And World War Z.
The book - A decent take on the Zombpocalypse in a world filled with too many of said books.
The movie - let’s not talk about it.
5 Likes
Watched Joker yesterday.
A weird pastiche of 1976–1986 real world history that includes:
- maybe a hint of love to Taxi Driver
- austerity NYC/Gotham complete with piles of garbage
- all the old sad bastard clown tropes
- evil Harvey Pekar (our hero) needs evil Dave Letterman
- the idea that terrorism is ideologically neutral
- the idea that the rich are innocent bystanders and the real evil is celebrity and popular culture
- Discourse was maddening then too
So yeah, the Joker is still a shit villain, but this was the first real watchable movie (for me) out the DC live-action stuff since… a minute.
7 Likes
Demons and the Illuminati and possessed guys grunting in Latin and all that shit
3 Likes
And now I’m wondering if various grunts would have declensions or conjugations…
4 Likes
It’s very old school, The Exorcist kinda stuff, not ironic at all
Maybe worth watching for the cast
2 Likes
It sounds like exactly the same plot as Ragnorok but without the comic-book distance. I can’t wait.
1 Like
5 Likes
Looking for Alaska dropped on Hulu. I just watched the first episode.
The book is based on the high school where I grew up - not just kind of loosely based on it, but seriously, freakishly accurately depicting what it is like to be a student at the school.
For some reason the art director chose to make the set look like a summer camp. The school does have a certain camp like aspect to it, but I’m not sure why they chose to make it look quite so primitive.
However, the grounds are pretty close to the feeling of the school, especially the lake which is a big feature in the book.
The guy who plays the lead has a certain quality - the shape of his face, his nose - that reminds me of my first boyfriend.
So glad this dropped right as I’ve been diving full on into my dad’s old photos and my old journals. The nostalgia is deep right now.
As a show, I’d give it a 6 out of 10. It’s a little stilted. But so far it seems like a nice adaptation of the book. Not too specifically hewing to the material but still true to the characters and the themes.
5 Likes
Shadow of the Vampire (Prime Video)
Our battle, our struggle, is to create art. Our weapon is the moving picture. Because we have the moving picture, our paintings will grow and recede; our poetry will be shadows that lengthen and conceal; our light will play across living faces that laugh and agonize; and our music will linger and finally overwhelm, because it will have a context as certain as the grave. We are scientists engaged in the creation of memory… but our memory will neither blur nor fade.
–John Malkovich as FW Murnau.
Oh. The script girl. I’ll eat her later.
–Willelm Dafoe as Count Orlock as Max Shrek as Count Orlock.
Jesus Christus! Get this Scheißkopf off me!
–Eddie Izzard as Gustav
4 Likes
2 Likes
2 Likes
Francis Ford Coppola? The guy who made Bram Stoker’s Dracula?
6 Likes
just finished “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell” on Netflix. This miniseries came out this summer, apparently, and is a fun alternate history take on England in the early 1800s, based on the book by Susanna Clarke. In this near-to-our-history telling, magic is a thing that actually existed up until 300 years prior, with the demise of one called The Raven King. one man, the eccentric, adorably dorky Mr. Norrell, has spent most of his life collecting all the books of magic in England and learning their contents in a desire to bring “respectable magic” back to England. His pupil (and mild spoiler, his eventual nemesis), Jonathan Strange, feels that his teacher is too timid, and that they should embrace ALL the magic possibilities taught from the time of the Raven King, who still has his secret followers among the people of the land. Great performances ensue.
9 Likes
Very enjoyable. I’m looking forward to season two.
3 Likes
Dracula was made in 1992. Why do you remember it?
I own it on DVD, which probably helps my memory.
But it’s also firmly in the “so bad it’s good” category, except among those who classify it as “so bad it’s bad”.
Anyone who made something with both Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves trying and failing to manage English accents, Gary Oldman chewing scenery, and hilariously historically inaccurate costumes, then turns around and claims it’s “Bram Stoker’s” Dracula when it so isn’t, has no right to gripe about superhero movies.
9 Likes
Meh, that pretty much covered my thoughts on it. Aside from… I really did NOT expect to see a reference to Captain EO today, and definitely not in this context.
8 Likes
is a season 2 confirmed? i want more Childermass!
OK.
Which film is the Godfather of the MCU?
Which film is the Godfather Part 2 of the MCU?
Which film is the Apocalypse Now of the MCU?
Can you argue that Thor is Branagh’s finest work? Can you argue that the Avengers is Joss Whedon’s finest work?
2 Likes
Which film is the Godfather of the MCU?
Which film is the Godfather Part 2 of the MCU?
Which film is the Apocalypse Now of the MCU?
- Does any film have to be any of those?
- Are those films, and nothing else, the only ones deemed worthy of being called “cinema”? Are they the only ones worthy of being shown in movie theaters?
Can you argue that they are “despicable” and should not be shown in theaters? Can you argue that they aren’t at least equal or better than other things FFC is responsible for?
4 Likes