Continuing the discussion from Movies (and occasionally face slaps) (Part 2):
Boring. Absolutely boring.
I was eager for a second viewing, but after a promising start, the movie lost my interest and it was difficult to keep watching. I guess that “T2 moment” I described in my first review was no longer good enough for me.
I’ve now finished the Before trilogy. I was hesitant to watch Before Midnight, as it had a reputation of being a bit of a downer. I really didn’t want to have the same painful experience I had watching Marriage Story, where I walked away thinking “Great performances, and I guess it’s a high-quality movie, but boy do I feel like shit now.”
After watching Midnight, I think it does have that quality, but maybe only about 30% of the Marriage Story level. Like with the first two movies, I really appreciated how there was no obvious hero/villain relationship - both characters were flawed and both were at times terrible and at times trying to survive their partner being terrible. And it’s not even clear whether I was rooting for the relationship to last - I know that people walk away from the first two with the idea that Jesse and Celine were made for each other, and that destiny brought them together, but Midnight balances that idea with the fact that actually these two can both be pretty terrible and the relationship is pretty toxic.
Anyway, what a trilogy - it’s really hard for me to think about each movie on its own as opposed to a progressive three-course meal that all blends together perfectly. Echoing clovis, I wish I could have experienced each of these films in real time, where I was roughly at the same stage of life as the characters - maybe a much younger me would have found Sunrise Jesse much less annoying.
Final ranking:
Before Sunset>Before Midnight>>>>>>Before Sunrise [corrected because I’m a moron]
Can’t wait to see them again next time they randomly show up on an international flight.
Edit: I watched this alone - not clear how the experience would have been different watching with Mrs. spidercrab.
Just wait until you finally see Before Sunrise.
(I knew what you meant though.)
I’m gonna see Together on Thursday. It’s a second date and was her suggestion. She’s also going to see Weapons today with her family. Now that’s a cool girl.
Interesting choice. Lots of reviews are calling it the anti date movie. lol
Yes exactly. That is why it is so neat to meet a horror hound who really loves the genre.
Something’s Gotta Give (2003)
When aging womanizer Harry Sanborn (Jack Nicholson) and his young girlfriend, Marin (Amanda Peet), arrive at her family’s beach house in the Hamptons, they find that her mother, dramatist Erica Barry (Diane Keaton), also plans to stay for the weekend. Erica is scandalized by the relationship and Harry’s sexist ways. But when Harry has a heart attack, and a doctor (Keanu Reeves) prescribes bed rest at the Barry home, he finds himself falling for Erica – who, for once, may be out of his league.
Let’s be clear. Nancy Meyers only makes good movies. But this is probably my least favorite of her work.
So Harry (Jack Nicholson) and this much younger girl (Amanda Peet) show up at her beach house ready to finally bang.
But first, the girl’s mother (Diane Keaton) shows up. She finally agrees to let him and the daughter stay. He and the younger girl try to have sex, but Harry has a heart attack.
His doctor is played by much younger Keanu Reeves, and there’s instant chemistry between him and the mother. I mean it’s electric. The mom is supposed to be kind of restrained with the doctor and fully into Harry/Nicholson, but that’s just not what’s on screen.
When the doctor tells Harry to stay close for observation, the mom agrees to let Harry stay in an extra room at her home, and in the script, this is when Harry forgets about the daughter and he and the mom start to fall for each other.
Nicholson is hilarious. The real star is Diane Keaton, and it’s worth watching this just for her. But ugh, there is just zero chemistry between the two of them. And when he eventually fucks things up, the mom runs into Keanu Reeves and starts dating him instead. And it’s hard not to feel like the two of them should have stayed together.
Keanu is charming and dashing, and his character is so genuine and generous toward the mom. He has fallen for her and treats her great.
But of course the script is only interested in reforming Harry from his womanizing ways until he’s worthy of the mom, a woman who is his own age.
I’d seen this once before and enjoyed it for what it was. This time I watched with the film commentary by Nancy Meyers and Jack Nicholson. It was okay. Nicholson was surprisingly restrained and kind of boring. Meyers mostly shares her love for the movie and why she made certain story decisions.
I regret to inform you that What Women Want is a Meyers movie.
Nicholson is boring on the As Good as It Gets commentary as well. You’d think he’d be a draw, but…
I’m actually truly shocked he’s done any commentaries.
I regret to inform you I love What Women Want.
This ad is so good.
Me too!!
I’d never heard one from him. I was ready for Jack to bring the energy. Where is the same commitment he gives to the roles themselves??
Dammit LKJ let us have things once in a while
Okay. What Women Want is much better than Deadpool 3, I give it that.
Meyers is awesome. No this isn’t irony. She is a great writer director.
Possession (1981)
5/10
A cult classic. At first I thought the movie was playing a joke on me in that it was a huge mix of art house seriousness mixed with both actors dialing up the hysterics. It actually kind of won me over, in that I could appreciate it for what it was, but wouldn’t ever tell anyone to watch it. But it really needed to cut out about 30 minutes. In any case, there’s the famous subway scene
But this restaurant scene cracked me up. There’s an impossible amount of chairs in there, and then the two chefs in pastry outfits tackling him, and then a hard cut? I busted out laughing
At 12:15
You guys cannot comprehend how bad the new War of the Worlds movie is.
Yes we can
This is my go-to guy when I know I’ll never watch something.
