This is superb.
Really quite eerily creepy and disturbing. An undercurrent of unease sits with you right from the beginning to the denouement. And then, as the film ends, a brand new scope of fear instils itself in you.
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First Man
Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong. What more need be said? Very good indeed.
One rocket launch, or take-off, was experienced entirely from within the cockpit, eschewing the normal wide shot to show the wonder of rockets. And it was bloody terrifying.
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Had you already seen it, Simon? Or did you watch it on my recommendation?
I had seen it already but just felt I had to chime in with similar thoughts.
Trial of the Chicago Seven
Long awaited as anything that has Aaron Sorkin’s involvement is of immediate interest. Sitting on the Netflix platform, this film starts with an editing style similar to that of Social Network, another of Sorkin’s exercises in writing masterpieces. Information flows from a variety of players, but it invites you to pay attention. And from then on, it does not let up.
Being from the UK, I must admit to not even having heard of this story. Essentially seven group leaders wish to protest against the Vietnam war, land themselves in the middle of some police brutality and find themselves in court for their troubles. But the troubles are only just commencing due to the appointment of a judge whose behaviour has to be seen to be believed.
A two hour film that in typical Sorkin style, zips past in the blink of an eye. I will be reading up on the wiki story later today.
5/5
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The Lighthouse (2019)
Filmed in black & white, dark, weird, sometimes good, sometimes just crazy, it’s worth a watch. Great acting from Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe as two lighthouse keepers in the late 1800s who struggle to maintain their sanity on a remote island during bad weather.
I’m glad I watched it but don’t think I will be watching again. I preferred The Vanishing.
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Borat 2: Subsequent Movie Film …
So funny. And kind of a sweet father-daughter story too, surprisingly. There’s a twist at the end, after the hyped Giuliani scene, that’s just brilliant.
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Cobra & Assassins - decent Stallone vehicles from last century, quite enjoyable actually.
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https://www.joblo.com/movie-news/amazon-users-dont-own-purchased-content
Now that’s a dick move only corporations pull on you.
That has always been the case* - though in practice it’s most similar to the terms on Blu-Ray/DVD/VHS which does state that only the person who purchased it can watch it. It can’t be bought for someone else, it can’t be shown in schools or youth clubs, and the purchaser can not show it to others.
With each example you had a specific memory of doing exactly that, and everyone knows that, so whilst it is in the terms that should MGM want to take back your digital copy of Goldfinger it can, it is unlikely to do so.
*I only knew that from reading I-Tunes terms and conditions whilst waiting for a new episode of Chuck to download over a very slow connection about ten years ago - the fact it was Timothy Dalton’s first appearance made it oddly relevant for where we are
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But when I buy the DVD it is in my possession. Amazon cannot come and take it away when they want.
When I buy the digital file on their platform, I expect the same. But obviously they are glad to take my money and then take away the product if they feel it is time to do so?
If that is their legal right, I expect a resurgence of buying discs again.
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The other option is store the file on a device not connected to the internet.
The fact I have over 100 blu rays, not to mention DVD’s beyond counting, will give you an idea of my totally reasonable response to reading that in 2010
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And I sold 75% of my collection, buying digital files, having NOT been aware of this…
That’s the equivalent to the people who sold all their vinyl stuff when the CD came up. The same people now go searching for the old vinyls and spoil the prices… 
I’m pretty conservative when it comes to that kind of things. When I buy a movie or a film or a book, I buy a physical copy, period. The reason? See above…
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The Invisible Man (2020) - pretty good, with excellent acting from Elisabeth Moss
Let Me In (2010) - remake of the Swedish vampire film, Let The Right One In. Dark, moody, atmospheric, well worth watching this one, and excellent performances by the two young leads.
Both of these films are just superb. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to seeing the remake but was very pleasantly surprised.
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THE CAMERAMAN (1928): 4K restoration on Blu-ray disc
Buster Keaton’s first movie for MGM, and a sublime late work. All the great Keaton qualities are present: precision, humor, restrained emotion, wit. He was able to wrangle enough control from the studio bosses and retain enough of his crew to make it a Keaton film. As always, the camera is where it needs to be, and I still find myself laughing out loud at the gags.
THE CAMERAMAN comes at the end of one of the the most prolific decades any filmmaker every had: from 1920 t0 1929, Keaton made 19 two-reelers and 12 feature films. As impressive as the greatest of these films is, what is equally, if not more astonishing to me, is the artistic threshold below which these films never fall. Jean-Luc Godard once said that “cinema is Nicholas Ray.” It is also Buster Keaton.
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Kudos for enjoying classic film art in this crucial week. I am absolutely nervous about what will happen Tuesday onwards and seem to be only able to watch horror shows because I‘m stuck in that mood.
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I hold on to the thought from our line of work, that nothing is permanent. Every decision will change for a quicker buck…even who holds the highest seat of power,
I say this as someone on a murder mystery kick. Everything has an end.
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Horror is one of the genres–the most prominent one, in fact–that eludes me. My husband can watch any and all horror movies, and can speak about the tropes, conventions, etc. as I talk about mise-en-scene. And he will watch any horror movie–no matter how bad–to the end. His current favorite is LOVECRAFT COUNTRY.
Now this is more my speed. Agatha Christie was my first “adult” author when I was twelve. I still re-read some of her works–she at times has insights and depths that are often ignored. For example, “The Hollow” is on one level a fascinating novel about women, their desires, and their strategies to survive in a patriarchal society. “After the Funeral” is another good one, and both are interesting in terms of construction. What infuriates me is that her estate is “cleaning up” her novels, and regularizing her punctuation and eliminating ellipses in new editions of her work. So if you read her, try to get older editions (which are plentiful).
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His Hawthorne series is very good.