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Movie Monday Free Talk
We haven’t had one of these in a while (will edit the wiki for past links).
It’s a bit late in the day to start one of these, but I hope it leads to discussion throughout the week instead.
We haven’t had one of these in a while (will edit the wiki for past links).
It’s a bit late in the day to start one of these, but I hope it leads to discussion throughout the week instead.
I just watched Street Dogs of South Central via Amazon Prime. It's sad!
Dammit, if I had more means I'd def go out and get a couple of pound dogs. Screw anyone going for that cutesy pure-bred bullshit!
Seen a good amount of movies since last Movie Monday, wanted to leave some reviews:
Midsommar (2019) - Woah. This movie is weird in great ways, and strange in the creepiest of ways. Overall I can’t say I left the movie “entertained”, but I certainly felt moved. It was well done (I saw the Director’s Cut, so I got a little more context for some scenes), but it certainly paid no attention to the viewer’s comfort level. Great horror, psychological thriller, a fresh breath of air from “jump scares”, and a visually bright film for such a dark ambience.
Parasite (2019) - Korean film by Bong Joon-Ho. Takes you in with charming underdog vibes, before turning it all on its head. A great story about comeuppance, elitism, and Korean culture. It is a far more humorous take than Burning, but seemingly more symbolism of the Korean struggle to incorporate Western ideals, which aid to the story.
The Game (1997) - Michael Douglas does what he does best: portray an entitled, billionaire persona like he did in Greed, but showcase a more flawed, self-doubting character. This movie had me gripped for every scene. I could not predict the next one, let alone the rest of the plot. This is one of those few movies that are amazing, and have their best impact upon first viewing (so I won’t say much further). David Fincher can be viscerally felt with his style, but the movie takes a light of its own as you try to analyze what you don’t understand. Overall, a hidden gem that I’m glad I took the time to see.
The Double Life of Veronique (1991) - An art house film that I could appreciate but hesitate to say I enjoyed throughout. The most compelling portion of the movie was the beauty of the main actress, who plays two characters inextricably connected through the universe. As is typical in art house films, there is no clear moral/message, and much of it is left to interpretation of the viewer. Overall, my take is that we may not be so dissimilar to outsiders, let alone our countrymen. We live similar lives separated by language and norms, but if we were put in front of a doppelgänger of ourselves we would still struggle to connect. In an increasingly globalized world, this movie hearkens back to a moment when life was more disconnected, and technology kept us apart.
Totally fair criticism of The Game. There might be a reason why I never encountered it otherwise. It does seem to be a one trick pony, although I do love the line within the movie wherein Michael Douglas asks what “the game” is all about, and the others smugly say how they wish they could go through it “the first time” again. Not sure if it was a meta-reference, but it surely applies to the movie. There’s probably a good reason the movie never took off, when offset by bigger Fincher twists like Fight Club.
I like this interpretation of The Game: it's not the best thriller, but it's better than a cheap thrill.
I had forgotten about Green Room until it came in through Netflix today. It was an interesting movie, and I expected a different performance from Patrick Stewart, but it was a pretty decent movie. Basically a band does a gig at a neo-nazi bar, see a dead body, and have to get away from the nazis.
Just finished up Klaus on Netflix, this is a Christmas classic for me. It looks good with amazing animation, the story is nice and easily understandable for any age group which goes along with the PG rating. And the ending keeps Christmas and the Santa story alive and well in a very satisfying way.