Finally watched the substance tonight. I really liked it.
I went in completely cold despite hearing a short portion of an interview with Demi Moore on Fresh Air and going out on Halloween with two friends that went as Dennis Quaid’s character and a shrimp.
minor spoilers
Based on the former, once the rules of the premise were established I was expecting a slow build of compromises and missteps being volleyed between the two halves, but was surprised by how quickly they blew past that for slimier, grimier territory. Loved the effects throughout.
The scene with Demi redoing her makeup and presentation over and over again before not going to meet her former classmate was brutal.
I’ve been on a bit of a Western kick and decided to watch The Ballad of Lefty Brown tonight. I really enjoyed how human Bill Pullman’s character comes across. He’s not some John Wayne-guns-blazing folk hero. He’s older and shows fear and you feel that he really knows his limits during action sequences. I also just like that he sounds just like a guy I apprenticed under when I first started building powerlines so my enjoyment of the film might be influenced by that just a bit.
watched “and the band played on” last night. great movie, would expect to see something similar about the covid pandemic one day but doubt it could be done with the same sense of sober righteousness. matthew modine is a treasure.
also finally finished “the quick and the dead” after watching it in what felt like 10 minute bursts over the last month. good movie. gene hackman is also a treasure. sam raimi a lesser treasure, but maybe in the upper echelon of michigan cultural outputs.
Went to a screening of Emilia Pérez last night, and I loved it. I took a friend who I didn’t really prep on the subject matter or the fact that it’s a musical, and their mind was blown. Jacques Audiard just knows how to make a compelling movie. He never really been one of those guys that’s on the forefront of social commentary, and I think the fact he is uninterested in being prescriptive gives him license to go in unpredictable directions.
Structurally the movie is all over the place, but it still works. It’s a little bit voyeuristic and exploitative for sure, but the choices felt earned to me. In the same way that the climax of Dheepan turned off the squeamish liberals looking for a polite commentary on the European migrant crisis, this film will also make some people upset for taking on a lot of issues without giving answers.
Saw La Cocina. Thought it was pretty good. It has a distinct look and pairing it with the black and white gives it a timeless setting. It can be from today or from 30, 40 years ago which I think is important for the movie. The director was there for a short q&a, and he talked about the difficulty in getting funding for a b&w movie. He called it financial suicide. Hard for me to not admire the guy.
The movie was both serious and fun. The kitchen staff endearingly call each other by their nationality and talk a lot of shit. The way it ends had me thinking of Repo Man lol. Not trying to recommended it to Repo Man fans. They do share themes tho.
I was a little worried about the focus on high stress lunch/dinner rush scenes in the trailer. The homie I worked with who still works in kitchens thought it was too much and skipped it. They’re a smaller part of the movie and what is there is effective I think. It’s cool that I can watch slashers with the guy and laugh and work situations can make a person squeamish
Tonight is not a FORT90 FILM CLUB broadcast, but instead FORT90 TV, tho also tomorrow is election day, hence why I am showing Hello Dankness. For those unfamiliar, according to one of the better descriptors:
“Assembling hundreds of film clips and media images, artist duo Soda Jerk creates a startling narrative about the changes undergone by American society since Trump, while relishing in reflecting on contemporary cultural values.”
Stream starts around 8PM-ish EST, over at the Wonderville Twitch account…
I need to watch the other versions (the original in particular) to establish my own personal tier list of how these characters were played/adapted, but these two definitely left a big impression on me. Renfield has a ridiculous and iconic laugh throughout the whole movie that is truly great. And I loved this Nosferatu’s particular mix of awkward and creepy.
It seems that in this movie they combined the characters of Mina and Lucy into one. imo I prefer the book for this reason (but let’s not get into that), but I still loved how she was portrayed.
I also loved all the white rats? I’m glad the Rat budget for this one was so high because the scenes depicting the plague were so visually impactful for me. Overall cool movie
One of my anxiety-distracting tasks last night was to make a list of all 2024 movies I know of that I want to see, roughly in ranked order by my interest level. I share it here now because why not -
Nosferatu, Cloud, Anora, The End, The Wild Robot, Trap, Gasoline Rainbow, Dahomey, Stopmotion, Art College 1994, Problemista, The Animal Kingdom, Heretic, Exhibiting Forgiveness, The Outrun, Cuckoo, Thelma, The Beast, Longlegs, Pictures of Ghosts, Megalopolis, Sing Sing, Seeking Mavis Beacon, The Substance, Conclave, The People’s Joker, Abigail, Rumours, Ultraman: Rising, Didi, My Old Ass, The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
And I think that’s it. I’m not interested in anything else that I’m aware of.
The only 2024 movies I’ve seen so far are I Saw the TV Glow, Kinds of Kindness and The Crow.
hey bourgeoise people can make good art and be offputting and weird while doing it so maybe not even worth mentioning as there are greater sins in this world. But his whole deal is a little strange to me
I agree. That’s why I had no interest in the Florida project and was surprised when I liked it as much as I did. Was hoping he could strike twice with the new one.
so maybe not even worth mentioning as there are greater sins in this world. But his whole deal is a little strange to me