movies Archives - Ramblin' with Roger

Movie: Materialists

Melanie and Don’s kid

The saga of seeing the movie Materialists began in late June. I went to see Sinners at the Madison Theatre, but my wife opted to see something presumably less intense, which started and ended a few minutes after my choice. I then went to vote at the nearby Primary Day voting site and came back.

When the theater door for Materialists opened, I waited more than five minutes before calling out to her. Yes, she was in there, and she came out, talking to two women, one of whom she vaguely had met before, still talking about the significance of the film they had just seen.

A week or so later, my wife and I went to the Spectrum 8 Theater in Albany. She was willing to see Materialists again, which is quite unusual. I saw and liked it, but I was having a dreadful time figuring out how to write about it. A part of it may have to do with personal biography.

Lucy (Dakota Johnson) is an excellent matchmaker at an upscale company. She is practically a human dating app. Nine of her matches led couples to the altar. She views relationships like transactions and uses that strategy to calm a skittish bride.

But she is taken aback when the perfect 10 unicorn of a guy, Harry (Pedro Pascal), whom she meets at a wedding she had put together, is interested in her. He seems to check all the boxes and would be the obvious choice.

Lucy even takes him to an Off-Off-Broadway production, where her ex John (Chris Evans) performs. He is the antithesis of a rich guy, working catering jobs between auditions while riding around in his barely roadworthy vehicle.

Not a rom-com

I came across an IMDb review: Materialists was not what I expected.

“It’s been marketed like a rom-com – but honestly? If you’re heading in expecting laughs, you’ll be disappointed. What you get instead is a sharp, quietly melancholic study on modern love, dating, and loneliness in the big city. It’s not so much about romance as it is about emotional bankruptcy – the way ambition, money, and appearances slowly chip away at real connection.” Melancholy, yeah.

So I understand why some folks, looking for a sweet rom-com, might be disappointed. I’ve read that Johnson’s performance was flat, but I think it was dead on. The “real tension[ is] in her. What does she actually want? Love, comfort, validation? Or just a life that looks good on paper?”

This is also why Lucy was so tone deaf when dealing with the bad date one of her clients experienced.

The funniest part of the movie was the clips of the clients noting their attributes and what they were looking for. (I was going to give an example, but it doesn’t read as funny.)

The Rotten Tomatoes reviews were 80% positive with critics and 67% with audiences. All I can say is that I believed these people, especially Lucy. Dakota Johnson, by the way, was the response to a recent JEOPARDY clue. HOLLYWOOD HODGEPODGE $400: She’s the actress seen here with mom Melanie Griffith and grandmother Tippi Hedren.

Oh, I liked the cave people, too, who appeared in the beginning and then the end credits.

Top 50 films of the 21st Century

a bad day?

Here’s the Top 50 films of the 21st Century, per the New York Times poll of 500 creatives in cinema. I’m ignoring that 2000 is in the 20th century, not the 21st.

If I saw it and wrote about it, I will link to that post. I will note movies I have NOT seen this way:

DK—I don’t know this film and have never heard of it before, except if it was listed in previous lists.

WS- I’m familiar with the film and would have seen it, but it fell through the cracks, usually during the Oscar rush to see movies in December through February.

FF – There was a fear factor that it would be too violent or otherwise upsetting to watch.

50 Up, Pete Docter, 2009. It’s good, though the first minutes always gets to me.

49 Before Sunset, Richard Linklater, 2004. WS – I need to see ALL of the Before pics!

48 The Lives of Others, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2007. WS: Whom can you trust in circa-1984 East Berlin?

47 Almost Famous, Cameron Crowe, 2000: enjoyed this a lot, actually. A music film is in my emotional wheelhouse.

46 Roma, Alfonso Cuarón, 2018. “Cuaron is a bit too close to the material.”

45 Moneyball, Bennett Miller, 2011. I liked it, but would I have liked it if I did not like baseball? One of the two I saw at home.

44 Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino, 2019. WS/FF. Love the Hollywood angle, but the Sharon Tate murder?

43 Oldboy, Park Chan-wook, 2005. DK

42 The Master, Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012. WS

41 Amélie, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001. I adored this film.

40 Yi Yi, Edward Yang, 2000. DK

Not Claudia Johnson

39 Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig, 2017

38 Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Céline Sciamma, 2019. DK

37 Call Me by Your Name, Luca Guadagnino, 2017. WS

36 A Serious Man, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, 2009. WS

35 A Prophet, Jacques Audiard, 2010. DK

34 Wall-E, Andrew Stanton, 2008. I liked it more in the latter half.

33 A Separation, Asghar Farhadi, 2011. WS

32 Bridesmaids, Paul Feig, 2011

31 The Departed, Martin Scorsese, 2006. When my kid was little, I tried to avoid violence in films. Maybe I’d see it now.

30 Lost in Translation, Sofia Coppola, 2003. Sometimes, when almost everyone I trust likes a film but I don’t, I think maybe I was tired or having a bad day.

29 Arrival, Denis Villeneuve, 2016.

28 The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan, 2008. I think I just wasn’t into superheroes at the time. WS

27 Adaptation, Spike Jonze, 2002. As I recall, I liked much of it but hated the end.

French jurisprudence

26 Anatomy of a Fall, Justine Triet, 2023. Intriguing; I liked it.

25 Phantom Thread, Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017. It’s fine, though a little slow.

24 Her, Spike Jonze, 2013. Is this movie prescient? I’ve seen the mainstream news about “romances” people have with their AI constructs.

23 Boyhood, Richard Linklater, 2014. Very good, but impressive as all get out in making a film over a dozen years with the same core cast!

22 The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson, 2014. My favorite Wes Anderson film

21 The Royal Tenenbaums, Wes Anderson, 2001. My least favorite Wes Anderson film

20 The Wolf of Wall Street, Martin Scorsese, 2013. We were considering it, though my parents-in-law HATED it. It’s also very long, and ultimately, I never saw it.

19 Zodiac, David Fincher, 2007. FF/WS

18 Y tu mamá también, Alfonso Cuarón, 2002. I recall enjoying it.

17 Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee, 2005. I enjoyed it a great deal, though I never wrote about it.

16 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Ang Lee, 2000. I recall it fondly.

15 City of God, Fernando Meirelles, 2003. FF. “A teenager forces a younger teenager to kill an even younger child. The victim cowers inside a fenced patio that resembles a playpen. Nearby sobs another child, who looks about 5; he’s been shot in the foot — to send a message, but also for fun.” Yeah, there’s also dancing and joy, but…

QT

14 Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino, 2009. FF

13 Children of Men, Alfonso Cuarón, 2006. WS

12 The Zone Of Interest, Jonathan Glazer, 2023. Shows well the banality of evil.

11 Mad Max: Fury Road, George Miller, 2015. Just not my thing.

10 The Social Network, David Fincher, 2010. Surprisingly effective.

9 Spirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki, 2002. Wonderful

8 Get Out, Jordan Peele, 2017. FF. Maybe I’ll see it eventually.

7 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Michel Gondry, 2004. I watched this on VHS tape, I think, and saw only half of it before going to bed. Got up early and watched the rest. And STILL loved it. I relate to stuff about memory, and whether one can/should block them out.

6 No Country for Old Men, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, 2007. FF

5 Moonlight, Barry Jenkins, 2016. Effective coming-of-age triptych.

4 In the Mood for Love, Wong Kar-Wai, 2001. DK

3 There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007. FF. I saw one (Ratatouille) of the seven 2007 movies on this list.

2 Mulholland Drive, David Lynch, 2001. WS

1 Parasite, Bong Joon Ho, 2019. You can’t always get rid of the stench of poverty.

Best Movies of the Century (NYT)

Man of Constant Sorrow

Dan at Now I Know pointed to The Best Movies of the Century, According to the New York Times, and even provided a gift link.

“Between streaming services and superhero blockbusters, the way we watch and think about movies has changed dramatically over the past 25 years. But through that period of upheaval, which films have truly stood the test of time?

“To find out, we embarked on an ambitious new project, polling more than 500 filmmakers, stars, and influential film fans to vote for the 10 best movies (however they chose to define that) released since Jan. 1, 2000. In collaboration with The Upshot, we compiled their responses to create a list of the 100 best movies of the 21st century.”

First off, I did a list like this from a BBC list in 2016, and while there are some similarities, there were significant divergences as well.

Second, I’m not litigating the fact that 2000 is in the 20th century, not the 21st. The BBC used the same criterion.

If I saw it and wrote about it, I will link to that post.

I will note movies I have NOT seen this way:

DK—I don’t know this film and have never heard of it before, except if it was listed in previous lists.

WS- I’m familiar with the film and would have seen it, but it fell through the cracks, usually during the Oscar rush to see movies in December through February.

FF – There was a fear factor that it would be too violent or otherwise upsetting to watch.

We begin

100 Superbad, Greg Mottola, 2007. WS – maybe it was the marketing that made it feel too frivolous

99 Memories of Murder, Bong Joon Ho, 2005. DK

98 Grizzly Man, Werner Herzog, 2005. WS

97 Gravity, Alfonso Cuarón, 2013. I liked it.

96 Black Panther, Ryan Coogler, 2018. Not only did I love it when I saw it, but I adored it even more when I learned about Afrofuturism

95 The Worst Person In The World, Joachim Trier, 2021. I liked. And she isn’t.

94 Minority Report, Steven Spielberg, 2002. WS

93 Michael Clayton, Tony Gilroy, 2007. WS

92 Gladiator, Ridley Scott, 2000. I just wasn’t that interested.

91 Fish Tank, Andrea Arnold, 2010. DK

90 Frances Ha, Noah Baumbach, 2013. WS

89 Interstellar, Christopher Nolan, 2014. I wrote: ” I thought the third hour was better paced and more interesting than the second, which could have used a 10-minute edit. Bottom line: I’m glad I saw it, I wouldn’t watch it again, and I’m unsure whether to recommend it.”

88 The Gleaners & I, Agnès Varda, 2001. DK. BTW, #99 on the BBC list

Tolkien

87 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Peter Jackson, 2001. I wrote, “I’ve watched…only the first Lord of the Rings movie, and the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie; call me an incompletist.” They were fine, but not enough to see the sequels. At the time (2012), I had only seen one Harry Potter movie, but since then, I’d seen them all.

86 Past Lives, Celine Song, 2023. I liked it

85 Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Adam McKay, 2004. WS. I think at the time, I wrote it off as silly, based on the trailers.

84 Melancholia, Lars von Trier, 2011. WS. I was disappointed to miss the story about a rogue planet about to collide with Earth, and how that affects people

83 Inside Llewyn Davis, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, 2013. I got the soundtrack before I saw the movie, which I liked in part.

82 The Act of Killing, Joshua Oppenheimer and Anonymous, 2013. WS/FF. It is fascinating and scary to see the “incredible capacity of the human mind to compartmentalize and rationalize monstrous acts of cruelty toward other people.”

81 Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky, 2010. WS – Given my wife’s interest in dance, I don’t know how we missed this.

80 Volver, Pedro Almodóvar, 2006. It was good; “Almodovar tends to luxuriate over certain parts of the female body on occasion…”

79 The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick, 2011. WS, though I was grasping at what it was supposed to be: it “tries to wrap its arms around all of creation”?

78 Aftersun, Charlotte Wells, 2022. WS

Weird stuff

77 Everything Everywhere All At Once, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, 2022. I’m convinced this is MUCH better in the cinema.

76 O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, 2000. WS. I have, and LOVE the soundtrack. I did see a chunk of this movie on broadcast television, but not enough to say I WATCHED it. The scene with Man Of Constant Sorrow is a hoot.

75 Amour, Michael Haneke, 2012. Excellent, but somewhat depressing look at aging.

74 The Florida Project, Sean Baker, 2017. Excellent. NOT Disney World.

73 Ratatouille, Brad Bird, 2007. Rodent making food should not work, yet it does.

72 Carol, Todd Haynes, 2015. A good girl-meets-girl in 1950s NYC film.

71 Ocean’s Eleven, Steven Soderbergh, 2001. It just didn’t catch my interest, although I eventually saw Ocean’s Eight and now want to know its origin.

70 Let the Right One In, Tomas Alfredson, 2008. DK

69 Under the Skin, Jonathan Glazer, 2014. DK and it’s a ScarJo film.

Why I go to the movies

68 The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow, 2009. I wrote here about how I had the Netflix DVD for four months and never watched it.

67 Tár, Todd Field, 2022. Good, but very internal.

66 Spotlight, Tom McCarthy, 2015. Journalism! Those were the days.

65 Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan, 2023

64 Gone Girl, David Fincher, 2014. I DID see this on broadcast TV. It was pretty good.

63 Little Miss Sunshine, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, 2006. I liked it a lot.

62 Memento, Christopher Nolan, 2001. WS

61 Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Quentin Tarantino, 2003. FF: ” Never before have shootings, stabbings, beatings, beheadings, disembowelings, amputations, mutilations, gougings, slicings, choppings, and bitings been so much campy fun.” Doesn’t sound like fun.

I’ve got blisters on my fingers!

60 Whiplash, Damien Chazelle, 2014. Good but exhausting.

59 Toni Erdmann, Maren Ade, 2016. DK

58 Uncut Gems, Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie, 2019. WS

57 Best in Show, Christopher Guest, 2000. I love the Christopher Guest films.

56 Punch-Drunk Love, Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002. I recall liking it. It’s shocking since it stars Adam Sandler.

55 Inception, Christopher Nolan, 2010. WS

54 Pan’s Labyrinth, Guillermo del Toro, 2006. WS/FF – I was on the fence.

53 Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, Larry Charles, 2006. I just wasn’t into it. Yet I saw the sequel.

52 The Favourite, Yorgos Lanthimos, 2018. “My wife mused that it was a movie for which we were somehow not privy to the code. “

51 12 Years a Slave, Steve McQueen, 2013. FF. Several people told me I should watch this movie. It was an important film, and Solomon Northup lived in my metro area. Nope.

Okay, this is long enough. I’ll finish it next week.

Movie review: The Life Of Chuck

based on a Stephen King novella

The description of the movie The Life of Chuck on IMDb: “A life-affirming, genre-bending story based on Stephen King’s novella about three chapters in the life of an ordinary man named Charles Krantz.” The movie starts with Act Three, and the characters in the film are wondering, Who IS this guy, Chuck?

One gets a sense of Chuck as portrayed by four actors: Tom Hiddleston, Jacob Tremblay, Benjamin Pajak, and Cody Flanagan. Chiwetel Ejiofor; Carl Lumbly; Mark Hamill and Mia Sara as his grandparents; and Karen Gillan as perhaps his last dance partner also gave fine performances.

All that said, I don’t know how to review it without wrecking it utterly. One fan reviewer: “I want to leave my critique relatively vague as I believe the hook of the film works best going in without knowing much.” I did like it a lot.

Here’s a meh (5/10) fan review on IMDb that actually gets to the crux: “If you like movies that make you think about life, that make you contemplate existence, you will very much enjoy this. I personally don’t normally go for movies like that… but I would say The Life of Chuck is about as good as they come.”

Untidy

Diane Cameron, whom I know, wrote on Facebook: “Now, if you are the kind of person who needs to know what a work of art means, or what a poem means, or have a satisfying tidy feeling after a movie, skip ‘Chuck’. It will make you crazy. But if you like questions more than answers, and fabulous actors and some great dancing, and maybe to chew on a movie for a few days, then ‘Chuck’ is your next movie.” I’ll buy that.

Another reviewer wrote, “I left the film feeling a mix of joy and melancholy and appreciated the artistry that brought me there.” This is also true.

On Rotten Tomatoes, it received an 82% positive rating from critics and an 88% positive rating from fans. Mick LaSalle wrote, “The movie is maudlin and pessimistic and features a mildly sardonic voiceover narration by Nick Offerman that only serves to distance us from the action.” Well, no, on every count.

Ruth Maramis, by contrast, noted: “This poignant existential drama doesn’t just spoon-feed you everything but leaves room for interpretation as we connect its profound themes to our own experiences. Great seeing Hiddleston flaunt his killer dance moves.” Yeah, that.

See it if you’re not looking for tidiness. My wife and I saw The Life Of Chuck at the Spectrum 8 in Albany on the evening of June 27; the theater was 3/4 full.

Sunday Stealing is F.A.B. again

Ringo, Linda, Carlos, Alison, and Mick

Welcome to Sunday Stealing.

Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

Since it’s the 4th of July weekend, we’re going to keep this simple. We stole this from a blogger named Idzie, who called this the F.A.B. (film, audio, book) meme, so we’re F.A.B. again.

Movies

F. Film: What movie or TV show are you watching?

On Monday, my wife and I visited the Spectrum Theatre in Albany to see the comedy Caddyshack. Neither of us had ever seen it before, but we heard that it was very popular in 1980 when it came out. We were mostly unimpressed. Chevy Chase’s character was somewhat interesting, and Rodney Dangerfield was funny for a while, but Bill Murray seemed to be in another movie. I had to start looking at why so many find the film beloved.

The Wikipedia post was helpful: “The film was met with underwhelming reviews in its original release, with criticism towards the disorganized plot, though Dangerfield’s, Chase’s, and Murray’s comic performances were well received. Roger Ebert gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote, ‘Caddyshack feels more like a movie that was written rather loosely, so that when shooting began, there was freedom—too much freedom—for it to wander off in all directions in search of comic inspiration.'” If you’ve ever talked with a person who’s stoned, you’re not, and they think everything is hysterical? That may be this movie.

Harold Ramis, a first-time film director, noted that “In the DVD documentary, TV Guide had originally given the film two stars (out of four) when it began showing on cable television in the early 1980s, but over time, the rating had gone up to three stars.” Maybe it’s better with repeated viewing.

Music

A. Audio: What are you listening to?

This being July, some of the birthdays are those of Ringo Starr, Linda Ronstadt, Carlos Santana, Alison Krauss, Mick Jagger, and Jim Stewart. So I’ll play Linda, Santana, and the Rolling Stones. Who’s Jim Stewart? He co-founded the legendary STAX Records with his sister Estelle Axton. I also play a lot of compilations of Beatles covers, and I have many of them.

Photograph – Ringo Starr

Telling Me Lies -The Trio (Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris)

Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen – Santana

Maybe – Alison Krauss

I Am Waiting – The Rolling Stones

Green Onions – Booker T. and the MG’s

You Can’t Do That – Harry Nilsson

Text

B. Book: What are you reading?

My friend Fred Hembeck wrote so kindly about former Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, who died recently at age 73, regarding Fred’s participation in the Fantastic Four Roast and Fred Hembeck Destroys the Marvel Universe, I thought I’d read the book The Marvel Universe According to Hembeck.

Please come back next week.