Saw Free Solo with DH yesterday. An amazing, beautifully shot documentary that had me riveted (and sweaty-palmed) for the entire movie. The climbing part was incredible, but the personal story of Alex Honnold was also fascinating to me, especially since I clearly have way more fear than he does!
Last night we streamed Roma on Netflix. Another beautifully filmed movie, very quiet, but I loved it. The woman who played the nanny/housekeeper was wonderful.
And finally, this afternoon we watched The Rider. Unbelievably affecting movie based on a real rodeo rider–not a documentary, but it starred the actual rider as well as his family and other riders. I would highly recommend it.
We saw Can You Ever Forgive Me last night. Excellent film, enjoyed it much more than I expected to actually. Melissa McCarthy is great, as is Richard E. Grant, an actor I have always found very interesting.
Looks like They Shall Not Grow Old will be back in theaters this weekend. I highly recommend seeing the beautifully restored footage if the film is showing in your neighborhood and would get tickets ASAP as screenings having been selling out.
I really enjoyed Can You Ever Forgive Me. Both Melissa McCarthy and Richard Grant gave great performances.
I just saw that the documentary Generation Wealth will be available on Amazon Feb. 1. It’s a documentary that makes for great discussion. I saw it last year at a film festival and the three of us who went to see it, spent the evening discussing the film and the topics raised. The filmmaker was at the festival for a Q and A.
Anyone who goes to see They Shall Not Grow Old, make sure you stay for Peter Jackson’s really fascinating talk afterwards. My sister and BIL went to see the movie and left before Jackson appeared on screen–it’s after the credits. They didn’t realize that it was going to happen. Definitely adds to the experience.
Saw Second Act and Green Book. The former an entertaining comedy with JLo in her elements. The latter is Oscar-worthy but is a docudrama, not a documentary, so the liberties taken are to be expected. Viggo and Ali are co-leads and had great chemistry. A pro played the piano, tho.
I saw The Favorite today. The three actresses are phenomenal. I enjoyed it all the more having loved “The First Churchills” which was a Masterpiece Theater production in the early 1970s so I knew all the characters. It does that thing with deliberate anachronisms that you can either love or hate. I think I do both at the same time. Despite the liberties they take, more of it is true that you would think.
If you want unsettling, disturbing, traumatizing, nightmare-inducing films where young boys are in peril, the Oscar Shorts Live Action will be right up your alley. 4 of the 5 fall in this category. Seriously considered walking out … and I normally have a fairly thick skin. H woke up this morning saying he was still haunted by the films.
Can’t even tell who should get the Oscar as I am still trembling…and I know that the one of the five that wasn’t jarring (Marguerite) won’t get Oscar because it was too calm. But it was a lovely, tender.
With trepidation, I went to Oscar Shorts Documentaries today. Two were unsettling…but not to the rough, anxiety level of the Live Action.
Loved Period. End of Sentence. (and also how it came to be, thanks partially to a school in Southern CA)
While I didn’t “love” End Game due to the subject matter, it was excellent…and my vote for the Oscar.
Just saw “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” on PBS. It made me cry, and it really made me miss Mr. Rogers (whom I didn’t really appreciate when I was younger.)
We watched “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” last night. It was very well done and Melissa McCarthy was great. She can really act. It was, however, depressingly sad. Can’t say that I enjoyed it.
Finally got to see “They Shall Not Grow Old” and was not disappointed. One thing I noticed was how interested the subjects were in being filmed (Jackson comments on this in his talk after the credits). Most of them had never seen a motion picture camera before and they seemed to get a kick out of the fact that they were “going to be in the pictures.” They were right! Also, in a few of the scenes, you see groups of soldiers about to go “over the top.” Surprisingly, many of the men are smiling and joking (false bravado, or perhaps a coping mechanism?). However, with a few of them, you can very much see the look of fear in their faces. I’ve often thought about how terrifying it must have been to know that in a few minutes time, you were to face a hail of bullets and shrapnel and could well end up killed or maimed. In this film, you can see that terror for real.
I saw the Lebanese foreign language Oscar nominee Capernaum (“chaos” in Arabic) last night. It’s about a boy in Beruit born into poverty who runs away from his abusive parents and ultimately ends up in jail. Told in flashback, it is heartbreaking and powerful. The main actor, Zain Al Rafeea, is astounding. He is Syrian and was just 12 when the film was shot. One of those films that’s hard to get out of your head.
@Barbalot that sounds really good. Those that have seen “They shall not grow old” watch "Journey’s End on Amazon. Boy it really shows the mental strain, depression, anxiety the soldiers faced.