The Last Vermeer (2019) - Based on a true story, an art dealer is arrested for his connection to Nazis in post-war Netherlands. I was going through the channels and saw this was starting on TV right at that moment. I knew nothing about this film, nor had I ever heard of it, but it had WWII in the description, and it was 11:30 in the morning, so I figured "ah, what the hell." Guy Pearce (who was wonderful in this movie) plays Han Van Meegeren, an artist who prides himself on drinking and shagging a lot, and who considers himself a genius, but others simply do not. Han gets himself into a bit of trouble when it's discovered that he sold an original Johannes Vermeer painting to Herman Göring for a lot of money, making the painting at the time the most expensive in the world. It's 1947, and the Netherlands is looking to recover from the Nazi occupation, but the military and the national police are still looking for Nazis and other war criminals, such as profiteers. Van Meegeren is caught by the military, but the local police want him more because they want him to suffer the same public death as other Nazis. Although the movie spends most of its time away from Van Meegeren, it's mostly about him, but it's also about the military captain and how this affects his life. It's Van Meegeren a Nazi sympathizer or a Dutch patriot? The movie tells a wonderful tale. If you don't know who Van Meegeren is, I suggest you watch the movie, then look him up. He's such an incredible fascination. Although this story isn't 100% true, his story his remarkable, and you're left knowing a lot about him, but also left not knowing what he really is. I'm so glad I watched this movie because it was good, but it also opened the door to learning about this interesting man.
That makes sense, but the only problem I have is that I feel like I've seen them without having seen them, so if given the choice to watch literally anything else and watching Star Wars, I'll watch literally anything else because it'll either be something I like, or something I haven't seen before. Maybe if my kids are interested in it one day, I'll watch it. The library having the best movies for free is the world's greatest secret, and because Pennsylvania has the rules it does, I can get a library card in any county, so I have library cards in three counties. If what I want to see isn't available in my county (Bucks), I can try Philadelphia County or Chester County where I work. Beats the shit out of paying for RedBox.
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018 season 1, 13 episodes) On the planet Etheria orphan girls Adora and Catra were trained together from earliest childhood to be warriors and leaders. But during an unallowed visit to the forests surrounding their base, Adora finds a magical sword and the truth about the war she was molded to fight. I watch a lot of YouTube. And mostly it's the same kind of stuff - science and history documentaries and media criticism. The stuff amateurs can do easily and well. But every once in a while YouTube demands I be a fan of something new. One day it's Warhammer miniature painting, another day it's furry culture, then it's sea shanties. And you know what - I've decided to stop fighting. Google has billions of dollars invested in algorithms designed to figure out what I like better than my brain can, and the thing of it is they are usually right. So I now regularly watch videos on Warhammer miniature painting and furry culture and joke's on them I've always been into sea shanties. So in a visit not too long ago YouTube recommended a slew of "Catradora" videos - songs and fan art about the Adora-Catra relationship from this modern reboot of She-Ra. I don't know why they thought I might be a fan. I didn't even know the show existed. But there must be some reason so I got the DVD. And... they were right. I love this show. It's sweet and bubbly and extroverted and huggy and Adventure! and shippy and rainbowy and laughy and you are all saying "but spejic, I thought you were allergic to those things" and maybe so but I was still enthralled. It doesn't feel dumbed down for kids, although the coding for the good/evil divide was simplistic to the point of revealing the first twist within seconds of starting. And there aren't enough rules about the magic so at a couple points it gets a bit deus-ex-machina. But the personal level is where this shines and I was particularly struck by how well Catra's motivations were written. And you might think at first Adora's friends might get cloying but they don't. I've got 13 more episodes on the DVD and hopefully they will release the rest sometime in the near future. You win again, YouTube.
About 99% of what we watch in our house comes from the Lackawanna County Library System. Best thing about this county.
The Dead Don't Die (2019) Dir. Jim Jarmusch The quiet town of Centerville is confronted with a series of increasingly weird events, which start off innocently enough with the apparent theft of a chicken from a farm. The Sheriff's deputy has a bad feeling about it all from the start, to the annoyance of his boss. Eventually said deputy's belief that the undead are somehow connected to the strange happenings is proven true, forcing the townfolks to accept the reality that zombies have overrun their small community... I like zombie movies. I like Jim Jarmusch. I have been aware of a Jim Jarmusch zombie movie from before its release. Yet I didn't exactly rush to see it. Perhaps it's because whilst zombie flicks and Jarmusch flicks are two flavors I enjoy, I wasn't sure I necessarily wanted to taste them at the same time. Jarmusch trots out many zombie movie cliches, both in terms of the characters (the gun-loving redneck/the mysterious katana-wielding stranger/the nerdy kid with the zombie movie knowledge), the locations, and much of the dialogue. It is however patched together in an awkward, quirky way, to create more of an off-kilter patchwork than anything resembling a conventional zombie flick. And that is before you even get to the ultra-meta climax. I feel like the idea of this film is better than its execution. The cast is top-notch all around and features many prior collaborators of Jarmusch (Tom Waits, Bill Murray, Steve Buscemi, Adam Driver, Eszter Balint, Tilda Swinton, Rosie Perez, Iggy Pop, ...). Don't regret watching this film but not sure if I need to see it again.
A day off from work and children means... PAY CABLE ALL DAY MOVIES!!! Unfortunately, my movies did not choose me well. Millions (2004) - A pair of young brothers find a duffel bag full of pound sterling on the eve of the change over to Euros. This movie tried to be a lot of things, but good wasn't one of them. I was also confused about how the UK went from pounds to the Euro. Still not sure where that happened in Manchester in 2004, but according to this movie it did. So I Married An Axe Murderer (1993) - A man with a fear of commitment falls in love and marries a woman who believed to be a murderer. This movie from 1993 does not hold up well, but the thing that didn't hold up well at all was Mike Myers. There were a few funny bits from this movie, but his character was part of none of them. When he was playing his father, it was pretty funny, but his character was just plain boring and uninteresting. It's been a long time since I've seen the Austin Powers movies, and I'd be curious to see if they hold up at all, too, or if it was only funny because I was younger. Detroit (2017) - Based on the true story of the murder of 4 black men at the Algiers hotel during the Detroit riots of 1967. This movie was brutal. The portrayal of the treatment of those black men at that hotel seemed cruel and exploitative. Watching it, I felt helpless, horrible, and angry at the same time. I wasn't sure if I could even finish it, but I did, and I did not feel good about it. Pitch Black (2000) - A crew flying through outer space to New Mecca crash lands on a planet inhabited by hungry monsters that only come out in the dark. This was Vin Diesel's breakthrough film, and I can't for the life of me figure out why. He was so damn wooden and uninteresting for being what was supposed to be a scary bad guy. Outside of him, the movie wasn't terrible. Had a good premise, but it ultimately fell flat. These movies were not great, but it sure beat the shit out of working.
The She-Creature (1956) Dir. Edward L. Cahn Ted Erickson and his girlfriend Dorothy come upon an agitated dog during a walk on the beach. When they follow the animal back to its home, they notice a man they both recognize as local carnival hypnotist Carlo Lombardi exiting the beach house. When Ted subsequently enters the home to investigate, he finds the couple that lived there brutally slain. Lombardi becomes the prime suspect, except that it is ruled that both victims died from a snapped neck and Lombardi was unlikely to have had the strength to carry out the murders. Erickson, a Dr. in psychology, already had a low opinion of Lombardi, whom he considered a quack, and his carnival show, in which he tries to prove the existence of reincarnation by having his assistant relive past lives whilst under hypnosis, as nonsensical hokum. His investigation into Lombardi's practices transfers his interest to Lombardi's beautiful assistant Andrea, who seems to endure an almost slavish devotion to Lombardi. A 1950s monster movie that I found to be underwhelming. The core ideas are not bad, but there are few moments of true suspense. I'm not even sure if the creature aspect adds much to the story and if the plot might not have been better served making the danger entirely intangible. Chester Morris and his piercing gaze as Lombardi is the stand-out performer among the cast.
Malignant (2021) Dir. James Wan Madison is stuck in an abusive relationship with her boyfriend and is pregnant for the third time after two prior miscarriages. After her boyfriend physically abuses her for the umpteenth time, she has a strange dream the night after, in which she sees a strange entity murder her boyfriend. She is shocked to subsequently discovering that her boyfriend has indeed been murder in much of the same way as she saw in her dream. After coming upon the body, she herself is chased and attacked by a strange entity. The cops treat it as a home invasion in which the boyfriend was murdered and Madison survived with a concussion and some other injuries through dumb luck. Yet after she returns home, Madison keeps on having the murderous dreams and she is shocked to find out that they too are happening for real, even though the victims are now people she does not even know herself. Her younger sister believes this is due to some psychic bond she might have with the killer. One of the two investigating detectives is willing to entertain this possibility whilst the other perceives it as nonsense and thinks that Madison herself is involved in the murders, or at the very least knows the killer. This horror thriller was a rather big letdown. I have always loved James Wan's The Conjuring but this is so below that in terms of the quality of the writing that it's hard to understand why he bothered bringing this material to the screen. The first two acts are merely subpar horror but the revelations of the third act push this into a whole other embarrassing territory: self-parody and unintentional comedy.
Don't Breathe 2 (2021) Dir. Rody Sayagues Following the events of the first film, The Blind Man is now living an isolated life with his daughter, whom he home-schools and trains in self-defense, yet rarely allows to venture out into the world without his supervision. One day the girl gets onto the radar of a gang of drug dealers, though the nature of their interest in her is unclear. When they descend upon the Blind Man's house, mayhem erupts. Yet is he strong and skilled enough to fight off a group of well-armed and hardened criminals? This is a very weird movie, primarily because it recasts the antagonist of the first film as something of an anti-hero. Stephen Lang is a good enough actor to make much of this work but some of the writing is honestly completely bonkers. The ending suggests there might even be a third chapter to this franchise, yet I think it would have been better served if it had remained limited to the original film.
The Voyeurs (2021) Dir. Michael Mohan Pippa and Thomas are a young couple who move into their first shared apartment. On one of their first nights at the new place, their attention is attracted to a couple who live in the apartment building across the street. They realize that they have a perfect view into their neighbors apartment and before they realize it, they have watched the couple having sex. Over the next few weeks, watching the neighbors becomes a habit, and they learn that not all is happy with the objects of their voyeurism: the husband is a photographer whose wife suspects him of cheating on her with some of his models. Thanks to their spying, Pippa and Thomas know this is true. When Thomas decides that they should quit their voyeurism for being morally wrong as well as unhealthy for their relationship, Pippa cannot quit, instead trying to insert herself further into the watched couple's lives... This is a modern take on an old-fashioned kind of voyeuristic, erotic thriller. A 1990s example of this is Sliver, whilst De Palma once made a grotesque over the top spoof of the genre with his Body Double. The genre has always been kind of cheesy and sleazy and this movie doesn't run away from it. Much of the writing is quite silly and this goes another level entirely in the third act. It's kept somewhat enjoyable by the good cast, especially Sydney Sweeney, Justice Smith and Natasha Liu Bordizzo. The fourth of the principals, Ben Hardy, was the weakest link but his role only gets real significance late on in the film so that this does not truly diminish the film by much.
Kate (2021) Dir. Cedric Nicolas-Troyan Kate is an assassin whose only real relationship is with her handler Varrick. After a job in Osaka goes badly, Kate wants out of the business. Varrick promises her she can indeed leave the job if she finishes their currently ongoing contract, which includes eliminating a well-protected Yakuza leader. When she botches this job and barely escapes with her life after suddenly feeling nauseated, she wakes up in a hospital where the doctor informs her she has been poisoned and only has a short time left to live. Assuming that her mark is responsible for her predicament, she decides to use the time she has left to get her revenge. There is a currently ongoing fad of female-centric action movies that seems to have been kick-started by Atomic Blonde. Quality-wise, Kate falls somewhere in the middle of the pack. The writing is so-and-so but the Tokyo setting and a good lead performance by Mary Elizabeth Winstead elevate it a bit. This primarily works as an advert for giving Winstead her own standalone Huntress movie. More generally speaking, I kind of wish these films were a tiny bit better written and far less interchangeable.
Loan Shark (1952) Dir. Seymour Friedman Joe is newly released from prison for an assault charge for which he was incarcerated for nearly three years. He is intent on not going back to prison. His younger sister Martha puts him up until he can find a job and get back on his feet. Joe's brother in law Eddie is angered at the loan sharks who have their teeth in so many of his co-workers. When one of his friends is beaten up for being a few weeks late with his interest payment, Eddie wants to find fellow workers who also owe money to the loan sharks and take the case to the police. Joe's criminal past makes him realize that the kind of men who run a loan sharking operation won't take kindly to his brother in laws plans. He warns Eddie in vain and when Eddie does go through with his plan, he is killed before he can go to the police. Joe is angered enough to want revenge for the sake of his now widowed sister. He agrees to try and go undercover in the loan sharking operation, with only the boss of the tire factory aware of what he is doing. Thus he alienates both his sister and the young woman he had been courting because they believe he actually starts to work for the same men who killed his brother in law, when his real intention is to take them down from the inside... Nice little noir starring George Raft. This is Raft well past the peak of his career - a man who at one point was a bigger star than Humphrey Bogart. He is also probably around a decade too old for this role at this point, but it's still an enjoyable performance. His age is mostly an issue in the scenes with his much younger love interest Dorothy Hart. Long-time character actor Paul Stewart also leaves a strong impression as the shady henchman Donelli.
Annihilation (2018) Three years ago a strange energy bubble formed on the east coast of the United States and since then it has been slowly spreading. Radio communications don't work in and out of it, and every expedition sent into it has not returned except for a single man who has no memories and doesn't seem to be quite what he was. So they send a new science-heavy team led by Natalie Portman to find out what is causing it and how to stop it. This had so many positive reviews and so much recognition for its intelligence and themes. I didn't see it. They just touched a few ideas and did nothing with them. Ultimately this is a horror movie, and the primary purpose of horror movies is to cause unease. They can't properly explore themes and concepts because doing so creates the feeling of understanding, which is the opposite of unease. I don't like (horror) unease, I don't like gore, and I just ended up thinking this was a waste of my time.
Journey's End (2017) It is March 1918 and the Western Front lines have been static for a year. C Company is being rotated to the front just as rumors begin to swirl of a potential German offensive. Newly minted Second Lieutenant Raleigh is joining the group of veterans, worn and frayed by the war. Their position is precarious, their resources few, and suspicions are turning into certainties. All they can do is wait. Lots of World War I movies were made in the last few years, but this is a little different. Most of the rest are about activity, this one is based on the truism that a soldier's life is mostly waiting. We're usually in a dugout with the British upper class and a droll manservant. So it's less 1917 and more a really sad Jeeves and Wooster. Or really sad Blackadder Goes Forth. Their pre-war privilege was hooked onto the expectations of their social position and the whole train smashed into industrial war. This was based closely on a noted 1928 play of the same name. Which is great, as I always love movies based on plays. Hmm.. maybe I should actually go see a play. There's a thought. Or I can stay in my underwear and watch Blackadder again.
The Death of Stalin (2017) The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was always a place of Byzantine power struggles as individuals built factions and tried to curry favor with Stalin. But as Stalin aged this maneuvering grew in fervor as the men jockeyed to be in position to replace him. Then in 1953 Stalin collapsed into a catatonic state and before the body was even a body they sprang into action. Stalin's favorite, the vacillating Georgy Malenkov, was beholden to the party rules that put him next in line. Absolutely corrupt before power even showed up Lavrentiy Beria had few friends, but hoped to steer Malenkov as his puppet and use his power as head of the NKVD to cow others, such as the idea-of-Stalin worshiping Vyacheslav Molotov. Always one step behind Beria was the bumbling Nikita Khrushchev who had one ace in the hole - his friendship with Marshal of the Soviet Union and beacon of charisma Georgy Zhukov. Let the games begin. This is a brilliant black comedy, but they don't come much blacker. The constant state killing is a vital part of the mood, with maneuvers in the Committee represented by lives taken. But the counter to that is some hilarious dialogue and brilliant comedic acting. The back and forth between the factions gets complicated, but in the sense that it draws you in. Watching this lead me to read more about the figures represented and reality is even wilder than the movies. There were lots of actions not even mentioned here, and people pictured as bumbling (like Malenkov and Kruschchev) were actually keen and hard nosed. Beria, however, really was a prick.
I am pretty sure I reviewed this film already so won't repeat. I love it visually and in terms of tension etc - this is my kind of film where not much is explained. The ending doesn't land. It all makes a lot more sense when you read the books but of course that couldn't all be contained in the film. A subtext which i guess is not really a spoiler is that the psychologist can't be trusted here, which is why they "wake up" with days gone past. To be a truly primer level sci-fi, i think it needs to dip into what happened in the missing timeline, and what the psychologist is up to, but Garland kind of messed up there. Still I will take it. Easily amongst the best things i saw in '18
The thing about waiting was brilliantly covered in the forgotten solider. i.e in the vast expanse of russia, the landser has no idea where he is, or how what he is doing fits into any strategy or plan nice observation
I think they managed to portray maybe 10% of Beria's massive creepiness in this. Supposedly even Stalin himself did not dare leave his daughter alone with the guy.
Seeing I myself forgot what i analysed on Annihilation i looked it up. Short version. Garland dropped the ball on the plot, but captured the dreamlike quality. That is what I love about the film. Stuff with no clear meaning, but just a druglike dreamscape to soak up. The trilogy is a lot like this. So whereas the books are clearly sci-fi, the movie kind of loses its way Missing book stuff (Move your mouse to reveal the content) Missing book stuff (open) Missing book stuff (close) The Trilogy is really about what happens when you face god. except the god is not a religious experience - rather an alien (frightening) world. That's really the key to the movie. Area X is a different, alien planet. You can't really comprehend it, and go slowly bonkers and transform. Ventress knows this. In the book the team members are hypnotized by the psychologist Ventress to keep them calm and protect them from seeing the true nature of Area X. This was done after the disastrous first mission - in the book some video came back to Southern Reach of the horrors of the first mission. The psychologist controls them and gives them confidence and instructions using key words. The biologist realises this, and that the preparation/training for the mission was all a deception and the psychologist is concealing the real goals. So I think Garland kept these ideas in and they work really well. The dreamlike quality. Not remembering the crossing (because hypnotized). This psychologist seeming to have ulterior motives. But none of this stuff is explicit in the movie and is never resolved which is a bit of an issue. What could have made the screenplay tighter is if there had been better reveal of the psychologists motivations IMO. It makes more sense why Ventress abandons the team
I liked this movie, but was shocked at the ending. I certainly wasn't expecting that, but USSR gonna USSR.
Hostiles (2017)- A tale of a woman whose family is killed by hostile Indians (Rosamund Pike). Also, a dying Cheyenne chief (Wes Studi) tries to return to his native Montana before he dies, supervised by a US Army man (Christian Bale). Very good movie and worth watching.
Manchester By The Sea (2016)-Casey Affleck stars as a loner who is given custody over his nephew after his brother's death. Affleck won Best Actor for his role. The director made some odd choices, which diminished my enjoyment of the film.
Posted about "Murder by Contract" not that long ago. Stumbled upon this Marty Scorsese clip where he talks about it today. Thought it worthwhile to share it here.