Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Sept 5, 2024 16:46:45 GMT -5
I didn't see them on your Letterboxed. anything I watched pre-2008 doesn't show up on my Letterboxd
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Sept 5, 2024 18:27:23 GMT -5
Night Moves
Night Moves is an interesting movie that I'm still trying to wrap my head around. In fact, there's a part of me that feels maybe I should give it another day or two to settle in. On the one hand it comes across as a straightforward noir but on the other hand there are definite layers to peel back, not in terms of the plot but layers regarding character motivations and backstory. The story itself isn't terribly complicated although it does have its twists and turns like any noir worth its salt would have. It's the other elements of the film that make it feel real, elements that at first don't feel like they really pertain to the story but are important all the same. We get tangled up in side plots regarding adultery, blame, reconciliation, confronting trauma, and at first you think 'why am I watching this?' Even at the end some things don't feel completely resolved but those elements serve a different purpose other than just driving the plot along from point A to point B. It's a different type of mystery movie that hits you in ways you don't expect at all.
Gene Hackman gives a more subdued performance as Harry Moseby, a former pro-football player and current private investigator who's hired by a washed up Hollywood actress to find her runaway teenage daughter and bring her home. Moseby quickly finds the girl in the Florida Keys but also uncovers a smuggling scheme that involves all the players in an otherwise straightforward case of a missing girl. On paper this sounds like another neo noir about a P.I. getting in over his head while trying to root out corruption beneath the surface of a simple case or premise. Night Moves however explores the inner workings of Moseby, his current personal conflicts with a marriage on the rocks, a vague but disturbed upbringing and his non-committal approach to his job as an investigator. Gene Hackman plays this role very close to the vest compared to other roles and earned a BAFTA nomination for his work. We don't get any Hackman shouts or scenes of him flying off the handle, no stern 'I'm the commander of this ship!' line. It's a more quiet and sensitive character but still cunning, soft spoken but determined. I might compare him to his character in The Conversation but I haven't seen that one since college so I'm not sure how apt that comparison might be.
Aside from the plot structure, what I also noticed right off the bat is how the movie is cut. While the movie itself moves rather slowly at points the cuts are very abrupt, almost like smash cuts between scenes. The camera certainly doesn't linger or dwell on any location or character and even establishing shots move right along. It gives the movie a sense of urgency and is a nice visual way to quicken the pace and keep you engaged. Arthur Penn is a filmmaker whom I'm familiar with but I can't say I've really explored his filmography in depth. I've seen Bonnie and Clyde which is the obvious stand out and Little Big Man but other than that it's mostly films that 'I've had on my radar' but haven't gotten around to yet. I would be interested in reading more about the guy but I just don't think there's a lot of literature written about him. It doesn't even need to be a book by a major publisher, I would settle for an in-depth essay, maybe not a high school paper but perhaps something at the doctoral level. Oh forget it, no such thing exists.
B+ so says Doomsday
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Sept 5, 2024 18:48:46 GMT -5
Night MovesNight Moves is an interesting movie that I'm still trying to wrap my head around. That the one with underage Melanie Griffith?
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PG Cooper
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Post by PG Cooper on Sept 5, 2024 20:35:19 GMT -5
I would be interested in reading more about the guy but I just don't think there's a lot of literature written about him. It doesn't even need to be a book by a major publisher, I would settle for an in-depth essay, maybe not a high school paper but perhaps something at the doctoral level. Oh forget it, no such thing exists. B+ so says Doomsday Wow, what a concept! In all seriousness I'm glad you liked the film. It's one that I've only loved more and more with time. I'd also say it's Penn's second best film.
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SnoBorderZero
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Post by SnoBorderZero on Sept 5, 2024 21:23:06 GMT -5
Night Moves is indeed very good. One of Hackman's best performances. The story gets a little muddled, but it doesn't really matter because the movie is so pitch perfect and smooth you hardly notice.
I think it's a great companion piece to The Long Goodbye. Neo-noirs of the '70s that embrace their noir origins but are unmistakably their own.
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PG Cooper
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Post by PG Cooper on Sept 6, 2024 8:32:26 GMT -5
Funny Games (1997)
There are two registers at which Funny Games operates. First, at the surface level as a home invasion thriller, where a bourgeois family have their summer home invaded by a pair of sadistic young men who physically and psychologically torture mother, father, and son. The film is very effective in this regard. Michael Haneke establishes a thick layer of dread and the slow ramp-up in violence and desperation is gutting precisely because of how clinical Haneke's style is. He doesn't go in for extreme angles or aggressive cutting or tense music, he lets things play out as cold and realistically as possible. The second register is as a meta-textual critique of thrillers themselves and the nature of violent media, with one of the villains repeatedly breaking the fourth wall in ways which start to break the diegesis. This was the element I was more suspicious of. The idea of Haneke making a violent thriller than finger waving at me for liking it seemed more than a little eye-rolling, all the more so given some of the statements Haneke's made publicly.
Thankfully, I think the film's meta elements are a lot more sophisticated than that. I'm not even sure the film is a critique so much as it is a commentary on thrillers, about how we engage with their characters, what we want from them, and what purpose they serve. There's a lot here to grapple with if you're so inclined and the fact that Haneke commits so hard to the surface elements makes its meta-elements all the more compelling. I'm not sure I quite love Funny Games but it's a serious work of filmmaking made with real skill and conviction.
A-
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Sept 7, 2024 21:10:06 GMT -5
I have mixed feelings. On one hand, this so-called “documentary” feels like a reality show. So much of it is so obviously staged that it’s kinda funny. On the other hand, these two nutty Russians deserve their flowers. For those unfamiliar, they’re a couple that climb the highest buildings in the world for social media clout. The movie could have easily glamorized these two as badass thrill seekers, but the depictions of their stunts are very sincere. You witness the planning, dangers and emotions behind every one of their endeavors. It’s not the greatest non-fiction content in 2024, but it’s worth checking out.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Sept 10, 2024 12:56:09 GMT -5
I watched the SHIT out of that back in the day. Batman in June. Beetlejuice cartoon in September. This was Burton at the peak of his powers.
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