Movie Theater DiaryQuoting Donald Glover
- This seems more like a mood exercise for Tom Ford (which he nails) than a fully cohered story idea.
- I liked A Single Man better.
- Jake Gyllenhaal is my favorite version of Leonardo DiCaprio these days.
- Going to see two Amy Adams movies only a couple of days apart has further convinced my previous belief that you can throw her in whatever kind of movie you want and she would not be the slightest bit out of place in them.
- Michael Shannon is the dramatic equivalent of Norm MacDonald and he is equally as perfect in every way.
Movie Theater DiaryQuoting Donald Glover
I want to see this so badly. Have you seen it yet, 8? I look forward to your review.
"We eventually managed to find them near Biskupin, where demonstrations of prehistoric farming are organized. These oxen couldn't be transported to anywhere else, so we had to built the entire studio around them. A scene that lasted twenty-something seconds took us a year and a half to prepare."
Big fan of this. Like a mix of Lynch, No Country for Old Men, and an old romance movie. Lots of little details that should bring up discussion. Still trying to connect the dots of it all, but was enthralled throughout.
Hope Ford does more movies.
Holy shit, this movie was sooo good. Pretty much loved everything about this film. Definitely one of the year's best!
While I didn't LOVE LOVE this movie, there is so much to admire in the entire production and execution. It felt like so many things to me at the same time and all of them were earned. Michael Shannon continues to wow.
On reflection, it's weird that the best part of the movie is a fictional store within the fictional movie. Not sure if that means anything really.Quoting Zac Efron (view post)
Probably one of my favorites of the year, all said and done.
Hope Ford doesn't take as long of a period between movies next time.
Fictional store?
Movie Theater DiaryQuoting Donald Glover
oops.Quoting number8 (view post)
From what may be the worst opening credits of all time to the ineffective whimper of an ending, this was a total slog. Fine acting can't save it from being an incoherent, droning misery-fest that takes all the wrong cues from 21-Grams-era Inarritu while inserting a ludicrous amount of blunt psycho-symbolism and close-ups of unhappy people. Probably my least favorite movie I've seen this year.
Not my least favorite movie of the year, but definitely one of the most disappointing. As good as the acting is, the story-within-a-story was riddled with cliches, while the riveting Amy Adams dramatically reading was full of surface-level substance. The opening credits were probably my favorite part of the whole thing for their outlandishness and surrealism. It's a shame that the rest of the movie didn't have more of that.Quoting Idioteque Stalker (view post)
Last Five Films I've Seen (Out of 5)
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse (Mackesy, 2022) 4.5
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (Crawford, 2022) 4
Confess, Fletch (Mottola, 2022) 3.5
M3GAN (Johnstone, 2023) 3.5
Turning Red (Shi, 2022) 4.5
Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953) 5
615 Film
Letterboxd
Not my least favorite movie of the year, but definitely one of the most disappointing. As good as the acting is, the story-within-a-story was riddled with cliches, while the riveting main story of Amy Adams dramatically reading was full of surface-level substance. The opening credits were probably my favorite part of the whole thing for their outlandishness and surrealism. It's a shame that the rest of the movie didn't follow that up with something as daring or interesting.Quoting Idioteque Stalker (view post)
Last Five Films I've Seen (Out of 5)
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse (Mackesy, 2022) 4.5
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (Crawford, 2022) 4
Confess, Fletch (Mottola, 2022) 3.5
M3GAN (Johnstone, 2023) 3.5
Turning Red (Shi, 2022) 4.5
Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953) 5
615 Film
Letterboxd
60/100
Tries to be both a high-minded analysis of the suffocating effect of social expectation on love, lust, and marriage and a pulpy dive into backwater B-movie stereotypes, it is only really the latter that works, even though it only works BECAUSE of the existence of all those scenes with Amy Adams looking mildly perplexed into middle distance.
Let me explain. One of the things that I find lets down a lot of otherwise fun grindhouse nonsense is that even the best of these films usually run out of ideas, or make you suffer through lulls between show-off setpieces (see for example the film I saw immediately after this, Blood Father). Here, however, Ford is able to direct the hell out of effective set pieces (the entire kidnapping sequence is very well done) and then just cut back to Adams pensively staring at a wall. That way, the pulp nonsense holds up all the way through, and we can channel our dissatisfaction with the film as a whole to the rather shallow exploration of artistic drive and social pressure to conform.
I think the film would have actually worked better if the two stories had been intercut without any knowledge that one was a book until right near the end (yes, it could have come across as a gotcha twist, but I think it would have allowed for more investment in the rather prosaic real-world scenes as we try to figure out why there are two Gyllenhaals and why no-one thought of casting Isla Fisher as an Amy Adams facsimile before).
Last 10 Movies Seen
(90+ = canonical, 80-89 = brilliant, 70-79 = strongly recommended, 60-69 = good, 50-59 = mixed, 40-49 = below average with some good points, 30-39 = poor, 20-29 = bad, 10-19 = terrible, 0-9 = soul-crushingly inept in every way)
Run (2020) 64
The Whistlers (2019) 55
Pawn (2020) 62
Matilda (1996) 37
The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976) 61
Moby Dick (2011) 50
Soul (2020) 64
Heroic Duo (2003) 55
A Moment of Romance (1990) 61
As Tears Go By (1988) 65
Stuff at Letterboxd
Listening Habits at LastFM
Great elements in isolation (Jake Gyllenhaal's performance, MVP Michael Shannon, Laura Linney's hair, the final shot, and so on) that never quite cohere to make its hollow core, even if by design, resonating enough, although that final shot helps rally up a bit. Must say the matching of the novel's more disturbing passages to the offense(s) in the framing story that initiated the creativity-as-revenge gives me major skeevy. It really would help if we have even a tiny bit of Gyllenhaal's perspective in the present timeframe too, because as is this feels like the film shifts its judgemental attitude, including some real bad implication along with it, onto Amy Adams too much.
Midnight Run (1988) - 9
The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) - 8.5
The Adventures of Robinhood (1938) - 8
Sisters (1973) - 6.5
Shin Godzilla (2016) - 7.5
Spoiler-y I guess, since I talk about the ending in broadstrokes.
Yeah I think I really liked it just about up until the end. It just feels like it should ramp up to a real-world conclusion as impactful as anything in the book, and I realize it's kinda its point that it doesn't. But at the same time ―and I realize the movies were made at similar times to this just be one of those cosmic movie-making coincidences ― I think its final image and similar ideas surrounding it were done almost exactly and much more stunningly for the ending of a film that was nominated at the Oscars for Best Original Screenplay that I think seeing it again without the same weight or thematic perfection just made it sit their hollowly for me. [] I just don't think it says anything the film hadn't already said to that point for it to put so much emphasis on it as its closer. (I even have issues with the book's ending too, but that's a whole other story.)
Basically I'm pretty in line with what most of you said, in the liked it to the in-the-middle range.
Gyllenhaal was really good but if anyone needs to play more than one role in a film it's Shannon. Side note, I didn't think I could be bigger fan of him, but then back in September at TIFF seeing him in-person inside the Gala for Loving and then unexpectedly right after that on the big block-wide carpet for this (which I didn't end up watching until last night) the same night kinda confirmed he is just the awesome goofy, perfectly awkward, and genuine dude you'd hope to witness. Sadly, I didn't see him the night before.
Last 11 things I really enjoyed:
Speed Racer (Wachowski/Wachowski, 2008)
Safe (Haynes, 1995)
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Parker, 1999)
Beastie Boys Story (Jonze, 2020)
Bad Trip (Sakurai, 2020)
What's Up Doc? (Bogdanovich, 1972)
Diva (Beineix, 1981)
Delicatessen (Caro/Jeunet, 1991)
The Hunger (Scott, 1983)
Pineapple Express (Green, 2008)
Chungking Express (Wong, 1994)
Wait, how do you mean? That they both end with images of a woman sitting alone in a restaurant? How do you view that as thematically similar?Quoting Henry Gale (view post)
Well, the endings aren't doppelgangers, but this one's instantly made me think of the other. Also that []Quoting Irish (view post)
Last 11 things I really enjoyed:
Speed Racer (Wachowski/Wachowski, 2008)
Safe (Haynes, 1995)
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Parker, 1999)
Beastie Boys Story (Jonze, 2020)
Bad Trip (Sakurai, 2020)
What's Up Doc? (Bogdanovich, 1972)
Diva (Beineix, 1981)
Delicatessen (Caro/Jeunet, 1991)
The Hunger (Scott, 1983)
Pineapple Express (Green, 2008)
Chungking Express (Wong, 1994)
That's very cool. Quoted to draw attention -- I never would have picked up on the similarity between those two images.Quoting Henry Gale (view post)
(I don't quite agree on some of the details, but who cares?)
This is another movie I wish I watched before the Oscars. Loved this.
I dont understand this criticism. Please explain.Quoting number8 (view post)
It was a praise, not a criticism. I find their intensity-oriented acting style very similar and I think Gyllenhaal does it better.Quoting Dukefrukem (view post)
Movie Theater DiaryQuoting Donald Glover
All 5 of your posts were positive, then why did you Nay the movie?Quoting number8 (view post)
Because I didn't think it was a good movie. My first two bullet points were not positive statements, and the next three were just about the actors.
Movie Theater DiaryQuoting Donald Glover
I admit being confused by the ending too, because while it's perfectly anticlimatic and in tone with the downer feel of the movie, I was invested enough in the real timeframe as to expect... an ending.
Other than that I was very engrossed even as the metaphoric qualities of the novel became more obvious. It's a hell of a directorial effort and the ensemble is so very good.