Return of the RECENT VIEWING

[Snarfyguy]

The tele-visual equivalent of comfort food, these had some great character actors guesting.

[driftin]

I really like this guy, Kamail Nanjiana, in the comic roles I've seen him in, and he's good here too, but fucking hell I can't believe what a predictable, conventional, run-of-the-mill melodram-rom-com this thing is. 98% on Rotten Tomatoes? Sheesh!

Good work from the supporting cast.

That just means 98% of critics gave it at least a positive review, it doesn't mean it's received universal acclaim.

[Darkness_Fish]

Second viewing, and I still love this film. Found-footage horror doesn't have a great reputation, but as a way to get a scary story cheaply made, it has its uses. This film is cheaper than most, but put together so well. They simple trick of moving something, or changing the position of an inanimate object off-camera, is used to brilliant effect. Ok, on the downside, the end-game after the end-game is not really needed, and some of the documentary-interview footage isn't needed, but I forgive it its sins for its more subtle sleights of hand.



A first viewing for this one, and I was quite impressed. On the downside there's the bloody awful CGI (especially the spaceship scenes), and Martin Freeman's miscasting, but on the upside it feels a more mature, slower film than most of the rubber-fetish-for-kids genre. The Lion King without the annoying funny bastards.

[Matt Wilson]

Gas-s-s-s

One of those legendary counter culture films (Roger Corman's last for AIP) which really doesn't hold up today - basically, a black comedy about the end of the world. A military gas leak has killed everybody over 25 (don't ask), and young people rule what remains of society. The gag is that they don't do it any better than the adults did and our hippie heroes run from one scenario to another in an attempt to find a place they can permanently live. They finally do find such a place in a pueblo commune at the end of the picture, but you can tell Corman's heart wasn't in it. A young Cindy Williams, of Laverne & Shirley fame, Ben Vereen, Bud Cort, and Talia Shire are familiar faces, but the acting is usually terrible. A few laughs and Country Joe & The Fish are on hand to liven things up. I actually liked it better than the last time I saw it.

[Goat Boy]

First Man

Neil Armstrong is famously something of an enigma. A self-contained family man who instantly retreated from the limelight with a calm dignity after the Apollo missions. He’s hardly your typical movie “hero”. If you were to be a little harsh, you might describe him as a bit of boring cunt which makes his achievements all the more incongruous but then walking on the moon was unlike anything else man had ever done so it’s maybe not surprising that Armstrong would be “different” to what we, as a culture, would expect from such a figure.

This impenetrable blankness suits Ryan Gosling, who has made a name for himself playing similar characters, like the fella in Drive for example, whose inner world is only briefly revealed in blink and you’ll miss ‘em moments. At the same time the enigma of Armstrong creates a natural problem. How do you portray such a man when nobody seemed to really know who he actually was?

The director tries to get around this problem by framing Armstrong’s obsessional drive to get to the moon as not just a personal odyssey of discovery but an attempt to exorcise the grief over the death of his 2 year old daughter and his fellow astronauts. This can’t help but feel a little bit contrived, a unnecessary add on designed to give the movie an emotional centre it doesn’t really require imo but it’s not a critical flaw. It largely avoids mawkishness although one scene on the moon pushed the buttons a bit too much perhaps. Truthfully though, it didn’t bother me that much as I felt the movie had earned it by this stage.

If, like me, you find the space race and the moon landings an impossibly moving, awe inspiring period of human endeavour – and why the hell wouldn’t you? – then you’re bound to get something out of this movie. What the film does really well is capture the claustrophobic thrill and danger of space travel in wonderful, atmospheric detail. There is a real nuts and bolts physicality that constantly reaffirms just how basic some of this stuff was and how the spectre of death was always there in the background. When the Gemini 8 mission goes wrong and the craft goes into a spin (one revolution per second) it was so dizzying and disorientating that it was actually uncomfortable to watch. In moments like this you can only be touched and humbled by what these men did. When you first see the Saturn 5 rocket on the platform at night, lit up majestically by spotlights ready for the Apollo 11 mission it was a real goosebumps moment. The big scene, when it finally comes, is suitably grand, the drama and intensity of the moment means there is no need for unnecessary melodrama here. If anything they downplay things when they are actually on the moon. We see Buzz bouncing off into the distance, like a child simply experiencing the wonder of the moment but Armstrong’s reaction is muted and introspective. It’s here where we experience the loneliness and isolation of space travel. The silent but overpowering existential hum of this jaw dropping moment. We see earth in the distance and the “magnificent desolation” of the moon and it’s wonderful. And then the moment is over, just like that, and they are off home. I have to say it looked really fucking good.

Another thing the movie does well is capture the hermetically sealed nature of the astronauts existence. The outside world only occasionally intrudes. I think there was one mention of Vietnam and towards the end we see real life footage of people questioning the value of space travel but by and large the astronauts lived in a bubble. When they weren’t at work they were hanging out together in the back yard having bbqs, drinking beer and talking about the missions. Which is what you’d expect I guess. I mean who the hell else could they relate to?

I have to say, I found it really quite moving.

[Matt Wilson]

You should write an online blog reviewing films, Dougie.

[Snarfyguy]

Seconded, quality writing!

Last night "Columbo: Suitable for Framing," guest starring Don Ameche and the great Vic Tayback.

[Matt Wilson]

Mission Impossible 5 Movie Collection

All of the films in the series save the last one (Fallout). Basically Bond-lite. You don't really care about Ethan Hunt like you do Bond though, and Tom Cruise's vacuousness (is that even the right word?) is either perfect for the cipher qualities of the character or confirms his detractors' worst views. The first one with Brian DePalma was okay and a bigger hit than any 007 movie at that time. The second one by John Woo wasn't quite as good, and the third, which didn't get the best reviews and didn't do as much business as the first two, had the best villain in Philip Seymour Hoffman, and you got to see Hunt's more human side in his relationship with his wife. I rated that one actually.

The series began to pick up though, with the fourth, Ghost Protocol, and eye-popping stunts (was that really Cruise running down that building?). The fifth, Rogue Nation, was probably the best yet and made for a decent popcorn flick three years ago. Last summer's Fallout continued the upward slide and might possibly be better than Rogue Nation. So has there ever been a series which actually got better as it went on? Dunno, none of them are as good as the best of the Craig Bonds, Casino Royale and Skyfall.

[Goat Boy]

Mandy

A funny thing happened when I started watching this. People were chuckling in an ironic way from the very beginning of the movie, even at lines that weren’t actually “funny” or delivered in a way that encouraged this. Whether these people has read some review which let them knew what they were in for and they had accordingly gone in with this particular attitude or whether it was just the fact that Nicholas Cage was in it, I dunno. Maybe I was just oblivious to Nicholas Cage’s rage meme appeal with a particular audience – largely young, student types – but as the movie went on people started to laugh out loud and by the end they were actually applauding. I can’t remember the last time that happened when I was watching a new release. I was smirking occasionally too but I was also groaning and not in a good way. I actually considered walking out early doors – I was in a bad mood anyway after having to change seats twice due to the fact that the lack of staggered seating was restricting my view – but I thought I’d try and go with it anyway out of morbid curiosity and because I’d paid a tenner and wanted some value for bleeding money. How much of this knowing absurdity was intended as ironic, I don’t know. Clearly some of it was. There’s a gag with a comically long chainsaw that absolutely is designed to get laughs and the acting is so ripe and over the top - not just from Cage, who is in scene chewing excelsis here, but from everybody bar his wife - that the movie is seemingly begging to be viewed through some kind of ironic hipster lens. And yet, its arty pretentiousness and bombastic attempts at capturing the grief and rage of Cage’s character makes for very odd bedfellows, ensuring that the movies primal howl never really rises above its pulpy 80s origins. For all its intent and effort it all feels completely empty. An exercise in style and nostalgic homage that surely gave its creator a nergasm but is hamstrung by the unwelcome tension between its own art-house pretensions and ironic distance. I bet the director is a fan of Virgin Spring.

On the plus side though it looks impressive. Its visual style is reminiscent of the hyper stylised world of Suspiria and Inferno and it pleasingly shares their nightmarish logic too. Its plot, as it is, is a brutally paired down and crude joining of the dots that eschews linear sense. A faux reactionary exploitation tale featuring a lysergic Christian cult turned homicidal by dodgy LSD that could have come straight out of the 70s. Best of all is the music by Jóhann Jóhannsson – his last work – which recalls the dry ice majesty of Tangerine Dream at their 80s horror best but even that is overused, dulling its impact and occasionally careering over into some kind of black metal synth hellhole.

In short, the whole thing makes Ken Russell look about as subtle as Yasujiro Ozu. But, hey, the audience were enjoying it so that’s something I guess.
Cult film status, maybe predictably, and certainly intentionally beckons.

I think I’ll stick to Virgin Spring though.

[pcqgod]

Ant Man and the Wasp (2018)

Another good action comedy from Marvel, although in this one the villains don't really turn out to be that villainous, so there is a lack of peril and suspense through most of it. Also, in an attempt to outdo the last movie the writers came up with increasingly ridiculous and impractical things to do with growing and shrinking powers.



First Man (2018)

Since this is a movie released in 2018 it is not surprising that the filmmakers try to inject as much human drama as possible to this story. To their credit, that never feels overdone, Armstrong as a character remains fairly enigmatic and quiet, and a good part of this movie is almost documentary-like in its linear presentation of the key events leading to the historic moon shot. It also surpasses 'Gravity' in terms of realistically and terrifyingly portraying the dangers of traveling into space.

[harvey k-tel]

Mandy

A funny thing happened when I started watching this. People were chuckling in an ironic way from the very beginning of the movie, even at lines that weren’t actually “funny” or delivered in a way that encouraged this. Whether these people has read some review which let them knew what they were in for and they had accordingly gone in with this particular attitude or whether it was just the fact that Nicholas Cage was in it, I dunno. Maybe I was just oblivious to Nicholas Cage’s rage meme appeal with a particular audience – largely young, student types – but as the movie went on people started to laugh out loud and by the end they were actually applauding. I can’t remember the last time that happened when I was watching a new release. I was smirking occasionally too but I was also groaning and not in a good way. I actually considered walking out early doors – I was in a bad mood anyway after having to change seats twice due to the fact that the lack of staggered seating was restricting my view – but I thought I’d try and go with it anyway out of morbid curiosity and because I’d paid a tenner and wanted some value for bleeding money. How much of this knowing absurdity was intended as ironic, I don’t know. Clearly some of it was. There’s a gag with a comically long chainsaw that absolutely is designed to get laughs and the acting is so ripe and over the top - not just from Cage, who is in scene chewing excelsis here, but from everybody bar his wife - that the movie is seemingly begging to be viewed through some kind of ironic hipster lens. And yet, its arty pretentiousness and bombastic attempts at capturing the grief and rage of Cage’s character makes for very odd bedfellows, ensuring that the movies primal howl never really rises above its pulpy 80s origins. For all its intent and effort it all feels completely empty. An exercise in style and nostalgic homage that surely gave its creator a nergasm but is hamstrung by the unwelcome tension between its own art-house pretensions and ironic distance. I bet the director is a fan of Virgin Spring.

On the plus side though it looks impressive. Its visual style is reminiscent of the hyper stylised world of Suspiria and Inferno and it pleasingly shares their nightmarish logic too. Its plot, as it is, is a brutally paired down and crude joining of the dots that eschews linear sense. A faux reactionary exploitation tale featuring a lysergic Christian cult turned homicidal by dodgy LSD that could have come straight out of the 70s. Best of all is the music by Jóhann Jóhannsson – his last work – which recalls the dry ice majesty of Tangerine Dream at their 80s horror best but even that is overused, dulling its impact and occasionally careering over into some kind of black metal synth hellhole.

In short, the whole thing makes Ken Russell look about as subtle as Yasujiro Ozu. But, hey, the audience were enjoying it so that’s something I guess.
Cult film status, maybe predictably, and certainly intentionally beckons.

I think I’ll stick to Virgin Spring though.

Ah, good. I'll save my money and wait for it to show up on Netflix.

[Matt Wilson]

Shampoo
My fave Hal Ashby film now has a Criterion blu. One of the better examinations of the hedonistic behavior of the '60s generation in LA, it takes place on election eve, 1968 - and there's lots of subtle references to Nixon's victory and how the brief, shining moment of the counter culture (though Beatty's George says he's not anti-establishment) is coming to an end. Everybody's getting older, in other words. Beauty is in almost every scene but it's really the women who shine. Lee Grant won an oscar, Goldie Hawn would go on to do even bigger things shortly, Julie Christie is stunning, as usual, and there's even a nice small role for a teenage Carrie Fisher.

Breakout
I'd never seen this one. Bronson is more affable than usual and he certainly talks more. Randy Quaid is his partner, and Robert Duvall is almost wasted as a man unfairly locked up in a Mexican jail. Average, with a few nice things for die-hards.

Wild in the Streets
Last week I reviewed a film called Gass-s-s-s which involved an end of the world, or post apocalyptic scenario. This is probably better, but I dunno. The issues posed have always struck me as ridiculous. Lowering the voting age to 14 and eventually putting people over 30 in camps. Of course, it's all satire but what is being satirized exactly? Our political system, I guess. Anyway, Christopher Jones reminds me of James Dean a little, and there's a young Richard Pryor on hand. And there's the awesome "The Shape of Things to Come" to liven things up.

The Tree of Life
Malick's fifth film and frankly, the last one I've seen. It's awe inspiring, really. The visuals are unlike anything you've ever seen before. Even the creation of the universe segment works. Visual poetry. This new Criterion edition includes a director's cut with 50 additional minutes.

[Matt Wilson]

Geez, nobody reviews films anymore? Well, here's the latest...


Alice's Restaurant

Remember the song (and album)? Arthur Penn made a movie about it after Bonnie & Clyde but before Little Big Man, staring Guthrie and several actual people who were in the song with a lot of fictional events added in and scored himself a directing nomination to boot. It's entertaining, and Arlo has an affable screen presence which works for the material. I'd never seen it before.

[Penk!]

Netflix fill out the sadly underpopulated Folk Horror canon with a film starring a bloke from Downton Abbey and directed by a guy who made a couple of Indonesian martial arts movies.
Despite that unpromising introduction, the Wickery opening hour of this is rather impressive, as Dan Stevens - in an entertaining performance pitched somewhere in between Withnail and Rick Deckard - clambers onto a boat some time in the early 20th century in order to find his sister, who has been kidnapped by a wackadoo religious colony on an island somewhere. Michael Sheen is the Miscavige-in-residence and there are some shenanigans afoot, right from the start, although they mainly involve bedhopping teens. It's a lovely spot - props to the cinematography, which is excellent throughout - and there's a nice little community there with wooden huts and traditional dress and everyone pitching in and, somewhat suspiciously, leaving jars of blood outside their front doors at night.
Stevens spends a while getting to know the natives but then undoes all his good work by failing to realise that if you snoop around and see the nutty cult leader disappear down a secret trapdoor, it's a really, really bad idea to follow.
The hour leading up to this is handsomely framed, absorbing and sly, hinting at nastiness to come but never resorting to jump scares and building up a nicely suggestive atmosphere of freaky nature. Stevens' trip down the hatch, though, turns out to be not a build-up to the climax but instead a turning point in a two-hour film, and the second half abandons its straightforward folksy horror homage in favour of genre-hopping wooliness with lashings of torture porn, shotgun chases, some family drama longueurs and even a token "no... you go on without me" scene.
The plot remains satisfyingly unpredictable, and the way it refuses to stick to a single genre style is impressive, but I thought that in its efforts to avoid being seen as a direct Wicker Man rip-off, the film lost its focus and couldn't really decide what it wanted to be. There are a few moments which suggest the film wants to say something about faith, or our abuse of the natural world, but nothing that's really developed.
Certainly worth a weekend watch, but this particular subgenre is one that still feels underexplored.

[Tom Waits For No One]

Took the nephews and nieces to see



Spent a good deal of the film thinking how much this character looked like our own Rayge as a young man.



Proof can be found in his own photos thread.

viewtopic.php?f=11&p=3998107#p3998107

[Matt Wilson]

El Topo

Director Jodorowsky plays the title character ("The Mole") who wanders through a series of scenarios and vignettes where he defeats certain 'masters' who represent various schools of thought (Sufi, Tarot, etc) in order to impress a woman. When he does so he realizes she wasn't worth it - and that's just the first half of the film. It's packed with so much imagery and symbolism you can lose yourself in explanations for hours. Considered the first midnight movie, and introduced by John Lennon and Yoko at an exhibition of Lennon's films in 1970, it has gone on to great cult status. Another one I'd never seen. Supposedly, Peter Gabriel claims this as an inspiration for The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.

[Jimbly]

i saw El Toppo years ago at a midnight showing. Didnt think that much of it to be honest.

[Matt Wilson]

It's not objectively great by any means, just interesting.


The Trip

One of Corman's better films, written by Jack Nicholson, stars Peter Fonda (with Bruce Dern, who was with him in The Wild Angels, also directed by Corman) and Dennis Hopper in a supporting role, and Susan Strasberg - who was with Nicholson (and Dern) in Psych Out. Got all that? It's silly and over the top, but hey, you get Gram Parsons and the International Submarine Band in no less than two scenes (they don't provide music though), it's appropriately psychedelic, and it's all over in 80 minutes. The UK blu has commentary by Corman, and a slew of extras.

[Snarfyguy]

i saw El Toppo years ago at a midnight showing. Didnt think that much of it to be honest.

I thought it was a jumbled-up mish-mash of nonsense, and that was when I was younger and much more impressionable.

I'm not sure I could even sit through it now, so Matt does us a service here.

[Matt Wilson]

Hey, it's an acid western. Of course I'm in!