2024 Cinema (Picks and Pans)

Watched Andrew Bujalski's "Computer Chess", an indie film on the early days of computer geekdom.

A mockumentary that is periodically interesting, featuring some bizarre characters.

Not altogether successful.

Saw a matinee performance of Yorgos Lanthimos' "Poor Things" and Sherron and were amazed at how good the movie is.

Not a single false note, the acting, set design and cinematography of the highest order.

Far superior to "Oppenheimer" and any of the other films being touted as Oscar contenders.

Genuinely original, brilliant from start to finish.

Best film we've seen in ages.

>2 CliffBurns:, already on my must-see list, but that affirms it.

Neil Jordan's "Marlowe" last night.

Dreadful film, completely phony and off-key, right from the opening frames.

Had high hopes with Jordan at the helm but this flick is tuneless and if anyone on the production staff had read a Chandler novel, I'd be amazed.

Avoid like an angry rattlesnake.

"La Piscine", a story of love and entangled lives set in the south of France, featuring three of the most beautiful people alive in 1969, Alain Delon, Romy Schneider and Jane Birkin.

Interesting for the first half, but the film started to drag and ended up being a half hour overlong.

Still worth a look.

>5 CliffBurns: Yes, I DNFed 'La Piscine' but I have to admit Delon and Schneider were the ultimate beautiful couple. They beat Brangelina any day.

And then throw Jane Birkin into the mix--more eye candy than a store window filled with varieties of Swiss chocolates.

A godawful Western last night, "Dead For a Dollar", starring Willem Defoe and Christopher Waltz.

Again (as in Jordan's "Marlowe", viewed a few night ago), there's not a real or authentic moment in this movie. And everyone looks so clean, even the streets don't have any piles of horseshit evident. No one sweats and even though there are two African-American characters and they run afoul of some nasty crackers, no one dares use the "N" word.

Walter Hill's "The Long Riders" is my all time favorite Western (and, of course, he was one of the creators of "Deadwood"), but this film is simply deplorable, almost laughable.

James Whale Bake Sale is a curious account on YouTube. It is a collection of short snippets of filmmakers and other celebrities talking about other people's films. There's some interesting stuff. Below some examples:

Bergman on Taxi Driver
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M01-L9e3VOc

Various artists on Robert Bresson:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuZ39Zg1u-w

Quentin Tarantino on Ishiro Honda (not so short)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j29UXqllj4

"Daybreakers" last night, directed by the Spierig brothers.

Not nearly as smart or accomplished as their later film "Predestination".

A near future where a virus has turned most people into vampires--only 5% of humanity remains, many existing in facilities where they are "farmed' for blood.

Gory and unbelievable and featuring Ethan Hawke, an actor I've never cared for.

Not my cup of tea (or blood, for that matter).

"Eo", directed by Jerzy Skolimowski.

Winner of the 2022 Jury Prize at Cannes.

I'm not...sure.

Intriguing aspects to this film but some of the aesthetic choices seem...odd. The hallucinatory sequences are out of synch with the rest of the movie and, while I applaud its intent (highlighting the many cruelties and indignities humankind inflict on animals), I just found the whole thing didn't quite come together.

A matter of taste, I suppose, others might find it much more appealing than me.

"Memories of Underdevelopment", directed by Tomas Gutierrez Alea.

Produced in post-revolutionary Cuba, very professionally photographed and edited, with an exceptional cast.

Recommended.

"The Prestige", directed by Christopher Nolan.

Based on a novel by Christopher Priest, recently departed, which is why I borrowed a copy.

Loved the twists and turns, two strong leads, good evocation of the period...and David Bowie as Tesla was an inspired choice.

Not normally a big fan of Nolan's work--the bombastic soundtracks and, in the case of "Tenet", an incoherent plot--but this one impressed.

And good to know Priest approved of the adaptation, which makes it all the better.

>13 CliffBurns: Chris wrote a short book on his relationship with the film: The Magic: the story of a film.

"Y Tu, Mama, También", directed by Alfonso Cuaron.

Okay film, but I didn't find it particularly engrossing or (despite its advertising) greatly erotic.

A charming, insubstantial story, which left no lasting impact on me.

"Memories of Murder", directed by Bong Jong Ho.

An early film from the Oscar-winning director of "Parasite" and it's a good one.

A serial killer is terrorizing a rural area and the local cops receive help in the form of an inspector from Seoul. Styles and personalities clash and, meanwhile, the killer continues his gruesome, relentless work.

Well-acted, terrific cinematography, exceptional film.

"Skinamarink", written, edited and directed by Kyle Edward Ball.

An "experimental" horror film, set in a family home where the parents are absent and two small children are left on their own in an increasingly malevolent environment.

Slow-moving, very little happens and I think this would have made a far better short film.

Not without its appeal and give the young director credit for doing what he could with a budget of $15,000.

"Suburbicon", directed by George Clooney.

The script (by the Coen Brothers) dates back thirty years but George and his creative partner dusted it off, adapted it and what results is a pretty good movie. It gets progressively darker, the comedy and drama mixing well. I thought the racial subplot (no spoilers) was dealt with in a perfunctory fashion at the end, but for the most part found it an agreeable, occasionally never-racking cinematic experience. The child actor, Noah June, and Julianne Moore were particularly good.

Watching “Three Body Problem “ on Netflix & finding it wonderfully entertaining (as opposed to so much heralded but turn out to drivel shows on the site) . Here is something to prepare you for the multidimensional alien encounters;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CtjhWhw2I8

Takeshi Miike's "Audition".

Miike is a big favorite of Tarantino's, who hypes his films at every opportunity.

A widower decides it's time to remarry and a friend in movies suggests he hold a series of auditions to find a wife. One particular candidate catches the widower's eye...and it turns out to be the wrong gal in many, many ways.

Psychological thriller with a genuinely gruesome finale (and I mean gruesome). Not for all tastes but certainly an experience.

Daguerreotypes by Agnes Varda. I don't think I've seen an Agnes Varda film that I don't like. This one is a very simple essay on people that had businesses on her street in Paris (Rue Daguerre). Lovely. 1975 has never looked so prehistoric.

No Bears by Jafar Panahi. Panahi playing a fictional Panahi is filming a docudrama in a remote village in Iran. The film has a whiff of Kiarostami's The Wind Will Carry Us and made me wonder if it was an homage. Critics raved about it. Not a bad film but I found it convoluted. 3 Faces, one of my favorite films of 2023, was more straight forward. In any case Panahi is always pleasant company.

24 Frames by Abbas Kiarostami. For his last project Kiarostami wanted to recreate some of the photographs that he had taken over the years and imagine a before and an after. It's a beautiful concept, a meditation on art and life from a artist facing his own mortality. As film though it's not quite successful. The images are gorgeous and intriguing but it is hard to identify a before and an after. Not much happens on the screen, not enough to sustain my attention anyway. Sad to report that I only watched 12 of the 24 frames.

Almost forgot:
Gate of Hell by Teinosuke Kinugasa. An imperial warrior falls in love with a lady in waiting who happens to be married, so he becomes a real jerk. Story is very simple, almost feels like a parable. Main character is kind of a toxic idiot so not the most fun movie to watch. Gorgeous colors though. Won the Oscar for best foreign language film in 1953.

"The Last Voyage of the Demeter", fair to middling horror movie from director Andre Ovredal.

Based on a single chapter from DRACULA, the Count's immortal remains transported from Bulgaria to Whitby, England. When the Demeter arrives, the entire crew is dead and an ancient horror is unleashed.

Only sporadically interesting, though I did find the foley sound very creepy.

"Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny", directed by James Mangold.

It took, count 'em, four writers and three editors to make a sense out of this mishmash.

Saw it because I'm a completist and a sucker for nostalgia--Sherron fell asleep halfway through (coincidentally enough, right after Antonio Banderas played his small, non-essential part).

Overlong and annoyingly unbelievable, even for a film of its type.

>23 CliffBurns:, it couldn't recapture the magic for me either. The best I can say is that it surpassed Crystal Skull, a low bar. Sure, Indiana is as old as Ford and they wisely weren't disguising it, but an Indiana Jones movie requires more in the way of creative problem solving under crisis, which only one moment fulfilled for me (the horse ride though the subway tunnel).

Where is the Friend's House? by Kiarostami. A boy's mistake could create immense problems for his friend so he desperately tries to find his house in a neighboring town. In the thinnest of plots small details are huge and Kiarostami knows how to see the world through a child's eyes. Reminded me of White Balloon by Panahi, which came out later. That one is warmer and in my opinion more successful. Kiarostami's is not bad. It made it into Kurosawa's list of 100 favorite movies of all time. It has some beautiful moments, and lots of running.

Greta Gerwig describes what's good in it better than me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEzdNESa4mY

"The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes", directed by Billy Wilder.

Haven't seen it for more than 2 decades, rewatched it for fun.

First half of film pretty good but the movie begins to drag, then introduces a ludicrous sub-plot involving the Loch Ness Monster.

Well-acted but definitely a curio in the Holmes canon.

I was talking about this short animated classic with my in-laws recently--some of them weren't familiar with it so I take this opportunity to re-introduce "Hot Stuff" to the world. I first saw this film in high school and laughed myself legless:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFrFRslbJ2s

God bless the National Film Board of Canada.

Last night, Sherron and I watched Albert Brooks' "Lost in America".

We hadn't seen it since its initial theatrical release back in 1985 (it was one of our "date" movies).

Very sweet film, Julie Hagerty in fine form. It still possesses a kind of nostalgic charm. Glad we saw it again.