What Films Are We Watching?

[jenkins]

it took me two tries to watch this movie because the premise is extraordinarily stupid. there's an alien probe traveling space and destroying ships, about to destroy all of Earth, and Spock (back from the dead, learning how to be alive again) is somehow the only person who recognizes the probe's distress signal as the singing of a humpback whale, so they time travel to bring two humpback whales into the future, which does indeed satisfy the probe and end the movie.

my viewing was initiated by having recently rewatched Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and having enjoyed that so much i thought that maybe i've been a Trekkie my whole life without realizing it. the Star Trek movie theory is the evens are good and the odds are worse, and i read about #4 as like a buddy comedy, so i went into it next. the first time i went to watch it i saw the beginning and wasn't having it, fell asleep, woke up at the end and thought fuck this shit. but today i successfully completed the entire movie, and i still think of the premise and execution as rather inept and unimpressive (every scene in the movie is a great example) but now i'm somehow a big fan of it after all, for reasons i can't explain. because it wasn't so hard to watch after all? because everyone seems to be enjoying the making of it? i have no idea, it just happened. it is indeed a rather positive movie.

from here i'll head to Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, followed by Star Trek: First Contact, that's my current plan, i'm not sure how long that'll take me.

[BB]

Ah, Voyage Home is my fav of all the Star Trek movies. The ludicrous fun of it. Wrath of Khan is probably the better movie, but I'd rewatch Voyage Home first. I'm decidedly not a Trekkie. Have seen all the movies though. Would like to try to watch one a year, that seems about right.

Gonna watch The Fog (1980) and In The Mouth of Madness tonight. A rare double feature. Feeling good about it. Haven't seen The Fog since high school and never did get around to Mouth of Madness. Probably gonna watch the whole Carpenter filmography before the end of the year. Seems strange to say cause he's so obviously a great filmmaker, but this guy's a great filmmaker.

[jenkins]

In the Mouth of Madness will be a positive experience that will confirm, potentially increase, your esteem

[jenkins]

i own 8 Paul Schrader movies, and not even the criterion one. and i own The Yakuza and Taxi Driver and Bringing out the Dead. oh and Last Temptation and Raging Bull and Rolling Thunder. and once i owned The Mosquito Coast i'm positive, i bought it from a discount Wal-Mart bin, but i don't currently own that i must admit.

that tripped me out last night, when i decided i wanted to watch Touch, which movie i couldn't remember.

y'all, Touch is cray. okay, it's the only theatrical composition done by Dave Grohl. it's the only one. that's cray. and that's the beginning. so, Schrader liked Edward Lachman before he was popular, Ed was the dp for Touch. it's an Elmore Leonard adaptation. and now let's get into the actors. Bridget Fonda doubles this with Jackie Brown for Leonard adaptations. and it's insane how good she is, it really is, if what i mean by insane is impressive, which i do. she kills it. she's better than Christopher Walken, who is only good for being himself. she's better than Skeet Ulrich, and it tripped me out that Skeet Ulrich stars in this movie. he's the one with the Touch. but here's a surprising part: Bridget ties with Tom Arnold. Tom Arnold does a good job in this movie, he really does.

so on top of all that there's the movie, which tbh i'm not in the mood to talk about. it's okay.

[Something Spanish]

I saw Touch in theaters early '97 because knew Tarantino was adapting Leonard's Rum Punch and would see anything QT related, no matter how distantly related it was. That one's one of Schrader's lesser known flicks. Don't remember much except blood coming out of Ulrich's palm and how goofy the whole thing seemed.

[Reelist]

I love 'The Mosquito Coast'! Just watched it a few weeks ago. Like 'Taxi Driver' it's such an interesting character study of a guy who you're rooting for because he seems to have his heart in the right place as they slowly decline into insanity. It's my favorite 'jungle' movie.

I can't believe how much of Schrader's stuff I haven't seen, Taxi Driver being my #1. Maybe it's because I have found them to be kind of hit or miss for me. I still think I owe it to him to have more familiarity with his body of work there are so few screenwriters I've encountered with as singular a voice as his.

I went to a Paul Schrader speaking engagement last November. Forgot to bring any stuff to sign. He was very open to chatting and taking pictures afterwards but I just wasn't confident I'd be able to have the conversation I wanted to with him, which would ultimately be about me wanting to write the 'taxi driver' of the new millenium. No, not 'uber driver' but an urban vigilante movie with that visceral grit of life on the streets. I believe he said somewhere in his speech that Taxi Driver would be impossible to be made today and I took that as my answer.

Since I felt too awkward about standing in line to meet him, I resolved that I need to have some kind of interaction with him. So, when he asked for any final questions, I blurted out ( instead of raising my hand ) "Do you think your movies have the potential to change what's going on in society?" or something to that effect. Not a well thought out question, but I had to get something out there to veer away from the stupid college-kid questions he was being asked ("What's your favorite movie that you've ever made?")

I can't remember his answer verbatim, I had some of it written down in my phone that I lost. It was something like this:

Q: Do you think your movies have the potential to change what's going on in society?

A: Well that would be assuming that movies still have an effect on the culture, which they don't. 'First Reformed' goes into climate change, but do you think that's going to change a Trump supporters mind? There are too many venues for people to get their information for one movie to have the impact they did in the 70's. Back then, everyone was just getting their news from Walter Kronkite, so when a movie came out like 'Coming Home' it would make people want to go out and protest the Vietnam war.

This is the part that really stuck with me, that was along the lines of the conversation I wanted to have with him. (keep in mind I was wearing my work uniform when I asked this)

"When I was your age, I was already radicalized. And if I were your age right now, I would be radicalized. If you want to make a change, get a gun"

So yeah, I'll be kicking myself the rest of my life for not having him sign my Taxi Driver poster: "If you want to make a change, get a gun"

[eward]

That's like the perfect tagline for that movie, too.

[Reelist]

Yeah, I've kind of puzzled over exactly what he meant by that. What is he implying in becoming radicalized? The origins for Taxi Driver were when he was living out of his car and had to buy a gun to protect himself. Was that his moment of radicalization and he's literally suggesting I buy a gun, to feel that rush of power it gives you? Or is he saying that the only way to have an effect on the culture these days is to shoot a place up?
I've never wanted to own a gun, if I ever do feel the need to and it's not for hunting purposes then I'm going to need to seriously re-evaluate my life situation. Nothing against shooting targets, but I don't want something like that in my house, and I've been burglarized.

[jenkins]

I believe he was being metaphorical. What can you do that will make people raise their hands and listen to you? It bothers older people a lot, how transgressive art is basically dead. Basically after the 50s subculture art flowered and by the 90s grunge occurred, and there kind of hasn’t been a change since then, in terms of art culture. In terms of ideology. How can you make people listen to you? Point a gun at them. What is your gun, use it, that’s what he’s saying.

[Something Spanish]

Always a good experience when you start a movie with the intention of only watching a few minutes, are mesmerized by those ensuing minutes, and wind up watching the whole damn thing. Happened twice recently with two movies I hadn't seen before, while fucking around on Filmstruck. Last week it was The Soft Skin, swindling me out of a sunny afternoon with its transfixing story of seduction, bearing Truffaut's stamp in every sense. After about 10 minutes, not finishing it was out of the question. It's a movie where the mood is enough to captivate you, eager to experience the tumultuous emotions, the beautiful B&W, the graceful camerawork, especially those long lonely tracking shots following Jean Desailly down long hotel corridors. Not one of Truffaut's best, but an original little ditty anyways that deserves to be on his resume.

Same thing happened with The Marriage of Maria Braun, that war-torn matrimonial opening was plenty of incentive to lock ass in seat. Haven't seen much Fassbinder, damn shame considering the tizzy this beauty got me into. There's a strong authenticity in the way peacetime Germany is depicted, the uninhabitable ruined buildings, rubble in piles on every street corner, hunger and pain in everyone's eyes. Maria is a great character, her rise to power a viewing to remember. Added to these two flicks I had to see Secret & Lies finally, and fucking loved it. No matter how hard you fight the melodrama, those tears start welling one way or another. Those long takes between Brenda Blethyn and the daughter she gave up for adoption are performance showcases to a T. Everything about this movie is just so good.

[eward]

Always a good experience when you start a movie with the intention of only watching a few minutes, are mesmerized by those ensuing minutes, and wind up watching the whole damn thing.

This is one of my favorite things in life. Cherished examples: Birth, Margaret, recently Private Life, It Happened One Night, ...

Same thing happened with The Marriage of Maria Braun, that war-torn matrimonial opening was plenty of incentive to lock ass in seat.

One of my favorite openings of any film. It's so funny and terrifying and (literally) explosive! And those gorgeous titles....

Added to these two flicks I had to see Secret & Lies finally, and fucking loved it. No matter how hard you fight the melodrama, those tears start welling one way or another. Those long takes between Brenda Blethyn and the daughter she gave up for adoption are performance showcases to a T. Everything about this movie is just so good.

Top-shelf Leigh, for sure. I haven't watched it, or any of his films for that matter, in a few years, and it's high time I revisit them. Naked, Life Is Sweet, All or Nothing, Topsy Turvy, Meantime, High Hopes, Vera Drake - I even liked Career Girls! Of his more recent stuff, I found Mr. Turner quite captivating.

[Sleepless]

The Three Musketeers by Richard Lester because it's on Mubi. Thought it'd be an easy, old-fashioned romp, but it was actually much better than I even anticipated. Really enjoyed it. Some great bits of humor throughout, too, which I wasn't expecting. It was weird watching numerous fight scenes that didn't really "up" the action. In fact, quite often those fighting aren't really great at it. As the film ends pimping the sequel, I immediately went to Amazon to buy the boxset of all three Lester-Musketeer films, but alas, it does not exist.

[polkablues]

I actually recommend checking out the Paul WS Anderson Three Musketeers flick. It's surprisingly fun, has a ridiculously good cast (give or take your feelings on Logan Lerman), and is 100% batshit insane.

[Robyn]

"If we don't burn, how will the night be lit?"

Just finished House of Tolerance, one of the most disturbing and beautiful films I have ever seen, is my spontaneous reaction. If Lars von Trier made a film about a Parisian bordello in the 19th century, it probably would have looked like this. Basically perfect until the very last minute.

Spoiler: ShowHide

It was a bit on the nose to cut to modern times, it should have ended with the image of the women crying sperm

I'd recommend it to anyone regardless. It gave me a movie high that I haven¨'t felt in a while.

[Jeremy Blackman]

I watched both Fyre (Netflix) and Fyre Fraud (Hulu). Believe it or not, I think both are essential viewing to get the full story.

The Hulu doc is actually more journalistic and unflinching in its assessment of what happened. It goes into much more detail about Billy McFarland being a scam artist from the very beginning. It has no interest in pretending Billy had any noble intentions or good faith whatsoever.

The Netflix doc is far more charitable to the marketing team that promoted Fyre Festival, because that marketing team... co-produced the Netflix doc. It's absolutely wild that the producers of this documentary are interviewed without being identified as producers. So the Netflix doc is ethically compromised to say the least. We're supposed to believe that Billy McFarland cast a spell on everyone who worked for him, and that only he knew this was a scam. Give me a break. The Hulu doc pretty thoroughly exposes that as an absurd notion. THAT SAID, I still very highly recommend watching the Netflix doc as well, because it's more professionally-made and has better footage — and some of the insider footage they have access to is just breathtaking.