What Movie Have You Seen Today?

General General Movie Discussion
2359

The Exorcist (1973 original release, sans spider-walk scene). I haven’t watched this in quite a while, but saw the title as I was scanning the list of movies we have on HBO. I’m still struck by how low-key some of the scenes are leading up to the possession. There is a naturalness to the interactions that plays in stark contrast to the horrors to come.

The gradual physical and mental deterioration of the main characters is so convincing to me. When Chris realizes that it was her daughter who killed Burke, the revelation is done subtly, but so powerfully.

I remember my husband and others complaining about the hysterical mother. How would you feel if your 12-year-old was going through this ordeal? Mightn’t you be a little hysterical? Or do you believe you’d be stoic? I thought Ellen Burstyn’s portrayal of a mother’s descent into despair was completely believable.

Linda Blair was remarkable. Granted, a great deal of the effect was due to makeup and special effects. But her innocence and vulnerability make the child’s ordeal all the more poignant because she seems so real. She’s not doing the “cute kid” overacting. She comes across as a normal kid trapped in a torture beyond our comprehension.

I also appreciate the balance the film (and book) struck between mental illness and the supernatural. I was in my teens when I read the book, and I think this and Sybil were really the first times I’d been exposed to such an in-depth exploration of mental illness and what it could do to the individuals suffering with it.

“Tubular Bells” and the film, itself … still haunting after all these years.

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2360

Creatively, Paramount didn’t give Coppola the time and money that he needed. They only gave him a year to write, direct and edit the movie. TRULY NOT enough time for an epic film, such as a Godfather movie! They really should have paid Robert Duvall, as that was a true creative point that was lost with Tom Hagen. He would have been an informant. A unique twist, for sure! As generally happy as I am with the cuts of GF3, I feel it still could have been better with a bit more time given to the creative side of things. Johnny Depp once again ruined something for me by stealing Winona Ryder for Edward Scissorhands. However, in both cases, we still got great movies. Paramount still got burned with that Christmas 1990 release date both critically and financially. A little movie called Goodfellas stole A LOT of GF3’s critical thunder, giving it a harder battle on arrival. Financially, a little movie called Home Alone arguably destroyed GF3’s better chance at a fair box office. So, as with the other Godfather movies, it’s a miracle that it got made, let alone as good as it was.

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2361

Fast Charlie

An ageing fixer for an even older mob boss gets into the crossfire when a hit goes wrong.

Yeah, been there done that. But as Ebert has said so well: everything’s been told already, it´s HOW it is told again.

And director Phillip Noyce turns Richard (“The Equalizer”) Wenk´s fabulous script into one of the best films of this subgenre - and one of my favorite films of the year.

Pierce Brosnan (it´s even getting better, Jim) delivers a perfectly restrained and yet relaxed performance which allows him to be the kind of guy his Bond probably would have turned into during his 70´s - if he were speaking in a Southern drawl (I told you, Jim, it´s getting even better). He manages to create a perfect mixture of wry amusement and sensitivity, while he absolutely convinces in those moments in which he has to be truly cold-blooded.

Morena Baccarin also is terrific as the sardonic ex-wife of a target, being drawn into the dangerous proceedings while also grabbing her chance for something new and better.

James Caan as the ageing boss who has to be taken care of due to his illness delivers one of his last performances with grace and his typical charm.

And the whole film is tightly paced, thrilling, at times extremely funny and even touching.

A true masterpiece, overlooked, of course, in these times. But do yourself a favor and enjoy this one.

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2362

“The game has been engaged, and Mason will not shake Columbo until there is a victor. While a viewer can complain that this is not realistic (it isn’t), it supports the larger aesthetic of the episode: to employ an expression from a later time and culture, the episode’s Columbo-perpetrator encounters are a great example of game recognizing game.” (apologies - I messed up the quote function)

I watched How to Dial a Murder on the weekend for the first time, in a long time. On many rewatches, I forget how Columbo catches this murderer, but I never forgot this one. It is obviously influenced by Citizen Kane and for that reason, it’s hard to forget the “Gotcha” in this episode.

The episode/movie was far better than I remember. It looks like this was a 90 minute episode back in the 1970s and those episodes tend to be better. Many of 2 hour episodes had filler scenes that were not really needed. In watching this episode, there was no scene that I thought should obviously be cut. Some nice references to Citizen Kane are woven in (and announced to the viewer in the episode).

I think the “Gotcha” is reasonably good but far from the best. My biggest attraction to Columbo are the “Gotcha” moments (my favourite episode and “Gotchas” are A Friend In Deed and the Greenhouse Jungle).

The one small problem I have with the episode is why Columbo suspects Dr. Mason. While the dogs being playful following their attack is a tip off that something might be awry, I did not find that as compelling as some other episodes. That said, it’s far from the worse. One of my favourite tipoff moments is in Mind Over Mayem. It’s an episode I do not really like due to what I would describe as a 70s style elements in the episode - but the tipoff is great. Columbo finds a match that was obviously used by a cigar smoker. As he notes at the end of the episode: “I was looking for a cigar smoker and there you were.”

Thanks for bringing up How to Dial a Murder. I did not have any plans to re-watch it and I am glad I did.

Two other quick points:

  1. The Columbo Phile book provides some nice material on the episodes in the series (though it’s a little pricey for a used copy). There is blog of the same name(though it has not been updated much anymore). It can be found here if anyone is interested: https://columbophile.com/

  2. The blog and book note some interesting facts about Nicol Williamson who played Dr. Mason:

“I find it interesting to note that when Williamson was interviewed about his Columbo experiences by Mark Dawidziak for The Columbo Phile book in the 1980s that he could barely remember his appearance here. He had undergone a divorce in 1977 and claimed he had taken the role because he ‘had to have the money’.”

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2363

The Columbo Phile book is still available on Amazon, it’s a new version and worth the price. I can’t remember how much I paid for it a couple of years ago, but right now it’s 27,41 pounds.

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2364

My favourite Columbo moment is Perfect For Framing: the villain claims that Columbo has just put his fingerprints on the missing artworks, and he silently pulls his hand from his pockets… wearing gloves👌 perfection!

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2365

I am glad to read you enjoyed it.

I agree. Ninety minutes with commercials usually necessitated a running time of 71-74 minutes, which strikes me as perfect.

Among the two-hour episodes, I think FORGOTTEN LADY’s subplot of Columbo needing to take his pistol test dovetails beautifully with the main murder plot. I also find IDENTITY CRISIS’ two-hour run time to be bearable. Mahjong!

It is a Columbo-makes-the killer-do-something Gotcha, like Paul Galesko identifying the camera (which may be the best of this species of Gotcha) or Hayden Danziger and the latex gloves.

A FRIEND IN DEED is another “made-them-do-it” Gotchas. My favorite Gotcha occurs in PLAYBACK. The audience is point blank shown the mistake, but the same distraction that causes the killer to err, distracts the viewer from noticing the error. Mise en scene and Gotcha are beautifully melded. “Tell him, Elizabeth!”

I can see that. My counter would be that–it was Mason’s dogs that did the killing.

I will confess to posting there as well. Certainly not as I do here–an infrequent dalliance compared to affirmed commitment.

And the look on his face:

image

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2366

Cahiers du Cinema Year-End List (I have highlighted the film that might be of interest to members)

  1. “Misericordia” dir. Alain Guiraudie
  2. “May December” dir. Todd Haynes
  3. “In Water” dir. Hong Sangsoo
  4. “The Zone of Interest” dir. Jonathan Glazer
  5. “All We Imagine as Light” dir. Payal Kapadia
  6. “The Delinquents” dir. Rodrigo Moreno
  7. “Evil Does Not Exist” dir. Ryasūke Hamaguchi
  8. “This Life of Mine” dir. Sophie Fillières
  9. “Trap” dir. M. Night Shyamalan
  10. “The Other Way Around” dir. Jonás Trueba
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How that one ended on that list is incomprehensible.

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2368

WHAT! That is almost incomprehensible.

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2369

Been on an Indiana Jones kick lately. Watched Raiders, Temple, Crusade, and Crystal Skull. Will finish with Dial either tonight or tomorrow.

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2370

FANNY AND ALEXANDER (film version)

Here´s my confession: up to this point I had never seen an Ingmar Bergman movie.

I know his status as director par excellence. And I know I should have seen a movie of his rich oeuvre many decades ago. I just was, well, afraid. I thought they all are highly depressing, full of death and despair.

So, it´s Christmas time, so I thought I would finally start. And I started with his last theatrical film, the family saga “Fanny and Alexander”.

And I loved it. So human, so unflinching, yet at times funny, at other times deeply disturbing and scary. Life, you know. What a great entry for me into Bergman’s world.

AUTUMN SONATA

Another Bergman masterpiece, this time starring Ingrid Bergman and Liv Ullmann as mother and daughter, meeting again after many years, finally confronting their deeply rooted frustrations and sadness and anger.

Simply perfect, I must say. Actors at their peek. Filmmaking at its best, unobtrusive, yet totally focused and poignant.

HIS THREE DAUGHTERS (Netflix)

Not a Bergman movie but in a way influenced by him, including the surreal finale. Three sisters come together during the last days of their dying father, and while I feared this film would end with the most obvious (and wrong) hug fest, the reconciliation here is extremely subtly and not necessarily ongoing.

The film walks the fine line between comedy and tragedy and never makes a wrong step. Coon, Olsen and Lyonne as the very different sisters are perfect, and the movie deals with their ways of grief and confrontation with the inevitable, yet unpredictable moment of death in a most believable way. The impatient waiting for the end of the suffering (which cleverly is never shown) and the fear of that moment of loss drives this movie with a kind of realism which is all too rare in mainstream cinema.

CARRY-ON (Netflix)
What a welcome surprise - this is a “Die Hard”-variation with less bullets and more psychological sparring between the underachieving hero (Taran Egerton) and the extremely cold and matter-of-fact villain (Jason Bateman, absolutely wonderful).

There is an uncut sequence in a car which tops itself again and again, and in a way that’s this extremely tense thriller in a nutshell: full of surprises, consequently developing its story and its themes up to the powerhouse finale.

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2371

Megalopolis

Wasn´t this supposed to be an incomprehensible mess? With no story? With actors shamelessly mugging around?

Coppola made a really interesting film, telling a straight forward story, perfectly cast and played, edited and shot beautifully and efficiently.

Sure, most elements are not spoon fed to the audience, there are elipses which open up questions - but none one cannot find the answer to by thinking and interpreting.

Apparently, critics just wanted to hate it, and audiences have lost the ability and willingness to engage with a movie. And “Megalopolis” doesn’t even make it that difficult. It is a film released at the fitting time because it deals with the clash of idealism and populist lies of an overfed and spoiled upper class. It is about power plays by the arrogant idealists who have lost sight of the real problems the population has to face and the cynics of the ruling money elite who claim they want to give the power back to the people while holding on to it with no shame. It is about a society which does not believe in anything anymore, driving the decadence to absurd heights to which they have become numb.

Sounds familiar?

Coppola held a mirror to American society, only weeks before the election, and was rejected and ridiculed for it.

The only naive element of the film is its happy ending. But maybe that hope will be fulfilled sooner or later because tyrants always fall, and backstabbing is a part of their world, just like in ancient Rome.

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Which makes it an incomprehensible mess.

Stories should not have ellipses.

You want people to work at a movie?

Somebody get the butterfly net!!! ASAP!!!

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2373

The Zone of Interest

Devestating.

The banality of evil.

Anybody with a shred of humanity can not watch this film and remain unaffected.

The others will.

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2374

Just saw this one with the kids (home from college) and we all loved it. I especially appreciated the fact that it was light on the Bruce Willis/Arnie level superheroics and that for so long every attempt to thwart the bad guy was quickly parried, making for a surprisingly powerful level of suspense and tension. It’s true a thriller is only as good as its villain, and Bateman was fantastic. Who’d have thought Michael Bluth had such evil in him?

I also agree with you that the bit in the car was incredibly well done; for me, the stand-out moment in the whole enterprise and welcome proof that talented filmmakers can still find new and wonderful spins on action sequences.

I’m glad the wife made me sit down and join the family for it: when I heard the title, my first thought was, “They’re bringing back the Carry On films? But isn’t Kenneth Williams dead?” :laughing:

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2375

Another year of A Christmas Story (1983). As we were one praising 2001 as the yardstick for science fiction movies, this is that for Christmas movies (IMHO). Where do I begin to praise what’s arguably my favorite movie? The writing is flawless. The production design should have been Oscar-Nominated. The acting is top notch, there’s something for everyone, of all ages. It truly defines what it is to be a kid growing up around Christmas. A MAJOR influence in my creative writing. I got my dad the leg lamp about 10 years ago. My mom assumed that it would be a Christmas only idea. We said no, it stays up all year! When my mom brought me pajamas with the “You’ll shoot your eye out!” logo, a lady stopped us to tell us how it was her daughter’s first time watching the movie. Just sharing the memories of the movie with others, never fails to make me smile. So, while it may be a bit late for some of my forum members to watch it on Christmas, I can’t recommend this movie enough. Happy Holidays, I hope you got what you wanted.

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2376

WICKED (2024) in theater

As is our custom, my husband and I travelled to the movies on Christmas Day to watch a film. This year’s choice was WICKED–a musical, which I hoped he would enjoy. Alas, this back half of Glicked is truly a rear end.

The first act of a two-act stage musical stretched to a running time of 2 1/2 hours, WICKED is the poster child for bad musical adaptations. Having made the decision to split the film in two, John Chu, the director, proceeds to inflate the first act proceedings beyond all reason. He does not add anything to them; he just makes everything longer. The result is that what is appealingly swift on stage, is cumbersome here. The sketchiness of the plotting, which is not a problem on stage, comes across as underdone. The resulting combination of lack and bloat sinks the movie.

And then there is “Defying Gravity.” Despite his mishandling of the musical numbers–with performers atwirl, and the camera either circling around them or pushing in–I thought at least there is the first act closer with Cynthia Erivo, who can both sing and act. What could he do to it?

Boy, was I wrong. Here too, Chu’s deadhand direction interferes. He chops the song up, vitiating its power. Note to John Chu: this is not the Bench Scene from 'Carousel." By the time this sorry spectacle limped to its close, I was ready to leave, and did not stay for the credits (a huge mark of disrespect on my part).

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Like every year, I watch old adventure films during the Christmas holidays (and always the same ones and always in the same order, it’s crazy, I know), so far I have watched again:

The Court Jester with Danny Kay
The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone
The Mark of Zorro with Tyrone Power (that’s actually one I don’t watch very often)
Scaramouche with Stewart Granger
The Three Musketeers with Gene Kelly and Lana Turner (Mmmmm! Wow!)

Still to go:
La Tulipe Noire with Alain Delon and Virna Lisi
The Count of Monte Cristo with Richard Chamberlain
The Man in the Iron Mask with Richard Chamberlain and Louis Jourdan
The Prisoner of Zenda with Stewart Granger (and/or the black/white earlier version)
The Crimson Pirate with Burt Lancaster

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2378

You need to fit in The Sea Hawk and Gunga Din! :muscle:

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