Return of the RECENT VIEWING

[caramba]

Just watched Widows myself. I was worried from the previews that it'd play out as a Snowman/Counsellor-type affair where a lot of talent was poured into what ultimately plays and looks like your average heist thriller, but I'm glad to inform, it's a Steve McQueen film through and through, it shares basically the same feel for pace, framing and almost lyrically fluid montage that the rest of his work has, and is paired with that effortless sensibility to it all that makes his stuff feel so unique and genuine in a moment where most contemporary 'auteurs' seem so driven by their search for style and cinematic virtuosity that their works feel plastic and overwrought in comparison. I like that it's at once something of a crowd-pleaser heist film, but at the same time has a way of capturing the American setting in a way that is very unfiltered, replete with all the warts, idiosyncracies and grotesqueness that makes it feel very genuine and rooted. This is proper political filmmaking through and through, even if at times the film may suffer due to wearing some of its commentary as overtext, and the odd farfetched story beat which, to be frank, is just about what you'd expect from a script that comes from the author behind Gone Girl. But these few missteps hardly affected my enjoyment of the whole, and the end result is thoroughly engaging, imbued with a propelling energy, and simply unmissable. Worth a watch on the big screen.

The film of Roget's Thesaurus sounds terrific, but what was Widows like?

[driftin]

Dunno how a film this violent, this well-made, with this much plot and all from the director of Hell or High Water can be so booooring.

[driftin]

I can not gush over this enough. Absolutely wonderful in every way.

[The Modernist]

Williams choices were sometimes evidence of a cloying sentimentality that inevitably led to some terrible movies. Whether this was related to his sadness, melancholy, depression, I don’t know but I’m struggling to think of a Great Williams movie. Some films are clearly turkeys from the off and Williams didn’t seem to have much discernment.

I recognise his talent and his comedic brain but I didn’t find him particularly funny either and his movie career was largely a disappointment.

He was an extremely limited actor. He just hammed it up most of the time.

[Jeemo]

Continuing our Black n White watching. We watched Double Indemnity. It never puts a foot wrong. Wilder at the top of his game.

[Tom Waits For No One]

Well worth two hours of your time.

[Samoan]

Featuring a faux-Scottish Hungarian American and a bona fide Soviet Russian -



Well worth 111 minutes of anyone's time.

[Jeemo]

and a Time Lord

[Samoan]

There is...

" Now would anyone like some more potatoes? "

[Jeemo]

...is it worthwhile calling the vet?

[Matt Wilson]

Sympathy for the Devil

All of Godard's sixties films before this are pretty much essential to an understanding of French pictures of that era. After this he would enter into a difficult phase of personal movie-making which mostly leaves me cold but I must confess I have seen very few of his seventies films. The Black Panther stuff and the scene where he has a woman representing democracy are period pieces only and are to me, more quaint than penetrating in their analysis (if you can even call it that) of then modern mores of late '60s (French) culture. What is really interesting to the BCBer are the Stones sequences where they're working on "Sympathy for the Devil." Fortunately, this comprises a decent amount of screen time and the new restoration is stunning. Brian was fully present for the development of this song and even though he contributes nothing more than rhythm guitar (not even present on the finished master), it's still fascinating to watch the original five Stones working for the last time on a classic.

[driftin]

Well worth two hours of your time.

It was phenomenal. It filled me with joy as much as it shocked and devastated me.

[Matt Wilson]

True Stories

David Byrne's musical comedy about a small town in Texas gets a spit and polish from Criterion. New 4K transfer, an extra CD with the complete soundtrack (the actors singing the songs, in other words), and plenty of extras. Byrne isn't really satirizing these people, which you think he would be doing before you watch the film. It's more like he's fascinated by their quirkiness which he probably finds exotic. I hadn't seen it since it came out, and it holds up surprisingly well.

[Still Baron]

Yeah, I haven't seen that in 30 years. I'd like to return to it.

[Butch Manly]

Just watched Widows myself. I was worried from the previews that it'd play out as a Snowman/Counsellor-type affair where a lot of talent was poured into what ultimately plays and looks like your average heist thriller, but I'm glad to inform, it's a Steve McQueen film through and through, it shares basically the same feel for pace, framing and almost lyrically fluid montage that the rest of his work has, and is paired with that effortless sensibility to it all that makes his stuff feel so unique and genuine in a moment where most contemporary 'auteurs' seem so driven by their search for style and cinematic virtuosity that their works feel plastic and overwrought in comparison. I like that it's at once something of a crowd-pleaser heist film, but at the same time has a way of capturing the American setting in a way that is very unfiltered, replete with all the warts, idiosyncracies and grotesqueness that makes it feel very genuine and rooted. This is proper political filmmaking through and through, even if at times the film may suffer due to wearing some of its commentary as overtext, and the odd farfetched story beat which, to be frank, is just about what you'd expect from a script that comes from the author behind Gone Girl. But these few missteps hardly affected my enjoyment of the whole, and the end result is thoroughly engaging, imbued with a propelling energy, and simply unmissable. Worth a watch on the big screen.

Yeah, I absolutely loved it, though I didn't expect to.

[driftin]

I did not like this. There's probably a good dark tale under all of this but I can not stand the faces of these animals. It would've been far better as a traditional animation.

[Darkness_Fish]

I haven't seen this in ages. It's a strange little film, obviously never going to live up to the original, but not as bad as you'd expect for a belated cash-in. Meg Tilly and Anthony Perkins are both excellent in their roles, and help to carry the film beyond its slightly silly and very unlikely plot. They're very convincing together, despite the apparent off-screen difficulties. It just seems that in the end, it doesn't have an awful lot to say for itself, it's a bit slight for a return to such a cinematic landmark.

[Matt Wilson]

The Magnificent Ambersons

Criterion has been knocking it out of the park with their Welles releases. This is the best-looking transfer I've seen of this title. But then the same could be said for the other ones: F is for Fake, Chimes at Midnight, Othello, The Third Man, and The Immortal Story. It's been widely documented how the studio cut most of the second half out of this film, knocking it down from over two hours to less than an hour and a half, with the footage apparently lost forever. One can only imagine how good this movie would have been in Orson's original cut. As it stands, I still love it more than Kane.

[sloopjohnc]

Last night. I enjoyed it. Like most Spike Lee movies, it's both inspired and flawed.

[Geezee]

I haven't seen this in ages. It's a strange little film, obviously never going to live up to the original, but not as bad as you'd expect for a belated cash-in. Meg Tilly and Anthony Perkins are both excellent in their roles, and help to carry the film beyond its slightly silly and very unlikely plot. They're very convincing together, despite the apparent off-screen difficulties. It just seems that in the end, it doesn't have an awful lot to say for itself, it's a bit slight for a return to such a cinematic landmark.

I saw this movie before I ever saw Psycho, and I always have affection for it - in fact it is one of the first horror movies I ever saw. I'm glad you found it worthwhile - although I agree that the plot does go a bit crazy after a while. Didn't realise Tilly and Perkins had off-screen difficulties (although I guess going by reputation I'm not surprised to hear it) - as you say, they work very well together.

For me it does have a lot to say about the Bates character, whether or not he is redemptive, and it does so very successfully, irrespective of the slightly whirlwind nature of the plot. The movie also works as a great companion piece to Franklin's previous movie Roadgames.