The Big Knife
It’s like Sweet Smell of Success but it’s Rod Steiger and Jack
Palance yelling at each other. Often in a way that sounds like they should just
fuck it out.
A Pure Formality
It’s certainly one of the more interesting neonoir that I’ve seen.
It’s easy to see why Polanski was cast as the cop but Depardieu puts in a lot
of work as the suspect. It’s quite the dance to see Depardieu take the steps of
yeah probably guilty to oh totally guilty to wait maybe he’s really an amnesiac
to oh yeah writers are deeply weird people to what we get at the end. The
filmmaking was a lot more interesting than the story in many ways but I’m glad
that I finally saw it.
Fireworks Wednesday (Chaharshanbe Suri)
My first Asghar Farhadi film so it was great to check one out
finally. The maid played by Taraneh Alidoosti was the perfect intermediary
between these couples. So while I expected the usual family drama what it
became through her eyes was something fresher. The outsider who learns or
deduces the secrets of others is one of my favorite tropes so it was fun to see
it play out here.
Elle
How close of cousins are intimacy and trauma? Or are they much
closer? What about love and betrayal? What are the intimacies of betrayal?
You’ve got characters here doing a lot of this at once. How do you reconcile
all these differing sides of people? This is why Huppert is so fascinating:
she’s well aware of what she’s doing and then sometimes not even if it’s an intuitive
hunch. She’s the character through whom you see these parallels and the duality
of people is the film’s big theme. I thought it worked really well. The rape
scene - and flashbacks - are hardly as grimdark as I’d feared. They hit Huppert
like a very intrusive thought train so content warning indeed but we’re not
talking torture porn. What this says about her trauma and how it informs her
sexuality is something else but there I think the film handles it subtly. But
I’m not about to praise the film without offering anyone a little warning. Cos
while it’s Verhoeven by way of Chabrol it’s still Verhoeven. It’s not any worse
than Black Book let me say. So if you’ve seen that one you may be good to go.
Blade Runner 2049
The film’s problem in a nutshell: Deckard looks at “Rachel” in
that scene where Wallace tempts him and says in angry dismissal “Her eyes were
green.” By the way, we could have been spared Leto if he’d been eliminated in
favor of Sylvia Hoeks as Luv as the one going after Deckard. It’d have made
more sense, gave her character a lot more motivation, and spared us some truly
tired visionary genius schtick.
Jem and the Holograms
The guy who wrote this needs to go back to film school and also
get several drinks thrown at him. The actors try - they try - but the writing
is the worst offense. So I’m not surprised the film failed. Oh, and all the
goddam YouTube videos! But on top of that now we’ll never see more of Kesha as
Pizzazz so thanks a lot.
Married To The Mob
The best parts: Michelle Pfeiffer, the scene where Dean Stockwell
recalls how he recognizes Matthew Modine, and Modine’s cat feeding contraption.
Oh, and Michelle Pfeiffer.
Mimosas
One of the most beautiful movies I’ve ever seen. It’s almost like
the Malick version of Mad Max Fury Road but even better. It’s got wide, silent
vistas - seriously, the light and space captured as the cars move through the
desert is breathtaking - and an assured poetry of place and characterization
that feels like a small miracle. I go to a very serene place just thinking
about this movie.
Ponette
This just might be the perfect Easter movie. Also it’s kinda a
documentary about children being terrible to each other but also weird anyway
cos they’re all just six years old. Kids wondering about death and Jesus can’t
help but be morbid at times tho. The acting feels very untutored - I can’t
imagine how many takes were needed - so it stays rather unpredictable. The last
scene is very Spirit of the Beehive so if you loved Erice’s film there’s a
great chance you’ll find this Ponette as intriguing and moving.
Beyonce at Coachella
A pyramid full of musicians with dancers in front and then Beyonce
in front of that. Busby Berkeley could only dream of this. And lord what a
dream.
Lover For A Day (L’amant d’un
jour)
Garrel leans on some bitches be cray storytelling unfortunately
but the interrelations between the three main characters helped to distinguish
it from Garrel’s usual tale of two lovers who implode.
In The Shadow Of Women
(L'ombre des femmes)
This was enjoyable because the couple actually had decent
chemistry. And the man’s side piece also had some personality. Also the wife
had a side piece which made the story a lot more interesting than just the dude
cheating. Also how great is it that they got back together because they hated
the same guy?
Jealousy (La jalousie)
This works so well because you have to process Louis through his
relationship with the woman as well as the young girl. And while he definitely
gives off more of a cool uncle vibe than dad vibe he’s good with the girl. Also
his real-life sister helps things feel a little more grounded. I think it’s
better in general than some other Garrel because the dilemma with the daughter
gives it some authenticity but also Garrel hits a good stride here with his
son. Louis has to project an interiority here that rings true. This is
definitely my favorite of recent Garrel.
Dirty Computer
If you’ve seen the music videos you know what to expect but this
was so beautiful. And fun! There’s shout outs to Drive and Grimes music videos
and Jodorowsky and Metropolis. It was really fun to see the music videos in
their context here.
Valmont
People complain that Forman’s film lacks the bite of the Frears
film but it’s more than adequate as a comedy of manners. I also like how it
doesn’t have the malevolence of Dangerous Liaisons. All these characters have
the foibles of real people which is really refreshing. If everyone on it acted
liked it was Game of Thrones it’d be pretty exhausting. I mean, Annette Bening
would totally own on Game of Thrones but that’s not who these characters are.
As a fan of Amadeus and historical drama generally, I’m more than pleased.
