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Post by llminnowpea on Jan 8, 2023 6:23:33 GMT
We watched The Northman last night. We'll I should say we watched about half of The Northman last night but found it so terrible we turned it off. First I'll cover what I did like about it - the Iceland locations. And that's it. Lovely seeing many of the places we visited on screen. Everything else sucked. Nicole Kidman was wasted in her role. The main protagonist was incomprehensible in his role. The was virtually only about a page of actual dialogue. The story was dull. And I just didn't connect with any character. Too much gore and just nonstop bloodletting. It was so dull in tone - Grey on Grey. And the sound was horrible - people were just grunting, or mumbling or howling or screaming. Just tedious. I saw this in the theater and it was as you say - pretty to look at in some places, but unless you know ahead of time that it is based on the myth that Hamlet is based on, it makes little sense (it is loosely based on Gesta Danorum). And, even if you know it, it makes little sense. I will tell you that the best part of this movie is that everyone dies in the end except for the blonde woman. The fact that it was sent back by producers to be redone because the first version was so terrible is saying something. Of course, this is the same director who made The Lighthouse, where Robert Pattinson was totally incomprehensible (all he did was mumble) and William Defoe was amazing, as the was the foghorn, but everything else was seriously fucked up. This director seems to like mmbling, since that happened a lot in the VVitch, too. But, that movie gave us the goat Black Phillip, so I guess it isn't all bad. My close friends love this guy's horror movie style and I really like the popcorn at the indie movie place, so I have seen most of this guy's stuff. Now I just sound insane. Haha.
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Post by queenzod on Jan 8, 2023 8:23:04 GMT
Tonight I watched Top Gun Maverick and The Menu. I must be getting old or something but I didn’t “get” either of them..
TGM was basically a remake of the first one. I couldn’t have cared less about it. I know it was supposed to be an elegiac portrayal of aging and regret or something, and it got reviews in the 90s, but I couldn’t connect with it. Granted, Tom Cruise never did much for me anyway and I don’t care that much for hyper macho stuff. You could see the plot unfolding a mile away.
Menu was different. I don’t like horror or gore and it had plenty of it. I think it was supposed to be like an allegory but that part went over my head. Or maybe it was about the consumption of art and how that turns rich people into arseholes or something. I didn’t really get it and I think the writing broke down in the second half.
Now I feel stupid and need something soothing. Maybe I’ll watch TPOTD again, lol. Something I understand. 😂
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Post by llminnowpea on Jan 8, 2023 9:44:23 GMT
William Defoe was amazing, as the was the foghorn, How bad must a movie be for the foghorn to get a special mention? 😂 I know, right? But, the soundscape of the movie was wonderful. It took place in Newfoundland on an island much like some of those here and that part was GREAT. The sound of the ocean and the wind and this incessant foghorn. The rest of the movie was just so shitty. The "wank shed" scene, the shark vulva mermaid, the gross sexual obsession with the light in the lighthouse. Fucked up. And, yet, my friends loved it.
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Post by sgev1977 on Jan 8, 2023 12:50:11 GMT
It’s actually very beautiful film! You can see there’s a real filmmaker behind it but yeah, it’s kinda silly! Especially because and I’m sorry I agreed, RP isn’t very good! I admire his commitment to art cinema and his career decisions but he is very wooden and it seems to me that he wanted to imitate William Dafoe excellent over the top performance here at certain point but he just can’t!
I remember a young critic once saying over the top performances were easier than subtle ones and there is a lot of great subtle performances but some of them, not all, are more the filmmaker than the actors! (For example, I recently watched the Criterion’s behind the scene extra of Victor Erice’s El Sur and the now woman who played the girl in the early 1980’s film said how surprised she was with the film especially now because she didn’t knew she was playing such a sad kid. She gave all the credit to the director who never made her feel, well, sad! On the other hand it’s very easy to look ridiculous playing an over the top character when you can’t control it example, Pattinson here or, again I’m sorry, Jake Gyllenhaal in Okja) RP isn’t a subtle performer but kinda wooden and it didn’t help to the moments when he tried to go full William Dafoe! It was silly because he screamed but was inexpressive at the same time. He just couldn’t found the humor like WD did. Add to this that the movie is indeed full of sexual insinuations and it’s very easy that sex becomes a joke when treated in a very solemn way by very solemn “artists”!
It reminds me a little to Gaspar Noe’s Climax. Again beautifully filmed and danced but it’s so silly that at the end it seems a very over the top “Say No to the Drugs” ad!
I’m all about no plot driven narratives but there still should be some consistency (The Lighthouse) and/or logic (Climax)!
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Post by Hannah Lee on Jan 8, 2023 15:18:07 GMT
Tonight I watched Top Gun Maverick and The Menu. I must be getting old or something but I didn’t “get” either of them.. TGM was basically a remake of the first one. I couldn’t have cared less about it. I know it was supposed to be an elegiac portrayal of aging and regret or something, and it got reviews in the 90s, but I couldn’t connect with it. Granted, Tom Cruise never did much for me anyway and I don’t care that much for hyper macho stuff. You could see the plot unfolding a mile away. Menu was different. I don’t like horror or gore and it had plenty of it. I think it was supposed to be like an allegory but that part went over my head. Or maybe it was about the consumption of art and how that turns rich people into arseholes or something. I didn’t really get it and I think the writing broke down in the second half. Now I feel stupid and need something soothing. Maybe I’ll watch TPOTD again, lol. Something I understand. 😂
May I recommend "The Secret of Roan Inish" by John Sayles. It's very soothing. It has a coastal vibe, evocative visual landscape and soundscape, a slow, sweet, satisfying story of a family who has lived on the sea for generations coming to terms with the changing times ... and their past. Sayles has a great way with characters and with using the setting, landscape as a primary element.
There may or may not be foghorns. But there are definitely lingering shots of seals who appear out of the fog and stare meaningfully.
The imdb link has a trailer, you'll know pretty quickly if it will be your cup of tea.
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Post by queenzod on Jan 8, 2023 16:59:20 GMT
I LOVE Roan Inish! Watched it several times and it’s a great recommendation. Thank you! 🙏🏻
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Post by llminnowpea on Jan 8, 2023 17:44:13 GMT
That is one of my favorite movies! I used to watch it all the time.
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Post by sgev1977 on Jan 8, 2023 19:24:22 GMT
Agreed that it’s a beautiful little movie.
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Post by llminnowpea on Jan 8, 2023 19:51:07 GMT
While watching the Lighthouse, I could not decide whether or not Pattinson was being wooden on purpose because that was supposed to be his character or if he was just unable to act. It can be really hard to tell with Eggers. I think all the popular headlines of the time about Pattinson "just going for it" during the masturbation scene really took away from the movie. Instead of lots of articles about the themes or the soundscape or the issue of loneliness and insanity on an island (which plays into the myth of the ocean being a passage between life and death - were these guys just stranded or had they died during the storm?), there were tons and tons of articles about how brave Pattinson was (gag) and blah blah blah. Plus, I don't understand Eggers obsession with killing animals, even if they are just fake-realistic looking stuffed ones. Yes, yes, nature and all of that, but he always has animals dead, dismembered, or being killed in an awful way (and, the tone and light and other violence of the movie makes it all just worse). Well, at least so far. Sorry, y'all, I am not bothering with the spoilers on that statement. I can go back and add them - I just don't want you to be surprised if you are intrigued by this discussion. And, yet, I go and see these movies. I rarely like any of the characters (OK, I usually hope they all die) but I know the cinematography and the soundscape will be incredible, even if most of the time everyone mumbles. Except William Dafoe. He was creepy and great in the Northman and he was creepy and great in the Lighthouse. Maybe I should watch them again to see if I still don't like them or if I feel the same now. Haha. What am I saying! Eta: the mumbling MAY have been a really shitty attempt at an old time coastal New England area accent. There are plenty DownEast where, unless you are familiar with it, it sounds like someone is speaking English with a handful of rocks in their mouth (not even joking - it is part of the accent - this is where the Maine "ayuh" comes from). But, I have no trouble understanding that and Pattinson didn't have enough of the very northern eastern seaboard maritime French accent, either. So, no idea.
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Post by sgev1977 on Jan 8, 2023 20:34:07 GMT
I kinda like Pattinson. At least like concept! If that makes sense! Lol He received a lot of flak by Film fanboys because his teenage idol phase so I was kinda happy with him doing “serious” films and showing the world what he can do! I watched a not very arty movie, I know, Water for Elephants during a travel and I was prepared to be impressed by his talent just to be shocked by how everyone else just destroyed him in their scenes with him! Then after a time I forgot it or I just thought he surely got better when I watched The Lighthouse only to remember the other movie while watching it! I think he did the same no expressive performance in both! So no, I don’t think it was the character!
Hopefully he will get better the next time!
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