Midweek Movie Free Talk

I re-watched Fight Club, it has aged pretty well and I find it somewhat inspiring. I found it has a bit of a macho, edgy teenager energy that I don't like as much as when I was younger but it's not too bad. The message is also a bit muddy, I wish it was bit more explicitly pro-revolutionary, but there's room for interpretation, and I can see how releasing a movie that can inspire you to blow up financial institutions could be an issue xd

I watched The Odyssey (2026) in 70mm IMAX on Monday. Got a 7:30am (!) ticket with a couple buddies, woke up early, drove an hour to our theater and watched it. I really enjoyed this movie. I mentioned this in the dedicated thread but overall it was a solid movie. I think the movie really benefits from watching it in the 70mm aspect ratio, there's a lot of detail that fills up the screen. The places they show in the movie feel incredibly vast and grand, which the aspect ratio also helps with. I do have some minor complaints but nothing crazy, overall a 9/10 I'd say.

Watched Obsession the other day and it kinda reminded me of The Substance. One is about 2 people being trapped together in a single body and the other is about the same person switching between 2 bodies.

Interestingly, each also has an alternative (if minor) interpretation that flips this around, where the supernatural plot points are taken more metaphorically (or more literally, depending on how you look at it I guess).

//spoiler//

For The Substance, if we think of Sue and Elisabeth as 2 different people, then the film can be seen as a conflict between mother and daughter. The rebellious child desires to be free but is still constrained by her dependence on the parent for survival, while the mother only sees her daughter as an extension of herself and pins all her hopes and desires onto hers.

For Obsession, if we think of Nikky as the same person the whole time, the film could be seen as about (from Bear's position) the shock of discovering your romantic partner having an almost entirely different side to their personality in private, or (from Nikky's position) the desire to suppress your true thoughts and feelings when being around your partner.

//end spoiler//

Also watched Backrooms but my thoughts on it is a bit more conflicted, probably write something later when I have the time.

Went and saw Evil Dead Burn. This is probably my least favorite evil dead, although it was still enjoyable enough. Great gore and effects for the most part, CGI finale excluded, and one particular moment involving a punctured eardrum is one of the gnarliest things to happen in one of these movies, not that you can really see it. Story and characters not so good, the domestic violence throughline didn't really add much in my opinion. Family were not that enjoyable to watch, and i think most of them were disappointing in deadite form as well. This had some funny moments, but I think an evil dead movie ought to be fun, and this wasn't very fun.

I watched Schrader's Master Gardener (2022), the third in the Man in a Room trilogy (First Reformed (2017), The Card Counter (2021).)

It is by far the weakest of the three. The casting felt off... and I think I really wanted it to go way darker or something, but I'm not sure, but as a completionist, it had to be done. I really liked the other two.

Next up: The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

I watched Disclosure Day tonight. Every director has hits and misses if they stay in the game long enough, and Spielberg is no exception to this truism. Disclosure Day isn't a complete dud, but it is well down the list of his movies.