The Fora: A Higher Education Community

This past weekend was Mission: Impossible 2 (Cruise) and Dan in Real Life (Carell).  MI2... I will say there was one scene that I liked quite a lot.  But overall, the director's choices just seemed a bit much.  I think it's neat that a lot of the installments have different directors, and I expect the movies to feel different because of that.  But I definitely preferred Brian De Palma's style in the first one to John Woo's in this one.  It was so melodramatic! Good grief.  I didn't find it nearly as engaging.  That is the end of John Woo for the series, so we may watch the third one next weekend.

Dan in Real Life is one I had never heard of but that my husband suggested.  It's a dramedy about a widower with teenage daughters who goes to a big family vacation getaway at a cabin and ends up falling in love with someone after he never thought that would happen again.  Unfortunately, it's his brother's girlfriend.  This is the blurb on IMDB, so I am not spoiling anything.  Obviously, some amusement and shenanigans result.  It was a cute movie with some good laughs, but I didn't really like any of the characters and wasn't rooting for them as much as I would have expected to.  It's got a good ensemble cast, though! I would watch it again if it were on TV.

Friday night was This is Where I Leave You (Bateman et al.).  The story largely takes place at the home of Bateman's character's mother after his father has passed away.  All the (adult) children gather after hearing that their father's last wish was for them to sit shiva.  This allows them all to find out out miserable they and their siblings are, and hijinks ensue.  It's pretty entertaining at times, and I think the cast is very good.  In addition to the lead, Jane Fonda, Tina Fey, Rose Byrne, Adam Driver, Dax Shepard, Timothy Olyphant, and many others contribute. 

Last night was The Italian Job (remake with Wahlberg et al.).  I remember liking this one a lot when I first saw it, and it has held up well.  It's a fun action tale without much filler centered on a group of thieves and their work.  In addition to the lead, there's Jason Statham, Edward Norton, Mos Def, Seth Green, Charlize Theron, Donald Sutherland, and others, comprising another good cast.  It has a similar feel to Ocean's Eleven in a lot of ways.

This past weekend was Mission: Impossible III and Do the Right Thing.  MI had JJ Abrams as director this time, and I feel like the Alias similarities are there.  I would say it's more straightforward action than the previous two.  The ending seemed a bit unbelievable, but I guess that's to be expected.  I'd rank them 1>3>2 so far. 

We decided to watch the latter movie because there are so many cultural references to it, and we'd never seen it.  For others who haven't, it takes place on a very hot day in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of NYC, which has plenty of characters living there and a couple shops owned by people of other ethnicities that seem to be a point of contention for various reasons.  The main issue is a pizzeria that has been there for many years and is owned by an Italian family who lives in a nicer neighborhood.  There is much racial tension, and the final straw is broken this day.  The movie clearly had a message or two to get across (with some attention to different ways of handling these kinds of tensions and events), and I think it was very good overall.  There were certainly some people who seemed a bit more villainous or who committed more clearly villainous acts, but there weren't any saints.  On a side note, I thought it was interesting that the street scenes often had a musical quality to them, sometimes feeling a little old-timey or like they're a part of West Side Story.  I was wondering when whatever was going to happen was going to happen, but the final half hour was action central.   

Do the Right Thing is one of the most original and brilliant films of the 20th century.

Since we're about to go into another weekend of movies, I figured I'd better update on the past two.  Two weeks ago (actually Thanksgiving Eve and Thanksgiving since we had guests that weekend), we watched 42nd Street and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.  Last weekend was Singin' In the Rain and Boyz in the Hood.  We enjoyed all of the above for different reasons (of course).  The musicals were just fun, and I had no idea that 42nd Street basically helped to save the movie musical genre.  I also didn't know until watching Singin' In the Rain (for the second time, though I couldn't remember any of it) that Gene Kelly was such a miserable person to work with.  His main male co-star, Donald O'Conner, was really amazing to watch, having a vaudeville background.  The "Make 'em Laugh" number is so physical.  Apparently he ended up on bed rest for several days and then had to reshoot it because they messed up the original filming? And he smoked 4 packs a day at the time.  Also interesting that Debbie Reynolds had not taken dance lessons before this movie and went through quite a lot at a young age while filming this.  I was having bad flashbacks during the extended dance sequence with Cyd Charisse, as it reminded me too much of the end of An American in Paris, which was apparently held in higher esteem.  I think my favorite numbers in this one were "Moses Supposes" and "Good Morning."

I think Ghost Protocol might be my favorite of the MI movies so far (maybe tied with the first one).  It had yet another director, Brad Bird, and also seemed to be a much more straightforward action movie with a good pace and fun effects.  Boyz in the Hood is a star-studded tragedy that's really hard to watch.  It's so well acted, but you just know how things are going to go down, and a lot of what is going to unfold is telegraphed.  But I guess maybe that's the point.  They know what's going to happen, as it's how it always happens there.  The cycle of violence continues.  No matter how many times it's pointed out, the players don't seem to be able to step away from the game, and of course it's often those who are not involved who get killed along the way. 

Okay, we have watched The Wolf Hour! I went back to look at what Wahoo said about it, and I guess we are somewhere in the middle.  I definitely would not give it a 1, but I wouldn't give it a 10.  I think I'm probably around a 6.5 or 7 with it, though I am still not sure I fully "get it" and am still thinking about what transpired.  I can't understand reviewers being bored by it or even leaving midway through.  And I agree that it's a psychological thriller or drama, not a horror movie.  I thought Naomi Watts was great in it and portrayed a pretty interesting character with probably a different perspective than most during this particular time.  I don't want to say too much about it in case Sun_Worshiper still has it in the queue.  I'd really like to hear Wahoo's more detailed take on it as well!

The next night was Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, which I originally agreed to under duress but which I really enjoyed.  I am not a D&D person (did play in elementary school, though!), but luckily you don't have to be.  It's very fun throughout and hilarious at times.  If there were another movie released with this cast and group of characters, I'd watch it, and we'll probably buy this one (we watched on Prime, where it's currently free!). 

We watched Leave the World Behind (Julia Roberts, Mahershaba Ali, Ethan Hawke, Kevin Bacon). It just came out on Netflix. I haven't read the book, but the word is that the book is much better than the movie. The deal is that a wealthy and not entirely likeable couple go to a vacation house and while they're there the world implodes mysteriously. Reportedly in the book the mystery of the apocalypse is at the right level of mysteriousness, but in the movie it becomes kind of ludicrous. Hundreds of deer staring at them mystically and so on. Julia Roberts does her best and Mahershaba Ali is good as always, but some of the other performances are lacking. But mainly it goes on way too long and just becomes tiresome and exasperating.

Quote from: Hegemony on December 11, 2023, 05:40:57 PMWe watched Leave the World Behind (Julia Roberts, Mahershaba Ali, Ethan Hawke, Kevin Bacon). It just came out on Netflix. I haven't read the book, but the word is that the book is much better than the movie. The deal is that a wealthy and not entirely likeable couple go to a vacation house and while they're there the world implodes mysteriously. Reportedly in the book the mystery of the apocalypse is at the right level of mysteriousness, but in the movie it becomes kind of ludicrous. Hundreds of deer staring at them mystically and so on. Julia Roberts does her best and Mahershaba Ali is good as always, but some of the other performances are lacking. But mainly it goes on way too long and just becomes tiresome and exasperating.

I agree that it is a bit slow, but I liked it nevertheless. It has stayed with me over the last few days as well. I'd give it a B+

Watched Leave the World Behind last night. It would have been better if the musical score had not been so over the top foreboding. It was like being hit with the proverbial CHE clue-bat that bad things were happening! I did rather enjoy Julia Roberts playing someone rather unlikeable.

Quote from: Hegemony on December 11, 2023, 05:40:57 PMWe watched Leave the World Behind (Julia Roberts, Mahershaba Ali, Ethan Hawke, Kevin Bacon). It just came out on Netflix. I haven't read the book, but the word is that the book is much better than the movie. The deal is that a wealthy and not entirely likeable couple go to a vacation house and while they're there the world implodes mysteriously. Reportedly in the book the mystery of the apocalypse is at the right level of mysteriousness, but in the movie it becomes kind of ludicrous. Hundreds of deer staring at them mystically and so on. Julia Roberts does her best and Mahershaba Ali is good as always, but some of the other performances are lacking. But mainly it goes on way too long and just becomes tiresome and exasperating.

This is one of the few times I liked the movie better than the novel from which it was adapted, even though the movie is ~ 30 minutes too long. Maybe it's because I prefer visual to textual depictions of American self-absorption and cluelessness.

Side note: on the the piece of paper that Clay brings back, the second word is misspelled. But maybe that's part of the disinformation strategy.

I am intrigued by this movie you all are discussing and am putting it on the list.

We watched Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and Ocean's Thirteen this weekend as a last hurrah before some holiday stressors.  This MI was our favorite so far.  I think that other than #2, they just keep getting better.  It was legit funny at times and had plenty of action and the typical stunts galore.  I liked how the whole thing came together at the end.  As for the latter movie, those zero of you who wait with bated breath for each weekend's movie reviews might have noticed that we skipped 12.  Usually we wouldn't do that, but my husband and the reviews indicated that it wasn't such a great entry (I have seen it but as usual have forgotten it), so we just moved on to 13 since there wasn't necessary material.  I like these movies, but even more than in the first one there is too much going on.  Too many people, too many little schemes to follow, too many scheme names that sound like people's names.  It's better to pull back and just let things flow and not worry too much about the details in order to enjoy it.

After Christmas and guest, we will probably watch some holiday favorites (e.g., Love Actually, Elf, The Holiday, The Ref, some Muppet and animated specials) and then get back to some older movies, musicals, and "serious" films.

Winter's Bone (2010; streaming on Amazon Prime)

Somewhere in the Ozarks, a meth dealer in trouble with the law puts his house up as bond and then proceeds to disappear. Only problem is that his family - two daughters and son, plus mentally ill wife - are still living there and are otherwise utterly poor. The eldest daughter, who is effectively the matriarch of the family, searches for him through the local criminal network in hopes of convincing him to show up for court.

This was Jennifer Lawrence's breakout performance and it is easy to see why: she is onscreen for almost the entire runtime and seems fully committed to the role. The rest of the cast is quite good also, with most being lesser known character actors, but Lawrence carries the film. The portrayals of poverty and hopelessness in rural America are quite convincing and the relationships among the integrated criminal/family network are interesting. It should also be said that there is not a lot of plot and the pace is pretty slow, so it did.

Grade: A-

Quote from: ab_grp on December 11, 2023, 05:24:53 PMOkay, we have watched The Wolf Hour! I went back to look at what Wahoo said about it, and I guess we are somewhere in the middle.  I definitely would not give it a 1, but I wouldn't give it a 10.  I think I'm probably around a 6.5 or 7 with it, though I am still not sure I fully "get it" and am still thinking about what transpired.  I can't understand reviewers being bored by it or even leaving midway through.  And I agree that it's a psychological thriller or drama, not a horror movie.  I thought Naomi Watts was great in it and portrayed a pretty interesting character with probably a different perspective than most during this particular time.  I don't want to say too much about it in case Sun_Worshiper still has it in the queue.  I'd really like to hear Wahoo's more detailed take on it as well!

So glad you watched it.  I've been checking this thread. 

Structurally it is very interesting.  If you parse the plot points you'd find the traditional three-act structure, but the ordering of events is deliberately disorienting at first watch (the turning point in the character's life seems like a throw away scene) which is fresh air to those of us who watch lots of movies and get tired of the same'ol hackneyed formula.

It is a movie with deceptive complexity about race relations----you have to think about character motivations, and the characters are complex, another breath of fresh air.  We aren't left with some sentimental 'we're-all-the-same-under-the-skin' unrealistic ideal of New York City in the 1970s; the movie challenges us to think of these characters as real people living in a very unfair world with a nod to family dysfunction and the scars of mental illness.  Nevertheless, like Spike Lee's movies, there is a crucial moment when our black and white characters reach an imperfect human connection, even if it is not a beautiful, silly, sacarine moment like we are used to seeing---again, it is complex.

And this is also part of The Wolf Hour: it is a movie about that infamous period in New York's history in which the city teetered on chaos and race relations were particularly violent.  It belongs with movies of the '70s New York dystopia such as Midnight Cowboy, Taxi Driver, Rosemary's Baby, and The Summer of Sam----all classics which are often misunderstood.

Most interestingly, given the subject matter and the evocation of the era, is that The Wolf Hour is actually a redemption story perched right on the verge of New York's reclamation.  The main character heals herself imperfectly as the city is beginning to heal itself imperfectly; you have to pay attention to the symbolism, which is a little heavy-handed (which is part of its melodrama) to get this.

Finally, The Wolf Hour simply has great performances and nice technical filmmaking in a really good story.  Naomi Watts gets most of her traction from the horror genre, which is part of why I thought this was a horror film when I clicked on it, but here she gets to actually act.  She does a good Steppenwolf worthy performance.  And the film is very atmospheric; their production designer, lighting crew, and director of photography knew their stuff.

Anyway, I could dish for a while about this film.  Thanks for taking the suggestion.   

Sun_Worshiper, I was impressed with Winter's Bone and with Jennifer Lawrence's performance in it when I first saw it pre-Hunger Games, and it held up years later.  Especially given that it was her first major role! Tough material, and she handled it and portrayed the bleakness and complexity very well.


Thanks, Wahoo! That is quite an analysis and a very interesting read.  Lots to think about! Maybe it's a small point, but I was wondering about the two interview scenes and whether they are meant to be a parallel, and what that means if so.  It seems as though they are, but I am not sure that I have figured out exactly what they were implying.  Or, I might be reading too much into that aspect.  And I was focused more on the irony (?) of her finally making her move at what must have been one of the worst times to do so, and why.  I think I fail to see beneath the surface and to understand the context a lot of times when I watch movies, so I always appreciate hearing other interpretations and background info.

Quote from: ab_grp on December 18, 2023, 08:32:48 AMSun_Worshiper, I was impressed with Winter's Bone and with Jennifer Lawrence's performance in it when I first saw it pre-Hunger Games, and it held up years later.  Especially given that it was her first major role! Tough material, and she handled it and portrayed the bleakness and complexity very well.


Thanks, Wahoo! That is quite an analysis and a very interesting read.  Lots to think about! Maybe it's a small point, but I was wondering about the two interview scenes and whether they are meant to be a parallel, and what that means if so.  It seems as though they are, but I am not sure that I have figured out exactly what they were implying.  Or, I might be reading too much into that aspect.  And I was focused more on the irony (?) of her finally making her move at what must have been one of the worst times to do so, and why.  I think I fail to see beneath the surface and to understand the context a lot of times when I watch movies, so I always appreciate hearing other interpretations and background info.

I think the interview scenes were partly just expository----we learn that June was once a prominent author in the first interview, and then we find out that she has returned to prominence in her second interview.  The form an envelope for the plot.  But they are also a sign of the times----one used to see just those sort of static interview formats with a slightly arrogant, punctilious host, usually an older white male (think Charlie Rose before the scandal), on TV all the time.  And they serve to show how June is willing to milk her family's psychological problems as fodder for her novels: she is a creation of the Confessional moment in literature, rightly or wrongly.

And sure, the script has a lot of irony in it.  It's a good script in that June is given all sorts of timelines to keep from literally going insane----she's out of money (she gives her last $50 to Freddie), her agent is no longer taking her calls, her agoraphobia is crippling her, her family have given up on her, and she is facing homelessness and ruination unless she gets her manuscript out into the world.  Her move coincides with the infamous NYC blackout of '77 and its riots.  When June mistakes one African-American man for Freddie and runs to his aid (you got that June, despite her good-nature and real humanity, cannot tell one black man from another during a moment of crisis) she is forced out of her apartment...and this saves her life.  The things holding her down are broken.  That's several levels of irony right there.

You know, I have never seen Winter's Bone.  Gotta see it, I guess.