{"id":13018,"date":"2023-07-09T12:56:15","date_gmt":"2023-07-09T16:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=13018"},"modified":"2023-07-09T12:56:40","modified_gmt":"2023-07-09T16:56:40","slug":"weekly-movie-roundup-35","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=13018","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Movie Roundup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I watched 6 movies last week.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt5311514\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/1-1-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"Your Name\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13019\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/1-1-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/1-1-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/1-1-768x1137.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/1-1.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0069890\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2-1-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Cleopatra Jones\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13020\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2-1-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2-1-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2-1-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2-1.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0103772\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/3-1-202x300.jpg\" alt=\"Basic Instinct\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13021\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/3-1-202x300.jpg 202w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/3-1-690x1024.jpg 690w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/3-1-768x1139.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/3-1.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt5311514\/\">Your Name<\/a> gets a little weird\u2014it&#8217;s not difficult to imagine a Western version that simplifies the timeline a little and tries to provide an explanation for what&#8217;s happening\u2014but it&#8217;s also often stunningly animated and a lovely story about connection.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0069890\/\">Cleopatra Jones<\/a> is a little rough around the edges, and the movie can&#8217;t help but betray its &#8217;70s sensibilities and budget. (It&#8217;s not <em>great<\/em>, for instance, that Shelley Winters&#8217; character is often villainized specifically because she&#8217;s a lesbian.) But it&#8217;s also often a lot of fun, with engaging performances throughout.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0103772\/\">Basic Instinct<\/a>, which I&#8217;d somehow managed to avoid watching until now, feels more than a little like sleazier Brian de Palma. (Which is saying something, considering that the last de Palma movie I watched was <em>Body Double<\/em>.) I don&#8217;t mean that as a dig at Paul Verhoeven, whose direction I think works here, even if he doesn&#8217;t really match de Palma for over-the-top set-pieces. But the film is tanked by its terrible script and its wrongheaded belief that its (as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/basic-instinct-1992\">Roger Ebert put it in his review<\/a>) &#8220;trimmed-down would-be hard-core&#8221; is actually sexy or erotic.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0071950\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/4-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Footprints on the Moon\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13022\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/4-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/4-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/4-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/4.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a>\/td><\/p>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0079826\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/5-190x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Rose\" width=\"190\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13023\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/5-190x300.jpg 190w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/5-650x1024.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/5-768x1210.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/5-975x1536.jpg 975w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/5.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 190px) 100vw, 190px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt10366206\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/6-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"John Wick: Chapter 4\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/6-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/6-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/6-768x1137.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/6.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0071950\/\">Footprints on the Moon<\/a> is peculiar and hypnotic but also always intriguing.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>Bette Midler is often very good in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0079826\/\">The Rose<\/a>, as are several of the extended musical numbers, even if the film itself maybe doesn&#8217;t have a whole lot to say.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>There are problems with the second two John Wick movies\u2014not least the way they take a very simple, stylized actioner and layer it with increasing mythology\u2014but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt10366206\/\">John Wick: Chapter 4<\/a> might be the first time I was actually <em>bored<\/em> by the series. That boredom didn&#8217;t last through the movie&#8217;s nearly three-hour running time, and it really rallies with some fantastic set-pieces near the end that probably played even better on a big screen. But it was easily my least favorite of the four films, and I&#8217;m actually kind of disappointed that a fifth is in development.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I also re-watched both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0096969\/\">Born on the Fourth of July<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0073195\/\">Jaws<\/a> over the long holiday weekend. I think they both easily hold up, but the former more for the intensity of Tom Cruise&#8217;s performance than anything else.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I watched 6 movies last week. Your Name gets a little weird\u2014it&#8217;s not difficult to imagine a Western version that simplifies the timeline a little and tries to provide an explanation for what&#8217;s happening\u2014but it&#8217;s also often stunningly animated and a lovely story about connection. Cleopatra Jones is a little rough around the edges, and &#8230; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=13018\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13018"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13018"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13027,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13018\/revisions\/13027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}