Last Movie You Watched

[Karl Henning]

My Dead Friend Zoe again. So deeply moving. 

[Karl Henning]

Yesterday, Bohemian Rhapsody. Enjoyed it enormously, even though the soundtrack played "Fat-Bottomed Girls" much too early. 

[71 dB]

Raw Deal (John Irvin, 1986)

Nowadays I want to see older movies from the 80's (and 70's). I am not a big Schwarzenegger fan and I had not seen this. The plot is simple, but the movie is structured to be a bit confusing. I found this movie rather boring and clichéd. This type of violent action happens in so many 80's movies. Music was uninspiring. Competent camera work at least and Schwarzenegger is Schwarzenegger. To my taste 2/5.

[Karl Henning]

Raw Deal (John Irvin, 1986)

Nowadays I want to see older movies from the 80's (and 70's). I am not a big Schwarzenegger fan and I had not seen this. The plot is simple, but the movie is structured to be a bit confusing. I found this movie rather boring and clichéd. This type of violent action happens in so many 80's movies. Music was uninspiring. Competent camera work at least and Schwarzenegger is Schwarzenegger. To my taste 2/5.

I haven't seen it, and I remain disinclined to see it. Probably my favorite of his movies is True Lies with Jamie Lee  Curtis

[Karl Henning]

TD: Watched the remake of The In-Laws again last night. Great fun. 

[Mister Sharpe]

Sisters with Transistors (2020), a fascinating, heartfelt exploration of the pioneering women in electronic music, inc: Bebe Barron, Suzanne Cianni, Delia Derbyshire, Daphne Oram, Laurie Spiegel, et al.  Narrated by Laurie Anderson. Well worthwhile. 

[71 dB]

I haven't seen it, and I remain disinclined to see it.

You won't lose much, but you save 101 minutes of your time. 

[Todd]

One Battle After Another.  I have not seen a movie in a theater since the pre-Covid Disney disaster Star Wars: The Something.  You know, the one with the chick swinging a light saber and that guy who does stuff.  When I first saw a commercial for this Leo flick, I thought "meh".  It was not until I learned that Paul Thomas Anderson – probably the greatest living filmmaker – helmed this that the "meh" turned into a "heck yeah!"  Golly.  So monumental was the shift in outlook that this not only became the first movie I've seen on the big screen in six years, it is the first time I have made it to a movie on opening weekend since Noah.  I think, though I could be misremembering.  (On that note, I was originally planning on seeing Caught Stealing in theaters, but by the time I checked local cinemas about ten days after its release, it was gone, though I only checked theaters within a five mile radius.)  So pumped was I, in fact, that this is the first movie I have ever seen during Thursday "previews".

Inspired by a Thomas Pynchon novel, the flick starts off with the one of the most un/fortunately timed opening scenes as revolutionaries/terrorists – take your pick – stage an armed attack on an immigrant detention facility.  The entire opening act follows the repercussions of that, and most of the main characters get introduced, including Leo channeling his inner Dude as Bob Ferguson and Sean Penn acting very Jack D Ripper-y as Steven Lockjaw.  As it moves into its second act, years have passed and nothing has changed.  (To borrow from the great Josh Tillman, "things keep getting worse while staying so eerily the same." )  Leo is a burnout revolutionary in hiding, raising his daughter, and due to plot developments, Penn is hunting them down.  Shenanigans ensue for the next couple hours, though the length of the movie flies by.

The acting is uniformly very good or excellent, with Leo better than expected, and Penn does good work in a cartoonish way.  The dialogue is as original as Tarantino, but is more oblique.  PTA works in the phrase "bad hombre" twice, dropping  a hint, and he includes a line about the 90 yard line, which made my ears perk up for personal reasons.  All other aspects of filmmaking are masterful.  The song selection is ace, with a Tom Petty closer, and the original score is maximally effective.  The camerawork and compositions are likewise ace.  Several motifs pop up over and over – eg, blown out highlights, far left and far right subject framing, father and daughter plopped in front of big, single color walls in different scenes.  Telephoto lenses get used quite a bit for some nice, tightly cropped shots, with bokeh off the charts good in some scenes.  Violence is plentiful, but PTA spares the viewer excess graphic violence in scenes where he could have gone the other way.  And he shows that there is, in fact, a new and kick ass way to film a car chase, at least in my viewing experience.  He nods to some popular TV shows like Breaking Bad and Ozark, and throws in so much that at least one more viewing is required.  The film really is masterful and nuts.  One thing that typifies the bizzarro style is the use of Jim Downey as a bad guy.  Let that sink in.  So, yeah, it's a wildly good PTA movie, his best since his best, The Master.

[SimonNZ]

Paul Thomas Anderson – probably the greatest living filmmaker

By coincidence last night I tried a second viewing of There Will Be Blood, which I sat through a little easier this time, but had the same complaint: that while the acting and production values are fine the film feels it is saying Big Important Things about capitalism, religion and America when its really saying little more than the most bludgeoningly obvious with no subtlety or subtext, at the level that any snarky teen might have posted.

[AnotherSpin]

One Battle After Another.  I have not seen a movie in a theater since the pre-Covid Disney disaster Star Wars: The Something.  You know, the one with the chick swinging a light saber and that guy who does stuff.  When I first saw a commercial for this Leo flick, I thought "meh".  It was not until I learned that Paul Thomas Anderson – probably the greatest living filmmaker – helmed this that the "meh" turned into a "heck yeah!"  Golly.  So monumental was the shift in outlook that this not only became the first movie I've seen on the big screen in six years, it is the first time I have made it to a movie on opening weekend since Noah.  I think, though I could be misremembering.  (On that note, I was originally planning on seeing Caught Stealing in theaters, but by the time I checked local cinemas about ten days after its release, it was gone, though I only checked theaters within a five mile radius.)  So pumped was I, in fact, that this is the first movie I have ever seen during Thursday "previews".

Inspired by a Thomas Pynchon novel, the flick starts off with the one of the most un/fortunately timed opening scenes as revolutionaries/terrorists – take your pick – stage an armed attack on an immigrant detention facility.  The entire opening act follows the repercussions of that, and most of the main characters get introduced, including Leo channeling his inner Dude as Bob Ferguson and Sean Penn acting very Jack D Ripper-y as Steven Lockjaw.  As it moves into its second act, years have passed and nothing has changed.  (To borrow from the great Josh Tillman, "things keep getting worse while staying so eerily the same." )  Leo is a burnout revolutionary in hiding, raising his daughter, and due to plot developments, Penn is hunting them down.  Shenanigans ensue for the next couple hours, though the length of the movie flies by.

The acting is uniformly very good or excellent, with Leo better than expected, and Penn does good work in a cartoonish way.  The dialogue is as original as Tarantino, but is more oblique.  PTA works in the phrase "bad hombre" twice, dropping  a hint, and he includes a line about the 90 yard line, which made my ears perk up for personal reasons.  All other aspects of filmmaking are masterful.  The song selection is ace, with a Tom Petty closer, and the original score is maximally effective.  The camerawork and compositions are likewise ace.  Several motifs pop up over and over – eg, blown out highlights, far left and far right subject framing, father and daughter plopped in front of big, single color walls in different scenes.  Telephoto lenses get used quite a bit for some nice, tightly cropped shots, with bokeh off the charts good in some scenes.  Violence is plentiful, but PTA spares the viewer excess graphic violence in scenes where he could have gone the other way.  And he shows that there is, in fact, a new and kick ass way to film a car chase, at least in my viewing experience.  He nods to some popular TV shows like Breaking Bad and Ozark, and throws in so much that at least one more viewing is required.  The film really is masterful and nuts.  One thing that typifies the bizzarro style is the use of Jim Downey as a bad guy.  Let that sink in.  So, yeah, it's a wildly good PTA movie, his best since his best, The Master.

To hail Paul Thomas Anderson as 'probably the greatest living filmmaker' is rather like Oklahoma demanding UNESCO status for its tallest barn. The Master had its spellbinding moments, yes, but greatness requires more than a touch of magic. It's reach, context, and a voice beyond Los Angeles. Greatest? That's more county fair slogan than cultural truth.

[Mister Sharpe]

La Maman et la putain (1973) a complex and troubling film, to my mind as much a condemnation of the sexual revolution of the 60s as a celebration of it. Probably will watch it a second time to confirm that reading of it, to admire again the acting - extraordinary - of the three principals, and to enjoy its selection of old French love songs. Looking forward also to the supplements on the Criterion edition.

[Karl Henning]

"It's fuck your buddy. Cheat on your wife. Call Your mother on Mothers Day. Charlie, it's all shit."
Just an old favorite:
Scent of a Woman

[AnotherSpin]

In the story's climactic moment, the neighbours' mentally institutionalised son cuts through the suburban illusions with brutal honesty. He reveals the emptiness at the heart of their carefully ordered lives, forcing both characters and audience to face the hollow core of the so-called American Dream. The despair of suburbia is shown clearly, yet its absurdity invites a wry smile. European cinema would handle the same themes more quietly, letting the sadness creep in between the lines rather than announcing itself so boldly.