It’s my understanding that it was some drug (that Felix would have made available) to make this an overdose rather than a suspicious death. And it would work to set up Felix whose continued requests for money and that auction thing would have already started to make him unwelcome. But consistency in this film seems a lot to ask for, so who knows if I’m right?
If you like Wes Anderson, you’ll like Henry Sugar. It’s quirky, but fun. And quirky. A little too odd for Mrs. ricepad’s tastes, but she stuck with it because she likes Benedict Cumberbunny. I liked it because I have an offbeat sense of humor.
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Well, that’s a given with Wes Anderson.
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Eh, but I do love “Cumberbunny” (and the rest of the cast is solid, that’s usually a Wes +).
(The potential caricaturization of the India aspect gave me pause, as I have little patience for that anymore.)
Quirky but fun is a good rec, thank you
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It was disastrous that way, and I dislike loosey-goosey plotting.
Dachra, a Tunisian scary movie/horror flick w/subtitles that was entertaining (the bickering and squabbling between the cousins) and creepy (the other stuff).
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Watched it. It was alright. But I felt it boring. It breaks the fourth wall too many times. To the extent that it feels like reading a dull book.
But I am not a film critic. Maybe the film takes the Brechtian theatre to the next level. Only an expert will know.
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Don’t sell yourself short: everybody is a critic, because everybody has an opinion, and you’re just as entitled to it as somebody that gets paid to share their opinions. Professional critics rave about a lot of things I think are insipid.
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Exactly. I viscerally dislike Wes Anderson - he’s just too fucking precious for my taste (save for very few exceptions), and the latest Asteroid City was downright torture - in that I honestly don’t know why we watched it to the end.
And yet, many of my friends absolutely adore him & love exactly what I hate about his style. Neither opinion is more valid. It’s just an opinion of many, as you said.
I didn’t know who he was. I googled and I have watched The Grand Budapest Hotel, which I seem to remember I enjoyed.
I like a lot of his work. Especially the animated stuff, like Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs.
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Those I actually enjoyed- Isle of Dogs more than the other.
By the by, missing @Lectroid’s movie reviews here.
Well, it’s either a divine “Ask, and ye shall receive”, or a more sinister “Speak of the devil, and he shall appear…”
Poor Things (2023) Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos
Oh, you have to go see this.
An utterly strange Frankenstein dark comedy with feminist and sexual liberation themes, which, while they aren’t QUITE as clever and profound and they might think, serve to give a base for an absolutely riveting and captivating performance by Emma Stone as an infant born into an adult body that must navigate societal expectations as well as her own growth to become a whole person.
Also worth a lot of mention is the film’s absolutely stunning art direction and design. Stone’s costumes give her a a look somewhere between a couture model, an angel, and a four year old who insists on combining her cowboy boots, princess tutu, and fairy wings for a trip to the mall. There’s a weird, otherworldly, steam-punk flaired edge to the proceedings, fantasy set design (look out for phallic and yonic symbols all throughout the architecture) and astonishing vehicles to Willem Dafoe’s disturbing but masterful facial prosthetics.
If you’re familiar with Lanthimos’ oeuvre, this is much more in line with his most recent The Favourite (also with Stone, and featuring an Oscar-winning performance by the always wonderful Olivia Coleman), rather than his much MUCH darker slate of previous films, from Dogtooth (2009) to Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017). Even his ‘lighter’ fair, such as The Lobster, still have moments of absolutely pitch black humor, as well elements of violence of varying levels of explicitness. Poor Things is no exception.
But this is undoubtedly Lanthimos’ most positive film, its colors and style and Stone’s performance whisking us along over weighty themes and, for once, much more concerned with the happier end of the “sex and violence” equation.
Lanthimos is one of those directors where you are all but guaranteed to see something you have not seen before. Something genuinely new and different. That’s precious these days. Go check this out in the theater if you still can.
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Men was one of those films where I was all on edge and uncomfortable right up to the end, where the last act spun my head so thoroughly my neck was sore for days.
And the more I thought about it, the more the ending worked, which was impressive, but not the least bit unexpected, given it’s an Alex Garland film.
I highly suggest checking out Ex-Machina and Annihilation.
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Watched them. Liked them. I’ll check out Poor Things once it’s streaming 
Also, thank you for the mention. Shit has been real, (as the kids probably no longer say), what with the WGA/SAG leading to layoffs, mom finally going to assisted living, as well as some (thankfully) minor health incidents. All of which to say, the last half of 2023 just sucked.
There’s some stuff I’d been meaning to post but simply hadn’t had the energy. Your little notification seems to have been the little motivation I needed to bust the logjam. So thanks.
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The Curse, Episode 10.
i doubt many people stuck with this show, but if you did then you may be asking ‘what did i just watch’ after the series finale. my reaction would reveal spoilers, so i’ll just say that it was one of the most memorable finales of a television season i’ve seen (right up there with, say, the Sopranos). if you’re looking for some intelligent discussion on the events that unfolded i’d recommend two pieces of coverage:
Ugh. Tried watching an epi (maybe two?) as I like Emma Stone, and Nathan for You was… different in an entertaining way, but I could not get through it. Should I give it another try?
Apropos logjammin’.
Hope things are looking up for you again soon
How’re you gonna get 'em back on the farm
after they’ve seen Karl Hungus?
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