Justthefacts

If I had a tequila shot for every hero that dies in "Infinity War", how many shots would I have? And would I die if I had that many shots?

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MicShazam

Watched no less than two Robin Hood movies that I've never seen before today.

Robin and Marian (1976)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075147/


Really strange take on Robin Hood. Sean Connery plays an aging Robin that comes home from the Crusades to England, many years after first doing all the things that made him a legend. Turns out to be more of a movie about Robin and Marian having husband and wife squabbles and acting a bit weird. I couldn't really believe in these characters. Their motivations make no sense to me.
EDIT: I should mention that the opening 20 minutes that take place in the Middle East somewhere a very much worth watching. It was down hill from there, sadly.



Robin Hood (1991)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_..._British_film)


This one was thankfully excellent! Best Robin Hood movie I've seen. Took a slightly unconventional approach to the story, where the major beats are familiar, but several things are different as well. Despite some occasional slapstick, it's a more mature movie than Robin Hood tales usually are. The motivations behind the actions that lead to Robin Hood and John being declared lawless are more complex than the usual good vs evil story you would expect from a Robin Hood movie, and the relationship between Robin and the main bad guy is interesting.

The guy who plays Robin is also very good and there's several charismatic characters. Uma Thurman as Marion being among them.

Very recommended.

The Batlord

Just watched Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer for the first time and it was about what I'd thought it would be. It was a combination of a true crime dramatization and horror movie, except it was really about what true crime dramatizations are about. Nobody watches true crime for information, they watch them to vicariously experience the worst of humanity to justify some unseemly desire to see the worst of our race. True crime dramatizations are exploitation for the masses with the appearance of being informational so that the viewers can pretend that's not what they wanted in the first place, but for the sake of respectability they refuse to look like anything other than a documentary so you never quite get that feeling that they honestly are going for. You're being masturbated without being allowed to ***.

Except this is a real movie with surreal depictions of murder and horribleness and it's upfront about it so you know you're being touched, but the confrontational nature of the exploitation doesn't jerk you off either. It just looks you in the eye while it molests you so you feel dirty and empty just like how a true crime documentary does while doing what they do to the logical conclusion so that you feel like you're watching something you shouldn't be watching, cause tbh you shouldn't be watching any of this. I respect that and feel exactly how I should feel and if I weren't already in a mood to read about serial killers I might try to rationalize it somehow, but why do that when I think I've gotten what I should have gotten and feel like the dregs of society?

So I'm gonna drink more and read more about bad people and feel hollow and think about how this whole experience reflects on me as a person. Good movie.

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MicShazam

Being a big film geek, it's a bit weird that there are several important directors whose movies I have never watched. I got a few movies recently, made my Ingmar Bergman (probably the most important Swedish director ever) and François Truffaut (one of the biggest in French cinema history). There are so many more directors that I need to catch up to, but I'm starting with those two for now.

Watched Ingmar Bergman's "Sawdust and Tinsel" late today. I'm really surprised by how much I liked it.

Sawdust and Tinsel (1953) (US title)

The above picture is the Danish version that I've got. The Danish title roughly translates to "Night of the Carnies". The cover of this version makes it look curiously like a B-movie, which it isn't at all.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045848...=m_nmfmd_dr_57

It's about the leader of a circus of outcasts with lots of lice and no money. As with many drama movies, it's a bit hard to say what it's about without spoiling important scenes. So broadly put, it's about the safe life versus life on the road. It's about the past and people changing with time. And it's about strongly conflicting emotions between people - not least lovers and former lovers.

Tensions rise and things get pretty crazy near the end of the movie. I felt several very different strong emotions while watching this movie. Sets my expectations pretty high for other Bergman movies. Luckily, he's got a pretty sizeable filmography.

Damned impressive performances as well. There were several actors and actresses here that I'd love to see in some more movies. Which would require me to see some more Swedish 50's cinema. With a bit of luck, some of these actors figure in other Bergman movies.

Justthefacts

Just watched The Death Of Stalin. If anyone wanted to know how much of bastard Stalin and his cronies were, look no further than this hilariously told satire. Armando Iannucci, who directed In The Loop (another satirical farce), has made his masterpiece with this film.

As if anyone didn't know how garbage Stalin was and the people he chose to have around him, this is perfect little film about the people who backstabbed their way to come into power after he died. All the while no one's head of Government while all this is happening.

Biting satire hardly gets better than this.

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Goofle

Iannucci is a genius. His best work is The Thick of It if you haven't seen it. He also has a completely lesser known show called The Armando Iannucci Shows which is pretty good.

And I need to watch that movie.

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MicShazam

^ I missed a free showing of the Death of Stalin a couple weeks ago :/


Watched a couple movies today:

Interview
A movie made by Steve Buscemi. He plays a jorunalist that interviews a celebrity and it's sort of a ping-pong where it's not clear who is putting on who until the end. Pretty good. Not sure I can see him making a masterpiece. Not based on this. But it was a solid attempt at making an interesting movie.

Also watched Atomic Blonde. Complete crap from top to bottom. Nearly unwatchable. Must have been one of the worst movies of 2017. I felt like it was probably going to be bad. Not sure why I watched it, actually? Maybe just to ogle Charlize Theron.

Frownland

Trees Lounge had some great characters but a very firmly late 90s indie flick plot.

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Trollheart

Battle of Britain (1969). Tosh, but entertaining tosh, and for once a war film with hardly any Hitler. Big names in it too - Laurence Olivier (before the knighthood), Michael Caine, Ian MacShane, Robert Shaw, Christopher Plummer, Trevor Howard, Susannah York. Low-level brain power required but it does give a good insight into how close the Germans came to achieving the invasion of England.

One very good scene stood out to me: a load of German pilots sitting down to dinner, having taken pretty catastrophic losses recently. No dialogue, hardly any sound. Camera focusses on one empty chair, and his mate looks glumly at the chair too. End scene. Thought that was very well done.

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Justthefacts

Revenge is an absolute grisly, gritty, greasy, splatploitation flick made by none other than the masters of gooey extreme horror, the French. These people seriously fucked with the wrong chick.

So basically this beautiful blond girl takes a vacay with a married man and a couple of his bumbling friends and long story short girl gets raped, girl gets revenge. Absolutely fucking brutal, disgustingly bloody. Probably the bloodiest film of 2018 so far and all the better for it.

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