A sequel to Alita: Battle Angel is underway, and I'll be looking forward to it.

The original film, along with Rogue One, set the definite standard for how to make high-budget action in the 2020s.

I'm now the last person on earth to see Parasite (up next JoJo Rabbit) and I'd say it lived up to the hype. Great mix of surreal comedy and powerful melancholy. The level of shock in the third act and the well fleshed out metaphor were superb. Can't wait to read the criticism as I'm sure there's more to catch.

Funny that losthighway just posted, because the last movie I (re-)watched was . . . Lost Highway.

Wood Goblin wrote: Fri Apr 28, 2023 2:52 pm Funny that losthighway just posted, because the last movie I (re-)watched was . . . Lost Highway.

I definitely need to rewatch that, as it was one of the few Lynch films I did not like when I first saw it, but I came around big on Fire Walk With Me after later viewings. Never have come around on Wild At Heart though...

Same here—didn’t care for it much when it came out. (I loved FWWM from the get-go, however.)

Worth seeing! Much better than I’d remembered. I’d still put several of his movies above it, but I’d put a few below it too. The last fifteen minutes is weaker than the rest of the movie, but even then, there are still arresting visuals.

I also watched Inland Empire recently, this one for the first time. I’d expected not to like it but instead loved it.

Wood Goblin wrote: Fri Apr 28, 2023 4:08 pm Same here—didn’t care for it much when it came out. (I loved FWWM from the get-go, however.)

Worth seeing! Much better than I’d remembered. I’d still put several of his movies above it, but I’d put a few below it too. The last fifteen minutes is weaker than the rest of the movie, but even then, there are still arresting visuals.

I also watched Inland Empire recently, this one for the first time. I’d expected not to like it but instead loved it.

I like Lost Highway (maybe like the song more). I found Inland Empire unwatchable but I need to revisit.

jfv wrote: Sun Apr 16, 2023 3:21 am Tár - I like Cate Blanchett as an actress and think she looks super attractive in a suit. Plus, she plays an orchestra conductor. So I should like it, right? Well, the aforementioned were enough to get me through to the end of the film, but not much else. Whatever message the film had, I don’t really care enough to try to parse it out. Meh.

I watched this recently too, and thought it was good, but felt like I didn't have a full grasp of it. Maggie Mae Fish has a review/interpretation up on YouTube that seems to confirm it's one where repeat viewings become rewarding. Assuming you probably won't watch a 40-minute YouTube video about a movie you didn't like all that much: the "message" she parses from it is exactly what you'd expect. Tár is a wildly hypocritical control freak who only cares about her own power. Every principle or idea that she lays out in the interview / masterclass scenes is contravened later in the film somehow.

brephophagist wrote: Fri Apr 28, 2023 7:34 pm

jfv wrote: Sun Apr 16, 2023 3:21 am Tár - I like Cate Blanchett as an actress and think she looks super attractive in a suit. Plus, she plays an orchestra conductor. So I should like it, right? Well, the aforementioned were enough to get me through to the end of the film, but not much else. Whatever message the film had, I don’t really care enough to try to parse it out. Meh.

I watched this recently too, and thought it was good, but felt like I didn't have a full grasp of it. Maggie Mae Fish has a review/interpretation up on YouTube that seems to confirm it's one where repeat viewings become rewarding. Assuming you probably won't watch a 40-minute YouTube video about a movie you didn't like all that much: the "message" she parses from it is exactly what you'd expect. Tár is a wildly hypocritical control freak who only cares about her own power. Every principle or idea that she lays out in the interview / masterclass scenes is contravened later in the film somehow.

I kinda got that, but the movie made both sides look like shit.. the accused, and the accusers. It got to the point where I didn’t know what the main message was and I wasn’t rooting for anyone. At the end, I just kinda hoped they all died horrible deaths.

jfv wrote: Fri Apr 28, 2023 8:57 pm

brephophagist wrote: Fri Apr 28, 2023 7:34 pm

jfv wrote: Sun Apr 16, 2023 3:21 am Tár - I like Cate Blanchett as an actress and think she looks super attractive in a suit. Plus, she plays an orchestra conductor. So I should like it, right? Well, the aforementioned were enough to get me through to the end of the film, but not much else. Whatever message the film had, I don’t really care enough to try to parse it out. Meh.

I watched this recently too, and thought it was good, but felt like I didn't have a full grasp of it. Maggie Mae Fish has a review/interpretation up on YouTube that seems to confirm it's one where repeat viewings become rewarding. Assuming you probably won't watch a 40-minute YouTube video about a movie you didn't like all that much: the "message" she parses from it is exactly what you'd expect. Tár is a wildly hypocritical control freak who only cares about her own power. Every principle or idea that she lays out in the interview / masterclass scenes is contravened later in the film somehow.

I kinda got that, but the movie made both sides look like shit.. the accused, and the accusers. It got to the point where I didn’t know what the main message was and I wasn’t rooting for anyone. At the end, I just kinda hoped they all died horrible deaths.

I kind of agree with all of the criticism, but I think it was really well executed. As for rewatching, people pointed out lots of fun little easter eggs like how the 'masseuses' in the fishbowl toward the end are arranged like an orchestra.

Me: I watched The Warriors for the first time the other night. Not as epic as I'd hoped but still wildly entertaining. It has one of the best opening scenes of all time and the sense of unease is on par with something like Escape from New York. Dope.

andyman wrote: Sun Apr 30, 2023 4:56 am

jfv wrote: Fri Apr 28, 2023 8:57 pm I kinda got that, but the movie made both sides look like shit.. the accused, and the accusers. It got to the point where I didn’t know what the main message was and I wasn’t rooting for anyone. At the end, I just kinda hoped they all died horrible deaths.

I kind of agree with all of the criticism, but I think it was really well executed. As for rewatching, people pointed out lots of fun little easter eggs like how the 'masseuses' in the fishbowl toward the end are arranged like an orchestra.

Another one: The interlocking-diamonds pattern that Krista Taylor drew in the book reappears in a few places.

Maybe I missed something, but I didn't feel like the accusers were portrayed even remotely as bad as Tár. I also assumed that the film's perspective - camera, editing, etc. - was somewhat an extension of Tár's bias/perspective, so I didn't trust it too much.

Because this one stuck in my head so much, I went back and watched Todd Field's last film, Little Children, which is not nearly as good but has its moments. There is a voiceover through the whole thing by the same guy who does voiceover for Frontline, which is a little off-putting. There is a football scene that feels like a great satirization of how (American) football is portrayed in film.