CS Film Club II

Fair assessment. I remember my wife and I giggling at how silly this movie was last year as we viewed it over a bottle of wine. Gave us a chance to poke fun at stereotypes of ourselves, especially at a time where we continue to distance ourselves from some of our conservative leaning friends who have been evolving into conspiracy nuts (I'm of the opinion that all conservatives live up to their stereotypes). The film's not as clever as it wants to be, but the lead was interesting and the kills were fun. Plus, it pissed Trump off when it came out, so there's that.

That movie came out right as the pandemic was really getting bad (last movie I saw in theaters pre-lockdown) and right as the primary was wrapping up and I was about as nervous about the future of the country as possible... it was about the last movie I, the country, or the world needed.  One of the worst experiences I've ever had with a movie.

I'm gonna have to watch it now, just out of morbid curiosity.

The Sweet Hereafter

Knowing nothing about the movie and just assuming based on the title alone, I thought The Sweet Hereafter might be a romance movie, a romantic comedy maybe? Perhaps a romance/drama. There had to be something whimsical about it. Why not? It seems like a light and sweet enough title. Well I was wrong. I couldn't have been more wrong. There is no way I could have been further from what the film was actually about. I guess that's a good thing as it was able to tap into my emotions more directly and for a movie like this it only added to the viewing experience, an experience that I think would deeply affect some and put others off.

Told in a somewhat non-linear structure, The Sweet Hereafter follows Mitchell (Ian Holm), a lawyer who arrives in a small, snow-covered town where a bus crash has just occurred killing several young children and destroying the lives of their families. He attempts to track down enough parents who will agree to file a lawsuit in order to collect damages from someone, anyone, whoever was responsible for this. You do get a sense that he's driven by compassion as he also is dealing with his own loss of having a drug addicted daughter who constantly takes advantage of him and he tries to relate to the parents through their mutual sense of sorrow. It's ultimately a story of a few primary characters as it builds up to the event and what happens subsequently. At times it feels like a much more subdued Alejandro Iñárritu film in the way it's constructed and executed. It's interesting because the movie doesn't really wrap up, you could say that it leaves some loose ends that a viewer might wish for a film to address but I think the main point of the movie is to highlight how personal tragedy can reach much further beyond those it directly affects. The heartfelt and dramatic acting and brooding, lingering shots establish a sense of dread and foreboding even after the crash has taken place and the barren, desolate environment only heightens the sense of despair and dread. It's an extremely effective movie on all fronts.

As someone with two daughters this was a tough watch but a very emotional and powerful one nonetheless. It's an engrossing, sad, powerful movie that got my emotions going in ways that few other movies have been able to do. PhantomKnight, thanks and damn you to hell.

A- so says Doomsday

I try know as little as possible about a movie before seeing it lest it affect my reception of it. I might look up the director but I try to keep away from any major plot points short of the overall synopsis. For Sweet Hereafter though I missed just about everything as you could tell.

And I actually watched Let Him Go a couple weeks ago when I saw it on HBO Max and I knew you had enjoyed it. I liked a lot about it. It's certainly a different movie and has a unique blend of dramatic western and savage thriller. I don't know it it was completely up my alley and I'm not sure if it meshed entirely as desired but there was some good stuff to take away from it. I enjoyed Sweet Hereafter more so I'm glad I was able to catch both.

One week left.

Sorry, been distracted by trying to watch all this Disney shit before my one month D+ subscription needs to be renewed.

My excuse is getting the Top 100 1980-1999 thread up and running and being busy this past weekend seeing The Night House and Reminiscence.  But I'll be watching Ran very, very soon.

Good timing given it's almost certainly cracking the list.

Taking advantage of the one week buffer this time. Will try to have up by the weekend.