The Souvenir and the Souvenir part II. Rating: 10/10 Probably one of the greatest films on a purely emotional level that I have seen in my lifetime, and I watch a lot of movies. I haven't walked out of movie feeling this way about a movie since Lost in Translation, having an emotional connection to the story. The movie follows Julie Harte during the 80s of about 10 years as she navigates an emotionally draining relationship with her boyfriend: Anthony who is a heroin junkie and her pursuit of a film degree. The film explores the meaning of memory and truth, I feel, and how many people can view a situation differently. The movie will inspire a lot of questions (although I don't want to give much of it away) but the film certainly invites questions about what you are viewing. Beyond that, the dialogue and cinematography are first rate: the tone is dead perfect, the score and music are strong points and often used to break up the evenness of the general loudness, which is usually rather muted. Similarly to Tar, for example, although I don't feel that Tar is similar to The Souvenir. Except that both are character studies. This is certainly one of A24's greatest films and I put it in the same league as Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, which I think is one of the greatest modern horror films of all times.
Only if it was the last movie I watched....which it was not, busy time for movies unfortunately....but that passes.
The Sales Girl (director, Janchivdorj Sengedorj) I give this a 7.8 out of 10. It is a coming of age story in the vain of The Karate Kid, with hints of Say Anything: that is to say that it draws on an 80s aesthetic through the score. Where the title character must decide for herself who she wants to be with an older mentor figure by way of a sex shop owner. While the movie has a feel good elements to it, it also hints on more serious tones and an adult philosophy that you don't get from just the teen pop type films. The movie is really satisfying to see the character grow through the experiences and the scenes. I enjoyed the film, but I think that (while it brought it home in the end, it can seem a little uneven in tone in some parts) as the dialogue isn't always on point with the development of the character, especially with regard to the main character's relationship and the emotional aspect of it being forced on the audience, but in the end, I do fell that the cathartic moment takes place, so I find that it is a really good film overall and well worth watching if you like that kind of thing.
No Bears (director, Jafar Panahi) 9.3 out of 10. One of the hottest directors, a fearless director of Iranian cinema who is making a landscape of films challenging Iran's hypocrisy from the lens of ordinary people and situations. His films, at least after he was banned from making movies in Iran, have become movies within movies as he challenges what it means to make a film, which started with his feature: This is not a movie, where he films his neighbors coming over to his house. In this film, he is directing his crew who is making a movie, from a border area as he fights with locals about their traditions of marriage and whether or not he took a picture of a young couple in love, since the girl was already promised to another man.My favorite of his banned films was probably 3 faces, but this was also really good and requires I feel multiple viewings to truly understand it. The supplement really helps open this one up. But yeah: Panahi is a fearless director that deserves your attention.
Love on the Ground (director, Jacques Rivette) 6.7/10. If you watch this film, I can pretty much guarantee that you are a cinephile, you are a doctoral candidate in the French New Wave, or you are a masochist, or perhaps all three. This film clocks in at 2h 49m and there is very little score, if any in the movie and hardly any location changing and you pretty much are watching what appears to be a mystery that never gets really explained about an eccentric but wealthy aspiring playwright attempting to write and direct a play in his home and will be staging it for one night only. The film is painfully long and 90% of it has to do with the rehearsal. I feel as if this film is more about a personal statement about cinema than something that is meant to be viewed as a exercise in testing the boundaries of a film. One reviewer said that Rivette is meticulous in the setting up of the film, which I agree with: think Stanley Kubrick. It is also (like Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey) a very quiet film and painfully slow moving. Obviously, this film blow most current fluff out of the water. It's clearly has greatness in it, but it rarely enjoyable, at least for me.
The new Naked Gun was turrible. I didn't laugh once. Stylistically it was true to the original, it just wasn't funny. Gave up like an hour in.
Come over to the dark side and watch some movies with subtitles. Hollywood films are way to shallow for my tastes. Although the new roadhouse was better than I expected so some of them are okay. However you won't find another Leslie Nielson or Dom Deluise or Julie haggerty. Which reminds me white men can't jump reboot was s***** as hell although I didn't see it. I already know it was s*****.
I did like the one joke, when he was talking to the bartender: BT: You don't remember me? Drebin: Should I? BT: You killed my father! FD: That could be any of 1000 or so guys BT: He was unarmed FD: 500 BT: You shot him in the back FD: 50 BT: He was white FD: Oh, you're Tommy Rosetti's boy I too, didn't make it through the whole thing.
If I thought about it for a million years, I would never arrive on the degree of irony in these two sentences. Is it possible to frame a BBS post?
Liam Neeson sold out to do a sequel to Ice Road and while it has some funny moments, mainly because of the bus driver, the emotional connection is not there, the acting kind of okay and the story is lame. Not worth it.
Saw Running on Empty (1988) for the first time. This scene choked me up and that doesn’t happen often: It has some odd parts, but the performances from the main actors are great. Loved the ending. Very touching. Watch it with your kids, if you can. 8.7/10
