Last Movie You Watched

[AnotherSpin]

The Shape of Water: A Parable of Love, Otherness, and Release.

Guillermo del Toro's film is not merely the tale of a mute woman and a mysterious creature. It is a parable of love, otherness, and awakening.

Love here requires no words. It emerges where the mind falters and silence remains. Elisa and the creature are less characters than states of being. They do not speak, yet they hear each other with a depth unavailable to those who shout about feelings. This is not a romance but a meditation: to be near without meddling, to care without demanding, to allow rather than control.

The creature is life in its raw form, wild, unpredictable, magnificent. The attempt to dissect, measure, and chain it is nothing but the mind's dreary reflex when faced with the unknown. Yet life resists analysis; it asks for trust. The laboratory where it is confined is not merely a setting but a symbol of fear, bureaucracy, and the urge to control what cannot be contained. It is a critique of a Western stifling habit of mind, and an exposure of the absurdity of seeking power over what has no fixed shape and cannot be measured.

The true antagonist is not a man but the ego itself, that brittle will to dominate, to be right, to be strong. Whoever clings to control is already hollow. He does not live; he only trembles in fear. The true hero is the one who loves, who lets go, who dissolves into water, into love, into the uncharted.

Water in this film is not merely an element. It is freedom itself: fluid, borderless, untameable. In the final scene, Elisa becomes water, becomes nothing, and therefore everything. It is not death but awakening, not an end but a return to the source.

[hopefullytrusting]

A former student of mine, who has risen into the higher levels of the apparatus known as U.S. Air Force Intelligence, happened to visit me a few years ago, when the Navy was reporting a flurry of "U.A.P." sightings of objects performing inexplicable maneuvers and acceleration and speed.  (Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon: why the new abbreviation was necessary, who knows?)

When I puckishly asked my student what the Air Force thought of the Navy's claims, my student just smiled and said:

"When will the public realize that ALL of those things belong to us?!  


Speaking of such things, earlier I mentioned a movie called Sketch, which deals with child fantasy.

A related movie, although you would not think that it could be related to a childhood fantasy movie:

Ironically (or not), this is a time (and place) where Tom Clancy proves a point that is overlooked by those bloated with "intellect" (like philosophers) - he says it better than I - here's Clancy speaking to the National Security Agency: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS54M5Mqa9M (I'd say watch the whole thing, as Clancy is charming and, in my opinion, hilarious, but the part that upends "ufos" starts at 45:06, well, it really is about the nature of conspiracies and secrets, in general).

No, I've seen Forbidden Planet - I know the fantasies (plural).

[pjme]

Of course, as a spoiled westerner, I wasn't able to understand all the (Nepalese) intricacies of this (very slow & long = 2.5 hrs) film....

Shambhala is a (gently disturbing) insider's portrait of traditional Himalayan life. Digital watches and some modern snow clothing betray the modern era, but the rural way of life is centuries old. 
The film follows (pregnant) Pemas quest for her husband Tashi, who has disappeared. 

As tradition (and karma) required,  Pema enters into a polyandrous marriage with Tashi and his two younger brothers. Initially, they live a harmonious life, but when Tashi fails to return from a trading trip to Lhasa, the legitimacy of Pema's unborn child is questioned by her community. Determined to prove her love and purity, she embarks on a quest to find Tashi.

Slow and long, yes, but after a while i was drawn into this exceptional mountain world. Goats, sheep, vultures, yaks, very sturdy horses and ever rustling icy streamlets form the amazing decor of this search for self discovery, enlightenment...? 
The story has a few strange plot twists...yet it offers enough to reveal something universal: to be yourself, you sometimes have to go against the grain. 

[Karl Henning]

Batman (1966) Yes, although the film was scripted ahead of the series,, the network decided to go full steam ahead with the series. They subsequently made the film primarily to pitch the series (potentially inscrutable to non-Anglophone markets) overseas. Some kind of wonderful. 

[Karl Henning]

Batman (1966) Yes, although the film was scripted ahead of the series,, the network decided to go full steam ahead with the series. They subsequently made the film primarily to pitch the series (potentially inscrutable to non-Anglophone markets) overseas. Some kind of wonderful.

"Andy Warhol was invited by the TV network to their discotheque frug party in New York celebrating the launch of the series."

[Karl Henning]

Yesterday: To Rome With Love.
"Someone dead?"
"No, but it's early."
 One of the things I get a kick out of is, Allen is in the movie, but in another story, Alec Baldwin basically plays Allen, too. "... beautiful, funny, smart, sexual, and also neurotic... it's like filling an inside straight."
"It's sort of charming that she's a con artist."
"Yes, she does have a certain something which trumps logic. So go ahead: walk into the propeller."

[Todd]

Snow White.  So much opprobrium has been heaped upon this Disney property that I had to watch for myself to see if the hate was deserved.  Imagine my shock when I ended up watching what surely is the finest Disney movie since Fantasia, and one of the milestones of cinema this century. 

There is no better place to start than with Rachel Zegler.  She is a fresh faced acting titan, and this role has the same type of impact as the young Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet or Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver.  Zegler has that much talent, that much screen presence, that much profound acting ability.  The viewer cannot look away when she graces the screen with her awesomeness.  I read a few gripes that Gal Gadot is so much more beautiful than Zegler that the idea of her being jealous of the younger woman's looks is an own goal for the movie.  But is it really possible to think a former supermodel is more beautiful than the young lead?  To her immense credit, Gadot's acting is nearly or actually Oscar caliber, and her singing harkens back to the heyday of musicals.  She is a complete acting package.  The decision to jettison Prince Charming and go with a normal male character named Jonathan, one who embodies modern conceptions of masculinity and equality, was a wise and just narrative choice.  Opting for CGI dwarves elevates that aspect of the story, imparting near mythical stature – in an ancient archetype way – to the otherwise sidekicks.  The cinematography, the practical and CGI effects, the editing, the tight story, all are phenomenal. 

Marc Webb, with this one film, has shown himself to possess the visual mastery of Steven Spielberg and the dense, complex, compelling story-telling ability and craft of Paul Thomas Anderson.  I just cannot emphasize strongly enough the greatness of this film.  Astonishing stuff.  Buy a BD today.

On an unrelated note, I got a job with Disney.

[DavidW]

 

[71 dB]

I went to see Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Cloud (2024) in the theatre. It was pretty good, but not as good as I hoped for.

I also watched Boon Joon Ho's (the director of 4 Oscars winning Parasite) movie Mother (2009) on TV last night. It was good.

[Karl Henning]

I'm so delighted that this has become a favorite movie of my sister's: Everyone Says I Love You. 

[hopefullytrusting]

Been trying to make it through The Godfather 1 and 2:



And I have been failing. There are some of the best scenes ever filmed, but in-between the doldrums, and I honestly do not give the love for Brando at all - I find him to be ridiculous. Unironically, I think Family Guy had it right:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pnwE_Oy5WI

[AnotherSpin]

Been trying to make it through The Godfather 1 and 2:



And I have been failing. There are some of the best scenes ever filmed, but in-between the doldrums, and I honestly do not give the love for Brando at all - I find him to be ridiculous. Unironically, I think Family Guy had it right:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pnwE_Oy5WI

Rewatched The Godfather a year or two ago and it is still an absolute masterpiece.

Brando's Don Corleone is pure sorcery: no fireworks, just that quiet weight that bends the whole film around him. And Part II, with Vito rising while Michael crumbles, feels practically biblical. Some films age; this one just smirks at the calendar.

I first watched the trilogy decades ago on VHS tapes. For me it is the very model of great cinema that has gone and will never return.

[Iota]

A bit of a coincidence, as I was watching the Godfather too yesterday, for the first time in about 35 years. Like Another Spin, I find it a magnificent film.
To me the first half is sort of perfect, the second half after Michael comes back from Sicily, though still great, doesn't (or didn't this time) quite have quite the same mesmeric sense of perfection, but still impossible to turn away from. Nina Rota certainly didn't do him any disfavours either by contributing one of the most perfectly fitting and memorable theme tunes ever written.  Have already started on part II, last seen about the same time.

[hopefullytrusting]

Then, I must be watching a different movie from both @AnotherSpin and @Iota

And subtle is the last word I would use to describe Brando's performance, in fact, subtle is diametric to the word I would select for his performance, which I found ridiculous - other than the cat scenes (I found those hilarious).

I did like Pacino's performance quite a bit, and, at times - De Niro, but I don't really believe De Niro in this role, at times - sometimes I think he's a perfect fit, other times not - it is very inconsistent.

Of course, it is a mafia movie, and the mafia is silly as a concept, so that is expected, but I don't find any of them menacing.

I wish I could find my favorite cover for the Trilogy though, as it would anger any fans because it had Andy Garcia's face on all the films, lol.

I'll give them another try in a few years; I'm always willing to run things back again.

[AnotherSpin]

Then, I must be watching a different movie from both @AnotherSpin and @Iota

And subtle is the last word I would use to describe Brando's performance, in fact, subtle is diametric to the word I would select for his performance, which I found ridiculous - other than the cat scenes (I found those hilarious).

I did like Pacino's performance quite a bit, and, at times - De Niro, but I don't really believe De Niro in this role, at times - sometimes I think he's a perfect fit, other times not - it is very inconsistent.

Of course, it is a mafia movie, and the mafia is silly as a concept, so that is expected, but I don't find any of them menacing.

I wish I could find my favorite cover for the Trilogy though, as it would anger any fans because it had Andy Garcia's face on all the films, lol.

I'll give them another try in a few years; I'm always willing to run things back again.

The mafia is no more silly than any form of organized violence, including the state itself.

We do not necessarily have to agree on the evaluation of the actors, do we? Perhaps with time you will see these films differently.

[Todd]

And subtle is the last word I would use to describe Brando's performance

There is nothing at all subtle about Brando's performance.  It is a caricature.  The movie romanticized the mafia.  Like Scarface later, it ended up influencing the behavior of real mobsters, based on interviews with such criminals.  That written, I think it's a great movie, but it's a tragic opera, not a verismo one.  The first movie is vastly better than the second, which in turn is far superior to the third. 

While there is truth in Mr Griffin's assessment, as per usual, The Simpsons covered it earlier and better.

[hopefullytrusting]

There is nothing at all subtle about Brando's performance.  It is a caricature.  The movie romanticized the mafia.  Like Scarface later, it ended up influencing the behavior of real mobsters, based on interviews with such criminals.  That written, I think it's a great movie, but it's a tragic opera, not a verismo one.  The first movie is vastly better than the second, which in turn is far superior to the third. 

While there is truth in Mr Griffin's assessment, as per usual, The Simpsons covered it earlier and better.

I think The Simpsons vs. Family Guy might be a generational thing. I like the Family Guy one more for two reasons: 1. It is so petty, and 2. Seth Green's lines kill me (I'm replaying them in my head right now and chuckling aloud, lol).

See, I think that the way it is filmed might be part of my issue with it (the same goes for Apocalypse Now) - I find it overblown (I find it very operatic, but I don't like to see most operas for that very reason). There are a lot of nice shots, and even moments I enjoy, but they are the quieter ones.

I also found Scarface overblown and ridiculous, but it is very 1980s, so it fit the time period, and it has some of the funniest, unintentional, dialogue ever, and I never could take Pacino seriously as a Cuban.

I would say that no scene in Scarface matches the highs of The Godfather 1 and 2, but, at least as of right now, I'd much rather watch Scarface, but, of course, I'd rather watch neither, as if I am going to watch a mafia movie it would be Goodfellas.

[Todd]

if I am going to watch a mafia movie it would be Goodfellas.

It has been scientifically determined that Goodfellas is the greatest mafia movie.

I'd say any critique of Apocalypse Now borders on sacrilegious, but of course it's not as there are better war movies out there - eg, All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), Paths of Glory, Come and See.  At least the Coppola flick includes the greatest song from The Doors, to the extent one exists.

[hopefullytrusting]

It has been scientifically determined that Goodfellas is the greatest mafia movie.

I'd say any critique of Apocalypse Now borders on sacrilegious, but of course it's not as there are better war movies out there - eg, All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), Paths of Glory, Come and See.  At least the Coppola flick includes the greatest song from The Doors, to the extent one exists.

Now, that is the kind of empiricism I can get behind.

For me, it was just all too big, perhaps it is because I am so small that I enjoy the small things. I did love Sheen in it though. Most of the war movies I like are obviously fake - I think my favorite war films are the ones that involve the calvary (Forty Thousand Horsemen, The Charge of the Light Brigade - 1968).

[Karl Henning]

My Dead Friend Zoe