tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29256063672275148182024-03-28T00:34:05.856-07:00Film Reviews from Two Guys in the DarkKen Burke and Pat Craig offer reviews of current films.Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.comBlogger613125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-16190011452881246712024-03-28T00:06:00.000-07:002024-03-28T00:33:33.974-07:00Shirley plus Short Takes on some other cinematic topics<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">Against All Odds</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b></span> (Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b></span> (Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, though better options may be on the horizon.</span> (Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue</b></span> <span style="color: #999999;">[some may look near</span> <span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span><span style="color: #999999;">]</span> is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #073763;">My reviews’ premise:</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #008f00;">“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from<b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrC1DR4QvCV7L7SkZ_jmp1ocRw7GneCAef1kkOlTGob8N23HysvL7OEBHPDC8yQ0yEObU7sfBcln9MUcAoHxcIihHM-uBgXMFooa2DeIK822qvCbBnvVa4pHyXCwZGWf-PGT0uv6Pboh5ogk6AAa5sTgdzog79emmIYRBSF9JLkbv1pL_3i54mbpg9Ag/s540/360_F_575668056_5J8cddK8BwPuAFSMA9EAeJdADRugVhTq.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="540" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrC1DR4QvCV7L7SkZ_jmp1ocRw7GneCAef1kkOlTGob8N23HysvL7OEBHPDC8yQ0yEObU7sfBcln9MUcAoHxcIihHM-uBgXMFooa2DeIK822qvCbBnvVa4pHyXCwZGWf-PGT0uv6Pboh5ogk6AAa5sTgdzog79emmIYRBSF9JLkbv1pL_3i54mbpg9Ag/w640-h426/360_F_575668056_5J8cddK8BwPuAFSMA9EAeJdADRugVhTq.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: underline;">3/28/2024 FAIR WARNING!</span> </b>My computer’s behaved itself recently, but there’s another reason why I might not be posting next week: logistics. With the Golden State Warriors basketballers fighting to make the postseaon, the Oakland Athletics baseballers opening night on Thursday, a play to see in Berkeley on Saturday, and Easter visit/dinner with some of the in-laws on Sunday I’m not sure what opportunity I might have to watch something and report on it next week. If not, I'll be back.</span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglzUB_87XV-g9ImJt-t9QsI8Gl1Onvb5y4dBvqWK_dogSN4MKjrofTen8sTvzCFznlQp9Z0smocSKw8l-ZQg-k6ihSV79_Ps4onewz-VvU8qKZBb1r0YP2C2Anyx_Dznwwk0Slm_erAK3WaAKwtze_NnDWZbFO2Tx4WIP4rsB6Z8q0b4-G8O6rNDzDTw/s109/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglzUB_87XV-g9ImJt-t9QsI8Gl1Onvb5y4dBvqWK_dogSN4MKjrofTen8sTvzCFznlQp9Z0smocSKw8l-ZQg-k6ihSV79_Ps4onewz-VvU8qKZBb1r0YP2C2Anyx_Dznwwk0Slm_erAK3WaAKwtze_NnDWZbFO2Tx4WIP4rsB6Z8q0b4-G8O6rNDzDTw/s1600/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81473752"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Shirley</span></a></span></i></b><b><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(John Ridley)</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">rated PG-13</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">118 min</span>.</b></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hjBeKNHIdMY" width="320" youtube-src-id="hjBeKNHIdMY"></iframe></div><br /><div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">For this review, I'll present no <b>Spoiler alert </b>warnings because everything being depicted here</span> (except, I assume, most of the dialogue, which probably has been hypothesized/improvised) <span style="color: #073763;">about Ms. Chisholm can be found in various biographies, so there’s nothing for me to partly-hide from you.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgig7Vxijxeb6pZkclPbdoQzd8DzvZrTNXiVoB0FHSp-Uoi8T2Tu2pHZp4iPCt1hyhY8POT_q3NP5qK1Bln18pme4HFTFxpSNkgx_Z0hwK3m_Xyj_xQV4IfTmSNvHcbMBBYbIXr_AbZYimCR0ohnz07CyaT03cFu78MVytVOxaYbKa-GJEp6JXdHHzoxg/s1199/AAAAQfEqfEr-NQ7TAdUkt__egAOaKXZx3lKDOnL9cWjPuiTwDSNGCiGZTNHgXCm9a4sfbFuY4PxbJGcvjEiXdBWw21YK0vVy9xd28RKjoOvYGbsQoRxA6dyYxfwgBjOk0dMV906trGIIcD6MItOagRMo-P-W.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="593" data-original-width="1199" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgig7Vxijxeb6pZkclPbdoQzd8DzvZrTNXiVoB0FHSp-Uoi8T2Tu2pHZp4iPCt1hyhY8POT_q3NP5qK1Bln18pme4HFTFxpSNkgx_Z0hwK3m_Xyj_xQV4IfTmSNvHcbMBBYbIXr_AbZYimCR0ohnz07CyaT03cFu78MVytVOxaYbKa-GJEp6JXdHHzoxg/w640-h316/AAAAQfEqfEr-NQ7TAdUkt__egAOaKXZx3lKDOnL9cWjPuiTwDSNGCiGZTNHgXCm9a4sfbFuY4PxbJGcvjEiXdBWw21YK0vVy9xd28RKjoOvYGbsQoRxA6dyYxfwgBjOk0dMV906trGIIcD6MItOagRMo-P-W.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">What Happens:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">This biopic</span> (see <b>Related Links </b>below for recommendations of others of this type of cinema) <span style="color: #073763;">of Shirley Chisholm is focused only on a few months of her life, but likely the ones she’ll most be remembered for, or, if she’s not immediately recognizable to you, this will help present a sense of one of the most impressive</span> (but grueling) <span style="color: #073763;">chapters in all of U.S. politics. Chisholm</span> (Oscar-winner <span style="color: #999999;">[for <i>If Beale Street Could </i>Talk, Barry Jenkins, 2028; review in our January 2, 2019 posting]</span> Regina King) <span style="color: #073763;">became the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress</span> (November, 1968) <span style="color: #073763;">with this docudrama beginning in January 1969 as she comes from her district in Brooklyn, NYC to Washington, D.C. to be sworn in, only to find she’s been assigned to the Agricultural Committee which she feels has no relevance for her constituents</span> (after complaining to fellow-Democrat, House Speaker John W. McCormack <span style="color: #999999;">[Ken Strunk]</span>, she was later re-assigned);<span style="color: #073763;"> however, the full focus here begins at Christmas-time 1971 when she decides to run for President in the coming spring, despite strong objections from her closest advisors, Wesley McDonald “Mac” Holder</span> (Lance Reddick) <span style="color: #073763;">and Arthur Hardwick Jr. </span>(Terrence Howard)<span style="color: #073763;">, a White college kid she recruited to help her with the youth vote, Robert Gottlieb</span> (Lucas Hedges)<span style="color: #073763;">, and her husband, Conrad Chisholm</span> (Michael Cherrie)<span style="color: #073763;">, who acts as security head and photographer for her campaign, as they all see no chance of her success.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> As if her home-resistance isn’t enough of a problem, there’s also the racism</span> (and patriarchy) <span style="color: #073763;">dogging her, but she gives a strong speech at Mills College in Oakland, CA</span> (where I worked for 26 years, but long after she was there) <span style="color: #073763;">where she meets young single-mother Barbara Lee</span> (Christina Jackson) <span style="color: #073763;">with no interest in the uselessness of politics until Shirley convinces her to join the campaign, becoming a prominent figure in the organization, then later went on to a long career in Congress herself </span><span style="color: #666666;">(just now finishing her final term)</span><span style="color: #073763;">. As the primary season progresses, Shirley gets support from noted feminists Betty Friedan, Bella Abzug, and Gloria Steinem, but she passes on the New Hampshire primary due to the mostly-White electorate there, puts her energy into Florida; however, she secures only 3.5% of the vote and almost gets stabbed by a knife-wielding-assailant, leading to some tense talk with Conrad. Next are national TV debates on ABC, CBS, and NBC, but she’s not invited due to her slim primary results; she counters with a successful lawsuit invoking the Equal Time FCC requirement, gets her some needed TV time; still, she keeps butting heads with campaign manager Stan Townsend</span> (Brian Stokes Mitchell) <span style="color: #073763;">who quits/is fired, due somewhat to her insistence to keep nuance in her answers to press questions rather than trying to be more concise.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk1fLvNiFqZSx_fWTVDofrtpG-WD0oMQM1bHMADaSKSdIemD-xRYxbDC1C8AEjNYoibBr50iFp1Wv-_YlW_fPI90MeTuXXKtPW_PQmg0Pq00xaUboyswjwI4XUlqWK2xeI1Swz1hn6Nvyan8_MTxkAQo6JSr6uapA9tHCpUEDWFTyZydMBs_PhpNfp-w/s1038/AAAAQXvy4JBJMFNlmhKd7kEVkGe7r6SUYXxDWm-WvaycSkpJBClzw7dv4V1h46hpbog39NOdDnCuZUkhSRGPskoYbHua78onXDgFrKcA0zniaVwaJSfrqA1UE2M-s0RFX4sg0r_1Ety3bqSIdmwJacB-n05H.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="1038" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk1fLvNiFqZSx_fWTVDofrtpG-WD0oMQM1bHMADaSKSdIemD-xRYxbDC1C8AEjNYoibBr50iFp1Wv-_YlW_fPI90MeTuXXKtPW_PQmg0Pq00xaUboyswjwI4XUlqWK2xeI1Swz1hn6Nvyan8_MTxkAQo6JSr6uapA9tHCpUEDWFTyZydMBs_PhpNfp-w/w640-h402/AAAAQXvy4JBJMFNlmhKd7kEVkGe7r6SUYXxDWm-WvaycSkpJBClzw7dv4V1h46hpbog39NOdDnCuZUkhSRGPskoYbHua78onXDgFrKcA0zniaVwaJSfrqA1UE2M-s0RFX4sg0r_1Ety3bqSIdmwJacB-n05H.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">She’s also having problems with her sister, Muriel</span> (Reina King <span style="color: #999999;">[Regina's sister, also one of the several producers, along with Regina</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, who thinks Shirley was always Daddy’s favorite, is embarrassing the family now. Further tension comes with Conrad when she needs $36K to keep the campaign going, can only raise it using her Congressional salary, their sole source of income. An ironic problem then comes when famous segregationist/former Alabama governor George Wallace </span>(W. Earl Brown)<span style="color: #073763;">, running a Third Party-campaign, is shot, with Shirley defying all opposition to see him in the hospital</span> (loss of use of lower limbs)<span style="color: #073763;">, pray for him. Shirley manages to pick up some support, though, as TV star Diane Carroll</span> (Amirah Vann) <span style="color: #073763;">arranges a meeting between Chisholm and Oakland Black Panther honcho Huey P. Newton</span> (Brad James)<span style="color: #073763;">. As the Miami Beach convention rolls around in July she also finds some help from the Hubert Humphrey and Edward Muskie teams, recruiting her to join them in challenging CA’s winner-take-all primary, instead wanting delegates proportional to the votes, but this fails with harsh opposition from George McGovern-backer Willie Brown</span> (not in the cast list, might be documentary footage)<span style="color: #073763;">. A final failure for Chisholm comes from candidate Walter Fauntroy</span> (André Holland) <span style="color: #073763;">who’d earlier agreed to release his delegates to Shirley but instead sends them to McGovern, aiding in his first-ballot-victory</span> (Shirley ended up with 152 first-ballot-delegates)<span style="color: #073763;">, with nothing for Chisholm except needed-reconciliation with Muriel. At the end, a brief testimonial’s given by actual Congresswoman/recent Senate candidate Barbara Lee; pre-credits graphics tell us that Shirley and Conrad divorced in 1977, with her afterward marrying Arthur.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio6BBL-sE2vQ7OQ4hkUAnOiBh_IYkug26NwbIqf8KPEk03ovHiosFLqn_oROUBLO_KgmSVx2MHXhUYfisxKw_jzKAns6zTIDkhdzpyY3b9xFghG2AsUomx3Z3Iel_W90VcGnHRSqIg8q-Sd70NKjROLopBwejz1TNn9lJj3_1mRLT2hfDXC_a0AMlJtg/s1500/Regina-King-ShirleyChisholm-010924-6ac7392cc2a94277b8060f763d575fea.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio6BBL-sE2vQ7OQ4hkUAnOiBh_IYkug26NwbIqf8KPEk03ovHiosFLqn_oROUBLO_KgmSVx2MHXhUYfisxKw_jzKAns6zTIDkhdzpyY3b9xFghG2AsUomx3Z3Iel_W90VcGnHRSqIg8q-Sd70NKjROLopBwejz1TNn9lJj3_1mRLT2hfDXC_a0AMlJtg/w640-h426/Regina-King-ShirleyChisholm-010924-6ac7392cc2a94277b8060f763d575fea.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So What?</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">I’m now trying to focus on 2024 releases</span> (though I did make a correction on how Bella got from Paris to London in <b><a href="https://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2024/03/short-takes-on-poor-things-zone-of.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">my review of <i>Poor Things</i></span></a> </b><span style="color: #999999;">[Yorgos Lanthimos, 2023]</span>, as well as add a video to<b><i> </i><a href="https://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-iron-claw-plus-short-takes-on-frida.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">my review of<i> The Iron Claw</i></span></a></b><b> </b><span style="color: #999999;">[Sean Durkin, 2023]</span> where the director and 3 of the “Von Erich brothers” discuss aspects of that movie <span style="color: #999999;">[last sentence of the <b>So What? </b>section]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">—but I’m finding the pickings slim, so I wasn’t sure what I’d see this week until I stumbled across <i>Shirley</i> which took me back decades to personal memories, just as <i>The Iron Claw</i>. However, what I most remember about the 1972 Presidential campaign tends sharply to the negative as I had some minor clashes with my father who was disturbed anyone had the free time to be showing up at the political conventions to protest rather than working 9 to 5 five days a week like he had to</span> (in his case, fixing broken cash registers for NCR),<span style="color: #073763;"> then faced existential trauma when Democrat George McGovern, whose party platform contained so many elements I embraced, lost in a horrific landslide in the re-election of Republican Richard Nixon, whose not-so-Silent Majority led him to victory in all but 1 state, completely dashing my naïve beliefs that the American public was ready to move noticeably in the directions of change, fairness, acceptance of those whose needs had been too long denied, etc.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRqw99VCcXSVT2F-lMRNqSJNzDrajQIrBvY-P5CElOG2nPlDOUavXI0w-w20-bPkVdUBl0gFaWYZbY6AxGTFc-zDExWdBcoyuvfK6Y2Q309Bx0AIuHD20iz4WzAB5oB-YkY7T95F5N3crPWTnhtLyvJrVjav08St7e3dh3h-5LSbt9yq-PhU1K8QyfDw/s1174/AAAAQWTsbY_sSzfwyTUfe0haeoMI3KZqWeV3pzH39eBSxkILUbDGDcNUKRdhjBefwjgIIeCgndgCol1JNbsy7GDBEPLG3auKH3J6oGupl0sR1dWmOCjsyXMroY0ElVIM9YTUCJSPn8TZse1Z3CjKCfylj9rG.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="1174" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRqw99VCcXSVT2F-lMRNqSJNzDrajQIrBvY-P5CElOG2nPlDOUavXI0w-w20-bPkVdUBl0gFaWYZbY6AxGTFc-zDExWdBcoyuvfK6Y2Q309Bx0AIuHD20iz4WzAB5oB-YkY7T95F5N3crPWTnhtLyvJrVjav08St7e3dh3h-5LSbt9yq-PhU1K8QyfDw/w640-h430/AAAAQWTsbY_sSzfwyTUfe0haeoMI3KZqWeV3pzH39eBSxkILUbDGDcNUKRdhjBefwjgIIeCgndgCol1JNbsy7GDBEPLG3auKH3J6oGupl0sR1dWmOCjsyXMroY0ElVIM9YTUCJSPn8TZse1Z3CjKCfylj9rG.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Since then, I’ve been generally cynical about what can be expected of most politicians no what they claim to advocate, with some hope restored to me in aspects of the Presidential terms of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden, countered by the years I’ve endured with Ronald Reagan, the father-son Bush boys, and—most terrifyingly—the Orange Goon whose name I’ll avoid for now, with growing fear his manipulation of law, truth, and the gullible-swath of the electorate might bring this fascist/racist/self-absorbed fool back into power. All that combo of hope and dismay is returned powerfully to me in portions of <i>Shirley </i>as this determined woman continued to fight for what she believed in—mainly, politics belongs to the people, not those rich/powerful enough to manipulate the system for their own benefit—even against incredible odds</span> (embodying the <b>hope</b> I desperately want to see with this country run fairly and legally, from local school boards all the way up to the ultimate D.C. Deciders, including the Supreme Court),<span style="color: #073763;"> yet there's the <b>dismay</b> about the way political decisions are so often made not by principles and agreements but by expediency as in the case of Fauntroy releasing his delegates to McGovern before the first ballot was taken instead of waiting to release them to Chisholm as he’d promised to do, then some other Black delegates being shuffled over to McGovern as well</span> (even as Chisholm’s forces tried to challenge the winner-take-all instead of proportional distribution of delegates based on a state’s primary voting) <span style="color: #073763;">by men I’ve come to admire in my time in CA since 1984, Ron Dellums </span>(Dorian Missick in this movie) <span style="color: #073763;">and Willie Brown.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9l1ScyAKvqbhxsWER31BOMkyGO9IdoGjZKwRcmtsK_1zpPeEih2bSk3LsC16b2Hfkeh7udxFrRRt7JBn-BDnvZazArlWVeklO-Su1Fk46Kz2o8uYVVez-JOoMuqlaVecpDKH3TLtuXnEPCfq2BBDhXck5LhFA69h5C9x1tVa4cRnl2BIupXob2TSKFg/s1160/AAAAQW8qFVAPEFPUFARVF56haeBD4b7yUBtnQCV7OPRpgLDLnIMdox_V5ZypXsE-4HsLNkWaMDQOdtqLxDffkNRT_uwoM_yiePfjbEJK2DgHL5lNXreo5SCM_Mq7BMViPYSG8L2bUc0sydZ1hXPaU0xWgNZ3.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="1160" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9l1ScyAKvqbhxsWER31BOMkyGO9IdoGjZKwRcmtsK_1zpPeEih2bSk3LsC16b2Hfkeh7udxFrRRt7JBn-BDnvZazArlWVeklO-Su1Fk46Kz2o8uYVVez-JOoMuqlaVecpDKH3TLtuXnEPCfq2BBDhXck5LhFA69h5C9x1tVa4cRnl2BIupXob2TSKFg/w640-h408/AAAAQW8qFVAPEFPUFARVF56haeBD4b7yUBtnQCV7OPRpgLDLnIMdox_V5ZypXsE-4HsLNkWaMDQOdtqLxDffkNRT_uwoM_yiePfjbEJK2DgHL5lNXreo5SCM_Mq7BMViPYSG8L2bUc0sydZ1hXPaU0xWgNZ3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">I</span> <span style="color: #073763;">know politics is a dirty business with the Constitution often used as a rhetorical device or a crafty strategy to achieve a dubious goal, but I keep hoping—deep in my barren soul—there would be, on a regular basis, more leaders of governments</span> (local, state, national) <span style="color: #073763;">who truly want to make life better for their constituents rather than simply finding methods of re-election. <i>Shirley </i>stirs up the hope that there have been/are/will be such leaders of principle rather than self-aggrandizement, but it also shows how the pragmatics of winning</span> (even when the cause appears to be noble) <span style="color: #073763;">can often leave principles in the dust. I also have to say that back in 1972 I was completely in support of McGovern, as I finally had the opportunity to vote. I’d missed the 1968 election by less than 2 months of being 21 then, as did a lot of people my age who might have been able to prevent Nixon from even a first term, but that’s all speculation; in 1972 Chisholm and her supporters were in hopes 18-year-olds being allowed to vote for the first time might have made a difference</span> (I’m sure the McGovern team thought the same)<span style="color: #073763;">, but that hope faded, just as I fear it might in 2024 as many young potential voters </span>(and vocal pro-Palestinians) <span style="color: #073763;">seem inclined to support some alternative to Trump and Biden or just not vote at all, which I fear may benefit Trump in the all-important Electoral College tally</span> (or truly lead to riots in the streets if the Mar-A-Lago Dark Lord should lose once again)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4b8sY0krTs8UoaHmR2Ugy4qk4M4UVgwzABqCXSV3_jW2MGE3i2krEk7CSHfOWKMpPxPcBbthjvZyjscjcKiqZSaK87O0Y9O7HzHkssbDk9xtHGIFBsDAe6E9GW-srYYkbVaHC8ihwgwv3ObRil6CzY7PaTCnEtroImNIXRijrCsjYKLz6I8hwZ5w6xA/s1200/AAAAQY1e3bUwRFM2KYUWaCSQN6bSPYyPzbqr16fmHFTpLaqLEsfgfvryHIDCSf4NMWpSCGi63YoPz7u-KUjAjqOVEjSqR0f-SuHWMDdhxHZcZfQxnyOhjGRu7_oBmRE_c6UWwQuy8BX7jIzBY2CUFCurI3Zq.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1200" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4b8sY0krTs8UoaHmR2Ugy4qk4M4UVgwzABqCXSV3_jW2MGE3i2krEk7CSHfOWKMpPxPcBbthjvZyjscjcKiqZSaK87O0Y9O7HzHkssbDk9xtHGIFBsDAe6E9GW-srYYkbVaHC8ihwgwv3ObRil6CzY7PaTCnEtroImNIXRijrCsjYKLz6I8hwZ5w6xA/w640-h384/AAAAQY1e3bUwRFM2KYUWaCSQN6bSPYyPzbqr16fmHFTpLaqLEsfgfvryHIDCSf4NMWpSCGi63YoPz7u-KUjAjqOVEjSqR0f-SuHWMDdhxHZcZfQxnyOhjGRu7_oBmRE_c6UWwQuy8BX7jIzBY2CUFCurI3Zq.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Back in 1972 I appreciated what Shirley Chisholm stood for but was all-in with McGovern, simply because I thought he had a legitimate chance to win in a country where any female candidate</span> (just ask Hilary Clinton or my wife, Nina) <span style="color: #073763;">has a horribly-difficult task in being elected President</span> (rather the better odds they face of becoming Senators from Blue states)<span style="color: #073763;">, especially a woman who’s Black in a country still more racist than many will admit</span> (except those who conveniently raise the specter of President Kamala Harris as a reason not to vote for age-challenged Joe Biden again)<span style="color: #073763;">. Chisholm faced that seemingly-insurmountable-challenge head-on, possibly in a more stubborn fashion than was pragmatically-advisable, as least as depicted in this movie—<i>San Francisco Chronicle </i>critic</span> <b><a href="https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/movies-tv/review-shirley-chisholm-regina-king-19205856"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Mick LaSalle</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">says the actual Chisholm was more flexible than she’s shown to be here—so if you’d like to know more about her than just these few months presented on screen I encourage you to look into biographies such as</span> <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Chisholm"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">this one</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">. Whether you choose to see the movie or not may depend upon what you know already, what you don’t care to know more about, or whether such content has interest for you. If you decide to see it, though, at the very least I think you’ll be highly impressed by King’s acting prowess and this version of Shirley Chisholm as a dedicated warrior for just causes, no matter the popularity of her position.</span> (Sorry if I got too strung-out on me rather than <i>Shirley</i>, but this is the type of personally-focused-story that calls for a personal response from its <span style="color: #666666;">viewers</span></span><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(7, 55, 99);">—including </span></span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #666666;">me.</span>)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzevONOWaspROChqJwZyx9jkCmagiJhPyD82CUDOtEVmKyMKNsL_s64I1XSYSI1P3K3MWXkyphSKIeWU4OTZGGQeUSfRkeZFveYnl7SezzCn-3lBEpYvDw2hr2iXJPfSaBcdwVq-yBfuMWp0uFMmKq31zgC9R6tkAhLbB4omvpj8IuDShyLH1CVMl9Eg/s500/MV5BMmM5MTgxODMtMzZlOS00MmRjLWIxZDYtZjQ0ZDA0ZWY4M2ExXkEyXkFqcGdeQWpnYW1i._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="500" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzevONOWaspROChqJwZyx9jkCmagiJhPyD82CUDOtEVmKyMKNsL_s64I1XSYSI1P3K3MWXkyphSKIeWU4OTZGGQeUSfRkeZFveYnl7SezzCn-3lBEpYvDw2hr2iXJPfSaBcdwVq-yBfuMWp0uFMmKq31zgC9R6tkAhLbB4omvpj8IuDShyLH1CVMl9Eg/w640-h360/MV5BMmM5MTgxODMtMzZlOS00MmRjLWIxZDYtZjQ0ZDA0ZWY4M2ExXkEyXkFqcGdeQWpnYW1i._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Bottom Line Final Comments:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">Netflix is the distributor here so even with a limited domestic</span> (U.S.-Canada) <span style="color: #073763;">theatrical release on March 15, 2024 you’re not going to get any box-office information on its big-screen presence</span> (nor will you be likely to find it in most areas) <span style="color: #073763;">because the true focus is on getting you to watch it on</span><b> <a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/shirley-2022"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Netflix streaming</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">,</span> <span style="color: #073763;">free if you’re a subscriber to the platform. Like LaSalle, the CCAL’s restrained in encouraging your attention as it’s gotten only</span><b> <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/shirley"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">71% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, a considerably-lower</span> <b><a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/shirley-2024/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">57% Metacritic average score</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, so you may factor that in to your decision although whatever you choose to do I encourage you to either see this movie or turn to other resources to learn more about Ms. Chisholm, the first Black to vie for the U.S. Presidency in a major political party</span> (also first Democrat woman in such a race),<span style="color: #073763;"> making more of an impact in that quest than almost any except her ardent supporters ever thought she would</span> (followed by a career into the next decade in Congress, then in academia)<span style="color: #073763;">, so for my usual finale of a Musical Metaphor I’ll turn to Gloria Gaynor’s big hit, “I Will Survive”</span> (written by Freddie Perren, Dino Fekaris <span style="color: #999999;">[both formerly with Motown Records]</span>, on Gaynor’s 1978 <i>Love Tracks </i>album) <span style="color: #073763;">at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dYWe1c3OyU"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=6dYWe1c3OyU</span></b></a><span style="color: #073763;">, even though the song is specifically about a woman spurned by a lover who then wants her back, yet she’s through with his antics, rejects his overtures.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Given that when Gaynor recorded this song she was in a back brace following a 6-month-hospital-recovery from a bad fall on stage resulting in a broken spine there’s connective feeling from the singer in these lyrics just as I find connection with Chisholm in lines like</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“Did you think I’d crumble? Did you think I’d lay down and die? / Oh no, not I, I will survive / Oh, as long as I know how to love, I know I’ll stay alive / I’ve got all my life to live, and I’ve got all my love to give / And I’ll survive, I will survive<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span>” </span><span style="color: #448728;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">This is a woman who bucked considerable hostility, even from her fans after she visited George Wallace when he was shot in 1972, demonstrating her Christian faith in forgiveness and caring for others was stronger than her political ideologies, showing an inner strength to survive all that confronted her, even if this movie presents her as always being right, at least in how she saw what decisions she felt she had to make, even causing alienation from her closest friends and family.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span> </b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSKtDWIOWqmwngp175JXq4QEkcB9VVRX-5sL1tfwFz1UUD2i4BCjD2WpzGovtFrXO1_-TrB-8a9Xcsf6iNKGgT1q22MbNZJj4eNMkcqDsc9X5tTTE9SB8HRHG_L5phwU-6QRwoi6d4tEHMcePqTBbag0MRH02NLnVg1HYMOn74hyphenhyphenrj0Ml46r6KxNQxYg/s1949/Hidden-Hollywood%2092.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSKtDWIOWqmwngp175JXq4QEkcB9VVRX-5sL1tfwFz1UUD2i4BCjD2WpzGovtFrXO1_-TrB-8a9Xcsf6iNKGgT1q22MbNZJj4eNMkcqDsc9X5tTTE9SB8HRHG_L5phwU-6QRwoi6d4tEHMcePqTBbag0MRH02NLnVg1HYMOn74hyphenhyphenrj0Ml46r6KxNQxYg/w640-h294/Hidden-Hollywood%2092.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:</span> </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><span style="color: #073763;">Some options for your consideration: (1)</span><span style="color: #073763; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls529807759/?ref_=pe_3465290_847284470_eml_hero_cta" style="color: #2b00fe; font-weight: bold;">IMDb favorite films directed by women</a><span style="color: #073763;">;</span></span><span style="color: #073763;"> (2) </span></span><b><span><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-best-bio-pics-ever-made"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>The New Yorker</i>'s best bio-pics ever made</span></a></span> </b>(I thank my friend Barry Caine for passing this info on to me)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="color: #941100; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b></span><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. 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You can also leave comments at our<b> </b>Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it</span> (most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">30,011</span></b> (as always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers)<span style="color: #073763;">; below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week </span>(with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVkjuL6O-rsGeK4xZ2pKP6p0cM0s_lyosJVnpnWki3I879Jl9RCZtdvobO9LqtLDXckRGWRw-8r2b3EFXCTThBLJUhgGZELc_S_poJ094GO59oyNEEBFT7v03kN4NMmuzuq2PXkPklaPgF_0pSmYFxB4jowbCxvycOOPH_yREK0sX2r25A2mz7HoayEw/s1197/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-27%20at%203.42.53%20PM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1053" data-original-width="1197" height="564" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVkjuL6O-rsGeK4xZ2pKP6p0cM0s_lyosJVnpnWki3I879Jl9RCZtdvobO9LqtLDXckRGWRw-8r2b3EFXCTThBLJUhgGZELc_S_poJ094GO59oyNEEBFT7v03kN4NMmuzuq2PXkPklaPgF_0pSmYFxB4jowbCxvycOOPH_yREK0sX2r25A2mz7HoayEw/w650-h564/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-27%20at%203.42.53%20PM.jpg" width="650" /></a></div>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-39425393548560921012024-03-20T23:36:00.000-07:002024-03-23T16:29:05.011-07:00The Iron Claw plus Short Takes on Frida [2024] and a few other cinematic topics<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">Overcoming Misery</span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b></span> (Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b></span> (Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, but better options are on the horizon.</span> (Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue </b></span>below <span style="color: #999999;">[some may look near</span> <span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span><span style="color: #999999;">] </span>is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;">My reviews’ premise: </span>“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from<b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600; text-decoration: underline;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">3/20/24</span></b></span><b style="color: #ff2600;"><span style="font-size: medium;">!</span>—</b><span style="color: #ff2600;">Here’s a warning about a possible breakdown in postings from your enthusiastic critic at Film Reviews from Two Guys in the Dark because my trusty computer’s acting funky again </span><span style="color: #e06666;">(almost died this week)</span><span style="color: #ff2600;">; if need be, I'll go dark for awhile for necessary repairs, </span><span style="color: red;">but</span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">—</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">if so</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">—</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I’ll be back soon.</span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL3DXY8PLlB-4gWV4jPmFx_7JS7PqBZQTqlQq8U4gCh9dcmForL5FPQtA5yYChiWgZgZ_fv_3CNnjG72IesmWndy4qoxvjDTnHF1PW8Ok2zxIhnudSShiXEnCoI83Ryikn22VRqutEj9Va7O-RIaedPNWy-_F9DySYT59YMQVkyiGJu9u0zJZgFV3Drg/s109/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL3DXY8PLlB-4gWV4jPmFx_7JS7PqBZQTqlQq8U4gCh9dcmForL5FPQtA5yYChiWgZgZ_fv_3CNnjG72IesmWndy4qoxvjDTnHF1PW8Ok2zxIhnudSShiXEnCoI83Ryikn22VRqutEj9Va7O-RIaedPNWy-_F9DySYT59YMQVkyiGJu9u0zJZgFV3Drg/s1600/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://a24films.com/films/the-iron-claw"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The Iron Claw</span></a></span></span></i></b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Sean Durkin, 2023)</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> rated R</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">132 min.</span></b></span></div><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8KVsaoveTbw" width="320" youtube-src-id="8KVsaoveTbw"></iframe></div><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">I</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">f you can abide </span></b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">plot spoilers</span></b></span><b> read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ </b><span style="color: #00c000;"><b>(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</b></span><b>. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and</span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">red.⇐</span> </b></span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-6TennhPPZTb-nHnVPqdy-VPmdo5n1fY3ZM3DeiB5eXJm8HKz3kco9Q1SpGqI3O4_I3BmyvEhQ5nPyodQAp4r60RscbDkD8lf33k6W-J8cZHGYk9okrTVl_ay8KdDH9LClCzO_1rKIqgpR9W1pE0K_DmShIZHl_RsW1rU6j6mNG6rIzCdhxE02dD8Vw/s6000/the-iron-claw_uNuoHh.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3755" data-original-width="6000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-6TennhPPZTb-nHnVPqdy-VPmdo5n1fY3ZM3DeiB5eXJm8HKz3kco9Q1SpGqI3O4_I3BmyvEhQ5nPyodQAp4r60RscbDkD8lf33k6W-J8cZHGYk9okrTVl_ay8KdDH9LClCzO_1rKIqgpR9W1pE0K_DmShIZHl_RsW1rU6j6mNG6rIzCdhxE02dD8Vw/w640-h400/the-iron-claw_uNuoHh.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">What Happens:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">In this “Inspired by a True Story” biopic</span> (but not one that's as “bomb”bastic as <i>Oppenheimer </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Christopher Nolan, 2023; review in our August 17, 2023 posting]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, we begin briefly in the 1960s where pro wrestler Fritz Von Erich</span> (Holt McCallany)<span style="color: #073763;">—actual name was Jack Barton Adkisson; he and his wrestler sons used Von Erich as stage names, although it does come from Jack’s mother’s heritage, with the concern among Fritz’s sons their family’s cursed because of this decision due to Grandma’s family suffering frequent tragedies</span> (although I admit wrestlers would have a hard time establishing any sort of persona with a name like Jack Adkisson when something like Ric Flair is much more effective <span style="color: #999999;">[his real name: Richard Morgan Fliehr]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">; Kevin</span> (Zac Efron) i<span style="color: #073763;">s especially concerned about this curse due to the early death of his oldest brother, Jack Jr., as a mere little kid.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> After the early scene of Fritz we're in 1979 where he’s retired</span> (script seems to fudge a bit on that) <span style="color: #073763;">but runs a Dallas-based, Texas-wide franchise called World Class Championship Wrestling </span>(that operates in some conjunction with the larger, more-nationwide National Wrestling Alliance <span style="color: #999999;">[back when I saw matches televised from Houston the basic tactic seemed to be the NWA would have a villain champion brought in to fight a local hero, with the hero never winning the title, at least that’s how I experienced it; there was also the holdover attitude from WW II about certain bad guys so Von Erich evoked the Nazis, Duke Keomuka evoked Imperial Japan]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">that developed its popularity with 3 of Fritz’s sons—in order of birth—Kevin, David</span> (Harris Dickinson)<span style="color: #073763;">, and Kerry</span> (Jeremy Allen White)<span style="color: #073763;">—I never saw the first 2 in action but had some exposure to Kerry when he went over to Vince McMahon’s WWF</span> (now WWE) <span style="color: #073763;">enterprise. I’m sure championships were mandated by corporate decisions providing for frustration from those who were never allowed to rise to the top, as with Fritz fuming about never being NWA honcho so he puts his hopes on Kevin, the current WCCW Texas Heavyweight Champion, when given a match against NWA champ Harley Race</span> (Kevin Anton).<span style="color: #073763;"> Kevin wins, but by disqualification, so the title doesn’t change hands, although the rematch is set.</span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkNw9IKhCKXWueJ6d2d68Wx-ZGHs10BwcB5yW0tCrM1R7hwasMc5l40YSqAHfJTNDcsYJyvp7lZVQLGFVILZX2-mA_CUnDIeHANiqtVdKZG-z-DsW9gNoogP00h_UOR4z2NdwTw0aHXRn_TMymNPrSAVJ4psUKZ3ka5OUEQ2fhnGr2P87PjHA0_7q2QA/s5603/the-iron-claw_jXZYqU.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3603" data-original-width="5603" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkNw9IKhCKXWueJ6d2d68Wx-ZGHs10BwcB5yW0tCrM1R7hwasMc5l40YSqAHfJTNDcsYJyvp7lZVQLGFVILZX2-mA_CUnDIeHANiqtVdKZG-z-DsW9gNoogP00h_UOR4z2NdwTw0aHXRn_TMymNPrSAVJ4psUKZ3ka5OUEQ2fhnGr2P87PjHA0_7q2QA/w640-h412/the-iron-claw_jXZYqU.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">However, Fritz decides David should get the rematch, frustrating Kevin who does find solace with his new girlfriend, Pam</span> (Lily James)<span style="color: #073763;">, soon after marries her, before long she's pregnant. Kerry then joins his brothers in the ring after his hopes for competing in discus at the 1980 Summer Olympics are dashed by the USA boycotting the games after the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. In 1983 the 3 Von Erich brothers defeat the Fabulous Freebirds to win a Six-Man Tag Team Championship</span> (with seemingly all 6 in the ring at the same time, or maybe that was just in one quick assault; we don’t see this in the movie but these 2 teams frequently traded for this title until it was retired in 1988),<span style="color: #073763;"> but next-in-line Mike</span> <span style="color: #666666;">(Stanley Simons)</span><span style="color: #073763;">, who hoped rather to be a musician, replaced David after his 1984 death in Japan from enteritis</span> (inflammation of the small intestine)<span style="color: #073763;">, so by coin toss Kerry gets the NWA championship match, but now it’ll be against Ric Flair</span> (Aaron Dean Eisenberg)<span style="color: #073763;">, which Kerry loses, after which he has a motorcycle accident, must amputate his right foot </span>(then gets a prosthetic one, goes over to WWF for awhile)<span style="color: #073763;">. Kevin ends up in a rematch with Flair, seems to have him beat by applying his father’s famous submission hold, the Iron Claw</span> (a furious squeeze of the opponent’s head) <span style="color: #073763;">but refuses to break the hold so the referee disqualifies him. Things continue to get complicated as Mike goes into a coma after surgery, comes out with physical and mental problems, finally succumbs to suicide even as Kevin takes over WCCW from Fritz; Kerry also kills himself with a gun he gave to Fritz as a Christmas present, which throws Kevin into a fit of rage against Fritz. </span><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">⇒Later,</span></b> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">in a somber mood Kevin has a vision of his departed brothers, even Jack Jr. Kevin then sells WCCW against Fritz’s wishes, finds solace again with his young sons who say they’ll be like brothers to him. Doris, however, divorces Fritz, returns to her former love of painting<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span> Graphics before the final credits note the Von Erichs were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009, with Kevin, Pam, their children and grandchildren now living on a ranch in</span> <span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>Hawaii.⇐</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTv8JlFuJeqJyTVc7oWlv7pYTUYyRCGeBhBbZB8rhBffPPT6qtVnIhRdi4fW6ciry0ZxthIyVW6YMGtjSKwFGNF2twQgyMH2YDdeyNvK6I7WBuSlP0u7LSYzypYHBINxCQkq2miOxFaoz3E3140LQRaatyb64ZfpQVwJLxUiLl4E2SsIVFyMK3XdcOFA/s5963/the-iron-claw_f69Ggm.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3603" data-original-width="5963" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTv8JlFuJeqJyTVc7oWlv7pYTUYyRCGeBhBbZB8rhBffPPT6qtVnIhRdi4fW6ciry0ZxthIyVW6YMGtjSKwFGNF2twQgyMH2YDdeyNvK6I7WBuSlP0u7LSYzypYHBINxCQkq2miOxFaoz3E3140LQRaatyb64ZfpQVwJLxUiLl4E2SsIVFyMK3XdcOFA/w640-h386/the-iron-claw_f69Ggm.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);">(Fritz and Doris at Kevin's wedding.)</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(11, 83, 148);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So What?</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">After my recent postings I thought I was done with reviewing 2023 releases, but this one continued to intrigue me because back in the mid-1960s I watched pro wresting on TV from Houston</span> (I lived 50 miles away in Galveston) <span style="color: #073763;">and saw the great villain Fritz Von Eric torture his opponents with that face claw, then in the late 1970s while living in Dallas I wasn’t watching wrestling anymore</span> (although I started again in the late 1980s, continuing on until retirement in 2013 as it proved to be a great release of work-related-tensions when the heroes would clobber the nasty villains, although toward the end in watching WWE pay-per-views the villains often won out, so my tactic wasn’t as successful; fortunately, retirement took away most of the bad vibes anyway <span style="color: #999999;">[except computer breakdowns]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, but the Dallas newspapers covered some aspects of the local-hero-Von Erichs</span> (somehow the family's elder statesman had evolved into a crowd-favorite) <span style="color: #073763;">so I was aware of Fritz’s “final” match against King Kong Bundy in 1982</span> (ended in a draw due to a double-count out while they fought outside the ring, though I now find he had another “final” in 1986 <span style="color: #999999;">[after I’d moved to CA]</span> where he beat Abdullah the Butcher via disqualification <span style="color: #999999;">[I guess none of these guys who are continuing on in the ring want a clear loss on their record to a local icon who’s leaving these public conflicts]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">. Fritz died in 1997 at age 68—his 6<sup>th</sup> son, Chris</span> (not part of this movie) <span style="color: #073763;">died in 1991, just short of his 22<sup>nd</sup> birthday, so maybe the curse has some substance after all, as Kevin’s the only one of that immediate family </span>(along with Pam and their children) <span style="color: #073763;">still alive today</span> (Doris died too, in 2015)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVb-NZPbbMBjHWiIje4_Gzx-z01vhEG7SggXevcP5ky7PFpCrKL0hTHk29bKMbdbxnm66eUsUkWyuH50kqcqq2th5qdLr2G7DwVVfL_0wEcZvPUgbdlF3gcXPkz5kEncit9F7lic_uTiWWg_zw6cHQDHr_h2EOPT3TjeALb_V5W6o4iDFURdTXBHpQJw/s5640/the-iron-claw_v2Ey6B.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3373" data-original-width="5640" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVb-NZPbbMBjHWiIje4_Gzx-z01vhEG7SggXevcP5ky7PFpCrKL0hTHk29bKMbdbxnm66eUsUkWyuH50kqcqq2th5qdLr2G7DwVVfL_0wEcZvPUgbdlF3gcXPkz5kEncit9F7lic_uTiWWg_zw6cHQDHr_h2EOPT3TjeALb_V5W6o4iDFURdTXBHpQJw/w640-h382/the-iron-claw_v2Ey6B.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">If</span> <span style="color: #073763;">you want some explorations of actual fact vs. fiction in <i>The Iron Claw </i>here’s</span> <b><a href="https://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/the-iron-claw/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">a source</span></a></b>,<span style="color: #073763;"> where you find unseen, less physically-commanding-than-his-brothers-Chris shot himself</span> (in 1991)<span style="color: #073763;">, just like Kerry</span> (1993)<span style="color: #073763;">. For those who assume pro-wresting is all choreographed, this movie sort of affirms, yet leaves open the idea spontaneous happenings do occur, as when Kevin says Race wasn’t supposed to throw him out of the ring, then suplex him onto the concrete floor, leaving him slow to return due to the pain, even though Fritz tells his son to fight through the difficulties to verify his predominance in the sport</span> (maybe we should say “physical spectacle,” just as the World Wrestling Federation changed its WWF name to World Wrestling Entertainment after a legal challenge from the World Wildlife Fund)<span style="color: #073763;">. For those not interested in wrestling’s violence, you can still watch this movie and not be too put-off by it because the in-ring-scenes are sparse, there’s no blood from open wounds, nobody gets hit with a metal chair, and the referees seem to be aware of everything going on, enforcing “rules,” such as they are. It’s truly a drama </span>(with a marvelous performance by bulked-up-Efron) <span><span style="color: #073763;">about </span><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPGdKB3h8bo"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">a hard-working-family</span></a> </span></b></span>(maybe too hard at times, trying to match Fritz’s aspirations for the honor he’s accorded to the Von Erichs)<span style="color: #073763;">, where tragedy just keeps striking sibling after sibling.</span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvABEhOh5QQJwjjOUUKfLZAQRDCuO22w50H6hUfLQeupM-vJ7OVfOs11If07KWEpNk7Bt9x53tj5Or8YW57VjpEKje7YsVxyLzcDv-E9vaDNBKf5lfAFLldgSoV1WT4B_yd_6MeXiOrMV8TrU7bnN6eQl9OToNJvWp-ErrIW7FlAsYBhzazkLvJo_UtA/s4791/the-iron-claw_U3IBpp.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3143" data-original-width="4791" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvABEhOh5QQJwjjOUUKfLZAQRDCuO22w50H6hUfLQeupM-vJ7OVfOs11If07KWEpNk7Bt9x53tj5Or8YW57VjpEKje7YsVxyLzcDv-E9vaDNBKf5lfAFLldgSoV1WT4B_yd_6MeXiOrMV8TrU7bnN6eQl9OToNJvWp-ErrIW7FlAsYBhzazkLvJo_UtA/w640-h420/the-iron-claw_U3IBpp.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Bottom Line Final Comments:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;"><i>The Iron Claw </i>opened in domestic</span> (U.S.-Canada) <span style="color: #073763;">theaters on December 22, 2023, taking in $35 million at the box office</span> ($42.7 million worldwide)<span style="color: #073763;">, but if you want to see it now you’ll probably need</span> <b><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-iron-claw"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">streaming</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">where last weekend I had to buy it for $19.99 on Apple TV+</span> (also for sale then on Amazon Prime Video, a couple of others)<span style="color: #073763;">, although now you can rent it from Amazon Prime for a mere $5.99</span> (4K version, also HD) <span style="color: #073763;">or a few others for up to $7.99, yet the only purchase available now is just from Apple</span> (?)<span style="color: #073763;">—I’m getting a little tired of these options shifting from buy only to rental a few days after I make my purchase, though I can’t wait until into the next week to watch just to see if a bargain emerges because Friday and Saturday nights are my best choices to spend time on cinematic narratives</span> (given other things to do/watch on other nights during the week)<span style="color: #073763;">. If you’re interested in the <i>... Claw</i> you’ll find a supportive <b>CCAC</b> with the</span> <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_iron_claw_2023"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews at 89%</span></a></span></b><span style="color: #073763;">, the</span><b> <a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-iron-claw/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Metacritic average score at 73%</span></a> </b>(they’re usually lower than RT)<span style="color: #073763;">—the Oscar predictor at <i>Variety </i>even said certain aspects of it deserved Oscar nominations to replace others in those final fives: Film Editing, Makeup & Hair Styling, Original Song. Even more concretely, the National Board of Review included <i>The Iron Claw </i>among their Top 10 of 2023 along with awarding it for Best Ensemble </span><span style="color: #666666;">(other critic groups also gave it various nominations)</span><span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglKbRCAAoJdYz-nCSEj7F1OvvOcQvSJfULBWwmMuw8Sn5pXlRFVU5OCEY8_7a9Uy0DK2H-TjtIlHMfPsRhZBAiqvigejrwwVFm551alMOS5_1lTzbcDOGDhiH-z6y9J-QywqfLC-GY3zNVGt-cV5kY6PvCNXUtHAkt5xSF1yJShDCTR9mZ1u2-5Mh_Aw/s6000/the-iron-claw_lEna31.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3124" data-original-width="6000" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglKbRCAAoJdYz-nCSEj7F1OvvOcQvSJfULBWwmMuw8Sn5pXlRFVU5OCEY8_7a9Uy0DK2H-TjtIlHMfPsRhZBAiqvigejrwwVFm551alMOS5_1lTzbcDOGDhiH-z6y9J-QywqfLC-GY3zNVGt-cV5kY6PvCNXUtHAkt5xSF1yJShDCTR9mZ1u2-5Mh_Aw/w640-h334/the-iron-claw_lEna31.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Or, maybe you’d just prefer my standard trope of closing out a review with a Musical Metaphor, which in this case I’ll give you a few</span> (in case I disappear for a bit)<span style="color: #073763;">, although I’ll pass on the <i>Variety</i> guy’s interest in</span> <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7ISN7eKlRE"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Live That Way Forever"</span></a></b><b> </b>(written by Richard Reed Parry, Laurel Sprengelmeyer; sung in the movie by Mike Von Eric, also used during the final credits) <span style="color: #073763;">instead of another song from the soundtrack, “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” by Blue <span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">Öyster</span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Cult</span> (on their 1976 <i>Agents of Fortune</i> album <span style="color: #999999;">[yeah, I know:</span> <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVsQLlk-T0s"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"More cowbell!"</span></a></b><span style="color: #999999;">]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8L325a-e8k"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8L325a-e8k</span></b></a><b> </b><span style="color: #073763;">with its pleas to not be afraid even in the face of tragedy:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“All our times have come / Here, but now they’re gone </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> The door was open and the wind appeared / The candles blew and then disappeared </span><span style="color: #999999;">[… but]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> Don’t fear the Reaper.” </span> <span style="color: #073763;">Now, for your further edification I just came across another song that also seems to fit well</span> (or maybe I think it's so because I heard it on the radio while in the sauna so my mind might have been baked at that point)<span style="color: #073763;">, from the Staple Singers, “If You’re Ready (Come Go with Me)”</span> (on their 1973 album <i>Be What You Are</i>) <span style="color: #073763;">at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx_Vq6t-3vI"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx_Vq6t-3vI</span></b></a><b> </b>(terrible video, good sound)<b> </b><span style="color: #073763;">which alludes to when Kevin has that vision of his brothers, giving him a sense of how tragedy may eventually resolve itself within comfort</span> (as his later life seems to indicate) <span style="color: #073763;">as the song encourages us:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“No hatred (come go with me) / Will be tolerated (come go with me) </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> Love is the only transportation / To where there’s total communication.” </span> <span style="color: #073763;">Or, maybe in these increasingly-harsh-political-times I’m just encouraged by an upbeat song rejecting disaster, wars, economical exploitation, political domination, genocide, backstabbing with the encouragement to be</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“just movin’ on.” </span> <span style="color: #073763;">At least in this movie we get the hope Kevin Von Erich was able to find such peace despite all he had to endure; if so, this story offers hope we might be able to do the same ourselves.</span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">In order for these postings to not run on too long</span> (for both your sanity and mine) <span style="color: #073763;">I promised myself</span> (and my ever-tolerant, <span style="color: #6aa84f;">“Good night, see you in the morning”</span>-wife, Nina) <span style="color: #073763;">to do 1 review each week, but I keep coming across others I’d like to also take note of so I’m trying an experiment of making comments in <b>Short Takes </b>that are actually <b>short (!)</b>. Here’s my first attempt at such. Wish me luck!</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0iu-8-2cUF8DOfH2FeaOV1CGb7k2himFIFIjjt0bMEcjq329lyo12EvoFFEfsEFp0_B2egRLSMQaojm8j4yNaClXjHCgVTYZrvqwb9Bv41K_BjZEkQomb9V84djfDY6AeQ64AoeeP_YuVSYOOgnrkt28FDHzR5jgYCQTwEa0hlv-SMkj53wL1jmAh1g/s109/four%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0iu-8-2cUF8DOfH2FeaOV1CGb7k2himFIFIjjt0bMEcjq329lyo12EvoFFEfsEFp0_B2egRLSMQaojm8j4yNaClXjHCgVTYZrvqwb9Bv41K_BjZEkQomb9V84djfDY6AeQ64AoeeP_YuVSYOOgnrkt28FDHzR5jgYCQTwEa0hlv-SMkj53wL1jmAh1g/s1600/four%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.fridakahlo.it/en/scheda-news.php?id=249"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Frida</span></a></span></i></b><i style="font-weight: bold;"> </i><span style="color: #999999;">[2024] </span><span style="color: #c27ba0; font-weight: bold;">(Carla Gutierrez)</span><b> </b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold;">rated R</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>87</b> <b>min</b><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zYarwE_xvgk" width="320" youtube-src-id="zYarwE_xvgk"></iframe></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">No </span><b style="color: #073763;">spoiler warning </b><span style="color: #073763;">as this film’s all based on known fact, unlike <i>The Iron </i></span><i style="color: #073763;">Claw </i><span style="color: #073763;">which fictionalizes some actualies, although I cheated too by using the photo below from the biopic </span><span style="color: #073763; font-style: italic;">Frida </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666;">(Julie Taymor, 2002) </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #073763;">starring Salma Hayek </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #073763;">because it's a better shot than anything I could find from this new <i>Frida</i>.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6cPqKtQvGxAGBgsINScR9szDpjrSZk0CCbFjxFxNPz0R3bLiS9GAqx5XMxK2L7_av5bWQOv6LGCkGaGBfgwXjHJ0EsJuNGj8Vh7UgQqfMgMNoKtRJUAQ1UzpwVYgIJlgwUEd3nmK7owtl94wnzJB7UvEQiXeP3dURi7TchRJbK-CgQWr33pnG52Og-g/s892/Salma-Hayek-in-the-movie-Frida.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="892" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6cPqKtQvGxAGBgsINScR9szDpjrSZk0CCbFjxFxNPz0R3bLiS9GAqx5XMxK2L7_av5bWQOv6LGCkGaGBfgwXjHJ0EsJuNGj8Vh7UgQqfMgMNoKtRJUAQ1UzpwVYgIJlgwUEd3nmK7owtl94wnzJB7UvEQiXeP3dURi7TchRJbK-CgQWr33pnG52Og-g/w640-h430/Salma-Hayek-in-the-movie-Frida.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #073763;">This documentary about the great Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo, uses her images frequently</span> (even animates some of them)<span style="color: #073763;">, plus footage from her life along with her own words from her writings and interviews, spoken by Fernanda Echevarria del Rivero, to give us an informative, insightful, concise overview of Kahlo’s life from the time as a teenager she was injured in a trolley car accident </span>(left her with ongoing major pain)<span style="color: #073763;">, through her career as a communist, surrealist painter </span>(many marvelous self-portraits),<span style="color: #073763;"> affairs along the way with women and men including Russia’s Leon Trotsky, her 2 marriages to famed muralist Diego Rivera, and her distain for the high-class-capitalists necessity for supporting major art works. This film is wonderful to see, factually-useful to watch, so I’m recommending it highly, free to</span> <b><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/frida-2024"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Amazon Video subscribers</span></a></b> (although it is in Spanish, so that means subtitles for many of us)<span style="color: #073763;">—or, if you’re not within that tribe you could consult </span><b><a href="https://www.fridakahlo.org/frida-kahlo-biography.jsp"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">this biography</span></a><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">and/or</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.frida-kahlo-foundation.org/the-complete-works.html?pageno=1"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">this collection of her paintings</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">. The <b>CCAL</b>’s generally supportive, although there’s another gap between the </span><b><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/frida_2024"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">90% RT positive reviews</span></a><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">and the </span><b><a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/frida-2024/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">74% MC average score</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">. For a Musical Metaphor I’m going with Bob Dylan’s “She Belongs to Me”</span> (1965 <i>Bringing It All Back Home </i>album) <span style="color: #073763;">at </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRgk6v2o9RY"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRgk6v2o9RY</span></b></a><span style="color: #073763;">, a song with many interpretations</span> (including whom it might be about)<span style="color: #073763;">, possibly an ironic title</span> (in that the singer doesn’t seem all that consistently supportive of this woman he's describing)<span style="color: #073763;">, yet with lyrics that speak to me about aspects of Frida:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“She’s got everything she needs / She’s an artists, she don’t look back […] She’s nobody’s child /The law can’t touch her at all </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> She’s a hypnotist collector / You are a walking antique.”</span> <span style="color: #073763;">There’s a lot more that could be said about <i>Frida</i>; I highly encourage you to see/enjoy it for yourself.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi107iqMzBUR1A0zIUWb9mnuspSYB5oO5YdO8EAiu1VMD1Nuk40c4YyUSlW-KoWdeCAGrOn35u7IVnr9uPhqy6zzSnUS4kTxIQqOCfeQ3qoE0EWb8n5py_yDC9cGIVfMeKSYBqsq49C-cm8qjoxnOmK7jvn1-qvv-ENeXrId5mSjTWstZprFGyAISd6oA/s1949/Hidden-Hollywood%2091.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi107iqMzBUR1A0zIUWb9mnuspSYB5oO5YdO8EAiu1VMD1Nuk40c4YyUSlW-KoWdeCAGrOn35u7IVnr9uPhqy6zzSnUS4kTxIQqOCfeQ3qoE0EWb8n5py_yDC9cGIVfMeKSYBqsq49C-cm8qjoxnOmK7jvn1-qvv-ENeXrId5mSjTWstZprFGyAISd6oA/w640-h294/Hidden-Hollywood%2091.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:</span></b></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Just one option for your consideration this week: </span><b><a href="https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/netflix-top-10-streaming-ratings-1235697082/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=508437_03-19-2024&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Current Top 10 movies and TV series on Netflix</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p>
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<p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p>
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<p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">30,011</span></b> (as always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers)<span style="color: #073763;">; below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week</span> (with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyfS0XjSJ1wWjfK4ssA_qdkT1VVG9_Vf64ZaMhsuFcWCiZL9BWRnS27kHDcEZidUsb1rOO5hF98aDisuXjYjrmnJLAK54JMMTyd6ntnuwawpgM2_gnLAwzOtrCrAdb673whG1P762ohXn1r7a9bcPYwH3rB5tw5VP8UNakRyAYsrpcRDv6Xegme8YNaw/s1206/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-20%20at%202.32.37%20PM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1061" data-original-width="1206" height="564" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyfS0XjSJ1wWjfK4ssA_qdkT1VVG9_Vf64ZaMhsuFcWCiZL9BWRnS27kHDcEZidUsb1rOO5hF98aDisuXjYjrmnJLAK54JMMTyd6ntnuwawpgM2_gnLAwzOtrCrAdb673whG1P762ohXn1r7a9bcPYwH3rB5tw5VP8UNakRyAYsrpcRDv6Xegme8YNaw/w651-h564/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-20%20at%202.32.37%20PM.jpg" width="651" /></a></div>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-21471783825871997582024-03-13T23:19:00.000-07:002024-03-23T14:57:02.033-07:00Short Takes on Poor Things, The Zone of Interest, and a few other cinematic topics<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">Mad Science and Mad Men</span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b></span> (Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b></span> (Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, though better options may be on the horizon.</span> (Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue</b></span> <span style="color: #999999;">[some may look near </span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span><span style="color: #999999;">]</span> is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #073763;">My reviews’ premise:</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #008f00;">“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from<b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnfX0w-pvGDUQwS2HqZAQfJ56D9wCpOeIwT_VO8iKGOX7mvF8MSnwOWKgO4v2GYLA6fkuxIrNAhqxjuOIeoW3WEix9mGcda_SBVOkk5uML80DADUSZSwe1QRQLcVxRKc6tYAHkqYd1SNjRAwjY0zmKwzSRhwDqDS1li8L3Faum9_uCODv_fjz8HPdkiQ/s640/oscar_statues%202024-2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="640" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnfX0w-pvGDUQwS2HqZAQfJ56D9wCpOeIwT_VO8iKGOX7mvF8MSnwOWKgO4v2GYLA6fkuxIrNAhqxjuOIeoW3WEix9mGcda_SBVOkk5uML80DADUSZSwe1QRQLcVxRKc6tYAHkqYd1SNjRAwjY0zmKwzSRhwDqDS1li8L3Faum9_uCODv_fjz8HPdkiQ/w640-h350/oscar_statues%202024-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">In that I saw</span> <span style="color: #073763;">both films reviewed this week just before the Oscars broadcast I wasn’t able to get to them until after the fact, so I’ll try here to provide their due without belaboring details too much.</span> (Shocking, I know.) <span style="color: #073763;">Speaking of the Oscars, since they’ve </span><a href="https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2024"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">been awarded</span></b></a><span style="color: #073763;"> for the 2023 releases you can refer to </span><b><a href="https://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2024/03/oscar-predictions-for-2023-releases.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">my predictions posting</span></a><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">to see what I got right</span> (16 of 23, 70%) <span style="color: #073763;">and wrong, which you can also compare to the experts at </span><b><i><a href="https://variety.com/lists/2024-oscar-predictions"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Variety</span></a></i></b><b style="color: #073763;"> </b><span style="color: #073763;">where they got 15 correct for 65%. Where I didn’t predict a winner the Academy only awarded 1 of my preferences</span> (<i>Poor Things</i>, Makeup and Hair Styling) <span style="color: #073763;">while <i>Variety </i>also got 1 preference</span> (<i>The Last Repair Shop</i>, Documentary Short Film) <span style="color: #073763;">when predicting something else, so I've come out about even with those who seemingly know more than me, ha ha!</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b> <span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="color: #008f00;">If you can abide </b><span style="color: red; font-size: large; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>plot spoilers</b></span><b style="color: #008f00;"> read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ </b><span style="color: #93c47d;"><b>(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</b></span><b style="color: #008f00;">. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: red;"><b style="background-color: #fcff01;">⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and</span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">red.⇐</span><span style="color: #65a0dc;"> </span></b></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP6OUI8dCaWnLE1mFTzLZsNICVqQ754C6WZC3wLx0foo-WtG4fOecyYoSMhtDQbafd7pfRaBhxqDB0W5s-Adowexog4dwztUtqUwtNwKvK63bqejoxF-UE8HwkBEB017vnbcGnHBloThClm50SMUr8pXmgmdMyk3mFHFygtnuXE5x7PU-tv3XlwI8nmg/s109/four%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP6OUI8dCaWnLE1mFTzLZsNICVqQ754C6WZC3wLx0foo-WtG4fOecyYoSMhtDQbafd7pfRaBhxqDB0W5s-Adowexog4dwztUtqUwtNwKvK63bqejoxF-UE8HwkBEB017vnbcGnHBloThClm50SMUr8pXmgmdMyk3mFHFygtnuXE5x7PU-tv3XlwI8nmg/s1600/four%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.searchlightpictures.com/poor-things/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Poor Things</span></a></span></i></b></span><b><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Yorgos Lanthimos, 2023)</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> rated R</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">142 min.</span></b></span></div><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vjm0udI77KU" width="320" youtube-src-id="vjm0udI77KU"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGKvNixAAvQXFFAMBwdaImjrwqomQV3DqzT6WLUlLnODP5dhv1VP5LPqLNLr5AvrpuRZclObauE9cxW4k3j7WsEuWx7Yt2SwAqvhyphenhyphenG_7P4f4Jnd0KvY8h9NWP25qajwV4Wq_FGgfrS0WfACkrD9u-QMl1L3_rp2XZ70R36GuLHPvVpnskiXTxfs3-sw/s538/22058_002.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="265" data-original-width="538" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGKvNixAAvQXFFAMBwdaImjrwqomQV3DqzT6WLUlLnODP5dhv1VP5LPqLNLr5AvrpuRZclObauE9cxW4k3j7WsEuWx7Yt2SwAqvhyphenhyphenG_7P4f4Jnd0KvY8h9NWP25qajwV4Wq_FGgfrS0WfACkrD9u-QMl1L3_rp2XZ70R36GuLHPvVpnskiXTxfs3-sw/w640-h316/22058_002.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #073763;">Clearly, <i>Poor Things </i>is the oddest, most extreme film of the 2024 Best Picture Oscar nominees</span> (admittedly, even more so than the gloriously-created-world of <i>Barbie </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Greta Gerwig, 2023; review in our August 17, 2023 posting]</span><span style="color: #666666;"> my preference for Best Production Design</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, with a clear <i>Frankenstein</i></span> (James Whale, 1931)<span style="color: #073763;">-like-vibe as a mad-scientist-surgeon in what seems</span> (mostly) <span style="color: #073763;">to be late-19<sup>th</sup>-century London</span> (with a stitched-up-face reminiscent of Frankenstein’s monster, the result of his father performing experiments on him)<span style="color: #073763;">, Godwin Baxter</span> (Willem Dafoe)<span style="color: #073763;">, finds the body of a suicidal woman, Victoria</span> (Emma Stone)<span style="color: #073763;">—as we learn more about her later—with her unborn child, so, in his own strange experiment, he replaces her brain with that of the fetus, then reanimates her, but she’s highly attractive with the only scar on the rear of her neck under her extremely-long-hair. At first, with her infant brain, this young woman, now called Bella, has no memory of her previous life but sees Godwin</span> (whom she ironically calls “God”) <span style="color: #073763;">as a sort of father as she struggles to find speech, balance, understanding of the world around her, even as she’s increasingly-irresistible to Godwin’s assistant, Max McCandles</span> (Ramy Youssef)<span style="color: #073763;">, who proposes to her. In the meantime, she discovers the sexual joy of masturbation, wants plenty of it, frequently, yet Max wants to save her virginity for marriage</span> (he later learns of how she came to be)<span style="color: #073763;">, so instead she runs off to Lisbon with Duncan Wedderburn</span> (Mark Ruffalo)<span style="color: #073763;">, a sleazy lawyer Godwin hired to draw up the marriage contract for Max.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Bella’s brain begins to mature rapidly</span> (It also grew to better lodge in her skull?)<span style="color: #073763;">, resulting in rejection of Duncan’s controlling-attempts so he turns to drinking and gambling, finally winning a huge sum, but she gives it to some shady crew members who promise to use it to aid the poor</span> (as if!<span style="color: #073763;">), leaving Duncan unable to pay for the rest of the trip; they’re dropped off in Marseille, make their way to Paris where she finds funds working in a brothel, exasperated Duncan leaving her.</span> <span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;"><b>⇒</b><b>As</b></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #65a0dc;">events continue, Duncan's in a London mental hospital, Godwin’s about to die, Max finds Duncan who tells him Bella's in Paris so Max contacts her; she returns to London with the wedding now on again. However, the ceremony’s interrupted by General Alfie Blessington </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(Christopher Abbott)</span><span style="color: #65a0dc;">, who tells Bella she’s actually Victoria, married to him, so she goes to his home only to find out how violently-cruel he is. He tries to force her to drink a sedative prior to being genitally-mutilated, but when she throws the liquid in his face he passes out. Godwin dies peacefully, Bella and Max operate on Alfie, putting a goat’s brain in his skull so that he now just peacefully munches grass while they have a happy</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>life.⇐</b></span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin2zBrEW77Srbk2zSzsw6arq0VQVWqMEXWefngWmuWb21Ou3XbVh1-OD5NpHlh37LrPvURTYdUVQ7kCiwuVK11cSldrolaVRfvspKvcK05TtEZKWu9RB9PROD64vZ5vwgYWhiEDxwnhMmmVMZq8ZdQn5gTGcm3Ugm9282ftG3LitRqZyt4m6rsQs3_JQ/s600/22058_004.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="600" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin2zBrEW77Srbk2zSzsw6arq0VQVWqMEXWefngWmuWb21Ou3XbVh1-OD5NpHlh37LrPvURTYdUVQ7kCiwuVK11cSldrolaVRfvspKvcK05TtEZKWu9RB9PROD64vZ5vwgYWhiEDxwnhMmmVMZq8ZdQn5gTGcm3Ugm9282ftG3LitRqZyt4m6rsQs3_JQ/w640-h332/22058_004.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">The costumes, makeup and hairstyling, along with the production design are all marvelously over the top, winning Oscars in each of these 3 categories</span> (plus 8 other noms)<span style="color: #073763;">; however, the biggest win was for Stone who, surprisingly for many predictors—me and <i>Variety </i>included—won the Actress in a Leading Role award over the presumptive-favorite, Lily Gladstone in <i>Killers of the Flower Moon </i></span>(Martin Scorsese, 2023 <span style="color: #999999;">[review in our November 9, 2023 posting]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, who some say, despite her winning this award from the Screen Actors Guild, should have been competing for Supporting Actress given the amount of her on-screen-time in that lengthy film</span> (but then she’d have been up against eventual-winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph from <i>The Holdovers </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Alexander Payne, 2023; review in our December 13, 2023 posting]</span>, so Gladstone faced a difficult path no matter how she chose to compete for an Oscar)<span style="color: #073763;">. <i>Poor Things </i>is still in</span> <span style="color: #073763;">700 domestic</span> (U.S.-Canada) <span style="color: #073763;">theaters even after 14 weeks, but you can also find it</span> <a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/poor-things"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">streaming</span></b></a><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">free</span><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">on Hulu, for rent on Apple TV+ for $5.99, yet a week or so ago when I saw it the only choice was a purchase for $19.99 on Amazon, Apple TV+, etc., so I did</span> (you can celebrate your now-more-affordable-options; I'll celebrate that I now own it when it doesn't seem to be available for sale anymore)<span style="color: #073763;">. It’s made $34 million at the box-office</span> (prior to the Oscars)<span style="color: #073763;">, $108.7 million worldwide, may make more now as Oscar wins should stir up some curiosity.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> It’s #8 on my 2023 Top 10 list, with the <b>CCAL </b>highly in support—</span><b><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/poor_things"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rotten Tomatoes 92% positive reviews</span></a></b>, <b><a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/poor-things/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Metacritic 88% average score</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">. If you’d like to know more about it,</span> <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DaMfX8fDQg"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">this video</span></a> </b>(10:09 <span style="color: #999999;">[ad interrupts at 5:00]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">does a marvelous job of exploring inspirations, symbolism, meaning, etc. without getting into the realm of <b>Spoilers</b>. I’ll close with my usual tactic of a Musical Metaphor, which, in this case, may be as odd as the film, but what came to me in an inspiration after watching a PBS documentary about my fellow-Texan-singer/songwriter was Roy Orbison’s “In Dreams”</span> (1963 album of the same name) <span style="color: #073763;">at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8Jz3VW7rYk"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8Jz3VW7rYk</span></b></a><b> </b><span style="color: #073763;">with lyrics that could easily come from Max about his lost Bella just as they could come from her about her constantly-evolving/unresolved persona:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“</span><span><span style="color: #38761d;">In dreams, I walk with you / In dreams, I talk to you/ In dreams, you’re mine all of the time / We’re together in dreams </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> In beautiful dreams.”</span></span><span style="color: #448728;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">If nothing else, the content of this song</span> (also used for spooky-impact in another “out there” film, <i>Blue Velvet </i><span style="color: #999999;">[David Lynch,1986]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">speaks to the dreamlike presence of <i>Poor Things</i>, a unique trip I encourage you to consider taking.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJf9CFT3reVeyiEzozIf33AKR9GBDGeJcH7IqlelmSoT0CU5MOrXwrxB96t4oyWLG53gppE4LxcPjI5nyx7jcQ8ucvq_rwnRJhDNI5KxJpQKMDJoiofyz595i4nhFJtXESeXjYLmn0xJTjeT39zsB62Ap230rDiq-7BnvLQ1Xe01iIOOY16kGOLjqKg/s109/four%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJf9CFT3reVeyiEzozIf33AKR9GBDGeJcH7IqlelmSoT0CU5MOrXwrxB96t4oyWLG53gppE4LxcPjI5nyx7jcQ8ucvq_rwnRJhDNI5KxJpQKMDJoiofyz595i4nhFJtXESeXjYLmn0xJTjeT39zsB62Ap230rDiq-7BnvLQ1Xe01iIOOY16kGOLjqKg/s1600/four%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://a24films.com/films/the-zone-of-interest"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The Zone of Interest</span></a></span></span></i></b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Jonathan Glazer)</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> rated PG-13</span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span> <span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>105 min</b>.</span></span></div><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GFNtVaAuVYY" width="320" youtube-src-id="GFNtVaAuVYY"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOlAqf35ClnqDcVsJyfdn2-JIG3zStf_sNHtTxvbkNSvhU6f47v6K5rG2JOfcB2RHvLrJ-pg3GRB_flMLzySaNAuH8zf6FZjRyufGa9n8aSWCbRZxk0B1rrBZYGtFhTpa8jM2AtFZYetoTNFdqHMfSxu-_uGYINZR85nPYzm3SwPCkLdhzGM77Of2lYA/s958/tt7160372-hero-960x540-moz.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="958" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOlAqf35ClnqDcVsJyfdn2-JIG3zStf_sNHtTxvbkNSvhU6f47v6K5rG2JOfcB2RHvLrJ-pg3GRB_flMLzySaNAuH8zf6FZjRyufGa9n8aSWCbRZxk0B1rrBZYGtFhTpa8jM2AtFZYetoTNFdqHMfSxu-_uGYINZR85nPYzm3SwPCkLdhzGM77Of2lYA/w640-h320/tt7160372-hero-960x540-moz.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><i>The Zone of Interest </i>is a marvelously-subtle-but-ultimately-disturbing film that implies the horrors of the Holocaust during WW II without directly showing any of those atrocities. Somewhat based on a 2014 novel by Martin Amis, a fictional story inspired by historical people and events, this adaptation</span> (written by Glazer) <span style="color: #073763;">is even more historically-focused on the juxtaposition of Rudolf Höss</span> (Christian Friedel)<span style="color: #073763;">, Commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1943, in his official and family existences. We see Höss, his wife Hedwig</span> (Sandra Hüller, in another fine role from last year, in addition to her wife-accused-of-murdering-her-husband in <i>Anatomy of a Fall </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Justine Triet, 2023; review in our January 24, 2024 posting]</span>, for which she received an Oscar nomination as Best Actress in a Leading Role)<span style="color: #073763;">, and their 5 young children living in relative luxury while just over the wall of their spacious garden we know that horrors are occurring on a daily basis, which we “witness” only from the audio of screams, gunshots, and a frequent noise buried in the soundtrack which sounds to me like a burning furnace. Höss is fully dedicated to his assignment, even approving of the design for a new crematorium which will be more efficient, accommodating a larger number of victims, yet he also comes across as a caring father who frequently takes his children to the nearby river to play.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> To his disgust, though, one day on such an outing he finds human remains in the river, gets his children home quickly, then dresses down his workers for being so careless with their operations. Based on his success at this post, Höss is promoted to be Deputy Inspector of all the concentration camps, but this forces him to relocate to Oranienburg, near Berlin. As a compromise with dejected Hedwig he gets permission to allow her and the children to stay in their Auschwitz home where they have become comfortable in their surroundings, although when Hedwig’s mother</span> (Imogen Kogge) <span style="color: #073763;">visits, she leaves after just one night, disturbed by the burning furnaces</span>. <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">⇒Eventually,</span></b> <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span>Höss is sent back to Auschwitz to oversee the execution of 700,000 Hungarian Jews, which delights this man, but as he’s leaving a going-away-party, he stops on an empty staircase and vomits, implying he’s aware at some level of the atrocious murders he’s developed such success with. Then</span> <span>there’s a cut to the present day where janitors are cleaning the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum</span></span><span style="color: #65a0dc;"> </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(I’ve been there, a most sobering, revelatory experience)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">, then we cut back to Höss continuing his staircase</span> <span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>descent.⇐</b></span></span></p><div><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #ff2600;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq4HOu1gMyTPI3T7mtCW6w81hhyphenhyphen4Gn7EUTDHCmz8bnf2TBYCG-4gtr_gp02hGEGgj7imTaqVp2xdjpIc1anG843MyLxjrjF6dDWXznMx1QQYxwA5pzt8vpHbHpLU1jI3hi6mDlUm4dGJ6GPIYY2v5l9XlK040y13oEUS3vyZswSrl9ljY5tSiKAD28CA/s279/Zone%20of%20Interest.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="139" data-original-width="279" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq4HOu1gMyTPI3T7mtCW6w81hhyphenhyphen4Gn7EUTDHCmz8bnf2TBYCG-4gtr_gp02hGEGgj7imTaqVp2xdjpIc1anG843MyLxjrjF6dDWXznMx1QQYxwA5pzt8vpHbHpLU1jI3hi6mDlUm4dGJ6GPIYY2v5l9XlK040y13oEUS3vyZswSrl9ljY5tSiKAD28CA/w640-h320/Zone%20of%20Interest.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></span><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">When I faced the difficult task of ranking my Top 10 of the 2023 releases it wasn’t easy to assign numbers</span> (after #1 <i>Killers of the Flower Moon</i>, #2 <i>Past Lives </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Celine Song; review in our August 31, 2023 posting]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">because all those on the list have strong aspects in their various elements, but I finally decided to rank </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">The Zone of Interest</span> </i>(the title never is explicitly explained, at least not to my understanding, but it does allude to interesting possibilities) <span style="color: #073763;">as #10, although you can easily find arguments that could rate it higher at</span> <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29_oSPGkCEQ"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">another of those intriguing videos</span></a> </b>(12:33 <span style="color: #999999;">[ads interrupt at 4:50, 9:40]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">which explores inspiration, symbolism, meaning, etc. without getting into the <b>Spoiler </b>zone. One aspect of this film not noted there is that a rundown house near the camp wall was converted to this film’s upscale Höss residence, with a garden planted too, so that much of the footage was shot at Auschwitz, given further chilling authenticity to the final product, nominated for 5 Oscars, winning for Best International Feature Film and Best Sound. It’s been out for 13 weeks in domestic theaters</span> (still in 534 of them)<span style="color: #073763;">, taking in $8.2 million so far, $24.2 million globally. If it’s easier</span> <b><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-zone-of-interest"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">to stream</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">than to find in the marketplace you’ll see it can be rented for $5.99-$7.99 at Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, etc.</span> (here's another one I recently bought for $19.99, now no longer an option <span style="color: #999999;">[?]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">. It’s a quiet, slowly-paced, unnerving experience with beautiful visuals, greatly lauded by the <b>CCAL </b>with</span><b> <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_zone_of_interest"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">positive reviews at Rotten Tomatoes at 93%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">,</span> <b><a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-zone-of-interest/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">an astonishing 92% average score from Metacritic</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, so you’re being actively encouraged to see it, as long as you don’t object to the</span> (necessary for many of us) s<span style="color: #073763;">ubtitles, as the dialogue’s in German, Polish, and Yiddish.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Hopefully, you also won’t object to my choice of a Musical Metaphor</span> (which I admit is stretching it a bit)<span style="color: #073763;">, Pink Floyd’s “Hey You”</span> (1979 album <i>The Wall</i>) <span style="color: #073763;">at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AXicupcf_4"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AXic upcf_4</span></b></a><b> </b>as<span style="color: #073763;"> I think lyrics such as</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“Hey, you, out there in the cold, getting lonely, getting old / Can you feel me? </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> Hey, you, out there beyond the wall, breaking bottles in the hall / Can you help me?”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;"><span> </span>could clandestinely be coming from Höss as he’s secretly-sickened by the ongoing tragedy just beyond his stately garden wall; I don’t want to give him too much credit for being revolted by his embrace of the Holocaust, though, as the actual guy this film’s based on after the war was convicted and executed for his crimes, but I want to hope that even in the darkest corners of the darkest humans there's some decency lurking, even if it has scant chance to rising usefully to the surface. Or, if nothing else, the riot footage in this video speaks to what happens beyond Höss’ idyllic wall, even if what’s shown here isn’t exactly the same brutality as what he was so efficiently in charge of.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYGX9j5Qg3QjqQycbXbaKXoyCBlFJB44sqRtsGgi_5q_X6iXNCDFfQySHuTx8mVhFc8H01nD-H-4EG_j7BSgfrHENxfS99htdmeUUyngjbiRoVILD6h5fy_VlXNi-51nWhU_j-CwrqtzO2f41trQqMKhuiSXFMn4MfRs0HwtsaeKW5djTaG_Z5ANbneg/s1949/Hidden-Hollywood%2090.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYGX9j5Qg3QjqQycbXbaKXoyCBlFJB44sqRtsGgi_5q_X6iXNCDFfQySHuTx8mVhFc8H01nD-H-4EG_j7BSgfrHENxfS99htdmeUUyngjbiRoVILD6h5fy_VlXNi-51nWhU_j-CwrqtzO2f41trQqMKhuiSXFMn4MfRs0HwtsaeKW5djTaG_Z5ANbneg/w640-h294/Hidden-Hollywood%2090.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting: </span> </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">A couple of options: (1)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2024/film/news/oscars-2024-netflix-apple-wins-streamers-1235935496/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=506168_03-10-2024&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Netflix gets just 1 Oscar, Apple gets none</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; (2)</span><span style="color: #073763; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span><a href="https://variety.com/lists/most-surprising-oscar-upsets/?post_type=pmc_list&p=1235918547#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=awardscircuitalert&utm_content=505737_03-08-2024&utm_term=290984" style="color: #2b00fe; font-weight: bold;">The 12 most shocking Oscar upsets of all time</a><span style="color: #666666;"> (I'd probably add Emma Stone's 2024 win, no offense to her performance)</span></span><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Two Guys in the Dark homepage</span></a></b><b style="color: #941100;">. </b><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>If you’d like to</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>Like</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>us on Facebook </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(yes?)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b> please visit</b></span><b> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our Facebook page</span></a></b><b><span style="color: #941100;">. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us! </span><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account</span> (which you can easily get at <a href="https://accounts.goggle.com/NewAccount"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://accounts.goggle.com/NewAccount</span></b></a> if you need to sign up) <span style="color: #073763;">or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our<b> </b>Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it</span> (most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were</span> <span style="color: red;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; caret-color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><b>30,011</b></span></span> (as always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers)<span style="color: #073763;">; below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week</span> (with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpq1-RQXI3Xkh6CvLdlLQORX2fM75QVptuyFDhhobTL7H1nslTDu9UM8RRu9vYUSPb3VHOFLPJ8RvvNs9XYOHJbR72JShlmvCqog7yzfIfzdK1HQZNVv6JsCRzuv1La-AToL51MXHSpvDek0GabddZKUU5H2tTdse3xpip9MfFS1zsmo9WxihTxbvglg/s1234/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-13%20at%2012.55.57%20AM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1058" data-original-width="1234" height="548" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpq1-RQXI3Xkh6CvLdlLQORX2fM75QVptuyFDhhobTL7H1nslTDu9UM8RRu9vYUSPb3VHOFLPJ8RvvNs9XYOHJbR72JShlmvCqog7yzfIfzdK1HQZNVv6JsCRzuv1La-AToL51MXHSpvDek0GabddZKUU5H2tTdse3xpip9MfFS1zsmo9WxihTxbvglg/w640-h548/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-13%20at%2012.55.57%20AM.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-55278008435743750332024-03-07T00:00:00.000-08:002024-03-13T00:51:42.030-07:00Oscar Predictions and Winners for the 2023 Releases plus Short Takes about a few other cinematic topics<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfFxwEKKX8QDdxo32MiHGp3fNzqpBih0l9ShyphenhyphenvWzi8NSQpRsO-A_noasovZsyOLIU5vzZcgxn6EKTC8s5JDVydn1coze4XiphPMBZSbIq0H_OdSCF7V561vLnVonk_c-gipqAKJU_BEoDqb-YuJDUTtJuEZz_a-plCxyz-R1eJtwb9_UJnYy409Tbmew/s397/oscar%202024.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="264" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfFxwEKKX8QDdxo32MiHGp3fNzqpBih0l9ShyphenhyphenvWzi8NSQpRsO-A_noasovZsyOLIU5vzZcgxn6EKTC8s5JDVydn1coze4XiphPMBZSbIq0H_OdSCF7V561vLnVonk_c-gipqAKJU_BEoDqb-YuJDUTtJuEZz_a-plCxyz-R1eJtwb9_UJnYy409Tbmew/w266-h400/oscar%202024.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">The 2024 Oscar awards for films released in 2023 will be announced on Sunday, March 10, 2024, ABC TV, starting at 4 PM Pacific Daylight Time—so this week Two Guys in the Dark’s Ken Burke will make predictions, offer additional preferences in some cases. You can find lots of speculations and other awarding-groups which may help narrow the films those Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences voters pay the most attention to as they weed through the many options/nominees to consider; however, the most useful indicators of how the Oscar votes may tally likely come from the various industry-related-guilds, with the ones I pay most attention to being the</span> <b><a href="https://producersguild.org/2024-pga-awards-winners/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Producers Guild of America</span></a></b><b> </b><span style="color: #073763;">for Best Picture</span> (producers get that Oscar)<span style="color: #073763;">, the</span> <b><a href="https://www.dga.org/awards/annual.aspx"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Directors Guild of America</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, the</span> <b><a href="https://www.sagawards.org/awards/nominees-and-recipients/30th-annual-screen-actors-guild-awards"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Screen Actors Guild</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, and the</span> <b><a href="https://awards.wga.org/awards/nominees-winners"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Writers Guild of America</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, simply because of overlap between these industry groups and Academy membership; yet, most Academy members</span> (about 10,500)<span style="color: #073763;">, not just the ones within the Academy’s own corresponding guilds, can vote for finalists in most of the categories so a specific Guild win doesn’t necessarily equate to an Oscar</span> (although they often do)<span style="color: #073763;">, but non-members of those various Academy guilds might be swayed by what their colleagues have chosen, most of which are known by now</span> (results from those cited above are woven into comments about what I arbitrarily call the 8 “major” categories) <span style="color: #073763;">except the WGA with their choices coming on April 14, 2024.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDGzE6eV431KWHLtgU9OBHZGipkqt4ZXaFNn6qZvvmzJJpqU9blNbq6rweDUx38Qdk6RG26L1o2_sjiIWzwmXFh3fW8QtzOPffEyY_0EdJXi3hSOYFWgDu_gzK3xEtSUwFZ0H2SOgmWgUCrpq-1aXUIyRBUhscqeFgUjdotXNzbaZ3XBA6wetpVEs9UQ/s1280/Best-Picture-Nominees-Ranked.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDGzE6eV431KWHLtgU9OBHZGipkqt4ZXaFNn6qZvvmzJJpqU9blNbq6rweDUx38Qdk6RG26L1o2_sjiIWzwmXFh3fW8QtzOPffEyY_0EdJXi3hSOYFWgDu_gzK3xEtSUwFZ0H2SOgmWgUCrpq-1aXUIyRBUhscqeFgUjdotXNzbaZ3XBA6wetpVEs9UQ/w640-h360/Best-Picture-Nominees-Ranked.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">With awareness of the above considerations, here are my predictions/preferences in all 23 of the competitive categories</span> (I’ve seen no nominees in a few of them so sometimes I’m just guessing based on other predictors)<span style="color: #073763;">. Color-coding key:</span> <span style="color: #ff2600;">red</span> <span style="color: #073763;">= my prediction,</span> <span style="color: #008f00;">green</span> <span style="color: #073763;">= my preference,</span> <span style="color: #ff2600;">red</span> <span style="color: #073763;">+</span> <span style="color: #008f00;">green</span> <span style="color: #073763;">= prediction and preference</span> (<span style="color: #bf9000;">gold</span> + <b>bold</b> updated here next week = <b><span style="color: #bf9000;">WINNER!</span> </b><span style="color: #999999;">[plus updated comments on my prognostications, taking credit or blame for actual results]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">. In deference to my waning sanity and a desire to not clutter up this posting more than necessary</span> <span style="color: #666666;">(well, that’s a change!)</span><span style="color: #073763;">, I’ll skip my usual identification of directors, year of release, date of a Two Guys review, but you can see</span> <b><a href="https://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our Summary of Reviews</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">to get such if you like—you’ll find the current nominees in many of the categories below, although not so much regarding the Animated, Documentary, International features</span> (with just a couple of screenings a week I don’t claim to see everything that's released, even when available)<span style="color: #073763;">,</span> <span style="color: #073763;">or any of this year’s Shorts—however, please note you do have to scroll through the various star clusters</span> (each one alphabetized) <span style="color: #073763;">in the <b>Summary</b> to find what you’re looking for so it does take a little time.</span> (But results will be well worth it; where else would you find such brilliance?)</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">When nominations are determined they come from various branches within the Academy</span> (actors, producers, directors, screenwriters, technical areas) <span style="color: #073763;">except for Best Picture which everyone can nominate, finalists up to a maximum of 10 for that top award, but when it’s time to vote in the actual categories most everyone can weigh in on everything</span> (except a few may still require verification of viewing) <span style="color: #073763;">so actors are voting on costume design, set designers are voting on actors, etc., allowing bandwagon effects to often sweep something along in a gush of popularity</span> (with the counter-possibility of a well-liked-entry getting a “compensation” award <span style="color: #999999;">[sorry, sound experts] </span>in some technical category because it likely won’t succeed in what many <span style="color: #999999;">[including me]</span> consider the major arenas <span style="color: #999999;">[though I seem to give more attention to scriptwriting than many others in determining what “major” means]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">. Further complication for Best Picture: voting’s ranked, so it’s not just what finalist gets the most nods in a 1-round-tally but instead the 2<sup>nd</sup>, 3<sup>rd</sup>, etc. choices are factored in possibly resulting in a win for something with more down-ballot-votes than #1 choices. It’s a crapshoot again!</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Y<span style="color: #073763;">ou can also see</span> <b><a href="https://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2024/02/top-10-of-2023-plus-short-takes-on.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">my Top 10 of 2023</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, appropriate numbers from that list following titles just below.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-cVejoBYjRf_WDVAiTzEcwwEYrV9Yjw0rAQxtR3qXpvl_-fPqphr7O4ckCxUF9TP81xLlPYt6h-T5OMOdU6Ahqn5sWiF5vSoo9G86xSKS5gOjQP2xetkDeQjv1srEDQb8K-UbK0xWL3TghpPoF0epmDaWtLXeNOLs4vGCZscZhv8YtoGeYm8cbAnaeg/s992/oscars-56-gty-gmh-024310_1710124056651_hpMain_16x9t_992.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="992" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-cVejoBYjRf_WDVAiTzEcwwEYrV9Yjw0rAQxtR3qXpvl_-fPqphr7O4ckCxUF9TP81xLlPYt6h-T5OMOdU6Ahqn5sWiF5vSoo9G86xSKS5gOjQP2xetkDeQjv1srEDQb8K-UbK0xWL3TghpPoF0epmDaWtLXeNOLs4vGCZscZhv8YtoGeYm8cbAnaeg/w640-h360/oscars-56-gty-gmh-024310_1710124056651_hpMain_16x9t_992.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;">March 11, 2024</span></b><span style="color: #bf9000;">—Now that the prizes have been awarded I'll update on how my predictions held up. I got 16 of 23 for a 70% result </span><span style="color: #f1c232;">(in the realm of how I usually come out)</span><span style="color: #bf9000;"> which makes me a bit better than</span><b><span style="color: #bf9000;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/lists/2024-oscar-predictions/best-picture-4/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Variety's predictions</span></a></b><span style="color: #bf9000;"> where they got 15 of 23 for 65%; the only category where I missed in a prediction but “won” with a preference is Makeup and Hairstyling where I predicted </span><i style="color: #bf9000;">Maestro </i><span style="color: #bf9000;">but saw the winner being </span><i style="color: #bf9000;">Poor Things</i><span style="color: #bf9000;">, a film I thought would win only 1 Oscar </span><span style="color: #f1c232;">(for Production Design—it did)</span><span style="color: #bf9000;"> but ended up with 4, also taking Costume Design and—in the biggest surprise of the night for many predictors, including me—Actress in a Leading Role </span><span style="color: #f1c232;">(a reasonable but tough choice over Lily Gladstone)</span><span style="color: #bf9000;">. My other surprise is </span><i style="color: #bf9000;">Oppenheimer </i><span style="color: #bf9000;">winning only 7 of its 13 categories, not a bad haul at all, although I think many of us expected even more, but it was nice to see the wealth being spread around this year. Yet, along with </span><i style="color: #bf9000;">Maestro</i><span style="color: #bf9000;">, my Top 2 of the year, </span><i style="color: #bf9000;">Killers of the Flower Moon </i><span style="color: #bf9000;">and </span><i style="color: #bf9000;">Past Lives </i><span style="color: #bf9000;">came away with nothing, a shame as I feel all 3 of these deserved something from the Oscar voters, but that's my usual complaint. Onward to the revised nominations lists to see all the winners!</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #f1c232;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK_pfX4hiKfSKDz-PyXYWcGa8dXsCYlruQOJpgdAhCaElIoScbTmtcdtyJ7bbWnk1wzZ-hNce1P12hTI51jGxuOsCMrn2pr74BR1M39i1rNO_du7D6n2EUBM9B1E89P97iaFoETmMrmZCRyPilQPWdXIPgRGE06dv55pV0vuRq9CpacpKDkwhYHOlbew/s1350/oppenheimer-8k-2023-1920x1080-12220%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="824" data-original-width="1350" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK_pfX4hiKfSKDz-PyXYWcGa8dXsCYlruQOJpgdAhCaElIoScbTmtcdtyJ7bbWnk1wzZ-hNce1P12hTI51jGxuOsCMrn2pr74BR1M39i1rNO_du7D6n2EUBM9B1E89P97iaFoETmMrmZCRyPilQPWdXIPgRGE06dv55pV0vuRq9CpacpKDkwhYHOlbew/w640-h390/oppenheimer-8k-2023-1920x1080-12220%202.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Best Picture</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></i></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><span style="color: #073763;">American Fiction</span> </i><span style="color: #674ea7;">[#4]<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><i style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Anatomy of a Fall</span> </i><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: helvetica;">[#9]</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i></i><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Barbie </i><span style="color: #674ea7;">[#5]<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><i style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">The Holdovers</span> </i><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: helvetica;">[#7]</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i></i><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i style="color: #008f00;">Killers of the Flower Moon </i><span style="color: #674ea7;">[#1]<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><i style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Maestro</span> </i><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: helvetica;">[#6]</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i style="color: #ff2600; font-family: helvetica;"></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: inline; text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: inline; text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;"><br /></i></div></div><span style="color: red; font-family: helvetica;">Oppenheimer</span> </i><span style="font-family: helvetica; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #674ea7;">[#3]</span><span><span style="color: #674ea7;"> </span><span style="color: #bf9000;"><b>WINNER!</b></span><span style="color: #674ea7;"> </span><span style="color: #674ea7;"> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><i style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Past Lives</span> </i><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: helvetica;">[#2]</span><i style="font-family: helvetica;"> </i><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i></i><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><span style="color: #073763;">Poor Things</span> </i><span style="color: #674ea7;">[#8]<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><i style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">The Zone of Interest</span> </i><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: helvetica;">[#10]</span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Unlike much of the past, for the 2024 Best Picture nominees their 10 finalists match my Top 10 of 2023</span> (with additional consideration from me for <i>The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial </i>and <i>Asteroid City</i>, but, ultimately, I had to drop them from consideration)<span style="color: #073763;">. <i>Oppenheimer </i>is clearly the front-runner here, with the extra help of winning the PGA award</span> (producers, not golfers)<span style="color: #073763;">, but I still feel its running time is too long, doesn’t need to get into so much detail on the specific conflicts the bomb-maker later had with various political opponents, whereas <i>Killers of the Flower Moon </i>never felt as overdone to me. All of the rest of them certainly have their strong points, although if you what you admire is subtlety in contrast to the overt dynamics of the other contenders I find <i>Past Lives </i>to be even more impactful than the implied horrors of <i>The Zone of Interest </i></span>(I’ve just seen the latter on streaming, will have a review soon, but the tediousness of posting this one takes up all my spare time/energy for now)<span style="color: #073763;">. The SAG Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture</span> (their version of Best Picture)<span style="color: #073763;"> also went to <i>Oppenheimer</i>; with actors as the largest guild in the Academy I think this one’s a slam-dunk.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFeXhycCPowckeWdVeXPhSWHzHDRhy_6MwJh8-9mdhRbD36LMykt1qGX0o8muqGpvOf2aUsADOzUFJ-1ZcoNdsplBQVTsLrULOMUeKMY8Q3lHUfc6TjwRgzBEiLX5a2g9UIRGusAeMQC4QLWgw88f1RypI-FA1nYNkj4ukpZJTb90y-8ifMHtaEOuiw/s194/Nolan.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="140" data-original-width="194" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFeXhycCPowckeWdVeXPhSWHzHDRhy_6MwJh8-9mdhRbD36LMykt1qGX0o8muqGpvOf2aUsADOzUFJ-1ZcoNdsplBQVTsLrULOMUeKMY8Q3lHUfc6TjwRgzBEiLX5a2g9UIRGusAeMQC4QLWgw88f1RypI-FA1nYNkj4ukpZJTb90y-8ifMHtaEOuiw/w400-h289/Nolan.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Directing</span></b></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">Justine Triet, <i>Anatomy of</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><i> a Fall</i></span></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;">Martin Scorsese, <i>Killers of</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;"><i> the Flower Moon</i></span></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: red; font-family: helvetica;">Christopher Nolan,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: red; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Oppenheimer </i></span><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000; font-family: helvetica;">WINNER!</b></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">Yorgos Lanthimos, <i>Poor</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><i> Things</i></span></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">Jonathan Glazer, <i>The</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><i> Zone of Interest</i></span></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There doesn’t seem to be much doubt about the winner of this category either, especially with the DGA going for Nolan; again, I find all of the contenders to be quite worthy, but as I agree it’s difficult to separate Best Picture from the person in charge of bringing it together, I’ve got to stay consistent with my <i>… Flower Moon </i>preference by advocating for another master of the current cinema, Scorsese. Much has been made about the absence of Greta Gerwig here for <i>Barbie</i>, a justifiable consideration; however, despite the difficulty of not having her noted for such a remarkable achievement, ultimately I can’t replace any of these finalists with Gerwig. I further considered Alexander Payne for <i>The Holdovers </i>and William Friedkin’s final film prior to his death for <i>The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial</i>, yet I’ll accept Oscar's top 5.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFNrpt2jN4O6lFgECLU1-6F0w6-B7zBKKmw3sYXfbQcQgEOvdQYqaAHL8ae-1fgwbOz6ndPEI3bom086tKUmSLgGYMIxqeoXKCien966gyD5RYzghG5TCFRpQOS6jnTlAZppr50k8vi0w1wVLNcIFCQaJD1-zzLaeL1goZWHQLtblUMGnOFRVjpXKKQ/s889/X5H4PDFOKJHFDD3ZZUPWDXSBQU.png.%202jpg.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="609" data-original-width="889" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFNrpt2jN4O6lFgECLU1-6F0w6-B7zBKKmw3sYXfbQcQgEOvdQYqaAHL8ae-1fgwbOz6ndPEI3bom086tKUmSLgGYMIxqeoXKCien966gyD5RYzghG5TCFRpQOS6jnTlAZppr50k8vi0w1wVLNcIFCQaJD1-zzLaeL1goZWHQLtblUMGnOFRVjpXKKQ/w400-h274/X5H4PDFOKJHFDD3ZZUPWDXSBQU.png.%202jpg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Actor in a</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Leading Role</span></b></div>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">Bradley Cooper, <i>Maestro</i></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">Colman Domingo, <i>Rustin</i></span></p>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">Paul Giamatti, <i>The</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><i> Holdovers</i></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;">Cillian Murphy,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><i>Oppenheimer </i></span></span><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000; font-family: helvetica;">WINNER!</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><span style="color: #38761d;"> </span></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">Jeffrey Wright, <i>American</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><i> Fiction</i></span></div><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">The Oscars could easily save some time by calling Murphy to the stage for this award while projecting the names of the other nominees on screens while he walks up to accept his statuette. All the fellow-contenders are award-worthy too </span><span style="color: #666666;">(they’ve gotten nods from some other organizations;</span> <b><a href="https://www.imdb.com/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">see IMDb</span></a> </b>to look them up individually <span style="color: #999999;">[same with other nominees noted below]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, but Murphy succeeded in a most-difficult role, earning him the equivalent trophy from SAG; I have no other contenders to offer here beyond the 5 chosen by the Academy so I’ll just say I’m glad I got the opportunity to witness their collective brilliance and Murphy’s especially.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN3mAN_jOqdT73oWFKxWzflxbgRK9HojrgtFtXqy5QnCphTHYpbOcSxiBLjfr6Gi5K-XQQAcYk8ORT-evHHReMW7pSfWbJTaLkzvw_cmHZpi0rfuKO_1JGea55BJo6hG6J_cZBrsw7Jajf9RnvdKaQwwc7W9kG-nC4JH_jT81qBthqRxe6nJHliRCcCw/s3181/Flower%20Moon.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2174" data-original-width="3181" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN3mAN_jOqdT73oWFKxWzflxbgRK9HojrgtFtXqy5QnCphTHYpbOcSxiBLjfr6Gi5K-XQQAcYk8ORT-evHHReMW7pSfWbJTaLkzvw_cmHZpi0rfuKO_1JGea55BJo6hG6J_cZBrsw7Jajf9RnvdKaQwwc7W9kG-nC4JH_jT81qBthqRxe6nJHliRCcCw/w400-h274/Flower%20Moon.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Actress in a</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Leading Role</span></b></div>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">Annette Bening, <i>Nyad</i></span></p>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;">Lily Gladstone,</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><i><span style="color: #38761d;">Killers of</span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><span style="color: #38761d;"> the Flower Moon</span></i></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">Sandra Hüller, <i>Anatomy</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><i> of a Fall</i></span></div>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">Carey Mulligan, <i>Maestro</i></span></p>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">Emma Stone, <i>Poor</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Things </i></span><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000; font-family: helvetica;">WINNER!</b></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763;">Those SAG voters gladly gave Margo Robbie her due for </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Barbie</span> </i>(another source of widespread complaints when she didn’t get an Oscar nod)<span style="color: #073763;">, replacing Hüller as a nominee, otherwise made the same choices as the Academy, then gave their award to Gladstone, matcheing my preference as well, despite agreeing all of these women, plus Robbie, are fantastic in their roles; if anyone but Gladstone’s going to slip in to win this category it would probably be Stone who goes through an amazing transformation in the mad-scientist-flavored </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Poor Things</span> </i>(another review I’ll soon get to, just streamed it last weekend)<span style="color: #073763;">, but Gladstone seems deservedly-solid to triumph here; maybe she'll be the only winner for Scorsese’s latest powerhouse.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0NSIiyE_TvYLmDetn-VBauQkh52bJWxXHRZyhtHdwALLTGpYOnAN9md18CJu6E7GZ7nfZuRNC3mbSUsF0E0tl3yUkwVvEBnTZzFSWNgGPD2IvmJziP1rkIPoPn51EEjOEZJ1fPTdTXDXbQ3shyphenhyphenecVR9xtMma5AdJLa63I0IRCsM4CbqxGB3iT6ubzRA/s749/oppenheimer-robert-downey-jr.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="749" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0NSIiyE_TvYLmDetn-VBauQkh52bJWxXHRZyhtHdwALLTGpYOnAN9md18CJu6E7GZ7nfZuRNC3mbSUsF0E0tl3yUkwVvEBnTZzFSWNgGPD2IvmJziP1rkIPoPn51EEjOEZJ1fPTdTXDXbQ3shyphenhyphenecVR9xtMma5AdJLa63I0IRCsM4CbqxGB3iT6ubzRA/s320/oppenheimer-robert-downey-jr.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Actor in a Supporting Role</span></b></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b></b></span><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763;">Sterling K. Brown,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763;"><i> American Fiction</i></span></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Robert De Niro, <i>Killers of</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><i> the Flower Moon</i></span></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Robert Downey Jr.,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="color: red;">Oppenheimer </span></i><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000;">WINNER!</b></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763;">Ryan Gosling, <i>Barbie</i></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763;">Mark Ruffalo, <i>Poor Things</i></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763;">In that the SAG award for this category went to Downey Jr., it clearly gives him an edge in taking the Oscar as well, although I’m continuing my bent toward <i>Killers … </i>with my preference for De Niro </span><span style="color: #666666;">(always a favorite of mine)</span><span style="color: #073763;">. The SAG nominees closely resemble the Oscar list, providing only a substitution from <i>Poor Things </i>by taking Willem Dafoe instead of Ruffalo. I would tend to agree with that in choosing my Top 5 for this group, although I’d still give serious consideration for Matt Damon in <i>Air </i>over both of them; nevertheless, I doubt Downey Jr. has any true competition here, with a long-awaited Oscar likely coming his way after a couple of previous nominations, including Best Actor in a Leading Role long ago for <i>Chaplin</i><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDU4heTMxzJdT8FSwAp53BJtIULzxpRg2ve3R5dAHIPZ89ej6yfoNWcuiWi0EcnjlUWS8pzJX2lOwiJPL2E8ImJ7ONatT-1yewTFZYsXV4aDLV0XJK0wJCHKyegaFyw6X4akIbRbpHdxZ2SUM8PUp3sqp75WudZvGVG1-QbF_HDzI1ztQv8VaiZSsk2Q/s616/5b617eb59f54b58aa75a4b8a327094e487-davine-joy-lede.rhorizontal.w700.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="443" data-original-width="616" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDU4heTMxzJdT8FSwAp53BJtIULzxpRg2ve3R5dAHIPZ89ej6yfoNWcuiWi0EcnjlUWS8pzJX2lOwiJPL2E8ImJ7ONatT-1yewTFZYsXV4aDLV0XJK0wJCHKyegaFyw6X4akIbRbpHdxZ2SUM8PUp3sqp75WudZvGVG1-QbF_HDzI1ztQv8VaiZSsk2Q/s320/5b617eb59f54b58aa75a4b8a327094e487-davine-joy-lede.rhorizontal.w700.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Actress in a Supporting Role</span></b></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763;">Emily Blunt, <i>Oppenheimer</i></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763;">Danielle Brooks, <i>The Color Purple</i></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763;">America Ferrera<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">,</span> <i>Barbie</i></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763;">Jodie Foster, <i>Nyad</i></span></p>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #ff2600;">Da’Vine Joy Randolph, </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="color: #38761d;">The Holdovers </span></i><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000;">WINNER!</b></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763;">Here again the SAG winner is the clear favorite to take the Oscar trophy despite serious considerations toward the other outstanding nominees, in my mind especially for Foster’s excellent contribution to <i>Nyad</i>, but given that she’s already won 2 Oscars for Actress in a Leading Role</span> (<i>The Accused</i>, <i>The Silence of the Lambs</i>) <span style="color: #073763;">along with another nom in that category</span> (<i>Nell</i>) <span style="color: #073763;">plus a well-deserved-nom in the Supporting category</span> (<i>Taxi Driver</i>)<span style="color: #073763;">, it’s only fitting that someone else should win this award this year. Ferrera has a magnificent scene</span> <span style="color: #666666;">(sometimes that's all it takes to triumph)</span> <span style="color: #073763;">detailing the impossible odds women face in our society, but for a sustained presence throughout her film I’m fully in support of Randolph. </span><span style="color: #666666;">(A final note: As stated in my review, from <i>The Color Purple </i>I'd prefer Taraji P. Henson over Brooks.)</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAcVKqsjixQ-d2CWVyVjIcGSvf_rg83QKHAlkm8umMgfEciFopO0nCQq2L5YCZgmORX3NkAoGH85h1DNXLSC97hAA4wlIz0rLvABXOy6VKc2PIl8cvYvI0RfuSs85Ykfvtb7HBMq0S1yziAPMVSkN8bm8ANoj9hUle1M9Fcn57npKjR3jfoiLGwgEA5g/s3294/anatomy-of-a-fall_5Mw5Y9%202.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1955" data-original-width="3294" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAcVKqsjixQ-d2CWVyVjIcGSvf_rg83QKHAlkm8umMgfEciFopO0nCQq2L5YCZgmORX3NkAoGH85h1DNXLSC97hAA4wlIz0rLvABXOy6VKc2PIl8cvYvI0RfuSs85Ykfvtb7HBMq0S1yziAPMVSkN8bm8ANoj9hUle1M9Fcn57npKjR3jfoiLGwgEA5g/s320/anatomy-of-a-fall_5Mw5Y9%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Writing—Original </span></b><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Screenplay</span></b></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;"><i>Anatomy of a Fall</i>, Justine Triet and</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;"> Arthur Harari </span><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000;">WINNER!</b></div>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763;"><i>The Holdovers</i>, David Hemingson</span></p>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763;"><i>Maestro</i>, Bradley Cooper and</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Josh Singer</span></div>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763;"><i>May December</i>, Samy Burch</span></p>
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</span><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><i><span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Past Lives</i>, Celine Song</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Due to the extended writers and actors strikes last year, the WGA Awards have an odd situation of not being finalized until about a month after the Oscars in 2024 so we don’t know yet how their winners will compare with those who take home Oscar statuettes; all I can tell you is the difference in nominees with WGA dumping <i>Anatomy … </i>and <i>Maestro</i>, moving <i>Barbie </i>into this category, and adding <i>Air </i>to their finalists. Relative to the Oscar noms I’d be willing to trade <i>May December </i>for <i>Asteroid City</i>, yet I doubt any of this would likely alter what I perceive as the likely Oscar outcome because <i>Anatomy … </i>has a lot of general support</span> (and some fantastic courtroom scenes) <span style="color: #073763;">but probably won’t win anything else. Still, in that <i>Past Lives </i>got one of my rare 4½ ratings last year</span> (<i>… Flower Moon </i>got the other one)<span style="color: #073763;">, I’d like to see that fine film get something, at least in my private tally.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvS3Wevgc4BDvl4Pgimx5dE8KIhHE8GZy6nOtlCCKYMTeFJ2ORcGCLqRMFYRlANFAQYggP_T4LvGQxljPTup-7rEPbUq5uUYfl0_89jGZTHmHtEAiwI4MqGEa3-3hzkxtERKEShtWF5AJfydQUCgv49S2nCiMToNwDczFF9z41bZ4RCeI5J_jyX9l-Pg/s1529/Oppenheimer-936820792-large%202.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1182" data-original-width="1529" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvS3Wevgc4BDvl4Pgimx5dE8KIhHE8GZy6nOtlCCKYMTeFJ2ORcGCLqRMFYRlANFAQYggP_T4LvGQxljPTup-7rEPbUq5uUYfl0_89jGZTHmHtEAiwI4MqGEa3-3hzkxtERKEShtWF5AJfydQUCgv49S2nCiMToNwDczFF9z41bZ4RCeI5J_jyX9l-Pg/s320/Oppenheimer-936820792-large%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Writing—Adapted Screenplay</span></b></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><i>American Fiction</i>, Cord Jefferson</span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Barbie</i>, Greta Gerwig and</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"> Noah Baumbach</span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><i>Oppenheimer</i></span><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">,</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d;">Christopher Nolan </span></span><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000; font-family: helvetica;">WINNER!</b></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Poor Things</i><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">,</span> Tony McNamara</span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><i>The Zone of Interest</i>, Jonathan Glazer</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span><i>Oppenheimer</i>’s up </span>for 13 Oscars</span> (in 13 categories it could have competed for, with only Actress in a Leading Role, Original Screenplay, Visual Effects, and Original Song not truly options <span style="color: #999999;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">[along with Animation, Documentary, International features and the 3 Shorts</span></span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, has a strong possibility of taking at least 8 of them in other categories</span> <span style="color: #666666;">(with 4 maybe going elsewhere in at attempt to make an effort to spread the wealth around a bit)</span><span style="color: #073763;">, so I don’t see that it would be at any disadvantage in winning this one as well.</span> (Although if sympathy for left-behinds has any impact here there might be some support for <i>Barbie </i>after the Academy insisted it had to be in this category rather than Original Screenplay; so the adaptation is from the doll’s long-presence in the marketplace? Extremely arguable.) <span style="color: #073763;">This is the category where the Oscars and WGA differ the most, as the screenwriters organization only matches the Oscars with <i>American Fiction </i>and <i>Oppenheimer</i>, adding <i>Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.</i>, <i>Killers of the Flower Moon</i>, and <i>Nyad</i>, although for me if <i>Barbie </i>has to contend for this Oscar I’d replace it with </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">… Flower Moon</span> </i>(and give that one the prize)<span style="color: #073763;">, but likely would leave the others in place, while considering dropping <i>The Zone of Interest </i>for <i>The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial</i>, with the understanding that if I can’t get <i>… Flower Moon </i>into this group then I’m content with <i>Oppenheimer</i><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZGIkgMZwjNC7FG_YbIfrIsBvf2pg6aglHmZOz-_hGdcP94r6n9OJd0t_MOqmrp0USteGGvc82Dr4tctuFl5wi4orxaFnAth-8n9LZBJfHj_C195278UH6ynURVQSfc_bn5MHy3P5yEBQ_ZWh4XicSGfoL-h6fZPHcAgRBML7UN9DrS3HdKyAF-kb1g/s640/oscar_statues%202024.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="640" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZGIkgMZwjNC7FG_YbIfrIsBvf2pg6aglHmZOz-_hGdcP94r6n9OJd0t_MOqmrp0USteGGvc82Dr4tctuFl5wi4orxaFnAth-8n9LZBJfHj_C195278UH6ynURVQSfc_bn5MHy3P5yEBQ_ZWh4XicSGfoL-h6fZPHcAgRBML7UN9DrS3HdKyAF-kb1g/w640-h350/oscar_statues%202024.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px; text-align: justify;"><span> <span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">As for the rest of these categories, all I can do is guess where the Shorts, International Features, Animated Features, and Documentary Features are concerned, so it’s not fitting I should offer a preference in any of these competitions. </span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">For some of the technical categories I may have a preference, yet I really have no idea how Oscar voters may lean, possibly influenced by members of other professional guilds I haven’t cited, though I can remedy that a bit by saying the</span> <b><a href="https://theasc.com/asc-awards/38th-annual-asc-awards-winners"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">American Society of Cinematographers</span></a></b> (ASC) <span style="color: #073763;"><span>chose </span><i>Oppenheimer</i><span> for their Theatrical Feature Film award, the</span></span><span style="color: #014976;"> </span><b><a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/ace-eddie-awards-2024-winners-list-1235841762/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">American Cinema Editors</span></a></b> (ACE) <span style="color: #073763;"><span>chose </span><i>Oppenheimer </i><span>for their Best Dramatic Feature Film along with </span><i>The Holdovers </i><span>for their Best Comedy Feature Film, the</span></span><span style="color: #014976;"> </span><b><a href="https://cinemaaudiosociety.org/60th-cas-awards-nominees/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Cinema Audio Society</span></a> </b>(CAS)<b style="color: #014976;"> </b><span style="color: #073763;"><span>honored </span><i>Oppenheimer</i><span> for its achievement in their Motion Pictures – Live Action category for Sound Mixing, and the</span></span><b><span style="color: #4180ff;"> </span><a href="https://www.mpse.org/resources/Documents/2024/MPSE_71st_Golden_Reel_Winners.pdf"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Motion Pictures Sound Editors</span></a></b><span style="color: #014976;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;"><span>also honored </span><i>Oppenheimer </i><span>for their Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing for dialogue in feature films. But, some Oscar voters just ride on various bandwagons for their choices based on publicity campaigns, friends’ recommendations, desires to help nominees unlikely to win in more-celebrated-categories—messing up my predictions.</span></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"> <span> </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Anyway, I’m now on the record</span><span style="color: #014976;"> </span><span style="color: #666666;">(but I’d be cautious about using me for any office betting pools)</span><span style="color: #014976;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">with my preferences</span> <span style="color: #666666;">(in the categories where I can choose some)</span> <span style="color: #073763;">and 23 predictions</span> (informed or totally speculative) <span style="color: #073763;"><span>for the upcoming 2024 Oscars</span>.<span> After the awards ceremony this coming weekend, I’ll update this posting with winners and final comments; in the short meantime, please enjoy the show.</span></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><b></b> <span> </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">Oscar-trivia-buffs, I encourage visiting</span></b><b style="color: #1b1b1b;"> </b><b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Academy_Award_records"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">this site</span></a><span style="color: #1b1b1b;"> </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">for an enormous dose of that sort of info, current through when I posted, likely to be further updated after the results for 2024 winners become public. Finally, if after the awards event you’re intrigued by any of the winners </span><span style="color: #666666;">(or nominees)</span><span style="color: #073763;"> you haven’t seen yet, consult</span> <b><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">JustWatch</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;"><b> </b>to see what’s available via streaming </span><span style="color: #666666;">(or possibly in a nearby theater)</span><span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">nternational Feature Film<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Documentary Feature Film</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">Io Capitano<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i><i><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">Bobi Wine: The People’s President</span></i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Perfect Days<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span><i>The Eternal Memory</i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Society of the Snow<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span><i>Four Daughters</i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><i>The Teachers’ Lounge<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span><i>To Kill a Tiger</i></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>The Zone of Interest<span> </span></i></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: helvetica;">(I've only seen this one) </span><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000; font-family: helvetica;">WINNER!</b><i style="font-family: helvetica;"> </i><i style="font-family: helvetica;">20 Days in Mariupol </i><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000; font-family: helvetica;">WINNER!</b></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Animated Feature Film<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Animated Short Film</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">The Boy and the Heron </span></i><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000; font-family: helvetica;">WINNER!</b><i><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><span><span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i><i><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">Letter to a Pig</span></i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><i>Elemental<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><i>Ninety-Five Senses</i><i> </i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><i>Nimona<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><i>Our Uniform</i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><i>Robot Dreams<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><i>Pachyderme</i></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><i><span style="color: red;">Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse</span></i></span><span><i><span><span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><i><span style="color: red;">War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of</span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: red;"><i><span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><i><span style="color: red;">John & Yoko </span></i><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000;">WINNER!</b></div><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Cinematography<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Film Editing</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">El Conde<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i><i><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">Anatomy of a Fall</span></i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><i>Killers of the Flower Moon<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><i>The Holdovers</i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><i>Maestro<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><i>Killers of the Flower Moon</i></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><i>Oppenheimer </i></span><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000;">WINNER!</b><span><i><span><span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><i>Oppen</i><i style="color: #008f00;">heimer </i><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000;">WINNER!</b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><i><span style="color: #38761d;">Poor Things<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Poor Things</span></i></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Visual Effects<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Production Design</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i style="color: #ff2600;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Creator<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i><i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;">Barbie</span></i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Godzilla Minus One </span></i></span><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000;">WINNER!</b><span><i><span style="color: #073763;"><span><span><span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Killers of the Flower Moon</span></i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><i>Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><i>Napoleon</i><i> </i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One<span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></i><i>Oppenheimer</i></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><span style="color: #073763; font-style: italic;">Napoleon </span><span><span style="color: #666666;">(I've only seen this one)</span><span style="color: #073763; font-style: italic;"> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><i style="color: #ff2600;">Poor Things </i><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000;">WINNER!</b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Sound<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Original Score</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">The Creator<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i><i><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">American Fiction</span></i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><i>Maestro<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> I</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><i>ndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny</i><i> </i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><span style="color: #073763;">Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One<span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></i><i><span style="color: #38761d;">Killers of the Flower Moon</span></i></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><i>Oppen</i></span><i><span style="color: #38761d;">heimer<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><i style="color: #ff2600;">Oppenheimer </i><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000;">WINNER!</b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><i><span style="color: #073763;">The Zone of Interest<span> </span></span></i></span><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000;">WINNER!</b><span><i><span style="color: #073763;"><span><span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Poor Things</span></i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Makeup and Hairstyling<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Costume Design</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">Golda<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><i>Bar</i></span><i><span style="color: #38761d;">bie</span></i><i style="color: #008f00;"> </i></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><i style="color: #ff2600;">Maestro<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Killers of the Flower Moon</span></i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><i>Oppenheimer<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><i>Napoleon</i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><i><span style="color: #38761d;">Poor Things </span></i></span><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000;">WINNER!</b><span><i><span style="color: #38761d;"><span><span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><i>Oppenheimer</i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><i>Society of the Snow<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><i>Poor Things </i><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000;">WINNER!</b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Live Action Short Film<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Documentary Short Film</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">The After<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i><i><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">The ABCs of Book Banning</span></i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><i>Invincible<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><i>The Barber of Little Rock</i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><i>Knight of Fortune<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> I</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><i>sland in Between</i></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><i>Red, White and Blue<span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><i>The Last Repair Shop </i><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000;">WINNER!</b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><i><span style="color: #073763;">The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar<span> </span></span></i></span><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000;">WINNER!</b><span><i><span style="color: #073763;"><span><span> <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><i>N</i></span><i>ǎi Nai & Wài Pó</i></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">(Music) Original Song</span></b></p><p style="color: #4180ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">“The Fire Inside” </span>(<i>Flamin’ Hot</i>)</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">“I’m Just Ken”</span> (<i>Barbie</i>)</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">“It Never Went Away” </span>(<i>American Symphony</i>)</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">“Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)”</span> (<i>Killers of the Flower Moon</i>)</span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“What Was I Made For?”<span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #008f00;">(<i>Barbie</i>) </span></span><b style="caret-color: rgb(191, 144, 0); color: #bf9000; font-family: helvetica;">WINNER!</b></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">And now, back to our regular programming …</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxz7A1vv1LF31P5WsyCo_EnI6G8nNVVhvXK8ouGHdM5bgZQi6MT6vD4nICuE2Sv97c4adQJ5tb7Gh4av9j4npzt9eINPjDO9iQa9TZak8JpxhKrbNUXqfJhgaDRj2x3L5bA1qHdUhsnmgMvBeyJhkvGIuaYkIs0VgyCUPuPlxyJk-mb-MfxlQPCh91Xg/s1949/Hidden-Hollywood%2089.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxz7A1vv1LF31P5WsyCo_EnI6G8nNVVhvXK8ouGHdM5bgZQi6MT6vD4nICuE2Sv97c4adQJ5tb7Gh4av9j4npzt9eINPjDO9iQa9TZak8JpxhKrbNUXqfJhgaDRj2x3L5bA1qHdUhsnmgMvBeyJhkvGIuaYkIs0VgyCUPuPlxyJk-mb-MfxlQPCh91Xg/w640-h294/Hidden-Hollywood%2089.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; 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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">(1)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2024/film/awards/cillian-murphy-lily-gladstone-oppenheimer-sag-awards-1235922048/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=awardscircuitalert&utm_content=502484_02-25-2024&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Possibilities of historic achievements with the 2024 Oscars</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">;</span><b style="color: #073763;"> (</b><span style="color: #073763;">2)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls529871026/?sort=moviemeter,asc&st_dt=&mode=detail&page=1?ref_=pe_43914690_837647440_eml_nws1"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">What's new on Netflix in March 2024</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; (3)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls529494352/?sort=moviemeter,asc&st_dt=&mode=detail&page=1?ref_=pe_43914690_837647440_eml_nws2"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">What's new on Amazon Prime Video in March 2024</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">: (4) </span><b><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls529460878/?sort=moviemeter,asc&st_dt=&mode=detail&page=1?ref_=pe_43914690_837647440_eml_nws3"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">What's new on Hulu in March 2024</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; (5)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls529434363/?sort=moviemeter,asc&st_dt=&mode=detail&page=1?ref_=pe_43914690_837647440_eml_nws4"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">What's new on Disney+ in March 2024</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; (6)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls529805281/?sort=moviemeter,asc&st_dt=&mode=detail&page=1?ref_=pe_43914690_837647440_eml_nws5"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">What's new on Max in March 2024</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Two Guys in the Dark homepage</span></a></b><b style="color: #941100;">. </b><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>If you’d like to</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>Like</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>us on Facebook </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(yes?)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b> please visit</b></span><b> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our Facebook page</span></a></b><span style="color: #941100;"><b>. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us! </b></span><span style="color: #073763;">Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account</span> (which you can easily get at <a href="https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount</span></b></a> if you need to sign up) <span style="color: #073763;">or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our<b> </b>Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it</span> (most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p>
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<p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p>
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<p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p>
<p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">30,011</span></b> (as always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers)<span style="color: #073763;">; below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week </span>(with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5L3ZXsl98GawuU33O_CPF9JdJAc0ZF4bUjVBeqH22bB9wG5FK7wQAACTBKSnl0IfTo1029JxFO8ESSfMONzBNPxMgmbfXNNh-F-NAmN2I41URY0ngDMJFlsvCAJDP-am6IJw_WIXh1CKFe4XIAZdUacTaseUsqKINKpvTbOzChY1Ed1DO0avK_BPHrg/s1212/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-06%20at%201.58.20%20PM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1057" data-original-width="1212" height="558" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5L3ZXsl98GawuU33O_CPF9JdJAc0ZF4bUjVBeqH22bB9wG5FK7wQAACTBKSnl0IfTo1029JxFO8ESSfMONzBNPxMgmbfXNNh-F-NAmN2I41URY0ngDMJFlsvCAJDP-am6IJw_WIXh1CKFe4XIAZdUacTaseUsqKINKpvTbOzChY1Ed1DO0avK_BPHrg/w654-h558/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-06%20at%201.58.20%20PM.jpg" width="654" /></a></div></div>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-24028270908716971622024-02-26T15:59:00.000-08:002024-03-02T22:45:40.663-08:00Top 10 of 2023 plus Short Takes on other cinematic topics<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: xx-large; font-weight: bold;">At Last! My 2023 Top 10 List</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: xx-large; font-weight: bold;">Has Come Along </span></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(title inspired by Etta James' </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-94eJsiY3FA"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"At Last!</span></b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">"</span></a><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"> on her 1960 album named for the song)</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b> </span>(Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b></span> (Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, though better options may be on the horizon.</span> (Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue</b></span> <span style="color: #999999;">[some may look near</span> <span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span><span style="color: #999999;">]</span> is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><p style="font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #073763;">My reviews’ premise:</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #008f00;">“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_FGQIX7ZlxADDr9jjSn6PNNzH-rfEOVOAMJcXA3kreJYIO_r3mmcv3sJLbzF71hCMxOK3cdqIUQOKZVBjtKjq87rDLHtdEisdWrRMG5fZhD2rV18Iabag6FWflb_MKP1i-GYucVXdMoiN_CZsNoT2H5GaKmfMQXYtyxoGONSf1uAaha7NE-qzaFzaA/s1077/Killers%20of%20the%20Flower%20Moon.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="1077" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_FGQIX7ZlxADDr9jjSn6PNNzH-rfEOVOAMJcXA3kreJYIO_r3mmcv3sJLbzF71hCMxOK3cdqIUQOKZVBjtKjq87rDLHtdEisdWrRMG5fZhD2rV18Iabag6FWflb_MKP1i-GYucVXdMoiN_CZsNoT2H5GaKmfMQXYtyxoGONSf1uAaha7NE-qzaFzaA/w640-h364/Killers%20of%20the%20Flower%20Moon.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Top 10 of 2023 Cinematic Releases</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">1. </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Killers of the Flower Moon</span> </i>(Martin Scorsese) <span><span style="color: #073763;">review in our</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2023/11/killers-of-flower-moon-plus-short-takes.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">November 9, 2023 posting</span></a></b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">2. <i>Past Lives </i></span>(Celine Song) <span><span style="color: #073763;">review in our </span><b><a href="https://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2023/08/past-lives-daliland-and-short-takes-on.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">August 31, 2023 posting</span></a></b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">3. </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Oppenheimer</span> </i>(Christopher Nolan) <span><span style="color: #073763;">review in our</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2023/08/barbie-oppenheimer-plus-short-takes-on.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">August 17, 2023 posting</span></a></b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">4. </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">American Fiction</span> </i>(Cord Jefferson) <span><span style="color: #073763;">review in our</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2024/02/american-fiction-and-short-takes-on.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">February 13, 2024 posting</span></a></b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">5. </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Barbie</span> </i>(Greta Gerwig) <span><span style="color: #073763;">review in </span><b><span style="color: #073763;">our </span><a href="https://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2023/08/barbie-oppenheimer-plus-short-takes-on.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">August 17, 2023 posting</span></a></b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">6. </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Maestro</span> </i>(Bradley Cooper) <span><span style="color: #073763;">review in our</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2024/01/short-takes-on-maestro-priscilla-dress.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">January 4, 2024 posting</span></a></b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">7. <i>The Holdovers </i></span>(Alexander Payne) <span><span style="color: #073763;">review in our</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-holdovers-plus-short-takes-on-leave.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">December 13, 2023 posting</span></a></b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><span style="color: #073763;">8. </span><i style="color: #073763;">Poor Things </i><span><span style="color: #073763;">(Yorgos Lanthimos) no review yet, one will be coming soon; </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poor_Things_(film)"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">here's some info</span></b></a></span><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"></span></b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">9. <i>Anatomy of a Fall </i></span>(Justine Triet) <span><span style="color: #073763;">review in our </span><a href="https://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2024/01/anatomy-of-fall-plus-short-takes-on.html"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">January 24, 2024 posting</span></b></a><b></b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">10. </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">The Zone of Interest </span></i>(Jonathan Glazer) <span style="color: #073763;">no review yet but soon;</span> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Zone_of_Interest_(film)"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">more info</span></b></a></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">In recall of Porky Pig, </span><span style="color: #38761d;">“That’s all folks!”</span><span style="color: #073763;"> for this week’s edition of Film Reviews from Two Guys in the Dark because my wonderful wife, Nina Kindblad, and I are off on a short vacation</span> (hoping COVID-19 doesn’t notice where we are) <span style="color: #073763;">in celebration this week of having been together for 37 years, after having met by accident </span>(or fate, take your pick) <span><span style="color: #073763;">at Paul Simon’s “Graceland” concert in Berkeley, CA which gives me an easy choice for my </span><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VTcBO4q5kY"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Musical Metaphor</span></a><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">for this posting. I’ll be back next week with my annual listing of all the Oscar nominations and my</span></span> (wild guesses, mostly) <span style="color: #073763;">winner predictions.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh782bRzp9xdcEErvK2im61my4Ce7-AMQc8X9g9kOL7dtnXpMiElAa2zG96fx66KQw-a6AR0mTnytlIQHWdQK3v2K-9x9FyOg1kN5Ll2nsUB-E4p3yRiuZkipybkfqitxjXA3SqmnVDpL1i3iSftfy6x4iaNBp8qk_igjERzVFe2TxxgAmazkDCdYRb3g/s1949/Hidden%20Hollywood%2088.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh782bRzp9xdcEErvK2im61my4Ce7-AMQc8X9g9kOL7dtnXpMiElAa2zG96fx66KQw-a6AR0mTnytlIQHWdQK3v2K-9x9FyOg1kN5Ll2nsUB-E4p3yRiuZkipybkfqitxjXA3SqmnVDpL1i3iSftfy6x4iaNBp8qk_igjERzVFe2TxxgAmazkDCdYRb3g/w640-h294/Hidden%20Hollywood%2088.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:</span> </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Some options: (1) </span><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://www.sagawards.org/awards/nominees-and-recipients/30th-annual-screen-actors-guild-awards"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">2024 Screen Actors Guild Awards</span></a> </span><span>(their Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture equates to the SAG choice for Best Picture)</span><span style="color: #073763;">;</span><span style="color: #073763; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">(2)</span><span style="color: #073763; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span><a href="https://www.dga.org/awards/annual.aspx" style="color: #2b00fe; font-weight: bold;">2024 Directors Guild of America Awards</a><span><span style="color: #073763;">; (3) </span><span><a href="https://producersguild.org/2024-pga-awards-winners/" style="color: #2b00fe; font-weight: bold;">2024 Producers Guild of America Awards</a><span style="color: #073763;">;</span></span><span style="color: #073763;"> (4) </span></span><a href="https://awards.wga.org/awards/nominees-winners"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">2024 Writers Guild award nominees</span></b></a></span><span style="color: #073763; font-weight: bold;"> </span>(winners will finally be announced come April 14, 2024)<b style="color: #073763;">; </b><span style="color: #073763;">(4</span><span style="color: #073763;">) </span><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2024"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">2024 Oscar nominations</span></a> </span><span>(winners will be announced on March 10, 2024, at <b>4pm</b> <b>PDT</b>)</span><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Two Guys in the Dark homepage</span></a></b><b style="color: #941100;">. </b><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>If you’d like to</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>Like</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>us on Facebook </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(yes?)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b> please visit</b></span><b> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our Facebook page</span></a></b><span style="color: #941100;"><b>. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us! </b></span><span style="color: #073763;">Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account</span> (which you can easily get at <a href="https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount</span></b></a> if you need to sign up) <span style="color: #073763;">or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our<b> </b>Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it </span>(most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were </span><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">6,544</span></b><span style="color: #073763;">—a huge drop-off from the marvelous 40-50K of some recent months;</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">never overestimate yourself!</span> (As always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers.) <span style="color: #073763;">Below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week</span> (with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIfTcXeHV4Sc32TIELi3eZGAREEzt-hQ4TuvwDJVe3HY4U1D6vamUnnnQnZgzbtDza9vJw__z-jLD9BAyF6T7Eu4orjmQlyWmXkR8qK3le0C7gyf5UGMJLm-sFWM5encAPWrG5cbMySfT9jRkT8p_m0ySR7hyAvyoRhnqzeu2JBa4YCOTM0_pUIUk-pw/s1223/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-26%20at%203.48.07%20PM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1223" height="558" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIfTcXeHV4Sc32TIELi3eZGAREEzt-hQ4TuvwDJVe3HY4U1D6vamUnnnQnZgzbtDza9vJw__z-jLD9BAyF6T7Eu4orjmQlyWmXkR8qK3le0C7gyf5UGMJLm-sFWM5encAPWrG5cbMySfT9jRkT8p_m0ySR7hyAvyoRhnqzeu2JBa4YCOTM0_pUIUk-pw/w654-h558/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-26%20at%203.48.07%20PM.jpg" width="654" /></a></span></div><p></p>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-52572394674244988432024-02-21T22:58:00.000-08:002024-02-21T22:58:51.603-08:00The Book of Clarence plus Short Takes on some other relevant cinematic topics<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">Jesus Christ! What’s Going On Here?</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Review and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b></span> (Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b></span> (Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, though better options may be on the horizon. </span> (Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue</b></span> <span style="color: #999999;">[some may look near </span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span><span style="color: #999999;">]</span> is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #073763;">My reviews’ premise: </span><span style="color: #008f00;">“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from<b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1qlqp1tIaD6AJ_ijUVKlMuaYKukP6g1QetQkLQFpfdXFV1aTzHi48huP3LPUYln1oHDDdxbrDjTT9JoB583qqWxGXdn2z2aN7VnF2Fc0Q_-mMEHoE2tuR8Y_i4F4pLFvDkGUHwcEbWTZ4W4cRfdYqayTSakSefHAQVfx2fqtRLgTA7VR0svUaafmzaA/s109/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1qlqp1tIaD6AJ_ijUVKlMuaYKukP6g1QetQkLQFpfdXFV1aTzHi48huP3LPUYln1oHDDdxbrDjTT9JoB583qqWxGXdn2z2aN7VnF2Fc0Q_-mMEHoE2tuR8Y_i4F4pLFvDkGUHwcEbWTZ4W4cRfdYqayTSakSefHAQVfx2fqtRLgTA7VR0svUaafmzaA/s1600/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thebookofclarence"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The Book of Clarence</span></a></span></i></b><b> </b></span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Jaymes Samuel)</span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"> rated PG-13</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">129 min.</span></span></b></div><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ntNS-ANoMyM" width="320" youtube-src-id="ntNS-ANoMyM"></iframe></div><div><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>If you can abide </b><span style="color: #ff2600; font-size: large; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>plot spoilers</b></span><b> read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ </b><span style="color: #00c000;"><b>(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</b></span><b>. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: red;"><b style="background-color: #fcff01;">⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and</span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">red.⇐</span><span style="color: #65a0dc;"> </span></b></span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqSVs6SpKYLs38o2wBZeFAki47nkBHJyG4pNF_Et6PXCHGL1r548CWNygQnSLuGSzRmOnILRhNd6x_p57I3x_k1ZC6qIUy3GAQyScg-SI1hnJM2NWAHD9_VZ6ZmxESXkK4kExRDyAYB3SW1nT047crartNs2QgzO9eHhaI7dBKD6gZRO29EoOAOA0-Ng/s1213/Book%20of%20Clarence%201.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="1213" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqSVs6SpKYLs38o2wBZeFAki47nkBHJyG4pNF_Et6PXCHGL1r548CWNygQnSLuGSzRmOnILRhNd6x_p57I3x_k1ZC6qIUy3GAQyScg-SI1hnJM2NWAHD9_VZ6ZmxESXkK4kExRDyAYB3SW1nT047crartNs2QgzO9eHhaI7dBKD6gZRO29EoOAOA0-Ng/w640-h288/Book%20of%20Clarence%201.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">What Happens:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">A.D. 33 Jerusalem: Clarence</span> (LaKeith Stanfield) <span style="color: #073763;">is tired of being a “nobody,” just wants </span>(as Tracy Chapman says in “Fast Car”) <span style="color: #073763;">to</span><b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEqb6xbeuCo"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"be someone, be someone"</span></a></b> <span style="color: #073763;">so he takes a chariot race challenge from Mary Magdalene</span> (Teyana Taylor)<span style="color: #073763;">, accompanied by his friend Elijah</span> (RJ Cyler)<span style="color: #073763;">, which he loses due to not wanting to run over Benjamin</span> (Benedict Cumberbatch), <span style="color: #073763;">a dirty beggar in the street, along with sidelines harassment from Cabbage</span> (Chase Dillon) <span style="color: #073763;">and his gypsy thugs, so Clarence also loses the chariot and the horses, putting him in dire debt to Jedediah the Terrible</span> (Eric Kofi-Abrefa) <span style="color: #073763;">with only 30 days to repay or be crucified</span> (he’s also in love with Jedediah’s sister, Varinia <span style="color: #999999;">[Anna Diop]</span>, which doesn’t help in relations with her older brother)<span style="color: #073763;">. Clarence generally tries to relieve his troubles</span> (including harassment from occupying Roman soldiers led by Antoninus <span style="color: #999999;">[Tom Vaughan-Lawlor]</span>, clear contemporary commentary as they’re White while the Hebrews are Black <span style="color: #999999;">[accepting an argument often made about these people of this time, that they were of African descent rather than Semites as they’re now sometimes depicted—at least when they’re not presented as looking like Europeans]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">with marijuana, although when he joins a group of opium smokers, so high they’re actually floating, he gets the inspiration to mimic the emerging Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth </span>(Nicholas Pinnock),<span style="color: #073763;"> to raise funds from some newly-impressed </span>(duped) <span style="color: #073763;">believers.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Clarence, an atheist, starts upon his road to manufactured-acceptance by coming to John the Baptist</span> (David Oyelowo) <span style="color: #073763;">for inclusion into the Hebrew religious community, but John sees him as a hypocrite, slaps him, sends him away. Next, Clarence visits the dwelling of Jesus’ 12 Apostles, offering to become the 13<sup>th</sup>; they laugh as a group at the idea, but a personal rejection comes from Clarence’s twin brother, Thomas</span> (also Stanfield)<span style="color: #073763;">—later known as “Doubting Thomas” for initially refusing to believe Jesus had risen from the dead—one of the anointed 12. Clarence replies with his own anger at his brother for leaving home to follow Jesus while their mother is dying. Before Clarence is fully gone, though, Judas Iscariot</span> (Michael Ward) <span style="color: #073763;">proposes he’ll be accepted into the group if he can free a group of gladiator slaves. When Clarence proposes freedom</span> (with no financial means to buy the men’s release) <span style="color: #073763;">to their owner</span> (sorry, didn’t catch his name),<span style="color: #073763;"> he’s met with a counterproposal which is that he’ll free them if Clarence can defeat all of them in battle, then changes the challenge to just a 1-on-1 fight to the death with the hulking Barabbas the Immortal</span> (Omar Sy)<span style="color: #073763;">—at least that’s what he claims about himself</span> (with no disproval so far in any combat he’s had; says he can only die if wounded in 1 of his heels, as with that legendary Greek hero, Achilles)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb0EG2Xri_zPngF78OR7ZYoBnVpmo96y8odY9brWwt0vefvKsRpuABvlnI6IjYD8WLSxJ5iYU3hsn3FW3_wHnLxWjZmy9D9KdZSrdv4WZq_BbVV709eTUO_tPY0D_l_Qde4MOjt7etdo6_kAWuGMymBqNP3YvVKwUozKM0ogN5Y4jugeyAkgib4wbQMA/s3000/The-Book-of-Clarence-02-hero.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1363" data-original-width="3000" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb0EG2Xri_zPngF78OR7ZYoBnVpmo96y8odY9brWwt0vefvKsRpuABvlnI6IjYD8WLSxJ5iYU3hsn3FW3_wHnLxWjZmy9D9KdZSrdv4WZq_BbVV709eTUO_tPY0D_l_Qde4MOjt7etdo6_kAWuGMymBqNP3YvVKwUozKM0ogN5Y4jugeyAkgib4wbQMA/w640-h290/The-Book-of-Clarence-02-hero.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Through some quick moves, Clarence manages to get Barabbas in a losing situation with a sword to his throat so he surrenders</span> (not clear why if he’s immortal, but let’s not clog up the flow of this summary with logic) <span style="color: #073763;">so he’s freed to join up with Clarence and Elijah. Clarence returns to his Messiah strategy, visiting Mary</span> (Alfre Woodard) <span style="color: #073763;">and Joseph</span> (Brian Bovell)<span style="color: #073763;">, Jesus’ parents, to find out how he pulls off his famed tricks; however, they reject this characterization, convinced their son is truly performing miracles. So, Clarence and his little band</span> (joined by Zeke <span style="color: #999999;">[Caleb McLaughlin]</span>; I forget how he got recruited) <span style="color: #073763;">go forward with fake “miracles,” as one or the other of his few followers claims blindness or death so they can be “healed” by this new divine messenger, which does result in an outpouring of coins from the impressed crowds, even though Clarence tells them to trust </span><span style="color: #38761d;">“knowledge over belief.”</span><span style="color: #073763;"> However, Clarence decides to use his new-found-wealth to free the slaves rather than paying back Jedediah. At this point we see more of Jesus than in an earlier quick scene when he comes upon Mary Magdalene being stoned by a crowd in response to her trysts with some of the Romans; Jesus stops their rocks in mid-air, notes they’re all sinners also which causes them to disperse as he heals Mary’s wounds, bringing about a conversation in the formerly-cynical Elijah. </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Next, Varinia’s at a party with Clarence but betrays him by letting her brother know where his debtor can be found. When Jedediah</span> (with Roman support) <span style="color: #073763;">confronts Clarence for his money, Barabbas attempts to intervene, but Clarence just tells him to run away which he does although he’s hit with 3 spears in the process yet just pulls them out, doesn’t die, then kills Antoninus with no retaliation. Jedediah’s impressed by all this, yet the Romans take Clarence away as they have orders to arrest any seeming-Messiahs. When brought before Pontius Pilate </span>(James McAvoy)<span style="color: #073763;">, Clarence admits he’s just a fake miracle-worker, but now he can be killed for fraud unless he walks across a pool of water, which he does—amazed, uncomprehending about how it happens—but then is scheduled for crucifixion anyway due to the Roman edict. Both Varinia and Thomas visit Clarence in prison, make amends with him</span>. <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">⇒Then</span></b> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">we’re back to Jesus who gives long-ago-in-this-story-Benjamin the power to create coins out of thin air so he buys a “makeover” for himself, revealing his presence as a White guy who looks like the long-held-imagery of Jesus in our Western world; he goes around throwing money to strangers, so he’s also arrested as another Messiah, crucified next to Clarence while oddly becoming cynical about any sense of divine mercy even as his portrait’s being painted, an allusion to the image of Jesus so popularized in the West. After Clarence is dead, Jesus tells the Apostles he’ll also soon be crucified, then he destroys the stone covering of Clarence’s tomb, brings him back to life, heals his nail wounds from the cross, leading to Clarence finally believing in Jesus’</span> <span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>divinity.⇐</b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFkRpp0oSNnROrGKD3VV00Kjwk2tdziTMzzwBwKWKkwXl4q1tbyz3YUoKbx-HwIK6OiDCExiX7rkjY4iyKhsvypZpyPfYmKiZAZSpRLAXLLm9pdidYpoHev1Xxo7cnJXX3idkG0z-ML-YE0fBGCUc1EY5u1qtZmtxcJFcPGhx1apvzHcDyMf7h5wafWg/s2880/the-book-of-clarence_5bDNbM.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1324" data-original-width="2880" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFkRpp0oSNnROrGKD3VV00Kjwk2tdziTMzzwBwKWKkwXl4q1tbyz3YUoKbx-HwIK6OiDCExiX7rkjY4iyKhsvypZpyPfYmKiZAZSpRLAXLLm9pdidYpoHev1Xxo7cnJXX3idkG0z-ML-YE0fBGCUc1EY5u1qtZmtxcJFcPGhx1apvzHcDyMf7h5wafWg/w640-h294/the-book-of-clarence_5bDNbM.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So What?</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">It’s difficult to watch <i>The Book of Clarence </i>without thinking of another irreverent take on the Jesus story, </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Monty Python’s Life of Brian</span> </i>(Terry Jones, 1979)<span style="color: #073763;">,</span><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #073763;">which is considerably sillier—and ultimately much funnier—than </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">… Clarence</span> </i>(with Brian often simply being mistaken for Jesus, going back to the coincidence of him being born in the next-door-manger to the true Messiah)<span style="color: #073763;">, which is promoted as a comedy and is in some places.</span> (Like appropriating well-known-Biblical-names for some of these characters: Elijah, Barabbas, Goliath</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(7, 55, 99); font-family: helvetica;">—</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">as well as borrowing the names Varinia </span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">[Jean Simmons]</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> and Antoninus </span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">[Tony Curtis]</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> from </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">Spartacus </i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">[Stanley Kubrick, 1960]</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(7, 55, 99); font-family: helvetica;">—</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">just as elements of older big-budget-Biblically-inspired-movies serve as inspirations for what we see here, especially that opening chariot race reminiscent of a considerably-grander-spectacle in </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">Ben-Hur </i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">[William Wyler, 1959]</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> made more restricted—and a bit absurd—here through the narrow streets of Jerusalem </span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">[actually shot in Matera, Italy, which easily looks like it could be a Middle Eastern city of 2,000 years ago, also used in a very serious </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: helvetica;">{bloody} </span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">manner for <i>The Passion of the Christ </i></span><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">{</span>Mel Gibson, 2004}</span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">]</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">)</span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">.</span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Back when I was teaching at SMU in Dallas, TX I was also, for a couple of years, a film critic on adult-contemporary-radio station KTXQ FM <span style="color: #999999;">(“Q 102”)</span>; September 1979 I attended <span style="color: #999999;">(and contributed to the judging of)</span> an international media festival at Universal Studios’ Universal City in Los Angeles where I took a bus from LAX to the hotel, passing the famous Grauman’s Chinese Theater on the way where I saw <i>… Life of Brian </i>on the marquee <span style="color: #999999;">(produced by George Harrison’s HandMade Films, banned in various European countries, but a financial hit)</span>. When I got to the hotel I borrowed a car from someone, found my way back to the theater to see the movie because whenever I left town during that radio gig I had to phone in my reviews and comments live from wherever I was <span style="color: #999999;">(well, after all, they were paying me $10 for each report, so I guess I had to comply)</span> and was a review short of the 4 call-ins I needed to do that coming Saturday morning, so I saw <i>… Brian</i> <span style="color: #999999;">(found it be standard-Python-absurd, quite clever in many of its elements</span> <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">[not nearly as riotously-funny as </span><i style="color: #6fa8dc;">Monty Python and the Holy Grail </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">{Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones; 1975}</span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">, however]</span>, added a review to my call-ins <span style="color: #999999;">(once an hour for 4 hours on a Saturday morning, which meant an early alarm given the first one had to be at 6:15 AM due to the Dallas-L.A.-time-difference, then muddled through the rest of the day</span> <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">[and night]</span> at the media festival <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">[got up early the next morning also because you could jog around the Universal Studios property if you went in before they officially starting taking entry fees]</span><span style="color: #999999;">)</span>.</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ7YAb3H8u9-_gePGjLamVlESg06r7KbhlnwdBS7zDnXzOcGRiGEc07l0GFlVkPofxf_syh12AkkP5FxINMRb2s6yrcI1xOeqmv0nCr7-QUTVC0xw-5yvOmnrusFtICTmHE8f27rlTBySb1fADOwNKTA934ACrKkrnO2G7VQerMY_-ZaytkRt3KOQTZg/s703/ad948957-dcae-4e0e-8ff0-5bb730d37e34_821x460.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="703" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ7YAb3H8u9-_gePGjLamVlESg06r7KbhlnwdBS7zDnXzOcGRiGEc07l0GFlVkPofxf_syh12AkkP5FxINMRb2s6yrcI1xOeqmv0nCr7-QUTVC0xw-5yvOmnrusFtICTmHE8f27rlTBySb1fADOwNKTA934ACrKkrnO2G7VQerMY_-ZaytkRt3KOQTZg/w640-h408/ad948957-dcae-4e0e-8ff0-5bb730d37e34_821x460.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">The satire is even sharper in Clarence's mean-spirited-“miracles," evoking connections to the same hokum practiced by so-called “evangelists” in the rural U.S., conning naïve crowds in order to bring in undeserved donations. However, there’s also a serious aspect in this film which even devout-Christians might be able to embrace—assuming they can tolerate other aspects of what they’d see on screen—when nothing undermining is shown about Jesus, especially in the believer-turnarounds of Clarence and Elijah</span> (although the invulnerability of Barabbas, the water-walking of Clarence might be hard to accept as a total package in this story for the most-orthodox of monotheists)<span style="color: #073763;">. Overall, I found <i>The Book of Clarence </i>to be an odd, although generally-unique, experience with some intriguing comic aspects, but, ultimately, a more serious look at the time of Jesus than I’d expected; it’s not financially-cheap to watch</span> (more on that in just a bit)<span style="color: #073763;">, so you probably need to think carefully about how intriguing it may sound; nevertheless, given that the last 2023 release I’m somehow determined to see, before posting in the next couple of weeks regarding last year’s Top 10 and this year’s Oscar predictions, is </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Poor Things</span> </i>(Yorgos Lanthimos)<span style="color: #073763;">—not yet on streaming, not that near me in a theater—I did find <i>… Clarence </i>to be my most-intriguing-choice last week, agree that it's </span></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">worth the price, and encourage you to consider it, although if you mostly need to</span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJUhlRoBL8M"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Look on the Bright Side of Life"</span></a></b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">while being marginally-sacrilegious, maybe you just need <i>… The Life of Brian</i> instead.</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjto9aT3M59d1Eb8_xNvYSOF_epZTfU7JMidmBV1f2uvGr42QCuyZeVxMuCMW1cbhUzi2RCp_NpEdVFN6c5sVn9jnGPX4etnwPT-v5F1IsG3QeJcrIIZ_MES3p8knsJdnR_rDQ3Wi0g-AjC-H8DsduGtaoVx8ZOQRbJAfXZDZxYlD_B_rETOm6oq_Lfcw/s3636/MV5BYjk0YzljNDUtYTQ4ZC00ZjllLThmMmUtMzNhZTI2MGZmNDczXkEyXkFqcGdeQXZ3ZXNsZXk@._V1_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2601" data-original-width="3636" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjto9aT3M59d1Eb8_xNvYSOF_epZTfU7JMidmBV1f2uvGr42QCuyZeVxMuCMW1cbhUzi2RCp_NpEdVFN6c5sVn9jnGPX4etnwPT-v5F1IsG3QeJcrIIZ_MES3p8knsJdnR_rDQ3Wi0g-AjC-H8DsduGtaoVx8ZOQRbJAfXZDZxYlD_B_rETOm6oq_Lfcw/w640-h458/MV5BYjk0YzljNDUtYTQ4ZC00ZjllLThmMmUtMzNhZTI2MGZmNDczXkEyXkFqcGdeQXZ3ZXNsZXk@._V1_.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Bottom Line Final Comments:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;"><i>The Book of Clarence </i>began its run in domestic</span> (U.S.-Canada) <span style="color: #073763;">theaters, 2,010 of them, on January 12, 2024, is now down to just 190, with a gross so far of a mere $6.1 million</span> (no international box-office),<span style="color: #073763;"> so, as it often the case with anything I’ve been reviewing in these COVID-19 times, your easiest-access is likely</span><b> <a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-book-of-clarence"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">streaming</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">where you’ll find it available at Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Vudu, etc. for a $19.99 rental, not much of a savings over theatrical tickets unless there's a bargain-early-afternoon-matinee. While I’m encouraging you to consider either option</span> (if for no other reason than to see such a large almost-all-Black-cast; although, if that appeals to you, I think you’ll find slightly better results with Oscar-nominated <i>American Fiction </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Cord Jefferson, 2023; review in our February 13, 2024 posting]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, the <b>CCAL </b>just barely agrees with me as the</span> <b><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_book_of_clarence_2024"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews are 68%</span></a></b> <span style="color: #073763;">and the</span><b> <a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-book-of-clarence"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Metacritic average score is 60%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, so</span> <span style="color: #073763;">I’ll let a couple of better-known-voices-than-mine give you some insights.</span> <b>Alissa Wilkinson <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/11/movies/the-book-of-clarence-review.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Alissa Wilkinson</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">of <i>The New York Times </i>says<span>:</span></span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><b><span style="color: #38761d;">“ '</span></b><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #38761d;">The Book of Clarence' is a highly ambitious attempt at relatability, with an added reverence for the old-school ‘Ben-Hur’-era Hollywood biblical epics. </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…] </span><span style="color: #38761d;">Does it work? Sometimes! And it’s also sort of a mess. </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> But what’s good about 'The Book of Clarence' is what so many movies lack: taking really, really big swings. There are fights with gladiators and a chariot race. But there’s flashy camerawork that quotes both music videos and old movies, with a lot of zooms and cuts and wipes and iris effects. </span><span style="color: #999999;">[… If it]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> doesn’t totally work, its combination of the sacred and the irreverent is enchanting. It gets bogged down in its own mud, but it’s certainly shooting for the stars.”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">So she's easi</span></span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #073763;">ly paralleled with the <b>CCAL </b>majority.</span></span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxlbBW8gd3w3acbGqyQVwhFeYo9TTnO6s8qLqaG5MkVV6VPDYk3ASPx5sHczK-OHPgWTTjDAAazzgdWwx8xeFic0bzkDTSCHYpTTgVrYuITwXcbvHOPDthgCr0JYa6p7mOHJxg23_OMzICge20mWQaxjLLLKVlzuSaBhZv-2rhMB9VJ-jo57ugg47bbQ/s2823/the-book-of-clarence_Z0d6Qs.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1828" data-original-width="2823" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxlbBW8gd3w3acbGqyQVwhFeYo9TTnO6s8qLqaG5MkVV6VPDYk3ASPx5sHczK-OHPgWTTjDAAazzgdWwx8xeFic0bzkDTSCHYpTTgVrYuITwXcbvHOPDthgCr0JYa6p7mOHJxg23_OMzICge20mWQaxjLLLKVlzuSaBhZv-2rhMB9VJ-jo57ugg47bbQ/w640-h414/the-book-of-clarence_Z0d6Qs.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #008f00; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><span style="color: #073763;">Conversely,</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.bostonherald.com/2024/01/11/the-book-of-clarence-doesnt-have-a-prayer/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">James Verniere</span></a><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">of the </span><i style="color: #073763;">Boston Herald</i><span style="color: #073763;"> snidely counters:</span></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #38761d;">“</span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> </span></span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="color: #38761d;">all that I can say is, Did anybody read this before throwing money at it? </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> ‘The Book of Clarence’ </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> is a postmodern mess. Unfortunately, it is also going to become the rite of passage for a generation of children. But what it is? At times, it feels very strongly like a ‘Life of Brian’ spoof/alternate story of Jesus Christ, using a previous unknown as a Christ stand in. </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> ‘The Book of Clarence’ is like a two-hour plus 'SNL' skit with a dance sequence that nobody bothered to edit (or just delete). </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> By the time we get around to the Crucifixion, I was reminded that I had already seen ‘The Passion.’ ‘How long before we get a Broadway musical version of ‘The Book of Clarence?’ Not long enough.” </span> </span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="color: #073763;">While you’re deciding what to do about viewing <i>… Clarence</i>, though, you can indulge in my standard-wrapup-tactic of a Musical Metaphor, “The Last Supper” from Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Jesus Christ Superstar</span> </i>(another non-standard-Biblical-interpretation of those long-ago-times of the only argued-about-Messiah today in the record album <span style="color: #999999;">[1970]</span>, Broadway play <span style="color: #999999;">[1971; I saw it NYC with Jeff Fenholt as Jesus, Carl Anderson as Judas, Yvonne Elliman as Mary Magdalene]</span>, film <span style="color: #999999;">[Norma Jewison, 1973; Ted Neely as Jesus in this version]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">at </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJxKtOwgLdw"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJxKtOwgLdw</span></b></a><span style="color: #073763;">, a song I’ve chosen because it addresses the satirical aspects of </span><i style="color: #073763;">… Clarence</i><span style="color: #073763;">—</span></span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #38761d;">“Look at all my trials and tribulations / Sinking in a gentle pool of win / Don’t disturb me now; I can see the answers / Till ‘this evening’ is ‘this morning,’ life is fine / Always hoped that I’d be an apostle / Knew that I would make it if I tried / Then when we retire we can write the gospels / So they’ll still talk about us when we’ve died”</span></span><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">—while also incorporating serious aspects of this current film in the clash between Jesus and Judas about what’s going to happen and why on Good Friday. If nothing else, maybe some exposure to any of this content will serve as points of interest if you celebrate aspects of Holy Week </span><span style="color: #666666; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">(Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday)</span><span style="color: black; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">on March 24-31 during this coming spring—or not, as you'll see fit.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC_3anYs1tlvfPM4SLpBD8nib3DjDZDfJcAZIyhO2f6P5he7xKhpQNYa0KDqm0_53RpJFu5SIIub18zmkzryT7qE2bErihVwgJsQflhrr9NlmAz47Rb_ElAPdbVXBpN3I7qZrsrU3oWVvY2U9XNwLc1gNZawEKJjkz-bUu8CAWb8y25F-AtWMaOzm_Cg/s1949/Hidden%20Hollywood%2087.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC_3anYs1tlvfPM4SLpBD8nib3DjDZDfJcAZIyhO2f6P5he7xKhpQNYa0KDqm0_53RpJFu5SIIub18zmkzryT7qE2bErihVwgJsQflhrr9NlmAz47Rb_ElAPdbVXBpN3I7qZrsrU3oWVvY2U9XNwLc1gNZawEKJjkz-bUu8CAWb8y25F-AtWMaOzm_Cg/w640-h294/Hidden%20Hollywood%2087.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting: </span> </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Some options for your studied consideration: (1)</span><span style="color: #073763; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span><a href="https://variety.com/lists/best-romantic-movies/?post_type=pmc_list&p=1235908052#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=499404_02-13-2024&utm_term=290984" style="color: #2b00fe; font-weight: bold;">The 50 Greatest Romantic Movies of all time</a> (to help you keep celebrating Valentine's Day or just generate a receptive mood about it)</span><span style="color: #073763;">;</span><b style="color: #073763;"> (</b><span style="color: #073763;">2) </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/spotlight/black-hollywood-icons/rg442800896/mediaviewer/rm3185655809?ref_=pe_3369030_825215050_eml_hero_cta"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Black Hollywood icons</span></b></a><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(7, 55, 99); color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">(in continuing celebration of Black History Month)</span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">; (3)</span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls521170945/?ref_=pe_3465290_825850810_eml_hero_cta"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">2023 theatrical releases you can stream at home</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">; (4)</span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2024/film/awards/writers-guild-award-nominations-2024-full-list-1235918306/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=501450_02-21-2024&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">2024 Writers Guild award nominations</span></a><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">(but winners will be announced after the Oscars)</span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">; & (5)</span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2024/film/news/inclusion-study-2023-historic-low-women-in-leading-film-roles-1235917950/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=501324_02-21-2024&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">2023 provided historic low of women in cinematic lead roles</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></p><p style="color: #941100; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b></span><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Two Guys in the Dark homepage</span></a></b><b style="color: #941100;">. </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>If you’d like to</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>Like</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>us on Facebook </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(yes?)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b> please visit</b></span><span><b> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our Facebook page</span></a></b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us! </b></span><span style="color: #073763;">Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account</span> (which you can easily get at <a href="https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount</span></b></a> if you need to sign up) <span style="color: #073763;">or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our<b> </b>Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it</span> (most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="color: #448728; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were </span><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">6,544</span></b><span style="color: #073763;">—a huge drop-off from the marvelous 40-50K of some recent months;</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">never overestimate yourself!</span> (As always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers.) <span style="color: #073763;">Below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week</span> (with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<b><br /></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW25IPYB4tHjPC_PyxpQx02JMXPhkPFFlEnDryTWkVRSDr9Tx6ZDAZ-UbgkxpWuN70u-F6emmW1L6EyVUadArqYbB8SS0r1UdXxE5s1WLSrH8kdBD-W0kfQHZojrtUgJvbDvECsQX7ZsbnBYbE1BIl4aORXv1ySAn3xJJ06eNxK11w6lVOdiZSyeGhRQ/s1233/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-20%20at%207.11.02%20PM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1059" data-original-width="1233" height="550" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW25IPYB4tHjPC_PyxpQx02JMXPhkPFFlEnDryTWkVRSDr9Tx6ZDAZ-UbgkxpWuN70u-F6emmW1L6EyVUadArqYbB8SS0r1UdXxE5s1WLSrH8kdBD-W0kfQHZojrtUgJvbDvECsQX7ZsbnBYbE1BIl4aORXv1ySAn3xJJ06eNxK11w6lVOdiZSyeGhRQ/w650-h550/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-20%20at%207.11.02%20PM.jpg" width="650" /></a></div><p></p>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-22361762327854414892024-02-13T23:53:00.000-08:002024-02-14T00:51:47.527-08:00American Fiction and Short Takes on other cinematic topics<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">The Write Stuff</span></b></div>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(I know I’ve seen this clever phrase somewhere, so my apologies to whomever I stole it from.)</span></p><p style="font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Review and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMnigwiqJHyGfkhp2uqRPkE5Qzd1cB-F0iXNjE-cpT0Y-48O2hdzUcLXxBi2cQA4hS5Gs1Df4kn741TJcTsSwJAYfNj9eOof3iY7UAUIVkpr7T_vb3OchdZbQhUvLx_Qvwo1bmeYkXTjBPEresGk_5ZoADKmEqXslWeSzFyKhWnEdOri4Luw0_rbKxNQ/s414/Valentines-Day-wishes-1200.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="215" data-original-width="414" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMnigwiqJHyGfkhp2uqRPkE5Qzd1cB-F0iXNjE-cpT0Y-48O2hdzUcLXxBi2cQA4hS5Gs1Df4kn741TJcTsSwJAYfNj9eOof3iY7UAUIVkpr7T_vb3OchdZbQhUvLx_Qvwo1bmeYkXTjBPEresGk_5ZoADKmEqXslWeSzFyKhWnEdOri4Luw0_rbKxNQ/w640-h332/Valentines-Day-wishes-1200.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone, with couples having a special time to share their love but even the non-coupled should know you’re </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: helvetica;">(hopefully)</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> loved too by relatives/friends/pets or whatever may bring joy to your life. For all, here's a song by </span><span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jrFK30mxAE" style="color: #2b00fe; font-weight: bold;">Gordon Lightfoot</a><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(7, 55, 99);"> about "the wherefore and the why."</span></span></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b></span> (Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b></span> (Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, though better options may be on the horizon.</span> (Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue</b></span> <span style="color: #999999;">[some may look near</span> <span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span><span style="color: #999999;">]</span> is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #073763;">My reviews’ premise:</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #008f00;">“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from<b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiV_mBkLqShZu3fztRHousCou6db6sdRzuHt65WSZ0HmUafq7u4IFCGT3Lk4RNdcSLO2BTBRdCFAaUESsJUbaiWxhONLyZz0qbJS-GQMV44ldo1PVrfhsMVdhg-DRUUMuJ6Nzriq1bloO-fgZt8C5vBE3K_Ai3euJQxn1uFXsUx0MvSbHgN5KXG5TBag/s109/four%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiV_mBkLqShZu3fztRHousCou6db6sdRzuHt65WSZ0HmUafq7u4IFCGT3Lk4RNdcSLO2BTBRdCFAaUESsJUbaiWxhONLyZz0qbJS-GQMV44ldo1PVrfhsMVdhg-DRUUMuJ6Nzriq1bloO-fgZt8C5vBE3K_Ai3euJQxn1uFXsUx0MvSbHgN5KXG5TBag/s1600/four%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.mgm.com/movies/american-fiction"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">American Fiction</span></a></span></i></b><b><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Cord Jefferson, 2023)</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> rated R </span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">118 minutes</span></b></span></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i0MbLCpYJPA" width="320" youtube-src-id="i0MbLCpYJPA"></iframe></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="color: #008f00;">If you can abide </b><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">plot spoilers</span></b></span><b style="color: #008f00;"> read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ </b><b><span style="color: #93c47d;">(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</span></b><b style="color: #008f00;">. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and</span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">red.⇐</span> </b></span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRyXdxwfA6WT-W2Ubf2QL4WNYT__K960Y-s23Ebg9OnKtEFX9ndIfvUmWurQdCnlfu8WyYGqPCjhv6e0pEynSfHTSjfZ79svhen6hdhYFWKLnyHZpzXsKzbmXzcjenbGcLSxeOGguKzsg7B7bpV3I1PrTX6bY_KsZk4LhMFB8rO8kSKsmybKXBvYd64A/s4486/american-fiction_cMEjtv.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2504" data-original-width="4486" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRyXdxwfA6WT-W2Ubf2QL4WNYT__K960Y-s23Ebg9OnKtEFX9ndIfvUmWurQdCnlfu8WyYGqPCjhv6e0pEynSfHTSjfZ79svhen6hdhYFWKLnyHZpzXsKzbmXzcjenbGcLSxeOGguKzsg7B7bpV3I1PrTX6bY_KsZk4LhMFB8rO8kSKsmybKXBvYd64A/w640-h358/american-fiction_cMEjtv.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">What Happens:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">Thelonious “Monk” Ellison</span> (Jeffery Wright)<span style="color: #073763;">—a clever naming of the main character by original novelist Percival Everett</span> (<i>Erasure</i>, 2001)<span style="color: #073763;">, retained by screenwriter/director Jefferson—is a literature professor in L.A., struggling with his own novels receiving critical praise but poor sales, his latest rejected by publishers as not “Black enough”; when his agent, Arthur</span> (John Ortiz)<span style="color: #073763;">, says the industry is only interested in examples of “Black fiction, Monk retorts he’s Black, his book is fiction, what else do they want? Obviously, not what he considers worthwhile-writing. He’s faced with complaints from colleagues, too, about hassling students who don’t agree with his pedagogy, so they suggest he take a leave of absence, attend a literary conference in his Boston hometown, then spend time with members of his family. He’s not too keen on the “leave” aspect of this trip but accepts the offer, goes to the conference where he finds his session is sparsely-attended while the crowd packs in for Sintara Golden </span>(Issa Rae)<span style="color: #073763;">, who’s also an intellectual but has written a best-seller, <i>We’s Lives in Da Ghetto</i>, packed with Black stereotypes but adored by this White literary crowd, which astonishes and angers Monk. More bad news comes rapidly as Monk’s mother, Agnes</span> (Leslie Uggams)<span style="color: #073763;">, shows some obvious signs of Alzheimer’s, but when he meets his divorced-doctor-sister, Lisa </span>(Tracee Ellis Ross)<span style="color: #073763;">, for drinks to discuss this she suddenly dies from a fatal heart attack.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Monk’s estranged brother, Cliff </span>(Sterling K. Brown)<span style="color: #073763;">—also divorced after his wife caught him with a man; plus, he’s a druggie—comes home for Lisa’s funeral, discusses with Monk the problems Cliff faced with their father about his gay tendencies</span> (Dad shocked Mom too, committing suicide by gunshot with her devastated when finding his body—he may have had affairs as well)<span style="color: #073763;">. Monk investigates selling at least one of the family homes to pay for the huge costs of assisted-living for Agnes</span> ($6,000 a month)<span style="color: #073763;">, a fate she has no interest in, though she lightens up considerably when Cliff visits her. Monk meets Coraline</span> (Erika Alexander)<span style="color: #073763;">, a lawyer neighbor, with some mutual interests emerging. What’s really bothering Monk, though, is Golden’s success so he creates an absurd novel, <i>My Pafology</i>, using the pseudonym Stagg R. Leigh, supposedly an escaped convict with extreme ghetto cred</span> (satire really picks up at this point),<span style="color: #073763;"> has it sent around to publishers as a joke, is shocked when one of them offers a $750,000 advance with confidence it'll be a best-seller, followed by meeting with movie producer Wiley</span> (Adam Brody)<span style="color: #073763;">, willing to pay $4 million for the rights.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXBtTdIuXsaDzPORMDe7PCoFGQrsFsoi1-wgiI1TYfxRMEf6yeuPGe-LzL_R_pV_Ga2ZU5bq6C18ILkUnvJW2Zp6uu2qb34XT-NEVjBJ11NlUx_8Jg6HMT1uiAaEIr0cEXFX5Nx4mtGf9NP6_wVR6qtnkkh8Rgl1OWU9k6pjPbf2BjnIrp6g59iiI9tg/s1417/american-fiction_65rsQd.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="1417" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXBtTdIuXsaDzPORMDe7PCoFGQrsFsoi1-wgiI1TYfxRMEf6yeuPGe-LzL_R_pV_Ga2ZU5bq6C18ILkUnvJW2Zp6uu2qb34XT-NEVjBJ11NlUx_8Jg6HMT1uiAaEIr0cEXFX5Nx4mtGf9NP6_wVR6qtnkkh8Rgl1OWU9k6pjPbf2BjnIrp6g59iiI9tg/w640-h360/american-fiction_65rsQd.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Monk takes on the necessary gangsta personality on the phone with the publisher people, in person with Wiley, all of them easily buying the full load of this fiction. Monk then tries to derail the whole venture by demanding the novel’s title be changed to <i>Fuck</i>; however, this backfires when they agree, so he accepts all of the manufactured identity</span> (with only Arthur knowing the true story) <span style="color: #073763;">in order to get the necessary funds for Mom’s housing. Then, a further complication arises when Monk is asked to join the 5-person judging panel for the New England Book Association’s Literary Award</span> (Golden’s on the panel too)<span style="color: #073763;">, with the 3 White members intrigued by <i>Fuck</i>, which has become a cultural event, with the FBI now determined to find “Leigh” ‘s whereabouts. During a break of the judging panel’s work, Monk and Golden talk privately where they agree about the worthlessness of <i>Fuck </i></span>(intentionally published on Juneteenth for maximum impact)<span style="color: #073763;">, but she becomes defensive when he notes problems with her book, which she says is based on considerable research; then the other 3 return, vote to give the award to “Leigh” ‘s book, which horrifies Monk, not sure if he should reveal the truth or not.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Meanwhile, Cliff supposedly left town, angry at Mom for her homophobic remarks, but actually moved into the beach house with a couple of guys, then is invited, along with Monk, to the wedding of the long-time family housekeeper, Lorraine</span> (Myra Lucretia Taylor),<span style="color: #073763;"> even as Monk is on the outs with Coraline after an argument over her enjoying <i>Fuck</i>; Cliff encourages Monk to open up about his secret identity, which he seems about to do at the awards ceremony that suddenly cuts to black</span> (no pun intended) <span style="color: #073763;">as if the film’s finished.</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">⇒However,</span></b> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">we come back again to find Monk in conversation with Wiley, the implication being what we’ve been watching is a visualization of Monk’s script about his experiences, but Wiley wants a different ending. Monk suggests a version where he runs away from the ceremony to apologize to Coraline; Wiley says no, too romcom-ish, so the next idea </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(intended as a stereotypical throwaway)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> is that FBI agents show up at the ceremony and assume Monk is “Leigh” </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(not as a fake identity, but as a real escaped convict)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> so they shoot him dead. Monk’s shocked that Wiley accepts this </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(but, after all, he’s in the process of shooting <i>Plantation Annihilation</i>)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">, which puts Monk's film into production as Monk and Cliff drive away from the</span><span style="color: #9ec1e8;"> </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>studio.⇐</b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX4hwaIy0Gmef6HiUlM7_1L0OPMwJjJNyLLPdkXSjS7V_EsxUDPG-GTbavC94pz7SRNXZdzfsIBMF1-4MuUxJ08Iko4K4jvuE06jc6n2u1yuanY0BTLxPjS_TEhQ3cLnn_KpOO2dgqrzuAqVirnZKNZMBmVEwzMTqKo5o9n0KHlWMULZom6Mbeb9ed0Q/s2942/american-fiction_MXRI2S.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1100" data-original-width="2942" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX4hwaIy0Gmef6HiUlM7_1L0OPMwJjJNyLLPdkXSjS7V_EsxUDPG-GTbavC94pz7SRNXZdzfsIBMF1-4MuUxJ08Iko4K4jvuE06jc6n2u1yuanY0BTLxPjS_TEhQ3cLnn_KpOO2dgqrzuAqVirnZKNZMBmVEwzMTqKo5o9n0KHlWMULZom6Mbeb9ed0Q/w640-h240/american-fiction_MXRI2S.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So What?</span></b> <span style="color: #073763;">Although you’ll often find this film referred to a satire with strong implications of being a comedy throughout, it’s really more of a successful hybrid of solid satirical elements and serious family drama, maybe a sort of a blend of <i>Bamboozled </i></span>(Spike Lee, 2000) <span style="color: #073763;">and </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Long Day’s Journey into Night</span> </i>(Sidney Lumet, 1962)<span style="color: #073763;"> without being as fully invested in the biting social</span> (anti-racist) <span style="color: #073763;">commentary of the former nor the devastating interpersonal clashes of the latter, so you get a bit of both allowing you to laugh at misplaced White-fawning over anything perceived as “authentically” Black, then effectively feeling the struggle this trying-to-be-sincere-man has in being genuinely-connected to those few who are closest to him, even as he hides aspects of himself which leads to his breakup with Coraline. The strong family interactions do pull us away from the satire about “woke” White liberals</span> (which, I must admit, include me a lot of the time until I see where excesses of such ideologies can further the antagonism of our current social divides instead of helping reach the original goals of bringing a divided, violence-prone-society closer together with an acceptance of common visions) <span style="color: #073763;">and their blind, guilt-driven-embrace of anything seeming to be “representative” of the cultures of so-called “Others,” African-Americans in this case. But, for me, the blend of satire and drama works well as it helps us better understand the background forces shaping Monk’s complicated life</span> (a nice example is when he’s in a bookstore to see if they carry any of this works; they do, but to his dismay they’re shelved in the African-American Studies section just because of his identity, so he grabs a double armful to angrily relocate them to the more-general-area of Fiction because he doesn’t see himself as having written anything truly about Black identity into his books)<span style="color: #073763;">. </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> The awards community has embraced this film as it's won the People’s Choice Award at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival; it’s also included among the Top 10 Films of the Year by the American Film Institute Awards, along with many other wins, nominations, and pending possibilities from all across the U.S.A.</span> (<b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Fiction_(film)"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">go here</span></a></b> for a current, updated tally) <span style="color: #073763;">with some of the most-notable being an Outstanding Directing – First-Time Feature Film nom from the Directors Guild of America; the Screen Actors Guild noms for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture</span> (their Best Picture),<span style="color: #073763;"> Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Wright, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role for Brown; the Producers Guild nom for the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures; Oscar noms for Best Picture, Actor</span> (Wright)<span style="color: #073763;">, Supporting Actor</span> (Brown)<span style="color: #073763;">, Adapted Screenplay</span> (Jefferson)<span style="color: #073763;">, Original Score</span> (Laura Karpman)<span style="color: #073763;">. Soon we’ll see how it plays out in these contests and so many others, with my high encouragement for you to see it before any of these awards finalists are announced. In truth, even if it doesn’t win much more than it already has, it’s still well worth your time for seeking it out.</span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #008f00;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvrqdjtx_ErzcsL3kaw-Aq2Wvm9mShUkXalN20O6ouH57yIRltTyhKTzt60VargmPDW1c2TYaEoTSUbf3qNxWZN3YgbPPPniDclYc0_d-b_fNg2ChhQ08cxO63N3qHBQNBEzb7amkg5x7Hv6dERPD6xn6ZxcWbE0rHG_WsDw-Bw1en9DVSh0G99hyphenhyphenOtw/s4444/american-fiction_5Xw2vj.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2426" data-original-width="4444" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvrqdjtx_ErzcsL3kaw-Aq2Wvm9mShUkXalN20O6ouH57yIRltTyhKTzt60VargmPDW1c2TYaEoTSUbf3qNxWZN3YgbPPPniDclYc0_d-b_fNg2ChhQ08cxO63N3qHBQNBEzb7amkg5x7Hv6dERPD6xn6ZxcWbE0rHG_WsDw-Bw1en9DVSh0G99hyphenhyphenOtw/w640-h350/american-fiction_5Xw2vj.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Bottom Line Final Comments:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;"><i>American Fiction </i>came to the domestic</span> (U.S.-Canada) <span style="color: #073763;">market on December 15, 2023</span> (still in 1,462 theaters, so you could probably find it somewhat nearby if you wanted to see it on the big screen),<span style="color: #073763;"> having taken in a quite modest $17.3 million so far </span>($17.8 million worldwide, international presence is exceedingly minimal)<span style="color: #073763;">, so I guess this content hasn’t been all that appealing to audiences</span> (a real shame as it richly deserves to be seen) <span style="color: #073763;">when compared to such fare as </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Wonka</span> </i>(Paul King, 2023) <span style="color: #073763;">which has already piled up $205.1 million domestically, $587.8 million worldwide, although I doubt I’ll ever come in contact with it. The <b>CCAL </b>joins me</span> (so wise of them) <span style="color: #073763;">in recommending <i>American Fiction</i>, with the</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/american_fiction"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews at 94%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, the</span><b> <a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/american-fiction/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Metacritic average score at 81%</span></a></b> (quite high for them, as only 3 that both they and I have reviewed so far this year come into the 80s range)<span style="color: #073763;">. So, if you’re COVID-adverse like me, you can easily turn to</span> <b><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/untitled-cord-jefferson-film"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">streaming</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">where you’ll find it available for $19.99 at Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Vudu, etc., though you must note that price is for purchase, not rental; I certainly don’t object to having it in my Roku-access-library for a future revisit, but that just might be a consideration for you.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Another consideration, of a positive nature</span><span style="color: #073763;"> is it features a largely all-Black cast, a situation you don’t get many options for in mainstream cinema</span> (a recent <span style="color: #999999;">[somewhat lesser for me]</span> example is the new version of <i>The Color Purple </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Blitz Bazawule, 2023; review in our February 1, 2024 posting]</span>, but you won’t find much else so celebrate what you can when you can)<span style="color: #073763;">, with content that comments on ghetto stories and romcom indulgences without veering into either. In addition to my enthusiastic recommendation, with hopes some of those nominated awards might laud this unique, engaging film, I’ll just close with my usual Musical Metaphor, even if this one seems a little silly given the more serious aspects of <i>American Fiction</i>, but I’m connecting it to the satire aspects as I give you The Beatles with “Paperback Writer” </span>(a 1966 hit single which later made its way onto compilation albums such as <i>Hey Jude </i><span style="color: #999999;">[1970]</span>, <i>1962-1966 </i><span style="color: #999999;">[1973]</span>, and <i>1 </i><span style="color: #999999;">[2000]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYvkICbTZIQ"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYvkICbTZIQ</span></b></a><b> </b>(an early form of music videos) <span style="color: #073763;">with relevant lyrics such as</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book? </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> And I need a job, so I want to be a paperback writer </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> If you really like it, you can have the rights / It could make a million for you overnight,” </span><span style="color: #073763;">so join this tongue-in-cheek-song with the insightful wit of a great film </span>(sure to be among my Top 10 of 2023, a list I'll finalize soon after I see a couple more of the remaining contenders) <span style="color: #073763;">and I think you’ll complete a winning combination.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #008f00;"><b><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmYQxSSRWgKXQfukTgatvUU0GfPwsv_X4JjRyaQmxV12jgYkaRPMY2zTwwqmlYjWxCRunONE5fxEMPv11LKa4qb7AjU9YGd0k175fLGPXG_Q7YhMuOPwJ11x5xr-qxgmlYbv6gPYuqo4QAU59s2bS0ddCnAZuuQ-0FBVAtD7fttlngYO5mHHEJIpCEsg/s1297/65b8107eac2de4f17ee5950d.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="785" data-original-width="1297" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmYQxSSRWgKXQfukTgatvUU0GfPwsv_X4JjRyaQmxV12jgYkaRPMY2zTwwqmlYjWxCRunONE5fxEMPv11LKa4qb7AjU9YGd0k175fLGPXG_Q7YhMuOPwJ11x5xr-qxgmlYbv6gPYuqo4QAU59s2bS0ddCnAZuuQ-0FBVAtD7fttlngYO5mHHEJIpCEsg/w640-h388/65b8107eac2de4f17ee5950d.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(Travis Kelce is now also a Super Bowl champ </span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">[for the third time, all with Kansas City]</span><span style="color: #38761d;">;</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;">Taylor Swift is “merely” a billionaire with a cluster of Grammy awards. Such cute kids!)</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">If you read this blog even on a casual basis you probably recognize immediately this posting’s a bit shorter than usual</span> (don’t faint!) <span style="color: #073763;">and it’s a day earlier than my usual Wednesday night/Thursday early morning marathon. That’s because some of my standard time commitments this week were</span> (or are about to be) <span style="color: #073763;">occupied with spending Valentine’s Day</span> (and night) <span style="color: #073763;">with my wonderful wife of 33 years, Nina Kindblad, and investing more hours than turned out to be necessary last Sunday watching Super Bowl LVIII where the Kansas City Chiefs beat my San Francisco 49ers</span> (just a fan; I don’t own the team) <span style="color: #073763;">25-22 in overtime</span> (worse yet,<b> <a href="https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/super-bowl-2024-ratings-viewers-1235907666/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=499184_02-12-2024&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">everyone in the world seems to have seen it</span></a></b>)<span style="color: #073763;">. I’d like to find some excuse how K.C. managed to slip away with a victory, but given they’ve won this premiere football event 3 times in the last 5 years</span> (twice against the 49ers)<span style="color: #073763;">, there seems to be no other choice but to congratulate the winners for yet another strong showing and leave you with one more song. I suppose I could play something from Taylor Swift’s catalogue, but given that I’m not familiar at all with her music </span>(that ought to get me some responses, although I’m not so sure that any Swifties read this blog) <span style="color: #073763;">I’ll just go with “Kansas City” from Wilbert Harrison</span> (written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1952, recorded by many from Little Richard to The Beatles, a hit for Harrison in 1959, which<b> <a href="https://www.bear-family.com/harrison-wilbert-kansas-city-the-best-of-cd.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">you might be able to get on this album</span></a> </b>if it becomes available) <span style="color: #073763;">at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah0gn5-M2cA"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah0gn5-M2cA</span></b></a><b> </b>(which cuts off just before the end so here’s <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UonBS_mvW-E"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">another version</span></a></b> with an introduction from long-ago-teen-influencer-Dick Clark)<span style="color: #073763;">, although I don’t need any</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“crazy little women</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;">”</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (I’ve already got one </span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">[just kidding, Sweetheart!]</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">),<span style="color: #073763;"> but a bottle of </span><span style="color: #38761d;">“Kansas City wine”</span><span style="color: #073763;"> might be nice</span> (I’m sure the Chiefs have had some by now; the 49ers need the harder stuff as they dream about “next year”).</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><b style="color: #008f00; font-family: Helvetica; text-align: left;"> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7EnWBmWcARFYTbwvr_MtlDtib-hY8qvkeSEa-RVGgQhVAJZgdCH55tK4_1BSC3_Dkywg8VGoCoTDApEvPXtGmJCk726BNvfhcRXru8ANSxpPHYbJnclowsy9IhV5P8hpPKaTzc8VoioAYyp-bGC01WL6vCnACt2u3eXSkEklFLdjksBr_ac5fCDFMQw/s1949/Hidden%20Hollywood%2086.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7EnWBmWcARFYTbwvr_MtlDtib-hY8qvkeSEa-RVGgQhVAJZgdCH55tK4_1BSC3_Dkywg8VGoCoTDApEvPXtGmJCk726BNvfhcRXru8ANSxpPHYbJnclowsy9IhV5P8hpPKaTzc8VoioAYyp-bGC01WL6vCnACt2u3eXSkEklFLdjksBr_ac5fCDFMQw/w640-h294/Hidden%20Hollywood%2086.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:</span> </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Just one option: (1)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.dga.org/News/PressReleases/2024/240210_76thAnnualDGAAwardsWinners.aspx"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Complete list of Directors Guild of America 2024 awards</span></a><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">(Christopher Nolan takes Theatrical Feature Film for </span><i style="color: #073763;">Oppenheimer </i><span style="color: #999999;">[review in our August 17, 2023 posting]</span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">, Celine Song wins First-Time Theatrical Feature Film for her </span><i style="color: #073763;">Past Lives </i><span style="color: #999999;">[review in our August 31, 2023 posting]</span></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">).</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #941100;"><b>We encourage you to visit the </b><a href="http://film"><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>Summary of Two Guys Reviews</b></span></a></span><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>. Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our </b><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>Two Guys in the Dark homepage</b></span></a><b>. </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>If you’d like to</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>Like</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>us on Facebook </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(yes?)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b> please visit</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark"><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>our Facebook page</b></span></a></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us! </b></span><span style="color: #073763;">Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account</span> (which you can easily get at <a href="https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount"><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount</b></span></a> if you need to sign up) <span style="color: #073763;">or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our<b> </b>Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it</span> (most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>use my email address of </b><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>kenburke409@gmail.com</b></span></a><b>—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b></b> </span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were </span><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">6,544</span></b><span style="color: #073763;">—a huge drop-off from the marvelous 40-50K of some recent months;</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">never overestimate yourself!</span> (As always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers.) <span style="color: #073763;">Below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week</span> (with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOQdGghg5eaUGahpMI6LU2BT-lOLe3vuT-Hp2cdXHSsPJdIBIr20SviQGu0avRQDy0pFG-zhQW2tzAK4p7xIZ1Ix2er9s3wp2L-tx5NE4I2BX4Aypai1mBC5jCEE_ebxjN60tHFcyo7NZZn3YX3lm5PQul2qrF_BxWkfsOUNjVYqbwRXJFYOtibR1FyA/s1214/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-13%20at%203.36.01%20PM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1071" data-original-width="1214" height="564" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOQdGghg5eaUGahpMI6LU2BT-lOLe3vuT-Hp2cdXHSsPJdIBIr20SviQGu0avRQDy0pFG-zhQW2tzAK4p7xIZ1Ix2er9s3wp2L-tx5NE4I2BX4Aypai1mBC5jCEE_ebxjN60tHFcyo7NZZn3YX3lm5PQul2qrF_BxWkfsOUNjVYqbwRXJFYOtibR1FyA/w650-h564/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-13%20at%203.36.01%20PM.jpg" width="650" /></a></div>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-27653897464587977302024-02-07T23:42:00.000-08:002024-02-07T23:42:26.458-08:00Orion and The Dark plus Short Takes on various additional cinematic topics<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">“Hello, darkness, my old friend”</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(lyric from Simon & Garfunkel’s <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>“The Sound of Silence” {*} </b></span><span style="color: #999999;">[the hit version’s on their 1966 album, <i>Sounds of Silence</i>, but this video’s version’s more like the striped-down original on their 1964 album <i>Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.</i>]</span>)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Review and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b></span> (Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b></span> (Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, though better options may be on the horizon.</span> <span style="color: #666666;">(Note: Anything in</span> <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue</b></span> <span style="color: #999999;">[some may look near </span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span><span style="color: #999999;">] </span><span style="color: #666666;">is a link to something more in the review.)</span></span></p><p style="font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #073763;">My reviews’ premise:</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #008f00;">“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpgUuravlwknVU3eTIGXHRV4FTt9VrdlU_uqZTNEze8tGiH1_olKhifBtAwWs67q2HWtx0J1BePVhzFph0rU84ZxRal6AxykYuYxVTOVG4ro9EJkKP4-u2OJ0T4ipukUhjnf1BGecv8oIOpHgmFPiT4go858wl8IiyaDpvmxBTM5vTu403VB0T7KoIog/s109/three%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpgUuravlwknVU3eTIGXHRV4FTt9VrdlU_uqZTNEze8tGiH1_olKhifBtAwWs67q2HWtx0J1BePVhzFph0rU84ZxRal6AxykYuYxVTOVG4ro9EJkKP4-u2OJ0T4ipukUhjnf1BGecv8oIOpHgmFPiT4go858wl8IiyaDpvmxBTM5vTu403VB0T7KoIog/s1600/three%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81476885"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Orion and the Dark</span></a></span></i></b><b><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Sean Charmatz)</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> rated TV-Y7</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">92 min.</span></b></span></div><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cScAQ2O26Y4" width="320" youtube-src-id="cScAQ2O26Y4"></iframe></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="color: #008f00;">If you can abide </b><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">plot spoilers</span></b></span><b style="color: #008f00;"> read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ </b><b><span style="color: #93c47d;">(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</span></b><b style="color: #008f00;">. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and</span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">red.⇐</span> </b></span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkKzbe1KZb4tx8Crn0dkysR3TrlpmwTmmMf9YX1DsxD0RSFVv-rd7GZA1sn7Sn9lewoV9OhiKC96e-wfVLN_YccHAkM4RhBNEUYycpKkbXd_LxtH1lcfoyISGN35K_dvHVQOE9f1V-KsASCb_M2rxsN5beHkmc6onKha3270RRsydfA54NoIwPi0eldA/s403/22330_002.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="242" data-original-width="403" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkKzbe1KZb4tx8Crn0dkysR3TrlpmwTmmMf9YX1DsxD0RSFVv-rd7GZA1sn7Sn9lewoV9OhiKC96e-wfVLN_YccHAkM4RhBNEUYycpKkbXd_LxtH1lcfoyISGN35K_dvHVQOE9f1V-KsASCb_M2rxsN5beHkmc6onKha3270RRsydfA54NoIwPi0eldA/w640-h384/22330_002.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">What Happens: </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">A movie adapted from a children’s book by Emma Yarlett, this animated story features Orion</span> (voice of Jacob Tremblay)<span style="color: #073763;">, an 11-year-old boy with many fears:</span> (an incomplete list, in no particular order) <span style="color: #073763;">bullies, bees, dogs, the ocean, cell phone radiation, homicidal gutter clowns, falling off tall buildings, rejection, humiliation, talking to his secret-crush Sally</span> (Shino Nakamichi)<span style="color: #073763;">, clogging up a toilet, field trips, infections from mosquito bites, and on and on. Yet, despite love and encouragement from his parents</span> (Carla Gugino, Matt Dellapina) <span style="color: #073763;">to face up to those fears, his biggest horror comes with the darkness at the end of each day, causing him to illuminate his bedroom with several nightlights. One night, though, that tactic doesn’t work because he’s visited by a manifestation of the Dark</span> (Paul Walter Hauser) <span style="color: #073763;">who keeps a list of all the children</span> (maybe adults too) <span style="color: #073763;">who are afraid of his existence, with Orion’s fear so intense it’s become insulting. Dark, in his intimidating size, convinces Orion to go on a journey with him to see all of the wonderful things that happen at night beginning with an introduction to his nighttime-associates: Sleep</span> (Natasia Demetriou)<span style="color: #073763;">, Insomnia</span> (Nat Faxon)<span style="color: #073763;">, Quiet</span> (Aparna Nancheria)<span style="color: #073763;">, Unexplained Noises</span> (Golda Rosheuvel)<span style="color: #073763;">, and Sweet Dreams</span> (Angela Bassett)<span style="color: #073763;">. They’re angry that Dark has brought this frightened kid into their realm, but we see they’ve also got some weakness, especially Sleep who’s not above using a knockout-hammer or other weapons to force a restless-someone into her realm.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Ti7igLUDQ7E3QFTSbAnlkz6L2-u9UfVUuN8RZzS9nHHCXnGtwhO2FO7DcWn5uQQF9M6mDpljaC2uOcw5GHgXFaS1H2gWOwpP-NREtUypF9rIC6-UCNCkkTq8mcNLH5HQHBN_J6XlYuT5br9keaZ4ayFcWjQIszGz0FHdWtqnO9T9oVzNogWuJBK04w/s495/22330_006.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="222" data-original-width="495" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Ti7igLUDQ7E3QFTSbAnlkz6L2-u9UfVUuN8RZzS9nHHCXnGtwhO2FO7DcWn5uQQF9M6mDpljaC2uOcw5GHgXFaS1H2gWOwpP-NREtUypF9rIC6-UCNCkkTq8mcNLH5HQHBN_J6XlYuT5br9keaZ4ayFcWjQIszGz0FHdWtqnO9T9oVzNogWuJBK04w/w640-h288/22330_006.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">At first Orion messes up some of what these nighttime entities are doing, eventually comes to understand them better, even as he’s getting more comfortable with Dark. Dark becomes depressed, though, when Orion admits he prefers Light</span> (Ike Barinholtz)<span style="color: #073763;">, who brings on the day, sweeping Dark away</span> (I wonder if screenwriter Charlie Kaufman was also thinking of the relevant Greek deities—Nyx, the night and Eos/Aurora, the dawn making way for Helios commanding the chariot of the sun).<span style="color: #073763;"> In his “darkness,” Dark, instead of his normal flowing away as Light approaches allows Light to seemingly destroy him leaving humanity in a situation of perpetual daylight, which become oppressive</span> (must be like living at the North Pole or South Pole during their respective summers)<span style="color: #073763;">. </span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">⇒At</span></b> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">this point we realize this story’s being told by adult Orion </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(Colin Hanks)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> to his little daughter, Hypatia </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(Mia Akemi Brown)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">, who wants a different ending </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(Has Orion grown up in an existence of perpetual daylight? Or was his whole story about adventures with Dark just a fantasy she wants to change?)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> so she time travels into young Orion’s world of constant daytime, gets help from the nighttime entities where Sweet Dreams allows avatars of Orion and Hypatia into his subconscious as Dark is summoned; however, as the trio rejoices, a door opens sucking Dark and Orion into a void. Quiet awakens the sleeping boy Orion which allows Dark to re-manifest, restoring the natural order, except Hypatia is now stuck in the past until a boy, Tycho </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(Nick Kishiyama)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">, comes in a time machine to rescue her. </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(How? I guess you’ll have to ask Mr. Kaufman, but this branch of the family does seem to have access to various methods of navigating the time-space-continuum<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span>)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> Our overall story jumps again to Hypatia as an adult </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(Shannon Chan-Kent)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> telling it all to her son, Tycho, then she goes out onto the porch to say goodnight to her Mom and Dad, Sally </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(Ren Hanami)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> and Orion, with the last scene being these parents as young kids enjoying a Planetarium field</span> <span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>trip.⇐</b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtAe16BO6umnwFhKtN8JPXPJhq-ohKTZ8yYH1cRTfZxlspq9I5M_dM81wK7NBaf7FLuUwE4ECCo2ZvplFaz9_YFtNwqU8rnrtg7GTDfEuEf83Qz4o9Q-rdPPblsJR5wTsM7cAAb5NQ5KHSk3rJr4Nb5DjMGK_Os9CLBMeeUnFbDK_tZ7nga6red3nDSw/s461/22330_016%202.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="213" data-original-width="461" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtAe16BO6umnwFhKtN8JPXPJhq-ohKTZ8yYH1cRTfZxlspq9I5M_dM81wK7NBaf7FLuUwE4ECCo2ZvplFaz9_YFtNwqU8rnrtg7GTDfEuEf83Qz4o9Q-rdPPblsJR5wTsM7cAAb5NQ5KHSk3rJr4Nb5DjMGK_Os9CLBMeeUnFbDK_tZ7nga6red3nDSw/w640-h296/22330_016%202.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So What?</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">Still generally staying away from theaters in my COVID-cautious-mode, I noted that a few recent theatrical releases have now come to streaming—</span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Wonka</span> </i>(Paul King, 2023)<span style="color: #073763;">, </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom</span> </i>(James Wan, 2023)<span style="color: #073763;">, and </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Ferrari</span> </i>(Michael Mann, 2023)<span style="color: #073763;">, but I really don’t have much interest in any of them, especially given that all of them come with a $19,99 rental fee—so a local glowing review got me intrigued about the new option of <i>Orion …</i>, especially because the screenplay adaptation is by the always-wonderfully-enigmatic-Charlie Kaufman</span> (creator of so many marvelous scripts, especially <i>Being John Malkovich </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Spike Jonze, 1999; Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay]</span>, <i>Adaptation </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Jonze, 2002; Oscar nom for Best Adapted Screenplay]</span>, <i>Endless Sunshine of the Spotless Mind<span style="color: #999999;"> </span></i><span style="color: #999999;">[Michel Gondry, 2004; Oscar winner for Best Original Screenplay]</span>, and <i>I’m Thinking of Ending Things </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Kaufman, 2020; 4½ stars review in our September 10, 2020 posting]</span><span style="color: #073763;">). However, in retrospect, with my initial-non-familiarity with the book I had no idea what Kaufman may have added to the events/ideas on the previous pages, but I did solve that by</span> <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATGatKK1icU"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">going to this site</span></a></b><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span><b> </b><span style="color: #073763;">where I get the whole book in a mere 8:23 allowing me to see Kaufman adds the other night entities, the dangerous adventures, and the time-travelling, greatly expanding the original, concise premise</span> (with, for me, the funniest Kaufman-esque element being Sleep’s nefarious tactics).</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>This is a site where Ryan Lagod and Craig Tovey read children’s books for a very young audience, with their intentionally-silly-interruptions, allowing us to also see all the pages of their featured books.</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjWIgQfrL3RX2qJKCv7dW1ZoeV_sBq8P-HrhDCeiDgM-eiDIpzjngvFgtgrTFpkDMBxKYalLV9eB0hg_6gSj_gzmCDYo25KHMBPk8VkAeQ3am2AT3hai31QJn4F2ZhpIm6CCrey6EWDFOOLpHCXHB0g36n83fhdtlHogNIu6oqxlTgllejQ4DOVboeMw/s374/22330_011%202.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="232" data-original-width="374" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjWIgQfrL3RX2qJKCv7dW1ZoeV_sBq8P-HrhDCeiDgM-eiDIpzjngvFgtgrTFpkDMBxKYalLV9eB0hg_6gSj_gzmCDYo25KHMBPk8VkAeQ3am2AT3hai31QJn4F2ZhpIm6CCrey6EWDFOOLpHCXHB0g36n83fhdtlHogNIu6oqxlTgllejQ4DOVboeMw/w640-h398/22330_011%202.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Even with that in mind, though, I’ll just have to say that what I saw was pleasantly amusing, full of useful advice for young kids</span> (and the rest of us) t<span style="color: #073763;">o face our fears in the process of overcoming them, yet I can’t acknowledge it really did all that much except remind me of elements of <i>A Christmas Carol</i> </span>(Charles Dickens, 1843 <span style="color: #999999;">[frequently adapted to cinema interpretations, including a cherished version by Brian Desmond Hurst, starring Alastair Sim, 1951]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, Disney’s </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Peter Pan</span> </i>(Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson; 1953)<span style="color: #073763;">, Pixar’s </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Monsters, Inc.</span> </i>(Pete Doctor, 2001<span style="color: #073763;">), and </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Inside Out</span> </i>(Doctor, 2015)<span style="color: #073763;">, but, as a Netflix subscriber, at least this specific viewing didn’t cost anything extra, unlike frequent offerings on other streaming platforms, plus by choosing it I finally get into the realm of reviewing a movie released in 2024. However, as you’ll see farther below from how I diverge from the <b>CCAL </b>responses, I just didn’t get that invested in <i>Orion …</i>; maybe I’ve become an old fart who’s lost connection to what’s set up to be a relatable, amusing “family friendly” experience, but, as I’ve noted just above, there are too many similarities to other kid-oriented-narratives already well-established over the decades to get very enthralled by this one, so I’ll just quickly be moving along</span>.</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVfRneR8F42vgxDs6qOIf1sHtKNFh6_IYwG5N4BnsbxLot4OSMKlUZBixrXNZggkpU8HwsbMsy4E4qJmt_PQXTPItSE7JWlxsgtaD4nT1Q6ryA6u7h7VrXmeQTTvM_bd_GxnYeBgYx1NdxOOAzdDvoqSl7v-v0_K8ueNRqnWZIDHe6_gp9nwdUFJ3EYw/s472/22330_013.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #073763;"><img border="0" data-original-height="214" data-original-width="472" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVfRneR8F42vgxDs6qOIf1sHtKNFh6_IYwG5N4BnsbxLot4OSMKlUZBixrXNZggkpU8HwsbMsy4E4qJmt_PQXTPItSE7JWlxsgtaD4nT1Q6ryA6u7h7VrXmeQTTvM_bd_GxnYeBgYx1NdxOOAzdDvoqSl7v-v0_K8ueNRqnWZIDHe6_gp9nwdUFJ3EYw/w640-h290/22330_013.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Bottom Line Final Comments:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">As this movie’s a direct-debut on Netflix, there are no box-office results to report; if you want to see it you’ll need to be a</span><b> <span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/orion-and-the-dark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">streaming subscriber</span></a></span> </b>(you can do so for $6.99 for a 1-month-minimum with ads or bump up to $15.49 for no ads, both of which give you access to their enormous library of titles which you could binge away on during the continuation of no-outside-for-me-thank-you-winter <span style="color: #999999;">[unless you’re marvelously-warm in the Equator zone or the Southern Hemisphere]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, with the <b>CCAL </b>encouraging you to watch</span> (or sign up) <span style="color: #073763;">as the</span><b> <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/orion_and_the_dark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews are a quite-healthy 89%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, while the</span><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/orion-and-the-dark/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Metacritic average score is a supportive (for them) 72%</span></a></span> </b>(means <span style="color: #6aa84f;">“generally favorable”</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">with</span> <span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/orion-and-the-dark-review-charlie-kaufman-netflix-animation-inside-out-1234955815/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">David Fear</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">at <i>Rolling Stone </i>representative of those who offer generous support:</span> </span><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">“</span><i>Orion</i> only had to be a decent enough take on a boy overcoming his status as a first-rate scaredy cat and realizing that the world isn’t all worst-case scenarios. The fact that it adds an ode to intergenerational storytelling, a parody of time-travel narratives, some oddball left-turns, and a near-transcendent coda that feels very much in line with Kaufman’s body of work — all while <i>still</i> giving the kids what they want — makes this more than a cut above your average rainy-afternoon distraction. It’s really a low-key blast.”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">Still, there are some other grumps like me in the critical community who aren’t so impressed such as the AP’s</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://apnews.com/article/orion-dark-movie-review-2d67ee2cc0a858683275741223c07f61"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Mark Kennedy</span></a><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">who says:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“ ’Orion and the Dark’ is about fear and overcoming it but this movie directed by Sean Charmatz has too much junk clogging up the vision. It’s based on Emma Yarlett’s children’s book but, like its main human character, lacks confidence, ending with time travel and dimension jumping. You could say the filmmakers are scared of their own movie. </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> The filmmakers don’t know how to end ‘Orion and the Dark’ and so we end up with shooting lasers, a time machine and Dark long gone, a million miles from where we started. There’s actually one thing that Orion should have feared even more than the dark — starring in a poor film.”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">Well, maybe it’s not that bad, so possibly take a chance, see for yourself, especially if you have housemates that are still in the pre-teen stage</span> (the best I could do are my cats, who are 7 and 2, but they showed virtually no interest)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0gbDzQPFM8JFMtHl2sQgocuLjp236c_Lf013P5LeI4ZKZ5Lfe7yGNZBR_FWg2rWAKDzCuyu2HLOt5nNGhKW61LNNZgQO5lEz693G2fIKaMGJFJaWemns8nGoCTarc4J3Jul3NWIud53o1W8YBvIQUpA0nFB0xBHgK-RXJsvK9ncMGPKs5JJAl_FiY_g/s361/22330_012.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="252" data-original-width="361" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0gbDzQPFM8JFMtHl2sQgocuLjp236c_Lf013P5LeI4ZKZ5Lfe7yGNZBR_FWg2rWAKDzCuyu2HLOt5nNGhKW61LNNZgQO5lEz693G2fIKaMGJFJaWemns8nGoCTarc4J3Jul3NWIud53o1W8YBvIQUpA0nFB0xBHgK-RXJsvK9ncMGPKs5JJAl_FiY_g/w640-h446/22330_012.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">I</span> <span style="color: #073763;">really have nothing further to offer </span><span style="color: #666666;">(Shocking, I know!),</span><span style="color: #073763;"> so let’s wrap up with my usual tactic of a Musical Metaphor which, this time, may seem like an odd-fit, but let me rationalize Them’s “Here Comes the Night” (</span>a 1965 hit for the band when it was fronted by a singer who became a famous Irishman; you can find it on his 1990 album, <i>The Best of Van Morrison</i>) <span style="color: #073763;">at </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpKpAierYus"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=QpKpAierYus</span></b></a><span style="color: #073763;">, even though the song’s about an adult situation of a guy lamenting the loss of his love to another man; yet, lyrics such as</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“Wonder what is wrong with me </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> Here comes the night / Lonely, lonely, lonely night </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> I will be alone”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">could easily be interpreted</span> (remember, this is a <b>metaphor</b>) <span style="color: #073763;">as speaking both to Orion’s fears and Dark’s depression at being so terrifying to so many children</span> (or maybe I just see things in the oddball way Charlie Kaufman so often does)<span style="color: #073763;">. But, ultimately the night</span> (in any form of darkness) <span style="color: #073763;">can be as useful to us as the day</span> (with its more-embraced light) <span style="color: #073763;">if we'll allow ourselves to see it that way, as Orion finally learns to do.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span> </b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiakKegM7oPuMJwbHS9St6NYTp-luExkG7IjYDWH4OCbqBXLVyFzmNRaTYaTVgkOc3FDnCsEOOYlPTHgFnS0Xzw7DfFM1deNiUhVa1e5j07odAAe9bFGPVMUInkJRXqC70e5zNCtGCdvjDwzbkEnzNX762K9dBxY2d4fx29Seqc_H6ljmqJPdhILyxiTA/s1949/Hidden%20Hollywood%2085.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiakKegM7oPuMJwbHS9St6NYTp-luExkG7IjYDWH4OCbqBXLVyFzmNRaTYaTVgkOc3FDnCsEOOYlPTHgFnS0Xzw7DfFM1deNiUhVa1e5j07odAAe9bFGPVMUInkJRXqC70e5zNCtGCdvjDwzbkEnzNX762K9dBxY2d4fx29Seqc_H6ljmqJPdhILyxiTA/w640-h294/Hidden%20Hollywood%2085.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:</span> </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Some options for your investigative consideration: (1) </span><b><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls524454656/?sort=moviemeter,asc&st_dt=&mode=detail&page=1?ref_=pe_43914690_815673430_eml_nws1"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">What's new on Netflix in February 2024</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">;</span><b style="color: #073763;"> (</b><span style="color: #073763;">2)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls524448555/?sort=moviemeter,asc&st_dt=&mode=detail&page=1?ref_=pe_43914690_815673430_eml_nws2"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">What's new on Amazon Prime Video in February 2024</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; (3)</span><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls524235133/?sort=moviemeter,asc&st_dt=&mode=detail&page=1?ref_=pe_43914690_815673430_eml_nws3"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">What's new on Hulu in February 2024</span></a></span></b><span style="color: #073763;">; (4)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls524248004/?sort=moviemeter,asc&st_dt=&mode=detail&page=1?ref_=pe_43914690_815673430_eml_nws4"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">What's new on Disney+ in February 2024</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; (5)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls524249364/?sort=moviemeter,asc&st_dt=&mode=detail&page=1?ref_=pe_43914690_815673430_eml_nws5"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">What's new on Max in February 2024</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; and (6)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2024/film/news/argylle-flops-apple-spending-box-office-bombs-1235896848/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=497097_02-05-2024&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">After <i>Argylle</i> bombs can Apple keep spending $200 million on big-screen gambles?</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></p><p style="color: #941100; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Two Guys in the Dark homepage</span></a></b><b style="color: #941100;">. </b><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>If you’d like to</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>Like</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>us on Facebook </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(yes?)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b> please visit</b></span><b> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our Facebook page</span></a></b><span style="color: #941100;"><b>. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us! </b></span><span style="color: #073763;">Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account</span> (which you can easily get at <a href="https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount</span></b></a> if you need to sign up) <span style="color: #073763;">or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our<b> </b>Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it</span> (most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were</span><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;"> <b>6,544</b></span><span style="color: #073763;">—a huge drop-off from the marvelous 40-50K of some recent months; </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">never overestimate yourself!</span> (As always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers.) <span style="color: #073763;">Below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week</span> (with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZWWemBypi5QqagExx3dS5Snh9jsjLb8rM_y99xNpRw9UmAkTPC7t6mAZ8rup50IE3EOZC-JxBAMNhnR-U_0bQY9ykzlm5m9MVO6jN4gA002_I94nesELrXSigFGWPV8M1RJh0u79uX61hjEJ-FYaSCtot0WuR2SHitmJDXwTB5hmQiITWGDXVuoUlA/s1187/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-07%20at%202.43.59%20PM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1187" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZWWemBypi5QqagExx3dS5Snh9jsjLb8rM_y99xNpRw9UmAkTPC7t6mAZ8rup50IE3EOZC-JxBAMNhnR-U_0bQY9ykzlm5m9MVO6jN4gA002_I94nesELrXSigFGWPV8M1RJh0u79uX61hjEJ-FYaSCtot0WuR2SHitmJDXwTB5hmQiITWGDXVuoUlA/w651-h576/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-07%20at%202.43.59%20PM.jpg" width="651" /></a></div>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-23428699474113680952024-02-01T00:57:00.000-08:002024-02-04T17:35:50.124-08:00The Color Purple [2023] plus Short Takes on Nyad and some other cinematic topics you might want to know about<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">Catching Up on a Couple of Oscar Contenders</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b></span> (Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b></span> (Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, though better options may be on the horizon.</span> (Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue</b></span> <span style="color: #999999;">[some may look near </span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span><span style="color: #999999;">]</span> is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #073763;">My reviews’ premise:</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #008f00;">“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">The choices for this week’s reviews came from me needing to see 3 Oscar-nominated-performances </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: helvetica;">(complete lists of all categories as the first item under the <b>Related Links … </b>section so very far below)</span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">; with that in mind, I'll move on to the context of those specific contenders, see how they look.</span></p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0n4mdjhvoLulyji1PMO61AhG9vU2WigQSs4tZAazr5IarMmjYwYrzATS7LmBc8dvyOvj5kh6d1Pd8lT-GbnT-2dkJBSWn69GChX8s69Tg8Dz6RhxHugk-m3DswSL7A_I458Q8dt6qTbyxwnA1fyAm1msZMTiUswokm0VWzAcQjtTKhk0TUXLOPjELLw/s109/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0n4mdjhvoLulyji1PMO61AhG9vU2WigQSs4tZAazr5IarMmjYwYrzATS7LmBc8dvyOvj5kh6d1Pd8lT-GbnT-2dkJBSWn69GChX8s69Tg8Dz6RhxHugk-m3DswSL7A_I458Q8dt6qTbyxwnA1fyAm1msZMTiUswokm0VWzAcQjtTKhk0TUXLOPjELLw/s1600/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.colorpurplefilm.ca/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The Color Purple</span></a></span> </i><span style="color: #999999;">[2023]</span><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Blitz Bazawule)</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> rated PG-13</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">141 min.</span></b></span></div><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wPwzBUui1GA" width="320" youtube-src-id="wPwzBUui1GA"></iframe></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="color: #008f00;">If you can abide </b><span style="color: #ff2600; font-size: large; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>plot spoilers</b></span><b style="color: #008f00;"> read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ </b><span style="color: #93c47d;"><b>(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</b></span><b style="color: #008f00;">. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: red;"><b style="background-color: #fcff01;">⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and</span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">red.⇐</span><span style="color: #65a0dc;"> </span></b></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUpYXeBnUGDQH2eC1zGqW01smOjePrnTEUPUlCyeKAWW-rmrOdy5jWl8ezEf6cDliLLMx7UN726vjQiW9I0cnZFodi2KIXir6zAUg8x6tFO9jgq2lhjoJ8oS-D36P9yV7lqmakLqfiIcyPnG2JGxz5Ghf9xZiQ_ZGR3iBJEPIXYZtyaGy_KPIVfttCZw/s3996/the-color-purple_Jc7aiy.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2054" data-original-width="3996" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUpYXeBnUGDQH2eC1zGqW01smOjePrnTEUPUlCyeKAWW-rmrOdy5jWl8ezEf6cDliLLMx7UN726vjQiW9I0cnZFodi2KIXir6zAUg8x6tFO9jgq2lhjoJ8oS-D36P9yV7lqmakLqfiIcyPnG2JGxz5Ghf9xZiQ_ZGR3iBJEPIXYZtyaGy_KPIVfttCZw/w640-h328/the-color-purple_Jc7aiy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">What Happens:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">We begin in rural, coastal Georgia </span>(U.S.A., not U.S.S.R.)<span style="color: #073763;"> in 1909 where young teenage sisters Celie</span> (Phylicia Pearl Mpasi) <span style="color: #073763;">and Nettie Harris</span> (Halle Bailey) <span style="color: #073763;">are devoted to each other, work in their father, Alfonso’s</span> (Deon Cole)<span style="color: #073763;">, general store, and are consistently abused by him as he rapes Celie resulting in 2 pregnancies with him taking the babies from her</span> (Whoopi Goldberg has a cameo as a midwife with the second one<span style="color: #073763;">), removing them to some unknown fate</span> (the girls’ mother died sometime prior to this story’s start)<span style="color: #073763;">. One day, local farmer/banjo player Albert “Mister” Johnson </span>(Colman Domingo) <span style="color: #073763;">becomes attracted to Nettie, talks with Alfonso about taking her as a wife, settles for Celie instead with this sad girl expected to just cook, clean, and raise his 3 children from a previous wife. Alfonso attempts to molest Nettie, so he comes to live with Celie and Mister, but when he also makes a move on her she refuses; he drives her out into the rain, never to return. In 1917, Celie’s</span> (now played by Fantasia Barrino) <span style="color: #073763;">still married to Mister whose son, Harpo</span> (Corey Hawkins)<span style="color: #073763;">, is married to big, strong Sofia</span> (Danielle Brooks) <span style="color: #073763;">who’ll have none of his attempts to dominate her so instead he builds them a home on the dock of some local water, although Sofia soon leaves, tired of Harpo’s attempts to control her; in 1922 he turns the house into a juke joint, invites local jazz singer Shug Avery</span> (Taraji P. Henson) <span style="color: #073763;">to return</span> (apparently, she’d been Mister’s lover sometime back but had no interest in anything more permanent with him) <span style="color: #073763;">as the star attraction.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Shug shows up, yet she’s sick so she stays at Mister’s house in a separate bedroom, attended to by Celie with friendship growing between these women as Shug heals. Shug provides a successful opening to Harpo’s enterprise until Sofia shows up, dances with him which produces a fight with his current “squeeze,” Mary “Squeak” Agnes</span> (H.E.R.)<span style="color: #073763;">, leading to a saloon-wide-brawl. Celie and Shug kiss, sleep together that night</span> (we don’t know for sure what else)<span style="color: #073763;">, with Shug retrieving mail next morning</span> (Mister always did this, but today he’s passed out drunk) <span style="color: #073763;">where she finds a letter to Celie from Nettie</span> (long believed dead by her sister);<span style="color: #073763;"> this leads to a quick search of the house where they find a trove of Nettie letters kept from Celie by her harsh husband; the letters reveal Nettie is now in Africa with a missionary couple who, by chance, are the ones that years ago adopted Celie’s babies.</span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_TY2Im87_HrkqC9rxrke_4oANIeEOp5l6NCSi5ncVag1gwAWQ_NPWDJha39_z7HDjXoQhdv5tPcIU5A2iWdze1zZaXkJrpAyPqoioVrGSAbXCZG8omAea1jYKQ6rTJm-c39VbX6xAm58Gvp9J0bEjl-imSuC2FPWyPInx60TlDmgDShPmA9hZsTxyWA/s6579/the-color-purple_QrIuuU.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4696" data-original-width="6579" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_TY2Im87_HrkqC9rxrke_4oANIeEOp5l6NCSi5ncVag1gwAWQ_NPWDJha39_z7HDjXoQhdv5tPcIU5A2iWdze1zZaXkJrpAyPqoioVrGSAbXCZG8omAea1jYKQ6rTJm-c39VbX6xAm58Gvp9J0bEjl-imSuC2FPWyPInx60TlDmgDShPmA9hZsTxyWA/w640-h456/the-color-purple_QrIuuU.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Next, in 1930, comes a major plot-twist as Sofia with her new man, Buster </span>(Stephen Hill)<span style="color: #073763;">, goes into town where the White mayor’s wife, Miss Millie </span>(Elizabeth Marvel) <span style="color: #073763;">insists Sofia should be her maid; Sofia says “Hell, no,” drawing an angry response from the mayor</span> (Charles Green)<span style="color: #073763;">, a severe beating, and a long sentence in the jail, where Celie visits her every week. Eventually, dejected Sofia’s released but is forced to be the maid anyway. In 1943 Shug returns from performing in Memphis but with new husband Grady (</span>Jon Baptiste)<span style="color: #073763;">, greatly irritating Mister</span> (who’s lucky Shug showed up when she did because Celie, forced to shave him with a straight razor, was possibly about to cut his neck)<span style="color: #073763;">. Celie finally confronts Mister at a dinner with his father, Ol’ Mister Johnson </span>(Louis Gossett Jr.)<span style="color: #073763;">, then goes to Memphis with Shug </span> (Mary Agnes comes along too),<span style="color: #073763;"> dropping a curse on Mister as she leaves, which has an impact as his crops are ruined by beetles.</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">⇒In</span></b> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">1945 Alfonso dies with his new wife, Mary Ellen </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(Adetinpo Thomas)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> revealing to Celie that she was simply his adopted daughter so the store is left to her from her late mother’s will; Shug finally makes amends with her preacher father, Rev. Avery </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(David Alan Grier)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">, who’d rejected her lifestyle. Mister now wants to atone for his treatment of Celie so he buys some pants from her store, makes plans to bring Nettie </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(now played by Ciara</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span><span style="color: #999999;">[Princess Harris]</span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">, her husband, and Celie’s now-grown-children, Adam </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(Terrence J. Smith)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> and Olivia </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(Tiffany Elle Burgess)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">, back from Africa. By 1947 the reunion happens with many of the story’s characters now gathered for a huge welcome-home-</span><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>celebration.⇐</b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUqbiXWjgDJpe4dZeZYv8gQJMRUjvszb0q5xiOtmSVlErABpzm7Ti-IMwo5lQpyYXHkAIDaM4B1KMdetNiFsL3Zx21TOioVKp5IS_MYMrix1sDebnKy61rI5HrPhhiBdCXuQoFeBJEsArIytBz45l6KLyPAtLS1PG-3Flz-yKzGq5Tkb8aH-CXcTNxQ/s3839/the-color-purple_GOdBu5.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1726" data-original-width="3839" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUqbiXWjgDJpe4dZeZYv8gQJMRUjvszb0q5xiOtmSVlErABpzm7Ti-IMwo5lQpyYXHkAIDaM4B1KMdetNiFsL3Zx21TOioVKp5IS_MYMrix1sDebnKy61rI5HrPhhiBdCXuQoFeBJEsArIytBz45l6KLyPAtLS1PG-3Flz-yKzGq5Tkb8aH-CXcTNxQ/w640-h288/the-color-purple_GOdBu5.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So What?</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">The narrative history of <i>The Color Purple </i>is extensive, beginning with Alice Walker’s novel of that foundational-name in 1982</span> (with a much-more-definitive-depiction of a lesbian relationship between Shug and Celie than found in any other version)<span style="color: #073763;">, leading to its first cinematic adaptation in 1985</span> (Steven Spielberg)<span style="color: #073763;">—11 Oscar nominations but no wins, along with criticism of stereotyping Blacks and condemning Black men, charges disputed by stars Oprah Winfrey</span> (Sofia) <span style="color: #073763;">and Whoopi Goldberg</span> (Celie)<span style="color: #073763;">—followed by a stage musical</span> (Brenda Russell, Ailee Willis, Stephen Bray, Marsha Norman)<span style="color: #073763;">, adding songs to the flow of the story</span> (largely panned by critics at the time yet won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical for its 2015 return)<span style="color: #073763;">, then serving as the basis for this recent movie with the plots essentially similar based on a summary I’ve seen</span> (which brings back Spielberg and Quincy Jones as producers of the 1985 version to those same roles for this new manifestation, along with Oprah Winfrey and Scott Sanders).<span style="color: #073763;"> One major difference between the 2 movies is the Spielberg one was nominated for many Oscars but won none</span> (though it got its own hefty share of other wins and noms)<span style="color: #073763;">, while the current one has only 1 Oscar nom, for Danielle Brooks as Best Supporting Actress</span> (taking on the role commanded by Winfrey <span style="color: #999999;">[Oscar-nom]</span> in 1985)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">However, this new manifestation has piled up a large number of wins, nominations, and pending possibilities anyway, so we’ll see what its ultimate haul becomes as awards season continues this spring. I haven’t seen the stage version, although I’ve read that several song were cut from that production for this movie, while “Miss Celie's Blues (Sister)”</span> (Oscar-nominated back then) <span style="color: #073763;">sung by Shug Avery in 1985 and “She Be Mine” cut from the Broadway production were inserted here, with a couple of new songs added, "Keep it Movin’" and “Lifeline.” Quite honestly, for me there’s more than enough song</span> (and dance) <span style="color: #073763;">numbers already, so while the ones cut likely added to the expected-length of a major stage musical, I’m just as glad they didn’t extend this <i>… Purple </i>into the increasingly-popular</span> (with filmmakers, not necessarily bladder-challenged-audiences) <span style="color: #073763;">3-hour running times of recent filmic works. Spielberg’s movie was rejected by those who felt it was too sentimental.</span> (I do remember showing it to students once, commenting at the end they should have used an adaptation of <span style="color: #38761d;">“we all live in a mellow submarine”</span> to accompany the end credits because it did seem to finish up on a particularly sweet note.) <span style="color: #073763;">Overall, though, I enjoyed what I saw of that adaptation, especially because this story has the courage to show interpersonal disruption among these Black characters in the post-Civil War-South brought about internally among families rather than the usual oppression by the surrounding Whites—not that I'd ever reject any depiction like that, as some contemporary Southern White politicians are now trying to do, as it’s always been the horrible truth.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZztptKlP8u0srx-MhZadxNAA9AqIb5qrV0tMw9JFaEtaOuQ0CVnYzmut-30Go3MQfNPwk9ceSkwHPvDhRkvtULTSxSoGUaWd1ccN-HZIHvIoByTpR3gFidN21Md_lxTaKXlWgog_Dll4D9Impxu674JkWTdsMIw8Qj5NCrU7NQ0Ixpn7ZQcXlwBoZhQ/s5982/the-color-purple_fRpzyn.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2554" data-original-width="5982" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZztptKlP8u0srx-MhZadxNAA9AqIb5qrV0tMw9JFaEtaOuQ0CVnYzmut-30Go3MQfNPwk9ceSkwHPvDhRkvtULTSxSoGUaWd1ccN-HZIHvIoByTpR3gFidN21Md_lxTaKXlWgog_Dll4D9Impxu674JkWTdsMIw8Qj5NCrU7NQ0Ixpn7ZQcXlwBoZhQ/w640-h274/the-color-purple_fRpzyn.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">But while brutal men like Alphonso and Mister</span> (Danny Glover in Spielberg's movie) <span style="color: #073763;">may have been conditioned to be abusers by the harsh climate they endured from the racism only shown in this story by the local town’s mayor toward Sofia, the sins of the main Black men we see must still be owned by them, so I applaud Walker for challenging any preconceptions about any supposed-harmony within all Black families during this early-to-mid-20<sup>th</sup> century-period. Thus far, Walker’s book has had the most critical success of any version of this story, winning in 1983 the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction, although it’s been</span> <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Color_Purple"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">banned in some quarters</span></a> </b>(see Reference 17 in this link, </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-align: left;">also</span><span style="text-align: left;"><b> </b><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-color-purple-removed-from-school-classrooms-under-new-florida-law" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">this current link about Florida</span></a></span><span style="text-align: left;">, where it joins </span><i style="text-align: left;">Paradise Lost</i><span style="text-align: left;">, </span><i style="text-align: left;">Brave New World</i><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: left;">,</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><i style="text-align: left;">East of </i><span style="text-align: left;"><i>Eden</i>, <i>Catch</i></span><i style="text-align: left;"> 22</i><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: left;">,</span><span style="text-align: left;"> and </span><i style="text-align: left;">Beloved </i><span style="text-align: left;">among others)</span> <span style="color: #073763;">fo</span></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">r sexual explicitness, explicit language, violence, and homosexuality, with little of any of that too notable in the various adaptations, except for the ongoing abuse of the women. The adaptations get blasted also, such as</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <a href="https://ew.com/article/2011/12/02/steven-spielberg-ew-interview/"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Spielberg's movie</span></b></a> <span style="color: #073763;">panned for being a Black story told by a White director and for greatly reducing the sexual relationship between Celie and Shug</span> (he says in order to secure a PG-13 rating <span style="color: #999999;">[same situation in the current version</span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #999999;">—yet, the violence against women is acceptable?</span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #999999;">]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">—still, Rotten Tomatoes gave it 73% positive reviews, Metacritic offered a 78% average score, even as </span></span><span style="color: #073763;"><i style="font-family: helvetica;">The New York Times</i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">’</span></span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"> <a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/06/15/reviews/spielberg-color.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Janet Maslin</span></a> </b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(not easy to please) <span style="color: #073763;">said</span> (1985) <span style="color: #073763;"><span>it</span> </span><span style="color: #38761d;">“</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;">manages to have momentum, warmth and staying power”</span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><span>even as she cites many problems; as for the play’s addition of music,</span> </span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://variety.com/2005/legit/reviews/the-color-purple-2-1200519919/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">David Rooney</span></a> </b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">in </span></span><i style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Variety</span> </i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(2005) <span style="color: #073763;">said:</span> </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;">“the score </span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;"> sounds like ‘80’s-era Dionne Warwick </span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;"> and too many songs feel incomplete. </span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">[¶]</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;"> But </span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;"> the mainstream auds to whom this show is pitched will go out on a feel-good high, elevated by Walker’s affirmation of the resilience of the human spirit.” </span><span style="color: #008f00; font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Praise, yet hesitations.</span></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">Regarding the latest movie incarnation, I’ll cite the <b>CCAL </b>below but admit most of these songs just don’t add to my interest in the underlying story, so I could have easily settled for a harsher version of Spielberg’s approach without the need to add musical interludes that, for me, simply comment on what’s already been presented in the action/dialogue rather than moving the story along with music enhancing/extending what’s in the characters’ verbal/visual activities</span> (<i>Singin’ in the Rain </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen; 1952</span>] and <i>Cabaret </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Bob Fosse; 1972]</span> take this former approach, though I’d say with greater impact while <i>West Side Story </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins; 1961]</span> or <i>Chicago </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Rob Marshall; 2002]</span>, in my opinion, exemplify musicals using song <span style="color: #999999;">[and/or]</span> dance to further the story, not just repeat it)<span style="color: #073763;">. Spielberg admits he may not have been the most appropriate director of Walker’s story </span>(even as many were well-satisfied with what he did)<span style="color: #073763;">; in the same manner, maybe I—as an old White guy—am not the best target audience for this new version of <i>… Purple</i>, but for me there was little to be gained from much of this musical route, despite some spectacular production numbers.</span></span></p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb6WdgiQ-4QV9jUndYLqV27K83XJ-hpnI3bEQuQfYAg20PyPuDzDEJtcNR_DCxT_x1Io5-BR4FiE0UezUyOQidUyWODnJwyS72pT7TV7t8UsbtbCLHTiDzXRSVQd6b6cVE48_JHL5uxQ6MTU-vJs2HcWWfCTrOT74rLr26VecymNTS_MlgfCQl9fpWvw/s3839/the-color-purple_oDn7PX.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1358" data-original-width="3839" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb6WdgiQ-4QV9jUndYLqV27K83XJ-hpnI3bEQuQfYAg20PyPuDzDEJtcNR_DCxT_x1Io5-BR4FiE0UezUyOQidUyWODnJwyS72pT7TV7t8UsbtbCLHTiDzXRSVQd6b6cVE48_JHL5uxQ6MTU-vJs2HcWWfCTrOT74rLr26VecymNTS_MlgfCQl9fpWvw/w640-h226/the-color-purple_oDn7PX.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Bottom Line Final Comments:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">This new version of <i>The Color Purple </i>debuted in domestic</span> (U.S.-Canada) <span style="color: #073763;">theaters on December 25, 2023 with its widest release in 3,218 of them</span> (now down to 503 )<span style="color: #073763;">; so far it’s grossed $60 million</span> (globally, $62.2 million)<span style="color: #073763;">; a more-accessible-option to watch it now, though, likely is</span> <b><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-color-purple-2023"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">on streaming</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">where you can find $19.99 rentals at Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Vudu, etc. The <b>CCAL </b>is supportive of you doing so, with</span><b> <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_color_purple"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">the Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews at 83%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, while</span><b> <a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-color-purple-2023/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">the Metacritic average score is (for them) a healthy 72%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">. Ironically, for me, however, the main reason I watched it was to see Brooks' Oscar-nominated-performance, yet—while she’s powerful-enough in a few scenes—I’d have taken Henson as the Supporting Actress nominee here, but with either likely to lose to any of the other nominees, especially Jodie Foster for </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Nyad</span> </i>(more on her in the review below) <span style="color: #073763;">or Da’Vine Joy Randolph in </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">The Holdovers</span> </i>(Alexander Payne, 2023 [review in our December 13, 2023 posting)<span style="color: #073763;">, possibly the front-runner, which would still give the award to a worthy Black actor. Overall, it’s always encouraging to see a high-profile-movie with a cast primarily of People of Color, and this new <i>… Purple </i>is no exception, especially with its uplifting sense of the ever-present-promise of redemption, even from the most seemingly-defeating-cluster of circumstances, illustrated by the title which comes from a scene where Celie and Shug are walking through a field when Shug notes the beauty of a cluster of purple flowers, telling Celie that God put such casual uplift into our ordinary circumstances in order for us to recognize and appreciate the wonder that surrounds us even if we’re not always aware of it.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Following upon this marvelous metaphor that traces its way back to Alice Walker, I’ll finish with my own review-closure-tactic of a Musical Metaphor—actually, 2 of them this time—as I do finally show some appreciation for this movie’s songs, beginning with one beauty simply called “The Color Purple (Reprise)” </span>(from the 2023 soundtrack album) <span style="color: #073763;">sung by many in the cast a</span>t <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzzOD-LvXKQ"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=xzzOD-LvXKQ</span></b></a><b> </b><span style="color: #073763;">as old hurts by and to the various characters are healed:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“I came into this world with God / And when I finally looked inside / I found it / Just as close as my breath is to me.”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">Now, as I try to go out here with a more-accepting-attitude of the place for music in this movie, I’ll leave you with the song that accompanies the final credits,</span><b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWnvhvDLD90"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Superpower,"</span></a> </b>(from the 2023 <i>The Color Purple (Music From And Inspired By) </i>album)<span style="color: #073763;">, sung by Fantasia, who played Celie on Broadway in 2007-‘08, a song basically in celebration of Celie's love for Nettie but, by extension, with many others in her life as well:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;"> <span>“No way, no days I didn’t think about you / On my soul, you’re the reason I made it through / Every drop of every tear / Every ounce of my heart, you’re the reason I’m here.” </span></span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">If you choose to be “here” with this latest enunciation of <i>The Color Purple </i>I think you’ll find a lot of reasons to be satisfied with that choice, maybe more so with the music as a whole than I can.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirvVrhE-kN2e7qakoHoqQC242ptmY1mn2a-z9zoT1ifCHshKS9tjY4iNeNuyW8XdBHOAKtM171JDHI7k7VLtYA8i0DCD59qSZutAj22y4JwtFdOG_tORL3ESWKrfItPem07ANLP6wHaINTuTsBF0M-NqQ6YvxslIUaPijYWxriR0nF9MYkasYCNEYtng/s109/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirvVrhE-kN2e7qakoHoqQC242ptmY1mn2a-z9zoT1ifCHshKS9tjY4iNeNuyW8XdBHOAKtM171JDHI7k7VLtYA8i0DCD59qSZutAj22y4JwtFdOG_tORL3ESWKrfItPem07ANLP6wHaINTuTsBF0M-NqQ6YvxslIUaPijYWxriR0nF9MYkasYCNEYtng/s1600/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.nyadmovie.com/home/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Nyad</span></a></span></i></b></span><b style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyl,</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #c27ba0;">Jimmy </span></b><b style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #c27ba0;">Chin; 2023)</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">rated PG-13</span></b> <span style="color: #0b5394;"><b style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">121</b> </span><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">min.</span></b></div><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3anCgVSQb3Q" width="320" youtube-src-id="3anCgVSQb3Q"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAgs9mHYgPc7wSev59vLwqCQnSPW6qHAKzz6gCjBi6PLTqgocgHiPtbuPHGI662Pesr5hjJc87Ild3MpvoOnyYTsHmxb4_jTbrHP6B3t2omFVT6-MlxiWYlJugAeKEB1nBSVu7Us3_uUf9jNlOsMpSSL50a7AbOK82SeCTmS4ooJYUU6QWqMJfaFJUyg/s1035/231017-Schager-NYAD-embed-03_cfn9mz.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="553" data-original-width="1035" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAgs9mHYgPc7wSev59vLwqCQnSPW6qHAKzz6gCjBi6PLTqgocgHiPtbuPHGI662Pesr5hjJc87Ild3MpvoOnyYTsHmxb4_jTbrHP6B3t2omFVT6-MlxiWYlJugAeKEB1nBSVu7Us3_uUf9jNlOsMpSSL50a7AbOK82SeCTmS4ooJYUU6QWqMJfaFJUyg/w640-h342/231017-Schager-NYAD-embed-03_cfn9mz.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">This biopic explores a crucial aspect in the life of Diana Nyad</span> (born 1949<span style="color: #073763;">), specifically her attempts to swim from Cuba to Key West, FL which she first attempted </span>(but was forced to abandon her quest due to rough seas) <span style="color: #073763;">in 1978</span> (only time she swam within a shark cage)<span style="color: #073763;">, then much later</span> (without the cage) <span style="color: #073763;">in 2011</span> (twice) <span style="color: #073763;">and 2012, foiled in these attempts by an asthma attack, jellyfish stings, and another fierce storm. Finally, in 2013 when she was 64, despite exhaustion and hallucinations,</span><b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcvjiw582G0"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">she makes the difficult 111-mile-journey</span></a></b> <span style="color: #073763;">in just under 53 hours, encouraged all the way by a team on the boat beside her, especially her coach/close friend, Bonnie Stoll; if you want factual details on this part of her life, you can read</span> <b><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Diana-Nyad"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">a short biography</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, along with</span><b> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_Nyad"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">a much-more-detailed-one</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">. This cinematic-version of her Cuba-to-Florida-passion tells us that her Greek adoptive-father, Aristotle Nyad</span> (Mom divorced her biological Dad)<span style="color: #073763;">, encouraged her to seek fame in swimming because the family name means “water nymph,” so she began devoting her life to it at an early age, despite ongoing molestation from a coach, Jack Nelson</span> (Eric T. Miller)<span style="color: #073763;">,</span> fr<span style="color: #073763;">om age 14 throughout high-school. </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Eventually, she concentrated on marathon-swimming, gaining notoriety for her successes, setting her up in her own mind for the grueling Cuba-to-Florida-task. In the movie, we get brief flashbacks to those younger days, but the focus is on her determination to conquer the life-threatening-challenge of a grueling swim requiring her to avoid sharks, jellyfish, storms, and the Gulf Stream which could easily push her into the Atlantic Ocean. As we watch these increasingly-frustrating-attempts at success we have Annette Bening as Nyad, Jodie Foster as Stoll, Rhys Ifans as the boat’s navigator, John Bartlett, both of these latter 2 temporarily giving up on Nyad’s ongoing obsession until agreeing to a last attempt of her goal. Obviously, she succeeded</span> (or there wouldn’t be much point in making this movie),<span style="color: #073763;"> but, despite the sense on screen of the uplifting message of triumph over adversity</span> (no matter your age or difficulty of the situation)<span style="color: #073763;">, there’s a problem here which isn’t addressed even in any pre-credits closing text, which is that Nyad’s accomplishment has never been officially recognized due to discrepancies in record-keeping</span> (which would maybe reveal some forbidden rests on the boat?)<span style="color: #073763;">, so the question becomes: Can we applaud an inspirational story that may not be as fully factual as it purports to be, or should we just accept whatever fictionalizations might be at play here in support of an uplifting concept, no matter how fully-accurate it is? Dilemma!</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglMPb8ZCW_sERzG5H0Labvt7Y_mqD78ByxllGm7j64nxfP1xIkgQd-v8yopfrIGiolgyPAKODiUPimYLbf1gNSOsbaqtx2IRgG17vdYTPketXI8OPqfwaxYKOAt3lUM54TuU3B9E5-31GLVI6qHYFj3zaaQMAYtz_6m8FpxPSrNeDJkpTOC1CVueVJ0g/s7118/nyad_rXG2IJ.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3731" data-original-width="7118" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglMPb8ZCW_sERzG5H0Labvt7Y_mqD78ByxllGm7j64nxfP1xIkgQd-v8yopfrIGiolgyPAKODiUPimYLbf1gNSOsbaqtx2IRgG17vdYTPketXI8OPqfwaxYKOAt3lUM54TuU3B9E5-31GLVI6qHYFj3zaaQMAYtz_6m8FpxPSrNeDJkpTOC1CVueVJ0g/w640-h336/nyad_rXG2IJ.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> <b><a href="https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/movies-tv/nyad-review-annette-bening-18425125"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Mick LaSalle</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">in my local <i>San Francisco Chronicle </i>is a big supporter:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“</span></span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #38761d;">It’s a strange thing that an act of physical endurance that accomplishes no larger purpose should be so inspiring. But some achievements become bigger than themselves by somehow standing for something intangible, such as the importance of challenging oneself, and of being alive while you’re alive.” </span></span><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #073763;">Conversely, </span><b><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/annette-bening-nyad-review-swimming-biopic-is-too-one-note-to-enjoy?ref=author"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Nick Schager</span></a><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">of the </span><i style="color: #073763;">Daily Beast </i><span style="color: #073763;">says:</span></span><span style="color: black; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">“</span><span style="color: #38761d;">Based on its subject’s book </span><span style="color: #999999;">[<i>Find a Way</i>, 2015]</span><span style="color: #38761d;">—and therefore taking her accomplishments, and version of events, at face value </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> there’s no reference to the many falsehoods Diana has apparently told about her past, there’s zero overt mention of the controversy surrounding her signature triumph—thereby proving that the film cares more about rah-rah uplift than thorny inquiry or messy reality.”</span><span style="color: #354753;"> W</span><span style="color: #073763;">e do get documentary footage of people presented in the movie, but mostly it’s the docudrama we see on screen—marvelously done; if that’s truly Bening in the water she’s just as impactful as the cinematography—taking us from Nyad’s frustration with turning 60, seemingly being put out to pasture by society, to her triumphant finish on the Florida sand where she’s gracious enough to know this is a team</span></span><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(56, 118, 29); font-family: helvetica;">—</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">not just an individual</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(56, 118, 29); font-family: helvetica;">—</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">accomplishment. </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> I’m moved by how this woman pushes on against desperate odds to victory, yet now I know about the questions raised regarding her swim I wonder how much I’ve been manipulated, an influence on my 3½ stars-rating. The Oscar Academy wasn’t distracted, though; those voters put Bening into competition for Actress in a Leading Role, Foster for Actress in a Supporting Role. </span> (This movie completely eluded me last fall when it first became available<span style="color: #999999;"> [released theatrically to select theaters in October, 2023; only reported income was from Portugal where it made a mere $16,056];</span> there have also been lots of other nominations, a few wins, as well as plenty of pending possibilities.) <span style="color: #073763;"> Now it's free to</span> <b> <a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/nyad"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Netflix streaming subscribers</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">with the </span><b style="color: #073763;">CCAL </b><span style="color: #073763;">split in its support:</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/nyad"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">RT positive reviews at 86%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">,</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/nyad/critic-reviews/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">MC average score at 64%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">. One aspect of it I particularly liked, though, was the soundtrack which included Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence,” Janis Joplin’s “Peace of My Heart,” Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold,” and Roy Orbison’s “Crying,” but for my Musical Metaphor choice I’ll take another one from the movie, the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “Carry On”</span> (on their 1970 <i>Déjà Vu </i>album) <span style="color: #073763;">at </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NJqyQ0b5tw"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NJqyQ0b5tw</span></b></a><b style="color: #073763;"> </b><span style="color: #073763;">because whatever you</span> (or I) <span style="color: #073763;">may think of Diana Nyad, the ultimate message of this movie seems to be:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“Carry on / Love is coming / Love is coming to us all.”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">Given Nyad’s self-professed, self-focused outlook on life as admitted by her in this movie's presentation, the more-generous-overall-message is something I've appreciated.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifASu6hFBeeXJGI-wDRTMV_lxvgN3ZAIa0-f6Cy13F7zzcf9JAU3_iSu85S_skNsRmh6pysqseDLTab7Evt7Io5_USPuoONyTAbYX1b7e5dZLESBFAS3OAR0FtPvln6gWMOQLRi0HoBOmeVAk38CnSNty5-j5VkiBKLxYtQgB2QMWOaPIO9CaYwDeInA/s1949/Hidden%20Hollywood%2084.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifASu6hFBeeXJGI-wDRTMV_lxvgN3ZAIa0-f6Cy13F7zzcf9JAU3_iSu85S_skNsRmh6pysqseDLTab7Evt7Io5_USPuoONyTAbYX1b7e5dZLESBFAS3OAR0FtPvln6gWMOQLRi0HoBOmeVAk38CnSNty5-j5VkiBKLxYtQgB2QMWOaPIO9CaYwDeInA/w640-h294/Hidden%20Hollywood%2084.jpg" width="640" /></a></b></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:</span> </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Some options for your consideration: (1)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2024/film/awards/oscar-nominations-2024-list-1235877798/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=493933_01-23-2024&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">2024 Oscar nominations for 2023 releases</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">;</span><b style="color: #073763;"> (</b><span style="color: #073763;">2)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/provider/vudu/new/movies"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Many recent additions to Vudu rental ($19.99) streaming (most of them also on Amazon, Apple, etc.) from various years including 2023's <i>Wonka</i>, <i>Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom</i>, and <i>Ferrari</i></span></a></b><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b></span><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Two Guys in the Dark homepage</span></a></b><b style="color: #941100;">. </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>If you’d like to</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>Like</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>us on Facebook </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(yes?)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b> please visit</b></span><span><b> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our Facebook page</span></a></b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>. 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You can also leave comments at our<b> </b>Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it</span> (most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were </span><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">5,579</span></b><span style="color: #073763;">—a huge drop-off from the marvelous 40-50K of some recent months;</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">never overestimate yourself!</span> (As always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers.) <span style="color: #073763;">Below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week</span> (with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi78g0vI939-oEaj8rL-5qOmeCj0bwAU_RFAtX6xeoZ8TU6QUHnvLF1AdBBtpR5rbs2bV7PKf3F6ftGRPmyJk8NGFYu01pwTGDPmvAZDd6Am6ZvTM3SO_GxEIJ8YJjlDOJRCIbbff9PqviNFyU9BsKdXX7m2TsGR7j7veD_gQKoZMwbSiY3ZapEmeOj9Q/s1189/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-31%20at%203.08.27%20PM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1189" height="570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi78g0vI939-oEaj8rL-5qOmeCj0bwAU_RFAtX6xeoZ8TU6QUHnvLF1AdBBtpR5rbs2bV7PKf3F6ftGRPmyJk8NGFYu01pwTGDPmvAZDd6Am6ZvTM3SO_GxEIJ8YJjlDOJRCIbbff9PqviNFyU9BsKdXX7m2TsGR7j7veD_gQKoZMwbSiY3ZapEmeOj9Q/w650-h570/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-31%20at%203.08.27%20PM.jpg" width="650" /></a></div>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-63470999629391163652024-01-24T22:56:00.000-08:002024-01-24T22:56:47.814-08:00Anatomy of a Fall plus Short Takes on some other current cinematic topics<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">Accident, Suicide, or Murder?</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">I</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b></span> (Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b></span> (Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, but better options are on the horizon. </span>(Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue </b></span>below <span style="color: #999999;">[some may look near </span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span><span style="color: #999999;">] </span>is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #073763;">My reviews’ premise:</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #008f00;">“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwsqWN5M6PnkL_FPJQxin-KGRUlol9adpUD8yyiVWKBtCipTmWccRVCVt5JdCx8qQ4_LLFqwMKFq1fS309jwrHjIOfs01LE-584NU9Tn7_wK6f_5DPgxBnGWuwvel_QoWskDs78G3h8LnHR-98nU3G3nk0uqpdTl9zulV_N5G6dWqsAAcrS7s-a-mROg/s109/four%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwsqWN5M6PnkL_FPJQxin-KGRUlol9adpUD8yyiVWKBtCipTmWccRVCVt5JdCx8qQ4_LLFqwMKFq1fS309jwrHjIOfs01LE-584NU9Tn7_wK6f_5DPgxBnGWuwvel_QoWskDs78G3h8LnHR-98nU3G3nk0uqpdTl9zulV_N5G6dWqsAAcrS7s-a-mROg/s1600/four%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><a href="https://neonrated.com/films/anatomy-of-a-fall"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Anatomy of a Fall</span></a></i></b><b><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Justine Triet)</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">rated R </span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">152 min.</span></b></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FUXawkH-ONM" width="320" youtube-src-id="FUXawkH-ONM"></iframe></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="color: #008f00;">If you can abide </b><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">plot spoilers</span></b></span><b><span style="color: #008f00;"> read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $</span><span style="color: #93c47d;"> </span></b><b><span style="color: #93c47d;">(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</span></b><b style="color: #008f00;">. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and</span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">red.⇐</span> </b></span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAwMx_6WZx_PFLJsteO_oP-GkVrLlO__l2GnQjErNrTW1Ra6UZY8M9tAZXI0bMH-8QOWQeAB2bQkuwu7n7DXx3n8l_TWFCdguK83lq6wMOOZAInG5HCiKbW0qUtAuuY1FL3iICmwqIToSn1AKyIsxrBZESXs5yVPdtUoyFWUSKZOvoAUfrqPnTJ1UmqQ/s572/22255_001.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="572" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAwMx_6WZx_PFLJsteO_oP-GkVrLlO__l2GnQjErNrTW1Ra6UZY8M9tAZXI0bMH-8QOWQeAB2bQkuwu7n7DXx3n8l_TWFCdguK83lq6wMOOZAInG5HCiKbW0qUtAuuY1FL3iICmwqIToSn1AKyIsxrBZESXs5yVPdtUoyFWUSKZOvoAUfrqPnTJ1UmqQ/w640-h348/22255_001.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">What Happens:</span> </b>(For the sake of concise presentation, I’m going to recount these contents in chronological order rather than how they’re revealed individually in various scenes throughout the story. It’s be quicker to read this way, but the original structure is much more interesting to watch. <span style="color: #999999;">[Sorry I didn’t catch the names of a few characters, thus no actor credits for them.]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">Successful German novelist Sandra Voyter</span> (Sandra Hüller)<span style="color: #073763;">—who’s bisexual, a situation with a bearing on events as they play out in this plot—some time ago in London met French novelist Samuel Maleski</span> (Samuel Theis)<span style="color: #073763;">, they married, now have 11-year-old-Daniel </span>(Milo Machado Graner)<span style="color: #073763;">, and live in a 3-story-chalet near Grenoble in the French Alps, a hometown area for Samuel who wanted to return there so Sandra begrudgingly-agreed</span> (she doesn’t command French all that well, so English is often spoken at home)<span style="color: #073763;">. At some point in the past, Samuel was late in picking up his son, which ultimately resulted in an accident leaving the boy almost blind, a source of anguish for Samuel who’s taken antidepressants to ease his constant guilt, stopped the meds 6 months ago but tried suicide with an aspirin overdose, hasn’t been able to write much since the accident</span> (although the idea for one of his unrealized books was borrowed, made into a success by his wife<span style="color: #073763;">), often plays music very loud as he’s trying to drown out the world, lose himself in mostly-unrealized-concepts for his stagnant career.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Sandra’s been consistently successful in her work but has antagonized Samuel by having had an affair with a woman, as well as often disagreeing with him. All this leads to a vicious argument between them on the day before Samuel’s death, a conflict which he secretly recorded on his smart phone, as he often did to capture material he might be able to use for his writing. As we get into the actual flow of the film, Sandra’s being interviewed by a graduate student</span> (seen in effective shot/ countershot-closeups),<span style="color: #073763;"> although they can barely hear each other because on the next floor above Samuel’s blasting a steel-drum-version of 50 Cent’s “P.I.M.P.,” which finally leads to the interview being postponed</span> (though Sandra’s OK with the noise, as she’s become used to Samuel doing such)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><div><br /></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPeXFCCghubtRzd2_CajL-ucfbDA7NIdMOjZxczsjib2FGkrsl_eVJmj8OieU3Sd0-vJj5sNXZoAp2qGdQqU7xEhLx_hpRSD2b6xFCgi54AiIRB5l3HBVtHUYzpyzdizA6qJ7Pd386inDUuiOP9w-KKbVXR3MCTHcBk8aNbaKIajkKn-BjrK_b-IXvvQ/s3996/anatomy-of-a-fall_5Mw5Y9.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1955" data-original-width="3996" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPeXFCCghubtRzd2_CajL-ucfbDA7NIdMOjZxczsjib2FGkrsl_eVJmj8OieU3Sd0-vJj5sNXZoAp2qGdQqU7xEhLx_hpRSD2b6xFCgi54AiIRB5l3HBVtHUYzpyzdizA6qJ7Pd386inDUuiOP9w-KKbVXR3MCTHcBk8aNbaKIajkKn-BjrK_b-IXvvQ/w640-h314/anatomy-of-a-fall_5Mw5Y9.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">We see the young interviewer drive away, following soon after by Daniel going for a walk in the snow with his guide dog, Snoop. When the boy returns he’s horrified to find his father laying in the snow in front of their home, blood around his head and feet</span> (seems he crawled a bit after the fall)<span style="color: #073763;">. Horrified Sandra calls the police and an old-friend-lawyer, Vincent Renzi </span>(Swann Arlaud)<span style="color: #073763;">; a re-creation of the death by the authorities along with autopsy results show a head wound occurred before Samuel hit the ground, but it’s unclear whether it came from him first bouncing off of a first-story-shed. Given the conflicting circumstances, Sandra’s indicted, put on trial with the claim she hit her husband with a blunt object, pushed him out the window, while she claims innocence, insisting at first it was an accident, then that he committed suicide, even though during the trial his psychiatrist claims Samuel had no suicidal intentions. Things get even worse for Sandra when the recording of their day-before-death-accusatory-argument is played in court</span> (we get to see it in action through a long flashback scene)<span style="color: #073763;">, with sounds of violence after the verbal confrontations; the prosecutor then claims the loud music was because of Samuel’s anger over assumed-flirting with the interviewer, resulting in a confrontation between the spouses after she left</span> (by this point Sandra’s convinced the judge to let her speak in English rather than her halting French, so we don’t have to read as much).</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span> However, Daniel wants to testify on the following Monday, yet he doesn’t want Mom to be with him at home over the weekend so she leaves him in the care of a court-appointed-overseer, Marge Berger</span><span> </span></span><span style="color: #666666;">(Jehnny Beth)</span><span style="color: #073763;">.</span> <span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;"><b>⇒</b><b>During</b></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">the 2-day-break, Daniel remembers Snoop once getting sick from licking up some of Samuel’s vomit so the kid purposely feeds the dog aspirin which again makes him sick until Marge makes the dog vomit, then recover, so Daniel now believes Sandra’s Samuel-aspirin-suicide-testimony. In court Daniel testifies Samuel once told him he has to be prepared for when tragedies happen, including the eventual death of Snoop or Dad’s own death, so he further supports Sandra’s suicide explanation for Samuel. We don’t actually see the trial's end, but later scenes tell us Sandra's found not guilty, celebrates a bit with Vincent and his colleagues, goes home to Daniel, says goodbye to Marge, carries asleep Daniel up to bed, settles on a couch with</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>Snoop.⇐</b></span></span></p><div><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><br /></b></span></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0vahsPOksFUN5eSiA3IkA8WPvXZnl30BqA5H4NtW189AMNTayz4mypFwb1gKpVL3zzD_YYZuOiyLFD180GbzeKshyAFDwvFn_TkCmjcZPpSNErfTPuO3oDoKpPNRwYsQwGafsbuNBbNXaL0FhZN-rOtoiYqy1Dcr8ZbynastFCIHmd8XoYuLSdKslhQ/s570/22255_007.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="570" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0vahsPOksFUN5eSiA3IkA8WPvXZnl30BqA5H4NtW189AMNTayz4mypFwb1gKpVL3zzD_YYZuOiyLFD180GbzeKshyAFDwvFn_TkCmjcZPpSNErfTPuO3oDoKpPNRwYsQwGafsbuNBbNXaL0FhZN-rOtoiYqy1Dcr8ZbynastFCIHmd8XoYuLSdKslhQ/w640-h358/22255_007.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So What? </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">This film has already piled up a hefty collections of wins and nominations</span> (some of which might lead to more wins when decisions are announced)<span style="color: #073763;">, including Oscar noms for Best Picture, Director, Actress in a Leading Role</span> (Hüller)<span style="color: #073763;">, Original Screenplay</span> (Triet, Arthur Harari)<span style="color: #073763;">, Editing </span>(Laurent Sénéchel)<span style="color: #073763;">—full Oscar noms list is the first entry in the <b>Related Links </b>segment of this posting farther below.</span> <span style="color: #666666;">(You’ll find </span><i><span style="color: #666666;">Oppenheimer</span> </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Christopher Nolan; review in our August 17, 2023 posting]</span> <span style="color: #666666;">leads the way with 13, followed by <i>Poor Things </i>[</span><span style="color: #999999;">Yorgos Lanthimos; haven’t seen it yet, could impact a lot of my 2023 Top lists]</span> <span style="color: #666666;">with 11, <i>Killers of the Flower Moon </i></span><span style="color: #999999;">[Martin Scorsese; review in our November 9, 2023 posting—still my Best Picture of last year]</span> <span style="color: #666666;">with 10, </span><i><span style="color: #666666;">Barbie</span><span style="color: #999999;"> </span></i><span style="color: #999999;">[Greta Gerwig; review in our August 17, 2023 posting]</span> <span style="color: #666666;">with 8, <i>Maestro </i></span><span style="color: #999999;">[Bradley Cooper; review in our January 4, 2024 posting]</span> <span style="color: #666666;">with 7; also, 3 of the 2024 Best Picture nominations were directed by women: <i>Anatomy of a Fall</i>, <i>Barbie</i>, </span><i><span style="color: #666666;">Past Lives</span> </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Celine Song; review in our August 31, 2023 posting]</span><span style="color: #666666;">, yet only Triet made the 5 Best Director finalists; no People of Color are Best Director nominees, but there’s at least 1 in all 4 of the acting categories, with 3 vying for Actress in a Supporting Role: Danielle Brooks</span> <span style="color: #999999;">[</span><i><span style="color: #999999;">The Color Purple</span> </i><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">{</span>2023}</span><span style="color: #999999;">, Blitz Bazawule; no Two Guys review yet]</span><span style="color: #666666;">, America Ferrera</span> <span style="color: #999999;">[<i>Barbie</i>]</span><span style="color: #666666;">, Da’ Vine Joy Randolph</span><span style="color: #999999;"> [<i>The Holdovers</i>, Alexander Payne; reviewed in our December 13, 2023 posting]</span><span style="color: #666666;">)</span><span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">OK, enough Oscar distraction for now</span> (well, almost enough; hard to break away from these fresh announcements)<span style="color: #073763;">, back to <i>Anatomy …</i>, which would seem at this point to be a strong contender for my 2023 Top 10 list</span> (once I get streaming options for <i>American Fiction </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Cord Jefferson]</span>, the new version of <i>The Color Purple</i>, <i>Nyad </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi]</span>, <i>Poor Things</i>, and <i>The Zone of Interest </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Jonathan Glazer]</span><span style="color: #666666;"> to see what they all look/feel like)</span><span style="color: #073763;">, but I can already say that for whatever flaws others might find with <i>Anatomy of a Fall</i>, they were smoothed over for me by the magnificent performance of Hüller, whose impact alone in this story easily pulled this film into 4 stars-territory for me, in the same way that Kate Blanchett so-successfully-dominated <i>Blue Jasmine </i></span>(Woody Allen, 2013 <span style="color: #999999;">[review in our August 16, 2013 posting]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, making up more than enough for any shortcomings that film might have had</span> (including, for some, the fact it was directed by Allen)<span style="color: #073763;">. Oscar voters agreed as Blanchett won the award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Yes, yes <i>Anatomy … </i>!</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBnG3sdct8a7ewGgJyhN7nm6vv-Cp7ZIcNnP9QR5G-ilRq3wzNhB7DnW86aGTlmqOgX9M_wmxzCiJmKXdjTjckyZUYKZUXOw1Jm1vxGrEqXpksVz7BhUJbylPjP-VTuB86ITjPzi4H7mj7BnoAdPZvs_lUm6-ESGPrTA_ipa32p9EoLJh7QHJKzU6rFg/s560/22255_004.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="560" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBnG3sdct8a7ewGgJyhN7nm6vv-Cp7ZIcNnP9QR5G-ilRq3wzNhB7DnW86aGTlmqOgX9M_wmxzCiJmKXdjTjckyZUYKZUXOw1Jm1vxGrEqXpksVz7BhUJbylPjP-VTuB86ITjPzi4H7mj7BnoAdPZvs_lUm6-ESGPrTA_ipa32p9EoLJh7QHJKzU6rFg/w640-h346/22255_004.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Hüller’s steadily-building-presence in the courtroom scenes along with her dynamic conflict with Theis on the day before Samuel’s death show a grand escalation of emotional force, building upon her calm, near-ethereal demeanor in that opening scene of the attempted interview. She flawlessly-reverts to this calm again at the end of the film, sleeping comfortably </span>(so it seems)<span style="color: #073763;"> with Snoop on a couch, not even occupying a bed she previously would have shared with her husband. I’ve read that she’s equally-impactful as the wife of the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp in <i>The Zone of Interest</i>, which might further enhance her Oscar odds for <i>Anatomy … </i>even as she wasn’t nominated for that other film </span>(which did pick up 5 noms anyway for Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay <span style="color: #999999;">[Glazer]</span>, International Feature Film <span style="color: #999999;">[where it may be the favorite, although I know nothing at this time about the other 4 nominees]</span>, and Sound <span style="color: #999999;">[Tarn Willers, Johnnie Burn]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, although the Actress in a Leading Role race would seem to be between Lily Gladstone</span> (my favorite so far, <i>Killers of the Flower Moon</i>)<span style="color: #073763;">, Carey Mulligan</span> (<i>Maestro</i>)<span style="color: #073763;">, and Emma Stone</span> (<i>Poor Things</i>)<span style="color: #073763;">, but I think it will a tight race among Oscar voters in this category with many strong contenders for the big triumph.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> For those loath to read subtitles, <i>Anatomy of a Fall </i>may present a problem as some dialogue—from a French film, after all—is in French </span>(translated at the bottom of the screen for monolinguists like me)<span style="color: #073763;">, but much of it's in English—Sandra’s preference—so I hope you’d find the subtitle-distractions, if any, to eventually be a minor enough situation to dismiss, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in a provocative, mesmerizing film I’m emphatic in recommending that you seek out. If you’re still hesitant, at least consider trading 2½ hours of viewing for</span> <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiOuSpEofIc"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">an 8:33 video</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">which summarizes the plot, offers a clear conclusion to the mystery </span>(so, obviously, <b>Spoilers</b>; keep that in mind if you do choose watching <i>Anatomy of a Fall</i>, because you don’t want to spoil this ending for yourself in the process)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVeyQIsUFsnIChid0DsWLZMs1Xg3ML9UAZgivtleYPYLyIigdpgqWmzvEVMIt_86TaaiXt3QBYg5v51_zybxTTpr_WzQh45_MS_MmWhRllDZGWFgLwQcQzDx0U6x1hUcwNhIfi3jRmhI8Og6m1tB-0mK5wNySmhl8ZepHQcpEkJvhNQb_Masu8HfqFNg/s3475/anatomy-of-a-fall_yyXpVV.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2103" data-original-width="3475" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVeyQIsUFsnIChid0DsWLZMs1Xg3ML9UAZgivtleYPYLyIigdpgqWmzvEVMIt_86TaaiXt3QBYg5v51_zybxTTpr_WzQh45_MS_MmWhRllDZGWFgLwQcQzDx0U6x1hUcwNhIfi3jRmhI8Og6m1tB-0mK5wNySmhl8ZepHQcpEkJvhNQb_Masu8HfqFNg/w640-h388/anatomy-of-a-fall_yyXpVV.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Bottom Line Final Comments:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;"><i>Anatomy of a Fall </i>began its domestic</span> (U.S.-Canada) <span style="color: #073763;">release on October 13, 2023, made only about $4 million at the box-office, although it also debuted in many other countries around the globe during last year, continuing into this one—beginning with France on August 23, 2023—for a worldwide total of $23.4 million, but to see it now you’ll need to turn to</span> <b><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/anatomie-dune-chute"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">streaming</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">where for a $5.99 rental you can access it on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Vudu, and other platforms. The <b>CCAL </b>would certainly erergeticaly-encourage you to do so, with the</span><b> <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/anatomy_of_a_fall"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews at a whopping 96%</span></a> </b>(no fluke, based on 239 reactions)<span style="color: #073763;">, with the</span><b> <a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/anatomy-of-a-fall/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Metacritic average score at a quite high (for them) 86%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">. Oh, did I mention that this film won the prestigious Palme d’Or</span> (top prize) <span style="color: #073763;">at France’s 2023 Cannes Film Festival, along with the silly Palm Dog Award for Snoop</span> (played by Messi, apparently<span style="color: #073763;">), presented by international critics for the best performance by a dog </span><span style="color: #666666;">(or dogs</span><span style="color: #073763;">), live or animated, so with all of those reasons </span>(including marvelous Snoop)<span style="color: #073763;"> to spend some time with <i>Anatomy …</i><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">,</span> I hope I’ve convinced you to go seek it out. </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> In the meantime you can occupy yourself with my usual review-wrap-up-device of a Musical Metaphor, with my choice this time likely to seem a bit odd, given this is an upbeat song</span> (with positive intentions) <span style="color: #073763;">being paired with a decidedly-serious-film using some harsh negativity, but after you’ve spent 152 min. with a gruesome death, those intense legal attempts to find a wife guilty of murdering her husband, and some crucial testimony from a conflicted child, you might be ready for something of a lighter nature so I’ll offer The Beatles’ “I’ve Just Seen a Face” </span>(from their 1965 albums, <i>Help! </i>In the U.K., <i>Rubber Soul </i>in the U.S. <span style="color: #999999;">[due to greedy Capitol Records]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">a</span>t <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8LbJfC0SYM"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=m8LbJfC0SYM</span></b></a><b> </b><span style="color: #073763;">where I contend this song, originally intended to celebrate an exuberant-case of love at first sight, can be</span> (twistingly?) <span style="color: #073763;">applied to </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Anatomy of a Fall</span> </i>(a title that could easily conjure up a connection to the classic <b><i><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/anatomy-of-a-murder"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Anatomy of a Murder</span></a></i></b> <span style="color: #999999;">[Otto Preminger, 1959]</span>, thereby indicating an answer <span style="color: #999999;">[accurate or not</span>] to the crucial question of what happened to Samuel?)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCtkkOmkBV9AqlizMTx-iklBu1gILjS2gPsRyV5JL2eLOkMVXs0sjw_o9Ol3hsJiC7YEKN6W10HFErBcTDcZZ512kv489NffIMnyJsuiJruWP7hmHR4s1JlSzXCm9e7Ioq7ZZBqYvjLK2RIRH3kJf3Hw5UYQNdYC8jGCMaiK8NPt1hlS8OKHytlfKEyQ/s469/22255_003.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="469" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCtkkOmkBV9AqlizMTx-iklBu1gILjS2gPsRyV5JL2eLOkMVXs0sjw_o9Ol3hsJiC7YEKN6W10HFErBcTDcZZ512kv489NffIMnyJsuiJruWP7hmHR4s1JlSzXCm9e7Ioq7ZZBqYvjLK2RIRH3kJf3Hw5UYQNdYC8jGCMaiK8NPt1hlS8OKHytlfKEyQ/w640-h406/22255_003.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #0b5394;">Following the structure of this song, years ago before marital problems became constant Samuel's response to meeting this intriguing German author could easily have been</span><span style="color: #073763;">:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“I’ve just seen a face, I can’t forget the time or place / Where we just met, she’s just the girl for / And I want all the world to see we’ve met / Had it been another day I might have looked the other way / And I’d have never been aware,” </span><span style="color: #073763;">which is a positive scenario in the original intention of the song, but, I wonder, had Samuel never</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“been aware”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">of Sandra would his life taken another, healthier course? Yet, as it is, his situation is</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">Fallin’, yes, I am fallin’ / And she keeps callin’ me back again,”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">because I never believed Sandra wanted him dead—except, maybe in the spur of an angry moment she might have acted beyond her true deep feelings and … well, I can’t get into <b>Spoiler </b>territory, now can I? Or have you already peeked into the blue text at the end of the <b>What Happens </b>segment? If you haven’t already learned more than you should if you want to keep the ending of <i>Anatomy … </i>available to be fully experienced, I encourage you to stay strong, leave this review behind for now, and go watch the film. However, if you need something else to help distract you there’s always what Samuel was using</span> (?)<span style="color: #073763;"> to drive Sandra crazy, the steel drum instrumental version of </span><b><span style="color: #073763;">“</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ6J4xHuMgc"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"P.I.M.P."</span></a></b> (the Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band, 2016 <i>55 </i>album) <span style="color: #073763;">or you might want to explore the full </span><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3xU63cBj0U"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">50 Cent original version</span></a> </b>(from his 2003 <i>Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ </i>album)<span style="color: #073763;">, but do be aware of some of his R-rated lyrics.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJZsrMgy5jvlk83luN7O5Hz9woKqyBm4ek1JhP9J8JRyLdH1ObcgrVyvlNGVkn5u0eYmO__nogZmz4SqERoATSDXYoayKv9yk0D4_f9_ShN7nDPS8IHmi_VvNQuc0OxRDb70Oxkn32aPcjWMcIz4dne6L12F7e2ziYlxD5IQ-1GD5s1S0w-hmI9NjoPw/s1949/Hidden%20Hollywood%2083.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJZsrMgy5jvlk83luN7O5Hz9woKqyBm4ek1JhP9J8JRyLdH1ObcgrVyvlNGVkn5u0eYmO__nogZmz4SqERoATSDXYoayKv9yk0D4_f9_ShN7nDPS8IHmi_VvNQuc0OxRDb70Oxkn32aPcjWMcIz4dne6L12F7e2ziYlxD5IQ-1GD5s1S0w-hmI9NjoPw/w640-h294/Hidden%20Hollywood%2083.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting: </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Some options regarding this year's Oscar awards: (1)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2024"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">2024 Oscar nominations for 2023 releases</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">;</span><b style="color: #073763;"> (</b><span style="color: #073763;">2)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/lists/oscar-snubs-2024-movies-zero-nominations/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=493983_01-23-2024&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">25 films snubbed by the Oscars</span></a> </b>(I haven’t seen some of them, others not likely in my 2023 Top 10 list)<span style="color: #073763;">; (3)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2024/awards/awards/oscar-nominations-snubs-surprises-2024-greta-gerwig-1235882250/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=dailyvariety&utm_content=494043_01-23-2024&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Oscar snubs and surprises</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; (4)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/23/movies/oscar-nominated-movies-streaming.html?campaign_id=190&emc=edit_ufn_20240124&instance_id=113370&nl=from-the-times&regi_id=68545144&segment_id=156214&te=1&user_id=77221a1724b6645859c13b4da55c678a"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Where to stream many of the 2024 Oscar nominees</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Two Guys in the Dark homepage</span></a></b><b style="color: #941100;">. </b><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>If you’d like to</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>Like</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>us on Facebook </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(yes?)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b> please visit</b></span><b> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our Facebook page</span></a></b><span style="color: #941100;"><b>. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us! </b></span><span style="color: #073763;">Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account</span> (which you can easily get at <a href="https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount</span></b></a> if you need to sign up) <span style="color: #073763;">or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our<b> </b>Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it</span> (most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were </span><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">5,579</span></b><span style="color: #073763;">—a huge drop-off from the marvelous 40-50K of some recent months;</span> <span style="color: #990000;">never overestimate yourself!</span> (As always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers.) <span style="color: #073763;">Below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week</span> (with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNG6nHN5XeCJygCGanIDFYYZg9CidLDJlqWVYv9F1lmBrgCMSNGPbeNJe2i_D2xHDimRLXMgqNkPWghLaOpqghnh1WJ0HiugOpZ7setJ0XcIXvcExKQfbz7tTIn_Ops2BuspsEhc0LsyrRv2oRTdQUZjRwsb7QPFGqnwAGDvQpLEYwySQr7QiIJmUJQA/s1196/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-24%20at%203.11.52%20PM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1069" data-original-width="1196" height="572" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNG6nHN5XeCJygCGanIDFYYZg9CidLDJlqWVYv9F1lmBrgCMSNGPbeNJe2i_D2xHDimRLXMgqNkPWghLaOpqghnh1WJ0HiugOpZ7setJ0XcIXvcExKQfbz7tTIn_Ops2BuspsEhc0LsyrRv2oRTdQUZjRwsb7QPFGqnwAGDvQpLEYwySQr7QiIJmUJQA/w653-h572/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-24%20at%203.11.52%20PM.jpg" width="653" /></a></div>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-67945440013277355192024-01-18T00:09:00.000-08:002024-01-18T18:53:05.357-08:00Napoleon plus Short Takes on some other cinematic topics<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">The Emperor Does Have Some Clothes,</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">But in the End They’re Not Worth Much</span></b></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;"> </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Review and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b></span> (Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b></span> (Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, though better options may be on the horizon.</span> (Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue</b></span> <span style="color: #999999;">[some may look near</span> <span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span><span style="color: #999999;">]</span> is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #073763;">My reviews’ premise:</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #008f00;">“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">Normally, I offer the following warning for anyone who decides to read my reviews in this goofy blog:</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="color: #008f00;">If you can abide </b><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">plot spoilers</span></b></span><b style="color: #008f00;"> read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ </b><b><span style="color: #93c47d;">(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</span></b><b style="color: #008f00;">. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and</span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">red.⇐</span><span style="color: #ff2600;"> </span></b><span style="color: #008f00;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">However, given that my review this time around is about a biographical subject you can easily acquire extensive details about, I see no point in that tactic in this instance, so just read all you want.</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNqAfvu_M3eJWmIV9cFAiQWcGaT8VJh_VGp7t1xrjPilmI6qMXCya6F3taUXOyiYIXO9JQ5N2NKzy3O_mRAPfJDdpY1AyCOVql99oafzbhYaG-b5nok3i2v7zuylIiJz-Or6thvd8r-uj0_OKm4Y5Xl0df65RRCfKhIVVfb3lW9TNlr_Uc96m9kKBQVQ/s109/three%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNqAfvu_M3eJWmIV9cFAiQWcGaT8VJh_VGp7t1xrjPilmI6qMXCya6F3taUXOyiYIXO9JQ5N2NKzy3O_mRAPfJDdpY1AyCOVql99oafzbhYaG-b5nok3i2v7zuylIiJz-Or6thvd8r-uj0_OKm4Y5Xl0df65RRCfKhIVVfb3lW9TNlr_Uc96m9kKBQVQ/s1600/three%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.napoleon.movie/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Napoleon</span></a></span></i> <a href="https://www.napoleon.movie/"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">[2023]</span></a></b><b><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Ridley Scott)</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;"> rated R</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">158 min.</span></b></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OAZWXUkrjPc" width="320" youtube-src-id="OAZWXUkrjPc"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEichn6rHQ9gdl4ixrpmsVmyxwXNpBOV1Eu9Uf39HOStQsBuUqCGLbzh7cJbx9WEcyPVYhpKDSxMcnN7hixI10XzwEcxY28FdXnPj6I1C3ndntAxzR63KTGAAySvzdHlv_okCMNdvmeg6JCIsNzMgstO2WzfWIHtvaauOnB4JYcWEARR3jVDk6v_am9d6A/s461/22144_003.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="461" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEichn6rHQ9gdl4ixrpmsVmyxwXNpBOV1Eu9Uf39HOStQsBuUqCGLbzh7cJbx9WEcyPVYhpKDSxMcnN7hixI10XzwEcxY28FdXnPj6I1C3ndntAxzR63KTGAAySvzdHlv_okCMNdvmeg6JCIsNzMgstO2WzfWIHtvaauOnB4JYcWEARR3jVDk6v_am9d6A/w640-h346/22144_003.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">What Happens:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">We begin in 1793 as the French Revolution</span> (started in 1789)<span style="color: #073763;"> is in full-swing with Queen Marie Antoinette</span> (Catherine Walker) <span style="color: #073763;">dragged to her guillotine-beheading, while watching from the boisterous crowd is young Army officer Napoleon Bonaparte</span> (Joaquin Phoenix) <span style="color: #073763;">who longs for glory but is generally dismissed as being a mere ruffian from Corsica. His fortunes change, though, when revolutionary leader Paul Barras</span> (Tahar Rahim) <span style="color: #073763;">sends him to drive the British from the coastal city of Toulon, which he does with effective use of artillery to damage the British fleet, resulting in Napoleon’s promotion to Brigadier General, soon followed by the end of the Reign of Terror in 1794</span> (during which the increasingly-demanding-revolutionaries turned on their previous leaders with a crowd attacking Maximillen Robespierre <span style="color: #999999;">[Sam Troughton]</span> who attempted suicide, failed, was then executed<span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>)<span style="color: #073763;">. Napoleon’s fame continues to grow when he puts down a royalist insurrection in 1796. Soon after that he becomes intrigued by widow</span> (husband killed by the revolutionaries) <span style="color: #073763;">Joséphine de Beuharnais</span> (Vanessa Kirby)<span style="color: #073763;">, leading to marriage as each one tells the other how they are interdependent. In 1798 Napoleon is attempting to rout the British at the Battle of the Pyramids in Egypt, but he abandons his troops to rush home when he’s told of Joséphine having an affair with young lover Hippolyte Charles </span>(Jannis Niewöhner)<span style="color: #073763;"><span>. He first confronts her, but she responds:</span> </span><span style="color: #38761d;">“You are nothing without me”</span><span style="color: #073763;">;</span> <span style="color: #073763;">he agrees</span> (he also had affairs, so he couldn't be too upset)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p></div><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQ1_nTHm835YEkDRzEbHLXHiFP-2MQuj32bDnuvVTieOOBE_QUqdOg8K3ClZlHKU9wmcXrg4za9JsMy6vitnYhO2us2GUcoaKOxk9ghEzXA6pX8rieoZ56en-yFOBit8uLiE_vZr0CaThp2_qqBW6blIr2FzOFXgcnufmxLTmG21j1jvtRklISVQimw/s1991/Davids-Coronation.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="959" data-original-width="1991" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQ1_nTHm835YEkDRzEbHLXHiFP-2MQuj32bDnuvVTieOOBE_QUqdOg8K3ClZlHKU9wmcXrg4za9JsMy6vitnYhO2us2GUcoaKOxk9ghEzXA6pX8rieoZ56en-yFOBit8uLiE_vZr0CaThp2_qqBW6blIr2FzOFXgcnufmxLTmG21j1jvtRklISVQimw/w640-h308/Davids-Coronation.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Another former leader against the monarchy, Jean-Paul Marat, was brutally killed in 1793, with his later travails explored in <i>The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton</i>, set in 1808 after Napoleon had become Emperor, a play by Peter Weiss <span style="color: #999999;">(1963)</span>, film by Peter Brook <span style="color: #999999;">(1967)</span>. Some music <span style="color: #999999;">(written by Richard Peaslee)</span> from this narrative, “Homage to Marat,” “Marat We’re Poor,” “People’s Reaction,” “Poor Old Marat”—noted just as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkeXTlhX0OA"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Marat/Sade"</span></b></a></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">—</span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">w</span>as recorded by Judy Collins for her </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">In My Life </i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">album <span style="color: #999999;">(1966)</span> which I’ll provide here as an opening Musical Metaphor because it gives a useful context for the chaos facing France in the early 1790s, conditions which Napoleon quickly exploited for his increasing-benefit over the next decade. <span style="color: #999999;">(This video is illustrated by a detail of Jacques-Louis David’s painting, </span></span><i style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #999999;">The Death of Marat</span> </i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">[1793</span><span style="color: #999999;">], with another David painting of Napoleon’s 1804 coronation</span> <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">[which actually shows him about to crown Empress Josephine]</span><span style="color: #999999;">—done in 1807—serving as a visual inspiration for the scene in this movie noted just below.)</span> You can read a bit more about </span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://variety.com/2024/artisans/awards/napoleon-coronation-scene-inspired-by-jacques-louis-david-1807-painting-1235871020/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=Artisans&utm_content=491532_01-13-2024&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">other inspirations for costumes</span></a> </span></b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">here.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie_Tfu0XJwcRszkX52UaOplZf5R4PgubZSCxkaUh6CcgCpjmM-bBYhrs1p4To5PUpNuuh0FVza6BTOtp-e4lC6h5do3VQKSaJEf1XdpF-bXUKCgAVoslqve52YavPfxrJ95CfY2QjO1NxiYANN51yM6Kv_Kxl5tjczAMx1pGsd7V3btmqMD5L9dTmJlg/s519/22144_013.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="519" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie_Tfu0XJwcRszkX52UaOplZf5R4PgubZSCxkaUh6CcgCpjmM-bBYhrs1p4To5PUpNuuh0FVza6BTOtp-e4lC6h5do3VQKSaJEf1XdpF-bXUKCgAVoslqve52YavPfxrJ95CfY2QjO1NxiYANN51yM6Kv_Kxl5tjczAMx1pGsd7V3btmqMD5L9dTmJlg/w640-h308/22144_013.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Next he’s admonished by the now-ruling group called The Directory, so he—with the help of some colleagues—overthrows them, declaring himself the powerful First Consul in 1799. By 1804 he’s become Emperor of the French, agreed to by the pope, although Napoleon breaks tradition by putting the crown on his own head. In 1805 he defeats a combined Austrian-Russian army, with the cruel tactic of cannon fire onto the frozen lake his enemies are using for retreat, resulting in the horrific drowning of many of them. The only negative aspect of these years of his rise to increasing-power is Joséphine never becomes pregnant, denying him of the necessary situation of a male heir; to prove that his wife is at fault, Napoleon’s mother has him impregnate a young woman, leading to his divorce from Joséphine in 1810, although they continue to be in contact even after he marries Duchess Marie Louise</span> (Anna Mawn) <span style="color: #073763;">of Austria who provides him with that long-sought-son. Having conquered much of Europe by 1812, Napoleon invades Russia, but, despite military victories on the road to Moscow, Russian Tsar Alexander I </span>(Edouard Phillipponnat) <span style="color: #073763;">outsmarts him by evacuating the city, setting it on fire. Napoleon makes the foolish move to march through the bitter winter to St. Petersburg, but the combination of harsh weather and strained supply lines to his troops leads to retreat, with only about 40,000 of his 600,000 troops still alive to return, defeated, to France in 1813.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> As a result of this disaster, forces of the Coalition</span> (Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, Great Britain, Portugal, Sweden, Sardinia, and some German states—essentially the areas of Europe not previously conquered by Napoleon or free of his yoke <span style="color: #999999;">[countries he had dominated were largely run by his regents, some of them his brothers]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">invaded France in 1814, occupied Paris, restored the monarchy, forced Napoleon into exile on the Mediterranean island of Elba. In 1815 Napoleon is informed that Joséphine is ill, so he returns to France only to find she’s already dead from diphtheria. King Louis XVIII</span> (Ian McNeice) <span style="color: #073763;">sends a regiment to capture Napoleon; however, he convinces them to accept him as their leader again, but he’s later confronted at Waterloo </span>(now in Belgium) <span style="color: #073763;">by the British army</span> (aided by Prussian troops)<span style="color: #073763;">, conquered by the Duke of Wellington</span> (Rupert Everett)<span style="color: #073763;">, leading to Napoleon’s final exile to the island of Saint Helena</span> (middle of the Atlantic Ocean) <span style="color: #073763;">where he dies in 1821, seeming to hear Joséphine beckoning him to join her once again. Epilogue graphics note the numbers killed in his various battles</span> (1792-1815) <span style="color: #073763;">to be close to 3 million.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM1wQFHs43Vp-mxTwFuc3QpAHASjI9WLcgq9lv3UJhL-ugjZG7UD4_vbD_-94xtlHpDubYdk1_Qyh8SIexTuT0G_79J4lOzTc-caj5Zg7FHQbutXS5QldfY9VsdsB15Z7HIsExFTqqJfTAFqTwUskXUcaJUidkW64D2W-eARNrgDTRz8USsO-m63ZBGQ/s537/22144_008.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="244" data-original-width="537" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM1wQFHs43Vp-mxTwFuc3QpAHASjI9WLcgq9lv3UJhL-ugjZG7UD4_vbD_-94xtlHpDubYdk1_Qyh8SIexTuT0G_79J4lOzTc-caj5Zg7FHQbutXS5QldfY9VsdsB15Z7HIsExFTqqJfTAFqTwUskXUcaJUidkW64D2W-eARNrgDTRz8USsO-m63ZBGQ/w640-h290/22144_008.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So What?</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">Given my previous appreciation for the work of director Scott—nominated for the Best Director Oscar for </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Thelma and Louise</span> </i>(1991)<span style="color: #073763;">, </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Gladiator</span> </i>(2000)<span style="color: #073763;">, </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Black Hawk Down</span> </i>(2001)<span style="color: #073763;">, along with being a producer for Best Picture nominee </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">The Martian</span> </i>(2015 <span style="color: #999999;">[review in our October 8, 2015 posting]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, as well as director of other classics such as </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Alien</span> </i>(1979) <span style="color: #073763;">and <i>Blade Runner </i></span>(1982)<span style="color: #073763;">—and principal actor Phoenix—nominated for Oscar’s Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for <i>Gladiator</i>, </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Walk the Line</span> </i>(James Mangold, 2005)<span style="color: #073763;">, </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">The Master</span> </i>(Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012 <span style="color: #999999;">[review in our September 27, 2012 posting]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, won for </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Joker</span> </i>(Todd Phillips, 2019 <span style="color: #999999;">[review in our October 9, 2019 posting]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">—I was quite intrigued to see <i>Napoleon </i>even though the <b>OCCU </b>has not been very supportive </span>(more on that farther below)<span style="color: #073763;">, so I invested a lot of time plus a good chunk of cash to watch this latest opus from some well-known screen talent</span> (although I wish Scott would hurry up his <i>Alien </i>prequels with the timeline—and the spread-out-release times of these sci-fi movies—getting a bit tiresome)<span style="color: #073763;">. Unfortunately, what I got was just what the <b>OCCU </b>predicted: a lot of history</span> (but leaving out even more about this famous person) <span style="color: #073763;">crammed into a longer-than-average-running time, yet little sense of the motivations and ultimate goals of this impactful-history maker, except to see him intending to conquer every square foot of Europe at any cost. </span>(Even some voiceovers from Napoleon don't help much <span style="color: #999999;">[technically, his name should carry an accent on the “e,” “Napoléon,” but given that’s been left off the title</span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"> {I’m surprised I haven’t noted the French complaining about that}</span> <span style="color: #999999;">I’ll also leave it off any further references to this movie or its protagonist during the rest of this review]</span><span style="color: #073763;">).</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> The combat scenes of the 1805 Battle of Austerlitz</span> (although various historians reject there were many <span style="color: #999999;">[any?]</span> drownings in what was actually a shallow pond) <span style="color: #073763;">and the 1812 Battle of Borodino in the Russia campaign are masterfully done</span> (if anything about the brutality of warfare can be considered “masterful”)<span style="color: #073763;">, but other than that we’re just sailing along through the biographical highlights of a maniacal tyrant</span> (Is there any other kind? Maybe I’ve just seen too much lately of the multi-indicted-guy who just won those GOP Iowa caucuses.) <span style="color: #073763;">as we shift from battlefield victories</span> (and, most importantly, defeats) <span style="color: #073763;">to romance turmoil as Joséphine gets credit for knowing her own worth even as her empire easily bids farewell due to her motherhood-inability</span> (as a military leader Napoleon was often successful using battlefield cannons, though his own “cannon” didn’t bring victory with his wife)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrwCBhYnP0sBn303n3Iz27YuO6y3Pd51mkn83aY2UbLYraI0SBomHhWfDLsjswZTkTpneADNRANBV35SXI38O0GijMhnlrY1hndF3KI78PEscPKs6YHgd1lXlchfgitI2vn03wIox2Ex9LgdHFpuIyTdvNd6EaAvhMKOmTNKgqX0hPSLe0qZh0zeXgAw/s461/22144_018.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="244" data-original-width="461" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrwCBhYnP0sBn303n3Iz27YuO6y3Pd51mkn83aY2UbLYraI0SBomHhWfDLsjswZTkTpneADNRANBV35SXI38O0GijMhnlrY1hndF3KI78PEscPKs6YHgd1lXlchfgitI2vn03wIox2Ex9LgdHFpuIyTdvNd6EaAvhMKOmTNKgqX0hPSLe0qZh0zeXgAw/w640-h338/22144_018.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">You could get a lot of this same information in a much more concise manner by simply watching</span> <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd6E38FfuMg"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">this short video</span></a> </b>(15:53) <span style="color: #073763;">about Napoléon from the Crash Course on European History series. Another series on YouTube, one I often cite in these postings, is the Top 10 Things Right and Wrong in whatever cinematic experience is under review here, with</span> <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvE-Zqt2Ggc"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">the one devoted to<i> Napoleon</i></span></a></b><b> </b>(12:11 <span style="color: #999999;">[ads interrupt at 2:30, 9:29]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">mostly agreeing with what’s shown on screen except for M. Bonaparte not being at Marie Antoinette’s execution, Napoleon doesn’t rush away from Egypt when he hears of Joséphine’s infidelity, it’s not true how he learned about her death</span> (he already knew before he left Elba)<span style="color: #073763;">, and there was no bullet shot through the side of his hat during the Battle of Waterloo. However, if you want to get more deeply into French complaints about Scott’s inaccuracies in this movie you can</span> <b><a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/news/napoleon-inaccuracies-french-historians-pyramids-1235823975/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">consult this article</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">which details how historians find much fault with Scott’s approach; not to be outdone by his critics,</span><b> <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/napoleon-ridley-scott-french-reviews-b2450290.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Scott retaliates here</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">. Certainly, filmmakers have license to present their own interpretations of historical facts for entertainment purposes, but just as Lisa Marie Presley was upset with her mother’s approval of how Elvis was presented in </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Priscilla</span> </i>(Sofia Coppola, 2023 <span style="color: #999999;">[review in our January 4, 2024 posting]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, so a good number of French people seem quite put off with how director Scott and screenwriter David Scarpa have depicted the long-ago-Emperor of France. You’re welcome to whatever response you'll have if you choose to watch this movie, but, for me, it's more about lack of dramatic involvement than historical-presentation failures.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAgSkK2w8Y9Xcpw8iLKUal2UjRQthPdTp8OUST1R6n1riG24KTBYUdxoULUsDdMqV8IFc_14hDXxjUDD37mLCZZ8pHWKyUoDu0_Osj7UfDDar3ndsxZpZbfNOCBQ6RU6Hk0rdqau_CD5LsFbZQxeZfXx9xIRKxXlubV49v1QsG4NCkp3Ghq18i-kYFJw/s518/22144_016.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="242" data-original-width="518" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAgSkK2w8Y9Xcpw8iLKUal2UjRQthPdTp8OUST1R6n1riG24KTBYUdxoULUsDdMqV8IFc_14hDXxjUDD37mLCZZ8pHWKyUoDu0_Osj7UfDDar3ndsxZpZbfNOCBQ6RU6Hk0rdqau_CD5LsFbZQxeZfXx9xIRKxXlubV49v1QsG4NCkp3Ghq18i-kYFJw/w640-h298/22144_016.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Bottom Line Final Comments:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;"><i>Napoleon </i>opened domestically</span> (U.S.-Canada) <span style="color: #073763;">on November 22, 2023, is still in a few theaters</span> (none that close to me)<span style="color: #073763;">, has pulled in $61.4 million so far </span>($216.7 worldwide)<span style="color: #073763;">, but is mostly to be found now via</span><b> <a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/napoleon-2023"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">streaming</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">on Amazon Prime Video, etc. for a $19.99 rental, if you care to pursue it</span> (oddly enough, despite Apple as a production company and distributor it hasn’t come to Apple TV+ yet)<span style="color: #073763;">. Critics are in borderline <b>CCAL</b>/<b>OCCU </b>mode with the</span><b> <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/napoleon_2023"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews at 58%</span></a></b>,<span style="color: #073763;"> the</span><b> <a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/napoleon-2023/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Metacritic average score surprisingly-higher at 64%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">. Nevertheless, what I truly wish I could recommend to you regarding at least a partial look at the life of Napoléon Bonaparte</span> (what I’m about to describe was originally intended to be 1 of maybe 6 films about him; this one covers his life from 1783 at a military college to his invasion of Italy in 1796) <span style="color: #073763;">is </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Napoléon</span> </i> (note the "e" accent) <span style="color: #073763;">by Abel Gance</span> (1927)<span style="color: #073763;">, a multi-hour extravaganza by a French master of silent cinema just as the industry was in the earliest days of converting to sound. There are a several cinematic experimental incorporations in this older film that surprised audiences of those days, with the most dynamic being how the final scenes were suddenly part of a 3-screen-triptych as 2 additional projectors brought the visuals into a marvelously widescreen configuration, with some of the imagery in vast horizontal panoramas, some of it in multi-image juxtaposition. It also evokes this successful soldier’s fond connections to the ideals of the Revolution, whereas Scott’s version seems to forget that completely once Napoleon is</span> (temporarily) <span style="color: #073763;">secured as Emperor.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Due to the extended length, the difficult technological requirements to properly show what Gance had created, and the need for a full orchestra to provide audio accompaniment to match the power of the visuals, this masterpiece was rarely seen after the mid-1930s until film historian/restorer Kevin Brownlow began working on a decades-long-project to bring <i>Napoléon </i>back into theaters, at least for singular special events. For awhile in 1980 Francis Ford Coppola released his own edit of the Brownlow footage which ran for nearly 4 hours at 24 frames per second</span> (a standard speed for silent films)<span style="color: #073763;">, a musical soundtrack by his father, Carmine Coppola, attached</span> (I saw this version when I lived in Dallas, TX; it was quite spectacular)<span style="color: #073763;">, but the most triumphant version of <i>Napoléon </i>I’ve had the pleasure to encounter was in 2012 in Oakland, CA at the magnificent Art Deco Paramount Theatre where it ran for 5 hours, 32 minutes at 20 fps, with the triptych finale, accompanied by a live orchestra using Clive Davis’ score</span> (there were 3 intermissions, 1 of them an extended dinner break)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLbIEh-oPOWSvAZPjAWr-8iqn9JC_GuUNWKGVmoexM_mJAoVW9Fik-UOV-_K62wSxuhG5fRZumu6aEpZGT6crrN-_vLNDHa2rowSMagr5IBYx0YwyGeHQPrqLPFY0xkqf7IFleVURvPqVI1rlLbGDEm_rGv-yrSBMjJbfvBgGBoaPyFFlWzc1luJdZEQ/s487/22144_015.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="241" data-original-width="487" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLbIEh-oPOWSvAZPjAWr-8iqn9JC_GuUNWKGVmoexM_mJAoVW9Fik-UOV-_K62wSxuhG5fRZumu6aEpZGT6crrN-_vLNDHa2rowSMagr5IBYx0YwyGeHQPrqLPFY0xkqf7IFleVURvPqVI1rlLbGDEm_rGv-yrSBMjJbfvBgGBoaPyFFlWzc1luJdZEQ/w640-h316/22144_015.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">My review of this long-ago-marvel</span> (a rare 5 stars praise) <span style="color: #073763;">is in</span><b> <a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2012/03/napoleon-21-jump-street-and-friends.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our March 30, 2012 posting</span></a> </b>(early on in this blog’s existence, lousy layout with too much text relative to the visuals; my apologies)<span style="color: #073763;">. I wish I could easily steer you to a video transcription of it—and there are some—but I have no idea how well they capture the visual impact of this film, let alone what soundtrack</span> (if any?) <span style="color: #073763;">is used. You can get the 1980 Coppola version in a U.S. region DVD for only $9.99 from</span> <b><a href="https://www.rarefilmsondvd.com/product-page/napoleon-1927-dvd"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">this site</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, but the</span> (hopefully) <span style="color: #073763;">best investment comes from</span><b> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Napoleon-DVD/dp/B01MTZUB9I"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">another site</span></a></b><b> </b><span style="color: #073763;">which seems to be the 2012 Brownlow version DVD for $29.99</span> ($76.39 for Blu-ray)<span style="color: #073763;">, but this is a Region 2 DVD not playable in the U.S.-Canada market</span> (intended for Europe, most of Asia/Oceania, most of Africa, parts of South America) <span style="color: #073763;">unless you also buy a Multi-Region Code Zone Free PAL/NTSC player for an additional $29.98; I’ll leave that choice to you, but assuming this all works as intended it would be a marvelous investment to be able to own/see the wonder that is Gance’s <i>Napoléon</i>. If you don’t want to go to all that trouble, though, you might content yourself with</span> <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6504eRh5h6M"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">this trailer from that film</span></a></b>,<span style="color: #073763;"> along with my chosen Musical Metaphor for Scott’s current biopic of <i>Napoleon</i>, which I think should be Bob Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”</span> (from his notable 1965 <i>Bringing It All Back Home </i>album) <span style="color: #073763;">at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF9wmfGI0iA"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF9 wmfGI0iA</span></b></a> (live concert in Manchester, England 1965)<span style="color: #073763;">, choosing it not so much for what happens in most of the movie but more about how it all falls apart for Napoleon by the end:</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> “</span><span><span style="color: #38761d;">You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last / But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> All your seasick sailors, they are rowing home / All your reindeer armies, are all going home </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> Forget the dead you’ve left, they will not follow you […] Strike another match, go start anew / And it’s all over now, Baby Blue.” </span></span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">No clarity on who the Baby Blue is here </span><span style="color: #666666;">(some even speculate it might be self-referential, Dylan’s former-folkie-persona)</span><span style="color: #073763;">, but for me it sounds an awful lot like the Napoleon Ridley Scott's constructed for us, no matter how he might resemble the historical Emperor of France.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></p><div><b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span> </b></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhYqz491v8eCrFsbF1Q57a0tDQHVBhk-a6nyvk_GUruL27u_hGRv8G9UfzSfULXBz54RotXFHzAnpTa63gx2EVvRLx_TR6tKPmUyJ6n28PSGJaCdB0_rf6BkbOWhvvh0oTj-0cLQQ5s56hD_tT5PdplkwDwF0yC3kDjQOoUO4M53p_50a9nDr45RG1mg/s1949/Hidden%20Hollywood%2082.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhYqz491v8eCrFsbF1Q57a0tDQHVBhk-a6nyvk_GUruL27u_hGRv8G9UfzSfULXBz54RotXFHzAnpTa63gx2EVvRLx_TR6tKPmUyJ6n28PSGJaCdB0_rf6BkbOWhvvh0oTj-0cLQQ5s56hD_tT5PdplkwDwF0yC3kDjQOoUO4M53p_50a9nDr45RG1mg/w640-h294/Hidden%20Hollywood%2082.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:</span> </span></b></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Options for you: (1)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2024/tv/awards/emmys-2023-2024-winners-list-1235870276/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=491814_01-15-2024&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Emmy Awards list for 2023 TV programs</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">;</span><b style="color: #073763;"> (</b><span style="color: #073763;">2)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2024/film/news/critics-choice-awards-2024-winners-list-1235870581/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=491617_01-14-2024&utm_term=290984 "><span style="color: #2b00fe;">2024 Critics Choice Awards list</span></a> </b>(film winners similar to Golden Globe winners; TV winners somewhat similar to Emmy winners<span style="color: #073763;">); (3)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2024/01/award-winning-apple-original-film-killers-of-the-flower-moon-from-martin-scorsese-to-premiere-globally-on-apple-tv-on-january-12-2024/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>Killers of the Flower Moon</i> now available on Apple TV+</span></a> </b>(still my choice, Best Picture of 2023)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Two Guys in the Dark homepage</span></a></b><b style="color: #941100;">. </b><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>If you’d like to</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>Like</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>us on Facebook </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(yes?)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b> please visit</b></span><b> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our Facebook page</span></a></b><span style="color: #941100;"><b>. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us! </b></span><span style="color: #073763;">Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google accoun</span>t (which you can easily get at <a href="https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount</span></b></a> if you need to sign up) <span style="color: #073763;">or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our<b> </b>Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it</span> (most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p>
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<p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p>
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<p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were </span><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">5,579</span></b><span style="color: #073763;">—a huge drop-off from the marvelous 40-50K of some recent months;</span> <span style="color: #990000;">never overestimate yourself!</span> (As always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers.) <span style="color: #073763;">Below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week</span> (with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiaQwK6-WGjvi6DZPXwuymJc3aWUavOchQ0KtORfYUm_WMUhatU3Kh-AGpSzJ3SdXDeq49oc4yidg0Yo_iUhHB_maaK37gIimRLplQiH_oMhd1Nw5t1-61J8sUKQxFOKmfQi2aPbPYf4LRQUf4s_hR-toxjs742R6czup42uHNXSWnAGCU-PR5N9eDnw/s1153/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-17%20at%209.02.24%20AM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1069" data-original-width="1153" height="594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiaQwK6-WGjvi6DZPXwuymJc3aWUavOchQ0KtORfYUm_WMUhatU3Kh-AGpSzJ3SdXDeq49oc4yidg0Yo_iUhHB_maaK37gIimRLplQiH_oMhd1Nw5t1-61J8sUKQxFOKmfQi2aPbPYf4LRQUf4s_hR-toxjs742R6czup42uHNXSWnAGCU-PR5N9eDnw/w654-h594/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-17%20at%209.02.24%20AM.jpg" width="654" /></a></div></div>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-12596769674261047872024-01-10T23:16:00.000-08:002024-01-10T23:16:22.298-08:00Saltburn plus Short Takes on some other cinematic topics<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">A Well-Calculated Under-the-Radar Assault</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Review and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the</span> <b>CCAL</b> (Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b> </span>(Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, but better options are on the horizon.</span> (Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue </b></span>below <span style="color: #999999;">[some may look near</span> <span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span><span style="color: #999999;">] </span>is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;">My reviews’ premise: </span>“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAoUy_GeGD5MM-qJpGI0r4kYFxYIuF6BgHQKsKJQLCR92-8zUBnflTlNhUwLmhboTAqGo34IAjDwSKP4xTgiic-he-Q6DJb0aa2JluhcT_OMlbXdtU40JEB_gZRpqHJpAg7oybC41uTdAa8uYHEbzFePDmW-kNoPZacAycewC-BqJ_Jpu_1UHNl6UF5w/s109/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAoUy_GeGD5MM-qJpGI0r4kYFxYIuF6BgHQKsKJQLCR92-8zUBnflTlNhUwLmhboTAqGo34IAjDwSKP4xTgiic-he-Q6DJb0aa2JluhcT_OMlbXdtU40JEB_gZRpqHJpAg7oybC41uTdAa8uYHEbzFePDmW-kNoPZacAycewC-BqJ_Jpu_1UHNl6UF5w/s1600/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.saltburnfilm.net/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Saltburn</span></a></span></i></b><b><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Emerald Fennell, 2023)</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">rated R</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">131 min.</span></b></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lALMdJf6UUE" width="320" youtube-src-id="lALMdJf6UUE"></iframe></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="color: #008f00;">If you can abide </b><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">plot spoilers</span></b></span><b style="color: #008f00;"> read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ </b><b><span style="color: #93c47d;">(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</span></b><b style="color: #008f00;">. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and</span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">red.⇐</span> </b></span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj8G72r4XeYpf1S5cqvJU7krSsWSUlh-xNaHbEd5LI_lAOcgKnGRnor8u7nUsK1ynXsmpl5LUYvo8hT9-EE_HnxsNlp_SBYdRRuWfBaNR6P4ghccn75OMrnJB5lyr4Ni3KE_drfjMHVkkWYMXyA_-JimRVGDCnC625LziR-0ycvILgyL9vs9oubueVGA/s600/22292_001.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj8G72r4XeYpf1S5cqvJU7krSsWSUlh-xNaHbEd5LI_lAOcgKnGRnor8u7nUsK1ynXsmpl5LUYvo8hT9-EE_HnxsNlp_SBYdRRuWfBaNR6P4ghccn75OMrnJB5lyr4Ni3KE_drfjMHVkkWYMXyA_-JimRVGDCnC625LziR-0ycvILgyL9vs9oubueVGA/w640-h360/22292_001.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;">(Photos retain the film's 4x3 format; side black bars aren’t seen, just show what a widescreen format would be. Character on the left is Oliver, on the right Cousin Farleigh </span><span style="color: #93c47d; font-family: helvetica;">[couldn't find one of Felix]</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;">.)</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">What Happens:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">2006, a new class of students enters England’s Oxford U., including working-class Oliver Quick</span> (Barry Keoghan) <span style="color: #073763;">on a scholarship, intimidated by so very many wealthy, privileged classmates, with a clear understanding of this as he meets with a professor</span> (Reese Shearsmith)<span style="color: #073763;"> who’s surprised but not all that impressed by the kid’s having read all 50 of the suggested books prior to the fall semester yet is accepting/near-differential to late-arriving Farleigh Start</span> (Archie Madekwe<span style="color: #0b5394;">)</span><span style="color: #073763;">, due to his mother being a woman the prof admired years ago from afar when they were both Oxford students</span> (we later learn Farleigh’s a cousin of the Catton family, a major presence here, his Mom a sister of Sir James Catton <span style="color: #999999;">[Richard E. Grant]</span> who sent her away to America, has cut off her family funding)<span style="color: #073763;">. Oliver has his own admiration from afar for Felix Catton</span> (Jacob Elordi)—<span style="color: #073763;">rich, handsome, popular—but feels he has no opening to make contact, until one day as he’s bicycling to return some books he finds Felix on the trail with his bike hobbled by a flat tire, making him soon-to-be-late for an important appointment</span> (seems to run in this family),<span style="color: #073763;"> so Oliver lends Felix his bike, leading to Felix inviting Oliver to join in with his crowd, even providing the excuse at a pub one night that Oliver dropped his wad of bills on the way to the bar to pay for a round for the group</span> (just before Felix showed up with this sudden rescue, Oliver was mortified with no way to afford so many drinks)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> As their friendship grows, Oliver tells Felix he has no useful home life as his parents are addicts, then he breaks the news his father’s just died, so Felix invites Oliver to spend the summer with him at the family estate, Saltburn. Upon arriving at this grand location with its monstrous mansion, Oliver’s welcomed by the entire extended family—Sir James, Lady Elspeth</span> (Rosamund Pike)<span style="color: #073763;">, Felix’s sister Venetia</span> (Alison Oliver)<span style="color: #073763;">, her friend Pamela</span> (Carey Mulligan)<span style="color: #073763;">—although cousin Farleigh’s there too, caustic as ever, barely hiding distain for the guest. As time goes on, seemingly-shy Oliver makes clear his obsession with Felix by seeing his friend masturbating in the bathtub, licking up some of the water afterward; later, he will make useful connections with other members of this group.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBKOnKZc6_honea1zMyu7D3KFBvwdQeOQxLaro14SuQronnW4AyRSkbRmI4vhpjhM9ywubKSWKzQPBYQgYu9jWdGB524mS_ntOgEWspmO6PQABaTUm1wyJXcsu46GjZ-Sm8zmcbXI7IwPAVAIS4GGnGv0Yo3DA_SoNyFSId94P3C6_ThgOhOipJuXeag/s600/22292_007.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBKOnKZc6_honea1zMyu7D3KFBvwdQeOQxLaro14SuQronnW4AyRSkbRmI4vhpjhM9ywubKSWKzQPBYQgYu9jWdGB524mS_ntOgEWspmO6PQABaTUm1wyJXcsu46GjZ-Sm8zmcbXI7IwPAVAIS4GGnGv0Yo3DA_SoNyFSId94P3C6_ThgOhOipJuXeag/w640-h360/22292_007.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">He </span></span><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">praises Lady Elspeth’s beauty as a reason Venetia feels insecure, then seduces Venetia with oral sex in the garden one night despite her menstuation—Farleigh sees this, threatens Oliver with the revelation yet Oliver responses with a sexual advance on Farleigh at night, further demanding he keep the Oliver-Venetia incident a secret.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Farleigh’s ousted the next day anyway when Sir James discovers the young man intended to sell some Catton valuables through a London auction house.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> As summer’s end nears, James and Elspeth plan a huge birthday party for Oliver, even as Felix decides to surprise his friend with a trip to Oliver’s home in an attempt to reconcile him with his distant family.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">To Felix’s shock, Oliver’s Dad Jeff</span> (Shaun Dooley) <span style="color: #073763;">is very much alive, he and Mum Paula</span> (Dorothy Atkinson) <span style="color: #073763;">are quite decent folks with love for their intelligent son, so angry Felix tells Oliver he’s to leave Saltburn right after the party, with Oliver’s pleas about loving Felix to no avail.</span></span><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Instead, Oliver poisons Felix’s drink that night, killing him, then is asked by Elspeth to stay on.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">In one of the most convincing scenes for an R rating, Oliver goes at night to Felix’s fresh grave, prostrates himself on the dirt, gyrating, then takes off his clothes to either masturbate on the plot or simulate sex with the corpse</span> (yet, when the film begins we find older Oliver saying he was never in love with Felix <span style="color: #999999;">[despite earlier pleas to the contrary]</span>, later says he hated his supposed close friend)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Oliver leaves the impression Felix died from drugs supplied by Farleigh so Sir James cuts him off completely, forbids his return to this family.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Soon troubled Venetia is found dead in that noted bathtub, having slit her wrists</span> (we learn that Oliver put the razor blades nearby so she’d easily find them)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">At this point, Sir James pays Oliver to leave, which he accepts.</span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">⇒</span></b></span><span style="background-color: #fcff01; font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: red;">Forward</span></b></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">to 2022: Oliver reads about Sir James’ death, has a chance encounter with Elspeth at a café where she invites him back to Saltburn; he accepts, then sometime later we find her in poor health with Oliver removing her breathing tube, killing her, as he knows she’s left the estate and the family fortune to him in her will. In the final scene, naked Oliver is dancing through his new home, with a flashback that shows him damaging Felix’s bicycle tire years ago, letting us know he had a carefully-calculated-plan to ingratiate himself with the Cattons </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(what he might have had to do with Sir James’ death, Elspeth’s illness we’re not shown, but he certainly could have been involved in their situations as well)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">, eventually acquire all of their heritage as he apparently despised his own original station in</span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600; font-family: helvetica;"><b>life.⇐</b></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBWwYU3EmaFNutmB05__Z-dbBlMEqlb9jg_-WREQ6QT7kgz160XeUXXPgn_7Hap-sskXGk_2aarJn-JHXlPPxAI3x_kOPRy74UjXi93IHQ8zHA4uPOWDNKVFvDm40IRIAUE6PpNNmu2T1OotxjNcSgdXnmX-bW2G8LHMB14q1uLra5Ui4etiEbvAryLQ/s600/22292_008.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBWwYU3EmaFNutmB05__Z-dbBlMEqlb9jg_-WREQ6QT7kgz160XeUXXPgn_7Hap-sskXGk_2aarJn-JHXlPPxAI3x_kOPRy74UjXi93IHQ8zHA4uPOWDNKVFvDm40IRIAUE6PpNNmu2T1OotxjNcSgdXnmX-bW2G8LHMB14q1uLra5Ui4etiEbvAryLQ/w640-h360/22292_008.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So What?</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">Maybe it’s tradition for upper-class-Brits to have country estates with odd names, as I now find Saltburn joining James Bond’s Skyfall</span> (from the movie by that name; Sam Mendes, 2012)<span style="color: #073763;">. That’s not what intrigued me about this film, though; the more-compelling-attractions include my admiration for Fennell’s earlier </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Promising Young Woman</span> </i>(2020, Oscar win for her for Best Original Screenplay; 4-stars review in our January 28, 2021 posting) <span style="color: #073763;">along with the presence of Pike and Mulligan</span> (although the latter’s presence is brief here; I definitely wanted to see more of Mulligan after her marvelous work in <i>Maestro </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Bradley Cooper, 2023; review in our January 4, 2024 posting]</span> but also was quite pleased with Elordi, who impressed me considerably more in the role of Felix than he did as Elvis Presley in <i>Priscilla </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Sofia Coppola, 2023; review in that same 1/4/2024 posting]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">—for that matter, I didn’t immediately remember seeing Keoghan, even though I’d watched him in <i>Dunkirk </i></span>(Christopher Nolan, 2017; review in our July 27, 2017 posting)<span style="color: #073763;">, </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">The Green Knight</span> </i>(David Lowery, 2021; review in our November 4, 2021 posting)<span style="color: #073763;">, and </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">The Banshees of Inisherin</span> </i>(Martin McDonagh, 2022; review in our December 22, 2022 posting) <span style="color: #073763;">and ultimately enjoyed him considerably more in this present role. <i>Saltburn </i>is a wicked film</span> (some might say darkly-comic, others might be horrified at the casual-regard for human life evidenced by Oliver)<span style="color: #073763;">, exploring the worst aspects of class-privilege, class-obsession, but it’s all done with a discerning eye/attitude by the production team; those unsavory aspects are analyzed well in</span> <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRUwh8AttSw"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">this short video</span></a> </b>(10:45; <b>Spoilers </b><span style="color: #999999;">[ad interrupts at 8:05]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">with eloquent explorations of 2 dominant themes: insatiable desire & exploring the forbidden. </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> <span>For a useful look at Fennell’s own commentary on her film, here’s</span></span><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlVtm5jrgoY"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">her extended exploration</span></a></span></b> (13:35 <span style="color: #999999;">[ad interrupts at 8:20]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">about the scene of Oliver’s arrival at Saltburn</span> (including why she used the old, boxy 4x3 format rather than the usual widescreen of today, to be able to include both fabulous floors and ceilings in the same shots within Saltburn <span style="color: #999999;">[filmed in an actual English mansion]</span> implying the long tradition of wealth and assumed-social-standing of the Cattons, both in what’s shown of their fabulous residence and in the implication of these older images of how this family’s rooted in the past, even though Oliver longs to be part of such a heritage as well, by any mad means necessary)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3RAa2cdgGGLuN5PCNhwupn2znPQs0cjCQdHFQKuWqkSZkrxm8K6T3uzkxkwjZqZxJQn2EfUsPIB-iQK9CgrnpGNv47FFS1Sf27uS8_TEVzuTUVdYLIrpJEEGc4Jvrdze5a7Rg7JLkPlqOo5YiUPAyWHqG3oQd0Z3PGCKrFBwHL7Z6HzU6LgsJ_2yAow/s600/22292_009.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3RAa2cdgGGLuN5PCNhwupn2znPQs0cjCQdHFQKuWqkSZkrxm8K6T3uzkxkwjZqZxJQn2EfUsPIB-iQK9CgrnpGNv47FFS1Sf27uS8_TEVzuTUVdYLIrpJEEGc4Jvrdze5a7Rg7JLkPlqOo5YiUPAyWHqG3oQd0Z3PGCKrFBwHL7Z6HzU6LgsJ_2yAow/w640-h360/22292_009.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span>A</span> </span><span style="color: #073763;">final bit of background material about this rather-nasty-film is presented in </span><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLMenlS_Iz4"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">another video</span></a> </b>(13:15; <b>Spoilers </b><span style="color: #999999;">[ads interrupt at 2:55, 9:40]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, offering additional insights about what we’re watching here. You certainly would have no reason to expect anything simple or even pleasant in Fennell’s screenplay/directorial work based on the gruesome situations</span> (with an unexpected-yet-satisfying-twist at the end) <span style="color: #073763;">in <i>Promising Young Woman </i>and the slowly-revealed-atrocious-nature of the protagonist in <i>Saltburn</i>, but, despite how disturbing these cinematic-situations become as the plots unfold, Fennell’s films are fascinating to watch, even as <i>Saltburn </i>becomes a bit too explicit as Oliver’s true nature is made manifest</span> (although Keoghan effectively conveys his inherent sliminess—he was nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama, as was Pike for Best Supporting Actress, Motion Picture, for the recent Golden Globe Awards, but both of them lost <span style="color: #999999;">[complete winners list as the first item in the <b>SHORT TAKES </b>section of this posting farther below]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">. I’m a bit ambivalent overall regarding this film as I was fascinated by much of it, surprised at how it evolved, but didn’t fully feel like it left me with a “Wow!” response, so maybe</span><b> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/2023/11/21/saltburn-movie-review/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Ann Hornaday</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">of <i>The Washington Post </i>can help me out:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“</span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #38761d;">The kinks and cosseted pleasures of the upper classes are on lurid display in ‘Saltburn,’ Emerald Fennell’s aristo-gothic sexual thriller set amid England’s toniest precincts, from Oxford to the titular estate. The rich aren’t like you, me or any other recognizable human being in this story that adds equal parts F. Scott Fitzgerald, Patricia Highsmith and Daphne du Maurier to the martini shaker and gives it a good tumble. If Fennell doesn’t quite stick the landing — if her story of striving, sexual obsession, class resentment and revenge ultimately feels puny and predictable — she certainly has fun getting there.”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">Yes, t</span></span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #073763;">hat’s what I meant! Thanks, Ann; you rock!</span></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5HOBYeDlpMyvNek1UntI4VNp2Lm43pWopoLMwUM1evzVo2lHudjaLX4LKoJsjo0NP29sTQu8Ci6TUUv-pEHGg0Nok7r-19t5wlIolAhLc4lD-68VxmC5yIBhr0T7GG_MqOkIqUXOYsAKs6_kZvplfdDo0hWwoScWVG0UvzmhbEmtbZxjjpYos9h8Nyw/s579/22292_005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="579" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5HOBYeDlpMyvNek1UntI4VNp2Lm43pWopoLMwUM1evzVo2lHudjaLX4LKoJsjo0NP29sTQu8Ci6TUUv-pEHGg0Nok7r-19t5wlIolAhLc4lD-68VxmC5yIBhr0T7GG_MqOkIqUXOYsAKs6_kZvplfdDo0hWwoScWVG0UvzmhbEmtbZxjjpYos9h8Nyw/w640-h310/22292_005.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Bottom Line Final Comments:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;"><i>Saltburn </i>had its domestic</span> (U.S.-Canada) <span style="color: #073763;">debut on November 17, 2023</span> (7 theaters, went wide to 1,566 on Nov. 22; to date, it’s made $11.4 million at the box-office, $20.4 million worldwide),<span style="color: #073763;"> but down to 65 venues so your best shot now is through </span><b><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/saltburn"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">streaming</span></a><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">for Amazon Prime Video subscribers</span> (or slip in for a month at $8.99, also helping yourself to the rest of their vast catalogue)<span style="color: #073763;">. Just as I’m not totally able to give a glowing recommendation for this film </span>(though it’s quite entertaining overall, especially if you subscribe to the “eat the rich” mentality)<span style="color: #073763;">, so is the </span><b style="color: #073763;">CCAL </b><span style="color: #073763;">not enthusiastically supportive with the</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/saltburn"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews only at 71%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, the</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/saltburn/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Metacritic average score at an even-lower 61%</span></a> </b>(which puts all of them generally in line with my 3½ stars of 5) <span style="color: #073763;">so I’ll leave it to you as to whether you'll pursue it or not, yet it’s unlikely to make my 2023 Top 10 as I already have a good number of 4 stars-rated-options to decide among for those honors</span> (plus what’s sure to be my #1 given its rare 4½ stars from me, <i>Killers of the Flower Moon </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Martin Scorsese, 2023; review, November 9, 2023 posting; congratulations to Lily Gladstone for her Golden Globe win as Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">with a few others I hope to see in the next month or so to help round out my final choices.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> For now, though, I’ll leave you with my usual review wrap-up tactic of a Musical Metaphor, this time being The Beatles’ “And Your Bird Can Sing”</span> (on the 1966 UK version of <i>Revolver</i>, US <i>Yesterday and Today </i>albums) <span style="color: #073763;">at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g2eU9YGwWQ"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g2eU9YGwWQ</span></b></a><b> </b>(this version has some minor, repetitive visuals added, but still more interesting to watch than just the <i>Revolver </i>cover for 2 minutes)<span style="color: #073763;">, even though the song’s originally about the singer distancing himself from someone</span> (some say Frank Sinatra, with “bird” referring to his penis <span style="color: #999999;">[!]</span>; some say Beatles-Rolling Stones rival Mick Jagger and his girlfriend of the moment Marianne Faithful <span style="color: #999999;">[a more appropriate surname for her than him]</span> with “bird” mid-‘60s slang for “girl”; some oddly enough say Paul McCartney <span style="color: #999999;">[?]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, stating that no material goods or accomplishments by this other guy will lead to any remorse by the singer. Yet, when you think of this tune as being deviously-sung to the Cattons by Oliver you might agree he’d say</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“When your prized possessions / Start to weigh you down / Look in my direction / I’ll be round, I’ll be round<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">,</span>”</span><span style="color: #448728;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">even though, through his clever manipulations, he’d tell them—after the fact—that</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“You don’t get </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> see </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> hear me,”</span><span style="color: #448728;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">you fools, </span><span style="color: #073763;"><span>as he pulls the expensive wool over all of their eyes. It’s ultimately a mean story with no confirmed clue that we can believe anything superb-con-man-Oliver says, especially about loving Felix</span> (or not)<span>, the foundation of whatever fascination this film may offer.</span></span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #008f00;"><b><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Kwy-5qRZjNtKWiqVdIeLOpER7AE2wYETrtSXKdC1CtmqMGCGZHaZvL-e99guiMTTL1kmUOOiG8vxQdPugSwmxA2n2sr5krZEXidIjh-2n401O9jtqfu_Wi-BGAxE7Ljg8L4RFd5W6zJ2ITn4ROb9VM4R_Gvc3b6KCw0xCpn6mVC2xqq9MKe5YJ-ltA/s1949/Hidden%20Hollywood%2081.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Kwy-5qRZjNtKWiqVdIeLOpER7AE2wYETrtSXKdC1CtmqMGCGZHaZvL-e99guiMTTL1kmUOOiG8vxQdPugSwmxA2n2sr5krZEXidIjh-2n401O9jtqfu_Wi-BGAxE7Ljg8L4RFd5W6zJ2ITn4ROb9VM4R_Gvc3b6KCw0xCpn6mVC2xqq9MKe5YJ-ltA/w640-h294/Hidden%20Hollywood%2081.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:</span> </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Some cinematic-related-options for your consideration: (1)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2024/film/awards/golden-globes-2024-winners-list-1235859774/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=489493_01-07-2024&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Winners of the 2024 Golden Globe Awards</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">;</span><b style="color: #073763;"> (</b><span style="color: #073763;">2) </span><b><a href="https://variety.com/2024/tv/tv-reviews/golden-globes-2024-review-1235864448/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=489647_01-07-2024&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Golden Globe Awards broadcast is a flop</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; (3) </span><b><a href="https://variety.com/2024/film/awards/sag-awards-nominations-2024-1235866459/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=490378_01-10-2024&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">2024 Screen Actors Guild award nominations</span></a></b></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">; (4)</span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://variety.com/2024/film/news/jacob-elordi-frankenstein-guillermo-del-toro-netflix-1235863921/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=489488_01-07-2024&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Jacob Elordi (Felix in <i>Saltburn</i>) will play Frankenstein's monster in Guillermo del Toro's upcoming adaptation of this famed story</span></a></span></b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">; (5)</span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><i style="color: #073763;"> </i><a href="https://variety.com/2024/film/news/imax-box-office-second-biggest-year-history-oppenheimer-1235865457/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=490003_01-09-2024&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #073763;">I</span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">max has a big year in 2023, thanks partly to<i> Oppenheimer</i></span></a></b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">; (6)</span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2024/film/news/national-society-of-film-critics-winners-past-lives-best-picture-2023-1235863275/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=489394_01-06-2024&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">National Society of Film Critics chooses <i>Past Lives</i> as 2023's best</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></p><p style="color: #941100; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Two Guys in the Dark homepage</span></a></b><b style="color: #941100;">. </b><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>If you’d like to</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>Like</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>us on Facebook </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(yes?)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b> please visit</b></span><b> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our Facebook page</span></a></b><span style="color: #941100;"><b>. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us! </b></span><span style="color: #073763;">Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account</span> (which you can easily get at <a href="https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount</span></b></a> if you need to sign up) <span style="color: #073763;">or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our<b> </b>Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it</span> (most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b></b> </span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">5,579</span></b><span style="color: #073763;">—a huge drop-off from the marvelous 40-50K of some recent months;</span> <span style="color: #990000;">never overestimate yourself!</span> (As always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers.) <span style="color: #073763;">Below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week</span> (with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<b><br /></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipSkHd4xklWKLO74xKpz6hOIQr5O482F-uDJ-71Bi8OAsjNN88bkDQZ_g8-jQHpJrLo3w7WVclQkKKP9x1rVW_Fr5loZccwfOQPzK1GsswVI-PeKvGmMNwPFnzm85kYkl3SOxlCbK_YfTfGajfStSKLUja4cBfD8C2zD8IdAgu1x0ycxG5DBM9fhkXsA/s1173/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-10%20at%203.09.11%20PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1065" data-original-width="1173" height="582" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipSkHd4xklWKLO74xKpz6hOIQr5O482F-uDJ-71Bi8OAsjNN88bkDQZ_g8-jQHpJrLo3w7WVclQkKKP9x1rVW_Fr5loZccwfOQPzK1GsswVI-PeKvGmMNwPFnzm85kYkl3SOxlCbK_YfTfGajfStSKLUja4cBfD8C2zD8IdAgu1x0ycxG5DBM9fhkXsA/w652-h582/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-10%20at%203.09.11%20PM.jpg" width="652" /></a></div><p></p>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-70694973696081574432024-01-04T00:22:00.000-08:002024-01-06T15:22:42.000-08:00Short Takes on Maestro, Priscilla, Dress Code, Showing Up, and some other cinematic topics you might care for<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">Some 2024 Appetizers </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">(from 2023)</span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> for You</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimMGVMqZH3T2ClGKSdr1w-3wu0ggbgnoml-ZnIQhtk3aM4ykwKgBNLohvXR5nD8dfjS6YhM3zZqA5M3hocDRPgpYi1z20JYCRqn-JqpSkqN4Hp1NbbzsraagX4JT6G5__P7epBLg4G7BvgCL015okw733vNy0JPzYW084LTpbrnDBZYJOmzvwhfwcEMQ/s626/happy-new-year-2024-background-with-elegant-luxury-golden-numbers_1361-4274.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="322" data-original-width="626" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimMGVMqZH3T2ClGKSdr1w-3wu0ggbgnoml-ZnIQhtk3aM4ykwKgBNLohvXR5nD8dfjS6YhM3zZqA5M3hocDRPgpYi1z20JYCRqn-JqpSkqN4Hp1NbbzsraagX4JT6G5__P7epBLg4G7BvgCL015okw733vNy0JPzYW084LTpbrnDBZYJOmzvwhfwcEMQ/w640-h330/happy-new-year-2024-background-with-elegant-luxury-golden-numbers_1361-4274.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">H<span style="color: #073763;">appy New Year to our worldwide readership from Film Reviews from Two Guys in the Dark. Here I’ll review 4 cinematic offerings I saw while on an end-of-2023-break, presented in order of their stars-ratings. May 2024 be a prosperous, useful time for you </span><span>(even in the face of all the current difficulties we’re trying to rise above)<span style="color: #073763;">,</span></span><span style="color: #073763;"> with these postings as an attempt to give you something else to think about as we all struggle with those complexities of challenging national/international events.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b></span> (Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b></span> (Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, though better options may be on the horizon.</span> (Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue</b></span> <span style="color: #999999;">[some may look near</span> <span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span><span style="color: #999999;">] </span>is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;">My reviews’ premise: </span>“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></b></a><b> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">Normally, I offer the following warning for anyone who decides to read my reviews in this goofy blog:</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="color: #008f00;">If you can abide </b><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">plot spoilers</span></b></span><b style="color: #008f00;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span>read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ </b><b><span style="color: #93c47d;">(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</span></b><b style="color: #008f00;">. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and</span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">red.⇐</span> </b></span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">However, given that my first 2 reviews this time around are about biographical subjects you can easily get extensive details about, I see no point in that tactic in these instances so read all you want.</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYVcUcmsWYiPzFwCkCWavLOE55xkuUGRNRekBu59yuk4u7LIPRWpT_IR7QKTWBVUM84Y9gw-LqbRo4i1HgBwZJQFwR0FpqvrfMZCjcRl0w98qGwowmqXrJw1IMkcGZR49Xp7s0bjiNzcRuqIWu1Vg55fzCpDpi57ApBsoOA6HthG0tkWYIbf68VbQXwA/s109/four%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYVcUcmsWYiPzFwCkCWavLOE55xkuUGRNRekBu59yuk4u7LIPRWpT_IR7QKTWBVUM84Y9gw-LqbRo4i1HgBwZJQFwR0FpqvrfMZCjcRl0w98qGwowmqXrJw1IMkcGZR49Xp7s0bjiNzcRuqIWu1Vg55fzCpDpi57ApBsoOA6HthG0tkWYIbf68VbQXwA/s1600/four%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i> <a href="https://www.maestrofilmofficial.com/" style="color: #2b00fe;">Maestro</a></i></b><b><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Bradley Cooper)</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">rated R</span></b> <span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>131 min</b><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gJP2QblqLA0" width="320" youtube-src-id="gJP2QblqLA0"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL6Z_fiO9GkVyea0FGn1hd50NqQrItFjGMDnWTDP7VvWB4XRmgnVm0pQBV1scUAPkpstVV2trj2PuOzLPot9OeMYecOY3-jNWNct1uBA854VfhAC5nyM51S2uzkKrdixMWuwN4x-3wIXseuzfGpAYd_eE-2ULLiZdT06JVR8gM1c9fgC6wnMsouFHeaA/s560/9aa8c3f8cd02e0756b671d30734189333b7eb145.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="284" data-original-width="560" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL6Z_fiO9GkVyea0FGn1hd50NqQrItFjGMDnWTDP7VvWB4XRmgnVm0pQBV1scUAPkpstVV2trj2PuOzLPot9OeMYecOY3-jNWNct1uBA854VfhAC5nyM51S2uzkKrdixMWuwN4x-3wIXseuzfGpAYd_eE-2ULLiZdT06JVR8gM1c9fgC6wnMsouFHeaA/w640-h324/9aa8c3f8cd02e0756b671d30734189333b7eb145.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">In this marvelous biopic we switch from a focus on a musician’s companion</span> (as we'll see below in <i>Priscilla</i>) <span style="color: #073763;">to instead emphasize another famous musician, Leonard Bernstein</span> (Cooper, who also co-wrote the script with Josh Singer)<span style="color: #073763;">, a concise biography of much of the adult life of this famous composer/conductor, beginning with a quote from him which gives us an insight into what we’re about to see:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;"><span>“A work of art does not answer questions, it provokes them; and its essential meaning is in the tension between the contradictory answers.”</span> </span> <span style="color: #073763;">Then we find elderly Bernstein</span> (in about 1988 when he was 70 <span style="color: #999999;">[born 1918, died 1990]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">being filmed for a documentary, giving more advice</span> (to help us further appreciate what we’ll be seeing over the next couple of hours)<span style="color: #073763;">: </span><span style="color: #38761d;">“If summer doesn’t sing in you then nothing sings in you. And if nothing sings in you then you can’t make music.”</span> (Later we find he’s quoting his deceased wife, Felicia <span style="color: #999999;">[Carey Mulligan]</span>.) <span style="color: #073763;">From there we jump back to 1943 as the imagery changes from color to black & white, the format from wide-screen to the old 4x3 ratio so common in film and TV until the wider screens from roughly the 1960s to today, although when color returns to this story the older ratio continues except for a few brief returns to that opening scene doc.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Back in the early WW II era our protagonist suddenly goes from relative obscurity to fame when the New York Philharmonic conductor, Artur </span></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-align: left;">Rodziński</span>,</span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"> falls ill, requiring his assistant, Bernstein, to take over with no rehearsal</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (great tracking shots connected to this as he gets the phone call that will ultimately lead to his fame)</span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">, yet his mastery is immediate, bringing about enthusiastic audience approval. Despite such emerging notice, though, he had 2 aspects of his life which could easily prove problematic: He was Jewish</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (a trusted friend encouraged him to change his name to “Bern,” but he wouldn’t do it) </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">and homosexual</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (that aspect he chose to keep hidden, despite being easily attracted to various men as the years go on)</span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">. His sexual preferences were challenged, though, when he met actress Felicia Montealegre, leading quickly to marriage</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (and 3 children over their extensive time together)</span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">, although affairs with men weren’t put aside, causing ongoing trouble in their wedded existence </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(at one point he lies to daughter Jamie </span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">[Maya Hawke]</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> who’s heard rumors about Dad, is troubled by them)</span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">Bernstein’s fame continues to grow over his many years, with likely his most-well-known-work</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (for those of us not so attuned to classical constructions) </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">being the music for the famous play</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Jerome Robbins, 1957) & </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">film</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (1961, Robert Wise, Robbins)<span style="color: #073763;">, </span></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><i>West Side Story</i>.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKdRkMDJbg6njzwj_Rlx1nsGZyaY2RTmgvKWAAyf2uBcmNDutw_oU6MaZb_ca989Xxc5gX9M7H5WWz1gISUSoccc-rgX1vhR9MdK6mYvksF3xxV0DxxpALgUUIe2Z4fumWko3qHlRWshwfxOgqWyZnHSoHHMniOQiblMDI7JPZ-qLHq3PJdSnMmlXZCQ/s1019/Screen-Shot-2023-08-15-at-8.54.38-AM.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="1019" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKdRkMDJbg6njzwj_Rlx1nsGZyaY2RTmgvKWAAyf2uBcmNDutw_oU6MaZb_ca989Xxc5gX9M7H5WWz1gISUSoccc-rgX1vhR9MdK6mYvksF3xxV0DxxpALgUUIe2Z4fumWko3qHlRWshwfxOgqWyZnHSoHHMniOQiblMDI7JPZ-qLHq3PJdSnMmlXZCQ/w640-h368/Screen-Shot-2023-08-15-at-8.54.38-AM.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">At one point, though, tensions erupt between Leonard and Felicia, but they determine to remain married, reconcile after his triumphant conducting of Mahler’s <i>Resurrection Symphony </i>at England’s Ely Cathedral in 1973</span> (something Cooper had to studiously-prepare for)<span style="color: #073763;">. Sadly for them, Felicia contracts breast cancer, dies in 1978 leaving Leonard heartbroken, but, even while he's always reminisces about her in his later years he’s still teaching conducting, partying, having fleeting affairs with male students. While I know little about Bernstein’s life and work, and I’m sure much more about his long career could have been explored if the producers had felt comfortable extending the running time by another hour or so in the vein of other 2023 impactful-offerings like </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Oppenheimer</span> </i>(Christopher Nolan <span style="color: #999999;">[review in our August 17, 2023 posting]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">and </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Killers of the Flower Moon</span> </i>(Martin Scorsese <span style="color: #999999;">[review in our November 9, 2023 posting]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">but probably decided against that as most of what we see Bernstein invested in here</span></span><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">—</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">in addition to his adoration of his wife, along with those ongoing-affairs</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">—</span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">is music that likely wouldn’t be a big attraction for the masses; whether I’m right about that or not, one aspect of this film that got some bad press </span>(reminiscent of Nicole Kidman over a decade ago portraying Virginia Woolf in </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">The Hours </i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #999999;">[Stephen Daldry, 2002]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">was Cooper’s use of a large prosthetic nose which led to some charges of anti-Semitism</span> (a likely response given the fierce U.S. conflicts over the current horrid war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza)<span style="color: #073763;">, although this portrayal was supported by both</span> </span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/bradley-cooper-leonard-bernstein-family-maestro-prosthetic-nose-1235567972/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Bernstein's children</span></a> </b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">and the</span> </span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/news/bradley-cooper-prosthetic-nose-maestro-not-antisemitic-anti-defamation-league-1235701214/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Anti-Defamation League</span></a></b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">. As for historical accuracy within the film,</span> </span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UYY97ZX8bo"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">this video</span></a> </b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(12:08 </span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">[ad interrupts at 9:00]</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">) <span style="color: #073763;">explores 10 items done right or wrong, with the main fictionalizations being the evolving relationship with Felicia didn’t move as fast as depicted, Bernstein was not comfortable with the double life he was leading, and he also had some affairs with women during his married years</span> (although he was clearly more frequent with men)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0bQV2tTpseUjSBaNCUbWjfREZi7wxYY8mGUwaOm5IAQ1MCutgkyrcsmescwk_hNf93uTlOgJLdF1DILOnZW0kTAeUVzBmTmZQlo9T4rvZjaVHm8gOdM1dgyD3V3yEuSbPYaaeDAe1TuoQGELrJokgFh05pE0dByNf8XbLnk2Nqm388xiAcIJ2oE0zIA/s1500/Bradley-Cooper-Carey-Mulligan-Maestro-081423-d2dae5040d17419e880e8d490acc5f91.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="871" data-original-width="1500" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0bQV2tTpseUjSBaNCUbWjfREZi7wxYY8mGUwaOm5IAQ1MCutgkyrcsmescwk_hNf93uTlOgJLdF1DILOnZW0kTAeUVzBmTmZQlo9T4rvZjaVHm8gOdM1dgyD3V3yEuSbPYaaeDAe1TuoQGELrJokgFh05pE0dByNf8XbLnk2Nqm388xiAcIJ2oE0zIA/w640-h372/Bradley-Cooper-Carey-Mulligan-Maestro-081423-d2dae5040d17419e880e8d490acc5f91.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">As with any biography that chooses to incorporate fictionalized-aspects rather than being an actual documentary, surely there are things about this film some might find need to criticize</span> (its <b>CCAL </b>scores are high but not outstanding, even as it appears on many critics' Top 10 lists for 2023, has been nominated for many awards, is included among the American Film Institute’s Top 10 of the year, will likely be on mine as well, once I finally see more of the likely contenders)<span style="color: #073763;">, but for me it was a marvelous experience to watch with its focus on a most-complex leading man whose wife was equally-complex in her own right, as the actors portraying them both did superb work, which should lead to some award-wins as decisions are made in the coming months. <i>Maestro </i>hit domestic theaters on November 22, 2023, but, as with standard Netflix procedures, I have little info on how many or if it’s still up there on the big screen anywhere</span> (there is report of about $337.7 thousands gross from a few international sites),<span style="color: #073763;"> so if you’re interested you need to turn to</span> <b><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/maestro-2021-0"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Netflix streaming</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, with the <b>CCAL</b></span> reasonably-<span style="color: #073763;">encouraging such, supported by a cluster of</span> <b><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/maestro_2023"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">79% Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews</span></a> </b>plus<span style="color: #073763;"> a</span> <b><a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/maestro-2023/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">77% Metacritic average score</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">. Given Bernstein’s extensive musical contributions/connections over the decades, I’m sure there may be more appropriate choices for a Musical Metaphor to accompany <i>Maestro</i>, but for me you can’t do better than <i>West Side Story</i>, especially the</span><b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyUV3hIL-G0"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Tonight" quintet</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">as we see Jets, Sharks, Anita, Tony, and Maria with their differing expectations of what will become of the planned-rumble as all these characters harmonize-yet-clash, just as the composer’s life was a constant series of harmonies and clashes. Even if you have little interest for the kind of music Bernstein put most of his energies into</span> (the focus of what we encounter in this powerful film) <span style="color: #073763;">you owe it to yourself to see Cooper at his directorial and performance best</span> (along with Mulligan’s magnificent presence in her depiction)<span style="color: #073763;">; this biopic is truly-top-flight-filmmaking.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOeL5C_XmfmWXuAUz8WVlc-6viu7eLGnRCDtXpGwA0kZjVSxzPcGH5_jXZqmIV8fxjfqFifmlc7ZZ0-rog4Js7uJ10sRRXV2oVN4VPcscm7Yz3UbbVDk-R3a9uQr3_gg0sSFT2UGIWOyqtJVEbw8nZTa1MDfE510Raa2xPJL5yPuhyphenhyphenG_MDpHywI5we8Q/s109/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOeL5C_XmfmWXuAUz8WVlc-6viu7eLGnRCDtXpGwA0kZjVSxzPcGH5_jXZqmIV8fxjfqFifmlc7ZZ0-rog4Js7uJ10sRRXV2oVN4VPcscm7Yz3UbbVDk-R3a9uQr3_gg0sSFT2UGIWOyqtJVEbw8nZTa1MDfE510Raa2xPJL5yPuhyphenhyphenG_MDpHywI5we8Q/s1600/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://a24films.com/films/priscilla"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Priscilla</span></a></span></i></b><b> <span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Sofia Coppola)</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">rated R</span></b> <span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>113</b> <b>min</b><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DBWk6BohVXk" width="320" youtube-src-id="DBWk6BohVXk"></iframe></div><b><br /></b><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZZhE8pOf7G-ZPGyDEueBN1k3T43qX_PZmJwXvzegR2gjCpfSk6kydvUvvtk6jyIvtjv9aYzz9iRw_FtwqIEQ8p9DLv1yC5Ffg-9xbJBET1aE-NAxk-lBbmJ9H_8fldH1TkzUvDcjjX81X3cOkFDxdOCECHG10hCf7v1IlVZ7LdsCa2J45DDbOqJSUw/s982/PRISCILLAwedding-1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="982" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZZhE8pOf7G-ZPGyDEueBN1k3T43qX_PZmJwXvzegR2gjCpfSk6kydvUvvtk6jyIvtjv9aYzz9iRw_FtwqIEQ8p9DLv1yC5Ffg-9xbJBET1aE-NAxk-lBbmJ9H_8fldH1TkzUvDcjjX81X3cOkFDxdOCECHG10hCf7v1IlVZ7LdsCa2J45DDbOqJSUw/w640-h318/PRISCILLAwedding-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><b style="color: #008f00;"> </b><span style="color: #073763;">Likewise,</span></span><span style="color: #073763;"> this docudrama is based on an actual person, Priscilla Beaulieu Presley, and her memoir <i>Elvis and Me </i></span>(co-authored with Sandra Harmon, 1985) <span style="color: #073763;">so it’s told from the perspective of being a 14-year-old girl </span>(Cailee Spaeny) <span style="color: #073763;">on a military base in Bad Nauheim, Germany in 1959 where her father was stationed, being introduced to 24-year-old draftee/rock-and-roll-celebrity Elvis Presley</span> (Jacob Elordi)<span style="color: #073763;">, also stationed there, which led to his immediate infatuation with her </span>(despite her parents’ concerns)<span style="color: #073763;">, dating until Elvis returned to the States, then contacting her again in 1962, somehow convincing her parents to let her come live with him in Graceland</span> (Memphis, TN in 1963) w<span style="color: #073763;">here they’d enjoy a chaste relationship until marriage</span> (they’re often shown sleeping—just sleeping—together; how either of them managed to do that without giving in to obvious urges is beyond me)<span style="color: #073763;">, she’d finish high school, then see where life takes them when she becomes an adult. Life in this gated retreat isn’t what she’d imagined, though, as Elvis is frequently in L.A. making those stupid musicals so Priscilla spends her time with Elvis’ doting grandmother </span>(Lynne Griffin)<span style="color: #073763;">, the present of a little dog to keep the girl company, and constant reprimands from his domineering stepmother </span>(Stephanie Moore)<span style="color: #073763;">; when he’s home, Elvis is domineering in his own way, telling Priscilla to dye her hair black, pile on the black eye-shadow, dress in his approved fashions, generally do what he tells her, start to share some of his prescription drugs </span>(mostly downers for her at first but uppers for him)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Adding to Priscilla’s growing anguish are the tabloid rumors of an affair with Elvis’ </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Viva Las Vegas</span> </i>(George Sidney, 1964)<i> </i><span style="color: #073763;">co-star, Ann-Margaret; she even flies on her own to L.A. to confront him, but he just sends her back to Graceland</span> (where she uses his fame to help cheat her way through her Catholic school graduation)<span style="color: #073763;">. Finally, they marry in 1967, but the happiness there is soon tempered by his career pressures with manager Col. Tom Parker</span> (not shown here; if you want a large dose of him played by Tom Hanks, see <i>Elvis </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Baz Luhrmann, 2022; review in our July 22, 2022 posting]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">who refuses to let him go on an international tour, sets him up for extended shows in Las Vegas, which just darkens Elvis’ private moods, increases his drug use, provides Priscilla with little alone time with her husband because his extended posse is nearly always around. She does manage to get pregnant, though, with Lisa Marie born in 1968. Marriage tensions continue to grow, they begin to lead increasingly-separate-lives, she gets involved with karate instructor Mike Stone</span> (Evan Annisette)<span style="color: #073763;">, even as Elvis temporarily gets hooked on metaphysics before renouncing such interests.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyzB4Tw-2UnfckE4QjWD_9h03dD5Kjr9HXEKIAE6CjnOa0S8AclyzPP-mRqktQjiNo0gaKjdn-wVeWuXANOPcbP00HuPepo7JHQvvIKpVxmegU8IykXOLvU0o3huNS7P0RrfabVYv02lSkaWfD37QIbDEbK3iZK-5o17fE26Li2CbE1BZG3kabWErPXw/s1574/MV5BY2UwNjEyNDEtMWZlNC00MjMyLWI5MGYtODYzNTJjZGVlM2ZkXkEyXkFqcGdeQXZ3ZXNsZXk@._V1_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="1574" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyzB4Tw-2UnfckE4QjWD_9h03dD5Kjr9HXEKIAE6CjnOa0S8AclyzPP-mRqktQjiNo0gaKjdn-wVeWuXANOPcbP00HuPepo7JHQvvIKpVxmegU8IykXOLvU0o3huNS7P0RrfabVYv02lSkaWfD37QIbDEbK3iZK-5o17fE26Li2CbE1BZG3kabWErPXw/w640-h312/MV5BY2UwNjEyNDEtMWZlNC00MjMyLWI5MGYtODYzNTJjZGVlM2ZkXkEyXkFqcGdeQXZ3ZXNsZXk@._V1_.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">When she visits drunken Elvis in his hotel room in 1973 the clash leads to divorce, with this story ending as she drives away from Graceland for the final time</span> (although the book apparently goes a bit further, to Elvis’ death in 1977)<span style="color: #073763;">. In that the real Priscilla Presley served as an executive producer of this movie, it certainly had her approval and seems to have largely presented events as they actually occurred </span>(see <b><a href="https://variety.com/lists/priscilla-movie-accuracy-true-false/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=475157_11-04-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">this <i>Variety</i> article</span></a> </b>and this<b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmyo_Kjf-ec"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"right & wrong" video</span></a> </b><span style="color: #999999;">[12:38; ad interrupts at 2:40]</span> for verification)<span style="color: #073763;">; however, before her death in January 2023 Lisa Marie Presley, upon seeing the script for the movie in September 2022,</span> <a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/news/lisa-marie-presley-slammed-sofia-coppola-priscilla-script-1235777982/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=474735_11-02-2023&utm_term=290984"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">slammed it</span></b></a> <span style="color: #073763;">as using</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“shockingly vengeful and contemptuous”</span> <span style="color: #073763;">depictions of her father</span> (although she enjoyed <i>Elvis</i>, but maybe because there he’s depicted more as a victim of Parker rather than the abuser he comes off as in <i>Priscilla</i>; apparently Elvis Presley Enterprises didn’t care for Priscilla’s take on her life with “The King” either, as they denied Coppola the use of Elvis’ music in this movie <span style="color: #999999;">[Sofia still uses a great soundtrack, even if some of the tunes aren’t period-correct]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, with Lisa Marie knowing she’d ultimately be opposing Mom about this project.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether Elvis is depicted more accurately in <i>Elvis </i>or </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Priscilla</span> </i>(the actual Priscilla gives her thoughts on <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxX1ZP4I76o"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">a few of the scenes</span></a> </b><span style="color: #999999;">[1:50</span><b><span style="color: #999999;">]</span> </b>from the movie named for her)<span style="color: #073763;">, but I will say Spaeny does a marvelous job of presenting the lovestruck-but-troubled-woman in the latter, while Elordi does a decent job of rendering the King of Rock and Roll but is nowhere in the same league as Austin Butler in the former</span> (here’s <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlxPXwXe8z8"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">a comparison</span></a> </b><span style="color: #999999;">[14:30]</span> for your consideration which generally agrees with me; ad interrupts at 10:25)<span style="color: #073763;">. <i>Priscilla </i>opened domestically</span> (U.S.-Canada) <span style="color: #073763;">on October 27, 2023, its widest release in 2,361 theaters and can still be found in 115 of them, has so far grossed $20.9 million, but is mostly available now on</span><b> <a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/priscilla"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">streaming platforms</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, etc. for a $19.99 rental, which the CCAL would encourage</span> <span style="color: #073763;">with</span> <span><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/priscilla" style="color: #2b00fe; font-weight: bold;">RT positive reviews at 83%</a><span style="color: #073763;">,</span></span><span style="color: #073763;"> the</span> <b> <a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/priscilla/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">MC average score at 79%</span></a><span style="color: #073763;">. </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">I’ll leave you with my usual wrap-up device of a Musical Metaphor, which also won’t come from Elvis</span> (or even Dolly Parton’s version of “I Will Always Love You,” the final cut on the <i>Priscilla </i>soundtrack) <span style="color: #073763;">but instead Paul Simon with “Graceland”</span> (from his 1986 album of the same name) <span style="color: #073763;">at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VTcBO4q5kY"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VTcBO4q5kY</span></b></a><b> </b>(2012 concert at London’s Hyde Park) <span style="color: #073763;">due to lyrics I find in sync with this movie such as</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“</span><span><span style="color: #38761d;">she said losing love / Is like a window in your heart / Everybody sees you’re blown apart / Everybody sees the wind blow </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> And I may be obliged to defend / Every love, every ending / Or maybe there’s no obligations now / Maybe I’ve a reason to believe / We all will be received in Graceland.”</span></span> <span style="color: #073763;">I’d recommend you to see <i>Priscilla</i>, but actually going to Graceland is another decision for you entirely.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu5bD6nRQCRRWoJMUwsVFT_T2LCCzyS8ZBeK3Qrlyl06HgN_P-BPBcfIOKm2_saODf_AILfq__kACl0MAJ7GxiRgMsTIElvwWRCU4YfLWsT5Rk5-3Usz1JqkF9eqfhz3VabPVwRVyZKs-VwetbfoPgyZcEdHL6mIPZFdE_cvoJpr5YLAk_zZzezT5irA/s109/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu5bD6nRQCRRWoJMUwsVFT_T2LCCzyS8ZBeK3Qrlyl06HgN_P-BPBcfIOKm2_saODf_AILfq__kACl0MAJ7GxiRgMsTIElvwWRCU4YfLWsT5Rk5-3Usz1JqkF9eqfhz3VabPVwRVyZKs-VwetbfoPgyZcEdHL6mIPZFdE_cvoJpr5YLAk_zZzezT5irA/s1600/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16030416/ "><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Dress Code</span></a></span></i></b><b><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Joseph Pupello)</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> Not Rated/TV-MA</span></b> <b><span style="color: #0b5394;">108 min.</span></b></span></div><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sgXcQm6VFOQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="sgXcQm6VFOQ"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIKST9cBAmp4XW9IEjCJUvWDSNKJzrkHhkqjNLRmeEW4sJFe60OaHREseICg59cmFmJlHjqpH5kOFvjDj_2Yf6tL9rycSuCon0qNR8fHES6W7W6ApkFU61Mj9ZPG2cgFU83s2eGD8I6sRGDy9D8g_PQEBlmOf6iwHj9LoufFKbz7WFF33QYVgxanoTw/s1024/20230208_175557-1024x528.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="1024" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIKST9cBAmp4XW9IEjCJUvWDSNKJzrkHhkqjNLRmeEW4sJFe60OaHREseICg59cmFmJlHjqpH5kOFvjDj_2Yf6tL9rycSuCon0qNR8fHES6W7W6ApkFU61Mj9ZPG2cgFU83s2eGD8I6sRGDy9D8g_PQEBlmOf6iwHj9LoufFKbz7WFF33QYVgxanoTw/w640-h280/20230208_175557-1024x528.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Occasionally, Film Reviews from Two Guys in the Dark gets requests from truly independent filmmakers to offer comments on their work, something we greatly appreciate, try to do as time and energy allow. For this posting we can gladly call your attention to a unique look at mob movies, interestingly-written by Peter Panagos, competently-directed by Pupello, with an outstanding lead performance from Gerald Garilli. In this story we first meet young adult Bobby Russo</span> (Garilli) <span style="color: #073763;">on a nighttime job with a few other guys, a grave being dug for some unfortunate soul who turns out to be one of the men in this group, proving history with this organization and some sense of loyalty to the “family” ultimately doesn’t count for anything as circumstances might change, an underlying message throughout. Then we shift back to New Jersey in the 1960s where teenage Bobby</span> (Nicholas Giordano) <span style="color: #073763;">is in constant conflict with gruff, minor-mob-guy Dad, Dominic Russo</span> (Freddie Maas)<span style="color: #073763;">, even as the kid gets emotional support from Mom Joyce Russo</span> (Alex De Trolio) <span style="color: #073763;">and likewise-mobster Uncle Rocco Russo</span> (Frank Osso)<span style="color: #073763;">, more direct protection from close friend/classmate Chris Barlow</span> (Kevin Williamson) <span style="color: #073763;">who stands up to bullies hassling academically-successful Bobby for quitting the high-school’s baseball team, calling him “pussy” until Chris</span> (a Black kid adopted by the Irish Donnelly family <span style="color: #999999;">[Dom doesn’t like them either]</span> when the parents didn’t think they could have their own kid, then daughter Claire <span style="color: #999999;">[Maria Marinaro]</span> came along, leaving Chris as a near-outsider) <span style="color: #073763;">intervenes, followed by Bobby pulling out a fake gun, concluding the near-confrontation immediately. </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> At home, Bobby leaves another verbal pounding from Dad to seek solace in his room, where we begin to learn of his secret attraction to makeup and women’s clothes</span> (what little Dom knows of this leads to the assumption his son’s gay, which Bobby denies)<span style="color: #073763;">. Jumping ahead 10 years Joyce has died from cancer as Bobby</span> (now in a romance with Claire) <span style="color: #073763;">is being slowly brought into the local mob headed by Carmine Perillo</span> (Ronnie Rainero)<span style="color: #073763;">, who pays more attention to Rocco than Dom, setting up another area of anger toward his son. In a flashback we see Joyce taking Bobby to a doctor to diagnose his gender-bending-interests, with the doc wanting to enroll the kid in psychoanalysis to fix his “problem,” a choice Joyce angrily rejects. Back to the story’s present, Rocco tells Bobby he needs to tone down his anger, which is necessary as events begin to pile up: Rocco wants to give Bobby a cushy job at the port which angers Alphonse “Allie Boy” Moretti </span>(Edward John Socienski) <span style="color: #073763;">who feels he’s being passed over, Claire finds she’s pregnant and </span>(like a good Catholic, even one in the realm of the underworld) <span style="color: #073763;">wants to marry Bobby who still harbors his secret drag obsessions, which he tries to purge himself of in a celebratory night in full dress, makeup, and wig at a drag bar.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYWXKVaN1G0NPtCqJ2SP8-r7MrAUs_5bpsmpzSDhgVhbB_mjdMkX4MyIkkCQiEnEkXVMx6QV2PdoHduHRFN0aSWevCgAadWkCev86I5gEpXduegYmSew7fuvTbfdedS8Vpk5lT09EDWj28IB292CB0Luw9DuJ7UnSZAa5JqACvcKiwle2Pc0nU2UyM5A/s785/dress-code-film-800x445.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="342" data-original-width="785" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYWXKVaN1G0NPtCqJ2SP8-r7MrAUs_5bpsmpzSDhgVhbB_mjdMkX4MyIkkCQiEnEkXVMx6QV2PdoHduHRFN0aSWevCgAadWkCev86I5gEpXduegYmSew7fuvTbfdedS8Vpk5lT09EDWj28IB292CB0Luw9DuJ7UnSZAa5JqACvcKiwle2Pc0nU2UyM5A/w640-h278/dress-code-film-800x445.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;"><b>⇒</b><b>Next</b></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">day he gets a message from Allie, goes to a meeting where he’s attacked </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(by chance, Chris who’s deteriorated into a junkie owed Allie large cash, Bobby was supposed to provide but went to his club escapade so Allie killed Chris)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> with photos taken to reveal Bobby’s secret </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(flashback: Joyce tries to help her son, giving him a locked box of women’s clothes he’s never to let Dom see)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> with the next step to Rocco </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(now in charge after Carmine’s death)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">. We see Rocco, Allie, and 2 others about to descend on Bobby until Rocco suddenly shoots Allie from behind; meanwhile, Bobby mistakenly terrified he’s to be killed comes home, quickly gathers up Claire and a few belongings, but when they’re in the parking lot with Rocco trying to talk to him, Bobby’s suddenly assaulted by someone else. In a final scene we see Bobby in bed with Claire, talking to the unborn child in her womb, giving advice to the impending-baby including to never be a Yankees fan. I’m not sure if this scene's from a later time, with Bobby surprisingly alive, or from an earlier day, especially as he’s shown with no wounds from either Allie’s punches or the later attack. This isn’t a narrative shortcoming, though, as the ambiguous ending </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(for me)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> makes the whole thing more intriguing, more complex than the average Mafia</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">movie.⇐</span> </b></span> <span style="color: #073763;">According to other reviews I’ve read</span> (however, nothing in Metacritic; when you go to<b> <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dress_code_2023"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">this RT site</span></a> </b>you’ll find only 5—all positive, yielding a rare “unicorn” 100% rating—yet at <b><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dress_code_2023_2"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">this alternative RT site</span></a> </b>you find nothing <span style="color: #999999;">[?]</span>; instead, go the 28 <span style="color: #999999;">[more after I add mine]</span> <b><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16030416/externalreviews/?ref_=tt_ov_rt"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">IMDb reviews</span></a> </b>with lots of supportive comments)<span style="color: #073763;">, this film’s been shown in many festivals over 2023</span> (winning Best Actor for Garilli, Best Screenplay, Best First Time Director at the NY Oniros Film Awards)<span style="color: #073763;">, has much support from those fortunate enough to see it, which you can do for free on the</span> <b><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/dress-code"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">tubi streaming platform</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">,</span> accessed through a Roku box or go</span> <b><a href="https://tubitv.com/movies/100012894/dress-code"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">directly to it</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">on a computing-device, although you do have to endure commercial interruptions </span>(from 1 up to 6) <span style="color: #073763;">roughly every 15 minutes</span><span style="color: #073763;">. </span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> It’s worth it to deal with those distractions, because what you get’s a unique take on mob life, with an especially-compelling-performance from Garill</span>i (with a tasteful, nonjudgmental approach to Bobby’s gender-nonconformity—yet honestly showing the trauma he encounters)<span style="color: #073763;">. As for a Musical Metaphor, I’ll use “You Don’t Know Me”</span> (written by Eddy Arnold and Cindy Walker in 1955, extensively-recorded, probably the most famous version’s by Ray Charles <span style="color: #999999;">[1962 <i>Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music</i> album]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeD5lGIOs8s"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeD5lGIOs8s</span></b></a><b> </b> <span style="color: #073763;">because—even though this song’s about a failed male-female-relationship—symbolically, it notes Bobby’s existence is more complicated than most all who knew him could anticipate, even Claire:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“And anyone can tell, you think you know me well / Well, you don’t know me.”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">It’s more about the spirit of the song here than the actual words, but I think Bobby would appreciate the intention of it.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7VhIKPXY6lnnDIr5PoAnVK1YJbHhyKOzok6F7NhGaiqDwUBqA9O2VVIWAQsM8OMqU1wRwiGHSQaFI4HvegFwV2Dp9l3yNYx9_ps7WtI9pOfgYVxC9sgrML9_QOB0DODC2R-UozGFNBIwThjS2HSMsUUIiKzMvoJj8j0CTggOCCIx-dWMySxHca_w8ow/s109/three%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7VhIKPXY6lnnDIr5PoAnVK1YJbHhyKOzok6F7NhGaiqDwUBqA9O2VVIWAQsM8OMqU1wRwiGHSQaFI4HvegFwV2Dp9l3yNYx9_ps7WtI9pOfgYVxC9sgrML9_QOB0DODC2R-UozGFNBIwThjS2HSMsUUIiKzMvoJj8j0CTggOCCIx-dWMySxHca_w8ow/s1600/three%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><b><i><span style="color: #0433ff;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(4, 51, 255);"> </span></span><a href="https://a24films.com/films/showing-up" style="color: #2b00fe;">Showing Up</a></i></b></span><b><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Kelly Riechardt)</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">rated R</span></b> <span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>108 min</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wELPTxJ2YZY" width="320" youtube-src-id="wELPTxJ2YZY"></iframe></b></div><b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy1WwBH4GDNU6XVg_EZXgF20w55LSRNgWQfzILcrcAySw_SYQDmKWvKpArhJi1nllakZ0X5HU4wlA3O0kUTWmRfGu30cHp2h6oSIdm6nGX3pJUHzL-lGe6mYv0RvNUeY8xbMSjSoVqyoRZaFV0ay0LRd6TDh09eOmhXXPsRl-v3Ut5OH4Ggh2aImaAOw/s1204/Showing%20Up.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="1204" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy1WwBH4GDNU6XVg_EZXgF20w55LSRNgWQfzILcrcAySw_SYQDmKWvKpArhJi1nllakZ0X5HU4wlA3O0kUTWmRfGu30cHp2h6oSIdm6nGX3pJUHzL-lGe6mYv0RvNUeY8xbMSjSoVqyoRZaFV0ay0LRd6TDh09eOmhXXPsRl-v3Ut5OH4Ggh2aImaAOw/w640-h292/Showing%20Up.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></b><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">When director/co-screenwriter Reichardt</span> (with co-writer Jon Raymond) <span style="color: #073763;">set out to construct this low-key story of interpersonal relationships the scripters might have been too much influenced by binging episodes of NBC TV’s <i>Seinfeld </i></span>(1989-‘98)<span style="color: #073763;">, a </span><span style="color: #38761d;">“show about nothing,” </span><span style="color: #073763;">because that’s largely how this big-screen-story evolves as well </span>(even as I'm a devoted <i>Seinfeld </i>fan)<span style="color: #073763;">, as little development occurs within the presented-situations, little growth occurs in the characters</span> (which may have already gotten me into <b>Spoiler </b>territory here, so I’ll try to be circumspect with details as events “progress”)<span style="color: #073763;">. Setting here is vaguely in the present as sculptor Lizzy</span> (Michelle Williams) <span style="color: #073763;">also works as an administrator at Portland’s Oregon College of Art and Craft</span> (a real place, which closed in 2019) <span style="color: #073763;">under the supervision of her mother, Jean</span> (Maryann Plunkett)<span style="color: #073763;">. Lizzy’s collection of various small female figurines is set to soon have a show in a local gallery, but the artist needs more time to get the final additions glazed, yet she’s distracted by the lack of hot water in her apartment</span> (hasn’t showered in a couple of weeks) <span style="color: #073763;">because her arts colleague/landlord, Jo</span> (Hong Chau) <span style="color: #073763;">has 2 shows of her own coming up so she pays little attention to LIzzy’s complaints, yet has enough time to rig up a tire swing in the back yard.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> One night a pigeon flies into Lizzy’s place where Ricky, her cat, attacks it before she can throw it back out the window. However, the next day she finds Jo with the wounded bird in a box, is pressured into taking care of it for a short time, soon sympathizes with the injured creature, takes it to a vet where it gets proper care</span> (but won’t be able to fly for a bit) <span style="color: #073763;">although LIzzy’s now out $150, a financial strain which adds to her problems, including concern over how retired Dad </span>(Judd Hirsch)<span style="color: #073763;"> lets a couple of wanderers move in with him. When she visits Dad</span> (who doesn’t share her concern)<span style="color: #073763;">, she finds he hasn’t been in touch with her brother, Sean</span> (John Magaro)<span style="color: #073763;">, for 6 months so she goes to see Sean who’s reclusive and delusional, upset his TV no longer get the channel for his favorite reruns of </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">The Twilight Zone</span> </i>(original run on CBS TV 1959-’64)<span style="color: #073763;">. Lizzy talks to Mom about Sean, but she’s not concerned, thinks he's a misunderstood genius, even though when LIzzy visits again she finds him digging a large hole in his back yard, either as an “earthworks” art project or under direction of strange voices. </span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">⇒<span>When</span></span></b> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">LIzzy’s show opens Sean’s not there despite promising to attend, worrying his sister until he does arrive, starts devouring the cheese appetizers as his dinner </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(Dad’s there too with his “houseguests,” but he just tells Sean not to eat all of the</span> <span style="color: #ff2600;"><b style="background-color: #fcff01;">cheese).⇐</b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaWnaUkYN4PENgLHeByUhLmACbDVnjHRkrqWhUL89kmaF7o2xmN7oHSZggqwYdz0HibqQirac_6tBJQNkCEWupSrS5zpbWVU41vtxKuhktXsvYGhmW1P6P_z2Ka4kgGZoQXd83Uw-3vWQQ_ZZmzQTyC3ahXKL20E1bIPjY16EYUWykN5_ZENNkSzB-Vw/s1162/showing-up-movie-review-2023.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="1162" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaWnaUkYN4PENgLHeByUhLmACbDVnjHRkrqWhUL89kmaF7o2xmN7oHSZggqwYdz0HibqQirac_6tBJQNkCEWupSrS5zpbWVU41vtxKuhktXsvYGhmW1P6P_z2Ka4kgGZoQXd83Uw-3vWQQ_ZZmzQTyC3ahXKL20E1bIPjY16EYUWykN5_ZENNkSzB-Vw/w640-h248/showing-up-movie-review-2023.jpg" width="640" /></a></b></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">⇒</span></b></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="background-color: #fcff01;">Jo</b></span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">also shows up, carrying the pigeon, its damaged wing now unbandaged so it flies around the gallery until it comes to rest. Sean gently picks it up, takes it outside so it can fly away; Lizzy and Jo look for it, find nothing, but at least they seem better</span> <span style="color: #ff2600;"><b style="background-color: #fcff01;">connected.⇐</b></span> T<span style="color: #073763;">his movie opened domestically back on April 7, 2023, made $754.5 thousand gross</span> ($1,222 million worldwide)<span style="color: #073763;">, but now it’s</span> <b><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/showing-up-2023"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">on streaming</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">where you can watch for free if you subscribe to Paramount+, fubo, etc. or pay $4.99 for rental at Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, etc. It slipped by me completely last spring, but when I saw it had been nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and was included in the 2023 National Board of Review’s Top 10 Independent Films</span> (also tied for #10 of the Top 10 2023 films by the influential journal, <i>Cahiers du Cinéma</i>),<span style="color: #073763;"> I decided to give it a look</span> (my admiration for Williams’ work another positive factor)<span style="color: #073763;">, but I can’t say I’m as enthused as the <b>CCAL</b>, where</span> <b><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/showing_up_2022"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">RT positives are 88%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">,</span><b> </b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/showing-up/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">MC average score is a near-match at 85%</span></a> </span><span>(they say it's "Universal Acclaim")</span><span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Certainly these are potentially-interesting-characters, although Lizzy’s the only one we really learn much about, so for me the whole exercise is well-meaning</span> (and I always—with my undergrad art degree—appreciate seeing attention given to struggling artists)<span style="color: #073763;">, but it just didn’t click all that well for me interests. Paraphrasing the <i>Seinfeld </i>episode</span> (season 4, <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXYWZhN8Yks"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"The Pitch"</span></a></b>) <span style="color: #073763;">where Jerry and George are trying to sell a project for </span><span style="color: #38761d;">“a show about nothing”</span> (a marvelous meta-situation, given the actual series) <span style="color: #073763;">I suppose you could say I should appreciate this experience because it was in a movie theater, but as fictional NBC president Russell Dalrymple replies to George, when he says people would watch his</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“nothing”</span> <span style="color: #073763;">show</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“Because it’s on TV,”</span> <span style="color: #073763;">Dalrymple shoots him down with</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“Not yet.”</span> (He also lies when he says his surname doesn’t contain a “y.”) <span style="color: #073763;"> Still, the movie’s overall pleasant to watch so I’ll leave you with a mild encouragement to see it along with my final Musical Metaphor of this posting, Paul McCartney’s “Another Day”</span> (originally a 1971 non-album-single, now on the 1987 <i>All the Best! </i>album) <span style="color: #073763;">at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxZ180ZeG7I"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxZ180ZeG7I</span></b></a><b> </b>(live 2013 performance, more energetic than this movie for me),<span style="color: #073763;"> somewhat because it’s so close to the start of the new McCartney book, <i>The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present</i>, which I got as a present this Christmas so I saw details about this song right away, but mostly I’m using it because many of the lyrics remind me clearly of LIzzy:</span> <span><span style="color: #38761d;">“At the office where the papers grow, she takes a break / Drinks another coffee, and she finds it hard to say awake </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…] </span><span style="color: #38761d;">So sad, so sad / Sometimes she feels so bad.” </span></span><span style="color: #073763;">Of course for Lizzy, there’s no</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d;">“man of her dreams comes to break the spell,”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">not even the one-night-stand in the song</span> (in truth, our sculptor doesn’t need “rescuing” anyway, but it might be a nice diversion for her)<span style="color: #073763;">; Lizzy constantly finds the strength to carry on, but where she’ll be carried to is not for this tale to tell.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHCkyK9fvwXc-A0Nzkr7sCw5Qln34sDTXxym-DBZxlE5iGGsXW-QYNsv64zRg8ww6OfQabrQ4afsPgCvUmichkbkEmYEVXOKASbCVUSIrcWDu1UuM5du9c0mbahllzkbamADDRsfaiMKEbvxzSgBTTk_6ZUTA65qx8ShDCIWZisvcbKFhe2rC-FtbA_w/s1949/Hidden%20Hollywood%2080.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHCkyK9fvwXc-A0Nzkr7sCw5Qln34sDTXxym-DBZxlE5iGGsXW-QYNsv64zRg8ww6OfQabrQ4afsPgCvUmichkbkEmYEVXOKASbCVUSIrcWDu1UuM5du9c0mbahllzkbamADDRsfaiMKEbvxzSgBTTk_6ZUTA65qx8ShDCIWZisvcbKFhe2rC-FtbA_w/w640-h294/Hidden%20Hollywood%2080.jpg" width="640" /></a></b></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting: </span> </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">(1)</span> <b><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls521170945/?ref_=pe_3369030_788840030_eml_hero_cta"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">25 recent theatrical releases now on streaming</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">;</span><b style="color: #073763;"> </b><span style="color: #073763;">(2)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/lists/2024-oscar-predictions/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=awardscircuitalert&utm_content=487244_12-22-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>Variety</i>'s ongoing 2024 Oscar predictions</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; (3)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/lists/worst-movies-2023/?post_type=pmc_list&p=1235837146#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=485390_12-15-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>Variety</i>'s opinion of 2023's worst movies</span></a> </b>(fortunately, I haven’t seen most of them, though I disagree about <i>Asteroid City </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Wes Anderson; review in our July 26, 2023 posting]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">; (4)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2024/film/news/barbie-precentage-female-directors-employment-2023-study-1235859152/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=488214_01-01-2024&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>Barbie</i> broke records but studios employed fewer female directors for top 2023 films</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; (5)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/news/barbenheimer-taylor-swift-sound-of-freedom-box-office-takeaways-1235851843/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=filmnews&utm_content=487912_12-28-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">How "Barbenheimer," Taylor Swift, and <i>Sound of Freedom</i> broke box-office rules</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; (6)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/mickey-mouse-public-domain-disney-copyright-lawsuits-1235844322/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=487090_12-22-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Mickey Mouse enters public domain</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; & (7) </span><a href="https://variety.com/2024/film/box-office/universal-overtakes-disney-highest-grossing-studio-box-office-1235859823/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=488404_01-02-2024&utm_term=290984"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Universal tops Disney at 2023 global box-office</span></b></a><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b></span><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Two Guys in the Dark homepage</span></a></b><b style="color: #941100;">. </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>If you’d like to</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>Like</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>us on Facebook </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(yes?)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b> please visit</b></span><span><b> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our Facebook page</span></a></b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us! </b></span>Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account (which you can easily get at <a href="https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount</span></b></a> if you need to sign up) or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our<b> </b>Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it (most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts).</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">5,579</span></b><span style="color: #073763;">—a huge drop-off from the marvelous 40-50K of some recent months</span>; <span style="color: #990000;">never overestimate yourself!</span> (As always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers.) <span style="color: #073763;">Below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week </span>(with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRZNuJGwk-q36H8H44x7nuPyuReASfAP5F9RpEMGz1NoZGSUS3ZzNKB8OsTOp9ov5jL5THXgXZMtP0mYOnyVw3276IjlKxauB9CGPMjbUUqteBJFdLhWkDlgJt31CootezZWTWlkwlFrQOHc3L0pKrsqbkjKoHE6iMt0gR-junNvPGnMmZLgVZjLRWeA/s1161/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-02%20at%205.43.06%20PM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1161" height="586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRZNuJGwk-q36H8H44x7nuPyuReASfAP5F9RpEMGz1NoZGSUS3ZzNKB8OsTOp9ov5jL5THXgXZMtP0mYOnyVw3276IjlKxauB9CGPMjbUUqteBJFdLhWkDlgJt31CootezZWTWlkwlFrQOHc3L0pKrsqbkjKoHE6iMt0gR-junNvPGnMmZLgVZjLRWeA/w651-h586/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-02%20at%205.43.06%20PM.jpg" width="651" /></a></div>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-75569318730656457332023-12-13T23:48:00.000-08:002023-12-31T16:53:06.825-08:00The Holdovers plus Short Takes on Leave the World Behind and some other cinematic topics<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">Inhospitable Escalations</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b></span> (Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b></span> (Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, but better options are on the horizon.</span> (Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue </b></span>below <span style="color: #999999;">[some may look near</span> <span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span><span style="color: #999999;">] </span>is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #073763;">My reviews’ premise:</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #008f00;">“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP6QN4INRzBhITk0zBZHTQ1ZVCpGf7epI2rleBQewUlYAD6p22rKTs8CPbtzjQp_VTY1qtzLJagRX6HIFjmk-JHlICYycASOJLXMYrW8E4UNOs8abVLdjTrzhbQpFHwHEggLR7ClemU9HHzDeX1zwq_EaIqScRfQKaUWnqsAKHrYGfclpEHqMNjN038w/s386/The%20Guys%2012.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="386" height="542" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP6QN4INRzBhITk0zBZHTQ1ZVCpGf7epI2rleBQewUlYAD6p22rKTs8CPbtzjQp_VTY1qtzLJagRX6HIFjmk-JHlICYycASOJLXMYrW8E4UNOs8abVLdjTrzhbQpFHwHEggLR7ClemU9HHzDeX1zwq_EaIqScRfQKaUWnqsAKHrYGfclpEHqMNjN038w/w640-h542/The%20Guys%2012.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600; text-decoration: underline;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">12/13/2023</span></b></span><span style="color: #38761d;">—As of December 12, 2023 Film Reviews from Two Guys in the Dark's been posting for 12 years without Pat Craig</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #93c47d;">(on the left in the above photo, taken 12 yrs. ago in the summer)</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d;">doing even 1 review, which was not his original intention although, as Scottish poet Robert Burns noted in 1786 in his <i>To a Mouse </i>poem</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #93c47d;">(with some language adjustment)</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">“The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> However, I have no regrets about that due to my dear friend Pat passing away this year, even as I’ve kept the name of the blog as Two Guys because “One Guy in the Dark” just sounds too forlorn. During that time we’ve</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #93c47d;">(well, I’ve)</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d;">reviewed a total of 1,147 cinematic offerings to the world in a total of 600 posts with total unique hits of 2,200,597</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #93c47d;">(not counting whatever happens with this one)</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d;">from all over the globe. Thanks to everyone who’s ever even glanced at our existence.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8L475NeSeY7iMBm6v_K9wiT4G2aE4bdStnXJgZ_aSNIbsQeqauTwPKHhrdiR4-aKlnDfGoxkl8B8mxdrBndItuVKm4da2oTSZetb41CLhiBNIc_egvB5y_JliP-7GeDcnFQrn-VS71DYW2ntQGOm4PcuXAwVDO87_p3DVDBQkHljn0JX3H1kmrMScfQ/s1778/We'll%20Miss%20You,%20Ken%203.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1778" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8L475NeSeY7iMBm6v_K9wiT4G2aE4bdStnXJgZ_aSNIbsQeqauTwPKHhrdiR4-aKlnDfGoxkl8B8mxdrBndItuVKm4da2oTSZetb41CLhiBNIc_egvB5y_JliP-7GeDcnFQrn-VS71DYW2ntQGOm4PcuXAwVDO87_p3DVDBQkHljn0JX3H1kmrMScfQ/w640-h360/We'll%20Miss%20You,%20Ken%203.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">It’s been a great pleasure sharing my commentary on contemporary releases with you, but Film Reviews from Two Guys in the Dark takes a holiday vacation for the next 2 weeks, reconnecting in early January 2024. But I’ve still got some material to offer as 2023 makes its way to the end, probably more verbose than needed, but I wanted to provide you plenty to plow through until I return<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></span></p><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><br /></b></span></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheiAUvT6ZpBeabzwTSGo68OwPoVevIqb_qv9sS0XKINTdHxjbPPP802-yxNot055_C468OOVoBN0Epo4LV1i08DBUlYUEJU_Q5Y9qoaeRr8R7QqhShzeX2S_fWVlFfqD_ND-u39gF6ODnZuYseFpwfPDxOuwB9ziLkMWA3miwjSFn19q0mIfbCrVTKoA/s109/four%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheiAUvT6ZpBeabzwTSGo68OwPoVevIqb_qv9sS0XKINTdHxjbPPP802-yxNot055_C468OOVoBN0Epo4LV1i08DBUlYUEJU_Q5Y9qoaeRr8R7QqhShzeX2S_fWVlFfqD_ND-u39gF6ODnZuYseFpwfPDxOuwB9ziLkMWA3miwjSFn19q0mIfbCrVTKoA/s1600/four%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.miramax.com/movie/The-Holdovers/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The Holdovers</span></a></span></i></b><b><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Alexander Payne)</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">rated R</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">133 min.</span></b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AhKLpJmHhIg" width="320" youtube-src-id="AhKLpJmHhIg"></iframe></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="color: #008f00;">If you can abide </b><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">plot spoilers</span></b></span><b style="color: #008f00;"> read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ </b><b><span style="color: #93c47d;">(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</span></b><b style="color: #008f00;">. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and</span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">red.⇐</span> </b></span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUN5rkWCPDXs9l8zcquiEoVKP6cTnOc5twnpNNI5diSJ9hr1bBxwRucIx8hgChOV_K4g5visrZHV8WleCdytZNm5CFJb8PxtbTAy1MP0SyuSTyPTyUYUszXr9jF8183WFrX-si0h9Uh0oVjIo3wpfunLYRztwX6l88UhswDfp_RqbjENAlEgtGrV1UXA/s1170/the-holdovers-15.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="1170" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUN5rkWCPDXs9l8zcquiEoVKP6cTnOc5twnpNNI5diSJ9hr1bBxwRucIx8hgChOV_K4g5visrZHV8WleCdytZNm5CFJb8PxtbTAy1MP0SyuSTyPTyUYUszXr9jF8183WFrX-si0h9Uh0oVjIo3wpfunLYRztwX6l88UhswDfp_RqbjENAlEgtGrV1UXA/w640-h312/the-holdovers-15.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">What Happens:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">We’re in December 1970, just before Christmas break, at upscale Barton Academy prep school</span> (fictional, somewhere in the Northeast) <span style="color: #073763;">where demanding, sarcastic Paul Hunham</span> (Paul Giamatti)<span style="color: #073763;">—poor-smelling due to a medical condition—teaches Ancient History to a class of senior boys, with a wealth of D and F grades on their final exams, except for Angus Tully’s</span> (Dominic Sessa) <span style="color: #073763;">B+, but he further distances himself from his classmates when Hunham offers another exam after the holidays but with inclusion of additional material to which Tully objects</span> (doesn’t want to waste vacation time studying) <span style="color: #073763;">with the result of no make-overs, existing grades stand</span> (so his classmates are steamed at him, but he obviously has problems with schools as he’s already been kicked out of 3 of them).<span style="color: #073763;"> Hunham’s not liked by his Headmaster, Dr. Hardy Woodrip</span> (Andrew Garman)<span style="color: #073763;">, either due to previously failing the son of a major donor, resulting in the boy not attending Dad’s chosen location of Princeton so Hunham’s an outcast among the faculty, no friends or family, yet in his grumpy, uncompromising attitude such isolation seems to be no problem for him.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> His true problem, though, is that 4 of the students have no place to go during the holidays</span> (younger Ye-Joon Park’s <span style="color: #999999;">[Jim Kaplan]</span> from Korea, too far to travel home for just 2 weeks, and Alex Ollerman’s <span style="color: #999999;">[Ian Dolley]</span> the child of Mormon missionaries, currently out of the country; seniors Jason Smith <span style="color: #999999;">[Michael Provost]</span>, the school’s quarterback, and Teddy Kountze <span style="color: #999999;">[Brady Harper]</span>, an obnoxious non-friend of Tully’s, both seem to have some parental issues)<span style="color: #073763;">, so Hunham’s been chosen</span> (maybe in retribution) <span style="color: #073763;">to supervise them while they stay at the school; then Tully’s added to the mix because his mother, Judy Clotfelter</span> (Gillian Vigman),<span style="color: #073763;"> decides to go on a honeymoon with Tully’s new stepdad, Stanley Clotfelter</span> (Tate Donovan)<span style="color: #073763;">, so it’s clear neither Hunham nor Tully care for this assignment, although they have no choice. The other holdover is kitchen manager Mary Lamb</span> (Da’Vine Joy Randolph)<span style="color: #073763;">, responsible for feeding the other “inmates,” although she’s grieving over the loss of her son, Curtis, in Vietnam, an outstanding Barton student</span> (graduated 1969) <span style="color: #073763;">but couldn’t afford college so was drafted</span> (further, her husband died some time ago in a shipyard accident)<span style="color: #073763;">. After some initial bickering among the 5 students—and disgust from the seniors Hunham’s continuing their academics during the exile—something changes with Jason’s father who agrees to send a helicopter to the campus to take all the boys on a ski trip for the duration of the break, yet Angus can’t join them because he can’t make contact with his parents for permission to leave, so animosity between him and Hunham continues, although this misanthrope teacher does display true sympathy toward Mary.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpXqXAX248bOA80Zv5nAaxkttB2HIQx4t0fBqPeohGrBdLbwChsYmIbKbur19rJ1ilqh6oF6e2wOfaWRfWqKhw0xanEntfrCJInpszSDj1Q57cFHEFh1o_wPhNXlgtYcpqops29TcW6z_A-Kbb7-VzChsbmqZh-4B_CBq-0i6YDIvByjO0Rks7V3oxhA/s1471/the-holdovers-13.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="1471" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpXqXAX248bOA80Zv5nAaxkttB2HIQx4t0fBqPeohGrBdLbwChsYmIbKbur19rJ1ilqh6oF6e2wOfaWRfWqKhw0xanEntfrCJInpszSDj1Q57cFHEFh1o_wPhNXlgtYcpqops29TcW6z_A-Kbb7-VzChsbmqZh-4B_CBq-0i6YDIvByjO0Rks7V3oxhA/w640-h258/the-holdovers-13.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">During one verbal confrontation between teacher and student, leading to a chase through the building, Angus falls, dislocates his shoulder</span> (that happened to me years ago <span style="color: #999999;">[just the shoulder, no chase]</span>, hurts like hell until it’s popped back into place)<span style="color: #073763;">, yet at the hospital the kid takes all the blame to protect Hunham, a favor reciprocated at a restaurant when Hunham diffuses a growing-altercation between Angus and a disabled war vet. As Christmas Eve arrives, the 3 holdovers, along with janitor Danny</span> (Naheem Garcia)<span style="color: #073763;">, attend a party given by school administrator Lydia Crane</span> (Carrie Preston)<span style="color: #073763;">, with Angus getting very attracted to Crane’s niece Elise</span> (Darby Lily Lee-Stack) <span style="color: #073763;">even as Hunham seems to be flirting with Lydia, stopped short when her significant other arrives. Mary gets drunk, cries about Curtis, so Paul insists they leave which angers Angus, blurting out that his father is dead. In an attempt to change the temper of their situation, Hunham suggests a “field trip” to Boston, dropping Mary off in nearby-Roxbury to visit her pregnant younger sister. In the city, Paul and Angus seem to get closer as they ice skate, visit museums until they run into an old Harvard classmate of Hunham’s, as Paul lies about his current career with Angus supporting the fabrications.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Teacher and student then enter a liquor store where the kid challenges his elder about breaking the school’s code of total honesty, so Hunham reveals he was dismissed from Harvard because his roommate plagiarized Paul’s senior thesis, then claimed he was the victim so Hunham hit him, resulting in being expelled</span> (Hunham never finished college, was hired to teach at Barton by Woodrip, as they’d been classmates at the school years ago)<span style="color: #073763;">. Then the 2 tourists go to a screening of </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Little Big Man</span> </i>(Arthur Penn, 1970)<span style="color: #073763;">, with Angus attempting to slip away until Paul catches him, learns the kid just wants to visit his Dad, who’s actually alive but a patient in a local mental hospital. </span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">⇒Hunham</span></b> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">agrees, so Angus meets with Thomas Tully (Stephen Thorne), clearly lost in a mental fog, so Paul assures the kid neither of them needs to repeat the fates of their fathers, that a better life can be open to them. Back at Barton, Paul, Angus, Mary, and Danny watch the NY New Year’s Eve ball-drop on TV, but when classes resume Hunham is called into Woodrip’s office where Tully’s Mom and Stepdad are angry about the unauthorized visit to see Thomas </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(he became violent afterward)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">, with Hunham lying, saying he encouraged the idea; this prevents Angus from being sent off to military school, but it also results in Hunham being fired. As he prepares to drive away, Mary gives him a notebook into which he can finally write the monograph that he’s long</span> <span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>contemplated.⇐</b></span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY0XweavCdDFvY9N8M_3BrBLR23iawA4xKQMDNrMImshEN2ZGW5RaYKBh_3mm9VMT9R9GPvwLOs7A9YMvRMyV-1f1ZPXjpTx9CtEjrsEw_JinD44qSDxeuaA4frrRXPqFb9XdxjQbNqa4eGJzMtQodcoGGBgHQdCSwlgkLj9shMLqDb0QYj8wi90CrKw/s1267/the-holdovers-1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="858" data-original-width="1267" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY0XweavCdDFvY9N8M_3BrBLR23iawA4xKQMDNrMImshEN2ZGW5RaYKBh_3mm9VMT9R9GPvwLOs7A9YMvRMyV-1f1ZPXjpTx9CtEjrsEw_JinD44qSDxeuaA4frrRXPqFb9XdxjQbNqa4eGJzMtQodcoGGBgHQdCSwlgkLj9shMLqDb0QYj8wi90CrKw/w640-h434/the-holdovers-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So What?</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">For those viewers</span> (such as my wife, Nina) <span style="color: #073763;">who prefer humanistic portrayals of character-development to slam-bang-action-movies, <i>The Holdovers </i>is a perfect choice as all 3 primary players here inhabit roles considerably more complex than their surface attributes imply. A good number of awards followed its notable presence in the cinematic-marketplace with Randolph—a small role as Mahalia Jackson in </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Rustin</span> </i>(George C. Wolfe; review in our November 23, 2023 posting)<span style="color: #073763;">, also would be remembered as police detective Donna Williams in Hulu’s streaming-series-success, </span><i style="color: #073763;">Only Murders in the Building</i><span style="color: #073763;">—winning Best Supporting Actress honors for </span><i style="color: #073763;">The Holdovers</i><span style="color: #073763;"> from, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holdovers"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">among others</span></b></a><span style="color: #073763;">, the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Chicago Film Critics Association, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, New York Film Critics Circle, and the National Board of Review, while Giamatti’s won as Best Actor from the Chicago critics and the National Board of Review whose members also listed the film among their Top Ten of the year</span> (plus Best Original Screenplay for David Hemingson) <span style="color: #073763;">just as did the American Film Institute and the Boston critics. Come January 7, 2024 we’ll see if the Golden Globe noms for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy</span> (Giamatti)<span style="color: #073763;">, and Supporting Actress</span> (Randolph) <span style="color: #073763;">pay off as well. So far, though, Payne’s gotten little support as Best Director. </span>(But, he’s competing with Martin Scorsese <span style="color: #999999;">[<i>Killers of the Flower Moon</i>; review in our November 9, 2023 posting]</span>, yet I think this is his best since <i>Sideways </i><span style="color: #999999;">[2004, won Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, Payne and Jim Taylor]</span>, another great collaboration with Giamatti. After watching his character’s adulation of pinot noir wine Nina and I went to the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara county, CA—where that film is set—to taste that good stuff, found it to be sold out everywhere as <b><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/07/05/535038513/the-sideways-effect-how-a-wine-obsessed-film-reshaped-the-industry"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">many others also encouraged by this film</span></a> </b>got there before we did. <span style="color: #999999;">[I still enjoy the occasional merlot as well as the pinot, though.]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4Gw2GPXjeEdbAq93bRy7LpeixyuX46FtPAIW7Hwepp38fqDh15IPpZ_0p6bkB8rLsq7-u3YhhqI2QOffr7AfAJ2b1aU511mLJXA5-Yieng4MlxqSomef9PaEQUTR_dRviqT3yk3rFJkqj-CyUhYPKH60B2Ls8mtvg3BjPi_fKJh6Y1BO2sfocTGhcg/s1470/the-holdovers-7.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="758" data-original-width="1470" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4Gw2GPXjeEdbAq93bRy7LpeixyuX46FtPAIW7Hwepp38fqDh15IPpZ_0p6bkB8rLsq7-u3YhhqI2QOffr7AfAJ2b1aU511mLJXA5-Yieng4MlxqSomef9PaEQUTR_dRviqT3yk3rFJkqj-CyUhYPKH60B2Ls8mtvg3BjPi_fKJh6Y1BO2sfocTGhcg/w640-h330/the-holdovers-7.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Relative to the academic environment of <i>The Holdovers</i>, I might have had an opportunity to meet Payne at some point because he had been a student of my Mills College</span> (now Mills College at Northeastern University, Oakland, CA) <span style="color: #073763;">colleague, Dr. Mario Cavallari, when Mario taught at Stanford U.; unfortunately, no connections of that sort ever happened</span> (nor will they, as Mario died in 2016; it may be dangerous to have me as a close friend)<span style="color: #073763;">. You can hear directly from Payne, however, in this short</span> (1:33) <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEfpz_Umuro"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">anatomy of a scene</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, the revelatory-conversation between Paul and Angus in the Boston liquor store. Although there are still many of the 2023 likely Best Film contenders that I haven’t seen yet, I’m sure <i>The Holdovers </i>has a solid shot at being among my tops of the year</span> (nothing beats <i>Killer of the Flower Moon </i>so far, though; I doubt anything will<span style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><b>*</b></span>)<span style="color: #073763;">. The acting</span> (as noted above) <span style="color: #073763;">is marvelously-well-presented, the snowy setting fits well with the coldness each of the 3 main characters hold in their hearts regarding past grievances </span><span style="color: #666666;">(although each of them are able to conjure up some warmth as the occasion demands)</span><span style="color: #073763;">, no easily final victories come for any of them yet they end up better than when we first met them with further healing hopefully to come. I highly recommend <i>The Holdovers</i>, a film you can still find in theaters or through various streaming options.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b style="color: red; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">*</b><i style="font-family: helvetica;">Killers ... </i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">i</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">s also <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killers_of_the_Flower_Moon_(film)"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">winning awards</span></b></a>, among many others as Best Picture by the Chicago </span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">(plus Best Adapted Screenplay for Eric Roth and Scorsese, Best Original Score for now-departed Robbie Robertson)</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> and New York critics' associations, the National Board of Review </span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">(also Best Director for Scorsese, Best Actress for Lily Gladstone, Best Cinematography for Rodrigo Prieto)</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">. Gladstone is Best Actress for the Boston and New York critics, the National Board of Review; the Golden Globes gave this film 7 nominations all in major categories, so tune in come early January to see the results.</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQZuL4o1aY-yk9XlVFrRREpgYvQiA-JoGJ7rZwiQenvhHcQxtRF2TU-3Dk_IWQe2G3eC67RdiZ8iRWVpUcmGfkk0MYa__JU8s3fVbraUgMVrdVLZt0BVBUQ-y0_vLw9INCHfNgYpkZz7tOhJYnvq10kTUMTUQL60D2DszAlJCPJRoJkz2R_vVwNfctg/s1459/the-holdovers-10.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="668" data-original-width="1459" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQZuL4o1aY-yk9XlVFrRREpgYvQiA-JoGJ7rZwiQenvhHcQxtRF2TU-3Dk_IWQe2G3eC67RdiZ8iRWVpUcmGfkk0MYa__JU8s3fVbraUgMVrdVLZt0BVBUQ-y0_vLw9INCHfNgYpkZz7tOhJYnvq10kTUMTUQL60D2DszAlJCPJRoJkz2R_vVwNfctg/w640-h294/the-holdovers-10.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Bottom Line Final Comments:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">This film went into limited domestic</span> (U.S.-Canada) <span style="color: #073763;">release on October 27, 2023, then went wider on November 10, is still holding on after 7 weeks but now down to 923 theaters from its high of 1,601, having made so far a relatively-minor-sum of $16.5 million</span> (no international details at this time, but that seems to be the result of no screenings yet, though it’s set to debut in the U.K. on January 19, 2024)<span style="color: #073763;">. If you can’t find it playing near you, please look into</span> <a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-holdovers"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">streaming</span></b></a><b> </b><span style="color: #073763;">where you can rent it for 48 hrs. from Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Vudu, etc., but be prepared for a steeper price than normal, $19.99. The <b>CCAL </b>joins me in encouraging you to give yourself a holiday present via watching this ultimately-satisfying-film (</span>despite the many encountered tribulations therein)<span style="color: #073763;">, as </span><b><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_holdovers"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews are 96%</span></a> </b>(accurate, based on 249 of them last time I checked)<span style="color: #073763;">, while the</span> <b><a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-holdovers/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Metacritic average score is 82%</span></a> </b>(quite high for their usual results)<span style="color: #073763;">, so while this film is often called a comedy </span>(there are a good number of laughs, none cheaply set up) <span style="color: #073763;">it’s quite a serious look at how past events</span> (distant or more immediate) <span style="color: #073763;">influence our entire perception of life, even when we assume we have these demons under control, never warning us beforehand when they going to muck up our present in various small or considerably larger ways.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> So, I’ll bring this to a close with my usual tactic of a Musical Metaphor, Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)” </span>(on their 1979 album <i>The Wall</i>) <span style="color: #073763;">at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6PwUG283DU"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6PwUG 283DU</span></b></a><span style="color: #073763;">, which might be too obvious a choice where <i>The Holdovers </i>is concerned, but, as I note at the end of my comments on <i>Leave the World Behind </i>about how ease led me to easy picks for the music,<i> </i>it’s been a very busy week, including getting my misplaced cell-phone replaced because I’m on the AT&T account as “Ken Burke” but my driver’s license </span>(required for verification to be able to attach the old phone number to the new device) <span style="color: #073763;">shows “Larry Kenneth Burke” even though my parents always called me “Kenny”</span> (a Southern tendency to use the middle name, I guess, as my Texas Dad, his sister, and my Georgia mother-in-law all did the same thing with their middles)<span style="color: #073763;">, so suddenly, after doing business with this company for years, I couldn’t proceed much past “Hello” until I had to drive back home, get Nina, bring her to the AT&T store</span> (her I.D. matches her account name) <span style="color: #073763;">to verify changing me to “Larry” before I could go on with the phone replacement.</span> (At least it wasn’t a costly situation as a new flip phone <span style="color: #999999;">[don’t need anything better; Nina helps keep Apple in business]</span> only cost $30 at Target; however, that savings will soon be offset by Nina getting attracted to the more-current-models of iPhones so she’s going back on Friday to upgrade … oh well, Merry Christmas!)<span style="color: #448728;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><br /></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4kURNpCIzxgoKzvXcSJ7UlV4u77fRHcYDcfaChdtRL6Obnf-MKhBviaS__qXtaVm0NWmhtNH4eVFbsUAsunWrU9KXMwBAkNxtbvjn0zu2BztxypTcJJDq9DfpCSAj0U4zCz2qWTxqFr66aXWOwDZo8iuKfhsMlQIk7uqGLrRoFkN4pchriEF-Kh0v5Q/s2222/Screen-Shot-2023-07-17-at-11.02.26-AM.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="2222" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4kURNpCIzxgoKzvXcSJ7UlV4u77fRHcYDcfaChdtRL6Obnf-MKhBviaS__qXtaVm0NWmhtNH4eVFbsUAsunWrU9KXMwBAkNxtbvjn0zu2BztxypTcJJDq9DfpCSAj0U4zCz2qWTxqFr66aXWOwDZo8iuKfhsMlQIk7uqGLrRoFkN4pchriEF-Kh0v5Q/w640-h404/Screen-Shot-2023-07-17-at-11.02.26-AM.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">OK, where were we? Oh, yeah, with me championing “Another Brick …,” which certainly fits the mood of the Barton students about</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“No dark sarcasm in the classroom” </span><span style="color: #073763;">regarding Hunham’s caustic-mood toward them </span>(he has an ongoing distaste for the social privilege most of his students enjoy)<span style="color: #073763;">, although as shown by their efforts on those final exams most of them may be just as bad at building “don’t bother me” walls as is Hunham, so we have a situation through most of the film that amounts to</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“All in all, you’re just another brick in the wall”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">for all of them. As time goes on, though, at least Paul, Angus, and Mary begin to find ways of breaking down their walls without having to go to the violent extremes we see in my chosen video, which is not the case in the next review on our agenda.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(an attempt at)</span></b><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b> <span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></span><b style="font-size: large;"> <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(spoilers also appear here)</span></b></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKh2QW4U5rmeunOS38aJfroH8Qccz_lUhxpAZaEjIdlC8Y_ElBvvcVX5S1wlSwQ0XrJcyMQS7X8KFSH2I7MxzniVKME3R-BqrhqHUKDMDXruSLqlIoUMAkOvNC9N5JRAqMXdy5XcAth2l6c-oGJ0MOu8-z9SLWNL_NsXFQkaujid5yFRxQr11yYVM6Hw/s109/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKh2QW4U5rmeunOS38aJfroH8Qccz_lUhxpAZaEjIdlC8Y_ElBvvcVX5S1wlSwQ0XrJcyMQS7X8KFSH2I7MxzniVKME3R-BqrhqHUKDMDXruSLqlIoUMAkOvNC9N5JRAqMXdy5XcAth2l6c-oGJ0MOu8-z9SLWNL_NsXFQkaujid5yFRxQr11yYVM6Hw/s1600/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #0433ff;"> </span><a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81314956"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Leave the World Behind</span></a></i></b><b><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Sam Esmail)</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> rated R</span></b> <span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>141 min</b><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></span></div><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><div><b><br /></b></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cMVBi_e8o-Y" width="320" youtube-src-id="cMVBi_e8o-Y"></iframe></div><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Before reading further, please refer to the </span></b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">plot spoilers</span></b></span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b> </b></span><b>warning detailed far above.</b></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0x6inkqzA-u8dy3ae8cXoWofXWKcvveKlXriU_CbqSfwOhJh-Lzyhn28qgiL4nGfNtwD381N9of0KOYKYLeNETuiDqfkkVyrPt14fLP6zrNbzPJ_FOhZApwZj-DwL2nYBH27-dP7Bs-ZOdXPPSKtwDeaIJzJhK6sqiY-4H7LnfL5xVUhcI-NzbToGjQ/s1264/FL-LeaveTheWorldBehind-2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="517" data-original-width="1264" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0x6inkqzA-u8dy3ae8cXoWofXWKcvveKlXriU_CbqSfwOhJh-Lzyhn28qgiL4nGfNtwD381N9of0KOYKYLeNETuiDqfkkVyrPt14fLP6zrNbzPJ_FOhZApwZj-DwL2nYBH27-dP7Bs-ZOdXPPSKtwDeaIJzJhK6sqiY-4H7LnfL5xVUhcI-NzbToGjQ/w640-h262/FL-LeaveTheWorldBehind-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Given that this film’s based on a novel by Rumaan Alam</span> (2020 <span style="color: #999999;">[plot’s generally similar except at the end, according to a summary I read]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">you may already be aware of its contents but I was not, so I found it fascinating that so much chaos is happening with little clear explanation is to what’s truly going on as our isolated main characters find themselves in increasingly-hostile-situations. It all begins calmly enough with satellite shots of Earth, then a woman, Amanda Sanford</span> (Julia Roberts)<span style="color: #073763;">, who works in advertising</span> (says she hates people, due to her job) <span style="color: #073763;">seems to be the demanding-decision-maker in her marriage compared to her easy-going-husband, Clay</span> (Ethan Hawke)<span style="color: #073763;">, an English professor in NYC’s City College</span> (founding institution of the City University of New York; I once worked for a couple of years in the early 1970s at the Queens College branch of the sprawling structure)<span style="color: #073763;">. As he wakes up one day he finds Amanda’s rented a getaway-house on Long Island</span> (but not that far from the city) <span style="color: #073763;">for the weekend, already packed their bags so there’s no discussion to be had, leading to the parents and their 2 teens—older Archie</span> (Charlie Evans)<span style="color: #073763;">, younger Rose</span> (Farrah Mackenzie)<span style="color: #073763;">—soon arriving at their luxurious destination where the kids quickly find enjoyment in the pool, but then problems arise as the phones and TV don’t work, neither does the Wi-Fi so Rose is despondent she can’t get access to streaming of the final episode of NBC TV’s <i>Friends </i></span>(1994-2004)<span style="color: #073763;">, as she’s become connected to the characters, wants to see how what she’s been binging works out.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Things then become more complicated when a knock comes on the door late at night with George </span><span style="color: #666666;">(G.H.)</span><span style="color: #073763;"> Scott</span> (Mahershala Ali) <span style="color: #073763;">and his daughter Ruth</span> (Maha’la) <span style="color: #073763;">showing up, saying they own the house, have left an event in the Bronx to come out here because there’s a blackout in the city</span> (he can’t show any I.D. because he left his wallet in his overcoat as they hurriedly left the event)<span style="color: #073763;">. Clay’s OK with it, but Amanda’s resistant, not convinced these 2 are who they say they are, but after an offer to refund half of their rental payment she accepts</span> (money’s in a cabinet nearby)<span style="color: #073763;">, as long as they sleep in the basement</span> (never made explicit White Amanda distrusts the sudden-arrivals because they’re Black, yet this dubious-implication’s clear to us, felt by Scott and his teenage-daughter too)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<b><br /></b></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTxt3LMxBuJKGm4iEegoVlc98gPSaduAJkmbi9d2ut26IhO3ua18Z2Ki7RD9nPpspKh5YCJI_81qCN8am1eRTjcA7F9164xHNmcVNIvFZdfJJNeXYW_PiX5l3Ki6AMcAaLfTzZC86p09c9KGehjMOOlhADOpAFUUVus2Ya9T31pxjZ_-rjUoGcf98hyg/s1200/leavetheworldbehindmain.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="1200" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTxt3LMxBuJKGm4iEegoVlc98gPSaduAJkmbi9d2ut26IhO3ua18Z2Ki7RD9nPpspKh5YCJI_81qCN8am1eRTjcA7F9164xHNmcVNIvFZdfJJNeXYW_PiX5l3Ki6AMcAaLfTzZC86p09c9KGehjMOOlhADOpAFUUVus2Ya9T31pxjZ_-rjUoGcf98hyg/w640-h246/leavetheworldbehindmain.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">As the next couple of days go on, increasingly-disturbing events occur: Rose sees a herd of deer in the back yard; a flock of flamingos land in the pool </span>(huh?)<span style="color: #073763;">; brief alerts break through the silence saying there’s been a massive cyberattack throughout the country; navigation abnormalities cause an oil tanker to crash on the beach causing the Sanfords to flee; G.H. goes to get info from neighbors, the Scotts, but finds their home empty and trashed, then sees 2 jetliners crash into the beach; Clay tries to drive to the nearby-town to get info but no GPS help, instead sees a drone dropping leaflets in Arabic that basically say “Death to America”</span> (later learns leaflets have been dropped in San Francisco but in Korean or Mandarin)<span style="color: #073763;">; the Sanfords try to escape, find the highway blocked by numerous-driverless-Tesla cars slamming into each other; a painfully-loud-sound quickly comes/goes; Amanda and Ruth go to a shed near the property, find themselves surrounded by deer they will chase away by yelling, then they can distantly see NYC being utterly destroyed by bombs. </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Situations on a more interpersonal level raise the intensity also as Archie’s lusting after Ruth, Ruth’s convinced Clay’s coming on to her; after some whiskey, music, and close dancing Amanda and G.H. seem ready to connect but respect their marriages</span> (G.H’s wife’s an art dealer on her way home from Morocco, may have died in one of those plane crashes)<span style="color: #073763;">;</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">⇒local</span></b> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">survivalist Danny </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(Kevin Bacon)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> finally agrees to trade some medicine Archie needs for cash. After all this tension’s built up, the story ends with Rose wandering to the abandoned home of the Thorns, finding a well-stocked bomb shelter which has an info-screen with news of attacks on the White House and East Coast cities plus a wall of DVDs allowing her to finally access that long-desired last “Friends”</span> <span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">episode.⇐</span> </b></span>(You can get <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leave_the_World_Behind_(film)"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">more plot details here</span></a></b>.) <span style="color: #073763;">Until I recently stumbled onto a couple of reviews of <i>Leave the World Behind </i>I hadn’t even heard of it so I’m glad I got a chance to watch, even though there’s a lot of weird stuff going on here that doesn’t fully get explained—if you choose to see it, which the <b>CCAL </b>somewhat encourages with</span> <b><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/leave_the_world_behind_2023"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">RT positives at 75%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">,</span> <b><a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/leave-the-world-behind/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">MC average score at 67%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">—this</span><b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhGuQR-tUEA"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">after-the-fact-aid</span></a> </b>(12:16, contains <b>Spoilers </b>of course <span style="color: #999999;">[ad interrupts at 8:12]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">may offer an opportunity for some dialogue/interpretations/arguments over what’s occurring here. Certainly the sense of increasing doom’s presented well, with the acting quite effective</span> (especially by the old pros, but the young females genuinely contribute too <span style="color: #999999;">[we don’t really get much from Archie, though; I guess there was only so much screen space to go around, even within this slightly-longer-than-normal-running-time]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDzz74Sn-YZGRtLA6wp7F56in62CLNoPjfFVAP-36ks_XRePVAEsGtw-_iFfdbonXMUxdbI8zulDis1xdin3D54WTdnHHhRd8gJ72PZJXBc5VvfULNOHKq9vyIx4QAZyo7YhzY8BV9TQ8Av6OKbQRG5ugfjTt67U4dbAniDXBaxeUnsQtIXtQC-NxECw/s1095/AAAAQUwDRDqnHnlNfv7FbNF5oZWfdvL-r1Qqu38Iq6BufSmexK5zJSlDdlUBGPyNeSSLS2iJIbVVAdKKp7KYEYdZa-ofE90IJJJInB6M1wBnRTtGdYmDJdvFRYMPjtuJAIOIp-AUcY9nn9lCgT1s-42tEXHV.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="1095" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDzz74Sn-YZGRtLA6wp7F56in62CLNoPjfFVAP-36ks_XRePVAEsGtw-_iFfdbonXMUxdbI8zulDis1xdin3D54WTdnHHhRd8gJ72PZJXBc5VvfULNOHKq9vyIx4QAZyo7YhzY8BV9TQ8Av6OKbQRG5ugfjTt67U4dbAniDXBaxeUnsQtIXtQC-NxECw/w640-h308/AAAAQUwDRDqnHnlNfv7FbNF5oZWfdvL-r1Qqu38Iq6BufSmexK5zJSlDdlUBGPyNeSSLS2iJIbVVAdKKp7KYEYdZa-ofE90IJJJInB6M1wBnRTtGdYmDJdvFRYMPjtuJAIOIp-AUcY9nn9lCgT1s-42tEXHV.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Overall, I’d say—unless the current unstable state of the world gives you enough to worry about so you don’t need to see a version of what the next level might be—this is an intriguing-enough-experience, although you’ll have to be a</span> <b><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/leave-the-world-behind-2023"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Netflix subscriber</span></a></b> <span style="color: #073763;">to get it</span> (as noted in our recent postings, you can sign up for just a month for $6.99 with ads or $15.49 no ads, then after <i>Leave … </i>if you binge for a bit you can also see other Netflix offerings, including ones I’ve reviewed in our most recent Two Guys postings. Netflix did release it in limited domestic <span style="color: #999999;">[U.S.-Canada]</span> theaters on November 22, 2023 prior to the December 8, 2023 streaming debut; as usual, no box-office grosses reported)<span style="color: #073763;">. To wrap up, as a combination of me being a bit weary to think of something more impactful for a Musical Metaphor</span> (due to much time consumed this week going to a Berkeley Rep play—a fabulous 1-man-show,<b><i> <a href="https://www.berkeleyrep.org/shows/harry-clarke/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Harry Clarke</span></a></i></b>, starring Billy Crudup—looking frantically for my lost cell-phone, going through the process of buying and setting up a replacement, along with having a great dinner with some old friends Nina and I haven’t seen in months) <span style="color: #073763;">and believing my actual choice does have some relevance with this film, I’ve gone along with Rose’s obsession and chosen the <i>Friends </i>theme song at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2TyVQGoCYo"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2TyVQGoCYo</span></b></a><b> </b><span style="color: #073763;">because by the end of what we see of this evolving story all of the characters are probably desperately feeling </span><span style="color: #38761d;">“So no one told you life was gonna be this way </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> I’ll be there for you / When the rain starts to pour / I’ll be there for you </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> ‘Cause you’re there for me too”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span>(if you want more than 54 seconds from a Metaphor, though, here’s <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCQGnVrTsAM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">an extended video</span></a> </b><span style="color: #999999;">[3:13, with the principal 6 actors from the show interacting with the band, The Rembrandts, although for me this one gets as tedious as I felt the few times I tried watching the show as I much preferred the humor of </span><i><span style="color: #999999;">Seinfeld</span> </i><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">{</span>NBC 1989-1998}</span><span style="color: #999999;">, but I still give all of this to you in respect for recently-departed cast member</span><b><span style="color: #999999;"> </span><a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-10-28/freinds-star-matthew-perry-dead-at-56"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Matthew Perry</span></a></b><span style="color: #999999;">, as I know he was beloved by so many]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">. </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">To at least bring some sense of closure to what we see in <i>Leave the World Behind</i>, here’s what Rose was looking for: the</span><b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9snbUbbMqbg"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">last scene from the final <i>Friends</i> episode</span></a></b><b> </b>(4:35)<span style="color: #073763;">, which definitely gave closure to that well-loved, well-acknowledged sitcom.</span> (A final note is Barack and Michelle Obama are executive producers of this film, if that has any influence on whether you watch it or not.) <span style="color: #073763;">You might also be interested in</span><b> <a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/news/leave-the-world-behind-ending-explained-1235829444/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">this interview with Rumaan Alam, author of the foundational novel</span></a></b><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN6FnM8BjLElAxi6bWfNlc9MgJ7HcpqtyIrqFj6eNdAoQqMJTKb46VxlDpRf12YQa17epP-Oi3JFl21o6AaFoJ19mTFyTdzVuiFLYL88wmjJ28Fe1voQYrVFNQ5WmEF_rSdj6nngpiV-r1OmTzhT8WtIIIdjUDiTQfz5knpoZQ9FRdoGcBErdGETvUBg/s1949/Hidden%20Hollywood%2079.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN6FnM8BjLElAxi6bWfNlc9MgJ7HcpqtyIrqFj6eNdAoQqMJTKb46VxlDpRf12YQa17epP-Oi3JFl21o6AaFoJ19mTFyTdzVuiFLYL88wmjJ28Fe1voQYrVFNQ5WmEF_rSdj6nngpiV-r1OmTzhT8WtIIIdjUDiTQfz5knpoZQ9FRdoGcBErdGETvUBg/w640-h294/Hidden%20Hollywood%2079.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:</span> </span></b></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Some options: (1)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls523837749/?ref_=pe_3465290_778400530_eml_hero_cta"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">IMDb's recommendations for the best in theaters and streaming in December 2023</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">;</span><b style="color: #073763;"> (</b><span style="color: #073763;">2) </span><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/killers-of-the-flower-moon" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>Killers of the Flower Moon</i> now available for streaming rental</span></a><span style="color: #073763;">;<b> </b>(3)<b> </b></span><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/taylor-swift-the-eras-tour" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour</i> now available for streaming rental</span></a><span style="color: #073763;">; (4)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/news/national-film-registry-2023-home-alone-terminator-12-years-a-slave-1235833815/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=484448_12-13-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">25 new titles added to the National Film Registry</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; (5)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/news/golden-globes-nominations-list-nominees-2024-1235831576/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=483738_12-11-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Complete list of the Golden Globe Awards nominees</span></a><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b><span style="color: #666666;">(<i>Barbie </i>leads with 10; ceremony on CBS TV on January 7, 2024)</span><span style="color: #073763;">; (6)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/lists/movies-oscars-voters-should-watch-2023/american-symphony-netflix-2/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=483284_12-08-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>Variety</i>'s opinion of 10 movies Oscar voters should see</span></a><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b><span style="color: #666666;">(It's a good thing I’m not a member of the Academy, as I’ve seen only 1 of them </span><span style="color: #999999;">[so far]</span><span style="color: #666666;">)</span><span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Two Guys in the Dark homepage</span></a></b><b style="color: #941100;">. </b><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>If you’d like to</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>Like</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>us on Facebook </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(yes?)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b> please visit</b></span><b> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our Facebook page</span></a></b><span style="color: #941100;"><b>. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us! </b></span><span style="color: #073763;">Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account</span> (which you can easily get at <a href="https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount</span></b></a> if you need to sign up) <span style="color: #073763;">or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our<b> </b>Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it </span>(most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p>
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<p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p>
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<p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p>
<p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">3,603</span></b><span style="color: #073763;">—a huge drop-off from the marvelous 40-50K of the previous 2 months;</span> <span style="color: red;">never overestimate yourself!</span> (As always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers.) <span style="color: #073763;">Below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week </span>(with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCK7XzdEFRXRz8cxt_NiYaO6S9aUv_nAWjcS7E_IcJXM_ZgyhiXEoNxmjAuTsT0C0Wm2YJwu73KA2KtMP-WjurzbIWZjEuE4jcoK_oyOKi3nFAhkuoQmPESCBRITlOfN_jJaFeDFjGPIK-KBqFKf25cG6tZJDwx9gXOSsXvw8hTdBMUkVZWBFAjstAyQ/s1141/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-13%20at%202.14.43%20PM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1141" height="596" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCK7XzdEFRXRz8cxt_NiYaO6S9aUv_nAWjcS7E_IcJXM_ZgyhiXEoNxmjAuTsT0C0Wm2YJwu73KA2KtMP-WjurzbIWZjEuE4jcoK_oyOKi3nFAhkuoQmPESCBRITlOfN_jJaFeDFjGPIK-KBqFKf25cG6tZJDwx9gXOSsXvw8hTdBMUkVZWBFAjstAyQ/w650-h596/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-13%20at%202.14.43%20PM.jpg" width="650" /></a></div><p></p></div>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-69851713124334995452023-12-07T02:12:00.000-08:002023-12-07T17:43:21.806-08:00May December plus Short Takes on other cinematic topics<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">Scandal Evolves into Entertainment </span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">(for those not involved in it)</span></b></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b></span> (Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b></span> (Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, but better options are on the horizon.</span> (Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue </b></span>below <span style="color: #999999;">[some may look near</span> <span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span><span style="color: #999999;">] </span>is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #073763;">My reviews’ premise:</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #008f00;">“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from<b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQU7_vUnWrFZdb1acFCkDI0H6__AI7J7RZC72ODLld5vJHoF-RWCMmXdcyJa5JUi9jJNIaC0O9GMLDOClHie_-MDD8DCjacl_XmM7E4Tl1wA707J_PjWG-GWIA6XYi47hQC97eih7RmMMUXrnqMO8ffKEecxVFG9rh1SyRmVzcZXUmAzZh44Lzh5iqTw/s109/four%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQU7_vUnWrFZdb1acFCkDI0H6__AI7J7RZC72ODLld5vJHoF-RWCMmXdcyJa5JUi9jJNIaC0O9GMLDOClHie_-MDD8DCjacl_XmM7E4Tl1wA707J_PjWG-GWIA6XYi47hQC97eih7RmMMUXrnqMO8ffKEecxVFG9rh1SyRmVzcZXUmAzZh44Lzh5iqTw/s1600/four%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81702955"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">May December</span></a></span> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Todd Haynes)</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">rated R</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">117 min.</span></span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4VdAParM4h8" width="320" youtube-src-id="4VdAParM4h8"></iframe></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="color: #008f00;">If you can abide </b><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">plot spoilers</span></b></span><b style="color: #008f00;"> read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ </b><b><span style="color: #93c47d;">(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</span></b><b style="color: #008f00;">. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and</span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">red.⇐</span> </b></span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA3FsXt7qU7TczgvVF5j79nDkUyGmG8MGLg41IFgZYESE22VFkEupFx0Ft7X11_jyNvQslXlPIvlqtutPZO4Hyf5icGFPHOsfqteDZd5EmrLj1qhl0M40TRUp0AWts9VHyWHYikAhNSEBD80sWaW1yiGWseOGWnBcESXFVIVfqwJdf8eptQjv3INT31A/s817/May_December-765699279-large.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="817" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA3FsXt7qU7TczgvVF5j79nDkUyGmG8MGLg41IFgZYESE22VFkEupFx0Ft7X11_jyNvQslXlPIvlqtutPZO4Hyf5icGFPHOsfqteDZd5EmrLj1qhl0M40TRUp0AWts9VHyWHYikAhNSEBD80sWaW1yiGWseOGWnBcESXFVIVfqwJdf8eptQjv3INT31A/w640-h300/May_December-765699279-large.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;">(My apologies for sameness of photos used in this review, but I had precious little to choose from.)</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">What Happens:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">In 2015 well-known-TV actor Elizabeth Berry</span> (Natalie Portman) <span style="color: #073763;">gets a movie role to play real-life-scandal-woman Gracie Atherton-Yoo</span> (Julianne Moore)<span style="color: #073763;">, who 18 years ago had a sexual affair with 13-year-old Joe Yoo</span> (Charles Melton)<span style="color: #073763;">—of half-Korean heritage he notes—when they were both working at a pet store in the summer of 1992, with her being 36 at the time</span> (but he later says she wasn’t his first)<span style="color: #073763;">. They were caught going at in the storeroom, she went to jail for 5 years, then married Joe</span> (he was 18) <span style="color: #073763;">when she was released. To further complicate things, Gracie was married at the time to Tom Atherton</span> (D.W. Moffett)<span style="color: #073763;">, had 3 kids of her own, with one of them, Georgie</span> (Cory Michael Smith) <span style="color: #073763;">being Joe’s classmate</span> (Gracie divorced Tom while in the cooler)<span style="color: #073763;">. Now, Joe’s 36, Gracie’s 59, they have 3 kids—Honor</span> (Piper Curda)<span style="color: #073763;">, who’s in college, twin high-school seniors, Charlie</span> (Gabriel Chung) <span style="color: #073763;">and Mary</span> (Elizabeth Yu)<span style="color: #073763;">, approaching graduation—with Elizabeth about to descend on them in Savannah, GA, to research her upcoming role. While we see a scrapbook of newspaper headlines about the scandal</span> (Honor's born while Gracie's in prison),<span style="color: #073763;"> Joe and Gracie seemed to have moved comfortably on with their lives, despite the occasional box of turds left anonymously on their front steps that Elizabeth discovers to her shock, just as she arrives. </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Elizabeth spends a lot of time with the Atherton-Yoo family, the parents hoping the upcoming movie will provide a more-positive-interpretation of their situation</span> (something along the lines of “true love wins out”) <span style="color: #073763;">while the younger trio of kids aren’t so sure this is even a good idea, with Honor—who comes home to participate in her siblings’ graduation—opposed to the entire concept of the film. Nevertheless, Elizabeth is determined to find her way into Gracie’s persona, so she meets with Tom, then goes to the pet store where the owner tells her Gracie specifically requested a young male assistant back before the scandal emerged, then Elizabeth goes to the storeroom and</span> (fully clothed) <span style="color: #073763;">simulates the sexual encounter. We begin to see there are other ongoing complexities with these characters as Elizabeth finds herself attracted to Joe</span> (she notes they’re both 36 <span style="color: #999999;">[apparently a crucial number within this script]</span>, that he’d probably be more comfortable with someone closer to his age)<span style="color: #073763;">, while Joe, who has a hobby of raising monarch butterflies, has text conversations with his friend Michaela, proposes they take a holiday together, until she rebuffs him because of his marital status.</span> </span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkaCYzbxlT9udEG9MI6VCJfKDX3U2cGrweg8KXww43l-pzu64-G_tPIBzsM2oDLQl0KhKB9__ghp3NKjE32bs2VfIqb4KKKixXwpSWSSxrSb1SbquxIC80XHAhRumkjGCpKLsAKcw22pNc8pvw7V0Ed4wLDr63zfQ1ds1lYEn8HeUzz_0IZvKKmy9oWw/s1775/MV5BOTFhZWIwYWEtNzg5Yi00MzAxLTkwYTctOWRhNDI4OTQxNDkwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXNvbG5vbXM@._V1_.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="949" data-original-width="1775" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkaCYzbxlT9udEG9MI6VCJfKDX3U2cGrweg8KXww43l-pzu64-G_tPIBzsM2oDLQl0KhKB9__ghp3NKjE32bs2VfIqb4KKKixXwpSWSSxrSb1SbquxIC80XHAhRumkjGCpKLsAKcw22pNc8pvw7V0Ed4wLDr63zfQ1ds1lYEn8HeUzz_0IZvKKmy9oWw/w640-h342/MV5BOTFhZWIwYWEtNzg5Yi00MzAxLTkwYTctOWRhNDI4OTQxNDkwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXNvbG5vbXM@._V1_.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Shortly before the high-school graduation, Elizabeth agrees to speak to the drama class at Mary and Charlie’s school, with Mary in the group, when questions come from the students about playing sex scenes with other actors in front of crew members </span>(she says it begins as mechanical yet can become more intense, personal)<span style="color: #073763;">, why she’d be interested in playing morally-ambiguous-characters</span> (they intrigue her more than intended-heroic-types)<span style="color: #073763;">; Mary’s upset at listening to all this, insists Elizabeth take her home. After a dinner with the family the night before graduation, Georgie proposes to Elizabeth that in return for making him the music supervisor of the upcoming film he’ll give her dirt on how Gracie was abused by her brothers, but this whole business disturbs Elizabeth quite a bit. Then, things take an even-more-complicated turn when Joe drives Elizabeth to her motel, she invites him in, they have sex, he gives her a letter Gracie wrote to him early in their entanglement. She refers to Joe and Gracie’s life as a “story" which upsets him so he leaves angrily.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Joe goes home, confronts Gracie that maybe when they started up he was too young to know what he was doing; she counters he was the one in charge, they’re both upset with how these events are evolving. Next, we have a powerful scene where Elizabeth practices channeling Gracie as she reads the letter into a mirror</span> (which we see as her directly facing the camera in a powerful manner, reminding me of one of the final scenes of Ingmar Bergman’s masterpiece, <i>Persona </i><span style="color: #073763;">[1966]</span> where Nurse Alma <span style="color: #999999;">[Bibi Andersson]</span> recites life secrets to patient Eiisabet Volger <span style="color: #999999;">[Liv Ullmann]</span> with Alma facing the camera, then she does it again with the camera focused on silent, distraught Elisabet),<span style="color: #073763;"> with the revelation at the end of the letter that Joe was supposed to burn it once he’d read it.</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">⇒After</span></b> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">the graduation ceremony, Elizabeth says goodbye to Gracie who denies Georgie’s claim about her brothers molesting her when she was 12. As the film we’re watching ends we see Elizabeth in her film doing several takes of a scene where she seduces actor Joe in the storeroom; while the director’s satisfied, she asks for just one more take to fully get into the essence of her</span><span style="color: #65a0dc;"> </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>character.⇐</b></span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM63yEb9TNX8HRFZ3vGrHEGoa1p1PYO0eNSwbM5OzD058ZxQVTmJhWlOstjl5F2oRu8HgQXjJhqO-aUxzbl2w09m5kK_HG8VaB3pAErNtEQ7bVdYliHy3A9m9WuupmrTuboOTe70QB3UdWXt54yv9-DlUtmRn88v08qA-THh0wtWti3Dyz37vnHqe40A/s957/May%20December%203.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="957" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM63yEb9TNX8HRFZ3vGrHEGoa1p1PYO0eNSwbM5OzD058ZxQVTmJhWlOstjl5F2oRu8HgQXjJhqO-aUxzbl2w09m5kK_HG8VaB3pAErNtEQ7bVdYliHy3A9m9WuupmrTuboOTe70QB3UdWXt54yv9-DlUtmRn88v08qA-THh0wtWti3Dyz37vnHqe40A/w640-h316/May%20December%203.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So What?</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">A couple of things in theaters for awhile are now available on streaming</span> (although both are $19.99 rentals, which gives me pause yet I’ll probably see both quite soon anyway)<span style="color: #073763;">, but last weekend I passed up <i>What Happens Later </i></span>(Meg Ryan; starring Ryan, David Duchovny) <span style="color: #073763;">and </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">The Holdovers</span> </i>(Alexander Payne; starring Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa) <span style="color: #073763;">in favor of <i>May December </i>because the combination of Haynes</span> (I still marvel at his fantasy-biography of Bob Dylan in <i>I’m Not There </i><span style="color: #999999;">[2007; with an especially-impactful version of mid-‘60s Dylan by Cate Blanchett]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, Moore, and Portman—plus great support from the </span><b><span style="color: #073763;">CCAL</span> </b>(more on that shortly)<span style="color: #073763;">—led me to <i>May … </i>. Besides, if you wander into Netflix to see it, even if you have to pay for a month’s rental, you can also explore others I’ve recently addressed on that platform: <i>Reptile </i></span>(Grant Singer; review in our October 26, 2023 posting)<span style="color: #073763;">, </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">The Killer</span> </i>(David Fincher; review in our November 15, 2023 posting)<span style="color: #073763;">, </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Rustin</span> </i>(George C. Wolfe; review in our November 23, 2023 posting)<span style="color: #073763;">, and </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Frybread Face and Me</span> </i>(Billy Luther; review in our November 29, 2023 posting)<span style="color: #073763;">—not that I have any kickback-deal with Netflix </span>(wish I did)<span style="color: #073763;">, it’s just the location of what’s been most appealing to me lately, all of these I rated as 4 stars except <i>The Killer </i>which earned 3½ stars </span>(despite my ongoing respect for Fincher’s work)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> What I found in <i>May December </i>didn’t surprise me relative to the previous body of Haynes’ films in terms of quality presentation, but the ongoing narrative is pleasantly unexpected regarding how the scandal regarding Gracie</span> (Joe’s presented long after the fact as just as culpable—despite his age at the time of the affair—but our patriarchal society is primed to come down harder on the woman involved, which is certainly the case here) <span style="color: #073763;">isn’t the true focus of this story</span> (although it’s always on the back burner, from the time Elizabeth first encounters the box of poop at Gracie’s home to the point near the end when both Joe and Gracie finally show their regrets about the more-sordid-aspects of how their connection came together)<span style="color: #073763;">, but, rather, this becomes a fascinating cluster of character-studies marvelously-well-supported by quality acting demonstrated by Moore, Portman, and Melton.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><br /></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0R-fs4g9b7lRHiOnl8D9RTjXC2KkGS-s1951K0LtAsRneGKISuyQvxOOxTn3sHq3AFLDpMaJyHgFcQv90jbzmXXHNP2ovtwvVcevv2QpEOQ9tSXxGArIA6CEgsT_wnsGlpiiOoD1IUxoO7RPTpXySGY2oQl85A7G_VSr8wRzZzax7KzANf-5yW0I4pg/s586/6a0168ea36d6b2970c02c8d3a30deb200b.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="586" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0R-fs4g9b7lRHiOnl8D9RTjXC2KkGS-s1951K0LtAsRneGKISuyQvxOOxTn3sHq3AFLDpMaJyHgFcQv90jbzmXXHNP2ovtwvVcevv2QpEOQ9tSXxGArIA6CEgsT_wnsGlpiiOoD1IUxoO7RPTpXySGY2oQl85A7G_VSr8wRzZzax7KzANf-5yW0I4pg/w640-h376/6a0168ea36d6b2970c02c8d3a30deb200b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Various reviews note how this story seems to be somewhat-inspired by the actions of</span> <b><a href="https://www.biography.com/crime/mary-kay-letourneau"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Mary Kay Letourneau</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, a married teacher who began an affair with a 13-year-old student in 1997, served 7 years in prison for statutory rape, divorced her husband, married the kid in 2005 after she was released</span> (he was 21, she was 43<span style="color: #073763;">), died in 2020, although this film shifts the dynamic away from the woman’s life of scandal</span> (where Gracie tries to act as if she’s moved past being impacted by it) <span style="color: #073763;">to the interactions between Gracie and Elizabeth, implying Elizabeth harbors her own indiscreet-tendencies as she gives unsubtle-hints to Joe that he might well be better off with her</span> (if that’s even an authentic implication, one of many aspects of this film that deserve post-screening-consideration)<span style="color: #073763;">. Everything works effectively here</span> (in a creepy sort of way)<span style="color: #073763;">, well-deserving of my usual high, 4 of 5 stars relative to anything else I’ve seen</span> (higher numbers reserved for truly powerful accomplishments—like <i>I’m Not There </i><span style="color: #999999;">[although no official stars, because I’ve never actually reviewed it, my own requirement]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2GVxIejpIAQ3bHHil2SjH05GIRhOa_kIf9xq0XRCnyy4bh5CuEL73qsf-O8At78knywOkzdt2zvfgYRxlzxoKXOSjeU2rPDFso5NleOsGR68W5oQ8KqTwlUIS8V_jeahg9SZCRWORTMgYG2Rq2SUjwwxyIl35XcJk2Jt98OKj8SqcaMkioDbD_wf7-g/s1264/May-December.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="761" data-original-width="1264" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2GVxIejpIAQ3bHHil2SjH05GIRhOa_kIf9xq0XRCnyy4bh5CuEL73qsf-O8At78knywOkzdt2zvfgYRxlzxoKXOSjeU2rPDFso5NleOsGR68W5oQ8KqTwlUIS8V_jeahg9SZCRWORTMgYG2Rq2SUjwwxyIl35XcJk2Jt98OKj8SqcaMkioDbD_wf7-g/w640-h386/May-December.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Bottom Line Final Comments:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">As I’ve noted in some of those recent Two Guys postings referenced in the previous section of this review, when Netflix is involved in film distribution the product is released into a limited number of theaters</span> (only one “near” me is in the north part of the San Francisco Bay Area)<span style="color: #073763;">—in the case of <i>May December </i>that happened domestically </span>(U.S.-Canada) <span style="color: #073763;">on November 17, 2023—likely to maintain eligibility for awards structures that require some theatrical presence prior to consideration, but they don’t report what income the film may have </span>(though they do allow notice of international income, which in this case based on 6 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa amounts to only about $407.4 thousand by my “press” time) <span style="color: #073763;">so the focus becomes mostly on streaming availability, which began on December 1, 2023, forcing you to be a</span> <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/may-december"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Netflix subscriber to see it</span></a> </span></b>(as noted before, you can sign up for just 1 month for $6.99 if you can tolerate ads, $15.49 ad-free)<span style="color: #073763;">, which I encourage you to do, both for the sake of experiencing <i>May December </i>and to see those other films on Netflix that I noted above during your month’s indulgence.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> <span>The <b>CCAL</b>’s in on this recommendation:</span></span><b> <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/may_december"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rotten Tomatoes reviews are 92% positive</span></a> </b>(based on a few hundred opinions, so they’re truly in support)<span style="color: #073763;">, while the</span><b> <a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/may-december/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Metacritic average score is 85%</span></a> </b>(a notable-high for them)<span style="color: #073763;"><span>. The situations here are more complex than they first seem on the surface with Gracie claiming Joe was the one in charge of their affair, Joe being seduced by Elizabeth</span> </span>(is she truly attracted to him or is she trying to fully get into character regarding her upcoming portrayal of Gracie?) <span style="color: #073763;">causing him to challenge himself over how responsible he was </span><span>(still is?)<span style="color: #073763;"> about his involvement with Gracie, Gracie trying to keep a calm, detached demeanor after all these years with her notably-younger-lover</span></span> (maybe I’ll toss in a semi-Musical Metaphor here for Gracie, with The Eagles’ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI_VgO-EPQw"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Lyin' Eyes"</span></b></a><b> </b><span style="color: #999999;">[on their 1975 <i>One of These Nights </i>album]</span> with the gender roles reversed from what’s in the song lyrics, but even then she might see herself as <span style="color: #38761d;">“the same old girl you used to be”</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7kyJDKBNSlzdza7IrboVUQU_1wCFLAStOWzMdMRDxzuV7TS68QqSSvUncO-rrKCOIt1Am0ZJE0mB7yTPyuvQFx64c8IqHOMJXHPHEye2j1GR3onpaioxRvEn3EpccsK5FoDvtZQ1uFUqZCtc68QQzICvyXcQdayFzQ598wF4zsIxdNxhpmbQ1s5bZQg/s1244/May_December-463597998-large.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="814" data-original-width="1244" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7kyJDKBNSlzdza7IrboVUQU_1wCFLAStOWzMdMRDxzuV7TS68QqSSvUncO-rrKCOIt1Am0ZJE0mB7yTPyuvQFx64c8IqHOMJXHPHEye2j1GR3onpaioxRvEn3EpccsK5FoDvtZQ1uFUqZCtc68QQzICvyXcQdayFzQ598wF4zsIxdNxhpmbQ1s5bZQg/w640-h418/May_December-463597998-large.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Well, enough from me at this point so I’ll just close out as usual with the official Musical Metaphor for this film, although it took me quite awhile to come up with something relevant; in fact, you may not agree with the relevancy of my choice, so feel free to suggest something better in the Comments option at the far end of this posting. Anyway, what I’ll offer you is the end of the long medley on Side 2 </span>(vinyl original, not CD version) <span style="color: #073763;">of The Beatles’ <i>Abbey Road </i>album</span> (1969) <span style="color: #073763;">that contains the woven-together-songs “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End” at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZhWYD4VHZY"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch ?v=VZhWYD4VHZY</span></b></a><span style="color: #073763;">, although I couldn’t find just this small cluster by the full Beatles foursome so this version is from a Paul McCartney 2013 Tokyo concert</span> (if you’d like the entire original 16:40 medley <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CVsBOjeDzk"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">here it is</span></a> </b><span style="color: #999999;">[sorry, but ads interrupt at 6:00, 10:44]</span>, plus the quick “Her Majesty” following the medley)<span style="color: #073763;">. As I see</span> (hear)<span style="color: #073763;"> it, certain lyrics here speak to situations in <i>May December</i>, for example</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> <span>“Once there was a way to get back homeward / Once there was a way to get back home / Sleep, pretty darling/ Do not cry and I will sing a lullaby”</span></span><span style="color: #448728;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">conjures up a sense of Joe trying to comfort Gracie when the trauma of their lives together overwhelms her in their private time because both of them are</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“</span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> gonna carry that weight / Carry that weight a long time.”</span><span style="color: #448728;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">Accordingly, the interactions of Gracie and Elizabeth amount to each of them saying to the other something to the effect of</span><span style="color: #448728;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d;"><span>“</span><span><span>I never give you my pillow / I only send you my invitations / And in the middle of a celebration I break down</span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span><span>”</span></span></span><span style="color: #448728;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">How this all works out for the 3 primary characters here</span> (and, somewhat in the background, the 6 kids Gracie’s given birth to in her life) <span style="color: #073763;">feels to me like<span> </span></span><span style="color: #38761d;">“And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”</span><span style="color: #448728;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">Or, at least, the love you take <b>needs</b> to be balanced with all the love you make, but that equation’s still a work in progress for most all that we meet in this effectively-unnerving-film.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="color: red;"></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcrsUJB52pAzUAh40FvmWTJpVgdkrI0HzomUbnsvPIIK4aQPKhS4v1Kf9SJht69uMrceMgqVafLOdv2ZsmnpyGeZZUZdEmM7OjSLh3Mih_WnP9wZlAr61p4JHQrEodrkjtWDBGFW8f1_hE63aDD9GqgztLb0Y28k1blPaOKZws2Z914Tm90hShP1oKEw/s1949/Hidden%20Hollywood%2078.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcrsUJB52pAzUAh40FvmWTJpVgdkrI0HzomUbnsvPIIK4aQPKhS4v1Kf9SJht69uMrceMgqVafLOdv2ZsmnpyGeZZUZdEmM7OjSLh3Mih_WnP9wZlAr61p4JHQrEodrkjtWDBGFW8f1_hE63aDD9GqgztLb0Y28k1blPaOKZws2Z914Tm90hShP1oKEw/w640-h294/Hidden%20Hollywood%2078.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:</span> </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Some options: (1)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls526192027/?sort=moviemeter,asc&st_dt=&mode=detail&page=1?ref_=pe_43914690_777395580_eml_nws1p"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">What's new on Netflix in December 2023</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">;</span><b style="color: #073763;"> (</b><span style="color: #073763;">2)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls526585198/?sort=moviemeter,asc&st_dt=&mode=detail&page=1?ref_=pe_43914690_777395580_eml_nws2"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">What's new on Amazon Prime Video in December 2023</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; (3)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls523888709/?sort=moviemeter,asc&st_dt=&mode=detail&page=1?ref_=pe_43914690_777395580_eml_nws3"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">What's new on Hulu in December 2023</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; (4) </span><b><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls526598173/?sort=moviemeter,asc&st_dt=&mode=detail&page=1?ref_=pe_43914690_777395580_eml_nws4"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">What's new on Disney+ in December 2023</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; (5)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls526191812/?sort=moviemeter,asc&st_dt=&mode=detail&page=1?ref_=pe_43914690_777395580_eml_nws5"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">What's new on Max in December 2023</span></a><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">(with </span><i style="color: #073763;">Barbie </i><span style="color: #073763;">on Dec. 15)</span> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Two Guys in the Dark homepage</span></a></b><b style="color: #941100;">. </b><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>If you’d like to</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>Like</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>us on Facebook </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(yes?)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b> please visit</b></span><b> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our Facebook page</span></a></b><span style="color: #941100;"><b>. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us! </b></span><span style="color: #073763;">Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account</span> (which you can easily get at <a href="https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount</span></b></a> if you need to sign up) <span style="color: #073763;">or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our<b> </b>Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it</span> (most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>*</b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b></b> </span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">3,603</span></b><span style="color: #073763;">—a huge drop-off from the marvelous 40-50K of the previous 2 months; </span><span style="color: #990000;">never overestimate yourself!</span> (As always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers.) <span style="color: #073763;">Below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week</span> (with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQtIyDU6orznFWucKnYKBIFd5GeuqC0J0zUKnrFPj_JTedp9K1Z-Ipupu4E4erXHg4k5AGq-Ih1c0EZSUR4ApXdUTDGFmDs83lVvdEnrqkv0gzFw3ImRa5kGwBb79LCQx6lth9sX8Zq6xabUgP7Q7-fCq0tXacI2tA9bnVXJI02FeORSo9hto_bQZrPQ/s1152/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-06%20at%205.43.38%20PM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1064" data-original-width="1152" height="592" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQtIyDU6orznFWucKnYKBIFd5GeuqC0J0zUKnrFPj_JTedp9K1Z-Ipupu4E4erXHg4k5AGq-Ih1c0EZSUR4ApXdUTDGFmDs83lVvdEnrqkv0gzFw3ImRa5kGwBb79LCQx6lth9sX8Zq6xabUgP7Q7-fCq0tXacI2tA9bnVXJI02FeORSo9hto_bQZrPQ/w655-h592/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-06%20at%205.43.38%20PM.jpg" width="655" /></a></div>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-19116773389915488252023-11-29T23:07:00.000-08:002023-11-29T23:07:55.825-08:00Frybread Face and Me plus Short Takes on a couple of other cinematic topics<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">We Are Family …. More or Less</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Review and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b></span> (Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #0b5394;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b></span> (Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, but better options are on the horizon.</span> (Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue </b></span>below <span style="color: #999999;">[some may look near</span> <span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span><span style="color: #999999;">] </span>is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #073763;">My reviews’ premise:</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #008f00;">“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from<b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIy5_mds2xWk6N_VXWHhxUxXKkQahEOfSXFnNUtm1Slh7zEqpmPWtpWOBqETcayuUxOUUJFmTue93iLrxQmjXyBB1oCJpgPe1xFqyZaM35F7EHWC2vIrdgJIOeCRDT0rlYT9W-biDokn9inTiAJh6aHDSdjxKxGGl-eU56dnQkE-PPgskfnQQC6XHFyQ/s109/four%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIy5_mds2xWk6N_VXWHhxUxXKkQahEOfSXFnNUtm1Slh7zEqpmPWtpWOBqETcayuUxOUUJFmTue93iLrxQmjXyBB1oCJpgPe1xFqyZaM35F7EHWC2vIrdgJIOeCRDT0rlYT9W-biDokn9inTiAJh6aHDSdjxKxGGl-eU56dnQkE-PPgskfnQQC6XHFyQ/s1600/four%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13365482/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Frybread Face and Me</span></a></span> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Billy Luther)</span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"> Not Rated, TV-MA</span> <span style="color: #073763;">83 min.</span></span></b></div><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aVpsh5U17so" width="320" youtube-src-id="aVpsh5U17so"></iframe></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="color: #008f00;">If you can abide </b><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">plot spoilers</span></b></span><b style="color: #008f00;"> read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ </b><b><span style="color: #93c47d;">(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</span></b><b style="color: #008f00;">. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and</span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">red.⇐</span> </b></span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyYMZilKjKNbSCIIa4QZMQEIGJHpfS4wWeiL6OY0qfssnKq-6qqHsmDHrbS-pvTSHjscqyCt0_yBiZCI-nlqvN5msDq6PHIiVQNcqpjIVtwa0e9vgoZalziyNf6A6SSTs2bNXQeZLTaSbmIAN06lLSvAhWXXt1J9Cuj3gIcCSe0HxUh9PfuB5KVraaRA/s332/MV5BMTJlZDVmNTktMWUxZi00M2NkLWE1MTYtOWI4NzUzZTJlZWY2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXRyYW5zY29kZS13b3JrZmxvdw@@._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="207" data-original-width="332" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyYMZilKjKNbSCIIa4QZMQEIGJHpfS4wWeiL6OY0qfssnKq-6qqHsmDHrbS-pvTSHjscqyCt0_yBiZCI-nlqvN5msDq6PHIiVQNcqpjIVtwa0e9vgoZalziyNf6A6SSTs2bNXQeZLTaSbmIAN06lLSvAhWXXt1J9Cuj3gIcCSe0HxUh9PfuB5KVraaRA/w640-h400/MV5BMTJlZDVmNTktMWUxZi00M2NkLWE1MTYtOWI4NzUzZTJlZWY2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXRyYW5zY29kZS13b3JrZmxvdw@@._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">What Happens:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">Relative to the superhero movies so entrenched at domestic</span> (U.S.-Canada) <span style="color: #073763;">theaters—such as the currently-underperforming <i>The Marvels </i></span>(Nia DaCosta)<span style="color: #073763;">, even though it’s made about $187.4 million globally in 2 weeks of release, but that’s not considered impactful for the MCU legacy it’s trying to maintain</span> (if you really want to see Brie Larson in something that’s truly “super” turn to Apple TV+ streaming for<b><i> <a href="https://tv.apple.com/us/show/lessons-in-chemistry/umc.cmc.40yycssgxelw4zur8m2ilmvyx"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Lessons in Chemistry</span></a></i></b><i> </i>where she’s a 1950s scientist reduced by the sexism of the times to hosting a local L.A. cooking show which she changes as she sees fit so that it becomes a big hit)<span style="color: #073763;">—<i>Frybread and Me </i>has little action at all </span>(save for a few interpersonal arguments)<span style="color: #073763;">, but makes a memorable impact with its quiet scenes of character development. The “Me” in the title is Benny</span> (Keir Tallman)<span style="color: #073763;">—who at times narrates from his later adult perspective—an almost-teenage-Navajo/Hopi/Laguna Pueblo boy living with his parents in San Diego, CA in 1990, then disappointedly-surprised to find they’ve arranged for him to spend the summer not enjoying further focus on his favorite band, Fleetwood Mac, but instead living with his grandmother on her Navajo Nation sheep ranch in Arizona. Apparently, they want his time in the near-wilderness to help “make a man” of him, due to some of his feminine-inclinations</span> (which screenwriter-director Luther could certainly relate to in his chief character, with Luther identifying as gay as well as sharing the same Indigenous heritage as Benny)<span style="color: #073763;">. Once on the Rez, Benny’s ready to go back home as soon as he can somehow hitch a ride to Winslow, AZ and raise $39 for a bus ride back to San Diego</span> (neither option likely to happen)<span style="color: #073763;">. A further complication is Grandma Lorraine</span> (Sarah H. Natani) <span style="color: #073763;">speaks only Navajo</span> (which these folks call Diné, referring variously to the language, their culture, themselves) <span style="color: #073763;">while Benny’s limited to English, so they both depend on a multi-lingual-relative, such as siblings Aunt Lucy</span> (Kahara Hodges) <span style="color: #073763;">or Uncle Marvin</span> (Martin Sensmeier)<span style="color: #073763;">,</span> <span style="color: #073763;">in order for clumsy-communication.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha5-8JUYrHPOmb-0kTM9nhyphenhyphen81Eq-Pw6V5cSZ1lT3xNBNk5zF-47m2Z2Ka6ZMElnLftYolknKxnTH66v-ZGCXVd_At6WzYSkRWX0NkVRPNw101sdxlYv4etIOexb8UqblEqirS8AH33-gLoCl9n3rKnDrcEim1IOlB8AmAUoA7oSUp3Gsq15IRwG6lmNA/s732/585.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="494" data-original-width="732" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha5-8JUYrHPOmb-0kTM9nhyphenhyphen81Eq-Pw6V5cSZ1lT3xNBNk5zF-47m2Z2Ka6ZMElnLftYolknKxnTH66v-ZGCXVd_At6WzYSkRWX0NkVRPNw101sdxlYv4etIOexb8UqblEqirS8AH33-gLoCl9n3rKnDrcEim1IOlB8AmAUoA7oSUp3Gsq15IRwG6lmNA/w640-h432/585.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Benny’s summer looks like an endless drag as his only job seems to be repairing the fence around the sheep pen, then 2 events bring big changes: (1) His roughly-same-age-cousin, Dawn</span> (Charley Hogan)<span style="color: #073763;">, is also dropped off there unceremoniously by her mother</span> (Owee Rae)<span style="color: #073763;">—the kid has the unfortunate nickname of Frybread Face, which she hates</span> (implies round and greasy to her)<span style="color: #073763;">—with a negative attitude toward Benny given his lack of immersion in his heritage and Navajo language, both of which she fully commands; (2) Uncle Marvin’s disastrous attempt at bull-riding at a local rodeo, leaving him in a wheelchair furthering his disinterest toward Benny, although Dawn begins to warm up to Benny when she learns his family has an annual pass to Sea World so he’s been able to see plenty of famous killer whale Shamu.</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">⇒Aunt Sharon</span></b> <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(Nasheen Sleuth)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> and Uncle Roger </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(Jeremiah Bitsui)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">, show up, somehow Benny causes their baby’s first laugh so he’ll have to take part in a later ceremony about this, requiring him to cook </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(Dawn helps)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">. In the meantime, one day Aunt Lucy </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(a jewelry maker, ambitions of fame)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> helps Benny put on some make-up, then later he dances outdoors with Dawn, both of them wearing long skirts and kerchiefs, but there’s also tension between the cousins on a day when she tells him his parents are divorcing, he counters with her father’s in jail, but they reconcile by “borrowing” Marvin’s car to chase down a wayward sheep. Later, Benny’s mother, Ann </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(Morningstar Angeline)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">, retrieves him, but they have to return not too much later for a funeral when Marvin dies; as they leave, Benny calls out to Lorraine, says “Grandma” in</span> <span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>Navajo.⇐</b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAUHRfsC3mxMZYELDB76ZCwo9LebehfHJhvnmqIRn7VIx81XcxK-Lg0pMSJygBaWyTM9wSX3ZlXsovOJeAbuaPZlUnVNW6WRj1CrfSHsPBFvA9UJYI6fcfb0AWnILdCD2XOEkDeqqbJow9PSmCIWsIYnEHMFAy6p7Lzg4PVgVG1Np5opaqLn8wmORqRg/s596/23frybread1-wzvh-articleLarge.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="265" data-original-width="596" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAUHRfsC3mxMZYELDB76ZCwo9LebehfHJhvnmqIRn7VIx81XcxK-Lg0pMSJygBaWyTM9wSX3ZlXsovOJeAbuaPZlUnVNW6WRj1CrfSHsPBFvA9UJYI6fcfb0AWnILdCD2XOEkDeqqbJow9PSmCIWsIYnEHMFAy6p7Lzg4PVgVG1Np5opaqLn8wmORqRg/w640-h284/23frybread1-wzvh-articleLarge.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So What?</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">Last weekend was busy enough involving the annual Thanksgiving get-together with some of the in-laws</span> (including a repeat screening of the hilarious <i>Raising Arizona </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Joel Coen, 1987]</span> in my brother-in-law’s fabulous home-theater)<span style="color: #073763;">, along with paying attention to a couple of crucial local football </span>(San Francisco 49ers 31-13 over the rival Seattle Seahawks) <span style="color: #073763;">and basketball</span> (Golden State Warriors 118-112 over the San Antonio Spurs) <span style="color: #073763;">games, plus having little-to-no-interest in the latest big-ticket-releases in theaters</span> (sorry, <i>The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Gary Ross; pulled in $29 million in its release with some <b>CCAL </b>support: Rotten Tomatoes 60% positive reviews, Metacritic 54% average score]</span>, I’ve been down this road enough already, and <i>Napoleon </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Ridley Scott]</span>, which I’ll probably see on streaming at some point given my overall respect for this director and his star <span style="color: #999999;">[Joaquin Phoenix]</span>, but the reviews have been flat enough that I had no interest in joining a lot of others in a crowded auditorium <span style="color: #999999;">[admittedly, <i>Napoleon </i>made $20.6 million in its debut, so I hope all those folks enjoyed it, especially with similar <b>CCAL </b>support: 60% RT positives, MC 64% average score, so again lukewarm responses overall at best]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">. For awhile, though, I was seriously wondering what I might watch to share with you when</span> <a href="https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/movies-tv/frybread-face-review-18496596"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Hannah Bae</span></b></a> <span style="color: #073763;">of the <i>San Francisco Chronicle </i>rescued me with a fine review of <i>Frybread Face and Me</i>, which sounded really interesting.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> After I watched it, I was glad to discover this so-far-under-the-radar-experience I could have missed it entirely, so I want to call it to your attention so you don’t miss the chance to see it either. Nothing’s overly dramatic in plot situations; acting’s appropriate for a low-key-narrative, mostly about how these young cousins come to better understand/appreciate each other despite their differences; cinematography’s subtly-powerful in depicting what would likely be called barren landscapes</span> (I’ve been through this territory before, always finding it to be beautiful in an unconventional manner, even just on this nondescript sheep ranch as opposed to the more-powerful landscape of the Shiprock/ Four Corners area made famous in </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">1930s-‘50s<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(7, 55, 99);"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">John Ford westerns</span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">; and the entire experience is marvelously humane as we get to slowly know more about these people and the timeless culture many of them try to maintain, learning along with Benny what the past has provided to meet the many future challenges. If you’d like to know more about what some of the filmmakers think about their project here’s</span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBDGaEBaH6k"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">a short video</span></a> </b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(11:29) </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">with commentary from Luther and some of his actors: Sensmeier, Hodges, Hogan. What they say is insightful, just as it’s significant to see a story about Native Americans with Indigenous people cast in all the roles, just as Martin Scorsese used an abundance of Natives in his </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Killers of the Flower Moon</span> </i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(a review in our November 9, 2023 posting)</span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">.</span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiguUtEFGtSGHSaKkPE14El4kT5RV3v1owxz0hlg1mmutMM_jnzosTRMD0BcWSNruYKNQfZ0ZNIrxOPB55799BhimbuKTtkzVyD9tSaSYjZixx2zCIeknII7ulB41LaQ0brCN9IQyean5x_-rpesaK8j_GeLY1pJhuS_XZ_uh8j9y1fT5D9tLpt_bVWBQ/s911/frybread-face-and-me-movie-review-2023.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="911" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiguUtEFGtSGHSaKkPE14El4kT5RV3v1owxz0hlg1mmutMM_jnzosTRMD0BcWSNruYKNQfZ0ZNIrxOPB55799BhimbuKTtkzVyD9tSaSYjZixx2zCIeknII7ulB41LaQ0brCN9IQyean5x_-rpesaK8j_GeLY1pJhuS_XZ_uh8j9y1fT5D9tLpt_bVWBQ/w640-h344/frybread-face-and-me-movie-review-2023.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Bottom Line Final Comments:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">As usual, when Netflix is involved in film distribution of something they want you to be aware of</span> (they may have contributed to production expenses as well, although there are at least a dozen other “In Association With” companies cited in the opening credits, a sure sign of how difficult it probably was to raise <span style="color: #999999;">[what I assume to be]</span> a limited budget for something that will likely have great resonance with interested audiences but won’t be noticed by the masses) <span style="color: #073763;">they opened <i>Frybread … </i>in some limited theaters last weekend </span>(apparently nowhere in my San Francisco area) <span style="color: #073763;">likely to meet that criterion with certain awards societies</span> (like the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences’ Oscars)<span style="color: #073763;">, so I salute the <b>CCAL </b>as I join them to praise this small cinematic-gem, with the</span><b> <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/frybread_face_and_me"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews at 100%</span></a> </b>(admittedly, based on only 23 responses to date so that number may change in the future)<span style="color: #073763;">, although</span><b> <a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/frybread-face-and-me/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Metacritic's average score at 70%</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">isn’t so enthusiastic</span> (but based on a tiny cluster of 8 reviews, so it could change also)<span style="color: #073763;">, with hopes enough word of mouth might help build an appreciative audience. Netflix doesn’t release box-office-numbers either, so I don’t know how <i>Frybread …</i>’s doing in the few places that it’s playing, although I do know it’s free to</span><b> <a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/frybread-face-and-me"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Netflix streaming subscribers</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">—of course, if you’re not on Netflix you could consider paying $6.99</span> (with ads) <span style="color: #073763;">or $15.49</span> (no ads) <span style="color: #073763;">for a month to see <i>Frybread Face and Me </i>along with everything else in their warehouse that you’d have time to watch; that choice is yours, but I’d highly recommend doing whatever you need to in order to see/appreciate this heart-warming-film.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirLtMlGYo5oZIf_C8bUAguOPSAkYJVqBkRbFzQ3F_VpcxJDWzYC-JW4Gs9DnKW2pwMut_mPjIKO5gz9gK7xnFlLM3qkCwtSPTfdWctdKkzR_TPgQIXSpDtiEsLDn94Z1p7L25_oSVagRrb84S6ptOx_NE4VBcxklxgNhz717Q89pNHjIaoRcrkBy3xgA/s471/Screen-Shot-2023-11-21-at-7.45.18-PM.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="271" data-original-width="471" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirLtMlGYo5oZIf_C8bUAguOPSAkYJVqBkRbFzQ3F_VpcxJDWzYC-JW4Gs9DnKW2pwMut_mPjIKO5gz9gK7xnFlLM3qkCwtSPTfdWctdKkzR_TPgQIXSpDtiEsLDn94Z1p7L25_oSVagRrb84S6ptOx_NE4VBcxklxgNhz717Q89pNHjIaoRcrkBy3xgA/w640-h368/Screen-Shot-2023-11-21-at-7.45.18-PM.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">With that supportive-praise in place all that’s left for me to offer is my standard end-of-review-Musical Metaphor-tactic of letting a song provide a last dose of commentary from an aural </span>(rather than a purely verbal) <span style="color: #073763;">perspective, so I’ll reach back several decades to War’s “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” </span>(on their 1975 album named for the song) <span style="color: #073763;">at </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH0Qda32IKM"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH0Q da32IKM</span></b></a> <span style="color: #073763;">because even though Benny feels, at some point in this story with just about everyone but Aunt Lucy,</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d;">“Sometimes, I don’t speak right / But yet, I know what I’m talking about / Why can’t we be friends?</span><span style="color: #008f00;">” </span><span style="color: #073763;">ultimately he makes the best connections that he can with this small group of distant-living-relatives</span> (with the probable exception of Uncle Marvin, to whom I'll give his own Metaphor<span style="color: #999999;"> [even though I’ve used it 6 times, but it just keeps finding relevance]</span>, The Eagles <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aelpqWEBHR4"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Desperado"</span></a> </span></b><span style="color: #999999;">[1973 album named for the song]</span> because when I hear <span style="color: #38761d;">“Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses? / You’ve been ridin’ fences for so long now / Oh, you’re a hard one, but I know that you got your reasons / These things that are pleasin’ you can hurt you somehow”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #666666;">I think of the gruff attitudes of Marvin with so little to show for his self-isolation)</span><span style="color: #073763;">. It’s up to you, either be content listening to these tunes or go a step farther and seek out the marvelous little film </span></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">that's inspired me to use them here.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhevVZdwQgDsYet5pGPQ3aGRpdWwY9Zbrpd6lUdyvx6dlBmhVXxmn8R5Tgl311lPGk8b_XNFYIyrYkvGfLi255NsDqfXW-6L_KCIC3GDeNM91l0qrl0wpLlHwqCgBxkNx4Kpn9ceL8Gb52j90y3zWLRB_SW4nRi-rtMg_7BOGPE7dBWuFGYsS1tLXT6QA/s1949/Hidden%20Hollywood%2077.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhevVZdwQgDsYet5pGPQ3aGRpdWwY9Zbrpd6lUdyvx6dlBmhVXxmn8R5Tgl311lPGk8b_XNFYIyrYkvGfLi255NsDqfXW-6L_KCIC3GDeNM91l0qrl0wpLlHwqCgBxkNx4Kpn9ceL8Gb52j90y3zWLRB_SW4nRi-rtMg_7BOGPE7dBWuFGYsS1tLXT6QA/w640-h294/Hidden%20Hollywood%2077.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting: </span> </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">(1)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls523839547/?ref_=pe_3465290_775894420_eml_hero_cta"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">IMDb staff picks for November 2023</span></a><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b>(yes, I know November’s about finished, but, if you’re interested, most of this stuff will likely continue; I highly recommend the new season of <i>Fargo </i>on FX cable or Hulu streaming)<span style="color: #073763;">;</span><b style="color: #073763;"> </b><span style="color: #073763;">(2)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/news/ridley-scott-napoleon-tops-global-box-office-1235809187/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=boxofficealert&utm_content=479855_11-26-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>Napoleon</i> is a big hit internationally (not so much domestically)</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Two Guys in the Dark homepage</span></a></b><b style="color: #941100;">. </b><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>If you’d like to</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>Like</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>us on Facebook </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(yes?)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b> please visit</b></span><b> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our Facebook page</span></a></b><span style="color: #941100;"><b>. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us! </b></span><span style="color: #073763;">Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account</span> (which you can easily get at <a href="https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount</span></b></a> if you need to sign up) <span style="color: #073763;">or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our<b> </b>Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it</span> (most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were</span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; text-align: justify;"> </span><b style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">48,541</span></b><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; text-align: justify;"> (as always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers)</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763;">; below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week</span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; text-align: justify;"> (with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgfQTjFwWxPh2imrAoFzZSBciXucaM94GYwvZJzUMNsNj13qSixdf5rLICJdxaWxzdmqD0Jb0kmHDJpiBCNfwkcJ-hb1GO0kB5VnZ24JHfoN7tXJ8ahPUf_-NOXyA6270XE5HTFtk2FmGZA7e0fSWANiPfpR5A9qAdiJZyiLtgvmdhFJQlbcD1_PVkeg/s1153/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-29%20at%203.31.50%20PM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1070" data-original-width="1153" height="594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgfQTjFwWxPh2imrAoFzZSBciXucaM94GYwvZJzUMNsNj13qSixdf5rLICJdxaWxzdmqD0Jb0kmHDJpiBCNfwkcJ-hb1GO0kB5VnZ24JHfoN7tXJ8ahPUf_-NOXyA6270XE5HTFtk2FmGZA7e0fSWANiPfpR5A9qAdiJZyiLtgvmdhFJQlbcD1_PVkeg/w640-h594/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-29%20at%203.31.50%20PM.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-48745777370170369632023-11-23T00:11:00.000-08:002023-11-23T00:11:44.155-08:00Rustin plus Short Takes on The Stones & Brian Jones and another cinematic topic<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: xx-large;">A Couple of Almost-Forgotten Men</span> </span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: x-large;">(at least by some of us)</span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></b></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b></span> (Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b></span> (Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, but better options are on the horizon.</span> (Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue </b></span>below <span style="color: #999999;">[some may look near</span> <span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span><span style="color: #999999;">]</span> is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><div><br /></div><div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #073763;">My reviews’ premise:</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #008f00;">“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRsPqDwNH87syvGZJ52LBqw-Fbqies4ssB1d-y99yTwoW2_8YhQ95ldnE0H0EhOXqejrZ-WKeKjWZ0V-zestMeMZuRtwmyFdW7okftzn9_g8GhgGz-S0ICzExH2zugIRel7-w08jjcF-0QIzoYWdPMgIUPui3B7Eu8aF5L1_032xp6SNxTtPO6VYfSvg/s469/1-Bob-Englehart-PoliticalCartoons.com_.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="349" data-original-width="469" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRsPqDwNH87syvGZJ52LBqw-Fbqies4ssB1d-y99yTwoW2_8YhQ95ldnE0H0EhOXqejrZ-WKeKjWZ0V-zestMeMZuRtwmyFdW7okftzn9_g8GhgGz-S0ICzExH2zugIRel7-w08jjcF-0QIzoYWdPMgIUPui3B7Eu8aF5L1_032xp6SNxTtPO6VYfSvg/w640-h476/1-Bob-Englehart-PoliticalCartoons.com_.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600; text-decoration: underline;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">11/22/2023</span></b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;">—Once again my trusty computer’s behaving erratically so if you don’t see any new postings from Two Guys in the Dark in the coming weeks please know we’ll be back as soon as the problems are resolved.</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span><span style="color: #073763;">In the meantime, for those who will actually be able to celebrate a day of harmony this year, I wish you </span><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Happy Thanksgiving</span></b><span style="color: #073763;">; for everyone else, I hope you soon find peace.</span></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_d1WTB-zOvwerL4pbWBTgFRE4iGc0dKaWHJ2eGhGbxPtG4oWug24DMtDOH4nPuvgQZmIiZqbaGBI6FkdfEQVT_i7BZJ3LY3p6ww3WleDhQbv6HVKhJDJ-Snpq8GEupLUp0YxQVRbeGviVEsFHJgYAm2U8nW7OYacsjTKiN9CLKdMgjQIzbYR1hQj_6w/s109/four%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_d1WTB-zOvwerL4pbWBTgFRE4iGc0dKaWHJ2eGhGbxPtG4oWug24DMtDOH4nPuvgQZmIiZqbaGBI6FkdfEQVT_i7BZJ3LY3p6ww3WleDhQbv6HVKhJDJ-Snpq8GEupLUp0YxQVRbeGviVEsFHJgYAm2U8nW7OYacsjTKiN9CLKdMgjQIzbYR1hQj_6w/s1600/four%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81111528"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rustin</span></a></span></i></b><b><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(George C. Wolfe)</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">rated PG-13</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">108 min.</span></b></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EuZ-UONInl4" width="320" youtube-src-id="EuZ-UONInl4"></iframe></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="color: #008f00;">If you can abide </b><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">plot spoilers</span></b></span><b style="color: #008f00;"> read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ </b><b><span style="color: #93c47d;">(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</span></b><b style="color: #008f00;">. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and</span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">red.⇐</span> </b></span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhicqd8AAx23442es1CIMfiN2cEjbd3gsTwKUUhrsS67ajlsWSo_61YHOWZvGPSVsu7CqCDCaNcK9lNvV8t8jjiiFvNxI0vK544sJCWWcCW57QoGHpfyqRiIyC0NoXXb4H5ENG1v9XxfE6u-Qwmd76LVqxZBiHkypf6D6ndtfQzGflqFrFubA5nIj73sA/s1280/Rustin.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="642" data-original-width="1280" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhicqd8AAx23442es1CIMfiN2cEjbd3gsTwKUUhrsS67ajlsWSo_61YHOWZvGPSVsu7CqCDCaNcK9lNvV8t8jjiiFvNxI0vK544sJCWWcCW57QoGHpfyqRiIyC0NoXXb4H5ENG1v9XxfE6u-Qwmd76LVqxZBiHkypf6D6ndtfQzGflqFrFubA5nIj73sA/w640-h322/Rustin.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">What Happens:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">If you know about Bayard Rustin or learn from various Internet biographies—a short one from the</span> <a href="https://nmaahc.si.edu/bayard-rustin"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">National Museum of African American History & Culture</span></b></a><span style="color: #073763;">, a bit more detailed one from Stanford University’s</span><b> <a href="https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/rustin-bayard"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, the most-extensive at</span> <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayard_Rustin"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">this Wikipedia entry</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, you’d probably find it odd he’s considered a relative-unknown despite his long history of working for the betterment of Black people, but while being Black was enough of a social problem</span> (not of his making) <span style="color: #073763;">in his most-famous-period of the 1960s his situation was compounded by him not only being gay but also not closeted so he frequently avoided mass-media-limelights so as to not take attention away from important causes he was involved with.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> We get to see his leadership </span>(with A. Philip Randolph<span style="color: #999999;"> [Glynn Turman]</span> who had his own earned-respect from African-Americans for, among other accomplishments, leading President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 to ban discrimination in the defense industries during WW II, then President Harry S. Truman to issue Executive Orders in 1948 promoting fair employment and anti-discrimination in federal government hiring as well as ending racial segregation in the armed services) <span style="color: #073763;">in organizing the famous</span><b> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_on_Washington_for_Jobs_and_Freedom"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">August 28, 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, but Rustin’s other accomplishments were also noteworthy, winning him the Presidential Medal of Freedom</span> (sadly, not until 2013, long after he died in 1987)<span style="color: #073763;">, so while I encourage you to see this docudrama</span><span style="color: #073763;">, you should also read about him as his achievements go well beyond that famous March</span> (remembered for Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream,” speech which led to misunderstandings King was the March organizer; he worked on it with Rustin and other Civil Rights leaders of the time, but as we observe in this film the hugely-complex-logistics of this monumental event largely became successful due to the tireless energy of Rustin <span style="color: #999999;">[Colman Domingo]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">. What we get here, though, smartly doesn’t try to pack in more of Rustin's life; rather, it focuses on a well-known-massive-demonstration of people demanding dignity and equality, a topic which—sadly—still is a currently-recognizable-need in a nation</span> (and the larger world it’s part of) <span style="color: #073763;">where injustice is far from being eliminated from the fabric of human interactions. Even though this film takes us back 60 years, it manifests relevance for audiences who are old enough to at least know about the March</span> (if not Rustin, yet) <span style="color: #073763;">as well as those who are just now learning all about this crucial chapter in American history in a detailed encounter that probably exceeds anything they’ve experienced </span>(or yawned through)<span style="color: #073763;"> with schoolroom lessons.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy5zuNvDTX1zjiW2k8WBmIyu0bdP6IG4fHH7ZxC3H_PQx2Xva_pewEkJoDh7nRUyJI5KKD2ILFVVBMIo9IDYgGCeo25U6SQNvtFLBg_yBLd-M5KhTMAbfheVYlFWAKzmZIu0Xia7K7fIU1eoQKQJ3-grBGuNUHTfTuCFdvUZUqBnBKo_ertBE_LVrF-w/s1166/AAAAQcqGkxA_ZD_Q5UFuTQD4GgdIWkRTRCmUtL9-nSMA4-zFwmaOW9gfkIpG6KSh80GakxpoiBxgH97kS2UitMp6gwk0QX5E4DRGDcSz0tlYLP6OZSzSoYr9F-qDGEYdWPxUq0wlFFsHMU9uAao5JismdjTs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="654" data-original-width="1166" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy5zuNvDTX1zjiW2k8WBmIyu0bdP6IG4fHH7ZxC3H_PQx2Xva_pewEkJoDh7nRUyJI5KKD2ILFVVBMIo9IDYgGCeo25U6SQNvtFLBg_yBLd-M5KhTMAbfheVYlFWAKzmZIu0Xia7K7fIU1eoQKQJ3-grBGuNUHTfTuCFdvUZUqBnBKo_ertBE_LVrF-w/w640-h358/AAAAQcqGkxA_ZD_Q5UFuTQD4GgdIWkRTRCmUtL9-nSMA4-zFwmaOW9gfkIpG6KSh80GakxpoiBxgH97kS2UitMp6gwk0QX5E4DRGDcSz0tlYLP6OZSzSoYr9F-qDGEYdWPxUq0wlFFsHMU9uAao5JismdjTs.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> While we see a little bit of angry Whites’ physical abuse of Rustin at times just because of his existence, we mostly meet him in 1960 when he’s asked to lead a large demonstration at the Democratic National Convention, a task he’s willing to undertake until rebuffed by House member Adam Clayton Powell Jr.</span> (Jeffrey Wright) <span style="color: #073763;">because the concept wasn’t vetted through him</span> (leading to a distancing between Rustin and King <span style="color: #999999;">[Ami Ameen]</span> because the latter accepted Powell’s objections)<span style="color: #073763;">. Most of the rest of this film focuses on the opposition Rustin faced when—working with Randolph—he was organizing Herculean-efforts to plan a successful result of the March</span> (intended to last for 2 days, people spending the night in tents, protesters encircling the White House)<span style="color: #073763;">, with disagreements coming from NAACP leader Roy Wilkins</span> (Chris Rock)<span style="color: #073763;">, concerned segregationists would attack the attendees, and Dr. Anna Hedgeman</span> (CCH Pounder)<span style="color: #073763;">, angry that Black women were not intended to play a more prominent role among the speakers in front of the Lincoln Memorial.</span> (Rustin also faced verbal attacks from South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond who called him a <span style="color: #6aa84f;">“Communist, draft-dodger, and homosexual,”</span> releasing to the press his entire police record from 1953 Pasadena, CA when Rustin was convicted of “lewd conduct” with other males; there were also the implications during those years of a <span style="color: #999999;">[nonexistent]</span> sexual relationship between Rustin and King)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">The other focus of the film is on Rustin’s relationship in the early ‘60s with a White man, Tom</span> (Gus Halper)<span style="color: #073763;">, who becomes hostile to Rustin’s increasing attention to</span> (and affection with) <span style="color: #073763;">Elias Taylor</span> (Johnny Ramey)<span style="color: #073763;">, a married Black man whose wife, Claudia (Adrienne Warren), finally calls the affair to a halt when Elias inherits a family church ministry,</span> <span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;"><b>⇒</b><b>leaving</b></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Rustin with the task of making the March work, especially when hundreds of thousands of people do show up </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(I guess Wolfe figures there’s enough footage available of what happened that famous day to not have to repeat much of it for the film, although we do get bits of Mahalia Jackson’s</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span><span style="color: #999999;">[Da’Vine Joy Randolph]</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">singing and King’s speech</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span><span style="color: #999999;">[by which point he and Rustin had reconciled, with implications that Ruskin had earlier been instrumental in encouraging King to his advocacy of Mahatma Gandhi-inspired nonviolent protests]</span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">. After the success of the March, Civil Rights leaders were asked to meet with President John F. Kennedy, but Rustin remained inconspicuous, helping to pick up trash after the crowd</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>departed.⇐</b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC-sLkLKBx2l-mUyeND3RLxduW7X5tw0VVB1BDTNuN5MYWI2z8TyaH7LfaaeiaQknQwHdU0q-ZPFberJgXHmD8uqZPi0_5EmgdDL5BocuW6e5eWcmJexuxxAyJ2In1i3vNGtu9o1ra5Jt294PdtFLwXhcqTY328WZhpyJoMVVUSSt49-zxOlGoosnn0w/s1457/Rustin-Colman-Domingo-080422-98e4bd5db1474a50b27b881f7c536572.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="880" data-original-width="1457" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC-sLkLKBx2l-mUyeND3RLxduW7X5tw0VVB1BDTNuN5MYWI2z8TyaH7LfaaeiaQknQwHdU0q-ZPFberJgXHmD8uqZPi0_5EmgdDL5BocuW6e5eWcmJexuxxAyJ2In1i3vNGtu9o1ra5Jt294PdtFLwXhcqTY328WZhpyJoMVVUSSt49-zxOlGoosnn0w/w640-h386/Rustin-Colman-Domingo-080422-98e4bd5db1474a50b27b881f7c536572.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So What?</span> </b>I<span style="color: #073763;">f you’re inclined to hesitate about spending your time with history lessons, I hope you’ll put that concern aside to let yourself learn from this film while enjoying its brisk pace and engaging acting, especially by Domingo who easily commands the screen in every scene he’s in </span>(seems to be just about all of them as best I can recall)<span style="color: #073763;">. Then, if you’d like to see a bit of the actual Rustin</span> <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grSbGG8uM-0"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">here's a short video</span></a></b><b> </b>(3:19) <span style="color: #073763;">from an interview he did in 1979 about the successes and failures of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, which he says was mainly about the need for the right to vote, the right to use public accommodations, and the freedom to send children to the school of your choice but didn’t truly address the economic and social problems of Black citizens which were still being bitterly fought for years after the ‘60s. While I can’t vouch for all of the presented historical-accuracies, with the understanding that despite whatever facts we have on file about all of the many Civil Rights leaders depicted here</span> (even if briefly)<span style="color: #073763;">, film scripts need certain flashes of drama to keep the audience intrigued so if some of those more private conversations shown—especially between Rustin and Tom, Rustin and Elias—are fabrications</span> (I’ve read both of these Rustin lovers are fictional creations, so whether they’re based on other actual Rustin paramours or just representative of the challenges a gay man, especially one with a public presence, faced during this era <span style="color: #999999;">[as if it’s noticeably all that much better today]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, what matters is how the difficulties of relationships such as these are honestly presented, giving further substance to the complex person Rustin must have been. As I’ve said before, learn your history from authenticated sources such as the ones I cited at the top of this review’s previous section, but then get inspired by how that history must have felt when the people involved were experiencing it even if everything you see on screen wouldn’t provide you with the best results if you had to take a detailed test about Bayard Rustin’s life.</span></span></p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbffJHgLtbVtrPvrLBQgXe_x1jcy-mxC5Es6tIqn29jVRV0zBtbMvOc5WwVMDSzSFXxh7YPPr4WGFA2XSjDugjiYh36Yy7gamNgYX1tjqexKSItH24-NuzWOSlpQg6lGSkS-Xuct4XvEdcR0q1KXtKFshhgpU_x85OfZiC72K2nlEfpHMQUCBbHUHbA/s3264/71621712007-be-funkycollage.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2011" data-original-width="3264" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbffJHgLtbVtrPvrLBQgXe_x1jcy-mxC5Es6tIqn29jVRV0zBtbMvOc5WwVMDSzSFXxh7YPPr4WGFA2XSjDugjiYh36Yy7gamNgYX1tjqexKSItH24-NuzWOSlpQg6lGSkS-Xuct4XvEdcR0q1KXtKFshhgpU_x85OfZiC72K2nlEfpHMQUCBbHUHbA/w640-h394/71621712007-be-funkycollage.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Bottom Line Final Comments:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">The <b>CCAL</b>’s response to what happens here in <i>Rustin </i>is a bit more inconsistent than mine because the</span><b> <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rustin_2023"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews are at a supportive 86%</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">while the</span><b> <a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/rustin/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Metacritic average score reverses that number to a considerably lower 68%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, so I hope you’ll listen more to me and the tomato-growers than the MC snobs, but that’s left to your discretion. While <i>Rustin </i>was released to a limited number of theaters on November 3, 2023</span> (and still apparently remains in a few of them)<span style="color: #073763;">, I have no box-office information on it because the distributor, Netflix, usually doesn’t report such, so just know that</span><b> <a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/rustin"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Netflix streaming</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">is your only sure bet to see this film, but even then you have to be a subscriber</span> (if not, and you can tolerate ads, you can sign up for just one month for $6.99 <span style="color: #999999;">[thereby allowing you to also peruse the rest of their large catalogue]</span>, or, if ads are intolerable to you, then you might consider $15.49 for that month’s experiment)<span style="color: #073763;">. I’m not going to hesitate in encouraging you to make a decision to see <i>Rustin </i>both because it’s a consistently-well-made-cinematic-experience and, more importantly, because, if you’re like me, you should find out more about this great champion of minority rights. While you’re mulling that over, take a listen to my usual-review-closure-tactic of a Musical Metaphor, in this case one of the great anthems of the Civil Rights era, Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come"</span> (on his 1964 <i>Ain’t That Good News </i>album) <span style="color: #073763;">at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it18WSFrwXI"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it18WSFrwXI</span></b></a><span style="color: #073763;">, a video where the song’s connected to footage of another substantial look at a prominent figure of the 1960s in </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Malcolm X</span> </i>(Spike Lee, 1992) <span style="color: #073763;">with insightful lyrics such as </span><span><span style="color: #38761d;">“Then I go to my brother / And I say ‘Brother, help me please’ / But he winds up / Knockin’ me / Back down on my knees </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> It’s been a long / A long time comin’ but I know / A change gon’ come/ Oh, yes it will.”</span></span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">The full needed change still is in progress; we just all have to make the effort Bayard Rustin did to finally bring it to fruition.</span><span style="color: #ff2600; font-size: medium; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>*</b></span></span></p>
<p style="color: #448728; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600; font-size: medium; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>*</b></span>In 2021 <i>Rolling Stone </i>named this song as #3 on their list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time <span style="color: #999999;">(you can</span> <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Stone%27s_500_Greatest_Songs_of_All_Time"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">go here</span></a> </b><span style="color: #999999;">to see how their opinions of the Top 10 in those 500 lists changed from 2004 to 2021)</span>.</span></p><div> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b> <span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDQVUa1p6AAk04KE2OawKKESSIVU-nMJq5BvaDSV5M9I5N0_bCoObiOlr7Man7kBCafTva5MC-3AzamH2VNC75VI3eA2ZDB87e0KTlxHB0Ui1ROwuZDskGHXYZ13IcElK-nCw0FRY6pFNKSWZHvAZC7uk05VP1ps9WL4iWJI5IEjt_5_wK_uDUF6EnMg/s109/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDQVUa1p6AAk04KE2OawKKESSIVU-nMJq5BvaDSV5M9I5N0_bCoObiOlr7Man7kBCafTva5MC-3AzamH2VNC75VI3eA2ZDB87e0KTlxHB0Ui1ROwuZDskGHXYZ13IcElK-nCw0FRY6pFNKSWZHvAZC7uk05VP1ps9WL4iWJI5IEjt_5_wK_uDUF6EnMg/s1600/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.magpictures.com/thestonesandbrianjones/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The Stones & Brian Jones</span></a></span></i></b><b><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Nick Broomfield)</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b> <span style="color: #cc0000;">Not Rated</span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>,</b></span><b> 16+ for TV</b></span> <span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>93 min</b><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3MtS2t1KQ7c" width="320" youtube-src-id="3MtS2t1KQ7c"></iframe></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGtMmTJx4wi5W7cjnKOH0JrZzG52pFtmgwxwYHmrJcqb_XjHE8Etu84fyKx-NcO5DGqxo44rI8hlD4vcKbaqB94iovxNN1ZpLDlB_9nEymHsRHGjfEqNpDmC-w4ZBfT1EdUUe07OCtWlOD-edVSW8qWjz4VIHmfNmFK0x8WGjguazxEtuNCGacoXdo_Q/s2993/Brian%20Jones.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1578" data-original-width="2993" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGtMmTJx4wi5W7cjnKOH0JrZzG52pFtmgwxwYHmrJcqb_XjHE8Etu84fyKx-NcO5DGqxo44rI8hlD4vcKbaqB94iovxNN1ZpLDlB_9nEymHsRHGjfEqNpDmC-w4ZBfT1EdUUe07OCtWlOD-edVSW8qWjz4VIHmfNmFK0x8WGjguazxEtuNCGacoXdo_Q/w640-h338/Brian%20Jones.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span>(No <b>Plot Spoilers </b>here because it’s a documentary fully based in real events, although the specific content of the many interviews isn’t likely recorded anywhere else.) <span style="color: #073763;">If you didn’t encounter the Rolling Stones until after 1969 you may not even be aware of Brian Jones, although he’s the one who started pulling the group together in 1962 when he was just 19, first recruiting Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, then filling it through a newspaper ad with bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts. As we learn through archival footage and voice-over testimony from Brian along with many in Jones’ life</span> (plus some more-lengthy contemporary interviews for this doc)<span style="color: #073763;">, Jones had a strong affinity for American blues music—he even took the band’s name from blues-master Muddy Waters’</span> <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnsw4sySaxw"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Rollin' Stone"</span></a> </b>(on his 1958 <i>The Best of Muddy Waters </i>album)—<span style="color: #073763;">but was pushed out of his home at 17 due to his father desiring a more-settled-career for his son than as a popular musician</span> (we get Dad Leslie Jones’ take on this also, after the fact<span style="color: #073763;">). For a few years in the early 1960s Jones moved in with families of a string of girlfriends </span>(or just the women themselves)<span style="color: #073763;">, getting at least 5 pregnant before moving on, but we get very little about these children in this doc; instead, the focus here is on the rapid rise of the Stones as a blues-influenced-then-more-of-a-rocker-band with Jones providing a lot of instrumental versatility in their early albums but with little singing, no songwriting, so as the hits were coming from the Jagger-Richards collaborations conflicts arose between Mick and Brian as to who was truly in charge of the group</span> (with the huge success of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEjkftp7J7I"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Satisfaction"</span></b></a> pushing Jones further away from his bandmates’ development)<span style="color: #073763;">, although Brian apparently still got along better with Keith. </span></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Some of those women in his life provide insightful interviews on Brian’s interpersonal aspects—Valerie Corbett, Linda Lawrence, Anita Pallenberg, Dawn Malloy, and actress/model/singer Zouzou—while Wyman gives extensive commentary on Jones’ professional work, with his increasing incoherence, lack of contributions through alcohol and drug use finally leading to his expulsion from the band in 1969</span> (to be replaced by first Mick Taylor, then Ron Wood, although they’re not part of this narrative)<span style="color: #073763;">, then death by drowning in his own swimming pool</span> (cause never officially determined as to accident, overdose, suicide <span style="color: #999999;">[or even murder]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">. While there’s nothing really surprising or revelatory about how Jones’ life is depicted, this film is useful—as is <i>Rustin</i>—in putting a spotlight on men quite influential in their time but, to some degree, are relatively unknown/forgotten to many now.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBA2ZQV9srASap9m2ieeHReYipv0zDaJmY6yMjCw7pdJjo9CPo-QP4_rS1XWhtuA6RMSXxXLXVoNfkV9Tbigz3U73D_SX7jHET2ZbUEYNCsBfLR-tw3vp3O3xltDEMXyqAX0b3CEL2FOXlEjG_57eN1j8m8s7hE5NQz7xkLpX2fkbIm28aZO1-oiq0Ag/s5300/Brian%20Jones%202.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3044" data-original-width="5300" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBA2ZQV9srASap9m2ieeHReYipv0zDaJmY6yMjCw7pdJjo9CPo-QP4_rS1XWhtuA6RMSXxXLXVoNfkV9Tbigz3U73D_SX7jHET2ZbUEYNCsBfLR-tw3vp3O3xltDEMXyqAX0b3CEL2FOXlEjG_57eN1j8m8s7hE5NQz7xkLpX2fkbIm28aZO1-oiq0Ag/w640-h368/Brian%20Jones%202.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">If you’d like to see <i>… Brian Jones </i>it might still be in a few theaters</span> (supposedly opened domestically for just one day on November 7, 2023, although I’ve found evidence of it continued to be listed, bringing in a mere $41.5 thousand gross) <span style="color: #073763;">you’d be encouraged to do so by the <b>CCAL </b>with</span> <b><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_stones_and_brian_jones"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">90% RT positive reviews</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, a</span> <b><a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-stones-and-brian-jones/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">75% MC average score</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, so turn to</span><b> <a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-stones-and-brian-jones"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">streaming</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">where there's a $6.99 rental at Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, etc. With such an aural focus here there’s lot to choose from for a Musical Metaphor, but I’ve decided to be a bit snide even speaking of the dead by using the Stones' “The Last Time”</span> (on their 1966 compilation album <i>Big Hits {Hide Tide and Green Grass)</i>, also on the U.S. version of 1965’s <i>Out of Our Heads</i>) <span style="color: #073763;">at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvIIM2AZgCA"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvIIM2AZg CA</span></b></a><b> </b>(from a <span style="color: #999999;">[probable 1965]</span> performance on CBS TV’s <i>The Ed Sullivan Show</i>) <span style="color: #073763;">where</span> (despite the original lyrics being about a romance on the rocks) <span style="color: #073763;">Mick and Keith could be warning Brian</span> (just as schoolmasters, parents, others had done earlier in his compacted-27 years) <span style="color: #073763;">that</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> “I told you once and I told you twice/ But you never listen to my advice / You don’t try very hard to please me / With what you know it should be easy / Well, this could be the last time,”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">which it was when he was no longer in the group he founded, then died less than a month later</span> (even as his band <span style="color: #2b00fe; font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://variety.com/2023/music/news/rolling-stones-2024-north-american-tour-dates-1235803009/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=479005_11-21-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">continues to tour</span></a> </span><span>today)</span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></p><div><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBhxN3mQXOfswoBK1DiKE5BpZFIjK8G_bVNbN-vRSKuZYT_ZncoYYzcIZpn7E0zwLGOB7BrCtLVrEntTpcCuqdvKyNsotjlOrZCrJL4_2Svsi8IoIQTsWNRO7bOlkNqHRg6dxw-EqRnL_tKDsDm0g4zvNZxM4aj6CDzibXwv9r_kJtTp9G1q96GyVMJg/s1949/Hidden%20Hollywood%2076.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBhxN3mQXOfswoBK1DiKE5BpZFIjK8G_bVNbN-vRSKuZYT_ZncoYYzcIZpn7E0zwLGOB7BrCtLVrEntTpcCuqdvKyNsotjlOrZCrJL4_2Svsi8IoIQTsWNRO7bOlkNqHRg6dxw-EqRnL_tKDsDm0g4zvNZxM4aj6CDzibXwv9r_kJtTp9G1q96GyVMJg/w640-h294/Hidden%20Hollywood%2076.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting: </span> </span></b></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">An option for consideration:</span><b><i style="color: #073763;"> </i><a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/news/lily-gladstone-flower-moon-backlash-scorsese-osage-story-1235790667/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=477934_11-16-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Lily Gladstone welcomes criticism of <i>Killers of the Flower Moon</i></span></a></b><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Two Guys in the Dark homepage</span></a></b><b style="color: #941100;">. </b><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>If you’d like to</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>Like</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>us on Facebook </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(yes?)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b> please visit</b></span><b> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our Facebook page</span></a></b><span style="color: #941100;"><b>. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us! </b></span><span style="color: #073763;">Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account </span>(which you can easily get at <a href="https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount</span></b></a> if you need to sign up) <span style="color: #073763;">or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our<b> </b>Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it</span> (most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p>
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<p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p>
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<p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">48,541</span></b> (as always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers)<span style="color: #073763;">; below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week</span> (with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAHQEvBAnjEuL9wgxpZDeVVJAgfLFdCc6wr_biUT3YB-doRp1TG-kp-oUfsqyPtgEXQ2nNZA7BZXMPPV835SMZ-2pDvUv49h1uWIOEvMaeLVrAhaWWxorBowaLOnOrvmI1x3ZAeNQE3F-LMMzlfs_HtUTmFKFn556Bu2Oy_Mn9eLt1Yl8QxWQdiRC9ZQ/s1153/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-22%20at%204.20.58%20PM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1041" data-original-width="1153" height="578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAHQEvBAnjEuL9wgxpZDeVVJAgfLFdCc6wr_biUT3YB-doRp1TG-kp-oUfsqyPtgEXQ2nNZA7BZXMPPV835SMZ-2pDvUv49h1uWIOEvMaeLVrAhaWWxorBowaLOnOrvmI1x3ZAeNQE3F-LMMzlfs_HtUTmFKFn556Bu2Oy_Mn9eLt1Yl8QxWQdiRC9ZQ/w650-h578/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-22%20at%204.20.58%20PM.jpg" width="650" /></a></div></div></div>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-73110889693295246892023-11-15T22:25:00.000-08:002023-11-15T22:25:34.215-08:00Short Takes on The Killer, A Haunting in Venice, along with various other cinematic topics<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">You Want Murders? I Can Get ‘Em</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">for You Wholesale!</span></b></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;"> </span></span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">I</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b></span> (Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b></span> (Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, but better options are on the horizon. </span> (Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue </b></span>below <span style="color: #999999;">[some may look near</span> <span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span><span style="color: #999999;">]</span> is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #073763;">My reviews’ premise: </span><span style="color: #008f00;">“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href=" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </span></b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi92XLfhB3WTJQCntBRmpdRhGpFpBbuVyRU-uI56iOSBIBV5RS-_bTEbl7mR-Ow0DJ8_McYKSapFce5sD0VLQg_BQjAhcyZGIWthhNxSGVP5R_cqgn6fxwQpvufQHx7du-Y0yrIcV-iRkaAFqpPohrdxMcGGimYSH55YSVeGiwrmlrkjqGtyUhX4uvgmw/s1920/cartoon-snoring-in-bed-vector.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1673" data-original-width="1920" height="558" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi92XLfhB3WTJQCntBRmpdRhGpFpBbuVyRU-uI56iOSBIBV5RS-_bTEbl7mR-Ow0DJ8_McYKSapFce5sD0VLQg_BQjAhcyZGIWthhNxSGVP5R_cqgn6fxwQpvufQHx7du-Y0yrIcV-iRkaAFqpPohrdxMcGGimYSH55YSVeGiwrmlrkjqGtyUhX4uvgmw/w640-h558/cartoon-snoring-in-bed-vector.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">After nearly burning myself out</span> (along with anyone who actually made the effort to read the review) <span style="color: #073763;">with attending to </span><b><i><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2023/11/killers-of-flower-moon-plus-short-takes.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Killers of the Flower Moon</span></a></i></b><b style="color: #073763;"> </b><span style="color: #073763;">last week, I’m saving some energy this time with looking at 2 streamers</span> (which have been in theaters) <span style="color: #073763;">in a more abbreviated fashion, but if you want more on these plots just go to the movie’s titles on Wikipedia: </span><b><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killer_(2023_film)"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The Killer</span></a></i></b><span style="color: #073763;"> and </span><b><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Haunting_in_Venice"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">A Haunting in Venice</span></a></i></b><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="color: #008f00;">If you can abide </b><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">plot spoilers</span></b></span><b style="color: #008f00;"> read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ </b><b><span style="color: #93c47d;">(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</span></b><b style="color: #008f00;">. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and</span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">red.⇐</span> </b></span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoDIcKC92aijgxM8e8C7aYyBMVF9aN_oZrJOh3F0gex4N-DPwrzPGPtJXoky1RuvNAOUIPd8EDNgAK4GEvscVUEb2PJmrMKrvjhGzIdyWHwOZELauws3n6z6IMkF4vzKcw5Z6SHqfvDhnDvISU3l1LbGaQhyphenhyphenog5jzWEhxktSvZQyzPQN17uQYm-Snp9g/s109/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoDIcKC92aijgxM8e8C7aYyBMVF9aN_oZrJOh3F0gex4N-DPwrzPGPtJXoky1RuvNAOUIPd8EDNgAK4GEvscVUEb2PJmrMKrvjhGzIdyWHwOZELauws3n6z6IMkF4vzKcw5Z6SHqfvDhnDvISU3l1LbGaQhyphenhyphenog5jzWEhxktSvZQyzPQN17uQYm-Snp9g/s1600/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/80234448">The Killer</a></span></i></b><b><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(David Fincher)</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">rated R</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">119 min.</span></b></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5S7FR_HCg9g" width="320" youtube-src-id="5S7FR_HCg9g"></iframe></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSQFJ-IDRAsxHPt_ZGjCveG7ygypzSVIgX1UnMIre53dEVmPK_EM9b4vWTmiZ3oQhzkS2nNuTH17Y0FX-N99SvjQTmyVU_tdGhZ5B-aPnMn6UG1Rn-VuxBI4FBBcgEr1aLCWHxNn3oL1Iss5zKLfMm4CthcFixCj23ivO8o13xYPPOuG5kzh-jEklLBA/s1296/THE-KILLER-Actor-Michael-Fassbender-Credits-Netflix.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="655" data-original-width="1296" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSQFJ-IDRAsxHPt_ZGjCveG7ygypzSVIgX1UnMIre53dEVmPK_EM9b4vWTmiZ3oQhzkS2nNuTH17Y0FX-N99SvjQTmyVU_tdGhZ5B-aPnMn6UG1Rn-VuxBI4FBBcgEr1aLCWHxNn3oL1Iss5zKLfMm4CthcFixCj23ivO8o13xYPPOuG5kzh-jEklLBA/w640-h324/THE-KILLER-Actor-Michael-Fassbender-Credits-Netflix.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Given my previous appreciation for the works of Fincher—</span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Se7en</span> </i>(1995)<span style="color: #073763;">, </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Fight Club</span> </i>(1999)<span style="color: #073763;">, <i>Zodiac </i></span>(2007)<span style="color: #073763;">, </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">The Social Network</span> </i>(2010)<span style="color: #073763;">, </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo</span> </i>(2011)<span style="color: #073763;">, </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Gone Girl</span> </i>(2013 <span style="color: #999999;">[review in our October 9, 2014 posting]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Mank</span> </i>(2020 <span style="color: #999999;">[review in our December 10, 2020 posting, both reviews at the 4-stars level]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">among them—I was quite interested in seeing his latest, even though as a plot it’s just a string of murders, all tied to vengeance of some sort. In this go-round, a highly-successful assassin</span> (Michael Fassbender)<span style="color: #073763;">—simply called The Killer in the credits—is on assignment in Paris with his target</span> (Endre Hulles)<span style="color: #073763;"> due to soon check into a hotel across the street where out hitman will shoot him through a window with a high-powered rifle; in the boring days he has to wait for the guy to show up we get lots of voice-over-narration from Killer about how he stays focused just on the particulars of his jobs, with no sense of connection to any sort of ideology. However, when time comes for the crucial shot, he somehow misses, killing instead his target’s female companion. </span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Our protagonist quickly divests himself of incriminating evidence, uses one of many fake I.D.s/credit cards to fly to his hidden home in the Dominican Republic, but when he arrives he finds Magdala</span> (Sophie Charlotte)<span style="color: #073763;">, his lover, is hospitalized, attacked by 2 other killers seemingly in retribution for his failed Paris assignment. He first gets some info on who his antagonists were from a cab driver, Leo</span> (Gabriel Polanco)<span style="color: #073763;">—then shot dead—goes to New Orleans to confront his handler, Hodges</span> (Charles Parnell)<span style="color: #073763;">, a lawyer. When our guy is done, both Hodges and his assistant, Dolores </span>(Kerry O’Malley)<span style="color: #073763;">, are dead, but the names and addresses of the pair he seeks are now known. The first one’s a powerful thug, The Brute</span> (Sala Baker<span style="color: #073763;">), in St. Petersburg, FL who puts up a hell of a battle before being defeated with his home burned down for good measure</span> (at least the guard dog was spared)<span style="color: #073763;">. Then comes The Expert</span> (Tilda Swinton)<span style="color: #073763;">, an older woman in Beacon, NY</span> (close to NYC) <span style="color: #073763;">who’s dispatched after tense conversation in a restaurant where she’s sampling various whiskeys.</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">⇒Next</span></b><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> step up the ladder is Chicago to sneak in on wealthy Claybourne, The Client </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(Arliss Howard)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">, who ordered the Paris hit, then hired the Dominican Republic brutals through Hodges, in response to the lawyer’s suggestion to tie up loose ends with The Killer. He desperately pleads he didn’t know about the specifics of the Magdala hit, so he’s left alive with the warning to not interfere with Killer’s life again, after which he’s back in the D.R., lounging on the beach with well-recovered</span> <span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>Magdala.⇐</b></span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQJyyMbo15_JOHf3TmPp8koR1mD1waVjLTxYszv4KpoX_9rcEmW1LkpzrXUgXub66zupCW8xWVMpdnkmgHPIsrJvhJGoxvdwGbPj5pZQAC4TvdrajXBMvYOe17KKJZOXUPaKyJOqtYt2bmxbavQkekwzs2lgEXE4etHkmz6pKdOdRRUKjN0X1EAMkJQ/s3351/matz_r1_47_20221201cs_v14_dovi_20230421.0097554.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1680" data-original-width="3351" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQJyyMbo15_JOHf3TmPp8koR1mD1waVjLTxYszv4KpoX_9rcEmW1LkpzrXUgXub66zupCW8xWVMpdnkmgHPIsrJvhJGoxvdwGbPj5pZQAC4TvdrajXBMvYOe17KKJZOXUPaKyJOqtYt2bmxbavQkekwzs2lgEXE4etHkmz6pKdOdRRUKjN0X1EAMkJQ/w640-h320/matz_r1_47_20221201cs_v14_dovi_20230421.0097554.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Despite all these deaths, violence is relatively subdued as most victims are simply shot dead, with the most agonizing scenes being Hodges tortured with a nail gun until he dies sooner than expected and the lengthy hand-to-hand-combat between Killer and Brute. As I noted in the beginning of</span> <a href="https://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2023/09/blow-up-plus-short-takes-on-some-other.html"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">my retro-analysis of <i>Blow-Up</i></span></b></a><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></i>(Michelangelo Antonioni, 1966 <span style="color: #999999;">[review, September 14, 2023 posting]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, as with Thomas the photographer</span> (David Hemmings) <span style="color: #073763;">in that 5-stars</span> (in my arguable-opinion) <span style="color: #073763;">classic, my film-loving-wife, Nina, wasn’t as interested in <i>The Killer</i></span> <span style="color: #073763;">as she’d hoped to be due to lack of any character development</span><span style="color: #073763;">, although in those long, opening VO shots prior to the attempted-Paris-hit Killer does say his disconnect from fellow humans makes his career much easier. </span>(Also, there’s the possibility I’m just a cold-hearted bastard <span style="color: #999999;">[well, I was born from an unwed-mother, seriously]</span> who relates well to these anti-social-characters <span style="color: #999999;">[damn, maybe Donald Trump's my mystery-father</span> <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">{yuck!}</span><span style="color: #999999;">, but he’s only a couple of years older than me, still I wouldn’t put it past him somehow …]</span><span style="color: #666666;">; in a bit of defense of my positions, though, Nina now admits she’s reflected more on <i>Blow-Up</i>, admires the overall impact of how it’s presented, but she’s still not all that thrilled by <i>The Killer</i></span> <span style="color: #999999;">[a reasonable-response, as I enjoyed its tension and pacing more than any true interest in The Killer himself, whose only purpose here is to justify his horrid anger, so, readers, you might be better off listening to Nina than me on this movie</span> <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">{overall good advice indeed, based on my 36 fantastic years with her}</span><span style="color: #999999;">]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">. </span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">So, take that as a warning: most of what we get here is the introduction of a new person soon to be dead </span>(with a tiny bit of comic relief as Killer’s fake-identity-names come from TV characters—Sam Malone’s the only one I can recall right now)<span style="color: #073763;">. <i>The Killer </i>opened for limited domestic</span> (U.S.-Canada) r<span style="color: #073763;">elease on October 27, 2023, but it’s almost gone from those venues</span> (no reported box-office either except for a mere $362 thousand from a few international sites)<span style="color: #073763;">, so if you’re interested your best option is</span> <b><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-killer-2023-0"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Netflix streaming</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">if you’re a subscriber</span> (or willing to invest for at least 1 month, with the lowest option being $6.99<span style="color: #073763;">), which the <b>CCAL </b>generally encourages you to do with</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_killer_2023"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">positive Rotten Tomatoes reviews at 86%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, the</span> <b><a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-killer-2023/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Metacritic average score at 72%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">. I’ll wrap up with my usual trope of a Musical Metaphor, The Doors’ “Riders on the Storm”—a debated-choice because I’ve already used it 6 times, but maybe I just see too many stories about killers—</span>(on their 1971 album <i>L.A. Woman</i>) <span><span style="color: #073763;">at </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G2-FPlvY58"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G2-FPlvY58</span></b></a><span style="color: #073763;">, a song containing the right attitude for this movie throughout, with some lyrics very appropriate:</span></span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“If you give this man a ride / Sweet family will die / Killer on the road.” </span> <span style="color: #073763;">Overall, a very disturbing song well-fit for a very disturbing movie.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_WtutfoLMPGQRYfEDd9wCCVhTpVLEFKSu6P5056jEoVsuov_XLh_nrM0U6aVS-n8s5-LtK1668P7DS55iR8simhDhmUILrus70T8tld-imeWPdNYn2kByn4rhiSjy480GshHHnpHRLk9MgepkUFrTTVbvH-w1cJozzpdhmtsUNIcpI3E_Rlt4XIX9hg/s109/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_WtutfoLMPGQRYfEDd9wCCVhTpVLEFKSu6P5056jEoVsuov_XLh_nrM0U6aVS-n8s5-LtK1668P7DS55iR8simhDhmUILrus70T8tld-imeWPdNYn2kByn4rhiSjy480GshHHnpHRLk9MgepkUFrTTVbvH-w1cJozzpdhmtsUNIcpI3E_Rlt4XIX9hg/s1600/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/movies/a-haunting-in-venice"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">A Haunting in Venice</span></a></span></i></b><b><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Kenneth Branagh)</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> rated PG-13</span></b> <span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>103 min</b><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></span></div><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><div><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yEddsSwweyE" width="320" youtube-src-id="yEddsSwweyE"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtPHKdseM-ENVxxVnBYEWDkh5HO55IZ6zz9rmLiLnhFfUmh8MK4k4neOnctRnQwqcn3n_qUWFBeFErrWnsZTw_Dxqk4peLkzwWhToYoiG9WpEZ3oNqgSEZ8274U4QIroDULValBeGg5NIyzKbZfb6SpP8uZdHlPQoXEio2wz53P3T33ztPwezgpF1Klg/s1400/a-haunting-in-venice-poster-with-all-main-characters.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1400" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtPHKdseM-ENVxxVnBYEWDkh5HO55IZ6zz9rmLiLnhFfUmh8MK4k4neOnctRnQwqcn3n_qUWFBeFErrWnsZTw_Dxqk4peLkzwWhToYoiG9WpEZ3oNqgSEZ8274U4QIroDULValBeGg5NIyzKbZfb6SpP8uZdHlPQoXEio2wz53P3T33ztPwezgpF1Klg/w640-h288/a-haunting-in-venice-poster-with-all-main-characters.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Once again director-actor Branagh turns to Agatha Christie for adaptation-inspiration—following his previous movies based upon her novels, </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Murder on the Orient Express</span> </i>(2017 <span style="color: #999999;">[I didn't review it for some forgotten reason]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Death on the Nile</span> </i>(2022 <span style="color: #999999;">[review in our April 7, 2022 posting]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">—this time turning to her <i>Hallowe’en Party </i></span>(1969) <span style="color: #073763;">for a tale set in 1947</span> (not long before I was born; maybe my mystery father was part of this plot) <span style="color: #073763;">about famed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot</span> (Branagh) <span style="color: #073763;">who’s retired in Venice, Italy with ex-cop Vitale Portfoglio</span> (Riccardo Scamarcio)<span style="color: #073763;"> as his bodyguard. His serenity’s interrupted by a visit from long-time-acquaintance/somewhat-friend, successful mystery novelist Ariadne Oliver</span> (Tina Fey)<span style="color: #073763;">, who wants his help in exposing Joyce Reynolds </span>(Michelle Yeoh) <span style="color: #073763;">as a fake psychic</span> (which Oliver hasn’t been able to do yet) <span style="color: #073763;">by attending one of her séances late on Halloween night at the palazzo of noted opera singer Rowena Drake </span>(Kelly Reilly) <span style="color: #073763;">who wants to contact her young-adult-daughter, Alicia Drake</span> (Rowan Robinson)<span style="color: #073763;">, who died a year ago, seemingly by suicide</span> (or was she pushed?) <span style="color: #073763;">from jumping off a high balcony into a canal, after being heartbroken when her fiancé, chef Maxime Gerard</span> (Kyle Allen)<span style="color: #073763;">, suddenly broke off the engagement.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> During the séance Poirot finds Nicolas Holland</span> (Aki Khan<span style="color: #073763;">), half-brother of Joyce’s assistant, Desdemona Holland</span> (Emma Laird)<span style="color: #073763;">, hiding in a chimney, producing some of the supposed-strange-goings-on, but then Joyce brings in new strangeness by speaking in Alicia’s voice, saying she was murdered by someone in this room. Poirot wants to question Joyce, but she rebuffs him, gets him to wear her robe and mask, but when he gets distracted by bobbing for apples he’s attacked from behind </span>(by someone who mistakes him for Joyce)<span style="color: #073763;">, almost drowned; right after that, Joyce is found impaled on a statue in the courtyard. Poirot is immediately on the case </span>(somewhat aided by Ariadne)<span style="color: #073763;">, confronting the usual collection of suspects who include Maxime, Rowena’s housekeeper Olga Seminoff </span>(Camille Cottin)<span style="color: #073763;">, the Drake family doctor Leslie Ferrier</span> (Jamie Dornan)<span style="color: #073763;">—who’d prefer to get romantic with Rowena—and, of course, the Holland siblings</span> (about the only other character not seen as a potential murderer is the young, acerbic son of Dr. Ferrier, Leopold <span style="color: #999999;">[Jude Hill]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, but he’s spooky in his own way, claiming to be aware of the ghosts of children who supposedly haunt this domicile in revenge for their cruel deaths long ago. Despite disbelief in the supernatural, Poirot has visions of Alicia, witnesses other seemingly-impossible-phenomena; however, he also deduces that Vitale and Ariadne are in cahoots, with her wanting to use Poirot’s inability </span></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">of explaining the supernatural as the plot of her next book, even as another murder, of troubled-doctor Leslie, occurs.</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ7cfNOuIrsvbRh8Amz1geN94plu7-aAHvax2KivCyOv_KUhNut9o72JnKhHiwsw-EJVXrUry4fIshpKOYvKTaWystSfDAmdBgvz4HB1WbhNl58sF2LoRFVEWWfouZTQ8HBROoJc4ydLm-4fUDMKm1bv_AxgTP7yJCnJ4TwubyHzjefJDYIHkCx8eqcw/s1050/4011.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="1050" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ7cfNOuIrsvbRh8Amz1geN94plu7-aAHvax2KivCyOv_KUhNut9o72JnKhHiwsw-EJVXrUry4fIshpKOYvKTaWystSfDAmdBgvz4HB1WbhNl58sF2LoRFVEWWfouZTQ8HBROoJc4ydLm-4fUDMKm1bv_AxgTP7yJCnJ4TwubyHzjefJDYIHkCx8eqcw/w640-h324/4011.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;"><b>⇒</b><b>Ultimately,</b></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Poirot establishes Rowena is the murderer of this seemingly-haunted-night because back when she feared her daughter would marry Maxime she began to feed Alicia small amounts of a poisonous, hallucinogenic honey made from rhododendrons to weaken her, keep her at home </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(Poirot also tasted this honey, leading to his supposed-metaphysical-experiences)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">; one night when Rowena was out, Olga accidently gave Alicia a fatal dose so Rowena pushed her corpse off of the balcony to start the suicide assumption. Rowena was concerned Joyce and/or Leslie was aware of the truth so she killed them, but when confronted by Poirot on the roof she seems to be pulled off by Alicia’s ghost, then drowns. Poirot also finds little Leopold was blackmailing Rowena, having figured out what happened to Alicia, then stuffing the cash in his mattress so Poirot encourages Olga and the kid to share their wealth with the Hollands so they can fulfill their dream of settling in the</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>U.S.⇐</b></span><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;"><i>A Haunting in Venice </i>debuted in domestic theaters on September 15, 2023—made $42.4 million, $120.9 million worldwide—but it’s pretty much gone now so if you’re interested you’ll, of course, need to</span> <b><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/a-haunting-in-venice"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">turn to streaming</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">where you can see it for free if you’re a Hulu subscriber</span> (or sign up for a free trial period)<span style="color: #073763;">, but if you want to pay for a subscription it costs $7.99 monthly if you can endure ads—I had 3 interruptions in roughly the first 40 min. when I watched, none after that—or $17.99 a month for no ads; I suppose if you’re really intrigued by this narrative you could consider the $19.99 purchase option on Apple TV+, Vudu, etc., although <b>CCAL </b>support most likely won’t encourage such as the</span><b> <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_haunting_in_venice"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">RT positives are 75%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, the</span><b> <a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/a-haunting-in-venice/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">MC average score is 63%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">. It’s certainly entertaining, gives you enough complexity so the final reveal is probably a surprise, the acting’s solid throughout, and—if nothing else—the marvelous cinematography of Venice is easily worth that $7.99 </span>(unless you can get the<b> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/how-much-is-hulu"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">1 month free trial</span></a></b>)<span style="color: #073763;">. Let’s close out with my Musical Metaphor, which, for some reason</span> (somewhat like Poirot here) <span style="color: #073763;">I can’t logically explain, I feel has to be Van Morrison’s “Days Like This”</span> (1995 album named for the song) <span style="color: #073763;">at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UUWkr4FUlo"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UUWkr4FUlo</span></b></a><b> </b><span style="color: #073763;">because on the positive side, after all the mysteries have been solved </span><span style="color: #666666;">(or have they?)</span><span style="color: #073763;"> the surviving characters can feel:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“When it’s not always raining </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> When you don’t need to worry </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> When you don’t get betrayed </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> When you don’t need an answer </span><span style="color: #999999;">[etc.]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> There’ll be days like this.”</span> <span style="color: #073763;">Although, if Alicia had believed what</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“mama told me,”</span> <span style="color: #073763;">she’d had been shocked at what her days were actually going to be.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYnXxd1zgfZwTXF-4tGUIBLsKt7gx70clJ5Sr4FnsFBaVXc3ocWQFyU5VC_cZF_ZcMKSsNGd5eXl0V0uQUvNsw3ooPIlA0egMyXf4ryzPLmBLydfcWvokqXdJaStAnjoOvOmtCUnsa0LRmr4X3VTBWfsfACYoo8NlfapAmFcXK9TiYn66lx3u7mEmmlQ/s1949/Hidden%20Hollywood%2075.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYnXxd1zgfZwTXF-4tGUIBLsKt7gx70clJ5Sr4FnsFBaVXc3ocWQFyU5VC_cZF_ZcMKSsNGd5eXl0V0uQUvNsw3ooPIlA0egMyXf4ryzPLmBLydfcWvokqXdJaStAnjoOvOmtCUnsa0LRmr4X3VTBWfsfACYoo8NlfapAmFcXK9TiYn66lx3u7mEmmlQ/w640-h294/Hidden%20Hollywood%2075.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting: </span> </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">(1) </span><b><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls521170945/?ref_=pe_3465290_770382490_eml_hero_cta"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Some theatrical releases now available to stream</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">;</span><b style="color: #073763;"> (</b><span style="color: #073763;">2) </span><b><a href="https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/fran-drescher-sag-aftra-strike-end-1235786973/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=476780_11-10-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">SAG-AFTRA Board approves ending strike</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; 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font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></p><p style="color: #941100; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Two Guys in the Dark homepage</span></a></b><b style="color: #941100;">. </b><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>If you’d like to</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>Like</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>us on Facebook </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(yes?)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b> please visit</b></span><b> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our Facebook page</span></a></b><span style="color: #941100;"><b>. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us! </b></span><span style="color: #073763;">Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account</span> (which you can easily get at <a href="https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount</span></b></a> if you need to sign up) <span style="color: #073763;">or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our<b> </b>Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it</span> (most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span> </span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">48,541</span></b> (as always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers)<span style="color: #073763;">; below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week </span>(with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><div><br /></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFAl_aC-RyiSdA8aOok3aGLltvvfJBNfiy0MR78aoOsU9-7L3gtoVC4TX9865YBpahN61xnTDDrUMXt-4TGbvf-mitggA3PmATcpkZ-Aps2d4sdwXS8kupHdefeCOCn8Z7OmlraXE43SGOxlKYI61E80HJxQAREQhUrQn6oqEbQPC_-oEi6p8uzquONQ/s1216/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-15%20at%202.25.23%20PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1079" data-original-width="1216" height="568" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFAl_aC-RyiSdA8aOok3aGLltvvfJBNfiy0MR78aoOsU9-7L3gtoVC4TX9865YBpahN61xnTDDrUMXt-4TGbvf-mitggA3PmATcpkZ-Aps2d4sdwXS8kupHdefeCOCn8Z7OmlraXE43SGOxlKYI61E80HJxQAREQhUrQn6oqEbQPC_-oEi6p8uzquONQ/w650-h568/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-15%20at%202.25.23%20PM.jpg" width="650" /></a></div><p></p>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-89726312528909525092023-11-09T01:20:00.000-08:002023-11-09T01:20:37.687-08:00Killers of the Flower Moon plus Short Takes on some other cinematic topics<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">“Bad Moon on the Rise”</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(lyric from the Creedence Clearwater Revival song<b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKJwvQfraY8"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Bad Moon Rising"</span></a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Review and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b></span> (Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b> </span>(Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, but better options are on the horizon.</span> (Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue </b></span>below [some may look near <span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span>] is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #073763;">My reviews’ premise:</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #008f00;">“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQrETfmPmjyHVv-5ttP2gVMpPsUtkP8PaI1hxU482r4ZsFfxS2NSYNCMStlfcTgfzWdifM2Wk8T1RSd8dEenVSIVlhfWl5YvPjkx_sN7xk8dsxrL2iSzcqUUpRWkBG5hj_FEzIvFR4z81q0krh3yvfkIKy79xEzQHZrLqegH-oItgdXT-sv0PfMulJcw/s1124/z30367791IER,Kadr-z-teledysku.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="639" data-original-width="1124" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQrETfmPmjyHVv-5ttP2gVMpPsUtkP8PaI1hxU482r4ZsFfxS2NSYNCMStlfcTgfzWdifM2Wk8T1RSd8dEenVSIVlhfWl5YvPjkx_sN7xk8dsxrL2iSzcqUUpRWkBG5hj_FEzIvFR4z81q0krh3yvfkIKy79xEzQHZrLqegH-oItgdXT-sv0PfMulJcw/w640-h364/z30367791IER,Kadr-z-teledysku.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Before getting into this long review of awful situations, here’s something more upbeat that came out the same day I saw <i>Killers of the Flower Moon</i>, the newest—and last—song from The Beatles,</span> <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opxhh9Oh3rg"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Now and Then"</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">with added video from director Peter Jackson that brings back not only John Lennon from before 1980 but also George Harrison along with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr from 1995 when they first tried to add themselves to this Lennon song. Let this video roll into the next YouTube offering and it should provide you with an all-audio-comparison of the original Lennon tune on cassette tape followed by the new mix that brings in all 4</span> (or if that doesn’t happen <span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnEeMXY81Cs" style="color: #2b00fe; font-weight: bold;">you can find it here</a>)</span><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span> Also, "Now and Then" has already become a</span> <b><a href="https://www.marca.com/en/lifestyle/music/2023/11/03/65444021e2704ea4918b45cc.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">#1 single</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span> OK, onward to more serious matters.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoyZ4QK-AGqb2SW982TNFtQF80jOCm8I1WtrcFtWnAN4pDfha9uG9LlB0CjyuTagYGIlHr6h476U-SwnHZcqg-g4o0WvGjsWjaj6PERXjWy-9Mw0PTlexB0pk04L4BUk9VoIc9vHdKIeqVJH2zkRfv6Ls8PK-o6vIDrCn__bCwUnsff-UbdLTS_9bvhQ/s109/four%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoyZ4QK-AGqb2SW982TNFtQF80jOCm8I1WtrcFtWnAN4pDfha9uG9LlB0CjyuTagYGIlHr6h476U-SwnHZcqg-g4o0WvGjsWjaj6PERXjWy-9Mw0PTlexB0pk04L4BUk9VoIc9vHdKIeqVJH2zkRfv6Ls8PK-o6vIDrCn__bCwUnsff-UbdLTS_9bvhQ/s1600/four%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href=" https://www.killersoftheflowermoonmovie.com/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Killers of the Flower Moon</span></a></span></i></b><b><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Martin Scorsese)</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> rated R</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">206 min.</span></b></span></div><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7cx9nCHsemc" width="320" youtube-src-id="7cx9nCHsemc"></iframe></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="color: #008f00;">If you can abide </b><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">plot spoilers</span></b></span><b style="color: #008f00;"> read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ </b><b><span style="color: #93c47d;">(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</span></b><b style="color: #008f00;">. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and</span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">red.⇐</span> </b></span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh832DT4z5YlEHN2JxexsLciLcjeaWtjCFgUyDkI-mLXmKvdO77YaQF3SoI3MSqbzh-bOITUrZNShBQ_wYTlecO4vJiyPtZvuPtd-QBVzdcLbAfMbhlDDVol5pgf1wvb985auThpcLgaOQzIdNcRfuxasKpPF6EKDwmvDXLssSaLGkn9k1-lH9WV4NF5A/s5476/MV5BMjdkMmM0YzUtMDA3My00YjJhLWFmOTMtOGJiYzQzYThkYTgxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTUzMTg2ODkz._V1_.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2373" data-original-width="5476" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh832DT4z5YlEHN2JxexsLciLcjeaWtjCFgUyDkI-mLXmKvdO77YaQF3SoI3MSqbzh-bOITUrZNShBQ_wYTlecO4vJiyPtZvuPtd-QBVzdcLbAfMbhlDDVol5pgf1wvb985auThpcLgaOQzIdNcRfuxasKpPF6EKDwmvDXLssSaLGkn9k1-lH9WV4NF5A/w640-h278/MV5BMjdkMmM0YzUtMDA3My00YjJhLWFmOTMtOGJiYzQzYThkYTgxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTUzMTg2ODkz._V1_.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">What Happens:</span> </b>(This is a docudrama based on David Grann’s nonfiction, <i>Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI </i><span style="color: #999999;">[2017]</span>; we also get a quick on-camera statement from Scorsese before it starts noting how he worked with Osage leaders to help the authenticity of what’s told here, along with his thanks to us for coming to a theater to see it. Given the length of the film, though, this summary will be just major events, not an attempt to recapture all that occurs.) <span style="color: #073763;">We begin in late 19-teens Oklahoma on the Osage Nation land where the elders are holding a nighttime ceremony prior to burying an ancestral peace pipe in sorrow for how their culture was uprooted by treaties with the U.S. government; next day, however, when burying the object the diggers strike oil which quickly leads these Indigenous people to becoming, per-capita, some of the richest in the world, although Whites intervene again with the government declaring the Natives as “incompetent” to manage their affairs so their money’s doled out to them by appointed-guardians. Once the oil comes gushing up, Scorsese switches what we see to resemble silent movies of the 1920s with visuals in the old 4 x 3 ratio, shot in Black & White, with intertitles between images to quickly explain what’s happened</span> (later in the film we occasionally get similar uses of these throwback-appearances, sometimes with old photos, sometimes with footage/pictures shot to resemble old imagery<span style="color: #073763;">), then we dissolve back to full color, wide-screen to meet Ernest Burkhart </span>(Leonardo DiCaprio)<span style="color: #073763;">, a serviceman in 1919 returning from WW I in Europe </span>(although as a cook he saw little action) <span style="color: #073763;">on a train to Osage country to live with his brother, Byron </span>(Scott Shepherd)<span style="color: #073763;">, and their uncle, William King Hale</span> (Robert De Niro)<span style="color: #073763;">, successful cattle rancher having influence in this territory </span><span style="color: #666666;">(although minimum conscience)</span><span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">However, despite being wealthy-enough in his own right—presenting himself as a good friend to the Osage, even speaking their language—“King”</span> (his preferred name) <span style="color: #073763;">wants as much of the Osage money as he can gather, through insurance policies and encouraged-marriages of White men to Native women so he’ll ultimately control their inheritance when the Natives are found dead, happening with alarming frequency at this time. King’s next plan encourages Ernest to link up with Mollie Kyle</span> (Lily Gladstone<span style="color: #073763;">), which he does after first serving as her cab driver while charming her. Soon after, Mollie’s sister, Minnie</span> (Jillian Dion)<span style="color: #073763;">, dies of a mysterious illness as King plans for Byron to kill Mollie’s rebellious, alcoholic sister, Anna Brown</span> (Cara Jade Myers)<span style="color: #073763;">; after that, Mollie’s mother, Lizzie Q</span> (Tantoo Cardinal) <span style="color: #073763;">also dies, so Mollie’s inherited the mineral rights of most of her family, except for remaining sister Reta</span> (JaNae Collins)<span style="color: #073763;">, now married to Bill Smith</span> (Jason Isbell)<span style="color: #073763;">, previously Minnie’s husband</span> (sounds like the same strategy as King’s, only now he’s part of the hunted as well)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggISYAxhe2lznRgURxsB28hGIkcjp4i7VXh1fLDrQgfzZKS5g1g4o8pmlKy-xnvMQSi0otmuCi6SEFa52kSe6SQdXms_4oCCaHwCbt2a9HYDj4IpQVdwqhyo_ZHKlBBotHuxSvR59REXSsqHfOrQDqLPLn5pt_yXBOlpu-RmslrZ32rj0QIbR3DmQ_EQ/s2594/20Killers-Review-Cover-fgkq-videoSixteenByNine3000.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1498" data-original-width="2594" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggISYAxhe2lznRgURxsB28hGIkcjp4i7VXh1fLDrQgfzZKS5g1g4o8pmlKy-xnvMQSi0otmuCi6SEFa52kSe6SQdXms_4oCCaHwCbt2a9HYDj4IpQVdwqhyo_ZHKlBBotHuxSvR59REXSsqHfOrQDqLPLn5pt_yXBOlpu-RmslrZ32rj0QIbR3DmQ_EQ/w640-h370/20Killers-Review-Cover-fgkq-videoSixteenByNine3000.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">In another scheme, King takes out a life insurance policy on Henry Roan</span> (William Belleau)<span style="color: #073763;">, Mollie’s first husband, with a killing supposed to look like suicide </span><span style="color: #666666;">(Henry'd threatened such before)</span><span style="color: #073763;">, but the plan Ernest sets up goes wrong, Henry shot in the back of the head, not the front, so King’s furious although local law enforcement seems to have little interest in these deaths, with growing fear after the White-led 1921 Tulsa riots against Blacks that similar assaults might impact the wealthy Osage. Mollie hires a private detective, William J. Burns</span> (Gary Basaraba)<span style="color: #073763;">, but he’s secretly assaulted by Ernest and Byron, leaving town quickly after that. Mollie next travels with an Osage delegation to D.C., directly asks President Calvin Coolidge for aid, leading King to work with Ernest and a couple of local, corrupt doctors, the Shoun brothers, James</span> (Steve Witting) <span style="color: #073763;">and David </span>(Steve Routman)<span style="color: #073763;">, to put poison in the insulin treatment she’s getting for her increasingly-debilitating-diabetes, followed up by a plan to dynamite the home of Reta and her husband, leaving only Mollie, Ernest, and their 2 children to own all of her family’s wealth, though the long-range-plan is to kill them all except Ernest.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Help does ultimately arrive from Washington when the Bureau of Investigation</span> (BOI, later the FBI) <span style="color: #073763;">sends Agent Tom White</span> (Jesse Plemons) <span style="color: #073763;">and his crew, with King and Ernest soon arrested</span> (even as King tries to cover his tracks by killing his hired assassins)<span style="color: #073763;">. Mollie’s given proper medical care, later leaves Ernest when he won’t admit to poisoning her while Ernest is convinced to turn state’ evidence against King but he’s dissuaded from that by King’s attorney, W.S. Hamilton</span> (Brendan Frasier<span style="color: #073763;">), claiming his prior testimony resulted from torture by government agents. </span><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">⇒Then,</span></b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">he shifts again after his youngest daughter dies of whooping cough, cooperating with Prosecutor Peter Leaward </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(John Lithgow</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">) to finally admit the truth. The film’s final scene is a live radio dramatic broadcast about the Flower Moon killings where voice-actors </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(including Scorsese)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> inform us of how Ernest and King were given life sentences, yet were paroled after many years despite Osage objections </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(Byron escaped retribution due to a hung jury, the Shoun doctors weren’t prosecuted due to lack of evidence)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">; Mollie remarried, died in 1937 of diabetes, buried with her family. The final shot is from overhead, showing an Osage celebration of their remaining culture with a large communal</span><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">dance.⇐</span></b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieHNr106pSC1AwKlT2yMhsfWySd5oflHWP3LGwRT9Oo9TpBVC495Jde-3yTzh9PuBFthqRFp2eWltoUnJCbDGU1DUMcF_uqT-yu3p8qHgUfPkvxJsBSysdcyy72s3n_m8QKRyo8DNqam5Ztla4geTx6TdoT4XY1pNrBNNEZ7IR8qHgX69Gl2MDxDhpOA/s285/Killers%203.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="145" data-original-width="285" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieHNr106pSC1AwKlT2yMhsfWySd5oflHWP3LGwRT9Oo9TpBVC495Jde-3yTzh9PuBFthqRFp2eWltoUnJCbDGU1DUMcF_uqT-yu3p8qHgUfPkvxJsBSysdcyy72s3n_m8QKRyo8DNqam5Ztla4geTx6TdoT4XY1pNrBNNEZ7IR8qHgX69Gl2MDxDhpOA/w640-h326/Killers%203.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: center;">(Not a great photo here, but I wanted something with Reta, Mollie, and Anna; this was my option.)</div></span><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So What?</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">In the beginning of the film during the concise-introduction to the Osage people and the background of what will become the events of this story we get a quick notation that the full moon in May is called the “Flower Moon,” because it is during this time that flowers bloom in abundance verifying the end of winter. In after-the-fact-context, while mulling over what we’ve seen, it becomes clear “Flower Moon” in the title here implies the material abundance that suddenly came to the Osage Nation with the discovery of copious amounts of oil on their land back in the early 1920s, so that the tribe itself seems to become another sense of the “Flower Moon,” with the murders of the tribespeople as a sort of curse upon their improved-fortunes, reminding me of the old adage about</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“No good deed goes unpunished.”</span> <span style="color: #073763;"> Of course, whatever metaphorical interpretation you wish to put on the title of this film—and the inspirational-history-based-book—doesn’t take away from the horrible reality of the callous killings of Indigenous people</span> (dozens, some speculate it might have been in the hundreds given the blasé attitude of local law-enforcement there) <span style="color: #073763;">on the Osage reservation, all done in order to shift those crucial, instant-wealth mineral rights from the Native landowners to greedy Whites such as William King Hale and his conflicted-yet-cooperative nephew.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> The consistently-potential-problem with docudramas such as this one is how much fictionalization has gone into what we see on screen, as characters often represent an accumulation of various people involved in the events while the events themselves may also be somewhat manipulated for dramatic purposes, to compress actual timelines, make connections, etc. I haven’t read Grann’s book</span> (but my well-read-wife, Nina, has, reporting what we see in the film seems solid with what's in the source material—except for the clever radio-dramatization at the end)<span style="color: #073763;">, but when you</span> <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NhMdLt31Ew"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">watch this video</span></a> </b>(12:26) <span style="color: #073763;">you get a clear sense that both Grann and Scorsese are on solid ground with what they’ve presented</span><b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeXQi_AoPxQ"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">while this video</span></a> </b>(14:07, <b>SPOILERS</b>, but does include some testimony from Grann<b> </b><span style="color: #999999;">[ads interrupt at 3:04, 10:53]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">notes the Top 10 items the film’s gets historically correct. Sadly enough, such history seems to be increasingly</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/20/opinion/killers-flower-moon-oklahoma-history.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20231021&instance_id=105761&nl=todaysheadlines&regi_id=68545144&segment_id=147930&user_id=77221a1724b6645859c13b4da55c678a"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">absent from current Oklahoma classrooms</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, just like the horrible </span><b><a href="https://www.tulsahistory.org/exhibit/1921-tulsa-race-massacre/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">assault on the Tulsa, OK Black community of Greenwood in 1921</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, but the Tulsa tragedy’s being publicized more actively, just as Grann’s book and Scorsese’s film hopefully will accomplish the same result, bringing the Osage murders into a wider realm of public consciousness.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdXUgHxssg7mav-wZQrwwVEZIpLHFoHRegelHa5fP8ykC8vLa3tCGV6nxUCoOmLzF3FOqit3zoggTg1gDALQk9sEgJ37iZQeVo2Vp2_iE4k4zqUxfco33twfi05kb6KUg4XHUcfMRMEB8boEuJoQwGML_3RTmXaZLST29CQMss5B597ZnTZH0BxZOHyQ/s1077/FP-KOTFM-Film-Review_June23.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="1077" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdXUgHxssg7mav-wZQrwwVEZIpLHFoHRegelHa5fP8ykC8vLa3tCGV6nxUCoOmLzF3FOqit3zoggTg1gDALQk9sEgJ37iZQeVo2Vp2_iE4k4zqUxfco33twfi05kb6KUg4XHUcfMRMEB8boEuJoQwGML_3RTmXaZLST29CQMss5B597ZnTZH0BxZOHyQ/w640-h364/FP-KOTFM-Film-Review_June23.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;">(Yes, this sharp photo’s also of Mollie and all 3 of her sisters, but for the one above </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;">I wanted something from the ongoing flow of the film so I took what I could get.)</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">In addition to what seems to be a lot of historical accuracy in this film, Scorsese also appears to have hired Native Americans for all Indigenous roles, especially Gladstone</span> (of Piegan Blackfeet, Nez Perce</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">—</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">as well as European</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">—</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">heritage, raised on the Blackfeet Nation’s reservation) </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">who’s received rave reviews for her role</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (which I hope might translate into an Oscar nomination next spring; she’s been in a few films and cable series since 2012 with awards for Best Supporting Actress for </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">Certain Women </i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">[2016]</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> from the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and others, but </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">… Flower Moon</i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> is clearly her most-seen-role yet </span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">[</span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">it’s been a good couple of weeks for me regarding notable female actors on the current screen, with Gladstone joining Anita Wali Zada in her debut in </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #999999;">Fremont</span> </i><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">{</span>Babak Jafali}</span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">, which</span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"> <a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2023/11/fremont-plus-short-takes-on-various.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I reviewed last week</span></a></b><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">]</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">)</span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">. </span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/review-martin-scorsese-delivers-new-movie-classic-killers/story?id=104135735"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Peter Travers</span></a><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">of ABC News agrees with such high praise:</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;">“</span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">[Mollie’s]</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #38761d;">played with humor, heart and truly amazing grace by the luminous Lily Gladstone, who grew up on a Blackfeet reservation as the child of an Indigenous father and a white mother before she started acting, notably for director Kelly Reichardt in ’Certain Women’ and ‘Poor Cow.’ </span><span style="color: #999999;">[¶]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> Some were surprised when Gladstone opted to compete for the best actress Oscar in 'Flower Moon' instead of supporting. Nonsense. The film, standing high among the year's very best, is unthinkable without her soulful presence. In her scenes with DiCaprio, as a moral vacuum slowly falling for the diabetic wife and mother of his children, Gladstone lets her eyes open worlds beyond words. Her magnificent performance deserves superlatives.”</span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="color: #073763;">I totally support all that.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnoyuIeLcXHASe3pYrV1ktWYED_rI4ZdnA1ovWe-1D2hQ8G935N8qUV24i6-SDfFzcLZ2daNbISE351v8pCKv8wkEJt5KBNGuXfOYQ91y9rO9aDhqbn_n6bhYc-2Y15K_DHGDspLgOWiAWveZG2cXAAAX6Kq8kTv4JEMELzFGE9LX5Y6qmSJ4QrbiPqQ/s1122/813E2873-6A14-4AAF-92DE-775D5ED39D03.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="1122" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnoyuIeLcXHASe3pYrV1ktWYED_rI4ZdnA1ovWe-1D2hQ8G935N8qUV24i6-SDfFzcLZ2daNbISE351v8pCKv8wkEJt5KBNGuXfOYQ91y9rO9aDhqbn_n6bhYc-2Y15K_DHGDspLgOWiAWveZG2cXAAAX6Kq8kTv4JEMELzFGE9LX5Y6qmSJ4QrbiPqQ/w640-h256/813E2873-6A14-4AAF-92DE-775D5ED39D03.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">However, 2 of my local critics</span> (writing for mainstream newspapers, thereby being the ones I pay most attention to <span style="color: #999999;">[Who could give much credence to some unknown guy posting a blog? Oh … oops!]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">,</span> <b><a href="https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/movies-tv/killers-of-the-flower-moon-review-18424812"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Mick LaSalle</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">of the <i>San Francisco Chronicle </i>and</span><b> <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/10/18/what-to-watch-scorseses-killers-of-the-flower-moon-flawed-but-powerful/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Randy Myers</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">of the <i>East Bay Times</i>/<i>The Mercury News</i><b> </b>don’t find DiCaprio</span> (who’s worked with Scorsese 6 previous times <span style="color: #999999;">[yet his Best Actor Oscar is for </span><i style="color: #999999;">The Revenant </i><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">{Alejandro G. Iñárritu, 2015; review in our January 14, 2016 posting}</span><span style="color: #999999;">]</span><span style="color: #666666;">, topped by Di Nero who’s been with the director in 10 prior outings, winning Best Actor for <i>Raging Bull</i>, 1980</span><span style="color: #999999;"> [along with Best Supporting Actor for </span><i style="color: #999999;">The Godfather Part II </i><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">{Francis Ford Coppola, 1974}</span><span style="color: #999999;">]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">to be successful as Ernest. The former says:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“But how do you make a central character out of such a person? If he’s just evil, that’s boring. If he’s an idiot, that’s even more boring. DiCaprio chooses to play Ernest as a weak-willed man in denial about the consequences of his actions. Being DiCaprio, he makes Ernest watchable, but he never quite makes sense of the man”</span> <span style="color: #073763;">as the latter agrees:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“</span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span> <span style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="color: #38761d;">a rather awkward performance from Leonardo DiCaprio, miscast as gullible dimwit Ernest Burkhart, an ex-soldier who serves as both a pliable stooge and a henchman for his conniving Uncle William King Hale </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> DiCaprio, a confident and versatile actor, seems less assured playing a guy who amounts to little more than a subservient meathead. You just don’t buy that he’s that malleable and dumb.” </span><span style="color: #073763;">Yikes!</span></span></span></p>
<p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"></span><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00; letter-spacing: -0.1px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="color: #073763;">Nevertheless, I find DiCaprio to be very effective in what he portrays here, as does </span><b><a href="https://journalstar.com/life-entertainment/local/review-scorceses-killers-of-the-flower-moon-a-vital-daring-masterpiece/article_749e3a14-6d23-11ee-8080-231a0e781675.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Katie Walsh</span></a><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">of the </span><i style="color: #073763;">Tribune News Service</i><span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span><span style="color: black; letter-spacing: -0.1px;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">“</span>DiCaprio’s Ernest is tragic but unsympathetic, and DiCaprio layers his performance with strange tics and a perpetual frown, and there is a sad humor in his buffoonery. Ernest loves Mollie, but he is weak. He’s not smart enough to resist those who would use him, but he is no victim, and the tragedy lies in his contradictions. It’s not an easy thing to convey, and DiCaprio throws himself entirely into it.” </span><span style="color: #2d2d2d;"> </span><span style="color: #666666;">(There are some who aren’t all that complimentary about De Niro’s presentation as well, but generally speaking he’s been more accepted than DiCaprio, even as he puts on a phony-supportive-public-face with his Osage neighbors despite his character King’s devious hidden agenda.)</span><span style="color: #2d2d2d;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">I’m in concert with those who say <i>Killers of the Flower Moon </i>is a masterpiece—even at 3½ hours, although it never felt too long to me, unlike the mostly-marvelous <i>Oppenheimer </i></span>(Christopher Nolan; review in our August 17, 2023 posting) <span style="color: #073763;">which just had too much detail for my tastes about how this noted scientist struggled with his own government after monumentally-aiding the U.S. in bringing about the end of WW II with Japan</span> (however dubious that accomplishment may be in historical hindsight)<span style="color: #073763;">—as all of its elements mesh well in the process of exposing a horrid chapter of American history that far too many of us likely knew nothing about until this powerful story informed us in print and on the screen, although it’s unlikely anything will ever be done regarding any reparations for the descendants of those callously killed roughly a century ago.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwK8jvypR4bRrbemhjCnWPBfLMa_jGiwgSqmPBiJFtPG4cnxgWuvbhuIbNI-tTmv0Fd674WohPYRrUdz4rN241zk_lhLvbZOcvsRHjG2r7L-J6zzfl1RNO2fFfjotGwEGbusfjqPJZqlaWL6TPUV5eKqpRDMaE-gumVsjG4NbLf4WGAcdhQT1v_qPF_w/s2767/Screenshot-2023-09-05-at-10.03.52-PM.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1345" data-original-width="2767" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwK8jvypR4bRrbemhjCnWPBfLMa_jGiwgSqmPBiJFtPG4cnxgWuvbhuIbNI-tTmv0Fd674WohPYRrUdz4rN241zk_lhLvbZOcvsRHjG2r7L-J6zzfl1RNO2fFfjotGwEGbusfjqPJZqlaWL6TPUV5eKqpRDMaE-gumVsjG4NbLf4WGAcdhQT1v_qPF_w/w640-h312/Screenshot-2023-09-05-at-10.03.52-PM.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Bottom Line Final Comments:</span><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">By now you’ve surely surmised my COVID-concerns were put on hold to actually accompany Nina to a theatre to see <i>Killers … </i>because we didn’t want to wait another month or so for it to come to Apple TV+ streaming, using our strategy of waiting until it's out a couple of weeks</span> (opened domestically <span style="color: #999999;">[U.S.-Canada]</span> October 20, 2023)<span style="color: #073763;">, then attending an afternoon matinee </span><span style="color: #666666;">(we shared a roughly-200-seat-auditorium with 4 other patrons, all comfortably-distanced from us as we sat masked for 4 hours</span> <span style="color: #999999;">[without a restroom break for either of us, quite an accomplishment in itself helped by healthy-prescreening-drainage, followed by no liquid refreshment during the presentation]</span><span style="color: #666666;">)</span> <span style="color: #073763;">with ads and previews adding another ½ hour to the film long running time.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> I’m completely glad we made the decision because this is an important film for its content, supported by fine acting throughout</span> (despite those who aren’t willing to offer such praise to DiCaprio—or even De Niro)<span style="color: #073763;">; solid cinematography even if much of the marginally-interesting-landscape</span> (Could my decades-old-from-long-ago-Texan-indoctrination against Oklahoma be showing here? Well, maybe, but, following up on one reviewer who offered some comparisons between <i>Killers … </i>and <i>Giant </i><span style="color: #999999;">[George Stevens, 1956; almost the same length, the latter at 201 min.]</span><span style="color: #666666;">—sudden discovery of oil, fierce complications for many characters because of the new-found-wealth)</span> <span style="color: #073763;">I do find the harsh landscape near Marfa, TX in <i>Giant</i> to still be more visually commanding than what we see of King’s cattle ranch</span> (except in a powerful scene where much of that territory’s on fire—another insurance-ruse on his part as I understand it)<span style="color: #073763;">, with some speculation that</span> <a href="https://variety.com/feature/2024-oscars-best-cinematography-predictions-1235722924/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=awardscircuitalert&utm_content=475359_11-06-2023&utm_term=290984"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rodrigo Prieto's cinematography work</span></b></a> <span style="color: #073763;">could nab him dual-Oscar-noms for <i>… Flower Moon </i>and </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Barbie</span> </i>(Greta Gerwig; review in our August 17, 2023 posting—another film I’m glad I made an effort to see in a theater, although you can now stream it via a <span style="color: #2b00fe; font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/barbie-2023"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">$19.99 purchase</span></a> </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">if you so desire</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">; excellent editing as usual from long-time-Scorsese-collaborator Thelma Schoonmake</span>r (won Oscars for <i>Raging Bull </i><span style="color: #999999;">[1980]</span>, <i>The Aviator<span style="color: #999999;"> </span></i><span style="color: #999999;">[2004]</span>, <i>The Departed </i><span style="color: #999999;">[2006]</span>), <span style="color: #073763;">whether it’s a quick compression of events to seamlessly move the story along or the longer, slower dialogue scenes happening between Ernest and King, Ernest and Mollie.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF7qMf9JivaaZlZYHgm53ZpV5CJoU7UnZGL4-xTpNjrrtMcG5hCQXGjJky2S40YWrsGQ2Yo7SqjU-GbTEK-BECiSH2J-G8Yqo2uJoz0alKUbD9wwpEgT1i5y2ChgD3hxPTNQ2C5fM3Tb044FgkdYe8ETrxGxZXkdz1PkgUaiEJumvR99xIWG_u4p52wA/s600/taylorswifterastour-killersoftheflowermoon-560.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="600" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF7qMf9JivaaZlZYHgm53ZpV5CJoU7UnZGL4-xTpNjrrtMcG5hCQXGjJky2S40YWrsGQ2Yo7SqjU-GbTEK-BECiSH2J-G8Yqo2uJoz0alKUbD9wwpEgT1i5y2ChgD3hxPTNQ2C5fM3Tb044FgkdYe8ETrxGxZXkdz1PkgUaiEJumvR99xIWG_u4p52wA/w640-h298/taylorswifterastour-killersoftheflowermoon-560.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">There’s also a haunting soundtrack from recently-deceased-master-musician, Robbie Robertson</span> (lead guitarist for The Band, musical collaborator with Bob Dylan—saw them all in early 1974 in Houston as Dylan returned to touring—and Scorsese, including for his documentary of The Band’s finale, <i>The Last Waltz </i><span style="color: #999999;">[1978]</span>, then many others beginning with <i>Raging Bull</i>)<span style="color: #073763;">, whose own Native American heritage on his mother’s side</span> <b><a href="https://variety.com/2023/music/news/robbie-robertson-interview-killers-flower-moon-martin-scorsese-1235764103/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=471945_10-21-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">helped give him insight into music for <i>Killers ...</i> .</span></a> </b>(I think I’ve mentioned in some earlier review I got a chance to interview Robertson in 1980 when he was promoting a movie he acted in, wrote music for, <i>Carny </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Robert Kaylor]</span> and I was a film critic on a Dallas, TX FM radio station; it was a very engaged, lengthy conversation even though he had a reputation of being a difficult-dialogue-partner)<span style="color: #073763;">. Despite some “reservations</span>” (sorry) <span style="color: #073763;">about this film from some critics, the <b>CCAL</b>’s very supportive of it with the</span><b> <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/killers_of_the_flower_moon"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews at 93%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, </span><b><a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/killers-of-the-flower-moon/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Metacritic average score at (an unusually high) 89%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">. <b>My rare </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763;"><b>4½ stars speaks for itself.</b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">To see it anytime soon you’ll need to go to a theater, easy because it’s in 3,786 of them, made $52.2 million domestically, $119 million worldwide so far, with grosses likely hampered by the running time so an auditorium might only be booked for 2 showings a day instead of 6 or so, but don’t let income-results sway your decision to seek out this film</span> (certainly it’s lacking compared to <i>Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Sam Wrench]</span> documentary of her current concerts, with a global total so far of $232 million, and, in all fairness to Swift’s cinematic success it also runs long <span style="color: #999999;">[169 min.]</span>, is showing only on Thursdays-Sundays, so it’s obvious Swiftie-fever is driving her on-screen success in a manner that Scorsese wouldn’t expect with his long, grim tale of greed, murder, and long-delayed legal response)<span style="color: #073763;">. Well, so as not to let this review become as long as the film itself I’ll leave you with just 2 more considerations, first is a marvelous recap by</span> <b><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-silent-thunder-of-killers-of-the-flower-moon"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Richard Brody</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">of <i>The New Yorker</i>:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;"><b>“</b>Like Grann’s book, the movie seeks to acknowledge and correct the silencing of crimes of the past and to force a collective confrontation with a moral and political tragedy and its unresolved legacy. </span><span style="color: #666666;">[¶]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> ‘Killers’ moves at a breathless pace, marked by jolting elisions and sudden turns of events, evoking the web of evil into which Ernest is quickly, if imperceptibly, drawn. Scorsese intently observes the arachnid manner with which King turns Ernest from outsider to insider, which is accomplished in the insidious span of a single welcoming conversation. The rapidity with which Ernest, without a glimmer or a flicker of self-awareness, is drawn into petty crime and then into murderous schemes, suggests an existential vortex of normalized depredation. As the schemes become ever more brazen and complex, and as the pool of victims widens and deepens, Scorsese looks on, with horrified astonishment, at this microcosmic display of the American way of life—at what the ruthless dare if they are sure of getting away with it.” </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(7, 55, 99); color: #073763;">I couldn't have said it better myself </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(7, 55, 99);">(that's why I quoted him)</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(7, 55, 99); color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdm9_-6G541qGF5GmCbTfVQgj18Tx67RooIepPw_D6CqGw1s7s4ZEG7pifp4yUEApxa_O6cnWSuyVs-MtebLFF4nrL-i_gZUE01kxOr27R__-dfOlgZkKDqhqLkcO2F3Wv0vjMobso_7bvngF9Ksk_4L1LIV4rtTi_NgQit_vSrY8nOi98cpSeGkKIBQ/s1378/killers.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="1378" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdm9_-6G541qGF5GmCbTfVQgj18Tx67RooIepPw_D6CqGw1s7s4ZEG7pifp4yUEApxa_O6cnWSuyVs-MtebLFF4nrL-i_gZUE01kxOr27R__-dfOlgZkKDqhqLkcO2F3Wv0vjMobso_7bvngF9Ksk_4L1LIV4rtTi_NgQit_vSrY8nOi98cpSeGkKIBQ/w640-h302/killers.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">Second in my</span> (desperately-needed) <span style="color: #073763;">wrap-up is the usual-finishing-device of a Musical Metaphor, which—in this case—may not seem as ferocious as this film but, for me, gets symbolically to similar concerns, the Michael Martin Murphey</span> (who wasn’t using his middle name when I first became aware of him in Austin, TX in the mid-1970s [<span style="color: #999999;">I got a chance to interview him also when he was back in his long-ago-hometown of Dallas, promoting </span><i><span style="color: #999999;">Hard Country</span> </i><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">{</span>David Greene, 1981}</span>,<span style="color: #999999;"> which he co-wrote, provided music for, had a minor acting role in; another marvelous conversation which I have no evidence of, just good memories about]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">song “Geronimo’s Cadillac”</span> <span style="color: #666666;">(from the 1972 album named for the song)</span> <span style="color: #073763;">at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiTYf8iJC84"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiTYf8iJC84</span></b></a><span style="color: #073763;">, with lyrics that in their own way reflect the more-blunt-horrors shown in <i>Killers of the Flower Moon</i>:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“Well, they put Geronimo in jail down south / Where he couldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> Warden, warden, please listen to me / Be brave and set Geronimo free </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> Jesus tells me, I believe it’s true / The red man is in the sunset too / Took all his land, now they won’t give it back / And they sent Geronimo a Cadillac.”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">Let this song sink into you before you watch <i>Killers of the Flower Moon</i>, and I think the cinematic experience might even have a little fuller meaning than it already very successfully does.</span><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>In appreciation for your due diligence in reading all the way to the end of this over-stuffed-review <span style="color: #999999;">(You didn't skim, did you? No, you wouldn't do <span style="caret-color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">that!)</span></span>, I’ll give you another Musical Metaphor,<b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJOGLJhTTqA"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Ballad of Spider John"</span></a> </b>by Willis Alan Ramsey <span style="color: #999999;">(on his self-named 1972 album)</span>; the narrator of this song and his one-time-lady, Diamond Lil, aren’t exactly parallels to Ernest and Mollie anymore than what we hear in “Geronimo’s Cadillac” precisely connects with the events of <i>Killers …</i>, but I do think Ernest saw himself as somewhat holding <span style="color: #38761d;">“the loaded hand / Taking ransom”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span>while Mollie didn’t see Ernest as <span style="color: #38761d;">“a saint,”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span>yet she also didn’t think of him as <span style="color: #38761d;">“a sinner gone astray”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span>until she became aware of his role in trying to poison her, so it does somewhat fit. <span style="color: #999999;">(Also, as with Robertson and Murphey I’ve got a minor connection with Ramsey</span> <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">[another Dallas boy, although born in Alabama]</span> <span style="color: #999999;">in that when I was part of the casual “management” group</span> <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">[and occasional performer]</span><span style="color: #999999;"> at The Basement coffee house</span> <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">[located below ground in the U.T. Austin Catholic Student Center]</span> <span style="color: #999999;">in 1969-’70 Ramsey was—like most of the rest of us involved in that enterprise—a U.T. undergrad who performed for us occasionally, but whether he was singing about Spider John back then I honestly can’t remember.)</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijVJVUxnwL_ZOGJ58m7K6L8_Owc14YLl88cK0AAZ5wsn9f0cdx5H8Y_qBKQ-eAoQE9YQb5wG7SYE82ZhXAogmxMlTXgVBrhpcJZgvC6CGAZsXlgwRPblNcNcOirVMYD6YvDYZTn3CtibtmDYAep0wJNRIXDPPUxi8KZ1Mc70QP4Wi1NBIqlD66aqzJug/s1949/Hidden%20Hollywood%2074.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijVJVUxnwL_ZOGJ58m7K6L8_Owc14YLl88cK0AAZ5wsn9f0cdx5H8Y_qBKQ-eAoQE9YQb5wG7SYE82ZhXAogmxMlTXgVBrhpcJZgvC6CGAZsXlgwRPblNcNcOirVMYD6YvDYZTn3CtibtmDYAep0wJNRIXDPPUxi8KZ1Mc70QP4Wi1NBIqlD66aqzJug/w640-h294/Hidden%20Hollywood%2074.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting: </span> </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Some options for your consideration: (1)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls523796298/?ref_=pe_3465290_767194500_eml_hero_cta"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">IMDb's suggestions for theatrical and streaming debuts in November 2023</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">;</span><b style="color: #073763;"> (</b><span style="color: #073763;">2)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/news/killers-of-the-flower-moon-box-office-martin-scorsese-hit-flop-1235783109/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=boxofficealert&utm_content=475751_11-07-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>Killers of the Flower Moon</i> cost $200 million to produce, has made about $129 million globally so far; hit or flop?</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; (3)</span><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/sag-aftra-tentative-deal-historic-strike-1235771894/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=476139_11-08-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Actors' strike tentatively resolved</span></a></span></b><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></p><p style="color: #941100; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Two Guys in the Dark homepage</span></a></b><b style="color: #941100;">. </b><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>If you’d like to</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>Like</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>us on Facebook </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(yes?)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b> please visit</b></span><b> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our Facebook page</span></a></b><span style="color: #941100;"><b>. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us! </b></span><span style="color: #073763;">Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account </span>(which you can easily get at <a href="https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount</span></b></a> if you need to sign up)<span style="color: #073763;"> or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our<b> </b>Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it</span> (most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span> </span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">48,541</span></b> (as always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers)<span style="color: #073763;">; below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week</span> (with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTsTAHhHTvVg56aX9SCt5UG7yrkcAwg2diC7rxt6pJKf3QjXpteyJbZhZBclzbxSivQo9HhBu8QQUZTqKs3NSoi-346sLGXcBIEBJBWn4cFJgH9AdsSTM1XX1a8uaKFqmhQBeh-SyDeKkkOYdMzgfUPT6yPxEBlS1Qai968VsgKAotb8WndJrtcvF0vQ/s1242/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-08%20at%203.30.52%20PM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1075" data-original-width="1242" height="554" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTsTAHhHTvVg56aX9SCt5UG7yrkcAwg2diC7rxt6pJKf3QjXpteyJbZhZBclzbxSivQo9HhBu8QQUZTqKs3NSoi-346sLGXcBIEBJBWn4cFJgH9AdsSTM1XX1a8uaKFqmhQBeh-SyDeKkkOYdMzgfUPT6yPxEBlS1Qai968VsgKAotb8WndJrtcvF0vQ/w651-h554/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-08%20at%203.30.52%20PM.jpg" width="651" /></a></div></div>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-10655674561191760392023-11-01T22:31:00.000-07:002023-11-01T22:31:04.129-07:00Fremont plus Short Takes on various other cinematic topics<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">It’s a Lonely World After All</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b></span> (Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b></span> (Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, but better options are on the horizon.</span> (Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue </b></span>below <span style="color: #999999;">[some may look near</span> <span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span><span style="color: #999999;">] </span>is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;">My reviews’ premise: </span>“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from<b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikV_Ov7WYk19-FZD4n6ZzLsgQTTIB3qOgre2QftcmeqVRypRQ98mEGslcHwkPIWw2R-SKTVVV0fOdDiZINl94CPPpciMDl8gw-i1-DD1jdim0nnepMrAc0SD9l55wuSP7GFNfXBpIJQC3LZCsTQgDen6HA8FIIbLat6qneuxESFLbQa9AluU9ekWQUiQ/s109/four%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikV_Ov7WYk19-FZD4n6ZzLsgQTTIB3qOgre2QftcmeqVRypRQ98mEGslcHwkPIWw2R-SKTVVV0fOdDiZINl94CPPpciMDl8gw-i1-DD1jdim0nnepMrAc0SD9l55wuSP7GFNfXBpIJQC3LZCsTQgDen6HA8FIIbLat6qneuxESFLbQa9AluU9ekWQUiQ/s1600/four%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.musicboxfilms.com/film/fremont/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Fremont</span></a></span></i></b><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Babak Jalali)</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">Not Rated</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">92 min.</span></b></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wu8CzVfik-4" width="320" youtube-src-id="wu8CzVfik-4"></iframe></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="color: #008f00;">If you can abide </b><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">plot spoilers</span></b></span><b style="color: #008f00;"> read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ </b><b><span style="color: #93c47d;">(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</span></b><b style="color: #008f00;">. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and</span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">red.⇐</span> </b></span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsEaWDWJpT9SoD8bcZzJ8yCrSTYHQ-lwsBUj4MvUGCHs4pxFrBBA_ZU06jYhUwZLwRuAOqG1chhhPhf9EV5BjVPRom47vFgSSjCHr4J69EEybniw4ZrLXKbKFbVKbQUrPwvW1v5108DnpZgyVygcVXEiAO4wsiMvLeXWfEc4VQkeLrZZaCKGEqe1_GpQ/s1180/fremont.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="1180" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsEaWDWJpT9SoD8bcZzJ8yCrSTYHQ-lwsBUj4MvUGCHs4pxFrBBA_ZU06jYhUwZLwRuAOqG1chhhPhf9EV5BjVPRom47vFgSSjCHr4J69EEybniw4ZrLXKbKFbVKbQUrPwvW1v5108DnpZgyVygcVXEiAO4wsiMvLeXWfEc4VQkeLrZZaCKGEqe1_GpQ/w640-h310/fremont.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(No, this isn’t </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnHiAWlrYQc"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Ethel and Lucy</span></b></a><span style="color: #38761d;"> at the chocolate factory, but there is some humor in </span><i style="color: #38761d;">Fremont</i><span style="color: #38761d;">.)</span><b> </b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">What Happens:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">This is a unique story about Donya</span> (Anaita Wali Zada)<span style="color: #073763;">, a young-adult-female-immigrant from Afghanistan</span> (worked there as a translator for U.S. military forces against the Taliban) <span style="color: #073763;">now living in Fremont, CA </span>(San Francisco Bay Area, between Hayward <span style="color: #999999;">[where I live]</span> and San Jose; a city with a large South Asian population)<span style="color: #073763;">, working in a fortune cookie factory in Chinatown, San Francisco, with little money, no friends </span>(except Joanna <span style="color: #999999;">[Hilda Schmelling]</span><span style="text-align: left;">—on the left in the photo above</span><span style="text-align: left;">—her</span> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">cookie-baker co-worker; Salim <span style="color: #999999;">[Siddique Ahmed]</span>, a fellow-Afghan in her apartment building; and </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Suleyman </span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica;">[Timur Nusratty]</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">, </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">a waiter <span style="color: #999999;">[maybe owner]</span> of an Afghan restaurant which she frequents, watching Afghan content on their TV)<span style="color: #073763;">, very little indication of what might lie ahead for her.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> However, Donya takes a chance for something different, shows up one day instead of Salim to meet with psychiatrist Dr. Anthony</span> (Gregg Turkington)<span style="color: #073763;">, refuses to abide by rules of not allowing a new patient to simply slip into a missed-appointment when there are others on the waiting list, so he, for some reason, agrees to meet with her on a regular basis, trying to help her out of her malaise about her current dead-end-life where she has no connection with anyone back in her home country</span> (had no social life there either; translators were even considered traitors by some other Afghans; she was also shunned by other translators because she’s a woman; now she has a bad dose of survivor’s guilt akin to PTSD, leading to insomnia, because she was one of the lucky few to flee her country 8 months ago when the U.S. pulled out as the Taliban stormed in)<span style="color: #073763;">, has no interest in meeting random people in the U.S.</span> (Joanna tries to get her to go with her on a double blind date <span style="color: #999999;">[sounds like some kind of a controlled psych-experiment, but that’s not what I mean]</span><span style="color: #666666;">, Donya refuses; Joanna later says she’s getting tired of the blind-date-routine herself)</span><span style="color: #073763;">, has little hope of anything getting any better. Dr. Anthony has an odd reply to her situation, though, noting his favorite story of a refugee is Jack London’s book, </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">White Fang</span> </i>(1906),<span style="color: #073763;"> about a wolf, which doesn’t help Donya much. To her surprise, though, a minor change comes when the woman at her cookie factory who writes the fortunes for the snacks suddenly drops dead so Donya’s given her job, with clear restrictions on what kind of advice she’s to write for these little dessert inserts from her boss, Ricky </span>(Eddie Tang)<span style="color: #073763;">. Donya does her best.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0I6tyxPWJXPBv0P72WJH57WXMZx2RvV2os-aZFiZ6kvQkU9mRvsViLg3bXRrM2FVTzlqlCifKaFXYpTkYAHU6wgaHiQRhdl7VBSjtXHCJ0eL8DbAcOliFL0AHfBndqAXc0L6-jVYB5mL_sqwE8L8V2TpEhiuyuZ9X2AlyC-SXzceaVC7lXcwWDSv9pQ/s991/Fremont-Still-2-Anaita-Wali-Zada.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="991" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0I6tyxPWJXPBv0P72WJH57WXMZx2RvV2os-aZFiZ6kvQkU9mRvsViLg3bXRrM2FVTzlqlCifKaFXYpTkYAHU6wgaHiQRhdl7VBSjtXHCJ0eL8DbAcOliFL0AHfBndqAXc0L6-jVYB5mL_sqwE8L8V2TpEhiuyuZ9X2AlyC-SXzceaVC7lXcwWDSv9pQ/w640-h438/Fremont-Still-2-Anaita-Wali-Zada.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><span>Nevertheless</span><span>, a</span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">t one point in deep frustration with her circumstances she puts her name and phone number on a fortune, although she gets no replies. There’s not much other plot here </span><span style="color: #666666;">(not a negative comment, as this slow-moving-story’s rich in nuanced-character-observation, making it a marvelous pleasure to watch)</span><span style="color: #073763;"> except Donya is headed to some event</span> (I forget what, as I was somewhat distracted by pain in my getting-closer-to 76-year-old knees when I watched it as I aided my situation with one of my high-octane Long Island ice teas, so while I enjoyed the film as a whole experience some details slipped by, with little help this week from Internet summaries or other reviews) <span style="color: #073763;">in Bakersfield, CA </span>(a couple of hundred miles from the Bay Area, in the considerably-warmer, more-conservative bottom of the San Fernando Valley; if you’d like a bit more insight into its culture, here’s a useful song, <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=holBS44V5gU"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Streets of Bakersfield"</span></a></b>, sung by Buck Owens).<span style="color: #073763;"> On the way she needs some minor car repairs, stops at a small maintenance shop, has minimal conversation with lone mechanic Daniel</span> (Jeremy Allen White)<span style="color: #073763;">, goes to a nearby-café for lunch</span> (he comes in too, as it’s his regular dining location)<span style="color: #073763;">, they exchange a few pleasantries until he leaves, after admitting he’s chatty because he has no one else to talk with, is considering hiring a helper mainly for some conversation; he also charges her nothing for the repairs</span> (seemingly in respect of her immigrant status)<span style="color: #073763;">, says that’s the case for any other work she might have done there.</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">⇒She</span></b> <span style="color: #65a0dc;">t</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">hen goes to a plant nursery to retrieve a small ceramic deer her boss ordered, which is still here because the boss didn’t want to pay the delivery charges to get it to S.F. However, Donya drives back to the mechanic’s place, gives the deer to him as they stumble through some further limited chat </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(the last 15 min. or so here almost plays like a silent film)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> although you can tell some flirtation’s beginning to emerge, then in the last shot we see her as we’re also looking past a fence while we hear a train going by in the</span> <span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>distance.⇐</b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-gILSfpCtyL0U49k280-eGniB6coLbU2GvDJEWIJfJwRFjVw3GsxwdfkXbKNG3XLL3Ah3fdgDIAJTLoqiLFFZNnOJ41utxe4U68kILvAPh4cb2WURjGT7ocptUdy-emTtzW_cgU9URIddzBM2TpUIoAsZWb0yh12OPbMYw5zisPVUJpC58qd8ql89Xg/s278/Fremont%203.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="142" data-original-width="278" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-gILSfpCtyL0U49k280-eGniB6coLbU2GvDJEWIJfJwRFjVw3GsxwdfkXbKNG3XLL3Ah3fdgDIAJTLoqiLFFZNnOJ41utxe4U68kILvAPh4cb2WURjGT7ocptUdy-emTtzW_cgU9URIddzBM2TpUIoAsZWb0yh12OPbMYw5zisPVUJpC58qd8ql89Xg/w640-h328/Fremont%203.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;">(Donya says: </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">"What the hell is all this </span><b><span style="color: red;">⇩</span></b><span style="color: #6aa84f;"> about? He’s supposed to be reviewing my film! Damn!"</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;">)<b> </b></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b> </b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So What?</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">In that last week contained a good number of time-intensive-this-and-thats, I had an opportunity to watch/review only 1 choice for this week. Looking back over a short list of streaming possibilities I keep I saw 3 potential choices: <i>Fremont</i>,</span> <b><i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqYtNks5-_U"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Bottoms</span></a></i></b><b> </b>(Emma Seligman)<span style="color: #073763;">—teenage girls who start a self-defense-club in order to attract a couple of cheerleaders they have crushes on—and</span> <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbPeXsdamT4"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Pain Hustlers</span></b></a></i> (David Yates)<span style="color: #073763;">—a sleazy-pharmaceutical-company pushes opioids on unsuspecting customers. <i>Fremont</i>’s quite solid with the <b>CCAL </b></span>(more on that soon)<span style="color: #073763;">, <i>Bottoms </i>is as well</span> (Rotten Tomatoes 92% positive reviews, mostly responding to the raunchiness; Metacritic 77% average score, also big interest in questionable-taste-humor)<span style="color: #073763;">, although <i>Pain Hustlers </i>is clearly in <b>OCCU </b>territory</span> (RT 24%, MC at 44%, all agree the script doesn’t support the cast very well)<span style="color: #073763;">—yet I still had some interest just for the compelling-ensemble: Emily Blunt, Chris Evans, Andy Garcia, Catherine O’Hara, a group I’d probably be happy to watch even in a lousy movie—so I turned to my insightful wife, Nina, to see what she’d be most interested in. After looking over some reviews she voted for <i>Fremont</i>, which was enough encouragement for me, especially because I’d say <i>Bottoms </i>sounds too much like <i>Fight Club </i></span>(David Fincher, 1999) s<span style="color: #073763;">et in high-school with R-rated comedy intended to ease up response to the violence</span> (though don’t be surprised if I end up reviewing it soon if better options don’t emerge) <span style="color: #073763;">while <i>Pain Hustlers </i>also apparently tries to put a funny face on deadly-serious business, which I’ve already had serious-immersion about in</span> <b><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopesick_(miniseries)"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Dopesick</span></a></i></b><i> </i>(2021 Hulu streaming series) <span style="color: #073763;">about the Sackler family’s Purdue Pharma and its OxyContin drug, along with a current Netflix streaming series,</span> <b><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fall_of_the_House_of_Usher_(miniseries)"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The Fall of the House of Usher</span></a></i></b><span style="color: #073763;">, also about a corrupt, family-run pharmaceutical company, with each of the 8 episodes variously, loosely inspired by the writings of Edgar Allan Poe.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZwvb2mSxjU5HFg8Og_-0HvR-qqpfFAWpyaQuHjGpicm7EzYQ3ZrdqZWK8wQOmv2DdMF5E0-CeqU7XFnq1lm6ewLEfCs0L7NfHTXJa8OA8DpsUoW0NLUZfJca5A2FuHhrbiVhgWJmsNrwbKQEfOktZtl4ix6cgbwDjnehoR5T3yhPQKSIelbLrghLzeg/s4652/Fremont-Scout_ForPrint-01_14012191cd297e10c16fd0464cc6c4fc.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2341" data-original-width="4652" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZwvb2mSxjU5HFg8Og_-0HvR-qqpfFAWpyaQuHjGpicm7EzYQ3ZrdqZWK8wQOmv2DdMF5E0-CeqU7XFnq1lm6ewLEfCs0L7NfHTXJa8OA8DpsUoW0NLUZfJca5A2FuHhrbiVhgWJmsNrwbKQEfOktZtl4ix6cgbwDjnehoR5T3yhPQKSIelbLrghLzeg/w640-h322/Fremont-Scout_ForPrint-01_14012191cd297e10c16fd0464cc6c4fc.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica;">(One example of the marvelous cinematography throughout this film.) </span></p><p style="font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">With such backstory now behind me</span> (Donya's finally at peace, I hope)<span style="color: #073763;">, what I found most appealing about <i>Fremont </i>is not that it easily connected me with the region where I live. In fact, except for quick shots of the Fremont BART</span> (Bay Area Rapid Transit) <span style="color: #073763;">station and some regional highway driving with familiar-looking-hills in the background I couldn’t visually connect what I saw on screen with Fremont or San Francisco because most of what we see—despite cinematographer Laura Valladao being a Fremont native</span> (who provides us with consistently-fascinating-imagery, as evidenced just above)<span style="color: #073763;">—could easily be anywhere, especially with the “action”</span> (which never moves very fast) <span style="color: #073763;">being shown in mid-shot interiors or closeups on an actor’s face looking into the camera as we’re being drawn into a semblance of the conversation the characters are having</span> (further, director Jalali is British-Iranian so I don’t think there’s much connection to suburban northern CA from his perspective either <span style="color: #999999;">[I guess?]</span>).</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> None of this non-connection to the location of Fremont </span>(as I see it) i<span style="color: #073763;">s a problem, though, because this story’s not about a geographic area</span> (except as Donya sees herself disconnected from both her homeland and new country) <span style="color: #073763;">as much as it’s a subtly-engaging-character-study setting up a situation for our troubled-protagonist, gives her little help for her problems from the few she knows</span> (Joanna, Dr. Anthony, Salim, Suleyman)<span style="color: #073763;">, only hints there might be better days ahead with Daniel, so, as is the case with what I call successful Theatrical Realism films</span> (where the direction of the narrative is clear, though the conclusion might be ambiguous as we learn more about the people involved than the events they encounter) <span style="color: #073763;">we get an intriguing glimpse into Donya’s life without seeing any of the more-dramatic-aspects of her world back in Afghanistan nor knowing what will happen beyond what little we’re shown. Such a limited framework could prove to be boring, too little to draw and hold our attention, but that’s not the case here as <i>Fremont </i>focuses on a complex character who shows us just enough of her unresolved situations to encourage us to learn what we can about her, surmise more as we become “ghost writers” of additional-yet-unseen-scenes. Another intriguing aspect of this film is that it’s shot in black & white, in the old 4 x 3 format, so that it looks very different from what we normally see in theaters or on our home screens, giving us all the more incentive to be attentive to it.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-9Ybbo_SupqscPLnPLP5SvVXBo2voHjJl1AvZX-qMcq3MRFhyBBdlxAr8uHjYyEoxkPMWHCXA4TWHtH0jdq69sOn1BCr0qTE5X28TLJNsSpTU_YMd6SpDr6xlfdAI5q6Z1mMUbDFPdueExabRPE86-msBsHWrdCzxB5FahyYJ-wkLImrnvevzle5N6A/s1024/SJM-L-FREMONT-0823-01.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="559" data-original-width="1024" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-9Ybbo_SupqscPLnPLP5SvVXBo2voHjJl1AvZX-qMcq3MRFhyBBdlxAr8uHjYyEoxkPMWHCXA4TWHtH0jdq69sOn1BCr0qTE5X28TLJNsSpTU_YMd6SpDr6xlfdAI5q6Z1mMUbDFPdueExabRPE86-msBsHWrdCzxB5FahyYJ-wkLImrnvevzle5N6A/w640-h350/SJM-L-FREMONT-0823-01.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Bottom Line Final Comments:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;"><i>Fremont </i>was released, in extremely-limited-fashion, to domestic</span> (U.S.-Canada) <span style="color: #073763;">theaters on August 25, 2023, then in mid-September it opened in the U.K. and the Czech Republic, but it’s now down to 3 domestic venues </span>(including 1 in nearby Oakland, CA) <span style="color: #073763;">with a meager box-office of $266 thousand plus a little more internationally for a worldwide total of $302.3 thousand. Therefore, if I can succeed in my goal of interesting you to see it, you’ll most likely have to turn to</span><b> <a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/fremont"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Apple TV streaming</span></a></b> (or other platforms) <span style="color: #073763;">where it rents for $3.99 </span>(you have to be an Apple subscriber, $9.99 monthly, but you can also slip in quickly for a 1-week-free-trial which gets you not only <i>Fremont </i>but also whatever else is in their library) <span style="color: #073763;">so give this film a consideration because I do highly encourage you to see it, a quietly-simple-but-compelling-cinematic-experience. The <b>CCAL </b>agrees with me, with the</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fremont"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">RT positive reviews at a grand 97%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, the</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/fremont/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">MC average score at 72%</span></a> </b>(which, for them, means <span style="color: #38761d;">“Generally Favorable”</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">. OK, enough chatter from me so let’s just close this out with my usual tactic of a Musical Metaphor to speak one last time to what’s gone before in the above paragraphs. In this case, it was a fairly easy choice of “All By Myself” </span>(written, first recorded by <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoiN8vZ6WwE"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Eric Carmen</span></a></b>, on his 1975 self-named album [<span style="color: #999999;">song based partially on the second movement of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s 1900-’01 <i>Piano Concerto No. 2 in C </i>minor]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">using Céline Dion’s version of it at </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGrLb6W5YOM"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGrLb6W5YOM</span></b></a><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">,</span> both because it was such a big hit for her</span> (on her 1996 album <i>Falling into You</i>) <span style="color: #073763;">and because this song in this particular context needs a woman’s voice to connect with Donya’s situation:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“All by myself / Don’t wanna be / All by myself / Anymore / Hard to be sure / Sometimes I feel so insecure/ And love’s so distant and obscure / Remains the cure.” </span><span style="color: #448728;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">Donya’s tired of being all on her own; maybe Daniel will help her change that, maybe not, so we’ll just have to fill in what comes next, according to our own narrative-sensibilities.</span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFRKUtNPUon6YFrtKYgD4iXIK6XZIHhUEjmYm-8xKvjQyuJqXJldPDZYyfmIbeh46z_2mvv7ThTKlM-ol8-EeOU6JgYAdNlP-sg6QD0hUhXL6WB5TY3InbY3-mWNQ9vLpv9HO3-4_S5IyMHXD9viod-XNaCcnkJ8X_mpnjK7dhE9srLrCHPr9aUVv-w/s1949/Hidden%20Hollywood%2073.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFRKUtNPUon6YFrtKYgD4iXIK6XZIHhUEjmYm-8xKvjQyuJqXJldPDZYyfmIbeh46z_2mvv7ThTKlM-ol8-EeOU6JgYAdNlP-sg6QD0hUhXL6WB5TY3InbY3-mWNQ9vLpv9HO3-4_S5IyMHXD9viod-XNaCcnkJ8X_mpnjK7dhE9srLrCHPr9aUVv-w/w640-h294/Hidden%20Hollywood%2073.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:</span> </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">(1) </span><b><a href="https://www.recordstrivia.com/movies/the-trailblazers-of-cinema-a-look-at-the-firsts-and-records-set-by-legendary-filmmakers?e=6508b83ee8179a307e61e7a8"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Trailblazers of cinema</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">;</span><b style="color: #073763;"> (</b><span style="color: #073763;">2)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/news/five-nights-at-freddys-box-office-opening-weekend-records-1235772394/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=boxofficealert&utm_content=473612_10-29-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>Five Nights at Freddy's</i> sets many box-office records</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; 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(4) </span><b><a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/features/marvel-jonathan-majors-problem-the-marvels-reshoots-kang-1235774940/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=474253_11-01-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Problems with Marvel's theatrical and streaming products</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></p><p style="color: #941100; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b></span><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Two Guys in the Dark homepage</span></a></b><b style="color: #941100;">. </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>If you’d like to</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>Like</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>us on Facebook </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(yes?)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b> please visit</b></span><span><b> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our Facebook page</span></a></b></span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. 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line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were </span><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">48,541</span></b>(as always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers)<span style="color: #073763;">; below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week </span>(with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjamkbpnwBi2X1Birq7r9N5r_1grH0Azvxl7FMaS8taR0a-CCAak3KRNyeAyZG3qFf4NYr1MlDEH769YAzuifYVKiIqvrVOo4qdDvDJx6yyrFoPhBpBN6pK5AQm2KnVcHD_yRrnRUz12luCm9zro-Ypmj1ZJfChaevatU20EQKXgyARJfqc93K5GR-2Mw/s1244/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-01%20at%202.56.18%20PM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1043" data-original-width="1244" height="536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjamkbpnwBi2X1Birq7r9N5r_1grH0Azvxl7FMaS8taR0a-CCAak3KRNyeAyZG3qFf4NYr1MlDEH769YAzuifYVKiIqvrVOo4qdDvDJx6yyrFoPhBpBN6pK5AQm2KnVcHD_yRrnRUz12luCm9zro-Ypmj1ZJfChaevatU20EQKXgyARJfqc93K5GR-2Mw/w652-h536/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-01%20at%202.56.18%20PM.jpg" width="652" /></a></div>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-82904000510227902912023-10-26T00:18:00.000-07:002023-10-26T00:18:32.527-07:00Reptile plus Short Takes on some other cinematic topics<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">I Suspect an Abundance of Suspects</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Review and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b></span> (Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b> </span>(Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, but better options are on the horizon.</span> (Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue </b></span>below <span style="color: #999999;">[some may look near</span> <span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span><span style="color: #999999;">]</span> is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><p style="font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;">My reviews’ premise: </span>“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBiWyJ8mkXLX3uB3W1n28jUI5a4ycb9oeNRmQUpSH1ncIOk_SKLOhH4s8eF5-O2vmmzh_xNTPCs0jn7AfImxbVuCPqwI-84J7gXDIxdjwBbxSPIbutVppPZjnJZAvacn3XHebIcZojrFbf6m1UJgga21APlFqaNogX2aPDfF_i_DPBQkwvyKDPoQGDdQ/s612/istockphoto-1726445445-612x612.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="612" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBiWyJ8mkXLX3uB3W1n28jUI5a4ycb9oeNRmQUpSH1ncIOk_SKLOhH4s8eF5-O2vmmzh_xNTPCs0jn7AfImxbVuCPqwI-84J7gXDIxdjwBbxSPIbutVppPZjnJZAvacn3XHebIcZojrFbf6m1UJgga21APlFqaNogX2aPDfF_i_DPBQkwvyKDPoQGDdQ/w640-h426/istockphoto-1726445445-612x612.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Before I start delving into my newest cinematic commentary, I know you don’t turn to a movie-review-blog for political opinions</span> (although that doesn’t keep me from making the occasional jab at Donald Trump, especially as some of his Georgia co-defendants keep turning on him, along with his ex-lawyer, Michael Cohen, in his NY charges)<span style="color: #073763;">, nor do I want to start any debate here on what’s currently happening in Israel and Gaza or Ukraine, but no matter how you might feel about what’s going on in those troubled regions at present you might want to make a donation</span> (or 2, or 3) <span style="color: #073763;">to help the embattled civilians in those conflicts, so I’ll pass along charities I’ve just donated to in case you might want to do the same </span>(or choose other places where you can send your aid)<span style="color: #073763;">. I went with the</span> <b><a href="https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation.html/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Red Cross</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">on behalf of Israel,</span> <b><a href="https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/secure/rr-donate-web?_gl=1*pj5zfd*_ga*MjM2MTIyMjkwLjE2OTgxOTMzMjQ.*_ga_C7EW6Q0J9K*MTY5ODE5MzMyNC4xLjEuMTY5ODE5MzM2Mi4yMi4wLjA.&_ga=2.123813834.1973775820.1698193325-236122290.1698193324"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Doctors Without Borders</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">for the Palestinians in Gaza</span> (not the Hamas terrorists)<span style="color: #073763;">, and</span><b> <a href="https://donate.amnestyusa.org/page/122555/donate/1?ea.tracking.id=MRPaidSearchFR2023&supporter.appealCode=W23XXADEVR0P&en_og_source=W23XXADEVR0P&gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw1t2pBhAFEiwA_-A-NGAd4Z_iw7mznkHK4wEuzs_7wDEnVDNDgl7i_uAP_zb0a624q7jhcRoC_doQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Amnesty International</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">for Ukraine</span> (nothing for Russia, as I have no sympathy for Putin’s uncalled-for-invasion)<span style="color: #073763;">. Those concerns aside, I'm onward to this week’s review.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEU1HSPfV4C4TYISVujMghYH1ZLDBeu2jWazZ2XvEnV45E9SmRIJnhxUr_HUv3CzMSO_KsRXLI_IkRiQzKUOmGA9_3J0rL6xiFmoSlDwhmyvcJnKhM_xIHgJlJmwQqEANsWZ4vRxkmAC4ZXDXnLVEO1_3Ab2Yx77dJsiCLLBTz4BTG9M3eTiI4lMlzcQ/s109/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEU1HSPfV4C4TYISVujMghYH1ZLDBeu2jWazZ2XvEnV45E9SmRIJnhxUr_HUv3CzMSO_KsRXLI_IkRiQzKUOmGA9_3J0rL6xiFmoSlDwhmyvcJnKhM_xIHgJlJmwQqEANsWZ4vRxkmAC4ZXDXnLVEO1_3Ab2Yx77dJsiCLLBTz4BTG9M3eTiI4lMlzcQ/s1600/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81463014">Reptile</a></span></i><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Grant Singer)</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">rated R</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">136 min.</span></b><br /></span><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KS1cNkZ9o1U" width="320" youtube-src-id="KS1cNkZ9o1U"></iframe></div><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>If you can abide </b><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">plot spoilers</span></b></span><b> read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ </b><span style="color: #00c000;"><b>(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</b></span><b>. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and</span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">red.⇐</span> </b></span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-XLVD44sCAaCibtHtdJ7KcCoN97Ud4a99t-We-072xeitlgM93v83jOY_fyyH1gF6OLog6yuV5wIosLVzkpqnmsbEqF3Mw1EZZlXT3zzPUHU_ujB_wRFbTAjHAlLVNjZa_NHHC_uinEmp31IllghURPkyQ18lIneZWAEqYnVtmhVuaQQDdw_K5pF4vA/s1700/AAAAQbucgSZLwTjmQ-nFcFvt24NTRYJrexUvrouJtZJAkwUe4D_lemf1K-BGD9O2XHlgHyJgftOgIOoAtm5D7Y02pzRu1tzn6Hcv2-Qbjw-UbX9doaf3lIV3h9yvVr-yxl89k3osvSNp7nTMA208hygXkiPsoII.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1700" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-XLVD44sCAaCibtHtdJ7KcCoN97Ud4a99t-We-072xeitlgM93v83jOY_fyyH1gF6OLog6yuV5wIosLVzkpqnmsbEqF3Mw1EZZlXT3zzPUHU_ujB_wRFbTAjHAlLVNjZa_NHHC_uinEmp31IllghURPkyQ18lIneZWAEqYnVtmhVuaQQDdw_K5pF4vA/w640-h406/AAAAQbucgSZLwTjmQ-nFcFvt24NTRYJrexUvrouJtZJAkwUe4D_lemf1K-BGD9O2XHlgHyJgftOgIOoAtm5D7Y02pzRu1tzn6Hcv2-Qbjw-UbX9doaf3lIV3h9yvVr-yxl89k3osvSNp7nTMA208hygXkiPsoII.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">What Happens:</span> </b>I<span style="color: #073763;">n Scarsborough, Maine we find realtors Will Grady</span> (Justin Timberlake) <span style="color: #073763;">and his partner/girlfriend Summer Elswick</span> (Matilda Lutz)<span style="color: #073763;">, whom</span> (we later learn) <span style="color: #073763;">he says he intended to propose to once her divorce is finalized from Sam Gifford</span> (Karl Glusman<span style="color: #073763;">), although these lovers are at odds with each other in this opening scene. Later, at night, Will gets puzzling texts from Summer so he goes to the lavish house we previously saw them in, finds her dead from multiple stab wounds. This gruesome murder brings an investigation from police detective Tom Nichols</span> (Benicio Del Toro) <span style="color: #073763;">and his partner, Dan Cleary</span> (Ato Essandoh<span style="color: #073763;">); when they’re shown at a party to honor Tom’s wife's </span>(Judy <span style="color: #999999;">[Alicia Silverstone]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">uncle, Captain Robert Allen</span> (Eric Bogosian)<span style="color: #073763;">, we also meet Police Chief Marty Graeber</span> (Mike Pniewski) <span style="color: #073763;">and pushy cop-detective Wally Finn</span> (Domenick Lombardozzi)<span style="color: #073763;">. Later, we get the not-fully-clarified-info that Tom had problems at his previous job in Philadelphia because his partner was involved with drugs, ambiguous implications Tom might be tainted too although none of his behaviors indicate such. Tom questions Will who argues he couldn’t be the killer because he truly loved Summer; instead, he throws suspicion on troubled Eli Phillips</span> (Michael Carmen Pitt)<span style="color: #073763;">, who holds a grudge against Will and his mother, Camille Grady </span>(Frances Fisher)<span style="color: #073763;">, because Will’s father’s real estate company, years ago, involuntarily bought the Phillips’ farm, which had been in their family since the 1930s, leading to Eli’s father’s suicide. Eli claims Will killed Summer, but the only evidence the cops have is some inconclusive video footage of a car near the house on murder-day which Cleary says is a 1990 Buick LeSabre but Judy correctly identifies it as a Chrysler Imperial, yet Tom and Dan can find no trace of such a car. To further complicate things, it’s seems Summer was also raped, with DNA evidence traced to her almost-ex, Sam, but then we get info from Summer’s friend, Renee </span>(Sky Ferreira)<span style="color: #073763;">, Summer was still having sex with Sam on the sly.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqhaOWbB_rYzuNGaKjGZwMAgeIYYdFa-sLG4aNeT-J05-NOhHqwHvOJ5KvfsDDiujKmTRq5NkYIoeOebcxeYD2cOxCcPUu36E6U2cporIHbBNNqYvukK5lBm7rhz7d4KTD2o0hV9vVOvHoASwIyARaabMVqV5fQ0RtaNf3rUlOALRo9jRfUtkHLrwNFg/s1757/pop-heartthrob-justin-timberlake-murder-839342125.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1049" data-original-width="1757" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqhaOWbB_rYzuNGaKjGZwMAgeIYYdFa-sLG4aNeT-J05-NOhHqwHvOJ5KvfsDDiujKmTRq5NkYIoeOebcxeYD2cOxCcPUu36E6U2cporIHbBNNqYvukK5lBm7rhz7d4KTD2o0hV9vVOvHoASwIyARaabMVqV5fQ0RtaNf3rUlOALRo9jRfUtkHLrwNFg/w640-h382/pop-heartthrob-justin-timberlake-murder-839342125.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">When Tom and Dan go to arrest Sam, he grabs Dan’s gun, tries to escape, but is shot dead by Tom, so Dan’s considered to be Summer’s killer</span> (Tom’s not so sure)<span style="color: #073763;">, Tom’s going to be recommended for the Medal of Valor for saving Dan from harm. The complications continue as Eli comes to Tom’s house but is held at gunpoint by Judy until Tom arrives home. Eli’s arrested for the intrusion but manages to give Tom a flashdrive with what he says is evidence of an illegal scheme by Will and Camille to plant drugs in houses allowing the properties to be seized by the police, then sold at a great bargain to the Gradys under a shell company, White Fish, also connected to Wally’s private security company; Summer became aware of this, says Eli; she was going to report it to the DEA so she was killed. </span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">⇒Then,</span></b> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">at a birthday party for Capt. Allen, Tom finds a Chrysler Imperial with a new paint job in Allen’s garage, confronts him about all this, agrees to meet with him the next day for an explanation. Tom tells what he knows to Chief Graeber so they go together to Allen’s home, but Marty excuses himself to the bathroom. Allen pleads with Tom to get out, then he’s shot dead </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(by either Marty or Wally </span><span style="color: #999999;">[he’s there too]</span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">, as they’re all in on the scam)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">. Marty tries to kill Tom, although he manages to terminate both Marty and Wally, then he reports all this to the FBI </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(as he doesn’t trust any of the local police)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">, with one of the final shots showing them arresting Will because Wally was the one who initially attacked Summer </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(it was his car hidden in Allen’s garage)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">, although she wasn’t dead yet when Will showed up that night so he finished her off, surely showing his story about wanting to marry her was just a red herring to put the cops off of his</span><span style="color: #65a0dc;"> </span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">trail.⇐</span> </b></span><span style="color: #073763;">The actual ending shot is much more peaceful, though; happens in Tom’s renovated kitchen where he’s delighted to see the successful installation of a faucet that responds to hand movements</span> (like those <a href="https://tedium.co/2018/03/22/the-clapper-history/"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Clapper</span></b></a> lamps of days gone by, still available from many sources today if you’re interested in this interactive-device).</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnaxYI6WEVry5md5hxhuI4yV5iVQtsHfEuKQ0eglzg9F-wUlBy372k-c9sIX_8aw0RbX2tGHtFGlfGUE0G9ZtiMigzhgffYnzeI6STzxQwa8Sfkuq32u1oiW0Uw0qQvjdXRhooWciTEcaV6T06Jgq_IXKgGFwoMcSmhOxRwKPbClXs0cuWi_KMzhwcw/s2880/tmp_IWhLS6_4f365373b92b45af_Screen_Shot_2023-08-22_at_11.45.45_AM.png.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1216" data-original-width="2880" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnaxYI6WEVry5md5hxhuI4yV5iVQtsHfEuKQ0eglzg9F-wUlBy372k-c9sIX_8aw0RbX2tGHtFGlfGUE0G9ZtiMigzhgffYnzeI6STzxQwa8Sfkuq32u1oiW0Uw0qQvjdXRhooWciTEcaV6T06Jgq_IXKgGFwoMcSmhOxRwKPbClXs0cuWi_KMzhwcw/w640-h270/tmp_IWhLS6_4f365373b92b45af_Screen_Shot_2023-08-22_at_11.45.45_AM.png.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So What?</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">The first thing you might want to know about this convoluted-but-intriguing-film is what the title refers to. I couldn’t come up with an answer, turned to director/co-screenwriter</span> (with Benjamin Brewer, del Toro) </span></span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/reptile-ending-explained">G</a>r</span></b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><a href="https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/reptile-ending-explained"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">ant Singer</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">: </span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #38761d;">“ ‘In the movie, characters are introduced as one thing and revealed to be something else,’ Singer continues. ‘There’s a shedding of skin that occurs, and it felt like an appropriate metaphor for the film. Some of the most unethical people in the film can be very likable in moments.’ Like anything with cold blood, these reptiles<i> </i>can be perfectly warm under the right circumstances.“</span></span><span style="color: #008f00; font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(The article with this quote's informative but has </span><b style="font-family: helvetica;">Spoilers</b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">; if it was useful, also consider this </span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mmTA9MAD3o"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">recap video</span></a></b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #999999;">[10:20; ads interrupt at 3:16, 8:00]</span> which is like my summary above but illustrated throughout—obviously, </span><b style="font-family: helvetica;">Spoilers </b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">here too—yet doesn’t really get too much into explaining the ending.)</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">The next thing you might want to know if you’ve seen some of the many negative reviews this film's received (see the next section of this review), is why should you consider watching it when the critical community</span> (although, not me as part of that) <span style="color: #073763;">is so uniformly-dismissive?</span></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Ultimately, you’ll have to decide that one for yourself, but I find this film to be an enjoyable watch of a murder mystery where there are enough viable suspects as perpetrators to keep it mysteriously-interesting. </span> (Not that I’m all that good at determining the guilty party in stories like this before the climactic-revelation, as evidenced by my wonderful wife, Nina, and I watching a weekly dose of revisits to the old PBS series, <b><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsomer_Murders"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Midsomer Murders</span></a></i></b>, where someone’s usually killed within the first few minutes, then almost-too-many-characters are introduced for me to successfully keep up with so when I try to predict who the killer is I’m usually wrong, but the show’s still fun.) <span style="color: #073763;">I’ll also say the acting—especially by Del Toro—in <i>Reptile </i>is well-done, as is the cinematography and the pacing, so you always have something going on to keep your interest. Some might say a bit too much going on regarding the initial 3 suspects where possible-guilt seems to shift among them quickly</span> (although in retrospect, we’re given what we need to know at about the middle of the running time, yet it’s not clear we should believe it, only adding a bit to the plot’s complexity)<span style="color: #073763;">. Once the film is done, you could easily say there are at least 3 other suspects who supposedly are Tom’s working buddies </span>(one’s even an in-law)<span style="color: #073763;">, maybe 4 given hints about Dan being dirty, but that’s only speculation. Maybe I’m just used to this complexity from my steady-diet of <i>Midsomer Murders</i>, but ultimately I found <i>Reptile </i>to be quite enjoyable in its twists and turns, think many of you would respond similarly.</span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4A0GF-abfbybGMewd5lRrlwUjwc4ryFSnaQ0Vz3tWe0fzQPIg6VbW8LweoCW6acq7amve7Bc2Ppl2lw5nl7t-UDaIVm_zTcSo0kZXQOYzCGedxlICcW4dfNXZPp4cEIEmB7_yWzf4N_RZJ4Uo6R3kTg60Slaks2Z4IY4yQoA-9cE9C99zl8Us2Y6HAQ/s3587/reptile-20211008-05711r-1696022968969.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1929" data-original-width="3587" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4A0GF-abfbybGMewd5lRrlwUjwc4ryFSnaQ0Vz3tWe0fzQPIg6VbW8LweoCW6acq7amve7Bc2Ppl2lw5nl7t-UDaIVm_zTcSo0kZXQOYzCGedxlICcW4dfNXZPp4cEIEmB7_yWzf4N_RZJ4Uo6R3kTg60Slaks2Z4IY4yQoA-9cE9C99zl8Us2Y6HAQ/w640-h344/reptile-20211008-05711r-1696022968969.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Bottom Line Final Comments:</span></b> <span style="color: #073763;">An increasingly-standard-ploy of distributors is opening their product in a limited number of domestic</span> (U.S.-Canada) <span style="color: #073763;">theaters so as to comply with later awards-consideration-mandates; <i>Reptile </i>had such a limited release on September 22, 2023 but made its more-intended-debut on Netflix streaming a week later. Because Netflix doesn’t report receipts from these short-term-theatrical-screenings I have no idea how much it made at the box-office</span> (nor does it still seem to be playing, at least in my San Francisco Bay Area)<span style="color: #073763;">, but given the competition in the weeks since it’s been out its only chance might have been when it opened as the top domestic option then was </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">The Nun II</span> </i>(Michael Chaves)<span style="color: #073763;">—in its 3<sup>rd</sup> week, pulling in only $8.5 million—after which it had to contend with the debuts of </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie</span> </i>(Cal Brunker, 9/29/23) <span style="color: #073763;">opened with $22.8 million, <i>The Exorcist: Believer </i></span><b>(</b>David Gordon Green<b>, </b>10/6/23) <span style="color: #073763;">with $26.5 million, </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour</span> </i>(Sam Wrench, 10/13/23) <span style="color: #073763;">with $92.8 million, and </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Killers of the Flower Moon</span> </i>(Martin Scorsese, 10/20/23) <span style="color: #073763;">with $23 million </span>(also last weekend <i>Taylor Swift … </i>continued to rule the domestic market: $31 million more)<span style="color: #073763;">, so whatever notice <i>Reptile </i>gets likely comes from</span><b> <a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/reptile"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">streaming</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">—if it gets noticed, as the <b>OCCU</b> offers scant support:</span><b> <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/reptile_2023"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews a paltry 44%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">,</span><b> <a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/reptile/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Metacritic average score (slightly higher for a change) at 52%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">I </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">clearly liked it better than that—as does</span> <b><a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2023/9/29/23893455/reptile-review-netflix-movie-benicio-del-toro"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Richard Roeper</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">of the <i>Chicago Sun-Times</i>:</span> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #38761d;">“Filmmaking is such a collaborative process we hesitate to say any individual, even the lead, carries a movie, but that’s exactly what Benicio Del Toro does as a world-weary detective in the seedy and lurid cop-noir ‘Reptile’: He carries this sometimes convoluted and derivative thriller into three-star territory </span><span style="color: #999999;">[of 4]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> with an absolutely mesmerizing and authentic performance that conjures up memories of past anti-hero greats such as Bogart and Mitchum, Robert Ryan and Sterling Hayden. It’s authentic, grounded, stunning work. </span><span style="color: #999999;">[¶]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> Even when the material is the stuff of B-movie guilty pleasure.“</span><span style="color: #073763;">—but the majority opinion of most critics is well-expressed by</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/28/movies/reptile-review.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Natalia Winkelman</span></a><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">of </span><i style="color: #073763;">The New York Times</i><span style="color: #073763;">:</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d;">“The trouble with ‘Reptile’ is that this impressive moment-to-moment control does not extend to the contours of the broader story, which the writers overstuff with clumsy twists and contrived devices. Once the film gets around to revealing the culprit, we have already lost interest, enervated in the face of a movie that, like an overeager snake, bites off far more than it can swallow.”</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">No hope there!</span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #008f00;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD6tUmO4hW61yWfErUIXaHzdxbdcbaYN4p3f1okjfqe5iikpndALnP8It4PgvgSfwoNmpktijUq7KxkxYytcTjrkSBkgiegMT2UHmw7oE-2jbiJEYUIReJ20fHu1N-tpWV2xXXy4c9mvB14dJ4oKqtp2E4aJ6MrVRwe7yEHwlayd0SHCR9au9-dZLCMA/s1001/reptile-featured.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="1001" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD6tUmO4hW61yWfErUIXaHzdxbdcbaYN4p3f1okjfqe5iikpndALnP8It4PgvgSfwoNmpktijUq7KxkxYytcTjrkSBkgiegMT2UHmw7oE-2jbiJEYUIReJ20fHu1N-tpWV2xXXy4c9mvB14dJ4oKqtp2E4aJ6MrVRwe7yEHwlayd0SHCR9au9-dZLCMA/w640-h386/reptile-featured.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">So, if you’re a Netflix subscriber you can watch <i>Reptile </i>for free; if not, you could get a 1-month-sign-up for $6.99</span> (with ads) or<span style="color: #073763;"> $15.49</span> (without ads) <span style="color: #073763;">which also gives you 30 days of access to everything else on their platform</span> (no matter to me, Two Guys gets no kickback for subscriptions)<span style="color: #073763;">. Over these next couple of weeks I’ll continue looking for streaming options for you while waiting for crowds to ease off at my neighborhood theaters so I can see and review <i>Killers of the Flower Moon </i>with minimum-COVID-paranoia; in the meantime, here for your aural pleasure is my choice for a Musical Metaphor to wrap up these comments on <i>Reptile</i>, Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”</span> (on the 1973 soundtrack album for <i>Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Sam Peckinpah]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm9coqlk8fY"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=rm9coqlk8fY</span></b></a><b> </b>(as a bonus, here’s how it’s used in <b><i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22wnmw53h3Y"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Pat Garrett ...</span></a></i></b>)<span style="color: #073763;">, an easy choice because it’s in <i>Reptile</i>’s soundtrack under the final credits. While detective Tom Nichols</span> (unlike Sheriff Colin Baker <span style="color: #999999;">[Slim Pickens]</span> in Peckinpah’s film, dying in sync with the song’s lyrics) <span style="color: #073763;">isn’t facing death, I have to wonder—given the experiences he’s had with police forces in both Philadelphia and Maine—how much tolerance he has to continue being a cop, even though he says he loves the profession nearly as much as he loves his wife. While we don’t see him throw away his badge at the end of this story, as do the frustrated lawmen in <i>High Noon </i></span>(Fred Zinnemann, 1952)<span style="color: #073763;">, <i>Dirty Harry </i></span>(Don Siegel, 1971)<span style="color: #073763;">—although Harry does return to the force—and the </span><a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/news/richard-roundtree-remembered-samuel-l-jackson-1235767579/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=472578_10-24-2023&utm_term=290984"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">sequel to <i>Shaft</i></span></b></a><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></i>(John Singleton, 2000)<span style="color: #073763;">, Tom certainly has reason to think</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“ ‘Mama, take this badge off of me / I can’t use it anymore</span><span style="color: #999999;"> […]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> Mama, put my guns in the ground / I can’t shoot them anymore.’ ”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">Tom probably does sense something similar to</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d;">“That long black cloud is comin’ down / I feel like I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">by the time the events of <i>Reptile </i>are<i> </i>concluded, as all of the deceptive skins have been shed.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAeD83MVLNBqNvtHRpWsmjzrhnLgCg_IVfOpZVP1nKJDl2UQpj_fH0dMKbTfaG_V49lNR9885niH7wOHujm8eVfy_4uoKaluHqZtsynydaKZx_48eGKtqUuV_R2meO_ZVFXAUotQBB9bBK6-ifc0AqfrBV_ryh6PjebMjDLLcsGP3k0e-6MFILSeRi7A/s1949/Hidden%20Hollywood%2072.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAeD83MVLNBqNvtHRpWsmjzrhnLgCg_IVfOpZVP1nKJDl2UQpj_fH0dMKbTfaG_V49lNR9885niH7wOHujm8eVfy_4uoKaluHqZtsynydaKZx_48eGKtqUuV_R2meO_ZVFXAUotQBB9bBK6-ifc0AqfrBV_ryh6PjebMjDLLcsGP3k0e-6MFILSeRi7A/w640-h294/Hidden%20Hollywood%2072.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><b></b><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting: </span></b><b style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Some options for your consideration: (1)</span><b> <a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/box-office/box-office-scorsese-killers-of-the-flower-moon-opening-weekend-taylor-swift-stays-first-1235764365/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=471971_10-22-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>Killers of the Flower Moon</i> opens big, but <i>Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour</i> stays on top domestically</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">;</span><b style="color: #073763;"> (</b><span style="color: #073763;">2) </span><b><i style="color: #073763;"> </i><a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/box-office/killers-of-the-flower-moon-beat-eras-tour-international-box-office-1235764478/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=boxofficealert&utm_content=471991_10-22-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>... Flower Moon</i> tops <i>... Eras Tour</i> internationally</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; and (3) </span><b><a href="https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/wga-west-apologizes-tremendous-pain-silence-israel-1235767047/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=472475_10-24-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Writers Guild of America West apologizes for its silence on Hamas attack on Israel</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></p><p style="color: #941100; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Two Guys in the Dark homepage</span></a></b><b style="color: #941100;">. </b><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>If you’d like to</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>Like</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>us on Facebook </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(yes?)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b> please visit</b></span><span><b> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our Facebook page</span></a></b></span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us! </span><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account</span> (which you can easily get at <a href="https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount</span></b></a> if you need to sign up) <span style="color: #073763;">or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our<b> </b>Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it</span> (most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>*</b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">57,916</span></b> (as always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers)<span style="color: #073763;">; below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week</span> (with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK75KZbpBMpnQaXROoKXkMCZlpqzs1PyHFL7oO7M_ETvXYjk8t0WdxQ2-4WZuOWiayvm7WVwV2sb0FqV_skHzU2f6ab-WbUuJKx2q0GLGH9zkEZtRKSIYTdD_RvlwnfdIJAJUAp97DWYNyFNjY1kOcF8pX0KPYWHOeSE98NPFSkdgn9LZknnicDHmnYw/s1272/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-25%20at%203.30.43%20PM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1272" height="536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK75KZbpBMpnQaXROoKXkMCZlpqzs1PyHFL7oO7M_ETvXYjk8t0WdxQ2-4WZuOWiayvm7WVwV2sb0FqV_skHzU2f6ab-WbUuJKx2q0GLGH9zkEZtRKSIYTdD_RvlwnfdIJAJUAp97DWYNyFNjY1kOcF8pX0KPYWHOeSE98NPFSkdgn9LZknnicDHmnYw/w653-h536/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-25%20at%203.30.43%20PM.jpg" width="653" /></a></div>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-23550744778970147542023-10-18T22:30:00.000-07:002023-10-18T22:30:32.804-07:00The Burial plus Short Takes on some other cinematic topics<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">The Ups and Downs of Justice on Trial</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Review and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b> </span>(Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b></span> (Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, but better options are on the horizon.</span> <span style="color: #666666;">(Note: Anything in</span> <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue </b></span>below <span style="color: #999999;">[some may look near</span> <span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span><span style="color: #999999;">] </span><span style="color: #666666;">is a link to something more in the review.)</span></span></p><p style="font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #073763;">My reviews’ premise: </span><span style="color: #008f00;">“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></b></a><b> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXXuPyO15_4-Uf3SixCUVFXbnOvvdBECpgetQEQjvoLL_gqIZNd4H46zAi0cCWSs1ievLR6bIt2IStLpwLBGmFjdVsypfLjD9yBBIaIlFql5_EtZV88U0zp6hiiU-HE-3do8l-F41HtGCjlQNPgPr-PTjxeQ8N0sxNUsvqiDfOwx5CDXUQDWKxYIJKKw/s109/four%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXXuPyO15_4-Uf3SixCUVFXbnOvvdBECpgetQEQjvoLL_gqIZNd4H46zAi0cCWSs1ievLR6bIt2IStLpwLBGmFjdVsypfLjD9yBBIaIlFql5_EtZV88U0zp6hiiU-HE-3do8l-F41HtGCjlQNPgPr-PTjxeQ8N0sxNUsvqiDfOwx5CDXUQDWKxYIJKKw/s1600/four%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://press.amazonstudios.com/us/en/original-movies/the-burial"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The Burial</span></a></span></span></span></i></b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Margaret Betts)</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">rated R</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">127 min.</span></b></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZOhIdaufd3Q" width="320" youtube-src-id="ZOhIdaufd3Q"></iframe></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="color: #008f00;">If you can abide </b><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">plot spoilers</span></b></span><b style="color: #008f00;"> read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ </b><b><span style="color: #93c47d;">(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</span></b><b style="color: #008f00;">. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and</span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">red.⇐</span> </b></span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7mno1X0I242MgQ_TmJj8CkkhjuLn0Wp_MjKHBYiwa8MNGx21JQ2DkyH4af5lJb289HxrZ0djoizVRRZba3J0BITWsA1OBGAVLf00Mnf7SjiqVVlI0T8RJIuU93HlPuDBiFeVhkorUASORwm5l9snwrnf4abIxSHdDs7HObD5HkpG9hwDQJC_JBsiLmA/s3806/Tommy-Lee-Jones-as-Jeremiah-OKeefe-and-Jamie-Foxx-as-Willie-Gary-in-The-Burial.-Photo_-Skip-Bolen-AMAZON-CONTENT-SERVICES-LLC.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1742" data-original-width="3806" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7mno1X0I242MgQ_TmJj8CkkhjuLn0Wp_MjKHBYiwa8MNGx21JQ2DkyH4af5lJb289HxrZ0djoizVRRZba3J0BITWsA1OBGAVLf00Mnf7SjiqVVlI0T8RJIuU93HlPuDBiFeVhkorUASORwm5l9snwrnf4abIxSHdDs7HObD5HkpG9hwDQJC_JBsiLmA/w640-h292/Tommy-Lee-Jones-as-Jeremiah-OKeefe-and-Jamie-Foxx-as-Willie-Gary-in-The-Burial.-Photo_-Skip-Bolen-AMAZON-CONTENT-SERVICES-LLC.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">What Happens:</span> (</b>This docudrama, “Inspired by True Events,” has fictionalization added for dramatic effect as noted with graphics at the end by the filmmakers.) I<span style="color: #073763;">n 1995 we find Jeremiah O’Keefe</span> (Tommy Lee Jones)<span style="color: #073763;">, a decent man living in Biloxi, Mississippi whose only desire in late-life is to leave his 8 funeral homes in the southern part of the state to his children and grandchildren, but due to some bad investments</span> (with a guy we later learn is now a felon) <span style="color: #073763;">his finances are extremely tight, leading the state Insurance Commission to threaten to revoke his funeral-insurance-license, a necessity for the well-being of his company. In desperation, he turns to Canadian “death business” entrepreneur, Raymond Loewen</span> (Bill Camp)<span style="color: #073763;">, who owns hundreds of funeral homes in the U.S. O’Keefe, along with his long-time-attorney, Mike Allred </span>(Alan Ruck)<span style="color: #073763;">, fly to Vancouver, B.C. to meet with Loewen, resulting in an agreement O’Keefe will sell just 3 of his properties to have enough new cash to satisfy the insurance honchos while Loewen won't sell burial policies in southern MS</span> (oddly enough O’Keefe signs this agreement, Loewen does not; however, the reason for this isn’t explained to us <span style="color: #999999;">[?]</span>, although it would seem to have big-consequential-bearing on the trial which later emerges)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Yet, the deadline time for buying Loewen’s share of O’Keefe’s businesses passes; without those needed financial resources the state's coming down hard on O’Keefe</span> (by the time of the trial they temporarily suspend his license, forcing him to take out a third mortgage on his home to keep solvent)<span style="color: #073763;">, so he has no other choice than to sue Loewen for breach of contract and fraud </span>(a devious strategy of putting O’Keefe out of business so Loewen can absorb all the funeral homes to add to his already-large-empire; he gloats about the U.S. having many elderly citizens who can provide an ongoing-supply of business for him)<span style="color: #073763;">. Rather than go forward with Mike, though, a young attorney, Hal Dockins</span> (Mamoudou Athie)<span style="color: #073763;">, also working with O’Keefe suggests they go to Florida to recruit flamboyant-lawyer Willie E. Gary</span> (Jamie Foxx <span style="color: #999999;">[so far, every character I’ve cited is based on an actual person, although a few others were created for this plot]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, whom we’ve already seen to be a persuasive orator as he filled in for his cousin as a preacher one Sunday morning in an enthusiastic Black church. Hal and Jeremiah see Willie in a courtroom, where he’s just as impactful on a jury so they encourage him and his entourage to join their case, though Mike’s concerned this new guy is a personal injury lawyer, not someone versed in contract law</span> (still, he’s built a hugely-successful-career, rising from impoverished-beginnings as a sharecropper’s son to being married to stunning Gloria Gary [Amanda Warren] while owning a mansion, a private jet, many other trappings of luxury)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij9C_DdV5uIdm3lfzNxfYGywy8cYMXIp2seb_6xxNse-74s32gor-C5Ecvoq-viX0hTeSVFEvojHIcYklUUfv29mDoEYxAVLCOMlfC1UIlY8QooqZXnc_-o6uNbpAx2HZbe73tCv1rtM7Bbv_9YnV-HZODsC-7Liemz1HqFtebuFVumC1bU15Jh8wvlw/s897/Jurnee-Smollett-as-Mame-Downes-and-Jamie-Foxx-as-Willie-Gary-in-The-Burial-Photo_-Skip-Bolen-%C2%A9-AMAZON-CONTENT-SERVICES-LLC.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="897" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij9C_DdV5uIdm3lfzNxfYGywy8cYMXIp2seb_6xxNse-74s32gor-C5Ecvoq-viX0hTeSVFEvojHIcYklUUfv29mDoEYxAVLCOMlfC1UIlY8QooqZXnc_-o6uNbpAx2HZbe73tCv1rtM7Bbv_9YnV-HZODsC-7Liemz1HqFtebuFVumC1bU15Jh8wvlw/w640-h368/Jurnee-Smollett-as-Mame-Downes-and-Jamie-Foxx-as-Willie-Gary-in-The-Burial-Photo_-Skip-Bolen-%C2%A9-AMAZON-CONTENT-SERVICES-LLC.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Mike’s especially resistive to Willie acting as Lead Counsel, but Willie makes it clear that where the trial will be held the population is about 70% Black so putting a White lawyer in front of the likely-jury-members is a bad idea; Willie takes over. Pompous and confident Loewen counters by bring in high-powered/aggressive Mame Downes</span> (Jurnee Smollett <span style="color: #999999;">[fictional, but Loewen did have Black male lawyers representing him]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, top of her class at Harvard Law School, former clerk to a Supreme Court Justice, etc., privately called “The Python.” Gary can brag he hasn’t lost a case in 12 years, but his team seems to have no hope of winning this one. Once we get into the trial in Jackson, MS things begin to go wrong for O’Keefe because under oath he </span>(and Gary) <span style="color: #073763;">are blindsided by the investment situation with the now-felon, leading to his current financial difficulties, with Jeremiah putting Mike back in as Lead Counsel, but then he’s attacked by Downes about his grandfather being in the Ku Klux Klan </span>(at least he didn’t have to publically repeat what he privately told Willie, that he’s a “little prejudiced” against Black people)<span style="color: #073763;">, so Mike voluntarily leaves the case, putting Willie back in charge.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> During a weekend break, Willie goes home to FL, Jeremiah flies there to tell him in person he’s ready to abandon the lawsuit, but before that conversation can be completed Hal calls with news about how Loewen made a deal with the National Baptist Convention</span> (a large organization of Black churches <span style="color: #999999;">[another </span><a href="https://www.nationalbaptist.com/"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">actual aspect</span></b></a><span style="color: #999999;"> of this story]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">where he was going to provide financial support and jobs, but Hal can come up with several witnesses that do then testify </span>(great montage)<span style="color: #073763;"> how the Loewen Group used that connection to bilk low-income-Blacks they were supposed to be helping.</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">⇒Loewen’s</span></b> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">so upset with this public revelation he comes to the trial, but under questioning from Willie he admits his scam and how the profits have enhanced his lavish life-style, has no regrets about what he’s done. In desperation, his team arranges for a meeting with O’Keefe’s team to try to find a settlement amount, but Jeremiah rejects some hefty offers because he wants to publically punish Loewen. Ultimately the jury does that for him, deciding on $500 million in damages, which, although later reduced to $175 million </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(much of which O’Keefe donates to help the poor in his area)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">, leads to Loewen being ousted as CEO, the company going bankrupt, and Willie Gray becoming a top trial lawyer, winning cases against the likes of Anheuser-Busch & the Walt Disney</span> <span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>Company.⇐</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpluucVwTigSKMgHQZAcZYt7wS-_tpxBpBBb4w4Pw5VcR5quL9Z5yvHxzsGMjG1M2Xk77zsuP1WpMCxnj1SKSC716WkNzEF82tOyfFG6gtzJa7E1j6caKgPj0I4eB2eqGp-UECj1yY0XgPhtWk0obgchKQJPPHY7tHaoUh8wUynGlTaM7r68KLMuUIpQ/s2964/db00107b6529546b88f388.43323166_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1555" data-original-width="2964" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpluucVwTigSKMgHQZAcZYt7wS-_tpxBpBBb4w4Pw5VcR5quL9Z5yvHxzsGMjG1M2Xk77zsuP1WpMCxnj1SKSC716WkNzEF82tOyfFG6gtzJa7E1j6caKgPj0I4eB2eqGp-UECj1yY0XgPhtWk0obgchKQJPPHY7tHaoUh8wUynGlTaM7r68KLMuUIpQ/w640-h336/db00107b6529546b88f388.43323166_.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So What?</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">If you’d like to know more about the facts behind what’s on screen here in <i>The Burial</i></span> (which seems to me to be more reality than fiction)<span style="color: #073763;">, you can consult an extensive</span><b> <a href="https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~igiddy/cases/loewen-emerge.htm#:~:text=Company%20ownes%201115%20funeral%20homes,Canada%2C%20and%20the%20United%20Kingdom.&text=Henry%20J.,over%20the%20next%20three%20years.&text=Loewen%20hit%20with%20%24500%20million%20civil%20lawsuit%20in%20Mississippi"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">timeline of the arc of the Loewen Companies</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, then delve into</span><b> <a href="https://time.com/6321067/the-burial-true-story/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">t</span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">his detailed account of the genesis/development/ procedures of the film</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">. I don’t find anything in the fictionalization aspects of this narrative to undermine or minimize the truth of what occurs as a few guys fight diligently for justice against a greedy, soulless corporation</span> (by the latter days of the trial, after the revelation about Allred’s KKK connection, Gary’s associates walked off the case, even as Mike did the same) <span style="color: #073763;">with just Willie and Hal continuing on with Jeremiah. And, while this story isn’t as purely-courtroom-set as the last film I reviewed</span> (<i>The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial </i><span style="color: #999999;">[William Friedkin]</span>; review in last week's<b> </b><span><a href="https://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-caine-mutiny-court-martial-2023.html" style="color: #2b00fe; font-weight: bold;">October 12, 2023 posting</a>)</span><span style="color: #073763;">, it shows what led up to the dispute between O’Keefe and the Loewen Group but doesn’t reveal key aspects of the situation until we encounter them in the trial</span> (Loewen never signing the agreement with O’Keefe; the rip-off with the National Baptist Convention; shocking news about O'Keefe and Allred)<span style="color: #073763;">, so, just like with <i>… Court-Martial </i>we only witness some key aspects of what goes on via courtroom testimony, once again leaving it up to us to decide who to believe</span> (though we do, through pre-final credits-graphics get necessary info on what the result/aftermath of the trial was whereas with <i>… Court-Martial </i>we’re left to assume Lt. Maryk's acquitted of the charges against him)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> One crucial aspect of this film that’s not so clear in terms of its real-world-accuracy is Gary’s inspiration to become a lawyer. In the screen-version he tells O’Keefe it resulted from an incident years ago when he secured an apartment for himself and Gloria over the phone, but when they showed up the landlord—apparently surprised they were Black</span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(7, 55, 99); color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">—</span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">changed his story, offered no vacancies for them. Willie says he immediately consulted a phone book, found a law school, made it his mission in life to prevent other Blacks from being burdened with such racism; however, if you consult this</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/the-burial/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">History vs. Hollywood site</span></a> </b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">y</span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;">ou’ll find him simply attending law school at North Carolina Central U. in 1971 after graduation from Shaw U. in Raleigh, NC, without a mention of his motivation.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1hRNmF4bl_ymO-T0CcGMPZYnNgONThTliAg4mkKM97OoM1eRGnKw1JGoUm2SoOZQCmuCy7NwEulstYraG2Dlujpbgw2yQoQ9HuuilbmcMtWIKEVZLN2QgGMhLGtkNPlbY24OD9AJRz04JcJNuWmWbzq3ig921VPaAh7pkh9-zsXWj-21HzG12cqaRLA/s1128/Film_Review_-_The_Burial_61808-a4346-1226x0-c-default.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="803" data-original-width="1128" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1hRNmF4bl_ymO-T0CcGMPZYnNgONThTliAg4mkKM97OoM1eRGnKw1JGoUm2SoOZQCmuCy7NwEulstYraG2Dlujpbgw2yQoQ9HuuilbmcMtWIKEVZLN2QgGMhLGtkNPlbY24OD9AJRz04JcJNuWmWbzq3ig921VPaAh7pkh9-zsXWj-21HzG12cqaRLA/w640-h456/Film_Review_-_The_Burial_61808-a4346-1226x0-c-default.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Even if that aspect of the film is created for dramatic effect, it certainly reflects the ongoing-racism that’s burdened our society since its inception and fits well with director Betts’ </span>(an African-American woman) <span style="color: #073763;">intentions of bringing racial conflict into her film</span> (as explored in the <i>TIME </i>citation above) <span style="color: #073763;">to better emphasize how the Loewen Group exploited those economically-burdened-people of color, so she wrote the victims’ testimonies shown in the film</span> (co-scriptwriter is Doug Wright)—<span style="color: #073763;">there’s also a quick bit about how Southern monuments were built on the unmarked graveyards of slaves. The acting in this cinematic exploration is top-notch from all concerned, with the 2 Oscar-winner-male stars evenly balanced in dominating their scenes by Foxx’s flamboyance and Jones’ quiet-but-determined-presence, although he has some effectively-fiery-outbursts also. Nevertheless, the dynamic Mame Downes, the conflicted Mike Allred, the voice-of-reason Hal Dockings, and the self-absorbed Raymond Loewen are also crucial to conveying what needs to be understood in these encounters, just as Pamela Reed as Jeremiah’s wife, Annette, and Dorian Mesick as Willie’s devoted-associate, Reggie Douglas, make useful additions in their screen time as well. We can only hope vicious corporate moguls like Loewen find their come-uppance in courts, slick-stock-trading, or other means to de-fang them of their venom, but justice often depends on a lawyer’s ability to sway a jury, so we have to hope law schools produce at least some graduates who honor their professions more so than their material success</span> (or, at least like Willie Gary, they'll find a way to balance both)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUbhUUkpThezNwhCo6kAMJBItpIhJUcnfiN0DcP2jsU1HeSYxIzbsaFiHHjuvf4OmWvnrR5a4eklm-JVl8Dzt4r3A7KNz5Sd_idbpMPqbLzMpV6YVc8G1oJYI-Uy2ed_fFDK1d_VpnRsKppUuOh7NjBVjwRAErpBMVY3S9gYDZjvj9U-xoLMV1UHAzdg/s1479/the-burial-press-2023-billboard-1548.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="669" data-original-width="1479" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUbhUUkpThezNwhCo6kAMJBItpIhJUcnfiN0DcP2jsU1HeSYxIzbsaFiHHjuvf4OmWvnrR5a4eklm-JVl8Dzt4r3A7KNz5Sd_idbpMPqbLzMpV6YVc8G1oJYI-Uy2ed_fFDK1d_VpnRsKppUuOh7NjBVjwRAErpBMVY3S9gYDZjvj9U-xoLMV1UHAzdg/w640-h290/the-burial-press-2023-billboard-1548.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Bottom Line Final Comments:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;"><i>The Burial </i>is yet another film mostly intended for streaming that had a limited release in domestic </span>(U.S.-Canada) <span style="color: #073763;">theaters October 6, 2023</span> (so limited it was unnoticed by Box-Office Mojo, or at least no proceeds were reported)<span style="color: #073763;">—not that it would have mattered much to try to compete in the public arena where <i>Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour </i></span>(Sam Wrench) <span style="color: #073763;">seems to be what everyone was watching when it made its debut last weekend in 3,855 domestic venues, taking in $92.8 million in grosses, with a worldwide total </span>(sure to grow) <span style="color: #073763;">of $123.5 million. For those of us currently being COVID-cautious, staying away from theatrical crowds, <i>The Burial </i>made for a fine alternative-stay-at-home-streaming-experience on</span> <b><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-burial-0"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Amazon Prime VIdeo</span></a></b> (free to subscribers, also available via a 30-day-free trial)<span style="color: #073763;"> where I would encourage you to explore it. The <b>CCAL</b>’s with me on this too:</span><b> <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_burial_2023"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews at 89%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">,</span> <b><a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-burial/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Metacritic average score at 74%</span></a> </b>(they call such a result “Generally Favorable”<span style="color: #073763;">), so I do hope you’ll consider giving it a stream.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> While you’re deciding about that, I’ll offer my usual review-ending-device of a Musical Metaphor; often, I have to semi-meditate on what to use, but this time the film itself helped me out when, with the final credits. came The Ruffin Brothers’ </span>(David and Jimmy)<span style="color: #073763;"> version of “Stand By Me” </span>(written in 1960 by Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stroller; on the Ruffins’ 1970 album <i>I Am My Brother’s Keeper</i>) <span style="color: #073763;">at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU83uQOGaLk"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU83uQOGaLk</span></b></a><span style="color: #073763;">, which, in its soulful rendition, fit the mood of the film quite well, even though it’s essentially a love song about a couple giving each other needed support</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“When the night has come / And the land is dark”</span><span style="color: #073763;">;</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span>i<span style="color: #073763;">t can also been understood in this context as Willie saying to Jeremiah to push away fear and pessimism because</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“I won’t cry, I won’t cry / No, I won’t shed a tear /Just as long as you stand, stand by me.”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">However, I grew up with</span> <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VApqDYplKtY"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">King's hit version of the tune</span></a> </b>(on his 1961 <i>Don’t Play That Song </i>album) <span style="color: #073763;">so I’ll include it here if for no other reason than to see him singing it on some TV show </span>(maybe ABC TV’s <i>American Bandstand</i>, hosted by Dick Clark) <span style="color: #073763;">surrounded by dancing White teens, so it feels a bit <i>metaphorical </i>to me that this self-confident Black man is seemingly in charge of the situation as he’s the center of attention providing a stimulus for these dancers</span> (who, of course, don’t look like him)<span style="color: #073763;">, just as Willie E. Gary</span> (with aid from the other remaining Black attorney for the prosecution, Hal Dockings) <span style="color: #073763;">proves to be in command of this court case, saving Jeremiah O’Keefe’s business for his progeny </span>(his main intention in bringing this lawsuit) <span style="color: #073763;">and conquering the assumed-command of Raymond Loewen, the most crucial White characters in this story. That may be a bit-far-fetched of an explanation for this second version of the song, but it works for me, just like the film as a whole does from start to finish.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx-2DDAtNEHpBUunCSJAzfaDGpQrBbHKjZQt-waVuPf_PsioerIOcGm2NAKdlZJPEuubPQk314g9tGI1rbeOjMYY7Lv9WIXv9ehDFpfMjqVw9sabWDdOrZJqOqhsP6AUYiUAARDZZNx_n3jEKMji7ussyu-fxNSvzWr4PQI2mD13rIrk3JOjlnlkzwuA/s1949/Hidden%20Hollywood%2071.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx-2DDAtNEHpBUunCSJAzfaDGpQrBbHKjZQt-waVuPf_PsioerIOcGm2NAKdlZJPEuubPQk314g9tGI1rbeOjMYY7Lv9WIXv9ehDFpfMjqVw9sabWDdOrZJqOqhsP6AUYiUAARDZZNx_n3jEKMji7ussyu-fxNSvzWr4PQI2mD13rIrk3JOjlnlkzwuA/w640-h294/Hidden%20Hollywood%2071.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:</span> </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">(1) </span><b><a href="https://variety.com/2023/biz/spotlight/disneys-best-music-let-it-go-wish-upon-a-star-1235751554/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=Artisans&utm_content=470300_10-15-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Disney movies song hits over the years</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">;</span><b style="color: #073763;"> (</b><span style="color: #073763;">2)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/hollywood-strike-economic-toll-workers-1235760692/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=471099_10-18-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Actors' strike taking personal financial tolls</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span><span style="color: #941100;"> </span></span></p><p style="color: #941100; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Two Guys in the Dark homepage</span></a></b><b style="color: #941100;">. </b><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>If you’d like to</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>Like</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>us on Facebook </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(yes?)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b> please visit</b></span><b> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our Facebook page</span></a></b><span style="color: #941100;"><b>. 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You can also leave comments at our<b> </b>Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it</span> (most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b></b> </span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">57,916</span></b> (as always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers)<span style="color: #073763;">; below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week</span> (with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiggdq_L-mcdV82pxkjU83gn8416fyR2zP5uRX2qLZWsAI3tMQzph0eGWjREMDWSbaNCbHAelaSYTjVdWNR_k1EpR4JPMkZsCdp8IXReviamJqIjB4TOYazyi0x2JnNYI-Gz7l-943-PiUWtVwsk2NldOuiF95rIypG5kMQlv5vt1TGJHmUvwpyBvMT1Q/s1282/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-18%20at%203.14.50%20PM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1074" data-original-width="1282" height="536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiggdq_L-mcdV82pxkjU83gn8416fyR2zP5uRX2qLZWsAI3tMQzph0eGWjREMDWSbaNCbHAelaSYTjVdWNR_k1EpR4JPMkZsCdp8IXReviamJqIjB4TOYazyi0x2JnNYI-Gz7l-943-PiUWtVwsk2NldOuiF95rIypG5kMQlv5vt1TGJHmUvwpyBvMT1Q/w654-h536/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-18%20at%203.14.50%20PM.jpg" width="654" /></a></div>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-45883842323641671472023-10-12T00:07:00.001-07:002023-10-12T00:09:21.996-07:00The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial [2023] plus Short Takes on some other cinematic topics<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">So, Who—or What—Is Truly on Trial Here?</span></b></p><div><b><br /></b></div><div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b> </span>(Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b></span> (Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, but better options are on the horizon.</span> (Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue </b></span>below <span style="color: #999999;">[some may look near</span> <span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span><span style="color: #999999;">] </span>is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;">My reviews’ premise: </span>“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyAdUw9dlJv26-jBrkWJZdRi6MTrNVlBdSlr2FAp22_3SBCOjlxgHCJhQXg1TH_ShzY7ujaZe-a9XTxP2FXLfDEWMWRrqn0eR24ho0SfaxmbjqxX4Vj-qPMjtsF7GPAqATxY1a6CyFmR1Idr0W0Yo2hPoKr0oWCoUBjUDrUi7Mc7nc-zyAj0h4RcGfqw/s109/four%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyAdUw9dlJv26-jBrkWJZdRi6MTrNVlBdSlr2FAp22_3SBCOjlxgHCJhQXg1TH_ShzY7ujaZe-a9XTxP2FXLfDEWMWRrqn0eR24ho0SfaxmbjqxX4Vj-qPMjtsF7GPAqATxY1a6CyFmR1Idr0W0Yo2hPoKr0oWCoUBjUDrUi7Mc7nc-zyAj0h4RcGfqw/s1600/four%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><i style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.sho.com/titles/3526972/the-caine-mutiny-court-martial"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial</span></a> </span></i><span style="color: #999999;">[2023]</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #c27ba0;"> (William Friedkin)</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">rated TV14</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">109 min.</span></b></span></div><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iUpMsZrZjrc" width="320" youtube-src-id="iUpMsZrZjrc"></iframe></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="color: #008f00;">If you can abide </b><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">plot spoilers</span></b></span><b style="color: #008f00;"> read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ </b><b><span style="color: #93c47d;">(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</span></b><b style="color: #008f00;">. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and<b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">red.⇐</span> </b></span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSbr4cNFTyHfkVONasZTgIn9yBCWXn1gC4Nu_6QCvItwjV26tGcNDt7-Bgx4cIb9lXL7_sLdAuui2n-Sgs_ww2TNoO06JHV_sOScJjkcrUxex0WpOSS1ui4yvVEXEZoJk7ivq7j_dHCnBjNs-uU2wrDFkGGz-LkB_o7gqWL2VdNrX0Pv7RwKBfcad8mQ/s594/M230928_I8009.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="292" data-original-width="594" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSbr4cNFTyHfkVONasZTgIn9yBCWXn1gC4Nu_6QCvItwjV26tGcNDt7-Bgx4cIb9lXL7_sLdAuui2n-Sgs_ww2TNoO06JHV_sOScJjkcrUxex0WpOSS1ui4yvVEXEZoJk7ivq7j_dHCnBjNs-uU2wrDFkGGz-LkB_o7gqWL2VdNrX0Pv7RwKBfcad8mQ/w640-h314/M230928_I8009.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">What Happens:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">On December 18, 2022 the mine-sweeper ship <i>Caine </i>is hit with a fierce typhoon while in the Persian Gulf leading Lieutenant Stephen Maryk</span> (Jake Lacy, pictured above)<span style="color: #073763;">, Executive Office of the ship, to override the orders of his Captain, Lt. Commander Phillip Queeg</span><span style="color: #073763;"> </span>(Kiefer Sutherland)<span style="color: #073763;">, and relieve him of his command, ordering the ship to move north into the storm</span> (through howling winds/heavy waves) <span style="color: #073763;">rather than south, away from it, as Maryk felt Queeg was suffering from mental distress</span> (specifically paranoia) <span style="color: #073763;">so his judgments couldn’t be trusted. After the ship navigated through the storm, Maryk was charged with mutiny, tried at Naval Headquarters in San Francisco in 2023. We learn of these events during testimony at the court-martial, presided over by Head Judge Captain Luther Blakely </span>(Lance Reddick)<span style="color: #073763;">, but none of this is shown in the film, taking place in the real time/single-location of a military courtroom</span> (a final scene at another place).<span style="color: #073763;"> Through furious prosecution by Commander Katherine Challee</span> (Monica Raymund) <span style="color: #073763;"><span>and determined-but-often-overruled-defense by Lt. Barney Greenwald</span> </span>(Jason Clarke) <span style="color: #073763;">we learn of the events of what are being charged as mutiny but interpreted as necessary under Article 1108 of Navy Regulations by Maryk and his lawyer </span>(who accepts the defense task out of duty but personally believes Maryk is guilty, feels great shame at having to confront Queeg, a noted 21-year-veteran, about his supposed-mental-instability, a situation that often brings some quick, harsh admonishment from Judge Blakely)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> When first called to the stand by the prosecution, Queeg denies he’s ever had any sort of mental problems, admits he’s a stern disciplinarian because he felt it necessary to instill needed order into his officers and crew, completely rejects Maryk’s decisions on the fateful night </span>(despite the ship weathering the dangerous storm, focusing on the conflict)<span style="color: #073763;">. The prosecution also calls medical and psychiatric witnesses who testify in support of Queeg’s mental stability</span> (though he's noted as having an inferiority-complex from some childhood and adult traumas) <span style="color: #073763;">based on their interviews with him</span> (Greenwald manages to undercut that somewhat when he notes neither expert has ever served on a ship, has no experience with the situation a Captain must endure in a time of crisis)<span style="color: #073763;">. One of the most damaging testimonies against Maryk, though, comes from his supposed-supporter, Lt. Thomas Keefer </span>(Lewis Pullman)<span style="color: #073763;">—an author in civilian life with several published short stories, a novel in the works—who says he didn’t support Maryk’s actions against Queeg, although the accused does manage to score a positive response from another of his fellow-officers, Lt. Willis Keith</span> (Tom Riley)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixu83LEI9-OnYoXiSmhvLXKqduE9rMXYGjFQeCu_fO_bdKsX2Yojl0zz9DN4b85mgc9QiLyl3Jg7Q7I4wsy0dfaMYKJIkL7ZizayOZBlEMs8gPlDgcpxa6_AcocpIAQCeNS9A3ObthLSKqujU6F6PEBj68Sj9ISSD8p8VKNpN4d7vpgHbwpxt0GKWf9A/s1548/The-Caine-Mutiny-Court-Martial.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="806" data-original-width="1548" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixu83LEI9-OnYoXiSmhvLXKqduE9rMXYGjFQeCu_fO_bdKsX2Yojl0zz9DN4b85mgc9QiLyl3Jg7Q7I4wsy0dfaMYKJIkL7ZizayOZBlEMs8gPlDgcpxa6_AcocpIAQCeNS9A3ObthLSKqujU6F6PEBj68Sj9ISSD8p8VKNpN4d7vpgHbwpxt0GKWf9A/w640-h334/The-Caine-Mutiny-Court-Martial.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">When Greenwald gets to present his case he calls only 2 witnesses: Maryk, who details incidents in a journal he kept of Queeg’s questionable actions</span> (including one which took several days and energies from the entire crew in trying to find out who had a secret key to a locked icebox, then supposedly stole strawberries sent over from another ship—even though a couple of enlisted sailors finally confessed they secretly ate the strawberries before the lockdown, yet Queeg rejected their story) <span style="color: #073763;">and admits he was an average/below-average-student from grade school through college with no coursework in psychology or psychiatry; and Queeg, who under intense examination by Greenwald becomes nervous</span> (starts shuffling a couple of small metal balls from his pocket as a means of relaxation)<span style="color: #073763;">, then angry, on the verge of making a complete fool of himself but refusing to take a break, blaming everything on his disloyal subordinate officers. Judge Blakely adjourns the trial for the day without coming to a decision yet, but it’s clear Queeg’s position’s been badly damaged, implying acquittal for Maryk. That final scene occurs at a ballroom of San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel where Keefer is throwing a big party for himself because of a large advance he’s gotten from his publisher</span> (the book, <i>Multitudes, Multitudes</i>, is about Navy matters in some manner)<span style="color: #073763;">. </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> An already-drunk Greenwald shows up, makes it clear Maryk had neither the knowledge nor the experience upon which to base his mental-health-accusations against Queeg, but he certainly was easily-influenced by the much-more-intellectual Keefer who planted those ideas with Maryk</span> (yet on a day when the 2 of them started out to report their concerns about Queeg to a nearby-Admiral, Keefer backed out at the last minute, leaving Maryk as confused as he was about Keefer’s courtroom testimony <span style="color: #999999;">[Maryk admonished Greenwald about not attacking Keefer on the stand; the attorney replied he was trying to build a case for a lone hero, not 2 mutineers]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">⇒Essentially,</span></b> <span><span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3d85c6;">Greenwald said if Keefer hadn’t planted those more-extreme-doubts about Queeg in Maryk’s mind the 2 top officers could have found ways to cooperate, even during the crisis of the typhoon, but, instead, Greenwald was put in the horrible position of having to essentially wreck Queeg’s career, even though dedicated men like him are necessary to preserve America’s freedoms from the tyrants who would depose us, citing the horrors of the 9/11/2001 terrorists’ attacks. Greenwald finishes his distain for Keefer by throwing the remains of his cocktail in Keefer’s face, walking out, film </span><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">ends</span></b></span></span><span><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">.</span><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;">⇐</span></b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0-Y3ux7jXi7Y1coD44RztA5Jtvrf_P57F0-vJ3Vd5yyKmpylRpUDGu0LRXso6ft0fP8mLONGCA-9C9Yos4M715rSQVkXDgjV0kpgaHE_sx2lEqNubHrr2FRF8xRC7WGhIyPqxihzWGkOl2ajqXo84e_9AV-24SMw0sJnATeegEb2jmEgKQqFyh0k1bA/s1000/william-friedkin-kiefer-sutherland.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="1000" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0-Y3ux7jXi7Y1coD44RztA5Jtvrf_P57F0-vJ3Vd5yyKmpylRpUDGu0LRXso6ft0fP8mLONGCA-9C9Yos4M715rSQVkXDgjV0kpgaHE_sx2lEqNubHrr2FRF8xRC7WGhIyPqxihzWGkOl2ajqXo84e_9AV-24SMw0sJnATeegEb2jmEgKQqFyh0k1bA/w640-h318/william-friedkin-kiefer-sutherland.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So What?</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">This is Friedkin’s final film</span> (died on August 7 2023, 2 months before its release)<span style="color: #073763;">,</span> <span style="color: #073763;">and I’ve long had respect for his work, going back to the multi-Oscar-winning </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">The French Connection</span> </i>(1971; Best Picture, Director, Actor <span style="color: #999999;">[Gene Hackman]</span>, Adapted Screenplay <span style="color: #999999;">[Ernest Tidyman]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">and probably the best horror film I’ve ever seen, <i>The Exorcist </i></span>(1973)<span style="color: #073763;">—with the likely-intended-irony of <i>… Court-Martial </i>first being streamed on Paramount+ with Showtime on Friday, October 6, 2023, the same day of the latest</span> (unnecessary) <span style="color: #073763;">sequel to Friedkin’s masterpiece, <i>The Exorcist: Believer </i></span>(David Gordon Green)<span style="color: #073763;">, a bomb with</span><b> <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_exorcist_believer"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">a mere 23% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">,</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-exorcist-believer/critic-reviews/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">a 38% average score from Metacritic</span></a> </b>(here’s a put-down from the <i>San Francisco Chronicle</i>’s <b><a href="https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/movies-tv/ellen-burstyn-exorcist-believer-review-18402457"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Mick LaSalle</span></a></b>, with about the only good thing in it a return of Ellen Burstyn’s character from Friedkin’s original: <span style="color: #38761d;">“Until someone is able to come up with a new way to depict possession or the battling of possession, this franchise is going nowhere.”</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">—so I was quite interested in revisiting this <i>Caine </i>mutiny story, having seen the noted adaption with Humphrey Bogart as Queeg years ago</span> (more on that in just a little bit).<span style="color: #073763;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> But, if I really want to be up to date on how things have evolved over the years with depictions of the <i>Caine </i>mutiny narrative, it would take quite a while</span> (but surely a more fruitful use of my time than watching <i>Exorcist </i>sequels—I did see a couple of them out of curiosity, then gave up with the most-horrendous <span style="color: #999999;">[but from a stupid-concept-perspective, not a scary-viewing-experience] </span>being <i>The Exorcist II: The Heretic </i><span style="color: #999999;">[John Boorman, 1977; as best I know the events of this movie have been completely disregarded in regard to plot elements of any other sequels, or prequels]</span><span style="color: #666666;">, yet I did very much enjoy the foundation of it all, William Peter Blatty’s 1971 novel, <i>The Exorcist</i><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">,</span><i> </i>from which Friedkin’s film is adapted</span> <span style="color: #999999;">[Blatty as screenwriter]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, beginning with the foundational novel, <i>The Caine Mutiny</i>, published by Herman Wouk in 1951</span> (Pulitzer Prize in 1952)<span style="color: #073763;">, which I haven’t read but from</span> <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Caine_Mutiny"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">this summary</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">it’s clear the book has more activities than any adaptations, with a focus on Lt. Keith and his involvement with the typhoon crisis of Queeg and Maryk. Wouk then did the first adaptation</span> (1953)<span style="color: #073763;">, transforming it into a 2-act-play called</span> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Caine_Mutiny_Court-Martial"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial</span></i></b></a><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">which reached Broadway in January 1954, directed by famed stage/screen actor Charles Laughton. The action here, just like in Friedkin’s film, takes place entirely in San Francisco’s Twelfth Naval District in February 1945</span> (and the Fairmont Hotel for the ending)<span style="color: #073763;">, the main differences being the prosecutor is a man, Lt. Comm. John Challee, while the official Navy Regulation cited is Article 184 </span>(odd change)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGX16Iwv6el0VBsgURyYi_kaH67Cz-GWRrH9JuMN6VcX0EP6kdO0h-auJPxfPHtHy_ccpOtuNCOvuFQTsS0IBgMNNIrGB-6Jn2lz3TO1FuKiRWp7FUHadk371YmY2FE7jlTvzZ2AKogRCbf8Z6KKoLXJVZe5uKSJHl1T2imdAcAU-S9GyxSce_W1IMoQ/s805/CaineMutinyBB.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="805" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGX16Iwv6el0VBsgURyYi_kaH67Cz-GWRrH9JuMN6VcX0EP6kdO0h-auJPxfPHtHy_ccpOtuNCOvuFQTsS0IBgMNNIrGB-6Jn2lz3TO1FuKiRWp7FUHadk371YmY2FE7jlTvzZ2AKogRCbf8Z6KKoLXJVZe5uKSJHl1T2imdAcAU-S9GyxSce_W1IMoQ/w640-h346/CaineMutinyBB.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Five months later in 1954 saw the premiere of</span> <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Caine_Mutiny_(film)"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">the film,<i> The Caine Mutiny</i></span></a></b><b><i> </i></b>(Edward Dmytryk),<span style="color: #073763;"> with Bogart as Queeg, José Ferrer as Greenwald, Van Johnson as Maryk, Fred MacMurray as Keefer. It got 7 Oscar noms</span> (including Best Picture, Best Actor for Bogart) <span style="color: #073763;">but won none; as for plot it brings in some further action from the book</span> (especially about Lt. Keith)<span style="color: #073763;">, not nearly all of it, though. After having seen Friedkin’s version of just the trial</span> (a key element of both the novel and the 1954 film, but only 1 of many; at least in 1954 we get to see the events simply testified about in the <i>… Court-Martial </i>versions)<span style="color: #073763;">, I was curious to refresh myself on the contents of the earlier film so</span> I <b><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-caine-mutiny"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">rented it for $3.99 from Apple TV+</span></a></b> <span style="color: #073763;">and, while I enjoyed what I watched I did find it a bit tedious to wait through all of these events that lead up to the crisis of the typhoon, then the trial of Maryk, so for me the best focus of all this would be the plot of the <i>… Court-Martial</i> adaptations, even though some might consider what Friedkin presents as being un-cinematic because, with everything just happening in the courtroom </span>(and adjoining hallway)<span style="color: #073763;">, the situation calls for a lot of long takes, wide-angle-shots, panning/dollying of the camera to give some sense of movement to situations that are basically nothing more than someone sitting in a witness chair being grilled by 1 of the 2 opposing attorneys.</span><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>*</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b style="color: #ff2600;">*</b>W</span>hen I taught Visual Communication at Mills College <span style="color: #999999;">(Oakland, CA; now Northeastern U. at Mills College)</span>, I noted that in the 1950s television existed on small screens in black & white imagery while movies were trying to counter the increasing-prominence of TV with widescreen color displays. Sidney Lumet took a different approach with his film of<b> <a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/12-angry-men"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>12 Angry Men</i> in 1957</span></a></b> <span style="color: #999999;">(drawing upon his TV-plays-experience, as well as the original 1954 teleplay of <i>… Men </i>on CBS Studio One, written by Reginald Rose, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner)</span>. With Lumet <span style="color: #999999;">(script by Rose)</span>, we’re back to classic Hollywood days of B&W imagery, framed in an abundance of tight closeups more common then to TV. Ironically, in 1997 Friedkin did a TV movie of <i>12 Angry Men</i>—on cable’s Showtime <span style="color: #999999;">(sorry, seemingly no streaming available)</span>—which looked more like a theatrical film as it was in color, used a lot of wideshots and panning camera, but sticks <span style="color: #999999;">(like his version of <i>… Court-Martial</i>)</span> to the single location, real-time format, not so common on TV of the era. Both of these explorations of the original 1954 teleplay are 5 stars-worthy-cinematic-experiences: Lumet’s film getting Oscar noms for Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay <span style="color: #999999;">(but won none)</span>, George C. Scott winning a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for the 1997 version by Friedkin.</span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVIwnQXX8iFgETqIdGQq8sjnhNRG8QylgnKDEA7VmY6tumdcZFbGUeHZPg3rf74KUYljIZc31THr8vgjcBqrG0_cFqxwB6VB2AsEdPw_IRRa1I4R8BDPCG6YTG_fBLOAej8Y-k8HxQd6wQ74HDFKD3gCNdoFL9m9BqENrEk0kGFoRBN9no0f7SzjZRUA/s1494/Caine%20Mutiny.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="644" data-original-width="1494" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVIwnQXX8iFgETqIdGQq8sjnhNRG8QylgnKDEA7VmY6tumdcZFbGUeHZPg3rf74KUYljIZc31THr8vgjcBqrG0_cFqxwB6VB2AsEdPw_IRRa1I4R8BDPCG6YTG_fBLOAej8Y-k8HxQd6wQ74HDFKD3gCNdoFL9m9BqENrEk0kGFoRBN9no0f7SzjZRUA/w640-h276/Caine%20Mutiny.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Continuing on with this <i>… Caine Mutiny </i>chronology, there were also: (1) another version of the <i>… Court-Martial </i>as an American TV play in 1955 on the CBS Ford Star Jubilee</span> (Schaffner) <span style="color: #073763;">that in 1956 won an Emmy for Best Television Adaptation, also Best Director-Live Series</span> <span style="color: #666666;">(Barry Sullivan played Greenwald, was Emmy nominated</span> <span style="color: #999999;">[Henry Fonda had that role on Broadway, Sullivan replaced him]</span><span style="color: #666666;">; Sullivan lost to Lloyd Nolan as Queeg, the role he had in the Broadway version)</span>;<span style="color: #073763;"> (2) an Australian TV play of <i>The Caine Mutiny </i>in 1959; and (3) another version of <i>… Court-Martial </i>as an American TV film</span> (from another modern cinematic master, Robert Altman, 1988; 77% on RT) <span style="color: #073763;">with Eric Bogosian as Greenwald, Jeff Daniels as Maryk, Brad Davis as Queeg, Peter Gallager at Challee.</span> (This one’s <b><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-caine-mutiny-court-martial"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">on streaming</span></a></b>—free on fubo, $3.99 rental on Apple TV+; it was also noted in my local newspaper TV listings as cablecast on Showtime on Sunday night, October 8, 2023, but I think that was a mix-up on someone’s part with Friedkin's new <i>… Court-Martial</i>, which was supposed to be on Showtime last Sunday <span style="color: #999999;">[I forgot to check to verify]</span><span style="color: #666666;">, so you might keep a watch there for either the Altman or Friedkin versions free to you on cable if Showtime’s in your TV package)</span><span style="color: #073763;">. And, if I haven’t driven you</span> (or myself) <span style="color: #073763;">crazy with all of these other <i>Caine Mutiny </i>references, here’s just one more of a related sort. </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> When I saw the new <i>… Court-Martial </i>last Friday night </span>(I’m now a member of Paramount+ to go with my several other streaming services)<span style="color: #073763;">—then witnessed the</span> (almost) <span style="color: #073763;">similar final scene from 1954 last Saturday I was struck with how Greenwald seemed to be speaking for Queeg at that ballroom party of Keefer’s, defending the overall record of a man who </span>(especially in the 1954 version where WW II was still in active combat in both Europe and Asia) <span style="color: #073763;">had given of himself for the good of his country for a couple of decades, with the earlier version ultimately explaining Queeg’s seeming lack of clear direction during the typhoon catastrophe was due to “battle fatigue” from events we’re not shown nor described from his recent time in the Atlantic Ocean fighting the Nazis. Greenwald is furious at Keefer, with me almost hearing him growl at this former-<i>Caine</i>-officer</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“You can’t handle the truth!”</span> <span style="color: #073763;">as blurted out by Marine Col. Nathan Jessup</span> (Jack Nicholson) <span style="color: #073763;">during a similar fraught-filled-military trial in response to accusations by lawyer Lt. Daniel Kaffee</span> (Tom Cruise) <span style="color: #073763;">in </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">A Few Good Men</span> </i>(Rob Reiner, 1992)<span style="color: #073763;">—based on a 1989 Aaron Sorkin play </span>(also wrote the film’s screenplay)<span style="color: #073763;">—referring to how difficult it is trying to maintain discipline along with some sense of morale at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba surrounded by enemies of the U.S. with the often-uninterested-civilian-population back home unaware of the daily pressures on American military personnel to keep at arm’s length</span> (whether human arms or firearms) <span style="color: #073763;">those who live to destroy us. Queeg’s on the verge of saying something like that early in his verbal combat with Greenwald, but after being worn down by trying to defend himself against all of the situations noted in Maryk’s journal, his inner fire was out.</span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS90xE8s5NSFuEaOJJbfggWKFMl8VeFH5awllqzx8J2edkc2eVTTZJE3i92hm76fi7U_wGSoV8F27d1pabXFmyEPY74nQzwYMdUQlW5hry6CT8HBAKGKQOfDw-kv13VGUBY474Z8h0fT9aJEzj4_uyinQaw-nMTy8nE2jSFRZPKUW9CbVOBvhDXniQ6w/s1167/the-caine-mutiny-court-martial-movie-review-2023.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="1167" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS90xE8s5NSFuEaOJJbfggWKFMl8VeFH5awllqzx8J2edkc2eVTTZJE3i92hm76fi7U_wGSoV8F27d1pabXFmyEPY74nQzwYMdUQlW5hry6CT8HBAKGKQOfDw-kv13VGUBY474Z8h0fT9aJEzj4_uyinQaw-nMTy8nE2jSFRZPKUW9CbVOBvhDXniQ6w/w640-h258/the-caine-mutiny-court-martial-movie-review-2023.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Therefore, Greenwald speaks for him against Keefer making it clear how even-more-difficult-than-usual it is for military commanders to always keep their bearings during wartime</span> (the case with all of the previous versions of this story happening during WW II, the typhoon calamity on July 31, 1944 in the 1954 film)<span style="color: #073763;">, with Greenwald tearing into Keefer—and others like him—for trying to find ways to make war profitable for themselves in lieu of finding desirable-monetary-payoffs from military service; this all makes good sense within the setting of Wouk’s novel and its various adaptations in the 1950s but does seem a bit odd in Friedkin’s updating of the events to our present day in that guys like Keefer would likely have no incentive to volunteer for military service today, but that’s a minor concern relative to this fine story as a whole where the expected-triumph of Maryk</span> (by means of Greenwald) <span style="color: #073763;">comes across as less-uplifting than we’ve been conditioned to expect, Greenwald’s character is a lot more complex than how the standard crusading lawyer is usually depicted in that his self-imposed-actions are a burden on him internally rather than him suffering from some personal failing—like drunkenness by Paul Newman’s character, Frank Galvin, in <i>The Verdict </i></span>(Lumet, 1982)<span style="color: #073763;">. </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> So, when you put all of this together, I find the concept of the intense trial in the <i>… Court-Martial </i>version of this story to be the more compelling presentation of events</span> (especially without actually seeing what the various testimonies are based on, as we do in the 1954 film) <span style="color: #073763;">because we have little proof of what to believe from Maryk</span> (who admits he doesn’t have the background to be making judgments about mental illness)<span style="color: #073763;">, Queeg</span> (who defends everything he’s ever done, but like those medical experts who’ve not been at sea in battle how can we know what “should” be done in a crisis)<span style="color: #073763;">, and especially Keefer</span> (whose attitudes/actions change with the wind, so what can we understand about him, although Greenwald seems to penetrate his bluff)<span style="color: #073763;">. Both Greenwald and Challee do excellent jobs in their contrasting roles of helping/condemning the accused, so it’s only Queeg’s final breakdown that throws the seeming-win to Greenwald and Maryk, but given the Captain’s prior demeanor and the consistent support of him from all the witnesses Challee rounded up, you can’t really fault her for apparently coming out on the losing side as Queeg proved to be less trustworthy than she’d have expected given the firm demeanor of his first testimony. All in all, we’ve got a powerful, complex story here which I do hope you’ll consider adding to your viewing itinerary.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_GbhJJYJatNZQXjJwx-xZV2wcisBXns5jhks_UsuDsw7G2tOQfdLbaXAxOAyLWeYrbqX4QG_vYktnXnC02M8mpgLbY4xK3iYDfVLKLaI-7Zn0IaZ9EhpuFfm30N2GvS1aht0vN_pa_mmyQmYU3nLDZOwHGNA7mF9qqOoBjMaRvXYxFTpBWi_k_odRVg/s3086/caine_pub_stills_1.1.53.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1830" data-original-width="3086" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_GbhJJYJatNZQXjJwx-xZV2wcisBXns5jhks_UsuDsw7G2tOQfdLbaXAxOAyLWeYrbqX4QG_vYktnXnC02M8mpgLbY4xK3iYDfVLKLaI-7Zn0IaZ9EhpuFfm30N2GvS1aht0vN_pa_mmyQmYU3nLDZOwHGNA7mF9qqOoBjMaRvXYxFTpBWi_k_odRVg/w640-h380/caine_pub_stills_1.1.53.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Bottom Line Final Comments:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">Given the</span><b> <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2023W40/?ref_=bo_hm_rw"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">current-cinematic-attendance-climate</span></a></b> <span style="color: #073763;">of horror movies, silly comedies, unnecessary sequels and the like, I can’t speculate how well <i>The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial </i>might have done if played in theaters, because it seems a bit too serious compared to what increasingly-unconcerned-about-COVID-moviegoers are willing to pay for again</span> (not me; none of this current stuff would be enticing me back in a theater just yet, although I’m glad I did take the plunge last summer to see <i>Barbie </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Greta Gerwig]</span> and <i>Oppenheimer </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Christopher Nolan]</span>—reviews in our <b><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2023/08/barbie-oppenheimer-plus-short-takes-on.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">August 17, 2023 posting</span></a></b>).<span style="color: #073763;"> There might also be some concern in this time—when as a conflicted-country we’re trying to decide how much military aid</span> (if not actual combat support at some point) <span style="color: #073763;">we should give to the current conflicts in Ukraine and Israel—about a film that questions the stability of leaders in our military command or the difficult decisions that must be made when officers provide contrasting accounts of what happened in a given situation </span>(on the battlefield or during an unexpected turn of events)<span style="color: #073763;">. Plus, it’s been many decades since William Friedkin’s great heyday so his name on the project might not pull in younger crowds who seem quite willing to fork over their cash for supernatural demonic tales, while those of us old enough to remember the heights he previously scaled are now not so certain we want to mingle in crowded theaters. All in all, then, probably the best venue for this version of <i>… Court-Martial </i>is</span> <a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-caine-mutiny-court-martial-2023"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">at-home-streaming</span></b></a> <span style="color: #073763;">where Paramount+ definitely can provide access</span> (once you’ve signed up for some form of subscription) <span style="color: #073763;">or, if you’ve added Showtime to your TV service then you can get it on their streaming platform as well</span> (you could also keep up with local TV listings to see if this current film pops up on Showtime’s cable channel again, as it did tonight, Wed. 10/11/2023)<span style="color: #073763;">. The <b>CCAL </b>is in solid support with</span> <b><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_caine_mutiny_court_martial_2023"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">RT positive reviews at 92%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">,</span><b> <a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-caine-mutiny-court-martial/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">MC average score at 71%</span></a> </b>(a range where they’re more supportive than numbers might indicate in that just as I rarely go above 4 stars <span style="color: #999999;">[saving the higher numbers for truly remarkable cinema]</span>, so do the numbers from MC reviews usually average out to anywhere from about 50 to 80)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmyH46r19F3_D-Y8Dcn5VNilouOGhysUv0vxFx-HyxkHwkun5KzCFPcUB1HXUH0N5Z37dvNIpduVclMJ07grP1fkiWlqJJmrHKWj0A3bL5Ib20hWw3OUnX7OEQ-mhIMiZ05VtVMz56dhEKDK1Iuc7j7sE7oSNLqsbH22jrKdcjqJ6vFrlip2CzjrfYLQ/s876/the-caine-mutiny-court-martial-jason-clarke-1014x570.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="553" data-original-width="876" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmyH46r19F3_D-Y8Dcn5VNilouOGhysUv0vxFx-HyxkHwkun5KzCFPcUB1HXUH0N5Z37dvNIpduVclMJ07grP1fkiWlqJJmrHKWj0A3bL5Ib20hWw3OUnX7OEQ-mhIMiZ05VtVMz56dhEKDK1Iuc7j7sE7oSNLqsbH22jrKdcjqJ6vFrlip2CzjrfYLQ/w640-h404/the-caine-mutiny-court-martial-jason-clarke-1014x570.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">With all of that as my encouragement to see this latest approach to the <i>Caine </i>mutiny story</span> (as well as any of the others you can find—including the novel <span style="color: #999999;">[but you know I probably won’t read it, as I’ve already got enough books stacked up by my bedside]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">—because I found it to be a compelling situation</span> (where you have to come to your own conclusions about what the truth is—and if you like that concept then you must see one of cinema’s all-time-classics,<b><i> <a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/rashomon"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rashomon</span></a></i></b><b> </b><span style="color: #999999;">[Akira Kurosawa, 1950]</span>, 98% on both RT and MC, so you know it’s a masterpiece) <span style="color: #073763;">with this <i>... Court-Martial</i> supported by a taut script </span>(which traces its way back to Wouk) <span style="color: #073763;">and consistently marvelous acting. Even the claustrophobic-confines of the single location work effectively to increase tension which builds to a quiet explosion in Queeg’s climactic testimony. Now, if I could just conclude all of this with a powerhouse Musical Metaphor</span> (my usual review-finale-tactic, though not often do I hit powerhouse-status) <span style="color: #073763;">I’d really have constructed something notable for you, but after days of mulling over an appropriate song for this film yet coming up with nothing quite suitable, I settled on The Eagles’ “Desperado”</span> (on their 1973 album named for the song) at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aelpqWEBHR4&list=PLq5z2BErEPOVPyS7MgB_meNivbb3YUSGD&index=5"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aelpqWEBHR4&list=PLq5z2BErEPOVPyS7MgB_meNivbb3YUSGD&index=5</span></b></a><b> </b>(a site that takes you to all 11 cuts on that album if you really want to immerse yourself in the band, with “Desperado” at #5 if this link doesn’t land properly) <span style="color: #073763;">which doesn’t have any direct connection to the events of the movie, but the lyrics about</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“Oh, you’re a hard one, but I know that you got your reasons / These things that are pleasin’ you can hurt you somehow </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> Your pain and your hunger, they’re drivin’ you home </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…]</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> Your prison is walkin’ through this world all alone” </span><span style="color: #073763;">do speak to me about how Greenwald likely saw both Queeg and Keefer, although he was much more sympathetic to the former; ultimately, he’d probably apply it to himself, if not so much about his ongoing life as how he had to sacrifice himself and Queeg on behalf of Maryk, a well-meaning-guy who thought he was sincerely doing what the Navy required of him but was ultimately seen as guilty even by his own successful attorney so this song doesn’t land on him because he always believed in his own innocence. We get the quandary of deciding whether we'll agree, weighing this unresolved ending worth our engagement.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWwiSN2UwOnhK_F-lqiSNeFTHPHiH5LJz79TPRsmdACoT3YhfGvVea1V78RspHLRjGiyAIQSbOKe4lyNGAa3jSouMLLNVViFRutStybnyDRRkFSilff0hau7nsliB2Jf_70kMZTuPOZHbmrz7FspR7RsRxFfJhHxm45Jgjym9qdKOIm10e3r2qdDZCPw/s1949/Hidden-Hollywood%2070.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWwiSN2UwOnhK_F-lqiSNeFTHPHiH5LJz79TPRsmdACoT3YhfGvVea1V78RspHLRjGiyAIQSbOKe4lyNGAa3jSouMLLNVViFRutStybnyDRRkFSilff0hau7nsliB2Jf_70kMZTuPOZHbmrz7FspR7RsRxFfJhHxm45Jgjym9qdKOIm10e3r2qdDZCPw/w640-h294/Hidden-Hollywood%2070.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting: </span> </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">An option for your concerned-consideration:</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/wga-ratify-contract-end-strike-1235749253/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=468857_10-09-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Writers Guild ratifies contract, ends a lengthy strike</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b></span><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. 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line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">57,916</span></b> (as always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers)<span style="color: #073763;">; below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week </span>(with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD0yXaHEKwZB5XKl0uw9u1fYAbxmiYWltGjqbiJyAwO5JbH3m2k8X89pD6yTPxN4CqTTpcBccLa9-IbsK1dmPt0F-7cldjkDqZb5AHRuP_EzbIUuZa-lFWdemvmlG0ZwdlyS2vWMelITuawMHyj6dcWIYqo0lLQKyzKtrArSis_PNrSG1257z8m5tG9A/s1277/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-11%20at%203.11.19%20PM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1052" data-original-width="1277" height="528" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD0yXaHEKwZB5XKl0uw9u1fYAbxmiYWltGjqbiJyAwO5JbH3m2k8X89pD6yTPxN4CqTTpcBccLa9-IbsK1dmPt0F-7cldjkDqZb5AHRuP_EzbIUuZa-lFWdemvmlG0ZwdlyS2vWMelITuawMHyj6dcWIYqo0lLQKyzKtrArSis_PNrSG1257z8m5tG9A/w654-h528/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-11%20at%203.11.19%20PM.jpg" width="654" /></a></div></div>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-61652457482694023032023-10-04T22:44:00.000-07:002023-10-04T22:44:36.067-07:00Flora and Son plus Short Takes on other cinematic topics<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">The Healing Power of Music</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b></span> (Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b></span> (Often Cranky Critics Universe)<span style="color: #073763;"> when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, but better options are on the horizon. </span>(Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue </b></span>below [some may look near <span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span>] is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #073763;">My reviews’ premise:</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #008f00;">“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhvdUqA0b16_gErbYxZccyHwtBvaGTg-YhkEEhhh2BCOQ0OkQOfWBySBIslBcQ6iBRUaScZKhMXmbylYaJQFVeWAiovTXjEF2dJrAdj6LjnR3dftN8LG3_8m6nFPudks7Wvr03DSTG4JO6KI8zCHVZZOK5PhIp_xYSK6ud6ET42gpbj3CrKAD0QrVdMA/s3996/IMG_2690.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2321" data-original-width="3996" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhvdUqA0b16_gErbYxZccyHwtBvaGTg-YhkEEhhh2BCOQ0OkQOfWBySBIslBcQ6iBRUaScZKhMXmbylYaJQFVeWAiovTXjEF2dJrAdj6LjnR3dftN8LG3_8m6nFPudks7Wvr03DSTG4JO6KI8zCHVZZOK5PhIp_xYSK6ud6ET42gpbj3CrKAD0QrVdMA/w640-h372/IMG_2690.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">But first, here's a technology update of competition between me and one of my cats, 2-year-old Layla </span>(photo above)<span style="color: #073763;">, who once again found her way through the intended-barrier I set up around my TV screen and chewed through the thin power wire of my Roku device, shutting down my access to streaming. </span> (Yes, I know it’s a smart TV that could also stream, but for whatever reasons when I tried to do that with Disney+ some time ago <span style="color: #999999;">[can’t remember why]</span> it took 2 hours on the phone with an LG helper so I’m not inclined to go that route again <span style="color: #999999;">[although maybe this new OLED set works better with that task, though I haven’t chosen to spend even more time finding out]</span>.) <span style="color: #073763;">So, it was off to Target to buy another Roku, get all of my various streaming platforms activated on it, cover any thin wire behind the TV completely with aluminum foil, put a blanket and some books over all the wiring, and rebuild my stacks of access-denial</span> (the GOP would probably like to hire me for the Border Patrol, but I’d decline <span style="color: #999999;">[actually, back in spring 1970 as I was approaching undergrad graduation at the U. of Texas at Austin, not sure what I’d do next with my life, I took the Civil Service exam to see where that might lead, but after getting offers for the Border Patrol in Texas and the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms</span> <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">{Explosives not part of their name back then}</span> <span style="color: #999999;">Division of the IRS in Louisiana I gave up on government work, started Graduate School in Radio/TV/ Film, eventually leading me to this blog]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, in hopes that this time I’d be able to keep her away from temptation</span> (second time for a sound bar, third time for a Roku streamer<span style="color: #073763;">)—a stuffed dog also plays a role, by keeping Layla out of the DVD cabinet.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Yet, as I reported in my</span><b> <a href="https://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2023/09/blow-up-plus-short-takes-on-some-other.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">September 14, 2023 posting</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">I’m still the worst TV-center-destructor in my condo as about a month ago I knocked over the previous LG set rendering it a useless-mess, so my credit-card-replacement-tally’s still considerably higher than Layla’s. One last item here, in this current photo you see on the screen behind us the menu for my DVD of </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Midnight Cowboy</span> </i>(John Schlesinger, 1969 <span style="color: #999999;">[only Oscar Best Picture with the deadly X-rating back when it was released, now re-rated as an R]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, my last rental</span> (and only keepsake) <span style="color: #073763;">from my 555 discs from Netflix since 2009</span> (although I’ll continue with them into the future for streaming)<span style="color: #073763;">. Finally, then, on to this week’s review, just the one movie because a lot of my usual watching/writing/posting time was occupied with the damn Roku situation plus taking Tuesday off to help my wonderful wife, Nina Kindblad, celebrate her birthday</span> (a much more joyful event than all that wire-wrapping, believe me—and my aching knees)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSxormR8aTNLvyIEOKkBei5hkg7CF97hetRC4EbxWme1LcrD1-ba97iIuVaprbVyTx_6Cn9nAAjuKpQtbECCPbLFZPYcMDTMN_AfesKCb73QZ4p3Bxf3xK1c6w_mi2Ezg4Awf3n6Z_WdACMJU0qcFvLYibO8QJtDauB_geCrTvMHpUvBaivOFC91arsA/s109/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSxormR8aTNLvyIEOKkBei5hkg7CF97hetRC4EbxWme1LcrD1-ba97iIuVaprbVyTx_6Cn9nAAjuKpQtbECCPbLFZPYcMDTMN_AfesKCb73QZ4p3Bxf3xK1c6w_mi2Ezg4Awf3n6Z_WdACMJU0qcFvLYibO8QJtDauB_geCrTvMHpUvBaivOFC91arsA/s1600/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #0433ff;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(4, 51, 255);"> </span></span><a href="https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/originals/flora-and-son/" style="color: #2b00fe;">Flora and Son</a></i></b><b><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(John Carney)</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">rated R</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">97 min.</span></b></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/beNTTHnMIy8" width="320" youtube-src-id="beNTTHnMIy8"></iframe></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="color: #008f00;">If you can abide </b><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">plot spoilers</span></b></span><b><span style="color: #008f00;"> read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $</span><span style="color: #93c47d;"> </span></b><b><span style="color: #93c47d;">(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</span></b><b style="color: #008f00;">. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and</span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">red.⇐</span> </b></span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3OLrIclMV4idaGvr0Tan8rEymZLOReZgNQ0UQoYhMzDxb-ulAugvKFxakTf57JMCYpUHMfSYzIeqr-mrV779M88LKcUxwlGd0Tfv_vPLIhbBlryLgj4oH8n5I5Kc8jX8aprDFlGv8oqQQg44ht0NGUL3umrMTnYPG-_rquIWq60BOgjfAI99uh5_TwA/s1911/Flora_and_Son_Photo_0102.jpg.photo_modal_show_home_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1019" data-original-width="1911" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3OLrIclMV4idaGvr0Tan8rEymZLOReZgNQ0UQoYhMzDxb-ulAugvKFxakTf57JMCYpUHMfSYzIeqr-mrV779M88LKcUxwlGd0Tfv_vPLIhbBlryLgj4oH8n5I5Kc8jX8aprDFlGv8oqQQg44ht0NGUL3umrMTnYPG-_rquIWq60BOgjfAI99uh5_TwA/w640-h342/Flora_and_Son_Photo_0102.jpg.photo_modal_show_home_large.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">What Happens:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">We’re in Dublin, Ireland where early-30s Flora</span> (Eve Hewson)<span style="color: #073763;">, back when she was 17, fell in love with musician Ian</span> (Jack Reynor)<span style="color: #073763;">, married him, had a baby, Max </span>(Orén Kinlan as her 14-year-old-son)<span style="color: #073763;">, later divorced Ian, now hangs out with good friend/single-mom Aishling</span> (Amy Huberman),<span style="color: #073763;"> where we first see the 2 of them hitting the clubs with Flora bringing home her catch of the night who leaves quickly the next morning when he learns she shares a home with her teenager. Not that the kid would have been much of a nuisance anyway as Max and Flora are constantly butting heads, with her too distracted by various situations to have given him the time/attention he feels he needs, him seemingly not open to any attempts she offers to try to make it up to him: for example, she </span>(cheaply)<span style="color: #073763;"> buys him a used guitar in a music store for a birthday present, but he rejects even trying to learn to play it because he’s not into acoustic music </span>(prefers edgy-electronic-stuff)<span style="color: #073763;">, plus she’s a day late with the attempted present. So, life goes on for Flora as she often babysits for Aishling’s young daughter</span> (as well as stealing a bit of cash from her chum’s purse)<span style="color: #073763;">, squabbles occasionally with Ian</span> (Max also spends time with him, though lives with Flora) <span style="color: #073763;">while making nasty comments about his new girlfriend, Juanita</span> (Sophie Vavasseur)<span style="color: #073763;">, constantly clashes with Max. Frustrated with her lack of direction, Flora decides to learn to play guitar herself so she visits several Internet sites, decides to try with Jeff</span> (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)<span style="color: #073763;">, who lives in Topanga Canyon</span> (near L.A.) <span style="color: #073763;">where he seems to enjoy a comfortable life, although with no fame as a well-known-musician.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> In their initial connection Jeff tries to show her how the presentation of a song can be much more effective than the existence of actual chords and lyrics might indicate; however, she</span> (after having what seems to be her daily dose of wine by early afternoon) <span style="color: #073763;">asks him to play it again with his shirt off so he closes the connection. Next day she contacts him again, apologizes, accepts a real lesson</span> (even though he dismisses her musical tastes; she loves James Blunt’s <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oofSnsGkops"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"You're Beautiful"</span></a></span></b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span>which he dismisses as “empty” <span style="color: #999999;">[</span><b><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2023/09/28/flora-and-son-movie-john-carney/70982166007/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Carney's opinion</span></a></b> <span style="color: #999999;">put into his script]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, dedicates herself to actually learning the instrument, but also has a lot of personal chatter with Jeff, both of them beginning a show of interest in the other, even as she boldly suggests a cluster of improvements to one of his own songs.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhILmveQXatgYnYxOm3xYikfS3XlszqtswpmN6GkE-tdLsSBLaa3AF9LC26kEIG_6ghoq1AWQWpGYdD2pXYwAbql3MOMC_54Qmll5YjqxUHKOGmUdnJ3u2xgUARBZDNDbDHcrQw3Qja5nWVvUalZ0YhvMN2hBzyrV0Fb3JupTzQSjSDQrM1Y-WPDw9Fbg/s872/Flora-and-Son_2-1024x576.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="872" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhILmveQXatgYnYxOm3xYikfS3XlszqtswpmN6GkE-tdLsSBLaa3AF9LC26kEIG_6ghoq1AWQWpGYdD2pXYwAbql3MOMC_54Qmll5YjqxUHKOGmUdnJ3u2xgUARBZDNDbDHcrQw3Qja5nWVvUalZ0YhvMN2hBzyrV0Fb3JupTzQSjSDQrM1Y-WPDw9Fbg/w640-h300/Flora-and-Son_2-1024x576.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Max’s music doesn’t do much for her, though, until she realizes how he’s composing using computer tools, so she works with him to help finalize a song</span> (“Dublin 07”) <span style="color: #073763;">he’s hoping will get him some recognition from Samantha</span> (Alex Deegan)<span style="color: #073763;">, a quite-sure-of-her-value-girl he’s infatuated with</span> (Mom even helps him make a boxing-themed-video to go with it, yet Samantha’s not all that impressed)<span style="color: #073763;">. But Flora has another incentive to connect better with her son because he’s been arrested several times for theft with one more incident destined to put him away for awhile. Just as things seem to be going in the right direction for Flora as she’s making plans to fly to L.A. to see Jeff but can’t find anyone to watch over Max</span> (both Ian and Aishling decline)<span style="color: #073763;">, this all becomes moot when Max tries to steal a synthesizer, gets caught, is set for 2 months in a juvenile-rehab-center so Flora’s got to stay home but does get the judge to reduce the sentence to 1 month, allow Max to bring in a keyboard so he can keep working on his music</span>. <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">⇒When</span></b> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">he’s released he finds himself part of Flora’s determined-plan to bring elements of her life together as she arranges for herself, Max, Ian </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(on bass)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">, and Internet accompaniment from Jeff and a drummer to compete in a local talent show; the audience is quite receptive to her song, with it clear who the foundation of this group is for the night </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(and beyond?)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> as she names them Flora and Son </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(we’ll get back to her well-received-song </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>soon).⇐</b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9yDOCoFwo1RZFWuuPRjqYQTvDjqzgFuLEogNL9ZsKa-bBWzb2toAELxkM9CgqzccdQoYRn0ALEY0LnIH0h_rWl7MFsQpEyW8A59E1C4zDvWRwWmPYH-GC22KlxW0Gd8ZPrE4SdNw2ydISvcJmcSj6Rq9CIuDz0I6TsGP_RHo3aegTW1OgBM32AMwT4w/s838/Flora_And_Son_Photo_0104.jpg.photo_modal_show_home_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="838" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9yDOCoFwo1RZFWuuPRjqYQTvDjqzgFuLEogNL9ZsKa-bBWzb2toAELxkM9CgqzccdQoYRn0ALEY0LnIH0h_rWl7MFsQpEyW8A59E1C4zDvWRwWmPYH-GC22KlxW0Gd8ZPrE4SdNw2ydISvcJmcSj6Rq9CIuDz0I6TsGP_RHo3aegTW1OgBM32AMwT4w/w640-h320/Flora_And_Son_Photo_0104.jpg.photo_modal_show_home_large.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So What?</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">When I started noticing mentions of this movie I mistakenly remembered it as <i>Fiona and Son </i>until I actually watched and found it’s <i>Flora … </i>instead</span> (Fiona's a likely Irish name, you must admit)<span style="color: #073763;">, but I’m a bit justified as “flora” comes from the Latin “flos” for “flower”</span> (and the celebrated Roman goddess Flora<span style="color: #073763;">), apparently is used in Scotland and Ireland as an Anglicized version of the similar name</span> <b><a href="https://ohbabynames.com/all-baby-names/flora/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Fionnuala or Finola</span></a></b> <span style="color: #073763;">so at least I was almost right. Or, maybe better than almost because</span> (when replaying the movie while checking my new Roku connection was working properly <span style="color: #999999;">[while painstakingly-covering every inch of the wires with un-tasty-foil, putting even more blockade elements around and behind the TV screen, making a plan to buy cat-repellant-spray]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">, I noted a minor character also mistakenly called her Fiona—she corrected him—so I now feel more justified. </span> (For the record, the only Floras I’ve "met" are one of the good fairies in Disney’s animated version of <i>Sleeping Beauty </i><span style="color: #999999;">[Clyde Geronimi, Wolfgang Reitherman, Eric Larson, Les Clark; 1959]</span> and one of my maternal grandmother’s sisters, a woman who I’d occasionally visit in her Ft. Worth, TX home.)</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> A<span style="color: #073763;"> more viable connection to this movie for me, though, is Carney’s earlier film,</span> <b><i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4uFFNl6FQ4"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Once</span></a></i></b><i> </i>(2007 <span style="color: #999999;">[won the Oscar for Best Original Song,</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8mtXwtapX4" style="color: #2b00fe; font-weight: bold;">"Fallling Slowly"</a><span style="color: #999999;">]</span>)<span style="color: #073763;">—also about musicians in Dublin but with an unexpected ending given the romance cues throughout the story. All in all, I found <i>Once </i>to be a more intricate experience than </span><i><span style="color: #073763;">Flora and Son</span> </i>(would probably have given it at least 4 stars had this blog existed then—can’t say for sure because it’s been too long since I’ve seen it—which just verifies for me Carney has a great knack for storytelling of this type, although I don’t know what else he may be capable of because I’ve seen none of his other work, but he’s been <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carney_(director)" style="color: #2b00fe; font-weight: bold;">frequently lauded by others</a>)<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span> <i>Flora …</i>’<i>s</i> ultimately an uplifting movie—after varying episodes of tension for all of the major characters at some point—but, despite how the <b>CCAL</b>'s improved upon my rating</span> (more on that in this review's next section)<span style="color: #073763;">, I still find the story enjoyable-enough but easily-predictable in its upbeat development, leaving it</span> (to borrow a paraphrase from the end of Pink Floyd’s <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34ZmKbe5oG4"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)"</span></a></span></b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span><span style="color: #999999;">[on <i>The Wall </i>album, 1979]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">more as “pudding” than “meat”; a tasty pudding, to be sure, but a bit sugary-sweet as it all falls into place, although I certainly enjoyed the acting talents of Hewson and Kinlan, do appreciate how all of the musicians come together in the finale rather than building more walls around themselves, especially Flora with Hewson, daughter of Irish superstar Bono</span> (U2)<span style="color: #073763;">, demonstrating very effectively her performance heritage as manifested in her own talent.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3lKH1ymG9lvUm_1lq47p_EYpTv_azQj4zoFutbLVjqAFZbj5oEhqmctjrub43pubdVP5ZRd8yJ_W-uQoRVRy_R8h0vNWs6BV6sYIt5nAYF1dcYR2d88tnJ9804R5x0Os2DSi4IjSM_iEKdapChJoZZC6Fwg1Fw8ZZHY71CT4udj-yxVDNDjW_Jje9xw/s681/Flora_and_Son_Photo_0101.jpg.photo_modal_show_home_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="447" data-original-width="681" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3lKH1ymG9lvUm_1lq47p_EYpTv_azQj4zoFutbLVjqAFZbj5oEhqmctjrub43pubdVP5ZRd8yJ_W-uQoRVRy_R8h0vNWs6BV6sYIt5nAYF1dcYR2d88tnJ9804R5x0Os2DSi4IjSM_iEKdapChJoZZC6Fwg1Fw8ZZHY71CT4udj-yxVDNDjW_Jje9xw/w640-h420/Flora_and_Son_Photo_0101.jpg.photo_modal_show_home_large.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I also appreciated how Carney has some scenes</span> (Flora’s flat, the local park) <span style="color: #073763;">with Hewson and Gordon-Levitt sharing actual space in the same frame, rather than him just appearing on a laptop screen, in order to visualize their growing connection despite the truly-huge-physical-distance between them. What will become of this group as their lives continue to flow along is for us to speculate: Will Mom and son continue to better connect through music or some other means? Will Flora and Ian be able to ease up on the squabbles based on their unhappily-shared-past? Will Flora even get to L.A.</span> (or will Jeff ever come to Dublin, an option not explored in the movie) <span style="color: #073763;">to see what possibilities might await for her there </span>(or for him in Ireland)<span style="color: #073763;">? Will Max ever grow past his inclinations toward thievery</span> (he’d better or the next sentence would surely be more than a mere month)<span style="color: #073763;">? Carney doesn’t seem to do sequels, so you might as well make up your own narratives about these characters, with hopes they’ve given you enough reasons to be mulling over their rewarding future</span>s.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP9vrv_IguPIR6Ts2NNub2LgAp4pSCB9seXEWm9C0O9AGKYUu5QsD6gegltLOfgwYpgKRGN7Qe0MG3B5vJ86ksMaKmGxNCg9r1O9KhMKRpUDrOZh3gw_ccvBQYzIwkwMfQ30PQVwXXP_STBKd6Wh0Fy1qinc6vrB23dsLWj6TIUiCNNlErl4z_fD4SdA/s1297/Flora.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="673" data-original-width="1297" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP9vrv_IguPIR6Ts2NNub2LgAp4pSCB9seXEWm9C0O9AGKYUu5QsD6gegltLOfgwYpgKRGN7Qe0MG3B5vJ86ksMaKmGxNCg9r1O9KhMKRpUDrOZh3gw_ccvBQYzIwkwMfQ30PQVwXXP_STBKd6Wh0Fy1qinc6vrB23dsLWj6TIUiCNNlErl4z_fD4SdA/w640-h332/Flora.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Bottom Line Final Comments:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;"><i>Flora and Son </i>was given a limited theatrical release</span> (so limited it doesn’t appear on the Box-Office Mojo charts) <span style="color: #073763;">on September 22, 2023, then was added to Apple TV+ streaming on September 29, 2023</span> (a standard ploy from studios mostly pushing a streaming option to get an official run in a few theaters for later awards considerations) <span style="color: #073763;">so if you’re interested in it you either need to be a subscriber to</span><b> <a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/flora-and-son"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">that platform</span></a></b> <span style="color: #073763;">or be willing to shell out $6.99 for at least 1 month</span> (a good deal as the one small fee gets you access to everything in their vault for those 30/31 days)<span style="color: #073763;">. The <b>CCAL </b>will easily tell you to do so with</span> <b><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/flora_and_son"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">93% positive reviews at Rotten Tomatoes</span></a> </b>(no fluke as that result’s based on 122 responses)<span style="color: #073763;">, while the normally-more-reserved</span> <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/flora-and-son/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Metacritic average score comes out as 76%</span></a> </span></b>(based on 31 reviews, but they generally have far fewer inclusions than RT)<span style="color: #073763;">. If you need further encouragement beyond my support</span> (yes, I have some reservations, although I truly like the movie quite a bit) <span style="color: #073763;">you might turn to</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/28/movies/flora-and-son-review.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Amy Nicholson</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">of <i>The New York Times </i>who says:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“</span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #38761d;">It’s a testament to Hewson’s extraordinary charisma that her character can openly wish Max would get kidnapped and we root for her anyway. </span><span style="color: #999999;">[…</span><span style="color: #38761d;">] Not everyone can be a professional artist — but we can all welcome art into our lives.”</span><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span></span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #073763;">Still, you might prefer to just skip this movie and need some helpful rationale to support your decision; in that case,</span><b> <a href="https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/flora-and-son-review-eve-hewson-john-carney/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Steven Scalfe</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">of <i>Slant </i>will help you out:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“</span></span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Flora is eventually forced to choose where to direct her full attention, but not even this brief sliver of intrigue is safe from Carney’s soft approach, as our main character’s crisis of conscience is quickly resolved just in time for a feel-good closing performance in a bar. Throughout <i>Flora and Son</i>, there’s a sense that its two plotlines might have worked in isolation, but when mashed together like this, they drown each other out like two singers out of sync.” </span><span style="color: #073763;">No quarter!</span></span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq2kjU0QeEfqCOfjoJwamo3PJDr5NYWIkxVk-g9sMLJjJWLdVSkQdOTwdMEDglPEC5qJZqOGaGzOgNxYU3kb6nc0cUjuroHLuLoYlCq-BGUViKs1COdb-mjTcKF5lPaufLCrveDzgUdeno6hZ81kyhkLwFKIGsE6mpq80E8sJg8jiUKv0wFlMGZEw-cQ/s657/Flora_And_Son_Photo_0103.jpg.photo_modal_show_home_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="657" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq2kjU0QeEfqCOfjoJwamo3PJDr5NYWIkxVk-g9sMLJjJWLdVSkQdOTwdMEDglPEC5qJZqOGaGzOgNxYU3kb6nc0cUjuroHLuLoYlCq-BGUViKs1COdb-mjTcKF5lPaufLCrveDzgUdeno6hZ81kyhkLwFKIGsE6mpq80E8sJg8jiUKv0wFlMGZEw-cQ/w640-h436/Flora_And_Son_Photo_0103.jpg.photo_modal_show_home_large.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #008f00; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">So, take your pick of the kind of/lack of encouragement you’d prefer where <i>Flora and Son </i>is concerned, but at least there’s plenty of music involved if that would be a healthy-enticement to watch it. My choice of a tune for my normal-ending-trope of a Musical Metaphor is “High Life”</span> (the successful final performance from the soundtrack,<span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span> written by Carney and Gary Clark, performed by Hewson and Kinlan) <span style="color: #073763;">at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiwsTLSDWZw&list=PLLv3qeuV3YDohf1cgdvwpi3WsA0P32Lrg&index=16"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiwsTLSDWZw&list=PLLv3qeuV3Y Dohf1cgdvwpi3WsA0P32Lrg&index=16</span></b></a><b> </b>(although some of the words are kinda raunchy so, if you prefer, here’s <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE7GIxiyeRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">a more-sanitized-version</span></a></span></b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">)</span><span style="color: #073763;">, where the lyrics are actually mother and son admitting in public their previous problems with each other but determined to find something better: </span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #38761d;">“</span></span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #38761d;">And I’m not living in your life / And you’re not living in mine / We’ve been getting wrong forever / We’ll get it right this time / And live in the High Life</span></span><span style="color: #38761d;">.</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">” </span><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #073763;">Yet, there’s a turning point in the plot where Flora starts getting serious about making music when she listens to an old video</span> (1970) <span style="color: #073763;">of a live performance of Joni Mitchell singing</span> <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcrEqIpi6sg"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Both Sides Now"</span></a> </b>(from her 1969 <i>Clouds </i>album, though in the last verse here she says <span style="color: #38761d;">“win and lose”</span> rather than <span style="color: #38761d;">“up and down” </span>as on the recording) <span style="color: #073763;">which could easily speak to the situation of this movie’s major characters:</span> </span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #38761d;">“I’ve looked at life from both sides now / From win and lose and still somehow / It’s life’s illusions I recall / I really don’t know life at all.”</span><span style="color: #448728;"> </span></span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #073763;">All of them are realizing how they’ve been living unhealthy-illusions, ultimately getting so tired of it, wanting something better.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>If you really want to immerse yourself in the soundtrack of <i>Flora and Son </i>you can <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NeRrk9n4F0&list=PLLv3qeuV3YDohf1cgdvwpi3WsA0P32Lrg"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">go here</span></a> </span></b>for all 18 cuts from Carney and Clark’s musical endeavors, with the vocals done by the various cast members.</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;">
</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdDRWxmNxK4fOMVgBDk5_jalLJDiGN-mX4WLOF5dosGkUXTkQ9lHgO8XycmxpSbZhGRqKOkun41a-OovriyDn0fqTPLjmRO7Jhri-4Ecn00KB7Uekw7ALAtJckSDZL-QRoS3UVxc7P_fHRguw-G6DvagLZlsFFDs47BuUDjMkJP1Hv2GRIW2ERaquDSA/s1949/Hidden-Hollywood%2069.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdDRWxmNxK4fOMVgBDk5_jalLJDiGN-mX4WLOF5dosGkUXTkQ9lHgO8XycmxpSbZhGRqKOkun41a-OovriyDn0fqTPLjmRO7Jhri-4Ecn00KB7Uekw7ALAtJckSDZL-QRoS3UVxc7P_fHRguw-G6DvagLZlsFFDs47BuUDjMkJP1Hv2GRIW2ERaquDSA/w640-h294/Hidden-Hollywood%2069.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting: </span> </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Some options for your consideration: (1)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls521605932/?ref_=fea_eds_hero_wot_sg_hero_0_t"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">What's new on Netflix in October 2023</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">;</span><b style="color: #073763;"> (</b><span style="color: #073763;">2)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls521194467/?ref_=fea_eds_hero_wot_sg_hero_1_t"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">What's new on Amazon Prime Video in October 2023</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; (3)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls521391391/?ref_=fea_eds_hero_wot_sg_hero_2_t"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">What's new on Max in October 2023</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; (4)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls521322140/?ref_=fea_c_wtw_hulu_oct23_cta"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">What's new on Hulu in October 2023</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; as well as (5)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/whats-on-tv/best-movies-and-tv-on-disney-plus/ls092677739/mediaviewer/rm2006247937/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">IMDb editors' picks for Disney+ in October 2023</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #941100;">We encourage you to visit the </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2013/07/summary-of-two-guys-film-reviews.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Summary of Two Guys Reviews</span></a></b><span style="color: #0433ff;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>for our past posts</b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span> </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list)</b></span><b><span style="color: #941100;">. Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our </span><a href="http://filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Two Guys in the Dark homepage</span></a></b><b style="color: #941100;">. </b><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>If you’d like to</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b>Like</b></span><span style="color: #7b1979;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b>us on Facebook </b></span><span style="color: #ea8104;"><b>(yes?)</b></span><span style="color: #941100;"><b> please visit</b></span><b> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmreviewsfromtwoguysinthedark"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">our Facebook page</span></a></b><span style="color: #941100;"><b>. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us! </b></span><span style="color: #073763;">Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account</span> (which you can easily get at <a href="https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount</span></b></a> if you need to sign up) <span style="color: #073763;">or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our<b> </b>Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it </span>(most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please </span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #008f00;">use my email address of </span><a href="mailto:kenburke409@gmail.com"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kenburke409@gmail.com</span></a></b><b style="color: #008f00;">—type it directly if the link doesn’t work</b><span style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b></b><span style="font-size: large;"> </span> </span></p><p style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER </b><span style="color: #e2a7a5;"><b>(although Google Chrome usually is decent also)</b></span><b>; OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.</b></span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">57,916</span></b> (as always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers)<span style="color: #073763;">; below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week</span> (with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj282mOCII6eSkqVcjU3aj5Kb7-OVzLckajTQdsrS7emoFNXMiN14LJA8iWLsjwXoh9eS5eyS8LWP2qSmx7A2VuSJJBihSbqJ7cYSjatOTxIH5I-oC526-9SarK7iwp6M5YOc_XZlRj-kX5nWGeuUQJiyqDyG6MYRbQZ4Cq9cBXGtRQ5RcRCq9HzUKwWw/s1286/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-04%20at%202.47.57%20PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1058" data-original-width="1286" height="526" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj282mOCII6eSkqVcjU3aj5Kb7-OVzLckajTQdsrS7emoFNXMiN14LJA8iWLsjwXoh9eS5eyS8LWP2qSmx7A2VuSJJBihSbqJ7cYSjatOTxIH5I-oC526-9SarK7iwp6M5YOc_XZlRj-kX5nWGeuUQJiyqDyG6MYRbQZ4Cq9cBXGtRQ5RcRCq9HzUKwWw/w654-h526/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-04%20at%202.47.57%20PM.jpg" width="654" /></a></div><p></p>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925606367227514818.post-59851114104287776262023-09-27T17:04:00.000-07:002023-09-27T17:04:46.969-07:00Inside plus Short Takes on Cassandro and some various other cinematic topics<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">Different Tales About the Need to Break Out</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the <b>CCAL</b></span> (Collective Critics at Large) <span style="color: #073763;">if they’re supportive or the <b>OCCU</b></span> (Often Cranky Critics Universe) <span style="color: #073763;">when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, though better options may be on the horizon.</span> (Note: Anything in <span style="color: #0433ff;"><b>bold blue</b></span> [some may look near <span style="color: #7b1979;"><b>purple</b></span>] is a link to something more in the review.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #073763;">My reviews' premise<span style="caret-color: rgb(7, 55, 99);">: </span></span><span style="color: #008f00;">“You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(from <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yHL9RXlRM"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Garden Party"</span></a> </b>by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK_lg-XWe26Re_sCbj4WxoS16htr9aCZATH49yZgbnb83xhBb2fBYgbrkMvILK0XT0hNHHoqkopom1qhJYC5HRoI6St4FUviGTFHPDxrxWyVPekyHNrihjJ2G6d7QWjONeJCosGmfuscF83ePG4asSMuL4YBRuDlDpkIiShquMQ9YJQSoqJNS2s0rVnw/s109/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK_lg-XWe26Re_sCbj4WxoS16htr9aCZATH49yZgbnb83xhBb2fBYgbrkMvILK0XT0hNHHoqkopom1qhJYC5HRoI6St4FUviGTFHPDxrxWyVPekyHNrihjJ2G6d7QWjONeJCosGmfuscF83ePG4asSMuL4YBRuDlDpkIiShquMQ9YJQSoqJNS2s0rVnw/s1600/three%20and%20a%20half%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"> <a href="https://www.focusfeatures.com/inside/watch/" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Inside</span></a></span> </span></span><b style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Vasilis Katsoupis)</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">rated R</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">105 min.</span></span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> (Use the <b>full screen </b>button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> activate the same button or use <b>“esc”</b> keyboard key to return to normal.)</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DjODCllZj4w" width="320" youtube-src-id="DjODCllZj4w"></iframe></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="color: #008f00;">If you can abide </b><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">plot spoilers</span></b></span><b style="color: #008f00;"> read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ </b><b><span style="color: #93c47d;">(as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy)</span></b><b style="color: #008f00;">. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: </b></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>⇒The</b></span><span style="color: #1d4770;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">first and last words will be noted with arrows and</span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">red.⇐</span> </b></span><span style="color: #008f00;"><b>OK, now continue on if you prefer.</b></span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-3mt_p9uJ39DdzVXzQjEHwfuTQsePLAQbaqPMilvPvTnYE1rLFBPK_hqfi1XW5PiOzpEFmKi6TlNxKN940zp4OlGlRgvxr7n73o66JyWQj5b38r7xw_3buKn-9iYmMI8ODBkWYl5sv1S9giiZ6_ZmjIZrqrNhsBCQUcGY9dlEdx44qD4K_U4TXyGuDg/s2846/2c9292dc-3ff9-4e54-aa53-022a3b649a3c-inside-068_4174_D004_000030_R_rgb.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1697" data-original-width="2846" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-3mt_p9uJ39DdzVXzQjEHwfuTQsePLAQbaqPMilvPvTnYE1rLFBPK_hqfi1XW5PiOzpEFmKi6TlNxKN940zp4OlGlRgvxr7n73o66JyWQj5b38r7xw_3buKn-9iYmMI8ODBkWYl5sv1S9giiZ6_ZmjIZrqrNhsBCQUcGY9dlEdx44qD4K_U4TXyGuDg/w640-h382/2c9292dc-3ff9-4e54-aa53-022a3b649a3c-inside-068_4174_D004_000030_R_rgb.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">What Happens:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">We begin with a cluster of exquisitely-composed/lit-shots</span> (throughout the film also, by Steve Annis, cinematographer) <span style="color: #073763;">of a luxurious Manhattan penthouse while in Voice Over-narration our protagonist, Nemo</span> (Willem Dafoe)<span style="color: #073763;">, tells of when a schoolteacher asked him to name 3 things he’d save if his house were on fire; he chose his cat, an AC/DC album, and his sketchbook</span> (no family members) <span style="color: #073763;">but later found if he had done so the cat would eventually die, he’d loan the record to a friend but never get it back, while the sketchbook remained because </span><span style="color: #38761d;">“art is for keeps.”</span><span style="color: #073763;"> He’s now involved in a complex art theft from that penthouse as a helicopter drops him off on the balcony, he has walkie-talkie-contact with an accomplice who gives him the access code to deactivate the alarm system, and he has just a few minutes to steal 3 expensive paintings by</span> <b><a href="https://www.egon-schiele.com/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Egon Schiele</span></a></b>.<span style="color: #073763;"> The first 2 are easy, but he can’t find the most-important one, a self-portrait, so he has to get out; however, when he puts in the access code to exit the place it instead sets off a loud alarm, shutting down every door </span>(including the one to the balcony)<span style="color: #073763;">, with his contact telling him he’s now on his own. Nemo finally manages to get the alarm shut off</span> (damaging the thermostat controls in the process)<span style="color: #073763;"> but soon finds there’s now no running water in the place, although the power seems to remain because when he opens the refrigerator</span> (almost nothing there)<span style="color: #073763;">, the light and freezer still work, although if he keeps the door open too long it starts playing </span><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2ugcRkwKdc"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Macarena"</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">in a maddening manner<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span> Anger soon gives way to desperation as the days go by</span> (the owner of the place is on a business trip to Kazakhstan, apparently on an extended stay) <span style="color: #073763;">as he can find no way out, his water supply is limited to an automatic system that feeds some plants in the place, and the broken thermostat first sends the heat up to a scorching level, then reverts it to near-freezing-temperatures</span></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">.</span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #008f00;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDri2NGu_jYhwr5zC7W4QOkDdAvvvAlLAYXhuiHqvY4wIIhsMfwzH2uqXhQ2QeZ-F3zCUyuZQPBWXrTFw0p4nwUh_QxvOy5nYdJ9AI9C2XUpRzUGJ37a_zzDFGXk0qsRQfOSMbo0SVVtLblMndTZDbEN7nVgn6D8PlH0myf8huDhqLN_PDMHD0fBEzIg/s1250/surface-mag-willem-dafoe-inside-art-architecture-1.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="833" data-original-width="1250" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDri2NGu_jYhwr5zC7W4QOkDdAvvvAlLAYXhuiHqvY4wIIhsMfwzH2uqXhQ2QeZ-F3zCUyuZQPBWXrTFw0p4nwUh_QxvOy5nYdJ9AI9C2XUpRzUGJ37a_zzDFGXk0qsRQfOSMbo0SVVtLblMndTZDbEN7nVgn6D8PlH0myf8huDhqLN_PDMHD0fBEzIg/w640-h426/surface-mag-willem-dafoe-inside-art-architecture-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Within the penthouse, there’s a multi-screen-surveillance-system of locations in the building so he can see when a maid</span> (he calls her “Jasmine” <span style="color: #999999;">[Eliza Stuyck]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">is vacuuming outside his front door; however, his cries for help and banging on the door are useless because she’s listening to music on earphones, can’t hear him at all. Nemo’s only hope is the furniture structure he’s constructed in order to reach the skylight where he uses makeshift-tools to try to loosen the bolts that hold the cover in place so he could climb through the opening onto the roof, but that tedious chore hasn’t yet succeeded. In the process of his captivity, though, he comes across a hidden passage that contains the originally-sought-after-self-portrait and a copy of William Blake’s book</span><b><i><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://blakearchive.org/work/mhh"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The Marriage of Heaven and Hell</span></a></i></b><b> </b>(1790)<span style="color: #073763;">; he also begins hallucinating, even has a dream he’s at a party with the owner </span>(Gene Bervoets)<span style="color: #073763;"> of the penthouse, also dreams of puppets, kissing “Jasmine.” Things ultimately get worse when he falls off of his structure, breaks a leg, has to fashion a splint for it but has nothing for his pain, so he distracts himself by making his own artwork on one of the walls.</span> <b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">⇒Finally,</span></b> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">he sets off the fire alarm which drenches the dwelling, but no one responds to the situation. As the film wraps up we see Nemo writing a big message on the wall for the penthouse owner, recalling the story from his childhood, apologizing for the great damage he’s caused in the dwelling, noting that he ultimately didn’t steal any art, but </span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">“there is no creation without destruction.”</span><span style="color: #65a0dc;"> </span><span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(Reminds me of an insightful-refrigerator magnet in my kitchen </span><span style="color: #999999;">(no joke)</span> <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">with a quote from musician Frank Zappa:</span></span><span style="color: #65a0dc;"> </span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">“Without deviation from the norm, progress is impossible.”</span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">) </span><span style="color: #65a0dc;"> Then Nemo makes another ascent on his constructed-tower, keeps repeating </span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">“I’m going to Heaven on a hillside.”</span><span style="color: #65a0dc;"> The film's last shot shows the skylight with the cover panel gone so somehow Nemo managed to remove it, drag himself and his broken leg onto the roof, from where he could have finalized his escape</span><span style="color: #65a0dc; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">,</span><span style="color: #65a0dc;"> I'll agree to</span> <span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #ff2600;"><b>assume.⇐</b></span></span></p><div><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><br /></b></span></div><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6tiMDZVF-V71qJtqdbDvbYOvJ1gz-9zjxH9T0kot1TYs0ccEV91LYpbORg_Rcm5sSmo4XJDXqX0f3x5UbOayR4Wue7VeIvJV-tqWRh7C-CC03DKyx3DDRhNkLflhgZbwvuTpz1cQFbsR3MZAXgqV9wdV6Tc9p2xE_Mw4tFq9QsYoPgerGdbeIy1-DPw/s1419/INSIDE_2-1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="1419" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6tiMDZVF-V71qJtqdbDvbYOvJ1gz-9zjxH9T0kot1TYs0ccEV91LYpbORg_Rcm5sSmo4XJDXqX0f3x5UbOayR4Wue7VeIvJV-tqWRh7C-CC03DKyx3DDRhNkLflhgZbwvuTpz1cQFbsR3MZAXgqV9wdV6Tc9p2xE_Mw4tFq9QsYoPgerGdbeIy1-DPw/w640-h266/INSIDE_2-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So What?</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">Before I go any further in this review with discussing <i>Inside</i>, though, I’ve got to clarify my chief objection to its foundational-premise that brought my stars-rating down a notch: If the guy who owns this obviously-lush-penthouse</span> (huge in scale, high ceilings, famous art on the walls) <span style="color: #073763;">has set up such an elaborate protection system that it even shuts off water when the alarm’s tripped, why isn’t there some alert sent by that alarm to the police, a security company, or even the building’s front desk? The same question goes for the tripping of the fire alarm that sent the equivalent of buckets of water into the entire place without any sense from anyone </span>(downstairs neighbor?)<span style="color: #073763;"> something’s seriously wrong up top here. I guess you could argue that when Nemo dismantled the loud alarm response he somehow cut off any sending of a crisis signal to any intended recipient, but given the heating/cooling operations of the entire dwelling continued to operate </span>(even if to far extremes with no way for our captive burglar to provide any control)<span style="color: #073763;">, I just can’t believe there was no outside agency being alerted to the thwarted-exit or the possible fire in the place. Truly hermetically-sealed! Damn!</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;"> Yes, I know, if you take my complaint seriously enough then there may not be as much interest as I</span> (and the filmmakers) <span style="color: #073763;">would like for you to invest in this most fascinating </span>(although emotionally-draining) <span style="color: #073763;">film, but maybe you can just put my</span> (major?) <span style="color: #073763;">objection aside and watch it anyway because Dafoe provides a monumental performance</span> (that’s saying a lot for someone who’s already given us a career of magnificent-caliber-acting) <span style="color: #073763;">that continues to intensify as the narrative runs its course, making him an easy contender for me next spring for at least an Oscar Best Actor nomination, if not</span> (depending on what else emerges this year) <span style="color: #073763;">the actual award. You’ve got to be superbly-skilled to carry any sort of</span> (essentially) <span style="color: #073763;">one-person show, which Dafoe clearly is in this instance as his character shows us how his fascination with art manifests itself as well in another aspect of the creative process as this distraught man uses every little thing at his disposal to find a way out of his unforeseen-prison. Maybe another rationale for accepting what we’re presented with here while putting aside the concerns I’ve raised above is appreciating this story as what people in the cinema business refer to as “high concept,” where a certain unique premise is intended to give audiences an alternative to what we’ve come to expect in genre stories that dominate our screens, where rom-com situations usually always work out for the lead couple despite complications that arise, where hero warriors of various types triumph over local-to-universal-villainous-threats, where an underdog-sports-team shows how much heart they have even if they don’t emerge victorious in a major game.</span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #008f00;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbFtnj8jWgUduFRX7GimAuiBaF55X4Js_Xns4HdoidsToNrhOrTlFhrSWH3O5kgG99fGt9gXo8_KWnYegYptyCXkagNpmcJx86yU2LWqzN-nqnxWCmdGIyjjuv5FrYHgTOA3y_TEs9AwUKL-YbAgMr4-ONajmppeoH9htNWLIKqtgSezW5LOKLzANKVw/s904/inside-movie-review-2023.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="493" data-original-width="904" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbFtnj8jWgUduFRX7GimAuiBaF55X4Js_Xns4HdoidsToNrhOrTlFhrSWH3O5kgG99fGt9gXo8_KWnYegYptyCXkagNpmcJx86yU2LWqzN-nqnxWCmdGIyjjuv5FrYHgTOA3y_TEs9AwUKL-YbAgMr4-ONajmppeoH9htNWLIKqtgSezW5LOKLzANKVw/w640-h350/inside-movie-review-2023.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">In “high concept” entities like <i>Inside </i>we get more-unique-situations where we aren’t sure where the plot will take us, but at least there’s the fascination of seeing something more-original, more-unlikely than what we’ve learned from past exposures or expectations </span>(sometimes aspects of this even manifest in more-traditional-genre-movies, as <span style="color: #999999;">[for me, at least]</span> the basically-inexplicable, miniscule midi-chlorians in the <i>Star Wars </i>movies that exist in a person’s cells, with higher amounts of these things leading to stronger connections with the all-powerful Force). <i>Inside </i>(as best we can overlook my noted objections) <span style="color: #073763;">gives us a very unexpected story that mounts in intensity, clearly allowing us to understand the growing-horror experienced by Nemo as days drag by for him. Animals don’t fare too well here either, as Nemo watches a pigeon fly through the netting around the balcony but slam into the glass door, ultimately dying as the equally-distraught-man watches; later, when his hunger is overwhelming him he eats a small tropical fish from an aquarium.</span> (Which brings up another plot consideration for me: If the penthouse owner is going to be away for so long, how does this fish get fed? I don’t know of any device that would automatically dispense food for weeks, yet apparently no one was recruited to drop by occasionally for fish-duties or Nemo would have finally gotten his release, as he came in dressed in a maintenance uniform so he surely had a story ready to explain his surprising-presence. Oh well, like I said, this is a “high concept” narrative requiring more than the usual “suspension of disbelief” to be properly appreciated, so don’t let my sour grapes spoil your attending to this fascinating film.) <span style="color: #073763;">An underlying theme amid all of this chaos is the relationship between art and life, both in Nemo’s personal preferences and in how what he ultimately learns from the art he encounters in the penthouse changes his perspective on life</span> (in this vicious manner) <span style="color: #073763;">explored in fine-but-concise-detail in</span> <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIk7Q0Y-u3o"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">this video</span></a> </b>(8:46; <b>Spoilers</b>) <span style="color: #073763;">which also gives useful backstory on other art objects Nemo shares extended-time with, as he endures a literal hell-on-Earth-captivity.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1W1Su6tkg0lr-RPBikkckOyFBGOOaB24awpI6k3HLSuM6DkE-NmAq56SwrjUtokfxUc8301n83k1-66FkOex8EivjyhUi6BCxApxynP_m3CbML0KHR-iQl4tAy778Z5dxHm56f7isS-k5isOyU9_XiiN9K_kx1QjEH9P69KeMSb_yBmz1NCy6cEGCOg/s1208/INSIDE_1-1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="1208" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1W1Su6tkg0lr-RPBikkckOyFBGOOaB24awpI6k3HLSuM6DkE-NmAq56SwrjUtokfxUc8301n83k1-66FkOex8EivjyhUi6BCxApxynP_m3CbML0KHR-iQl4tAy778Z5dxHm56f7isS-k5isOyU9_XiiN9K_kx1QjEH9P69KeMSb_yBmz1NCy6cEGCOg/w640-h322/INSIDE_1-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Bottom Line Final Comments:</span> </b><span style="color: #073763;">With almost-simultaneous-opening dates across the Atlantic in Greece, Belgium, and Germany, <i>Inside </i>made its domestic</span> (U.S.-Canada) <span style="color: #073763;">debut on March 17, 2023, but obviously never made much impact at the box-office with total global revenues of only about $897 thousand; you won’t find much enthusiasm from the <b>CCAL </b>either, with</span> <b><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/inside_2023"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews at 62%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, the</span><b> </b><span><a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/inside-2023/" style="color: #2b00fe; font-weight: bold;">Metacritic average score in OCCU territory at 53%</a><span style="color: #073763;">. However,</span></span><span style="color: #073763;"> if I’ve given enough reasons to consider watching <i>Inside </i>you’ll have to turn to</span> <b><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/inside-2023"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">streaming</span></a> </b><span style="color: #073763;">where Amazon Prime Video subscribers get it free while $5.99 rental options exist at Amazon Prime</span> (I guess for non-subscribers)<span style="color: #073763;">, Apple TV+, Vudu, etc. If you need further incentive to watch <i>Inside </i>you might consult</span><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-03-16/review-inside-willem-dafoe-art-thriller"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Katie Walsh</span></a></span> </b>i<span style="color: #073763;">n the <i>Los Angeles Times </i>where she says:</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">“<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">Katsoupis poses these probing and provocative questions about humanity but doesn’t offer any clear answers or messages. Rather, he lets his muse, Dafoe, simply inhabit this harrowing journey with his strange magnetism and sense of timelessness, in a performance that is simultaneously primitive and transcendent. Nemo becomes a figure straight out of Greek mythology, reckoning with the forces of creation and destruction, but it’s unclear whether he’s Sisyphus, Prometheus or perhaps even Icarus.”</span></span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="color: #073763;">Nevertheless, there are others who encourage you to just stay away, such as </span><b><a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/reviews/inside-review-willem-dafoe-1235556306/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Murtada Elfadi</span></a><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">of <i>Variety </i>who writes: </span></span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #38761d;">“With this premise, there’s ultimately no place to go. As the story unfolds, the audience feels as stuck as Nemo, with no escape in sight. The film has exhausted both the premise and its leading man’s capabilities, while the audience has grown tired of pondering whatever themes it purports to examine. It’s time to part ways, and yet the images keep flickering on screen and the film keeps going. ‘Inside’ has an intriguing premise and an actor who makes whatever’s thrown at him intriguingly watchable. What it lacks is sufficient sense of who this character is, and a resonant enough narrative to justify being locked up together.” </span><span style="color: #073763;">You'll find other such clashes quite frequently.</span></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4i7ccicuESgz3zollGRtjhKMJKeGMBE7lR2k31EzghDZl6IlTXPNwH2SLCQ1VbQsBgRHlEWytvcyH3JK8_MV1x-_4s8-HkfSyjYc2DDT1fhkBZo8W1vhbRFrrqe_V9_mASBtLqIcKNQFYXFCFh_01YwRJQR0kUWVwon5g80xYzSVh8EveTRCFVRCUYQ/s300/Inside%206.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4i7ccicuESgz3zollGRtjhKMJKeGMBE7lR2k31EzghDZl6IlTXPNwH2SLCQ1VbQsBgRHlEWytvcyH3JK8_MV1x-_4s8-HkfSyjYc2DDT1fhkBZo8W1vhbRFrrqe_V9_mASBtLqIcKNQFYXFCFh_01YwRJQR0kUWVwon5g80xYzSVh8EveTRCFVRCUYQ/w640-h358/Inside%206.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #008f00;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">So, I’ll leave it up to you as to whether to seek out <i>Inside </i>or not, with my opinion it’s worth your time (</span>and a small fee if needed) <span style="color: #073763;">for what it presents on the screen, regardless of my hesitation to rate it just a bit higher due to my</span> (possibly irrelevant) <span style="color: #073763;">demands of plausibility within a fictional scenario. Getting away from plausibility entirely into a realm of surrealism for my standard end-of-review-tactic of a Musical Metaphor I’ll go with Bob Dylan’s “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again”</span> (on his 1966 <i>Blonde on Blonde </i>album) <span style="color: #073763;">at</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kh6K_-a0c4"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kh6K_-a0c4</span></b></a><b> </b><span style="color: #073763;">with its combination of a person trapped somewhere not desirable</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">(“But deep inside my heart / I know there’s no escape”)</span><span style="color: #073763;">, ultimately haunted by unnerving-visions</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">(<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">“Waiting to find out what price / You have to pay to get out of / Going through all these things twice”)</span></span><span style="color: #073763;">.<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> Nemo’s experiences don’t precisely parallel what happens in Dylan’s song, but neither situation's likely appealing for the vast majority of us, so lets be content in letting somebody else confront all these demanding experiences.</span></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: xx-large; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">SHORT TAKES</span></b></span><b> <span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">(spoilers also appear here)</span></b></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span></span></p><p style="color: #65a0dc; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #008f00;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42nay7Z0girtynV3KBGrNWHfjDBnHEr_SaDdkyEbCrCfmatt6cp9AXu50llnjjyv5gpqFKqnU_AtubnuCrL-b3i-gah-EmoovhiMZL87NAORrd0ieajy9Izd8AeGEi6JQkHjOQFNa6e3Val7EyJrZd-LtcBwWFGIAQRMxHsXPZd8X8QCepXX9RT0GMw/s109/four%20stars.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="20" data-original-width="109" height="20" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42nay7Z0girtynV3KBGrNWHfjDBnHEr_SaDdkyEbCrCfmatt6cp9AXu50llnjjyv5gpqFKqnU_AtubnuCrL-b3i-gah-EmoovhiMZL87NAORrd0ieajy9Izd8AeGEi6JQkHjOQFNa6e3Val7EyJrZd-LtcBwWFGIAQRMxHsXPZd8X8QCepXX9RT0GMw/s1600/four%20stars.jpg" width="109" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="https://www.cassandromovie.com">Cassandro</a></span></i></b><b><i> </i><span style="color: #c27ba0;">(Roger Ross Williams)</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> rated R</span></b> <span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>99</b> <b>min</b><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></span></div><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Here’s the trailer:</span></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/doDM5I07fxc" width="320" youtube-src-id="doDM5I07fxc"></iframe></div><p></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Before reading further, please refer to the </span></b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">plot spoilers</span></b></span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b> </b></span><b>warning detailed far above.</b></span></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="color: #008f00; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAk8m1N4jnf4SyqiMwuT10M-UFOO7Sl3KforTKhrMnCHuUGRRfmgK6NPM3XE_nK-wSQ6BsnzSnUm9z_CO3rR-aqlkFiySv0pb7GLCI5y5ozIgYCh4wrrHKtM5Ksxjf93uq8gwBQoMSCf05gNEGaUIPYwzeIK5-W0h-FLcVCkpOG34bCfojUovAWiA1KQ/s1200/cassandro-gael-garcia-bernal.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="617" data-original-width="1200" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAk8m1N4jnf4SyqiMwuT10M-UFOO7Sl3KforTKhrMnCHuUGRRfmgK6NPM3XE_nK-wSQ6BsnzSnUm9z_CO3rR-aqlkFiySv0pb7GLCI5y5ozIgYCh4wrrHKtM5Ksxjf93uq8gwBQoMSCf05gNEGaUIPYwzeIK5-W0h-FLcVCkpOG34bCfojUovAWiA1KQ/w640-h330/cassandro-gael-garcia-bernal.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="color: #073763;">This is generally a biopic about a famous </span><b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucha_libre"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">lucha libre</span></a><span style="color: #0433ff;"> </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">Mexican-American professional wrestler—whose approach to these sports-entertainment-displays had developed in Mexico featuring lots of acrobatic movement, most of the participants wearing masks</span><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span><span style="color: #073763;">—although some minor liberties are taken for usual dramatic purposes. Cassandro is the ring name of Saúl Armendáriz, a gay native of El Paso, TX who, especially in the 1980s-‘90s</span> (but continued to wrestle until 2013, retired due to medical conditions),<span style="color: #073763;"> made a big name for himself. There’s much more about him if you like in this documentary, </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/cassandro-the-exotico" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Cassandro, the Exotico!</span></a> </span>(Marie Losier, 2018, 73 min.)<span style="color: #073763;">,</span> <span style="color: #073763;">which is free on Pluto and Tubi, rents for $3.99 on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Vudu </span>(RT rates it as 85% positive reviews <span style="color: #999999;">[though just 13 of them]</span>; MC says 76% average score, yet based on a mere 5 positives<span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">**</span></b></span>)<span style="color: #073763;">; or, if you prefer, here’s</span> <b><span style="color: #0433ff;"> </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBKGxOON1Ow"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">a short video</span></a></b><b> </b>(13:02 <span style="color: #999999;">[ad interrupts at 5:00]</span>) <span style="color: #073763;">about Armendáriz in Spanish with English subtitles, along with a</span> <b><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2023/09/23/cassandro-movie-fact-check-lucha-libre-icon/70916436007/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">fact vs. fiction account</span></a><span style="color: #0433ff;"> </span></b><span style="color: #073763;">of how this current Williams feature matches reality.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>In recent decades some have made a name for themselves in U.S. pro wrestling, such as in World Wrestling Entertainment; the one I knew best back when I paid attention to WWE matches was Rey Mysterio who apparently is still active, currently reigning as the United States Champion <span style="color: #999999;">(although WWE titleholders can fluctuate on a frequent basis)</span>. Way back in the 1960s when I first became fascinated with TV wrestling from Houston, TX some famous luchadores were the tag-team of <b><a href="https://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profile/torbellino-blanco/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Torbellino Blanco</span></a></b> <span style="color: #999999;">(White Tornado)</span> and<b> <a href="https://prowrestling.fandom.com/wiki/Cyclone_Negro"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Ciclón Negro</span></a></b> <span style="color: #999999;">(Black Cyclone)</span>, both winners of many titles.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">**</span></b></span>Once again I’m befuddled by how MC comes up with their numbers<b><span style="color: #0433ff;"> </span><a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/cassandro-the-exotico!/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">because 4 of those 5</span></a></b><b> </b>are listed as 80, the other at 63 yet none of the reviewers use any numerical ratings system, such as 3 of 4 stars, etc. so these numbers are just being assigned arbitrarily by MC staffers, which makes me a bit dubious about their veracity. Although, similarly the RT scores are based on a simple “yes/no” binary with those results often, in my opinion, a choice by a staffer more so that what’s in the review.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAR-Eyu8h_WbB0zteou7Hs96NZBJdmK0kaIl7_3dzLGXYKeyHPNQG_MzeWFqjHog5_wUeSQd8y9d6BBhXM4jnhobiZ65Z7y04bCgZx829yBnoo0x4RWMrYxwk_H62Vz7qj9El1wOy82a2WjWNk1dQXe3yvKoRbhb8b6dZhIft_6DCx1wPVV2Eygiu7AA/s377/MV5BZWI2ZTk5ODktYTMzOS00Mzc3LWI1NTItZjA5OTBiNWVkYWRmXkEyXkFqcGdeQVRoaXJkUGFydHlJbmdlc3Rpb25Xb3JrZmxvdw@@._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="377" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAR-Eyu8h_WbB0zteou7Hs96NZBJdmK0kaIl7_3dzLGXYKeyHPNQG_MzeWFqjHog5_wUeSQd8y9d6BBhXM4jnhobiZ65Z7y04bCgZx829yBnoo0x4RWMrYxwk_H62Vz7qj9El1wOy82a2WjWNk1dQXe3yvKoRbhb8b6dZhIft_6DCx1wPVV2Eygiu7AA/w640-h442/MV5BZWI2ZTk5ODktYTMzOS00Mzc3LWI1NTItZjA5OTBiNWVkYWRmXkEyXkFqcGdeQVRoaXJkUGFydHlJbmdlc3Rpb25Xb3JrZmxvdw@@._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Returning fully, then,<span style="color: #073763;"> to the subject at hand we have the docudrama <i>Cassandro</i>, where the fame-hungry-protagonist is played spectacularly in a physically-excruciating-manner</span> (no matter how much choreography goes into these bouts, the toll on the bodies is all quite real) <span style="color: #073763;">by Gael García Bernal as a young man frequently crossing the Rio Grande river into Juarez, Mexico to wrestle as the masked El Topo, consistently losing his matches </span>(there’s no direct depiction here of scripted encounters, but you don’t need them to see how this small guy would regularly be beaten by brawnier opponents)<span style="color: #073763;">. He meets Sabrina </span>(Roberta Colindrez)<span style="color: #073763;">, a successful female wrestler, who agrees to be his trainer, finally encourages him to unmask, take on the role of an exótico, a man in drag, which he hesitates to do because they also always lose, yet he determines he’ll play the role but flip the script by winning, which he does gaining the support of the usually-homophobic-crowds so he becomes managed by Lorenzo</span> (Joaquìn Cosìo)<span style="color: #073763;">, with financial success quickly growing, along with flirtation aimed at Lorenzo‘s assistant, Felipe</span> (Bad Bunny)<span style="color: #073763;">, who tries not to abandon his hetero roots so Cassandro instead make a successful move on another wrestler, married</span> (but closeted) <span style="color: #073763;">Gerardo/El Comandante</span> (Raúl Castillo)<span style="color: #073763;">. Ultimately, Cassandro ends up in Mexico City facing the most popular luchador in the country, El Hijo del Santo</span> (playing himself)<span style="color: #073763;">, the Son of the Saint </span>(Dad also famous)<span style="color: #073763;">.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlj16W7nCLaRiop90q0KMsjUloQJv_O4I2aw6asHOz2pDxf-wXAR4ctW8CW6ZAnFsNTTgA1bZ7pgD6x0TIC1usUk5cdktBX97d5V_Pl7LrBjCUX7bBsDAH2_nZcbstLU9kNFhKObjd8QATdPDM17D_VT63BkQmVfIa1bjJff5vEDpoR_mDQw122gFR_g/s3284/76d4673e5c37754589cf19a65e9c4067.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1943" data-original-width="3284" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlj16W7nCLaRiop90q0KMsjUloQJv_O4I2aw6asHOz2pDxf-wXAR4ctW8CW6ZAnFsNTTgA1bZ7pgD6x0TIC1usUk5cdktBX97d5V_Pl7LrBjCUX7bBsDAH2_nZcbstLU9kNFhKObjd8QATdPDM17D_VT63BkQmVfIa1bjJff5vEDpoR_mDQw122gFR_g/w640-h378/76d4673e5c37754589cf19a65e9c4067.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> <span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;"><b>⇒</b><b>Cassandro</b></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">loses via submission<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">,</span> but not before he wins over the crowd by running up to the balcony, jumping off to be caught below by enthralled-spectators, carried back to the ring. After the match, El Hijo celebrates him as well, later has him as a guest on his TV show. Sad events come to Cassandro as supportive Mom Yocasta </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">(Perla De La Rosa)</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> dies; then the affair with Gerardo must end by his wife’s demand; he never fully reconciles with his harsh, religious father, not married to Mom but with a wife and other kids, cared not for this son when Saúl came out at 15; but Cassandro continues on in his career, beloved by</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">audiences.⇐</span> </b></span><span style="color: #073763;">While this film opened on September, 2023 in a select number of theaters I have no info on income so your best hope of finding it is</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><b><a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/cassandro"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">streaming</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, free to subscribers of Amazon Prime Video; the <b>CCAL </b>would back you up on the effort with</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><b><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cassandro"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">RT 92% positives</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, while the normally-less-enthusiastic</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><b><a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/cassandro/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">MC average score is 76%</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">. I enjoyed it thoroughly—especially the marvelously-choreographed-visuals, the soulful-trumpet-soundtrack—found García Bernal’s presentation to be soul-stirring too, about a man who made it easy to pick my Musical Metaphor, “I Gotta Be Me” </span><span>(written by Walter Marks in 1967 for the Broadway play <i style="color: black;">Golden Rainbow </i><span style="color: #999999;">[music, lyrics by Marks; book by Ernest Kinoy]</span></span><span style="color: black;">)</span><span style="color: #073763;">, the</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXYndNL4Mu8"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Sammy Davis Jr. version</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">, a big hit for him</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #666666;">(1968 album named for the song)</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">because while he’s not a gay Chicano, Davis Jr. had enough of his own social obstacles to overcome, which he did very successfully just like Armendáriz in his career.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpC1TOOnkvCOxxM7TNpLng1UpwSGbCiLDHZ0Ni_NDyJCII5A5-SZnv_RpFMuorHbKELh2DzAfSX403iVPizEU41MJOOXIUSSc4DEVAaiVelQO4jBrQi8BbAYzK2n5EiGEixM5N5sXJpUrHJHRuH7meakBVCeEQ3ew-TBCONzIlGHXwRL3EeXSI5vpF_A/s1949/Hidden-Hollywood%2068.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1949" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpC1TOOnkvCOxxM7TNpLng1UpwSGbCiLDHZ0Ni_NDyJCII5A5-SZnv_RpFMuorHbKELh2DzAfSX403iVPizEU41MJOOXIUSSc4DEVAaiVelQO4jBrQi8BbAYzK2n5EiGEixM5N5sXJpUrHJHRuH7meakBVCeEQ3ew-TBCONzIlGHXwRL3EeXSI5vpF_A/w640-h294/Hidden-Hollywood%2068.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:</span> </span></b></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #073763;">Some options for your consideration: (1) </span><b><a href="https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/writers-strike-over-wga-votes-end-work-stoppage-1235735512/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=466037_09-26-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The Writers' strike is over</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">;</span><b style="color: #073763;"> (</b><span style="color: #073763;">2) </span><b><a href="https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/wga-new-contract-strike-ai-writers-room-staffs-residuals-1235736648/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=466043_09-26-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Details of the new WGA contract</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763;">; and (3)</span><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/sag-aftra-vote-authorize-video-game-strike-1235735114/#recipient_hashed=d0ebe908a2dd971fccddb4729ab41ab3dbdc67366d271834bafdaf442b1f329d&recipient_salt=5e3c79a06738f094fd7353dd6acf3eea3383072f67ae25d285958c65dd9e6dcd&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=465762_09-25-2023&utm_term=290984"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Actors' union authorizes potential strike against video game companies</span></a></b><span style="color: #073763; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ff2600;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></b></span>Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that <b>all postings since July 11, 2013</b> now have the proper functioning link.</span></p><p style="color: #0433ff; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p>
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<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><span style="color: #073763;">Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were </span><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">26,816</span></b></span> (as always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers)<span style="color: #073763;">; below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week</span> (with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site)<span style="color: #073763;">:</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuiqEIMafAaeNLOvT65qUAn4qQ448Dc_LtIbP5RLGXg4BPRNZem0LZ_FqFqev-PfBwkrGTuPePWBmxDhRZ0SMTQxhn5tspq2A7F2H6OHRWsEglKpXA21Vm773D7QVHjn-NcWNbLU4g76UBUoLVz9jpP2S1v-lICZrRAglyDCXYcNb0cN6EUNjLSuiChw/s1231/Screen%20Shot%202023-09-27%20at%202.29.44%20PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1045" data-original-width="1231" height="544" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuiqEIMafAaeNLOvT65qUAn4qQ448Dc_LtIbP5RLGXg4BPRNZem0LZ_FqFqev-PfBwkrGTuPePWBmxDhRZ0SMTQxhn5tspq2A7F2H6OHRWsEglKpXA21Vm773D7QVHjn-NcWNbLU4g76UBUoLVz9jpP2S1v-lICZrRAglyDCXYcNb0cN6EUNjLSuiChw/w653-h544/Screen%20Shot%202023-09-27%20at%202.29.44%20PM.jpg" width="653" /></a></div><p></p>Ken Burke; Pat Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18358623927080966157noreply@blogger.com0