Recent Viewings, Part 2

[M.10rda]

Rev. Powell, I never knew about the Brando/Kubrick western. Did it never happen or did Kubrick leave the project? I like THE APPALOOSA (starring Marlon) but it's tricky to imagine it beginning life as a Kubrick film. (Never seen MISSOURI BREAKS.)

Google's A.I. summary: "There's no completed Stanley Kubrick western, but he was set to direct Marlon Brando's 'One-Eyed Jacks', fired due to clashes with Brando, who then directed it himself."

Ah that makes sense. I need to see that 1, too. Thanks!

[FatFreddysCat]

Fast Freddy's Cat - which is better Detroit Rock City or Record City?

Haha! "Detroit" and its not even close!

[indianasmith]

SKY SHARKS (2020) - Nazi zombies emerge from a secret lab hidden under arctic ice for 75 years, riding flying sharks and attacking aircraft worldwide.  An incomprehensible mess, like a SyFy original with a few nude scenes thrown in, couldn't hold my interest enough for me to stay awake. 2/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Linda Lovelace's Loose Lips: The Last Interview" (2013)
Punk journalist Legs McNeil recorded the final interview with "Deep Throat" star turned anti-porn feminist Linda Lovelace prior to her death in 2002. Linda's often bizarre life story is interspersed with comments from former co-stars and associates, as well as vintage video clips and photos. An intriguing portrait about a complex, sometimes divisive figure in movie history.

[M.10rda]

Perhaps my experience with ARABESQUE is similar to that of people who sincerely enjoyed Soderbergh's OCEANS TWELVE, a film with a similar imploding plot twist. I hated OCEANS TWELVE for it but I can't find it in my heart to dislike ARABESQUE.

OCEAN'S THIRTEEN (2007):
An accidental/impromptu rewatch, following my (vintage, 20+ year old) hot take on OCEAN'S TWELVE. My initial hot take on THIRTEEN was that it was the best of the three SoderReboots - like many of my hottest takes, not a popular one. The thing about such takes is that they often bear revisiting for a more balanced/objective evaluation. If my argument was that THIRTEEN is superior to TWELVE because TWELVE's plot makes absolutely no sense, then yes - THIRTEEN is better than TWELVE. I could decorate my Mom's Christmas tree and still pay sufficient attention to THIRTEEN to make sense of it. That said, it ain't great.

George Clooney and his original ten guys are joined by Andy Garcia (returning bad guy from ELEVEN) and... I think that's it, no idea who the thirteenth team member would be, maybe Eddie Izzard, who appears briefly on occasion and looks suspicious though his cameos have no clear impact on the action. Al Pacino amusingly plays a lightly veiled version of Donald Trump from an era when all we knew about Trump was that he seemed like a dyspeptic and not particularly classy guy who owned real estate and had very silly hair.  But there's no bad reason to attack and defeat a Trumplike villain. Ellen Barkin (Pacino's love interest from SEA OF LOVE) plays his right-hand woman, looks incredible, and gives a fun performance, though it's inescapably problematic that she is the only significant female character and her primary job is to look sexy and be gullible. Most of the Ocean crew are (always) fun to watch, but it's Coolest Man In Hollywood Brad Pitt that walks away with every scene he's in (as he did in the previous two movies). Unfortunately again, though, Soderbergh decided to give Matt Damon the most screen time in this one, and Matt Damon is simply no Brad Pitt.

3/5
This was pleasant but something of a drag in five(!)-minute increments interrupted perpetually by equally long blocks of commercials. I would never watch a film I actually wanted to pay attention to in this fashion. How did we do it in the 80s?!

OCEAN'S ELEVEN started immediately after THIRTEEN ended (rather counterintuitively). My grudge against this one upon release was that it relied entirely too much on (contrived, artificial or non-existent) chemistry between George Clooney (who I had yet to warm to) and Julia Roberts (who I have progressively disliked in this century). The first forty-five minutes, being Roberts-free and focusing on Clooney and Pitt recruiting their entertaining ensemble, is a good time, however. Then Roberts showed up and I finally changed the channel.