Movies and TV Shows

I watched three films last week:

• Barbie (2023) - pleasingly intelligent satire.

• Colette (2018) - lavish fin de siecle biopic.

• Alice in the Cities (1974) - existentialist road movie prefiguring Wenders' later Paris, Texas.

Which was best? Well, the first, US, section of AitC had more intensity to offer than the European conclusion. Wenders was still developing here. Colette looked beautiful and had a story to tell, but did not seem to get to the root of what kept the protagonist with Willy so long. Barbie also looked good, Gerwig knew what she wanted to say and articulated it pretty well and entertainingly, if a little schmaltzy - inevitably - towards the end.

Overall, I would say that Barbie wins.

Are only new movies allowed?

Because the best movie I watched in the last week was Mean Streets from '73.

Scorsese's third time in the directors chair.

I watched it as I had never seen it before and Killers of the Flower Moon comes out next week.

I wonder if De Niro's character will be as big a piece of shit as he was in Mean Streets?. (no, the films are not connected in any way)

Kickback

It's about the corruption inside FIFA. I'm not a big football fan but it was presented well and fills in the gaps in my knowledge of the subject.

The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar

I've always been a Wes Anderson junky. This one is a barrage of information, but as charming as ever. The story told via cascading letters is also very fun. Gives Dracula (book) vibes

Hulu's No One Will Save You (2023). Edit: It's on Disney+Star for those outside of the US

I thought it was very good. While it's only 90 minutes long it lacks dialogue, so I was concerned it might end up feeling a bit slow. Fortunately, I could not have been more wrong. It managed to move along at an impressively brisk pace. I gave it a shot because Stephen King compared it to one of my favorite episodes from the OG Twilight Zone called "The Invaders" (s02e15) and I think he was spot on. The movie clearly owes a lot to that episode without being derivative at all.

So if anyone's looking for a good horror/scifi flick this Halloween I'd highly recommend No One Will Save You. And while you're at it, make it a double feature by ending the night with The Invaders from the original Twilight Zone. It's the perfect double feature and would only take about 2 hours.

Pee Wee’s Big Adventure

First revisit in well over a decade. It really is a wonderful, bizarre time capsule and quite possibly Tim Burton’s best.

I watched four films this week, all of which I'd seen before (so clearly I quite like them all):

• It Happened One Night (1934)
• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
• Foreign Correspondent (1940)
• 21 Jump Street (2012)

Really tough to choose one, but would probably have to give the nod to Mr Smith. Jimmy Stewart is just too good.

Last week? Strays but that's because it's the only movie I watched. The humour reminded me a bit of Sausage Party but this was worse

I watched Citizen Kane for the first time. It's one I'd never got round to despite it being so lauded. I'll be honest, it being black and white and from 1941, I had prejudged it as I've not been a fan of other films of that era.

Thankfully, It's pretty bloody good! In many ways it feels a more modern film than many that came after it. Yes, some of the acting is a bit hokey, but Orson Welles is great, and the directing, cinematography, and music are all stellar. There's so many bold and interesting choices and often a tangible sense of heightened reality about it. It's an odd film in that it outlines the entire plot in the first 10 minutes, but still hooks you with the central question. What is Rosebud? But, more importantly, who is Charles Foster Kane?

@jayrod@lemmy.film could we please have those threads set-up automatically using something like https://schedule.lemmings.world/auth/login?

New Mission Impossible is really good.

Also after reading first book I watched the extended version of The Fellowship of the Ring. Obviously a master piece..

The Bad Guys

You'd think it would be full of cliches, but I was pleasantly surprised how many plot twists it has and how unpredictable the ending was.