Finally got around to Oppenheimer and fuck me. Nolan is an unbelievable technician but I've never seen a major filmmaker so lacking in narrative nous. In fairness I loved American Prometheus and any adaptation would be lacking, but Christ what an absolute clunker.

Oppenheimer last night. I thought it was pretty good. Great editing, sound editing, &c. All the actors were great. Fun to see David Krumholtz again, wondered what happened to him, and James Urbaniak, even just for a few seconds. Went by pretty fast for three hours. The constant music/score got annoying at times, however good it was, and made the film feel, too often, like a three hour montage sequence. Florence Pugh...hubba hubba.

enframed wrote: Sun Jul 30, 2023 10:38 am Florence Pugh...hubba hubba.

Two brief sequences.. and I’m guessing why it got an ‘R’ rating.

It seems well-known he was a womanizer. Might as well emphasize that point with a few more of those ‘R’ rated scenes with Emily Blunt and the other woman he was having an affair with.

Another long flight to Korea.. finally saw The Whale. A difficult movie to watch for reasons that hit close to home. Was well-acted and generally well-made, though I’m not sure I liked the ending.

Then I watched The Fugitive just because.

Finally got around to The Conference. Brilliant.

I saw Oppenheimer last week and will agree with the other criticisms. Well-acted and technically excellent, but the constant "danger music" score was obnoxious. The Trinity test scenes were awesome.

I saw Chan is Missing (1982) a little while back and it was one of the most original American films I've seen. It's an independent mystery/neo-noir centring on two Asian-American cab drivers and their attempt to search San Francisco's Asian community for a friend who's disappeared.
In the beginning a woman explains the inherent difference in language usage due to culture between English and Chinese speakers. As the film progresses and the friends question more people, they begin to see the different aspects of their friend that he presented to different people and their image of who he truly was becomes increasingly obscured. It's a great use of film to explore identity as an immigrant in America.

Comedies are usually terrible, but I thought I'd try one on recommendation the other night: Game Night (2018) with Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams.
It was actually surprisingly not bad. I don't think I was in the mood for a comedy overall, but to be fair to it it was actually quite well-written with lots of pretty good jokes packed in. I think if I'd been in a better mood I would have really liked it, so with that caveat: recommended?

I saw the new Indiana Jones before it left theaters last week and I'm glad I did. It was fucking hot out and movie theaters have nice air conditioning. I also enjoyed the movie very much. Like many of us, I'd told myself "never again" after that Crystal Castles bullshit 15 years ago, but time is funny and they added Fleabag. I'll check out anything with her in it; she was great; it was corny of course, Mads Mikkelsen is gonna be a good villian as long as he looks like that, the punches had that terrible Indiana Jones Punch Sound, the coveted item was kinda cool, fuckin' Sallah, the kid was a good character, Shia LeBeouf was dead. Movie delivered, two arthritic thumbs up

jfv wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2023 3:18 amThen I watched The Fugitive just because.

Have decided that this will be the first “proper movie” I watch on the new teebee in my room. Fuckin’ ay. Have also decided that The Fugitive is more or less “the Friday night fish fry of movies.” It’s not the sort of title to disappoint or rankle most people (although for some, its straightforwardness, inoffensiveness, and sincerity, in relation to other, newer movies, might be reason enough to pan it). I still think that opening flashback to the crime sequence filmed in what appears to be black and white video is weak, but overall it’s one of those borderline actioners that manages not to get in its own way too much (with cheesy quips or dumb subplots), and it does what it says on the can. Have seen a lot worse.