{"id":13099,"date":"2023-08-20T13:38:22","date_gmt":"2023-08-20T17:38:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=13099"},"modified":"2023-08-20T13:39:09","modified_gmt":"2023-08-20T17:39:09","slug":"weekly-movie-roundup-41","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=13099","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Movie Roundup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It was a weird week, and in it, I watched 9 movies:<\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0097007\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/1-2-247x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Caller\" width=\"247\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/1-2-247x300.jpg 247w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/1-2-842x1024.jpg 842w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/1-2-768x934.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/1-2.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 247px) 100vw, 247px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt9100018\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/2-2-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"Cobweb\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13101\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/2-2-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/2-2-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/2-2-768x1137.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/2-2.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0044420\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/3-2-196x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Big Trees\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13102\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/3-2-196x300.jpg 196w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/3-2-669x1024.jpg 669w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/3-2-768x1176.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/3-2.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li>It would probably be a spoiler to say that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0097007\">The Caller<\/a> has a twist ending, if the whole movie didn&#8217;t feel like it was constantly building to several surprising twists, or if any of the twists the movie takes were even close to predictable. I don&#8217;t know that its ending makes a lick of sense, but it&#8217;s too bizarre not to watch\u2014and probably best seen completely blind, beyond even the limited information IMDB gives you.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>Likewise, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt9100018\/\">Cobweb<\/a> feels like it&#8217;s building to a twist from the first frame, even if it never really delivers or knows what to do with that twist once it&#8217;s revealed. There are a lot of good performances and atmosphere here\u2014Samuel Bodwin may be a director to watch\u2014but it doesn&#8217;t add up to enough in the end or know when to stop.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0044420\/\">The Big Trees<\/a> wasn&#8217;t well received at the time, and it&#8217;s more than a little rough around the edges, but I think it has some nice performances, particularly by Edgar Buchanan.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0097858\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/4-2-212x300.jpg\" alt=\"Meet the Feebles\" width=\"212\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13103\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/4-2-212x300.jpg 212w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/4-2-724x1024.jpg 724w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/4-2-768x1086.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/4-2.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 212px) 100vw, 212px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0086610\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/5-2-181x300.jpg\" alt=\"Xtro\" width=\"181\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13104\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/5-2-181x300.jpg 181w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/5-2-619x1024.jpg 619w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/5-2-768x1270.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/5-2-929x1536.jpg 929w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/5-2.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 181px) 100vw, 181px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0070351\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/6-2-198x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Mackintosh Man\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13105\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/6-2-198x300.jpg 198w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/6-2-677x1024.jpg 677w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/6-2-768x1161.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/6-2.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li>The question you have to ask yourself, when watching <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0097858\/\">Meet the Feebles<\/a> is: would any of this be funny, or even remotely interesting, if the characters weren&#8217;t all puppets? Or is the &#8220;joke&#8221;\u2014probably the only one\u2014that they <em>are<\/em> puppets? This is a desperately crass and unfunny movie, earning points over something like 2018&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1308728\/\">The Happytime Murders<\/a> only because its terrible, one-note idea occurred to Peter Jackson first. It&#8217;s not bad because it&#8217;s rude or disgusting; it&#8217;s bad because it mistakes rude and disgusting for comedy.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0086610\/\">Xtro<\/a> doesn&#8217;t entirely work, not least because its story feels very much patched together, but it does have some incredibly disturbing body horror special effects and does some really interesting things. It never rises above being an early &#8217;80s B-movie, but the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Xtro#Critical_reception\">critical reception<\/a> at the time\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/xtro-1983\">Roger Ebert wrote<\/a>, &#8220;It&#8217;s movies like this that give movies a bad name.&#8221;\u2014seems way out of proportion with the movie itself.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0070351\/\">The Mackintosh Man<\/a> isn&#8217;t exactly great, and not a whole lot happens in it. But the cast is pretty good, as is John Huston&#8217;s direction, and even if the script was dashed off by Walter Hill just to get out of a legal dispute, it has some amusing and clever moments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0098724\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/7-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"Sex, Lies, and Videotape\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13106\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/7-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/7-679x1024.jpg 679w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/7-768x1159.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/7.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt5666304\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/8-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Little Hours\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13107\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/8-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/8-694x1024.jpg 694w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/8-768x1134.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/8.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0029442\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/9-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Prisoner of Zenda\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13108\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/9-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/9-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/9-768x1151.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/9.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0098724\/\">Sex, Lies, and Videotape<\/a> can&#8217;t shake off its early &#8217;90s indie vibes\u2014this is the movie that arguably kicked off the modern &#8220;indiewood&#8221; era\u2014but at its heart it&#8217;s a pretty simple, well told story of sex and regret.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt5666304\/\">The Little Hours<\/a> has such a weird premise\u2014it&#8217;s a medieval black comedy loosely based on <em>The Decameron<\/em> told in an anachronistic style with contemporary dialogue and behavior\u2014that it&#8217;s even weirder when the movie turns out to be so funny and surprisingly touching.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0029442\">The Prisoner of Zenda<\/a> is billed, obviously, as a dual role, but that maybe suggests there&#8217;s more split-screen and other camera tricks on hand than there actually are. Ronald Colman does a good job of distinguishing the characters, but he&#8217;s more often the one of the two throughout the film. Which doesn&#8217;t make it any less enjoyable. The plot is pretty simple, but the characters are a lot of fun.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I also re-watched 1997&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0123755\/\">Cube<\/a>, which I enjoyed, even if it does very much feel like the mid-&#8217;90s low-budget Canadian sci-fi horror movie that it is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was a weird week, and in it, I watched 9 movies: It would probably be a spoiler to say that The Caller has a twist ending, if the whole movie didn&#8217;t feel like it was constantly building to several surprising twists, or if any of the twists the movie takes were even close to &#8230; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=13099\">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-13099","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\/13099"}],"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=13099"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13114,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13099\/revisions\/13114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}