Floyd D Barber
AV Clubber
The Train I used to Drive (not me driving, though)
Posts: 7,627
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Post by Floyd D Barber on Jan 27, 2024 17:09:58 GMT -5
Mrs. Floyd and I just caught a matinee of Poor Things. What a wonderfully batshit movie. One thing that really tickles me is that it has been nominated for 11 Oscars, yet it would have fit right in at our local drive-in back in the 70's. It feels like a glorious, big budget Hammer film. It brings joy to my heart to see something this bizarre not only getting made in this day and age, but getting honors.
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Post by pantsgoblin on Jan 29, 2024 9:55:40 GMT -5
Mrs. Floyd and I just caught a matinee of Poor Things. What a wonderfully batshit movie. One thing that really tickles me is that it has been nominated for 11 Oscars, yet it would have fit right in at our local drive-in back in the 70's. It feels like a glorious, big budget Hammer film. It brings joy to my heart to see something this bizarre not only getting made in this day and age, but getting honors. Here's a possibly weird thought I've been having surrounding this movie, which I haven't seen yet: I wonder if it's inspired by the actor and model Julie Strain. In her memoir, Strain claimed that she has no hang-ups whatsoever about sexuality because she hit her head as a child falling off a horse and she had no memory before she was 10, meaning none of the shame around sex drilled into developing children stuck.
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Post by Desert Dweller on Jan 29, 2024 13:14:20 GMT -5
Mrs. Floyd and I just caught a matinee of Poor Things. What a wonderfully batshit movie. One thing that really tickles me is that it has been nominated for 11 Oscars, yet it would have fit right in at our local drive-in back in the 70's. It feels like a glorious, big budget Hammer film. It brings joy to my heart to see something this bizarre not only getting made in this day and age, but getting honors. Here's a possibly weird thought I've been having surrounding this movie, which I haven't seen yet: I wonder if it's inspired by the actor and model Julie Strain. In her memoir, Strain claimed that she has no hang-ups whatsoever about sexuality because she hit her head as a child falling off a horse and she had no memory before she was 10, meaning none of the shame around sex drilled into developing children stuck. Given that the novel was published by a Scottish author in 1992, I'd say it is *probably* not linked? But I guess there is always the chance that he read some US porn magazines and saw this.
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Post by pantsgoblin on Jan 29, 2024 13:33:54 GMT -5
Here's a possibly weird thought I've been having surrounding this movie, which I haven't seen yet: I wonder if it's inspired by the actor and model Julie Strain. In her memoir, Strain claimed that she has no hang-ups whatsoever about sexuality because she hit her head as a child falling off a horse and she had no memory before she was 10, meaning none of the shame around sex drilled into developing children stuck. Given that the novel was published by a Scottish author in 1992, I'd say it is *probably* not linked? But I guess there is always the chance that he read some US porn magazines and saw this. Hey there, never doubt my expertise on '90s porn magazine.
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repulsionist
TI Forumite
actively disinterested
Posts: 3,650
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Post by repulsionist on Jan 29, 2024 14:14:40 GMT -5
The Waterboy (1998)
As if in preparation for Punch-Drunk Love, Sandler writes himself into a character of integrity and regularly expressed outbursts of rage. Despite the story being filled with diminutions of spirit to all comers of abnormality, integrity-focused rage wins all.
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Post by pantsgoblin on Jan 29, 2024 14:19:23 GMT -5
The Waterboy (1998) As if in preparation for Punch-Drunk Love, Sandler writes himself into a character of integrity and regularly expressed outbursts of rage. Despite the story being filled with diminutions of spirit to all comers of abnormality, integrity-focused rage wins all. Rage in that he becomes the bully? As per usual, I do not know what you're talking about (and I read the dictionary), repulsionist, but find it entertaining.
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Post by Desert Dweller on Jan 29, 2024 14:49:58 GMT -5
Given that the novel was published by a Scottish author in 1992, I'd say it is *probably* not linked? But I guess there is always the chance that he read some US porn magazines and saw this. Hey there, never doubt my expertise on '90s porn magazine. Just want to note here, I wasn't saying that is where YOU got it from. I'm saying that in 1992 that may be the only way a writer in Glasgow would have known that.
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Post by chalkdevil's night 😈 on Jan 29, 2024 15:42:36 GMT -5
The Flash (sort of) I was in a hotel all last week and it rained almost the whole time so I sort of saw most of The Flash. Sort of, for the fact that it was on HBO on TV and I turned it on, I guess maybe 45 minutes to an hour into it, right when The Flashes meet Michael Keaton Batman who is spry as hell, and then just watched the rest of it. Then, a few days later, I caught some of the beginning but was bored enough that I stopped. There's still probably 15 minutes in the middle I didn't seem. Doesn't matter though. It's just an ugly looking film. Almost every shot looks like they comped Ezra Miller's head onto a body. I mean, he plays 2 characters that are on screen together constantly, but why did it looked like both faces were pasted on. I mean, I've seen split screen TikToks that look more convincing. They make Keaton redo all the famous Batman lines. None of it makes really any sense. The Supergirl actress was pretty good. Michael Shannon appeared to be in the movie but that could also have just been a CGI double that he voiced. Or maybe he allowed them to digitally recreate his voice so he didn't have to go into a sound studio for 30 minutes. Who the hell knows anymore. And speaking of Y tu mamá también, Maribel Verdú shows up for like 2 scenes as The Flash's dead mom and she's fantastic. Way better than the movie deserves. Anyway, this is destined to end up on the forgotten trash heap of whatever TBS is showing whenever it doesn't have Big Bang Theory reruns to air.
Rebel Moon (the first bit, I guess) I watched this a week and a half ago and have already forgotten anything about it. I do remember that it's basically the plot of Space Jam, wherein Sofia Boutella travels around gathering some sort of all-star team of space fighters to fight space Nazis and then none of the all-star team interacts with each other in any way. Like, they find each person, convince them to join, and they never speak again. I can't even say Zach Snyder's shit looks good anymore. It just shot with shallow depth of field at a perpetual CGI golden hour. It's nice that they got both actors who played Dario on Game of Thrones to be in the same movie. Seems like a real get.
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Post by ganews on Jan 29, 2024 20:49:42 GMT -5
Mrs. Floyd and I just caught a matinee of Poor Things. What a wonderfully batshit movie. One thing that really tickles me is that it has been nominated for 11 Oscars, yet it would have fit right in at our local drive-in back in the 70's. It feels like a glorious, big budget Hammer film. It brings joy to my heart to see something this bizarre not only getting made in this day and age, but getting honors. Here's a possibly weird thought I've been having surrounding this movie, which I haven't seen yet: I wonder if it's inspired by the actor and model Julie Strain. In her memoir, Strain claimed that she has no hang-ups whatsoever about sexuality because she hit her head as a child falling off a horse and she had no memory before she was 10, meaning none of the shame around sex drilled into developing children stuck. Interesting theory of Strain's there, but it is hampered by the drumbeat of shame around sexuality that follows most Americans and all women long after the age of 10.
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Post by Nudeviking on Jan 29, 2024 20:51:16 GMT -5
Movies. Watched 'em. Here are words.
Krull (1983) - Krull was one of them movies I watched dozens of times in my youth but probably haven’t seen since 1992. There were things about it I remembered (the slayers and the beast, the cyclops with a spear, the old weird leading the party, the kidnapped princess, the glaive that’s not an actual glaive) and things I didn’t remember (the hero beating the beast not with the glaive but rather flaming hands, Liam Neeson being in it, the second old weird). I don’t think it’s a great movie or anything but I’ve got some nostalgia for it so it was kind of fun to revisit.
Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster (1971) - Scuba diving scientists! Japanese hippies! Sludge! Pollution based fishman hallucinations! A kid in short pants! 1970s environmentalism! Godzilla as a good guy! Gore! Very few model buildings getting smashed up! A very sad cat! This is not a good Godzilla movie but it’s one I watched a bunch as a child because the drug store near my house that had a little video rental corner had a tape of this one.
Rush Week (1989) - One half frat house comedy in the style of Animal House or Revenge of the Nerds. One half whodunit. One half slasher. Gregg Allman shows up in it as do the Dickies. There are boobs a plenty and also a battle axe fight. It is a lot of movie.
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Rainbow Rosa
TI Forumite
not gay, just colorful
Posts: 3,604
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Post by Rainbow Rosa on Jan 29, 2024 21:30:10 GMT -5
Movies. Watched 'em. Here are words. Krull (1983) - Krull was one of them movies I watched dozens of times in my youth but probably haven’t seen since 1992. There were things about it I remembered (the slayers and the beast, the cyclops with a spear, the old weird leading the party, the kidnapped princess, the glaive that’s not an actual glaive) and things I didn’t remember (the hero beating the beast not with the glaive but rather flaming hands, Liam Neeson being in it, the second old weird). I don’t think it’s a great movie or anything but I’ve got some nostalgia for it so it was kind of fun to revisit. Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster (1971) - Scuba diving scientists! Japanese hippies! Sludge! Pollution based fishman hallucinations! A kid in short pants! 1970s environmentalism! Godzilla as a good guy! Gore! Very few model buildings getting smashed up! A very sad cat! This is not a good Godzilla movie but it’s one I watched a bunch as a child because the drug store near my house that had a little video rental corner had a tape of this one. Rush Week (1989) - One half frat house comedy in the style of Animal House or Revenge of the Nerds. One half whodunit. One half slasher. Gregg Allman shows up in it as do the Dickies. There are boobs a plenty and also a battle axe fight. It is a lot of movie. Is Rush Week the threequel to Rush Hour?
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Post by Nudeviking on Jan 29, 2024 21:37:28 GMT -5
Movies. Watched 'em. Here are words. Krull (1983) - Krull was one of them movies I watched dozens of times in my youth but probably haven’t seen since 1992. There were things about it I remembered (the slayers and the beast, the cyclops with a spear, the old weird leading the party, the kidnapped princess, the glaive that’s not an actual glaive) and things I didn’t remember (the hero beating the beast not with the glaive but rather flaming hands, Liam Neeson being in it, the second old weird). I don’t think it’s a great movie or anything but I’ve got some nostalgia for it so it was kind of fun to revisit. Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster (1971) - Scuba diving scientists! Japanese hippies! Sludge! Pollution based fishman hallucinations! A kid in short pants! 1970s environmentalism! Godzilla as a good guy! Gore! Very few model buildings getting smashed up! A very sad cat! This is not a good Godzilla movie but it’s one I watched a bunch as a child because the drug store near my house that had a little video rental corner had a tape of this one. Rush Week (1989) - One half frat house comedy in the style of Animal House or Revenge of the Nerds. One half whodunit. One half slasher. Gregg Allman shows up in it as do the Dickies. There are boobs a plenty and also a battle axe fight. It is a lot of movie. Is Rush Week the threequel to Rush Hour? I wish! If it had included a bit of kung fu it would have be an absolutely perfect movie.
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Post by Ben Grimm on Jan 30, 2024 14:44:09 GMT -5
Movies. Watched 'em. Here are words. Krull (1983) - Krull was one of them movies I watched dozens of times in my youth but probably haven’t seen since 1992. There were things about it I remembered (the slayers and the beast, the cyclops with a spear, the old weird leading the party, the kidnapped princess, the glaive that’s not an actual glaive) and things I didn’t remember (the hero beating the beast not with the glaive but rather flaming hands, Liam Neeson being in it, the second old weird). I don’t think it’s a great movie or anything but I’ve got some nostalgia for it so it was kind of fun to revisit. I think Krull would have been about a thousand times better if Liam Neeson and Ken Marshall switched roles.
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ABz B👹anaz
Grandfathered In
This country is (now less of) a shitshow.
Posts: 1,945
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Post by ABz B👹anaz on Jan 30, 2024 20:09:12 GMT -5
Movies. Watched 'em. Here are words. Krull (1983) - Krull was one of them movies I watched dozens of times in my youth but probably haven’t seen since 1992. There were things about it I remembered (the slayers and the beast, the cyclops with a spear, the old weird leading the party, the kidnapped princess, the glaive that’s not an actual glaive) and things I didn’t remember (the hero beating the beast not with the glaive but rather flaming hands, Liam Neeson being in it, the second old weird). I don’t think it’s a great movie or anything but I’ve got some nostalgia for it so it was kind of fun to revisit. I think Krull would have been about a thousand times better if Liam Neeson and Ken Marshall switched roles. What you're saying is he wasn't Kenough for the main character role?
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Post by DangOlJimmyITellYouWhat on Jan 30, 2024 22:57:57 GMT -5
Free Guy is basically a live-action Lego Movie and it’s dumb but also kinda sweet and very low stakes imo, very much what I want when I don’t want to think. Ryan Reynolds does his thing juuust enough, and never quite manages to tip into grating.
Also as a little treat for myself, I shall go on believing the cameo is actually Rogers, not Evans.
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Post by pantsgoblin on Jan 31, 2024 8:39:05 GMT -5
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) Caught as part of a classic films series at a local college. My first Cassavetes as a writer-director though I'm familiar with his acting via Rosemary's Baby and Mikey & Nicky. In very many ways, it's a film about acting a part in life. Ben Gazzara leads as Cosmo, the owner of a revue-style L.A. strip club and Gazzara was reportedly miserable playing such a scummy character. However, while there's plenty of the sociopathy-level raffishness that you'd associate with this type (including the compulsive gambling that lands him hopelessly in debt to the mob) this a more multidimensional character. Cosmo is unfailingly courtly and gives his employees, particularly his girls, a secure, relatively respectful workplace. A monologue late in the film makes clear he considers his business the family he had never had growing up. It's why he's willing to go to lengths including the titular killing to preserve the way of life, though it costs him direly, including the maternal relationship with the mother of his favorite dancer and possibly worse given the open-ended conclusion. Anyway, very '70s--long, arty, rambling--but a fun showcase of Cassavetes regulars like Seymour Cassel and the eternally bizarre Timothy Carey.
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Post by chalkdevil's night 😈 on Feb 1, 2024 14:33:59 GMT -5
Past Lives (2023) Hey look, I've seen 3 whole best picture nominees so far. Look at me, zeitgeisting. Anyway, this was a very nice little movie. Well acted. An interesting point of view, if not a particularly unique plot, it approaches it differently than most scripts would default to. And it has pretty people with actually chemistry staring longingly at each other. It made me think of In the Mood for Love, but was sadly missing the amazing soundtrack and lyrical filmmaking. Anyway, it was quite nice, even though I watched it on a plane.
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Post by Desert Dweller on Feb 1, 2024 22:29:03 GMT -5
Past Lives (2023)Hey look, I've seen 3 whole best picture nominees so far. Look at me, zeitgeisting. Anyway, this was a very nice little movie. Well acted. An interesting point of view, if not a particularly unique plot, it approaches it differently than most scripts would default to. And it has pretty people with actually chemistry staring longingly at each other. It made me think of In the Mood for Love, but was sadly missing the amazing soundtrack and lyrical filmmaking. Anyway, it was quite nice, even though I watched it on a plane. Yes. I loved the performances of Greta Lee and Teo Yoo. They really sold it, even though the script was a bit sparse.
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Feb 4, 2024 11:53:47 GMT -5
What pure, fun trash. In fact, the boring bits are when it's not being trashy enough. (And there are some boring bits...Roger wasn't so great with plot.) But the party scenes are wild evocations of 1970, the bit characters are winningly goofy, the square bad guy Porter Hall is oh so squirmily square (both a walking D.A.R.E. ad and a creeper waiting to creep), and the music is great... Roger Ebert's screenplay suffers a lot from overwriting (the poor actors are trying to cram in twice as many words as people would usually say) and the big plot twist at the end really muddies up the politics of the picture. It's a gently feminist account of female friendship and survival in the face of male creepiness/exploitation...and a definite example of male gaze exploitation...and a gay love story...and is it transphobic? Huh, I dunno, best to not think about any of that! No thinking, just watching. Waiting for lines like "It's my happening and it freaks me out!" and moments like a girl thinking about Bentleys mid-sex. Four more thoughts. One, I thought Z-Man's character was ridiculous and dumb until reading online that he's based on Phil Spector. Not only did they skewer the guy...they even predicted he's a murderer. Dang. Two, it was fun to follow along the Criterion edition's cover art going, "Hey, it's that character!" Three, this definitely gave me Boogie Nights vibes. Like a LOT. Four, the lead actress (Kelly)'s barely disguised English accent was very cute. (But the prettiest girl here is Marcia McBroom.)
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repulsionist
TI Forumite
actively disinterested
Posts: 3,650
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Post by repulsionist on Feb 4, 2024 14:43:44 GMT -5
Muppets from Space (1999)
Characterised by Muppet makers as "less than admirable", this film lands different 25 years later. Awesome funky soundtrack including James Brown and Parliament. Final answer regarding Gonzo. Sweet cameos.
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Excellent cinematography of Arizona and California. Not so loveable crank Charlton Heston finds out humanity finally sent themselves to the shitter.
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Post by pantsgoblin on Feb 4, 2024 15:01:37 GMT -5
Planet of the Apes (1968) Excellent cinematography of Arizona and California. Not so loveable crank Charlton Heston finds out humanity finally sent themselves to the shitter. Obnoxious and pedantic point of order: much of Planet was actually shot around Kanab, UT and Glen Canyon/Lake Powell. I visited Kanab a couple years back and they have fun info signs along the main drag of all the films, mostly Westerns, shot around there, including, for my money, Eastwood's best The Outlaw Josey Wales.
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Post by Prole Hole on Feb 5, 2024 4:10:17 GMT -5
Mrs. Floyd and I just caught a matinee of Poor Things. What a wonderfully batshit movie. One thing that really tickles me is that it has been nominated for 11 Oscars, yet it would have fit right in at our local drive-in back in the 70's. It feels like a glorious, big budget Hammer film. It brings joy to my heart to see something this bizarre not only getting made in this day and age, but getting honors. I know nothing about this movie at all except that I've heard it described as, " Barbie for people who listen to Bjork." Fair assessment?
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Post by Lurky McLurk on Feb 5, 2024 7:00:40 GMT -5
Movies. I watched 'em. Here are words. Creepozoids (1987) - This was an extremely weird movie. It’s post-apocalyptic but honestly that fact has almost no impact on the plot at all since all the action is set in an abandoned laboratory where strange genetic experiments had been talking place. Instead of Mad Max shit or wasteland wanderers you get mutant stuffed animal rats, Linnea Quigley’s boobs, acid rain, laser guns, a store brand xenomorph, talk about amino acids, military deserters, and a final climactic battle between an army dude and a creepy-ass baby. Is it a good movie? Hell no! This is gloriously goopy USA Up All Night trash horror and that shit kind of rules. Shaolin Soccer (2001) - Marrying kung fu mysticism, slapstick comedy and an underdog sports story Shaolin Soccer is an absolute blast. I don't think it quite reaches the heights of Stephen Chow's magnum opus, Kung Fu Hustle, but it's still pretty great. The cast is solid and there are some genuinely funny bits to it and there's enough weirdness going on that even though the plot is your cliche "Bad News Bears / Major League / Mighty Ducks loser sports team triumphs over assholes" underdog sports movie it's not really boring. I mean a dude kicks a soccer ball with such power that it causes a goalie's clothes to disintegrate at one point. If I have one complaint about this it's that the CGI, of which there's a fair amount, is pretty janky even by early 2000s standards but it's a pretty minor issue in the grand scheme of things. Love Shaolin Soccer. Favourite bit is when the goalie - who looks and is dressed like Bruce Lee - gets stretchered off, and the rest of the team stand around with their heads bowed, talking about what an inspiration he was for them and they wouldn't be there without him.
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Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Feb 5, 2024 12:10:37 GMT -5
Mrs. Floyd and I just caught a matinee of Poor Things. What a wonderfully batshit movie. One thing that really tickles me is that it has been nominated for 11 Oscars, yet it would have fit right in at our local drive-in back in the 70's. It feels like a glorious, big budget Hammer film. It brings joy to my heart to see something this bizarre not only getting made in this day and age, but getting honors. I know nothing about this movie at all except that I've heard it described as, " Barbie for people who listen to Bjork." Fair assessment? Ha, kind of. It’s also an adaptation of Alasdair Gray’s reworking of Frankenstein.
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Floyd D Barber
AV Clubber
The Train I used to Drive (not me driving, though)
Posts: 7,627
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Post by Floyd D Barber on Feb 5, 2024 13:14:53 GMT -5
Mrs. Floyd and I just caught a matinee of Poor Things. What a wonderfully batshit movie. One thing that really tickles me is that it has been nominated for 11 Oscars, yet it would have fit right in at our local drive-in back in the 70's. It feels like a glorious, big budget Hammer film. It brings joy to my heart to see something this bizarre not only getting made in this day and age, but getting honors. I know nothing about this movie at all except that I've heard it described as, " Barbie for people who listen to Bjork." Fair assessment? I can see that. I still believe that it could credibly be thought of as what a big budget Hammer film from the 70's would be like, if such a thing existed. Roger Corman might have made this film, if he had had the money, although I suppose he would have made 10 movies instead.
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Rainbow Rosa
TI Forumite
not gay, just colorful
Posts: 3,604
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Post by Rainbow Rosa on Feb 5, 2024 22:17:46 GMT -5
Mrs. Floyd and I just caught a matinee of Poor Things. What a wonderfully batshit movie. One thing that really tickles me is that it has been nominated for 11 Oscars, yet it would have fit right in at our local drive-in back in the 70's. It feels like a glorious, big budget Hammer film. It brings joy to my heart to see something this bizarre not only getting made in this day and age, but getting honors. I know nothing about this movie at all except that I've heard it described as, " Barbie for people who listen to Bjork." Fair assessment? I could not possibly confirm this, but I have been told that the source material for this film is apparently an extremely unsubtle allegory for Scottish nationalism, and that the film adaptation is very much not about that at all.
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Floyd D Barber
AV Clubber
The Train I used to Drive (not me driving, though)
Posts: 7,627
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Post by Floyd D Barber on Feb 5, 2024 22:30:11 GMT -5
I know nothing about this movie at all except that I've heard it described as, " Barbie for people who listen to Bjork." Fair assessment? I could not possibly confirm this, but I have been told that the source material for this film is apparently an extremely unsubtle allegory for Scottish nationalism, and that the film adaptation is very much not about that at all. I don't know about any of this. I thought at first it was going to be a gritty rebooting of The Wizard of Oz because the first part is in black and white, but although later it had lots of pretty colors, it also had lots of boobs, so it's probably not that. I stand by my characterization of it as a big budget tribute to Hammer films from the 70's. I did not at all pick up on the Scottish nationalism thing.
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Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Feb 6, 2024 4:17:15 GMT -5
I know nothing about this movie at all except that I've heard it described as, " Barbie for people who listen to Bjork." Fair assessment? I could not possibly confirm this, but I have been told that the source material for this film is apparently an extremely unsubtle allegory for Scottish nationalism, and that the film adaptation is very much not about that at all. I’ve read the book, and I won’t pretend to understand Scottish politics well enough to weigh in on author Alasdair Gray’s views beyond the fact that apparently his nationalism had a lot to do with the deterioration of the British welfare state and his pessimism re: ever seeing a socialist Britain. That said, I think your characterization is a reductive in that it’s about a lot more than just Scottish nationalism. There’s a lot more going on, particularly insofar as it’s also effectively a retelling of Frankenstein that’s reckoning with the fact that it’s a retelling of a book by a woman and it has feminist leanings and yet the author of this book is a man. Also a lot about 19th Century political thought that really gets flattened into “socialists vs. reactionaries” in the film. I liked the movie, even if it’s not my favorite Lanthimos film by a long shot, but also the book is very good and very weird in its own way and probably better even though I know very little about Scottish nationalism beyond a vague sense that an independent Scotland would probably(?) be not much likelier to be a socialist country than the UK.
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Post by haysoos on Feb 6, 2024 11:26:11 GMT -5
Muppets from Space (1999) Characterised by Muppet makers as "less than admirable", this film lands different 25 years later. Awesome funky soundtrack including James Brown and Parliament. Final answer regarding Gonzo. Sweet cameos. Planet of the Apes (1968) Excellent cinematography of Arizona and California. Not so loveable crank Charlton Heston finds out humanity finally sent themselves to the shitter. I categorically refuse to believe that Muppets from Space is 25 years old.
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Post by Jean-Luc Lemur on Feb 6, 2024 20:11:58 GMT -5
A Confucian Conmfusion reminds me a bit of a Jeeves novel with no Jeeves—a number of young characters ready to be paired off with their problems resolved but it never happens. This can be an artistic statement on the messiness of life, of course, but here it felt more like Yang pulled up to the pier and didn’t bother finishing his knots. That doesn’t negate the film’s qualities, though. The characters are appealing—like in other Yang films they’re not comfortable in their roles, but they’re also abstracted in a romantic comedy or comedy-of-manners type that keeps us from really feeling their discomfort. Larry stands out though, as perfectly pitched for this film in his brand of confident malice-and-ignorance. He might be one of my favorite comic villains (or “villains”) with a perfect exit from the film. He’s so great: look at him, on the left, giving one of the primary protagonists bad advice about women and business while tying his tie for him. It’s perfect performance of competence and comradery but he’s spouting what turns out to be utter bullshit: We just have to settle for watching and enjoying—the problem is we know we can get more for Yang. The film looks as good as any Yang, though, and pictures will stick in your mind (the exagerratedly-frugal scholar’s apartment for me in particular).
Diabolique. This is perhaps one of those movies where the reputation was so high (compared to Hitchcock in his prime—Clouzot actually outbid Hitchcock for the story, and Hitchcock both commissioned the original author for Vertigo and Psycho was an attempt to repeat Diabolique’s tone) it was impossible for the film to follow—for most of it I followed it more with interest than suspense. The final scenes, though—this is one where the ending made the film. Ne soyez pas Diaboliques!
The Parralax View. Am I alone in thinking Warren Beatty is just a black hole for charisma? Is it unfair that two of the other stars in the 70s political thriller firmament—Three Days of the Condor and All the President’s Men—star Robert Redford, raising my expectations so much? Redford’s character in Condor does some bad things, but being around Beatty here feels scuzzy, but not in a compelling way, not a dangerous way, but like sitting next to someone slightly unpleasant (but easy to ignore) on the bus. A journalist who might be antisocial enough to be an assassin is an interesting concept (if that was even part of the concept), but Beatty just doesn’t offer anything.
The film’s also hurt by its more “grounded” approach. That works in All the President’s Men, of course, and it takes real artistry to make that seem real. There’s real visual artistry here, but it’s heightened—nearly every space here is thrilling and beautifully composed (I wish I’d seen it in a theater, there’s such a sense of space) but there needs to be a heightened tone to match. Like many thrillers if you take the Parallax View apart it’s pretty silly (The parallax View even engages in some very low-grade silliness—look at the fight in Salmon Tail) and it needs energy to get through it. The quotidian tone—and Beatty’s boring performance—kill it.
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