Movies Watched -- The Wild Pear Tree (2019)

188 minutes … I’d usually say that’s about 88 minutes too long, but will make an exception in this case since I liked this one … admittedly I watched it at 1.5x ffwd since it’s in Turkish anyway and I’m reading the subtitles … this is a cerebral movie, not for the masses … it’s funny and sad and sort of maddening, I liked it a lot, can’t exactly say why (something about an alienated poor boy with artistic ambitions, maybe) .. it’s about growing up, and accepting your flawed parents (father specifically), and “coming to terms with one's place in society,“ as one critic wrote. What’s fantasy and what’s reality? A movie to watch again for sure.

This is a green-go, but only for the select few who can handle it intellectually.

I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to go to sleep with you.

H.C. Strider, Horrible Racist

From Christopher Benson’s interview on Booknotes:

“… you had White Citizens Councils throughout Mississippi, who I heard described as the KKK in business suits, who would publish lists of registered voters, and if there were black who had attempted to register, they were fired from their jobs. Their home mortgages were foreclosed on, and they were not allowed to buy feed for seed for planting, if they were farmers. They could not get loans for equipment. They were driven out of business. And there was no forgiveness. Even after they would remove their names from the voter rolls, they still were not allowed to have a livelihood. So it was a horrible state, at that point.

But beyond the economic reprisals, people were actually murdered for attempting to exercise their rights. Just before Emmett arrived in Mississippi, Reverend George Lee, in nearby Belzoni, was murdered. He was an NAACP leader in the state. He was murdered for attempting to register people to vote. There was a major cover-up of his murder. And you know, the sheriff said, Well, it wasn’t a shotgun blast, as everybody had determined, but it was, in fact, a car accident. He was shot as he was driving down the highway. And even though the lead pellets were retrieved, the sheriff denied that that ever happened.”

Movies Watched -- The Souvenir (2019)

119 minute running time so at least half an hour too long … ultimately boring, it’s about a rich British girl who falls for this charming slightly older guy with a repaired harelip who happens to be a heroin addict. Tilda Swinton plays the old mother (she’s always good) and I think the lead actor is her daughter (nepotism is alive and well). She has a nice posh accent and sort of an interesting face, but this movie was no good. John Farr did me dirty by recommending it. You can’t tell what era it’s supposed to be from (it’s the early 80s), so you’re always confused about whether it’s a story in the present or not, no visual clues, pretty maddening and a big mistake. Figures the pretentious asses at Sundance would give it an award. You can give it a miss.

Dick Brody once again the only mainstream critic willing to write the truth:  “In the end, ‘The Souvenir’ is a movie about experience that doesn’t itself offer much of an experience.”

Can I borrow a tenner?

All the Will in the World

Great song, the better vocal version is Robert Wyatt’s but I included Elvis’s below as well because of the brilliant trumpet solos (yes, Chet Baker). Both are worth a close listen from time to time.

Movies Watched -- Sunset (2019)

144 minute running time so at least 45 minutes too long … I loved Son of Saul, it was the best movie I saw from 2015, so I had high expectations for this one (same director), but this was a disappointment. He used the same camera technique of following the main actor around at close distance with the background people largely blurred, which was super effective in Son of Saul, but just didn’t work here.

I don’t know anything about the Austro-Hungarian Empire or the beginning of World War I, but even if I did, I don’t think I’d have been kept interested by this movie. The women were beautiful (Evelin Dobos, yowza!), it’s true, but other than that you just don’t know what the hell is going on 90% of the time, nor do you care. Give it a miss unless you have a beautiful Hungarian girlfriend.

Have you seen my brother?

Movies Watched -- Zama (2018)

115 minute running time but felt much longer and easily could have had 20 minutes cut out of it … I wasn’t thrilled with this, too long and pointless in the end (“the futility of colonialism”). A Spanish official stuck in Paraguay (landlocked, thus the inaccuracy of the opening image of him standing on the seashore) in the 18th century, the idea is sort of interesting, and I did like the scenes where he was surrounded by jabbering natives who just ignored him (I felt like that in China sometimes, “cosmic loneliness”), but this is a movie that critics will like and audiences will hate. You can give it a miss for sure.

Su Zhuoning is the only critic who dared write the truth: “Zama feels more like artfully shot lorem ipsum. You might stumble upon brilliant insights amidst the confusion. The big picture, however, proves elusive.”

The two-l llama, He's a beast. 

Movies Watched -- Ratcatcher (1999)

93 minute running time so the right length … I loved “You Were Never Really Here” so much that I had to see Lynne Ramsay’s earlier work, and there are a lot of things in Ratcatcher that re-appear in YWNRH including the interesting sound design … and certain images that she thinks are powerful — shrouds and drowning, etc. (she started off doing still photography). Another story about down and outers in Scotland … reminded me of “Kes” (one of the greatest movies ever made), but I can’t recommend this one … it isn’t bad, far from bad, but it’s just grim, and redundant given all the other bleak movies northern England and Scotland. Didn’t realize John Farr recommended it … see it if you can handle some serious misery.

A big house with a bath, a toilet, and a field

More Wisdom from Gluzman

As I like to joke, just join the trend on the backside at a random time and ride it down risking Grittani’s $5,000 to high of day.

Movies Watched -- Outside In (2018)

109 minute running time so 10 minutes too long … might be easy to tighten up by cutting down on the dialogue-less mood shots, of which there were many. Written and directed by a woman so it’s not at all violent or flat-out dumb … it’s a character study and a love story of sorts … it’s not bad but it’s also not good enough to recommend. Edie Falco is good. Harry Bosch’s moody teen daughter is in it playing a moody teen daughter. The guy wasn’t properly traumatized after 20 years in prison … if you want to see a good “re-enter society after a long time in prison” drama, watch the TV series Rectify.

I probably know enough now to have a college degree in English

Movies Watched -- Motherless Brooklyn (2019)

144 minute running time so at least 45 minutes too long … Edward Norton vanity project (producer, director, lead actor) … the story wasn’t terrible, but it was just too long and convoluted, and something of a showcase for his actor buddies (“screen-chewing vanity” one critic wrote). If Norton had somehow made a 100-minute movie, it might have been good, but don’t waste your time with this.

Rex hated it: “so messy, confusing and pointless that you don’t know what’s going on half the time, and couldn’t care less.“

I have something wrong with my head.