that Uncut Gems had a lot of great stuff going for it, but it didn't quite hit me in the same way as the previous film.

To start with the good, the Safdie brothers once again show a really deft hand at creating sequences with a lot of hustle and bustle where little nuances in the interactions between characters can have momentous effect on the plot. There's also lots of handheld camera work and neon colors. Sequences go from gritty reality to cosmic abstraction several times.

The performances are also quite strong. Sandler's Howard is a desperate, sweaty man with just enough charisma and banter that you can believe he had enough going for him to build a business that would attract upscale clientele. Something that the film portrays really well is the fact that Howard will never really "win". You could hand this man a million dollars on a golden platter and a week or a month later he'd be broke and/or in debt again. He is the kind of personality that thrives on risk taking, and sooner or later you just don't survive a certain series of losses.

LaKeith Stanfield makes an impression as an associate of Kevin Garnett who is playing his own games of power and money. (Garnett, it should be said, acquits himself just fine). A real standout for me was Julia Fox as Howard's girlfriend, Julia. While at times I found Julia's attraction to Howard, um, very confusing, Fox brings good energy to her role and ends up being one of the more enjoyable characters. She looks like a young Debi Mazar, and whether she's having a screaming fight with Howard in the street or dodging debt collecting goons, she's welcome every time she's on screen.

I did struggle with the middle act of this film. Howard is on a steady, downward spiral. Every time he might catch a lucky break, something seems to thwart him. But at well over two hours, boy did that middle 40 minutes drag for me. At points I was seriously tempted to fast forward (I resisted, but barely). Frustratingly, I can't pinpoint why it was that I disconnected so much, but I felt my patience with the story plummet and just started to feel frustrated. I can understand on a theory level why we spend so much time on this carousel of little failures with Howard, but I lost my engagement with it. Things pick up again very strongly in the last 35 minutes or so, thank goodness.

Very solid, but I think Good Time is my preferred Safdie brothers film.

⬆️ I bailed out. Didn’t find it interesting or a sustainable watch.

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

I like the way that the film was made, but it didn't grab me emotionally. I definitely think that it was overlong.

The Blue Dahlia, 1946

Johnny (Alan Ladd) returns home from war service to the horrible double-whammy that his wife Helen (Doris Dowling) is two-timing him with club owner Eddie (Howard Da Silva) AND his young son was killed in an accident when Helen drove home drunk from a party. Reeling, Johnny leaves, striking up a mutual attraction with a woman named Joyce (Veronica Lake) who gives him a ride in the rain. But when Helen is found dead, Johnny falls under suspicion. Johnny, his friends Buzz (William Bendix) and George (Hugh Beaumont), and a determined police detective (Tom Powers) all try to get to the bottom of the crime.

This was an incredibly enjoyable, twisty-turny thriller with lots of pulpy sideplots and an everyone's-a-suspect cast of characters that keep you guessing until the end.

While I wrote about The Glass Key that Ladd didn't quite seem like a right fit for his role, here he seems much more suited to the role of the slightly reserved Johnny, who gets pushed just about to his limit by his wife's cruelties. In fact, the cast of The Glass Key all seem to have shown up for this one, with Lake as the woman who turns Johnny's head and Bendix this time playing Johnny's friend and not a man determined to beat him to a pulp.

The plot itself, as mentioned, is a lot of fun. Are there some coincidences that really strain belief? Oh yes. What are the odds that a man would happen to catch a ride from the wife of the man who is sleeping with his wife? But much like stories like The Big Sleep where subplots are not completed or what have you, this isn't something that causes a problem with enjoying the film.

While the film mainly keeps you occupied with the central mystery, there is a strong recurring theme about the toll taken on the men who went off to serve in the war. Johnny's situation is terrible, of course. He comes home to an alcoholic, unfaithful wife who killed their child through her negligence. But Buzz has also come home with a plate in his head and serious memory and mood issues courtesy of a shell injury. The men get a little respect here and there for their service, but there are some grim prospects for them.

The only element I think could have been a little better was the portrayal of Helen. She is so evil that it begins to veer into over-the-top territory. She crows about having killed their son and how she's glad about it because now she can be free to party. It certainly does the job of making her more killable, but it also has the effect of totally minimizing and vilifying the only character who represents someone who was left behind. It would be hard for someone to be left alone with a young child, not knowing if their partner was coming back. I'm not saying that it's okay that Helen went wild and cheated and all that, but it would have been nice to have a bit more nuance to the character OR have another character in a similar situation.

This one kept me right up to the end and was a very enjoyable thriller.