Recent Viewings, Part 2

[M.10rda]

I like DONNIE DARKO but I get the dislike.

QUERELLE (1982): Sailor Querelle ports in Brest, where all the men are secretly (and obviously) gay, and starts doing crimes. Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder from a 1947 Jean Genet novel, it's both the gayest and the yellowest art movie you'll ever see. 3.5/5.

...Gayer than PINK NARCISSUS??? I mean I dunno how one would quantify... once a film is (essentially) entirely gay, can one say that one entirely, profoundly gay film is gayer than another? But I have been meaning to watch QUERELLE for a while.

I like DONNIE DARKO but it did disappoint me when it first came out on video in late '01 or '02. (I couldn't convince my cinema's booker to book it on a local screen - today I presume anything w/ both Gyllenhaals and Jena Malone would get booked, but back then, no.) MEMENTO had been huge (at least in my area and at my theater) and dozens of films were being promoted as "the next MEMENTO" etc. Anybody remember THE MINUS MAN? Nope, me neither! DONNIE DARKO is a nice quirky little movie w/ a couple of brilliant moments, but the intense hype at the time did it no favors, imho.

Fun trivia: Richard Kelly got the project going because Jason Schwartzman was attached to play Donnie. Then for some reason he dropped out or was removed. I think it would've been much easier to warm up to goofy, guileless Schwartzman than to Jake G. Maybe it's just because I like Schwartzman and pay attention to his career, but FTR he's been dropped from/recast out of almost as many famous projects as Harvey Keitel, in spite of him being (by all reports) an extremely nice/down-to-Earth guy. Somehow Wes Anderson still got them both in the final cuts of MOONRISE KINGDOM and GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL. Can you imagine having to recast BOTH those guys on the same project! A nightmare!     

[zombie no.one]

"Stan & Ollie" (2018)
In the early 1950s, the legendary comedy duo tries to re-ignite their stalled career by embarking on a grueling tour of live theater shows across England, in the hopes of drumming up enough notoriety to bankroll a new movie. However, while the shows go well, their partnership begins to fray behind the scenes.
This very well done period piece is based on actual events and features fantastic performances by the great John C. Reilly as Hardy and Steve Coogan as Laurel.

my brother worked on this, constructing sets :)

saw it at the cinema, is a good film. much as I am a massive Steve Coogan fan, it was the loose cannon wife of Stan (or was it Ollie?) who stole the show I thought. the really feisty one

[Rev. Powell]

...Gayer than PINK NARCISSUS??? I mean I dunno how one would quantify... once a film is (essentially) entirely gay, can one say that one entirely, profoundly gay film is gayer than another? But I have been meaning to watch QUERELLE for a while.

Haven't seen PINK NARCISSUS but I suppose you're probably right, there's an upper limit to how gay an art-house film can be, and I'm willing to bet both NARCISSUS and QUERELLE hit that upper boundary.

THE MADS ARE BACK: BRIDE OF THE GORILLA: The movie is a talky affair about some guy who works at a rubber plantation in an unspecified third world jungle who's turned into a gorilla (maybe) as a result of a curse after he kills his boss and marries his smokin' hot wife. Frank and Trace do a decent job riffing it, though it's still not up to the quality of classic MST3K or even Rifftrax. The Q&A guest is Rachel Lichtman, who runs some kind of nostalgia-themed website (and has put out what appears to be a retro easy listening comedy album); she seems cool enough but I find it a little strange that they assume everyone in the audience is familiar with whatever it is she does so they feel no need to explain it. 3/5.

[M.10rda]

A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (1964):
First-time viewing of the legendary, extraordinarily influential first Beatles feature. It's... okay! I'll admit that when the instantly recognizable opening chords of the title song struck, and 3/4ths of the lads from Liverpool starting running towards the camera (and away from throngs of screaming girls), I got a thrill. Hey, this is really gonna' be fun, I thought. And it is, for about fifteen minutes, which is about as long as it took to realize that it consists mostly of the Beatles running towards, away from, and perpendicular to the camera, away from girls and cops and sometimes nobody, interspersed w/ the Beatles making light banter and then performing one of their songs, rinse and repeat, for about the entire running time. If you're into that, it works, but that's about all you get.

The songs? Just fine, though I prefer their later stuff. The guys themselves? George kind of fades into the background a lot (a perpetual fate of George, it seems). Paul is charming and of course he's the guy with the "Grandfather", as played by "Also Starring Wilfrid Brambell", but besides an occasional good quip, he doesn't do much. John gets a fair amount of lines and is for my money the most interesting to watch, but I would think that, probably, as he was always my favorite Beatle. Somehow Ringo ends up being the de facto lead, with the only real storyline and about three times as much screentime and dialogue as anyone else. I like Ringo too, but honestly the guy wasn't much of an actor. He's at his best when he's taking his own advice from his '65 single "Act Naturally", such as in a moment where a glam female journalist catches Ringo offguard w/ a somewhat provocative question and he breaks into a seemingly natural chuckle. Mostly he just wanders around looking stiff and gormless.

But, okay, there's the notorious "Paul's Grandfather", who generates what little there is of any conflict or dramatic interest. I'd heard about this character for years and figured he was some uptight old rich guy trying to convince Paul to drop the music business for an entry level position in his firm or a cut of his inheritance or something. Nope - Paul's Grandfather just follows the band around, expecting to be babysat and provided w/ cups of tea - though, and here's the catch and the good part - he's basically a bug-eyed sneering sociopath (or, in Paul's words, a "mixer") who starts s#!t anywhere and everywhere the boys go. In 21st century speak, we'd probably call him a "borderline personality" but really he's just an unhinged jerk... and Irish character actor Brambell steals what there is to steal of the show.

I watched director Richard Lester's ROYAL FLASH last year and was not impressed. His work on AHDN isn't significantly more accomplished, but at least he keeps things moving briskly. I wasn't bored, anyway... or at least, only a little bit sometimes. FWIW, Lester also thought John had the most screen presence, and later cast him in HOW I WON THE WAR, which I should probably watch one day.

3/5
Apparently a young Charlotte Rampling dances w/ the guys in a nightclub scene. I didn't recognize her but I wasn't looking for her either. I also missed a very young Phil Collins, who is in an audience scene at some point. The final TV performance full of screaming, sobbing, shaking tweens and teens is really something to behold and be puzzled by. The Beatles were fine in '64 and got better later, but really, these kids look like they just watched Bigfoot dive out of a UFO and devour Taylor Swift and then ride a Dinosaur with Jesus onto a Rainbow to Heaven or something. It's bizarre.

[zombie no.one]

 I absolutely love The Beatles music (all eras) yet really have no interest in their movies... in fact I somehow doubt the vast majority of Beatles fans are really that enthusiastic about them?

in the same way I have no interest in Steven Seagal's music. his craft, his genius, his je ne sais quoi... is all on celluloid. no country tunes necessary

[Rev. Powell]

A HARD DAYS NIGHT is great fun (mild disagreement with M.10orda on that one) and YELLOW SUBMARINE is a classic. I've never heard anyone praise HELP!, and people generally dislike MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR. The various documentaries are of interest to fans but don't make much impression outside of them.

[Dr. Whom]

Ballerina (2023)

That is the Netflix Korean one, and not the upcoming John Wick spinoff of the same name;

An ex-bodyguard/assassin finds out that her 'best friend' has committed suicide, and goes after the drug dealer/sex trafficker who was blackmailing her friend. (Well, they were obviously lovers, but I suppose they didn't want to offend Korean sensibilities)

The director clearly went to film school and paid attention in class. It is very well made, and doesn't stray from the formula very much, with some clever twists. Perfectly watchable, but nothing you haven't seen before. It is stunningly beautiful, though.

[RCMerchant]

A HARD DAYS NIGHT is great fun (mild disagreement with M.10orda on that one) and YELLOW SUBMARINE is a classic. I've never heard anyone praise HELP!, and people generally dislike MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR. The various documentaries are of interest to fans but don't make much impression outside of them.

I seen the YELLOW SUBMARINE in the theater when it was first released! I was in a Catholic orphange in upstate NY, and our group leader, some hippie Jesus freak guy, took us along the railroad tracks into town to see it. On the way back the woods were on fire! We turned around and ran back into town and the hippie called the fire department!
Pretty exciting for a 6 year old kid!

[lester1/2jr]

I've been reading the old recent viewings thread. A common thing that happens is I read one of Jack's reviews, check to see if it's streaming anywhere, and it's streaming on tubi. There's a conspiracy brewing here.

[zombie no.one]

what happened to Jack? hit the road I guess...

talking of Beatles films I'd quite like to see The Rutles ALL YOU NEED IS CASH again sometime. seem to remember it being pretty good, in a proto-SPINAL TAP kinda way...

[Rev. Powell]

ED AND ROOSTER'S GREAT ADVENTURE (2005): Two seagulls find a portal that leads to alternate realities. The movie literally footage of seagulls with comic voiceovers and a few simple editing tricks; it's not really bad per se, but it would need to be a lot funnier to attract an audience other than bored birdwatchers. 1/5.

[indianasmith]

LONGLEGS (2024) - Watched this one again last night; brilliant, VERY dark, and disturbing occult murder thriller.
HEREDITARY meets SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.  This one bothers me more than most horror films.

[RCMerchant]

the DOOM GENERATION (1995) A snotty punk/goth type girl, her braindead boyriend, and a scumbag psychopath go on a rampage while- ah, jeez. I couldn't finish it. It was like a comic book with sex and blood.
Which would be usually right up my ally! Problem is, there's not ONE likeable character in the whole movie; besides maybe the dimwit boyfriend-except he's such a total braindead hatrack that it's maddening.
If the leads- or ANYBODY in the cast!- acted like any resembalnce to a human being it might have worked.
But if you want to take a trip back to the 90's fashion and music- you might like it.

[M.10rda]

Yeah, I liked it back in the 90s...  The ending is terrifying. Well, imho. I guess if you didn't give a poop about the characters it wouldn't make much difference to you.

[RCMerchant]

^ I liked the decapitated talking head that pukes.