Movies Watched -- Nocturnal Animals (2016)

116 minute running time so at least 20 to 30 minutes too long … my young trading buddy Joe recommended this one, but I wasn’t thrilled … the opening sequence of morbidly obese old women dancing naked (performance art, ya know) was so horrific that I had to block the screen with my hand until it had passed … story of Jake Gyllenhaal’s wife and daughter being abducted didn’t ring true because young Jake is quite fit and he would have fought like an animal before what happen happened.

Anyway, gaunt Michael Shannon really steals the show, he’s so good (Take Shelter was a Top Ten movie of mine from whatever year that was, and of course who can forget Agent Van Alden), and a youngster named Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays the lead psychopath and he’s also very good. But the movie was weirdly structured (two stories in one) and as I said, the main story didn’t ring true, so you can give this one a pass, not recommended.

Barry Hertz: “a ridiculous, high-camp mess that could easily be mistaken for substance, if it weren't so irredeemably silly … the entire endeavour reeks of self-congratulatory wit and a visual style so cold it could freeze the sun.”

I’ll give the great Rex Reed the final word in his perfect review: “… Ford never finds the proper way to blend the complex narratives into a coherent and cohesive structure … ‘Nocturnal Animals’ is dark as the night sky, twice as empty.”

They said the case wasn’t well prepared, was a sloppy job, slapdash, no evidence, evidence gathered improperly, won’t stand up in court.

Grab Life By a Wrist

Alice Phoebe Lou is an interesting youngster from South Africa … I dig this song:

Movies Watched -- Dogtooth (2009)

94 minute running time … as I mentioned before about Lanthimos, the Greek Gen-X smartass, he makes the same movie over and over, and I think Dogtooth was his first. Like his other movies, it’s funny and bizarre and makes you think … 99.9% of the mainstream audience couldn’t last five minutes, and even the arthouse crowd may be driven away, but I enjoy it, I like to think that I get it, I certainly enjoy his sense of humor. I’ve liked all three that I’ve seen — Dogtooth, Alps, Lobster — but I think I enjoyed Alps best.

Let this be the punishment for your wrongdoings to my family

Gotta Be the One to Take a Risk

Master producer Mark Ronson makes yet another winner, this time with Diana Gordon:

Movies Watched -- Pather Panchali (1958)

126 minute running time so at least a half an hour too long … life is tough in an Indian village, esp. when you’re the poorest of the poor … makes you glad you weren’t born in India .. Ravi Shankar plink plonk score … little known fact is that Norah Jones’ dad’s music used to make Guantanamo prisoners break under the strain of 24/7 speaker blast and confess their terrorist plots.

Not nice to Auntie

Movies Watched -- The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)

80 minute running time … story didn’t make much sense, so Jack Stapleton was actually Jack Baskerville? … Basil Rathbone as Holmes … I grew up with Jeremy Brett as Holmes … clearly filmed on set in Hollywood … I wasn’t that thrilled, you can give it a miss:

Maul on the moor

Movies Watched -- The Swerve (2020)

95 minute running time so the right length … this a W.D. By movie, a mental health tragedy/thriller … middle aged white woman cracking up, not a new story … shaky marriage, bratty kids, psycho sister, pushy parents (mom), crummy job … it’s not badly done, but it’s also not really well done, somewhere in the middle there, can’t get a recommendation for a middling movie. The lead actress really looks like hell, and it’s great that they made her a high school English teacher.

I'm upping your sleep meds

Movies Watched -- First Cow (2020)

120 minute running time so 20 to 30 minutes too long … this was a slow-moving story, not bad, just overly slow and long … nice to see a “Chinaman” in a tale from 19th C. America (though he was full of “wise thoughts”) … they also tried to give some Injuns screen time for once … W.D. By a woman so it was sweet and sensitive, maybe too much so. SPOILERS: I don’t think a girl who discovered a skull would proceed to dig out two skeletons by hand, that didn’t ring true. I also don’t think the guy who shot them would leave them where they were.

I might recommend this film if they had figured out how to cut 20 to 30 minutes out, but at its current length, I’d say give it a pass.

There’s danger in everything that’s worth doing.

Movies Watched -- Possessor (2020)

102 minute running time … this was a gore-fest, ultra-violent, a horror sci-fi thing, and a W.D. By movie, starring pasty-faced Andrea Riseborough and pretty boy James from Lena Dunham’s Girls … mind-meld assassins of the future … it was kind of dumb and just super gory, who wants to watch this stuff? And I paid $5 for it! Don’t waste your time.

Not desperate enough to hook up with old dogface

For That Split Second, Heaven

Ella Frank singing Blue Jay … I dig the groove.