View Poll Results: Never Rarely Sometimes Always

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Thread: Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Eliza Hittman)

  1. #1
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    Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Eliza Hittman)

    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

  2. #2
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    That outstanding titular scene is the film in a single concentrated-dose nutshell: director Eliza Hittman's fly-on-the-wall realism, which at first glance seems distant, reveals an immensely tender heart by never wavering away from her character; it infers (rather than tells) in viewers understanding and empathy about these situations. Hittman trusts in gestures in between silence to convey a lived-in experience, especially in this film a female viewpoint of accumulated everyday transgressions. In the two actresses here, she manages to find the great performances for just that, with Sidney Flanigan and Talia Ryder managing to tell a lifetime of friendship mostly through being in the presence of each other quietly. 8/10
    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

  3. #3
    Cinematographer Mal's Avatar
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    I wasn't the biggest fan of Beach Rats a few years back, so I was wary this would achieve its goal of being a slice of life drama with engaging elements for me as a viewer. Luckily, this succeeded beyond my expectations and then some. Big statement, but this is probably one of the most important films to be released in the last few years; a modern American companion to 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days- showing how the female experience for legal healthcare still has many roadblocks for young women when it is their right to get what they need to live their lives and feel general safety. I'm glad I didn't see this in a theater- frankly, I would have bit my nails and cried the entire time. It is a struggle to be a woman sometimes in a world that doesn't feel you know how to do what is right for you and your body- and for many, many people, the option of choice isn't even there despite legality. Fantastic acting from these young women, a stellar film. Another companion for this would the HBO documentary 12th and Delaware.

  4. #4
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
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    Never Rarely Sometimes Always


    Barbarian - ***
    Bones and All - ***
    Tar - **


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  5. #5
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
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    On one hand, I think this would be a good piece for teenagers, male and female, to see the stress and emotional weight that the process of an abortion puts someone through.

    On the other hand, it follows as obvious of a trail as one can predict. The supporting characters' actions are obvious.

    Thankfully, the two lead performances are both affecting. The scene for which the title comes from is the heaviest, and I still think it would be good for young people to see this.

    Barbarian - ***
    Bones and All - ***
    Tar - **


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  6. #6
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    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

  7. #7
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
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    Barbarian - ***
    Bones and All - ***
    Tar - **


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  8. #8
    Super Moderator dreamdead's Avatar
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    As E wrote, this one isn't especially surprising as the journey to New York soon overwhelms the cousins, showcasing the difficulties and impediments that exist to prevent some larger form of autonomy. In that sense, Hittman's film is more thorough than nuanced, cataloging how quickly a sketch of an idea can be overwhelmed by a complication. Where it succeeds is in charting the expansiveness of that degradation--from grocery store managers and customers who feel entitled, to anonymous strangers on a bus, to protestors who show scorn and self-righteous pride rather than empathy. We see the degree to which kindness is understood as transactional in this scenario, and how Autumn only really reveals herself for one unbroken scene. And that scene is, as others have noted, devastating in how it showcases new dimensions that have been under wraps the whole time. I like the framing of Autumn holding Skylar's fingers as Skylar does what she needs to do in order to secure bus money back...

    There are a few instances where I wish the film was a bit more willing to treat its secondary characters less as cameos--the nurse who interviews Autumn and holds her hand, her stepfather--to provide just a bit more complication to this arc, but that would alter the fly-on-the-wall approach. Excellent film if perhaps--and dispiriting in its gendered interrogation--unsurprising.
    The Boat People - 9
    The Power of the Dog - 7.5
    The King of Pigs - 7

  9. #9
    Body Double Rico's Avatar
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    It's a little too over the top in its portrayal of men. The store manager, the guy in the subway, the step-dad. Like I get it, men are bad. But if these scenes would be a little more subtle I feel they would have a bigger impact.

  10. #10
    Guttenbergian Pop Trash's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Rico (view post)
    It's a little too over the top in its portrayal of men. The store manager, the guy in the subway, the step-dad. Like I get it, men are bad. But if these scenes would be a little more subtle I feel they would have a bigger impact.

    I felt the same way. I think Kelly Reichardt is a woman filmmaker who writes and directs men well. Eliza Hittman could learn a thing or two from her. I don't know what I got out of this. For these types of "naturalistic" indie films (dingy lighting, handheld -but not too shaky handheld- camerawork, lots of medium closeups) to work at all for me they have to not hit any bum notes (Sound of Metal is a good recent example) and this felt schematically designed to use shitty men to prove a point every five minutes. Some of it (especially the slobbery hand kisser manager at the two girls' work) really took me out of the movie to the point where I wondered what store would a manager be able to get away with that for too long?

    I don't know. The lead actress is really good, but too much of this felt like an after school special for people who are already pro choice. I doubt any pro lifers would bother watching this to begin with. This might be good for younger people, but at my age these types of depressing indie miserablism have to be really good with either form or content and I don't see that here.
    Ratings on a 1-10 scale for your pleasure:

    Top Gun: Maverick - 8
    Top Gun - 7
    McCabe & Mrs. Miller - 8
    Crimes of the Future - 8
    Videodrome - 9
    Valley Girl - 8
    Summer of '42 - 7
    In the Line of Fire - 8
    Passenger 57 - 7
    Everything Everywhere All at Once - 6



  11. #11
    White Tiger Field Stay Puft's Avatar
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    I probably shouldn't have watched this right after The Assistant; I felt like I just set myself up for a double dose of political didacticism and that made this viewing experience a little frustrating. I did like this more than The Assistant, as I did enjoy the central performances and felt some steps of Autumn's journey, and particularly her inner turmoil and outward silence, were effectively dramatized, or at the very least achieved some emotional affect (the titular scene, as Peng talks about, hits like a ton of bricks). I also appreciate that Hittman finds some nice visual notes, like a visceral camera pan during the first sonogram, the metaphor with the chicken game, and the symbolism of Autumn reaching for Skylar's hand at the end; small details, but they go a long way. For all of that, I voted yay. But it's a mild yay; I do think that overall, Hittman's fly on the wall aesthetic is frequently at odds with the deliberate schematism of her narrative. In that sense, I wound up having the exact same problem with both The Assistant and Never Rarely Sometimes Always: it's one thing to make didactic art, but maybe find a genre that better suits it? I can't help but feel there's an irreconcilability between its aesthetic realism and didactic content, which I think is the fundamental source problem of Rico and Pop Trash's criticisms above me; I spent about an hour last night reading reviews of this to try to unpack some of my own ambivalence, but so far Michael Sicinski's lb review is the only one I've read that specifically addresses this, the way Hittman's storytelling gets really muddled as she fluctuates between withholding or suggesting information and then blatantly signposting other information, between trusting her audience to fill in the blanks in one scene and then bludgeoning them to death in another scene. It's not as didactic as Green's film but it is similarly limited by that (discordant?) relationship between form and content; successful only really as ideological statement, much less so as narrative drama. But, sure, I agreed the fuck out of it.
    Giving up in 2020. Who cares.

    maɬni – towards the ocean, towards the shore (Sky Hopinka) ***½
    Without Remorse (Stefano Sollima) *½
    The Marksman (Robert Lorenz) **
    Beckett (Ferdinando Cito Filomarino) *½
    Night Hunter (David Raymond) *

  12. #12
    collecting tapes Skitch's Avatar
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    I dont know one single detail about this movie and auto-hate it because of the title. Ditto the 4 M word magda Marlene whatever movie from few years ago.

    Why yes, I can be triggered by petty nonsense. Titles like these make me feel akin to a cat getting petted against the grain.

  13. #13
    White Tiger Field Stay Puft's Avatar
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    It is a peculiar title but having now seen the film, I think it's pretty great. Certainly, this has to be the best instance of the Family Guy meme anybody is going to experience in 2020.
    Giving up in 2020. Who cares.

    maɬni – towards the ocean, towards the shore (Sky Hopinka) ***½
    Without Remorse (Stefano Sollima) *½
    The Marksman (Robert Lorenz) **
    Beckett (Ferdinando Cito Filomarino) *½
    Night Hunter (David Raymond) *

  14. #14
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Stay Puft (view post)
    It is a peculiar title but having now seen the film, I think it's pretty great. Certainly, this has to be the best instance of the Family Guy meme anybody is going to experience in 2020.
    YES to that meme lol.

    Barbarian - ***
    Bones and All - ***
    Tar - **


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  15. #15
    Guttenbergian Pop Trash's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Stay Puft (view post)
    It is a peculiar title but having now seen the film, I think it's pretty great. Certainly, this has to be the best instance of the Family Guy meme anybody is going to experience in 2020.
    I like the title esp. w/ the context of the scene. Trying to figure out a movie title is hard if you've ever attempted to write a screenplay (or even any novel or story). I think this one is rather clever.

    I also like Martha Marcy May Marlene & The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. I guess I just like long titles.

    My response to this might be a bit harsh. It's a well meaning film, but I can't get behind the glowing response from critics. It's number two on indiewire's critics' poll for 2020.
    Last edited by Pop Trash; 01-23-2021 at 05:29 PM.
    Ratings on a 1-10 scale for your pleasure:

    Top Gun: Maverick - 8
    Top Gun - 7
    McCabe & Mrs. Miller - 8
    Crimes of the Future - 8
    Videodrome - 9
    Valley Girl - 8
    Summer of '42 - 7
    In the Line of Fire - 8
    Passenger 57 - 7
    Everything Everywhere All at Once - 6



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