What MOVIE(s) have you been....seeing? watching?

I watched The Green Knight on the weekend.

This is one of those movies that those who love will really, really love it and regard it as a masterpiece, but many people will hate it and find it one of the worst films they have ever seen.

It is slow and ponderous. Really fucking slow. Complete antithesis of current action Hollywood like the Marvel movies. Minimal dialog and pretty much no action. Anyone wanting a rollicking Arthurian tale will be bored out of their skulls. If you have seen the director David Lowery's "A Ghost Story" it is similar in tone and pace, or "The VVitch" or "2001" for other example of a slow ponderous genre movies.

But this movie, to me, was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. Several times I found myself gasping at the beauty of a shot or a transition. It is probably the best framed movie I have ever seen. I regret having seen it on a tv and wish cinemas were open here so I could see it on a big screen.

In discussing it beforehand my Gen Z daughter told me she hated the original legend as it was just about toxic masculinity and a dick measuring contest. So she was put off and had no interest, and I am glad she was as she wouldn't have coped with the pace. But she was right, and I think that the film took the right tone and veered from the legend in the right places, and showed that trying to be the biggest baddest dude in the room isn't all it is cracked up to be and there will be consequences.

I did really love this film, and it is probably one of the best two (along with The Father) I have seen this year.

Saying the Arthurian legends is "toxic masculinity" is an interesting take. Which versions has she read? Though I suppose pulling 3 feet of sharpened rod out of a tightly clasping orifice as a determination of the right to rule isn't so subtle

I'm holding out on The Green Knight for a reasonably priced rental. These kinds of films can go either way for me, I'm hoping I can carve out an uninterrupted period of time, a nice glass of whisky, and give it a proper go. I'm hoping this is more like Aronofsky and less like Winding Refn.

Justice League Dark (2017) was an okay animated movie, apparently from much of the same creative team that did Constantine: City of Demons. Seems to be in the same continuity, at least. Matt Ryan is back playing John Constantine, and there are other high-profile actors in the mix, including Rosario Dawson as Wonder Woman and Jerry O'Connell as Superman. The basic concept is that Batman recruits a team that can deal with supernatural threats, in order to battle a specific supernatural threat. The story is good, and does a particularly nice job presenting the origin of the Demon, aka Etrigan aka Jason Blood. The characterization of most of the characters is solid, and John Constantine is the star of the show in most scenes. There is an ongoing tension between Constantine's cynicism and Batman's heroism, and the story ends on a positive note. Though less gory than Constantine: City of Demons, this movie is still R-rated for violence.

There were some things that I didn't like about JLD. Batman's rationale for forming this team seems thin, as it directly follows a Justice League meeting where he dismisses the possibility of a supernatural threat as delusional ravings from unreliable witnesses. Then he leaves the meeting and completely flips to the opposite viewpoint and recruits his new team. Another problem is that magic is depicted as extremely flashy, to point where it looked like video game graphics instead of supernatural activity. In one fight scene, Constantine spams out more fireballs than the Human Torch, though Constantine is traditionally depicted as more of a trickster with a bit of low-end practical magic powers. Zatanna looks as lovely as ever, but her powers are mostly changed from wishes spoken backwards to general high-end spell-casting. Black Orchid's very distinctive and pretty costume is dispensed with a boring outfit of purple tights, purple skin, and purple eyes.

Yeah, JLD occupies an odd place for DC. I figure Batman was just doing the "super prep" thing where he spends 100% of effort on a .1% probability threat 'cause he has unlimited time and no kids waking him up at 3 am. That is the "10th man" rule embodied in one person I suppose.

But like you, I would prefer magic with no budget, no flash. Kinda like that old Scanners film, the actors just grimace at each other and the music does all the heavy lifting in convincing the audience that something psychic is going on. Magic shouldn't just be a proxy for mutant powers/sun powers, golem powers, or whatever when the end result is just more smashy smashy.

I think the next in line for you is gonna be the JLD:Apocalips War movie I mentioned a ways back as it also lives in that continuity. Though I think there is at least one non-JLD JLA film in between.

And Zatanna is the most criminally underused DC hero IMHO. They always turn to Raven or Constantine for "magicky/demon" stuff but she ought to be a more viable resource.

And if you are a fan of Etrigan, the amazon show "Invincible" does a great send up of that character.

I got partway through the JLD: Apokolips War movie last night, but it was getting late so I decided to exit before the halfway mark. Apparently it is the finale of an entire product line of 16 or so DC animated movies, so maybe I should watch more those first. I have seen one Teen Titans movie that seems to fit this continuity, and maybe that Deathstroke movie as well. The rest probably include a Suicide Squad movie, at least one normal JLA movie, and probably at least one each for Batman and Superman.

One drawback of watching multiple DC shows right now is that they seem to take place in several different continuities. Titans and Doom Patrol seem to be in their own shared space. Star Girl might be a standalone setting. There was the whole Arrowverse that includes at least three different realities, plus Black Lightning off to the side. Then there is the Timmverse, and a completely separate animated setting for the shows leading up to Apokolips War, as well as Harley Quinn and also The Brave and the Bold. And then there are the ones that I am ignoring for now, including the Snyderverse movies and Gotham. That's at least 11 different DC universes. Holy crisis on infinite earths, Batman!

It wouldn't bother me so much if there was an easy way to align them properly. I kinda like that DC isn't afraid to run parallel stories, but the titles give you little indication of how they fit together. With like 12 different streaming services out there NOT ONE lets you build or import playlists!

Heck, this month I would pay good money for halloween movie playlists. Plenty of folks out there that could curate the quality ones and just let me blast through them without having to deal with the messy front end interface.

HBOMax put up a Halloween playlist late last week, but it is literally at least 50% movies about witches, which makes me suspect that they will be changing this list on a weekly basis during October.

jason10mm wrote: Saying the Arthurian legends is "toxic masculinity" is an interesting take. Which versions has she read? Though I suppose pulling 3 feet of sharpened rod out of a tightly clasping orifice as a determination of the right to rule isn't so subtle

It was the nature of the Christmas Game that put her off. "Who in this room is brave enough to face me, knowing I will do back to you what you do to me?" Why do the knights have to stab/kill/etc someone to prove they are the bravest? She said the bravest one would be the one who de-escalated the situation, gave the Green Knight a gentle tap with their sword and walked away, with everyone retaining their dignity, honour and health.

Saw I'm Your Man.

dichotomouspurity.blogspot.com/2021/10/t...ng-remains-same.html

Great stuff.

Watched No Time To Die. It was a great 2 acts with a really really really sloppy emotional third act. Well shot film with pretty action but everything is too long. Too many plots, too many dangling threads but paradoxically too much focus and resolution of previous Craig bond films at the expense of NTTD characters.

Very curious where they go from here. Can't see anything other than a total reboot of everything to avoid invalidating the craig series.

The movie run time ( 2:45 ) is long enough that I'm really on the fence about seeing it in theater vs just waiting til it hits streaming.

Gotta say, a 50 year old bladder and a couple of beers meant I had to bug out for a little intermission. Fortunately the back third of the film is so nonsensical and full of repetitive action that nothing was missed.

Continuing my run through the MCU with the spawn, one movie every Friday night.

Last night was THE WINTER SOLDIER. First time I’ve seen it since the original theater run. What a freaking masterpiece. I think it’s easily the high point of the entire MCU. I love the other movies too, probably even like some of them more. But in terms of cinema, this is just such a treat. The pacing, the plotting, the acting, it all just comes together.

Saw the new James Bond movie at the cinema, Lots of Time to Die. It was quite good, but man the DUNE trailer!

I am so hype for the Dune film.

I can't remember the last time i was genuinely excited for a film to come out, as most modern films suck.

It might be a massive disappointment, but I must not fear, because fear is the mind killer.



Bond was quite long. The Daniel Craig films do have marginally more depth to them than the older eras perhaps, but i think its over sold. I sort of think Bond films are a bit like the conservative party. We are always told they've cleaned up and modernised. The white chauvinist pig days are over, this is a new more sensitive bond. But then the camera rolls and James winks at the camera because the sleaze is what you came for baby. We've been pretending we are moving on since at least Golden Eye.