What movies are you watching?

[epilogue]

yeah, i was also disappointed back in the day, and i think mainly because i read the book, and the movie was different. I have to watch it again too.

Did you like the book? I've never read it. But maybe I'll give that a go.

[VinylGuy]

yeah, i was also disappointed back in the day, and i think mainly because i read the book, and the movie was different. I have to watch it again too.

Did you like the book? I've never read it. But maybe I'll give that a go.

I loved the book. First Ellroy book i got maybe? I was a big fan.

[epilogue]

yeah, i was also disappointed back in the day, and i think mainly because i read the book, and the movie was different. I have to watch it again too.

Did you like the book? I've never read it. But maybe I'll give that a go.

I loved the book. First Ellroy book i got maybe? I was a big fan.

Nice. I'll have to check that out.

[The Argonaut]

if any of you have criterion, you should really watch Little Murders before it's removed at the end of the month. one of my favorites comedies of all time.

Gotta say, I didn't like this one. Nothing about it really rose it above other silly/absurd comedies of the seventies. Great directors like Elaine May or Robert Altman did similar things but pulled them off well, creating an absurd little universe for the movie to operate in, whereas this one just felt like one long affectation. Certainly there are some funny bits and ideas in there, but most of it is not funny to me and every single joke is dragged out. Half the humor in the movie seems to be that an absurd situation is lasting a long time and I felt most of it to be immediately annoying more than funny so it just made the whole experience a little painful and tiresome. Not into Little Murders, sorry.

[The Argonaut]

I've been thinking about it and actually, I think that Little Murders might just be one of the worst movies that I've ever seen. The first couple minutes of the Donald Sutherland speech and the opportunity to spend an hour and a half looking at Elliott Gould's pretty face are its only redeeming qualities

[Malloy]

that's a bummer, argo. i adore the three/four monologues that undergird the movie. you're right to compare this effort to the films from the best black comedy filmmaker of that decade, elaine may. as a film, it can't hang with her pictures. but those monologues and their delivery are excellent.

also, i do think that there is something radical, even dialectical, about the ending. carol's pleading for his freedom in the face of public crisis -- incomprehensible violence, crime, inequality -- is simultaneously also a capitulation to authoritarianism, even fascism. when carol brings out the rifle at the end, there's absurdity there, sure. but the absurdity provides cover for the film's invocation of rosa luxemburg's famous slogan, as alfred falls in with carol, and as they both fall back into barbarism.

[The Argonaut]

I'm sure it's my own fault. I'm too much of a dumb-dumb for this type of movie

[Malloy]

I'm sure it's my own fault. I'm too much of a dumb-dumb for this type of movie

we both know that isn’t the case.

no kidding — i made my grandparents watch the cut on youtube sometime in october, and was let down. i still love the parts i loved when i first saw the movie, but it doesn’t cohere in the way great movies do. and visually it’s not interesting. the fact, an obvious one, is this is an adaptation of a play. and arkin didn’t bring much to the movie that jules feiffer hadn’t already made available .

[The Argonaut]

This may be an odd thing for a person who watches two or three hours of movies and TV every day to say, but I really hate acting. Actually, I don't know if that's true. Live theatre drives me nuts, so maybe it's a certain style of acting that I hate. I appreciate certain elements of performances in movies, even performances that call attention to themselves a little by being more cinematic than natural or whatever. But most of the time I don't enjoy feeling like I'm watching people act.

That's how I felt through all of Little Murders, with the exception of Elliott Gould who just had his natural insouciant charm act turned on, as usual. The only other one that transcended it was Sutherland, otherwise, like I said, it felt like one long affectation. Alan Arkin was the worst offender, because you could tell he was really trying so hard

[Malloy]

This may be an odd thing for a person who watches two or three hours of movies and TV every day to say, but I really hate acting. Actually, I don't know if that's true. Live theatre drives me nuts, so maybe it's a certain style of acting that I hate. I appreciate certain elements of performances in movies, even performances that call attention to themselves a little by being more cinematic than natural or whatever. But most of the time I don't enjoy feeling like I'm watching people act.

That's how I felt through all of Little Murders, with the exception of Elliott Gould who just had his natural insouciant charm act turned on, as usual. The only other one that transcended it was Sutherland, otherwise, like I said, it felt like one long affectation. Alan Arkin was the worst offender, because you could tell he was really trying so hard

im generally not unsympathetic to this position. michael friend’s concept of theatrically addresses these issues, and he’s totally right , as far as i can tell. i don’t think arkin’s performance necessarily counts.

[lennytheweedwhacker]

I feel like this belongs in the taking quotes out of context thread.

i made my grandparents watch

[lennytheweedwhacker]

This may be an odd thing for a person who watches two or three hours of movies and TV every day to say, but I really hate acting. Actually, I don't know if that's true. Live theatre drives me nuts, so maybe it's a certain style of acting that I hate. I appreciate certain elements of performances in movies, even performances that call attention to themselves a little by being more cinematic than natural or whatever. But most of the time I don't enjoy feeling like I'm watching people act.

That's how I felt through all of Little Murders, with the exception of Elliott Gould who just had his natural insouciant charm act turned on, as usual. The only other one that transcended it was Sutherland, otherwise, like I said, it felt like one long affectation. Alan Arkin was the worst offender, because you could tell he was really trying so hard

At first I thought this was a really weird take, but I see where you're coming from on the more cinematic than natural aspect. For me I think that just depends on the type movie, role, or whatever though.

[BurtReynolds]

Watched French Dispatch. I'm not a huge Wes Anderson fan, but this one was... Alright. Definitely too twee but he's also doing some new things here.

[lennytheweedwhacker]

Watched French Dispatch. I'm not a huge Wes Anderson fan, but this one was... Alright. Definitely too twee but he's also doing some new things here.

I'm a huge Wes Anderson fan and this one was...alright. Which story was your favorite?

[BurtReynolds]

Watched French Dispatch. I'm not a huge Wes Anderson fan, but this one was... Alright. Definitely too twee but he's also doing some new things here.

I'm a huge Wes Anderson fan and this one was...alright. Which story was your favorite?

probably the first one? Second was pretty good, too. The third was pretty light. Felt unfinished or something.

[Strat]

The Last Duel.

This was surprisingly quite entertaining. Takes a bit to warm up to Ben Affleck and Damon in these roles and ridiculous haircuts but they played the characters really well.

I loved the approach to the story as well. The editing for each "Chapter" is subtle but quite impactful in telling the story from each different perspective.

Final Dual was excellent.

[Anders]

The Kid Detective

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[Anders]

The Kid Detective

thoughts on this one?

About halfway through. Enjoying it. Looking forward to seeing where it will end up.