Just Some Movie Chat

 

I don’t really see movies when they come out at the cinema much anymore. I’d like to get back to that, in theory at least, but I’m lazy about going out and audiences sometimes annoy me these days. So, I tend to save my films up for when I can rent them online at home or when they come to streaming. I still watch them as if I were in a cinema, as much as possible anyway, but I don’t get to them as fast as you might.

That’s why, when I get to talking about movies I’ve recently seen, I’m often talking about stuff you’ll have seen six months or a year ago. Often, it’s even longer than that. I don’t mind if you don’t. Hell, I don’t mind even if you do.

So, for today’s post, I just thought I’d type a bit about a couple of recent movies - my recent, not yours – and see where I get to. 

So… what have I seen?

Well, last night we watched ‘Challenger,’ which sounds like it should be a space shuttle movie, but which is actually a tennis/love triangle movie. We came to this because my younger son suggested we should see it and his recommendations are always worth respecting. Strike that. Almost always. I didn’t like this one. I think Sam put us on to it because my wife Patricia is a major (major) tennis fan and a twice weekly club player, when she’s not injured (get well soon, darlin’ x). The trouble with seeing a movie about a sport you love is that it can be hyped and soundtracked as much as you want, the action will never quite convince. This movie did pretty good in convincing us that the protagonists were really good at tennis but, like I said, it never totally works when you’re super-familiar with the real thing. What else? The characters were a bit dislikable, I thought. The shifting timeline was interesting and the unusual equality of camera interest in both the male and female form was commendable. Ther was an awful lot of sweat in the final sequences and the Rocky-like levels of sporting overdrive, coupled with the comically overblown conclusion made for an un-endearing show overall. But, hey, the soundtrack was pumping and the people in it looked good and it was smart and sexy. Just not for me, alas.

More for me was ‘Poor Things.’ I had heard mixed reviews. But, really, what else would you expect from a Yorgos Lanthimos film? I set aside a solitary Saturday afternoon and enjoyed this one. A Frankenstein fable of a man who creates a daughter who finds her way remarkably through the world. The cast have such fun with all this and it’s grotesque and sumptuous is almost equal measure. People said that Mark Ruffalo overplayed his role and that kind of annoys me. It’s as if they think he turned up on set and said, “this is who I will be, take it or leave it.” When, of course, the character will have evolved from the writing and the direction, as well as the actor’s own feelings. I thought he was great. I thought they all were. I didn’t think Trish would like this one, so I went solo on it, but she caught up on it herself afterwards and apparently liked it a lot. “I like weird,” she proclaimed and, of course, I should have known this.

I want to see ‘Inside Out 2’. I really like the first one, particularly the script, which balanced everything really well and wasn’t afraid to literally kill one of its darlings. I’d nearly go and sit in an empty cinema to see this one but there might well be kids there and that would be no good.

I am also girding my loins to see ‘Zone of Interest’ which both my sons highly recommend, and which Sam has gone as far as to say that it may be the best film he has ever seen. Unusually for me, I find myself a bit afraid of it. I know it will be difficult and I find I’m trying to build myself up to that. I will report back.

Things I haven’t seen include Oppenheimer. I’m not afraid of it, like I am with Zone of Interest but I find I need to find the right time to sit with it and I don’t reckon it’s going to be a smooth sailing. I’ll get there. I always get there. Just not yet (as the guy says in Gladiator). Not yet.

The other movie that is firmly on my list is La Chimera. A good friend spoke so highly of this that I recommended it to both my sons, John, and Sam, and they both saw it (in separate countries), and both liked it a lot. It’s available for rental now and I think it will be my next one.

What else? I loved Anatomy of a Fall. The prosecutor was my favourite in it. You should see it if you haven’t. It’s on Amazon Prime now, I think.

I rewatch movies a lot. I learn things from doing that and I justify it that way. I watched Jaws again, as I do at least once a year. There’s often something new to see. Last time I thought that Hendricks behaviour after finding Chrissie’s remains on the beach were a telling echo of John Wayne’s behaviour in The Searchers, after finding Lucy’s body in the canyon. Both dig in the sand with their knife. I love Jaws, always have. The shark may be rubbery, but the beauty of its fin as it makes its way to the pond is pure cinema. I love The Searchers too. It has the most inappropriate ‘U’ certificate I’ve ever seen.

There are lots of films I haven’t seen but I’ll keep working my way through them. It’s not work, really, that’s the wrong word.

It’s a labour of love.