I’ve seen this on Max but it’s rated NC 17. Was it heavy on the sex and nudity or could I watch it without my SO thinking I’m a creep lol
there’s one sex scene which i think was very classy and well done. he untied her for it, he was a gentleman.
Kinds of Kindness
I won’t be the first to share this observation, but I’ll chime in my agreement anyway: there is something inherently admirable about Yorgos Lanthimos crossing over into mainstream, making what I assume were his biggest paychecks and getting the widest industry acclaim he had received to date, and then following it up with a movie like this that he fully knows will alienate a significant chunk of the crowd who jumped aboard for the ride with The Favourite and Poor Things. Me, I’d keep chasing the money and the widespread plaudits, but he’s a true artist and I’m not.
Can I pretend to understand what he’s even getting at with this movie? I cannot. If there was a significant message to any of these stories, it flew over my head. That basically left me to process this as a dark comedy, but it was a good one, with the middle story of the three being the funniest and all of them being some level of compelling. I love the troupe of actors that have come into the Yorgos family, and I look forward to seeing them continue to collaborate with him.
For some context: this exists at the weirdness level of The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and does not go as far as Dogtooth, which was so distressing that I simply had to turn it off before the end. So if you liked Lobster and Sacred Deer, I definitely recommend this one. If you’ve mostly just sampled his mainstream stuff, The Favourite and Poor Things, I’d still recommend giving it a try, but set your expectations for the fact that this is definitely weirder than those.
3.5/5
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That’s such a soft 4. I wouldn’t score anything that high unless it’s special. 5 or course is if it’s perfect.
Queer representation out the bag. Plus it’s got so many lines and moments that are fun to interact with in a loud crowd playing along.
A Quiet Place: Day One
I loved the original A Quiet Place. It felt really inventive to me and was an especially good theater experience. I felt like it was an especially impressive directorial debut from John Krasinski, and I wondered if we might have a great new director on our hands. When Part Two came out, I was happy to see it getting strong reviews that indicated that it largely continued the quality level of the original. Naturally, I was unhappy for my follow-up reality where I discovered that it’s actually significantly worse than the original and that everyone was lying to me. At that point, I didn’t need any more of these films, but one got green-lit despite my (obviously meaningless) skepticism. I thought the trailer was surprisingly solid, and as it turned out, the screening schedule created a convenient opportunity for me to go catch this after work tonight and still be home in time for the debate, essentially giving me the perfect opening to take in a horror double feature. So, not really knowing what to expect, I went.
Happily, I think it turned out well. Mind you, I spent a non-negligible chunk of the movie in a headspace of “this is decent, but it just feels like I would have preferred a world where they let the original stand alone.” But as the movie wore on, I formed more and more of an attachment to the lead performance of Lupita Nyong’o and the arc that she was on. They establish in the opening minutes of the movie that her character is terminally ill, and while it felt like an odd choice, unlocking the mystery box of why they would center this movie on someone in that condition became part of the fascination.
I thought Lupita did a really good job, and she helped carry an unknown actor, Joseph Quinn (apparently he was on a season of Stranger Things after I stopped watching it), to a level where I cared about him by the end as well. They give Lupita’s character a cat, which first caused me to furl my brow in distrust; a character bringing a cat through an apocalyptic event seems like it could just be a cheap way to build tension. However, as the story is tied together by the end, I found that I was ultimately surprised by how much I liked the choice.
The movie is far from perfect - at times, it struggles to coherently follow the rules of its own universe - but a strong lead performance combined with a well-crafted story that resolves well is enough for me to give this a pretty easy thumbs up.
3.5/5
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We decided to watch Interstellar instead of the debate tonight. So now I have exestential dread on top of exestential dread
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And oh yeah im about to watch the new episode of The Boys so lets just make it 3 for fucking 3.
Then end off the night with Anxiety: The Series, aka The Bear
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New Lily Gladstone movie has hit Apple. Looking forward to giving this one a go soon.
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Read review that said it was great
I am really curious how the series so far would play if someone watched them for the first time in chronological order.
I can’t think of a single example of the product being improved by choosing chronological over release order for a first-time viewing. For repeat viewings it could provide another angle that might be interesting, but I’m pretty sure I’d advocate for everyone to view every franchise/trilogy/whatever in release order for first watch. I know there are fan edits of things like Pulp Fiction where they get recut chronologically, and I’m really not too interested.
With this specific Quiet Place case, I again don’t see it playing well. I think what worked with this one is that it specifically stood alone reasonably well. It’s there to build the background of the threat itself rather than adding lore to continuing characters.
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Sober living facility has limited TV options. Fortunately YouTube, Tubi, Pluto, and Crackle have elite movie and TV selections for free. All hail ad breaks. I really want to see the new episodes of The Boys but Prime is not active here.
Firing up American History X on Tubi.
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Dr. Sheldon Cooper, talking about Star Wars: “I want to be disappointed in the order that George Lucas intended.”
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It’s a great movie, but I do think the original ending that Norton got nixed would have probably made it even stronger.
Apparently the original plan was that he would be shown shaving his head again after his brother’s death. Bleak as fuck, but does feel like maybe the most realistic likelihood.
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Whoa!! That would have shook me.
I turned it off after twenty minutes. Even tho the movie is clear about its politics, I felt way too triggered by the white supremacy language spouted by the side characters.
I switched to Tenet to see it finally for a long deserved rewatch. So far I’m stunned at how sub tier this is as a Nolan movie. Usually everything he makes is super compelling even when dumb, but there’s something about this that’s just not very compelling for me.
Jesus, I’ve never heard that ending.
Thats fucking dark.
I don’t really doubt that it aims to be anti-racist, but I can never fully shake how fucking weird it is to have him honorably refuse to call a foul on the black player in the basketball game because it’s game point and as a matter of principle you don’t call what would have been an entirely legitimate foul call. Feels like they’re leaning in and putting a thumb on the scale to make the skinhead the audience’s hero of the game. Maybe I’m missing something, but that’s how it reads to me.
There are definitely times that I question how effectively anti-racist it actually is. Still, there’s a lot about the movie to appreciate, particularly the Norton performance.
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That’s a good point. I think I’m just getting old and sensitive to this stuff. So much of the movie is based on the assumption that racism is bad without doing the work to show it. Gotta say I did enjoy the brief scene with Sisko from DS9. That guy sets the tone.
So I gave up on Tenet. It’s just bad beyond my comprehension. Switched to the elite bank robbery movie Set It Off.