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I was nobody. Nothing.
hey, so
hot damn. The Irishman was as good as i'd hoped it would be.
the issues with the de-aging thing were pretty much negligible, at least for me, after the first 30 min or so, and it winds up looking like a movie that was made in the 90s, with the actors wearing makeup to make them look older rather than the other way around.
it's fucking GREAT to see Scorsese directing Pacino, De Niro, and Pesci, and all those cats from Boardwalk Empire, and Keitel. And HOLY GOD, the parts that were ABOUT getting older and such, were fucking insanely intense. This thing felt like a thoughtful, somewhat mournful send-off for the actors and, even the genre, to a certain extent. it really, to me, felt like a "one last time" sort of thing, which made it bitter sweet as fuck.
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Finished up the latest season of Disenchantment... yup, still like it.
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Finished Mindhunter season 1. Started out exceptionally great, then in the last 3 episodes it has fallen apart. Such a shame. It wasn't so bad that I won't give S2 a try right now, but I hope get back on track, because the last episodes were very weak and lazy.
edit: FUCK... why do they have to turn this show into a telenovella??!
Last edited by Volband; 12-07-2019 at 07:04 PM.
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Wtf are you talking about?
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[spoilers ahead from MIndhunter S1]Originally Posted by r_z
Everything from episode 7 onwards fell apart. Aside from episode 1, which was understandably a mixed bag due to it having to establish the whole show, the quality was consistent and top-notch. Then, like the show had a new shorunner or something. In hindsight, the season was 2 episodes too long for its welcome.
Glaring stupidity/inconsistency/low quality events:
- I really liked Holden's relationship, because it felt real, from the sex to the conversations. It was an interesting topic how a person like Holden can adapt to not only a relationship, but to a relationship with a girl like that. Then he catches her in an inappropriate situation with another guy. Okay. Then he sees her in a cleaning shop. Okay. Then he goes in. Okay. Then they are a couple again and we don't see any of the discussion about it????? What???????? Not only we were spoon-fed very minor details about Holden's insecurities, we literally had numerous scenes where he expressed jealousy towards Patrick. And then for some goddamn reason the creators thought that it is not necessary to see them talk it out?? A friend of mine said she thought she actually skipped an episode, because she had no idea how they were all <3 <3 again. So, they don't have time for this....
- ..... but they have time for Dr. Carr having some very intimate moment with a cat. Long. Drawn out moments. It really needed to be hammered home. Yes, she's alone. Yes, she thought she found something she can care for. Yes, I understand, thank you. Then she even lost that. Okay. I really don't need 15 minutes screentime for this, thank you. How do we go from exciting Ed Kemper stuff to watching a middle aged person meticulously trying to feed a stray cat? In numerous scenes, repetitive scenes, with no payoff whatsoever. Meanwhile we don't even get two sentences from our main character about being cheated on.
- Btw Dr. Carr. She was introduced as this genious, who is a great addition to the team. And she was!! Her explanations were quite cheesy but, it was a necessary evil, just like the scientist woman in CHernobyl. Is it plausible for one person to be soooooooooo good at their job? No, but it beats the reality of watching hundreds of scientists arguing for hours on end. Then what happened in the last 3-4 episodes? Not only she became starkly antagonistic, she lost half her brain cells as well. She kept nagging the guys about ignoring the questionnaire, but IT NEVER WORKED. The moment they started reading out the dull introductory lines on the questionnaire, they lost their interview subject. It wasn't working, the questionnaire was bad - and if it was good, the show did an amazing job not showing it. So why am I being put through the misery of watching Dr. Carr act like a child over something she is abso fucking lutely wrong about? Dozens of minutes being wasted just because the guys are too stupid to stand their ground and actually tell her that "you know what, we worked together for 5 episodes like pros... how about we modify the questionnaire together so it's a win-win?". Nooo, those characters took a 180, so they don't talk to each other anymore. Great. This is what you see in telenovellas, when the conflict is being generated by people not acting like normal human beings, and instead of being rational or at least talking to each other, they stir shit up.
- How many times do you think that 4th agent (well, 3rd, as Carr is not an agent technically) is going to fuck over the team before they realize that maybe... just maybe they should not trust him with sensitive information? Again, just like soap operas: something important is being said, but oh no, who is that eavesdropping on the conversation!! Oh no, he is going to tell this to Senor Gonzalez... AGAIN. And our protagonists will have no idea... AGAIN!! Once again: how the FUCK did we get from Ed Kemper interviews to this bullshit? Gave me flashbacks of Dexter, where the biggest adversary in the show turned from serial killers and Miami cops to a fucking treadmill.
- Who is the guy at the beginning? Why am I being teased with him in S2 as well? It's fine if it had some sort of payoff in S1, even just as a cliffhanger. How am I supposed to be invested in some random, ominous bullshit for more than 10+ episodes without feeding me some interesting info? The more they drag this out, the less I care about the eventual twist or shock it has in it. Oh boy, can't wait to be absolutely surprised in season 47, when they reveal the truth! This is by far the least of S1s problem, everything above is actually terrible writing and showrunning, this is just a minor annoyence. If the show picked up the quality again, I wouldn't mind his random snippets.
- [Season 2, E1] This fixed some of my issues, but they threw it all out in the end. This panic attack shit is just terrible. Once again, telenovella... Oh my god, Senor Gonzalez!!! When will he get his next panic attack???? Will he be okay in the next episode???? Oh boy, what a lame plot device. This show started out as a really interesting, and maybe even morbid take on thinking about deviant behaviour. Is Holden right in his obession? Is he crossing the line? Interesting. Do you know what's not interesting? Having to worry about when will this idiot get his next panic attack to steal 5 valuable minutes from every episode, then when will the bald new boss find out about this, so we have to sit through 10 minutes of "Holden... you betrayed my trust....". A show about FBI agents and serial killers doesn't need lame plot devices like this. Their loved ones and themselves are in constant threat. They are working with psychos, and their names are out there in the public.
The show plummeted from a solid 9/10 to a 7. Holden was a very likeable character, now he is comically unfit to do his duties, but somehow he pulls through like a magical hero. Yay... If it weren't for me knowing Manson will appear in this season, I may stop right here. Not because the show is terrible; 7/10 is far from it. But because if the show keeps declining like this, my heart will break for its wasted potential. I am hopeful though, because this season has one less episode at least. Maybe this means I won't have to watch such thrilling scenes as a cat being fed in a dramatic way.
Last edited by Volband; 12-08-2019 at 08:27 AM.
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As someone who was born and raised in Detroit, including when Jimmy Hoffa disappeared in 1975, I couldn’t wait to see this movie. The Hoffa disappearance was front-page news every day in Detroit for WAY too long.
I’ve seen “Once Upon a Time in America” COUNTLESS times. That movie is nearly FOUR HOURS LONG. FOUR RIVETING HOURS.
I’ve seen Godfather I and II literally more than 30 times. I‘ve seen “Goodfellas” at least a dozen times.
But I thought this movie really D-R-A-G-G-E-D on FOREVER. And much of it made little logical sense to me (considering all the facts of the Hoffa case). I think this is a Mob Movie, primarily about Hoffa.
(See this.)
The strongest performance was from Pesci.
Spoiler: I am now pretty convinced that Frank Sheeran did it. But I think Chuckie knew more than what this depiction suggests. I thought the Peggy Sheeran character was a total waste of screen time.
Before I saw this movie, I read the cover story interview with De Niro and Pacino in GQ Magazine.
That cover story contains several current photos of De Niro and Pacino.
So I was CONSTANTLY distracted with HOW the hell they made these guys look SO MUCH YOUNGER for this flick. Later, I researched it. It wasn’t makeup.
I was also distracted by De Niro’s FAKE LIGHT BLUE EYES:
Quoth Twitter:
“The Irishman's youth tech is crazy but De Niro's fake blue eyes make him look like a cyborg mobster."
Last edited by allegro; 12-11-2019 at 03:00 AM.
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Man, I just watched Marriage Story last night without knowing much about the movie beforehand, and holy shit, that was such a sad movie. There's one particular fight scene that gave me major flashbacks to the insane fights my mom and step-dad had when I was a kid. They just did such a good job of showing how things start off fine and then gradually escalate to a point where people are inflicting all this emotional violence onto each other. I thought it was supposed to be this quirky little indie film or some shit, but damn, the movie just rips your fucking guts out over and over.
The acting was also just insanely good. Pretty sure Scarlet Johansson and Adam Driver are gonna get oscars for this thing. It's also crazy how many phenomenally great supporting characters they had. Laura Dern, holy shit. And Alan Alda, Ray Liotta, etc.
I don't know that I ever want to watch it again, cause I just found it to be so incredibly sad, but I'm very glad I watched it. Definitely a movie I'll never forget.
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I think Laura Dern, Ray Liotta and Alan Alda are the best parts of this movie. They EXPERTLY portray Domestic Relations attorneys, HOLY CRAP!!
As a Domestic Relations Paralegal of 13 years, this movie from a legal perspective is often funny, TOTALLY ACCURATE, and holy crap excruciating. It’s all spot on!
I thought Adam Driver also provided a stellar performance, but I didn’t like Scarlett Johansson’s as much.
And I just kept thinking, “Great, now he’s gotta fix that hole in the wall.”
Last edited by allegro; 12-12-2019 at 01:43 AM.
she/her/hers
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LOL, yeah, I guess!
I couldn't figure out why he put up all those pictures on the wall but couldn't manage to put a picture over the hole in the drywall? So I just kept staring at that damned hole in the drywall, which of course must have been the POINT of the hole in the drywall; that it symbolized the mess, or male aggression, or whatever.
And what's the first thing that the court-appointed expert notices? Not the plants, not the kid's drawings ... THE HOLE IN THE DRYWALL!
Because, like, really, how ELSE did a hole end up in the drywall?
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Yeah, in general I thought they did a great job of portraying the whole marriage/divorce industrial complex. A few weeks ago I read this big article about how incredibly expensive weddings are becoming in the US, with the average one coming to almost 40 grand. I'm not one of these anti-marriage people, but fuck, why does everything have to cost a fortune? So then to watch this and to see how much money people spend just on getting divorced, it's like, fuck, they get you every step of the way. All the fucking money they wasted on going through this whole meaningless, gamified process. Such a waste. You do find yourself thinking that it really would have been better if they'd done it without the lawyers.
But then again...I don't think Adam Driver would have ever agreed to the LA move under any other circumstances, so that's why all the lawyer shit ultimately was necessary in the end. Because that's really what it all came down to. She really didn't give much of a shit about the money or anything else. All she wanted was just to be back in LA. If Adam Driver could have just agreed to that move in the first place, maybe they wouldn't have broken up, or, at the very least, they probably wouldn't have had to bring in all the lawyers. It's easy to see her as the one instigating all of this, because she gets the lawyer first so he's the one who's forced to play defense and has to decide what part of his life he's going to sacrifice. But she really had no alternative because you just know he would have never agreed to LA otherwise. It ends up becoming this question of who in this relationship is supposed to sacrifice the thing that they want? She spent ten years going along with everything he wanted, so it's hard to begrudge her for deciding it was time for her to have something that she wanted. At the same time, it's not like he's some monstrous asshole. You can totally get why he was resistant to the move given how hard they'd worked to build up the theater company and everything.
I think that's one of the reasons the movie was so depressing to me, cause it's like the whole thing was inevitable. It maybe says something about me that I kept thinking, "Come on...Can't they just work it out and stay together? They both seem like such nice, reasonable people." It's sad to think that this whole ugly, damaging process was, like, written in the stars or something. I guess the movie is tragedy in the truest sense. Nobody is a bad guy, this is just how everything had to unfold given their personalities and their given trajectories. Even the lawyers weren't really bad people, they're just trying to do their job as best as they can, and that means playing the game to win. They show this pretty clearly when Laura Dern and Ray Liotta are all chummy with each other, and Laura Dern is even all friendly and nice with Adam Driver in between things. It's just a job to her, it's not personal. But everyone is beholden to their roles and has to go through the motions. Once again, it's all just determinism!! lol
Also....holy shit @ Laura Dern's monologue about the virgin Mary and how God is just an absent father. "He didn't even do the fucking!" lollll....Maybe my favorite part of the whole movie.
Last edited by Mantra; 12-13-2019 at 10:16 AM.
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@Mantra , I TOTALLY agree with your (above) analysis.
One note, though: Their idea of divorcing without lawyers is pretty difficult for most people to navigate, because of the number of forms, etc.; particularly when one party doesn’t live there and the other is working a lot.
But all the COSTS involved in these cases should certainly give people pause: The second that judge ordered the outside expert for evaluation (because the judge was new to family law)? Court-appointed ANYTHING costs go to the parties (the couple). Judge appoints a guardian ad litem (Representative for the child)? KACHING, the parents pay for that. Highly specialized lawyers like the Dern character, serving designer tea and cookies? Only the super wealthy get her types. Seriously, who the hell can write a retainer check for $25,000?
And note: That retainer will be used up in a month (you prepaid hourly time, and the hourly time is spent). Then you start getting bills for hourly time. We had a client in a disputed divorce with a removal petition who had to have TWO lawyers: One to handle the divorce (us), and one who is a specialist, who only does removal petitions. This client spent nearly A HALF A MILLION DOLLARS on attorney’s fees by the time she was granted the legal ability to move the child and herself to another state, but the court bifurcated the judgment for dissolution (meaning the couple was officially divorced but the financial settlement was ongoing and not settled).
The part where Dern speaks DIRECTLY TO Driver after Driver is represented by counsel is actually not allowed, legally. I’d also be surprised to see Dern’s Court attire IRL. But overall, yeah, everyone was just doing their job, agree, and it was depicted pretty accurately.
Alda’s character was my favorite. He was pushing for a settlement, because that would be the least costly and the most reasonable. Alda’s character was coming from a place of simpatico, because he’d been divorced 3x, himself. And he ended up being totally right. (Didn’t ScarJo’s mom say he USED to be a lawyer in the “entertainment industry?”)
The “industrial marriage complex” and how people ended up married, and dreams vs. reality in UNDOING the bigger mess they created, is the topic of the film, yeah, I agree. Like you said:
“It ends up becoming this question of who in this relationship is supposed to sacrifice the thing that they want?”
Meanwhile, she still cuts his hair and orders his salad for him.
Last edited by allegro; 12-14-2019 at 12:55 PM.
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a steaming pile of dung:
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Wow, interesting, especially that Laura Dern wouldn't have normally been talking with Adam Driver. Because that was one of the aspects of the film that I thought was most interesting, because it showed that even though Laura Dern was hardcore when she's in "job mode," as soon as she steps out of that role she doesn't really give a shit about the issue and even seems to like Adam Driver. But I don't know, maybe they just took some poetic license in the film as a way to depict that (real life?) aspect of the job in a way that made it more striking from a movie-watching experience. Cause there's just something so crazy about seeing that scene where she's really hammering Alda and Driver, and then less than one minute later they break for lunch and they're all chummy and hanging out like good friends.
Also, if you haven't seen this already, you might be interested in reading this interview with the LA divorce lawyer who semi-inspired Laura Dern's character. https://www.vulture.com/2019/12/laur...interview.html
The part I found SUPER interesting in that interview was where she said that, in her opinion, they should have been considered a New York family! I feel like Noah Baumbach should have consulted with her just a bit more to iron out some of those little details. Obviously the spirit of the movie is still totally realistic, but it would have been nice if they got all the little things perfect too.
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Not in court or in a legal setting, like a deposition or mediation, etc. Dern’s character says that to Driver’s character when she calls him on the phone to see if he’s filed an Appearance in response to their Petition for Dissolution. She asks if he has hired an attorney, he says no, she says okay because I can’t talk with you if you’re represented by counsel, but since YOU’RE NOT, yet, I’m informing you that if you don’t file an Appearance within 30 days of service, you’ll be held in Default and the Petitioner (ScarJo) will get everything she requests in the Petition.
If he said “okay, I’m going to file a Pro Se appearance and NOT hire an attorney” (which he could do), she could talk with him.
But her saying “hey, how are ya?” in the hallway with counsel present isn’t likely to cause his attorney to file an action against her. The part I took issue with was, IN COURT, where she leans forward, past her client, and kinda reprimands Driver, directly. What typically happens is that she’d say (to the Liotta character), “counselor, I’d like to to advise your client that ...” blah blah blah. Most of this (in the court or legal setting) is out of respect, but there’s good reasons for this team division.
That Vulture interview with Laura Wasser is GREAT! Thanks! She sums up what’s real and “satire” in the movie. I have huge respect for attorneys like her. Now I have to see that movie she referenced.
Yeah, in law, the adversaries typically attempt to have a working relationship; like Wasser said, that doesn’t typically involve dinner or drinks outside of the client relationship, because it might infer attorneys being influenced or not representing a client’s interests, but it’s not like a wrestling match where they have to act like they hate each other. These attorneys see each other in court all the time.
There’s only one area where I disagree with Wasser:
“We represent the clients for six to 12 to 18 months, but we’re going to see the same attorneys over and over.”
I real life, divorce proceedings with children last until the emancipation of the child (typically at 18, but there are other circumstances); you’ll be tied to that case and ongoing proceedings until the child reaches emancipation. This includes things like revision of child support based on change of income, settling various disputes regarding vacation time or holidays, settling disputes regarding healthcare and education expenses, etc. We had clients who were in Court at least once per month, MANY years after their divorce was settled. Most counties in the Chicago area REQUIRE divorcing parents to attend “parenting classes” and to get a certification of attendance, in an attempt to get the parties to work together in the interest of the child and to stop using the legal system to settle disputes that shouldn’t exist. But, that doesn’t matter to people who pretty much hate each other. And are vindictive assholes.
She DID call Driver an asshole after ScarJo said Driver cheated on ScarJo. But, yeah, the attorneys “care” but they don’t get involved in the client’s emotional stuff. It’s a job, you have to be neutral and not get sucked up into the emotional vortex.
I talked with divorce clients many times per day for 13 years; they’d tell me the most AWEFUL stuff about their spouse, and would also convey REALLY awful stuff that totally disregarded the minor child(ren). They often used the children as pawns. As a CHILD OF DIVORCE, I always had to bite my tongue and just look at it neutrally and professionally; attorneys do the same. And sometimes it’s all a really awful business to be in.
The part I thought was ESPECIALLY ACCURATE was when the stuff that was private between ScarJo and Driver became stuff the attorneys were using as ammo. The attorneys got that stuff from the clients; it’s all about “winning.” I’d never be in that business again. I mostly follow ANIMAL advocacy legal issues, now, because people just suck.
YES!! It was crazy, to me, when Alda told Driver that it was “too late” for Driver to file in New York! I was yelling at the TV, “that’s only because YOU want the money for this case, in CA!!”
Last edited by allegro; 12-14-2019 at 04:22 PM.
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Just finished watching "6 Underground"... I liked and enjoyed it. Reminded me of the late 80s/early 90s HK/Aus martial arts/action movies... go-go-go-go with some humour and "the good will win" plot.
Of course, you could also think of of Reynolds in the Batman motif... a billionaire fights injustice in the world with the ka-pow! and kaboom!
But yeah, I liked it.
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Binge watching the original series of "Twin Peaks". Haven't seen since the first run. Fun stuff. I think I'm ditching Netflix at the end of the month for budgetary reasons. There's still stuff I like on there but with the proliferation of streaming networks, its lost a lot (damn you Disney!). There's just too many streaming networks now & there's no way I can afford them. Over half of what I watch is sports anyway even if its background noise whilst reading or visuals while listening to music.
This Cannot Continue
So Netflix (outside of US and Japan) are getting ALL the Studio Ghibli movies, and as the resident anime fan i was asked what to watch...i recommended Grave of the Fireflies and i'm not even sorry!
FATUM NOS IUNGET
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FATUM NOS IUNGET
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Yay! New Narcos: Mexico episodes!
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if you go into this expecting the most Michael Bay film that Michael Bay could Michael Bay, then you would not be disappointed. there was one bit of the film that I didn't like because it made me start to think about what was going on screen beyond the screen. Basically, Ryan Reynolds spends the entire film being awkward around all this violence and it's pretty funny, but near the end he goes into full COD / Operator mode and it only lasts for one scene but it's never explained and it doesn't gel with the character from the rest of the film.a steaming pile of dung:
The film is almost like Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding in that someone told Michael Bay to make a movie and threw money at him. Everything explodes during the intro car chase and it's glorious because of the sheet bat-shit crazy going on.
Also:A year prior to the release Ryan Reynolds posted a video on Instagram of himself talking about how quiet Michael Bay's movies are, while in the background a car explodes. This scene is in the movie and you can actually see Reynolds in the background filming the video for this post.
unrelated
yuge news.
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It's great to see Mark Hamill continuing to use his voice even after retiring from playing Joker. He was excellent in Dark Crystal.
I was nobody. Nothing.
Have any of you guys watched You?
It's the rare decent Netflix show.
Saul Williams fan.
I hope The Two Popes gets a Blu-ray sometime.
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The Two Popes was pretty good.
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Just got on to "The End of the Fucking World" - I like it a lot!
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