Recommend movies to me here! I have a relatively low tolerance for stressful movies (at this stage in my life, in that it doesn't provide escapism in the way I want).
Heebie, I recommend you watch movies.
Allow me to be the first to recommend not seeing A Quiet Place.
Is that the movie where John Wayne very pointedly doesn't punch anybody for most of the movie?
2 I saw Crazy Rich Asians and BlacKkKlansman last week and recommend them both. More on the latter in a bit (I take issue with Boots Riley's characterization of the film).
I've yet to see Sorry to Bother You or First Reformed but I've heard a lot of great things about both of them.
Oh, and I watched Kaili Blues last week, which foolishmortal asked if I'd seen a few months back. Absolutely wonderful film.
My son is reading Crazy Rich Asians now. I think he's grown up in a diverse enough environment to know that in real life most Asians aren't rich and are much duller than the Asians people write books about. Maybe I should have a talk with him?
I just saw Election for the first time and it's really uncannily good. It's as if we're living in the unauthorized sequel.
6.last It's like the director, Bi Gan, took one of my favorite long takes in all of cinema (the motorcycle road trip scene from Hou Hsiao-hsien's Goodbye South, Goodbye) along with a good dose of Tarkovsky sculpting in time movie magic and made a film which is fresh and not at all derivative. So totally my jam.
The countryside shown is gorgeous and the long takes just lull you in to a trance.
Election was my go-to movie when asked what my favorite movie is for probably over a decade. I'm really glad to hear it holds up.
I've ended up finding a group of inter-linking fashion bloggers who are primarily late 20s Asian career types, and many of them are really rooting for CRA to succeed because it's been decades since there's been an all-Asian cast in an American movie.
8: I think I've mentioned this before, but maybe before you were here. My brother was almost a stand-in for Broderick during that movie. He was living with my parents for the summer and my sisters saw the notice. He didn't get the job because he had just gotten a haircut and now his hair was too short, but apparently he is nearly exactly Broderick-shaped.
Right, Omaha. In my head somehow it's Texas, because Witherspoon.
Filmed in Papillion, a suburb that was renamed in the 1970s because of the locals' love for Steve McQueen.
14 And there's a remake of the same out now.
Heebie, I highly recommend The Florida Project and would be curious to hear what you think.
15.last
Probably my two favorite films from last year are Phantom Thread and The Florida Project.
Bullitt, Nebraska is nearby, but the high school was too old and small for the film.
Election is great, it's been a long time since I've seen it and would love to see it again soon.
Bullitt, also great.
Honestly, the plot of Bullitt makes very little sense, but I could watch it every week for a year. I'll never watch Election again because no fucking car chases, unless you count right at the end when (spoiler alert) he throws a drink at the limo she is riding in.
Ok, here's my two cents on Boots Riley's take on BlacKkKlansman.
1. Despite being based upon Ron Stallworth's memoirs it's not a biopic and shouldn't be interpreted as one. A lot of Boots Riley's objections to the film go wrong here.
2. Rather it should be seen as drawing on the genre of 70s undercover cop dramas such as those made by Alan Pakula and Sidney Lumet. Spike Lee has often spoken of Lumet's influence on him in particular and BlacKkKlansman (man is that annoying to type over and over again) is swimming in the conventions of that genre. A key point being the way the undercover cop becomes torn between his adherence to his own morals and lived experience and the values of the corrupt institution to which he belongs (Serpico is probably the ur-text here).
3. Reinforcing the latter point is W.E.B. Dubois' theory of the double consciousness of the racialized oppressed subject. Stallworth's consciousness is in effect redoubled by virtue of his being an undercover cop in a systemically racist institution investigating a white supremacist organization.
I think it's a great film and one of Spike Lee's finest.
Just gonna add that anyone who thinks that Spike Lee is pro-cop has not seen 4 Little Girls.
I loved Adaptation. Quirky and engrossing and Nick Cage does not bother me, I just avoid his dreck. Well, except the even more ancient flick Valley Girl, which is I suppose dreck but I liked that one, too.
I loved Adaptation [...] and Nick Cage does not bother me
I have a theory that Nick Cage is actually a very good actor, but only when he's playing an absolute loser. (See also Raising Arizona, Leaving Las Vegas.) But for some reason, he always seems to want to be cast as a hero, which he's...not good at.
(I may have stolen this theory from someone here.)
I thought Cage made horrible movies because he is too broke to say no because of a combination of extremely poor accounting and too much buying of dinosaurs.
I admit, I read (significantly) more about movies than I watch. But, most of the movies I watch are low-tension, so I will think about some recommendations.
I second the endorsement of Adaptation of you haven't seen it.
And lots of color. So refreshing to see a movie with color these days.
The Film Comment podcast is really good.
Nic Cage is certainly not the worst, a cursory viewing of Face/Off shows that he is in every way a superior actor to John Travolta both as a villain and as a hero. Low bar to be sure, but he clears it in style.
6,9: I'm so glad you enjoyed Kaili Blues.The Tarkovsky influence is real: the Chinese title is Lu Bian Ye Can, "Roadside Picnic".
I wondered how much of my reaction to it was personal and idiosyncratic. I used to live near there and I experienced the sense of place almost viscerally. I know that dirt! I'm inclined to think otherwise, though. A few weeks ago I was thinking about it as a Buddhist Stalker. I am no longer so sure.
Have I explained my theory that Tracy Flick in Election is the same character as Leslie Knope in Parks and Rec? And that the only difference is the sympathy with which she's viewed?
33 Yeah, I caught that, it was referenced as the title of the poetry collection that popped up periodically during the movie. I've been thinking of that film all week and can't wait to see it again.
A handful of recommendation:
Quirky Indie Movie: Results a movie which I liked, and have recommended before, which might have interesting points of reference for Heebie (set in Austin, and one the main characters runs a gym, and that is the connecting element for all of the stories).
Dumb Action Movie: The Hitman's Bodyguard. I don't understand why the movie gets such poor reviews. The story doesn't really make sense, but the writing is often entertaining, and both Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L Jackson are in good form (Ryan Reynolds has a good look of befuddled disappointment at a couple of points as he watches everything go wrong. Sam Jack is just playing his persona to the hilt, but looks like he's having a good time -- he even gets to sing).
Dumb Romantic Comedy: Man Up. I haven't seen In A World . . . yet, but Lake Bell is fantastic in Man Up and carries a script which is just slightly above average.
TV Show: Strongly recommend The Good Place -- I just finished watching season II, which did not disappoint, and I had been waiting impatiently for the library to get the DVD.
34 Does Hillary Clinton also factor into this theory?
I will always love the Onion HRC op-ed, I Am Fun.
And that the only difference is the sympathy with which she's viewed?
It's just good that "attentive and eager student" wasn't written into the statutory rape laws as a defense.
To the OP, Suspiria is great, one of my favorite films. I'm not sure why it needs a remake and I know some are thrilled by it (it's got Tilda Swinton after all) but I think I'll pass on it. At least until I've seen the original again (there's a restored 35mm print that I've heard is gorgeous).
re: 37
I liked The Hitman's Bodyguard quite a bit. Reynolds is a really solid comic actor.
Actually a really solid actor all round, IMO.
Jim Jarmusch movies aren't stressful. People just go around doing Jim Jarmusch things.
And Stephen Chow movies are far too silly to cause stress.
44 Reminds me I bought Down By Law on Blu ray when I was back in NY, haven't seen it since it came out and I think I'll watch it this weekend. That and more Kurosawa (just rewatched The Hidden Fortress last night, so great).
33: okay, clearly this is something I also need to see. Too damn bad Five Star Video finally closed a couple of months ago (and had its inventory sale already).
22: I'm sure you are a good and brilliant person, as is the other person I know who really liked Adaptation (who could, I suppose, be you), but I would pay real money to ensure that I'd never have to see it again can't say anything nice and so won't say anything at all about it.
46.1: apparently I can stream it courtesy of the SF Public Library. Heart heart heart heart heart heart.
I haven't seen Adaptation and I keep mistaking it for Audition which is a seriously disturbing, perverse, and great Japanese horror film.
20 makes some very good points, but there is one scene in BlackkKlansman that really shouldn't have been in the movie and strongly supports Boots Riley's position. It may be the most crowd-pleasing scene in the movie, but it doesn't make sense at any level, and whatever else Spike Lee has ever done or actually believes it makes it possible to argue that this movie is pro-cop.
I loved Adapatation, and I guess I'm kind of a Nicholas Cage fan. I loved him in Peggy Sue Got Married (I don't care what Kathleen Turner says, even though she is awesome), Raising Arizona, Face/Off, and Adaptation. I haven't seen any of his more recent movies.
Barry! Down and Dirty Pictures, read/no read?
16.2 : Totally agree about The Florida Project. I didn't love Phantom Thread. I think it's because I just don't understand clothes and it's too hard for me to relate to a person that cares about them so passionately.
We watched My Favorite Wife earlier this week and it was great! It drags a bit from time to time, but overall holds up super well and I highly recommend. Irene Dunne is fabulous and Cary Grant is wonderful as always. Puts the lie to the idea that Hwood movies of its era couldn't be about sex. Also the child actors are surprisingly watchable and given actual parts related to the plot, rather than being rolled in front of the camera to deploy annoying voices.
I very much enjoyed Phantom Thread I think because i usually find the lead male actor unbearably annoying because all his ACTING shows and I can never forget how much ACTING he is doing being all obsessively devoted to ACTING, but that worked to the advantage of his character in this movie and it was great to identify with the female lead who figures out how to ummm sustainably work with his obsessiveness. So to speak.
Like most people, I'm haunted by very specific Sicilians.
Does not necessarily meet the stress-free requirement, but a well-done little movie I saw recently is is West Virginia Stories., Comprised of three related stories shot on location in Davis WV a small town in my favorite part of West Virginia (Potomac Highland/Canaan Valley).
Thanks to Alexander Payne and Bruce Springsteen, the reputation of Nebraska in popular culture is a bit dark. Boys Don't Cry probably should be included also.
If you leave aside the talk show hosts, the only famous comedian the state has produced is Marlon Brando.
Payne is also a dick to people other than Nebraska.
Boys Don't Cry and many consecutive hours of sensory deprivation on I-80 taught me everything I know about Nebraska. Oh, and I guess we were all conscious of Bright Eyes.
Every corn stalk looks different if you pay attention.
51 Haven't read it or even heard much about it so I couldn't tell you.
I've heard really great things about Chloe Zhao's The Rider and I'm looking forward to seeing it here when the local film institute screens it next week.
One really awful thing about seeing movies at the theaters here is how much is censored. Even seemingly innocuous stuff might be cut. I always check the parental advisory on IMDB before, if I think something will be censored I usually won't go to see it in the theater but I've really been surprised what gets cut (chaste kisses and the like). One of the great things about the film institute here is nothing is censored.
63.2: Here they censor on TV but not in theater. But not so heavily as Arrakis, it sounds like.
Broadcast TV censors bunches of stuff here.
I thought you were all decadent and stuff.
FILTHY INFIDEL FORM MEMORY.
Your mom didn't seem to mind my filth.
Basic cable isn't very decadent here. Or it wasn't when I stopped subscribing many years ago. It's premium cable where you get your sex and violence without censoring.
I thought basic bitches were decadent by definition.
The Miramax offices are a disconcerting place. [...] The place reminded me of those old movies, like The Desperate Hours, where a psycho holds a family hostage, and when the cops finally show up at the door and ask the quaking mother, "Everything okay, ma'am?" she plasters a smile on her face and hisses through clenched teeth, "Everything's fine, officer," while her eyes scream otherwise.
74 That's from 20 years ago. Wow.
75: Right? I've had the book sitting on my hard drive for years, I'd forgotten it's about the Weinsteins in particular as well as indies in general. This will be interesting.
76 Please do post the good stuff.
In fact if, it's not too much trouble, if you can email me a screenshot of that I'll tweet it out.
Done. Crappy crop, but I'm too drunk to be mucking about with CS at this hour.
75: ??? - not sure when that particular visit to Miramax was -- but the book was published in 2013.
79
80 2004, I had thought it was 1998 so it was 14 years ago.
|| Have people seen this?
https://twitter.com/jonathanchait/status/1034040612482371585
These are strange days, indeed ||
Biskind says this was while he was "in the middle of this book". I'm guessing sometime in the 1990s.
A friend on twitter tell me p.355 - 360 there are " some wonderful moments of weinstein's assholeness." but I'm not sure if he has the same edition.
There's more Weinstein assholery even before the quote I pulled.
Well the guy's like what, 85-90% pure asshole.
OT: Copied directly from my spam folder.
My name is Charles Koch, A philanthropist the CEO and Chairman of the Charles Koch Foundation Charitable Foundation, one of the largest private foundations in the world. I believe strongly in'giving while living' I had one idea that never changed in my mind - that you should use your wealth to help people and i have decided to secretly give {$1,500,000.00} to randomly selected individuals worldwide. On receipt of this email, you should count yourself as the lucky individual. Your email address was chosen online while searching at random. Kindly get back to me at your earliest convenience, so I know your email address is valid.( charleskoch382@hotmail.com ) Email me or you can google charles koch foundation to know more about me: ( Charles Koch ).
It must be real. I've googled it and both hotmail and the Koch Foundation exist. it must be real.
Either that or somebody told spammers how to target a population known to be easily fooled.
The repetitive style is contagious.
Ask him if he funds the Federalist
I haven't seen Adaptation and I keep mistaking it for Audition
A worthy addition to the list of Films It Is Important Not To Mistake For Each Other (National Velvet/Blue Velvet, Crash/Crash, Before Sunrise/From Dusk Till Dawn, etc.)
I'm always disappointed when I see someone mention Crash, and then I realize that they are talking about Crash.
From comment 100 forward. C'mon guys, Unfogged is supposed to be good at this!
Dear Doug spots comment spam,
Thank you for contacting the help desk at Unfogged. Most of our customer-support staff has been re-deployed to Iowa temporarily. We appreciate your patience as we work to resolve the spam issue you have identified.
Hugs,
MGMT