I finally got around to watching Michael Collins.

It was a good excuse to dive into the history. I was not familiar with the traumatic series of events that gradually lead to Irish independence in the first half of the 20th century.

As a film it was highly watchable and interesting, but suffered what most historical films do: pacing. Telling several years of tumult in two hours made the thing feel really choppy, but they packed all the story in. I'm no expert but the accents sounded rough to me: Julia Roberts, and Aidan Quinn sounded American/Irish hybrid, and Alan Rickman still commanded a certain British pomposity even with a sprinkled lilt. Liam Neeson was the only authentic sounding lead, but I suppose he was putting on his best Dublin impersonation too, seeing as he's an Ulster.

Wim Wenders' new film Perfect Days, which is set in Tokyo and features the lead from Cure, is truly wonderful. It's a moving meditation on the beauty of small everyday moments and human interactions. It's wonderfully filmed too. Might be my film of the year.


Also, The Holdovers was great. The story's kind of been done already (think Dead Poet's Society crossed with Scent of a Woman). The aesthetic, soundtrack (it feels like it was filmed in the 70s) and, more than anything, performances really push it over the top though. Giamatti deserves the oscar for it.

Haven't seen that Wenders, but did watch Cure for the first time within the past year. That guy is a good actor. I think Cure has plenty going for it in other departments but gets a lot of mileage out of its tone and mood, which never seem to waver. A fair number of movies, in and outside the horror genre, have tried to merge "meditative" with "unsettling," but only so many get it right. Not regularly my thing, but it works there. You can see why it's kind of a classic.

On the plane back from Zurich.

Resurrection featuring Rebecca Hall and Tim Roth. Really good.

Hypnotic, with Ben Affleck, by Robert Rodriguez. So fucking stupid. LOLZ, so dumb.

Like Sheep Among Wolves, Italian crime thriller/drama, was OK.

Intolerable Cruelty, Clooney and Zeta-Jones, a Coen brothers thing. Very funny. Surprised I had not seen it til now. Being a Coen involved film, probably requires a second or third viewing to catch every little hilarious detail.

Some other Italian film about a woman who befriends her neighbor, talking about lemon trees they have on their terraces. The older neighbor ends up with Alzheimer's. It's rather sad. Appropriately, I can't recall or even find the name on-line, something about lemon.

Past Lives.

Movie of the year. Just brilliant.

enframed wrote: Mon Mar 04, 2024 11:50 am On the plane back from Zurich.

Resurrection featuring Rebecca Hall and Tim Roth. Really good.

Hypnotic, with Ben Affleck, by Robert Rodriguez. So fucking stupid. LOLZ, so dumb.

Like Sheep Among Wolves, Italian crime thriller/drama, was OK.

Intolerable Cruelty, Clooney and Zeta-Jones, a Coen brothers thing. Very funny. Surprised I had not seen it til now. Being a Coen involved film, probably requires a second or third viewing to catch every little hilarious detail.

Some other Italian film about a woman who befriends her neighbor, talking about lemon trees they have on their terraces. The older neighbor ends up with Alzheimer's. It's rather sad. Appropriately, I can't recall or even find the name on-line, something about lemon.

Perhaps it's the movie "Limoni d'inverno" (which translates as "Lemons in winter")?
I'm definitely going to watch that, and Resurrection too, thanks for the recommendation.

gaetano dimita wrote: Mon Apr 01, 2024 6:21 pm

enframed wrote: Some other Italian film about a woman who befriends her neighbor, talking about lemon trees they have on their terraces. The older neighbor ends up with Alzheimer's. It's rather sad. Appropriately, I can't recall or even find the name on-line, something about lemon.

Perhaps it's the movie "Limoni d'inverno" (which translates as "Lemons in winter")?
I'm definitely going to watch that, and Resurrection too, thanks for the recommendation.

Yes! That was it.

enframed wrote:

gaetano dimita wrote: Mon Apr 01, 2024 6:21 pm

enframed wrote: Some other Italian film about a woman who befriends her neighbor, talking about lemon trees they have on their terraces. The older neighbor ends up with Alzheimer's. It's rather sad. Appropriately, I can't recall or even find the name on-line, something about lemon.

Perhaps it's the movie "Limoni d'inverno" (which translates as "Lemons in winter")?
I'm definitely going to watch that, and Resurrection too, thanks for the recommendation.

Yes! That was it.

Glad I could be of assistance

Anatomy of a Fall is a truly gripping legal drama, highly recommended.

Also Priscilla by Sofia Coppola, very good movie featuring two great leads.

andyman wrote: Thu Feb 29, 2024 5:42 am Wim Wenders' new film Perfect Days, which is set in Tokyo and features the lead from Cure, is truly wonderful. It's a moving meditation on the beauty of small everyday moments and human interactions. It's wonderfully filmed too. Might be my film of the year.


Also, The Holdovers was great. The story's kind of been done already (think Dead Poet's Society crossed with Scent of a Woman). The aesthetic, soundtrack (it feels like it was filmed in the 70s) and, more than anything, performances really push it over the top though. Giamatti deserves the oscar for it.

I need to see Perfect Days, if it is half as good as Anselm I need to make time asap.

Iranian judoka Leila is competing for the gold medal at the Olympics. When it becomes evident she might be facing an Israeli opponent, her government asks her to fake an injury and leave the tournament, threatening to kill her husband and child if she does not comply.

Tatami (2023) is the most powerful sports drama. I got out of the movie theatre buzzing.

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