{"id":13402,"date":"2023-12-24T10:58:06","date_gmt":"2023-12-24T15:58:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=13402"},"modified":"2023-12-24T10:58:49","modified_gmt":"2023-12-24T15:58:49","slug":"weekly-movie-roundup-57","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=13402","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Movie Roundup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s the holiday season, so I watched a dozen movies last week:<\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0061087\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/1-4-211x300.jpg\" alt=\"They&#039;re a Weird Mob\" width=\"211\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13390\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/1-4-211x300.jpg 211w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/1-4-720x1024.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/1-4-768x1092.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/1-4.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 211px) 100vw, 211px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt11398346\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/2-3-202x300.jpg\" alt=\"Strawberry Mansion\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13391\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/2-3-202x300.jpg 202w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/2-3-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/2-3-768x1138.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/2-3-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/2-3-1382x2048.jpg 1382w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/2-3-scaled.jpg 1728w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0068356\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/3-3-196x300.jpg\" alt=\"Chandler\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13392\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/3-3-196x300.jpg 196w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/3-3.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li>It seems strange to call <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0061087\/\">They&#8217;re a Weird Mob<\/a> my &#8220;white whale,&#8221; if only because it&#8217;s not at all well known, or\u2014jumping forward\u2014even particularly good. But several years back, I decided to watch all of the Powell and Pressburger movies, and this, their penultimate collaboration and the last one I hadn&#8217;t seen, proved incredibly difficult to find. Having finally seen the film now, of course, that&#8217;s hardly surprising. Walter Chiari is a charming enough lead, but the film has only one joke: ain&#8217;t it funny when foreigners try to understand Australians? It&#8217;s easy to see why the film never really played outside of that country, or why it&#8217;s become an elusive footnote to Powell and Pressburger&#8217;s joint careers.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>There&#8217;s a certain lo-fi whimsy, somewhat akin to early 2000s Michael Gondry, in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt11398346\/\">Strawberry Mansion<\/a>, and there&#8217;s a wit and warmth to its unreality that mostly makes that work.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0068356\/\">Chandler<\/a> isn&#8217;t exactly a lost neo-noir classic, and it&#8217;s often more than a little slow. But the movie has some very nice moments, and Warren Oates is good in the hardboiled, downtrodden lead role.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt11858890\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/4-2-202x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Creator\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13393\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/4-2-202x300.jpg 202w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/4-2-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/4-2-768x1138.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/4-2-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/4-2.jpg 1382w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0427392\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/5-3-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Invasion\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/5-3-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/5-3-694x1024.jpg 694w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/5-3-768x1134.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/5-3-1040x1536.jpg 1040w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/5-3.jpg 1387w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt14846026\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/6-2-202x300.jpg\" alt=\"Sisu\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13395\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/6-2-202x300.jpg 202w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/6-2-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/6-2-768x1138.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/6-2-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/6-2-1382x2048.jpg 1382w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/6-2-scaled.jpg 1728w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li>I like that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt11858890\/\">The Creator<\/a> exists a lot more than I like the movie itself. Maybe that&#8217;s a low bar, but original cinematic science fiction, not tied to a franchise or existing propetry, is such a rarity these days that I can look past a lot of flaws. And <em>The Creator<\/em> definitely has a lot of flaws. Gareth Edwards does a fantastic job of building his futuristic world and making it feel lived-in, but he&#8217;s let down by a story that makes too many narrative leaps and never coheres in a satisfying way.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>Not only does it look like a thousand other digitally color-corrected movies from the early 2000s, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0427392\/\">The Invasion<\/a> plays less like a remake and more, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/the-invasion-2007\">as Roger Ebert put it<\/a>, &#8220;like a road company production&#8221; of the same story. Maybe there was nothing new to bring to Finney&#8217;s original novel, but this version barely musters up enough enthusiasm to even try.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>Sometimes you just want to watch somebody kick the shit out of some Nazis. In which case, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt14846026\/\">Sisu<\/a> has got you covered. It&#8217;s not always the most inventive <em>John Wick<\/em>-esque, &#8220;you meessed with the wrong man&#8221; actioner, but it is gory and largely satisfying.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0040460\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/7-201x300.jpg\" alt=\"I Wouldn&#039;t Be in Your Shoes\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13396\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/7-201x300.jpg 201w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/7-685x1024.jpg 685w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/7-768x1148.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/7-1028x1536.jpg 1028w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/7-1371x2048.jpg 1371w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/7.jpg 1657w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0076637\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/8-198x300.jpg\" alt=\"Rolling Thunder\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13397\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/8-198x300.jpg 198w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/8-676x1024.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/8-768x1163.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/8.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0029811\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/9-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"Young and Innocent\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13398\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/9-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/9.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0040460\/\">I Wouldn&#8217;t Be in Your Shoes<\/a> is a little silly and overwrought\u2014even in the movies, it&#8217;s hard to imagine a murder case hanging on such circumstantial evidence\u2014but it works nonetheless.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0076637\/\">Rolling Thunder<\/a> is a revenge thriller without the thrills, the story of what happens to a man when war and torture strip him of the ability to feel much of anything.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>What&#8217;s that, you say? A man wrongly convicted\u2014in an Alfred Hitchcock movie?! Next you&#8217;ll be telling me there&#8217;s rear-projection and over-the-top set-pieces! In all seriousness, though, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0029811\/\">Young and Innocent<\/a> does sometimes feel like early-draft Hitchcock, it&#8217;s also entertaining enough.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt17351924\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/10-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"Saltburn\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13399\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/10-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/10-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/10-768x1138.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/10-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/10-1382x2048.jpg 1382w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/10-scaled.jpg 1728w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt5535276\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/11-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"Maestro\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/11-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/11-692x1024.jpg 692w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/11-768x1137.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/11-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/11.jpg 1383w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0039761\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/12-191x300.jpg\" alt=\"Repeat Performance\" width=\"191\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13401\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/12-191x300.jpg 191w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/12-651x1024.jpg 651w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/12-768x1209.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/12-976x1536.jpg 976w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/12-1301x2048.jpg 1301w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/12-scaled.jpg 1626w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 191px) 100vw, 191px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt17351924\/\">Saltburn<\/a> isn&#8217;t as surprising, and doesn&#8217;t have as much to say, as Emerald Fennell&#8217;s previous film, <em>Promising Young Woman<\/em>, even if both are occupied (in different ways) with the privilege and insularity of wealth. And yet it&#8217;s very entertaining, and Barry Keoghan has probably never been better. Its targets might be a little obvious, and its twists hardly unexpected, but there&#8217;s a lot to thoroughly enjoy here.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>I&#8217;m not sure I walked away from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt5535276\/\">Maestro<\/a> with a deeper understanding of Leonard Bernstein&#8217;s career or appreciation for his music, and yet I enjoyed the movie quite a lot. It&#8217;s well directed, with some bold and assured choices, and the two performances at its heart <\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.criterionchannel.com\/repeat-performance\">The Criterion Channel<\/a> describes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0039761\/\">Repeat Performance<\/a> as &#8220;Something like film noir&#8217;s answer to <em>It&#8217;s a Wonderful Life<\/em> or a full-length precursor to <em>The Twilight Zone<\/em>. It&#8217;s a strange mix, but often entertaining.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For good measure, I also re-watched one of Powell and Pressburger&#8217;s earlier collaborations, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0036112\/\">The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp<\/a>, with audio commentary by Martin Scorsese and Michael Powell. It&#8217;s a fantastic movie. Maybe not my favorite of theirs\u2014that would probably be <em>Black Narcissus<\/em> or <em>The Red Shoes<\/em>\u2014but still really great.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s the holiday season, so I watched a dozen movies last week: It seems strange to call They&#8217;re a Weird Mob my &#8220;white whale,&#8221; if only because it&#8217;s not at all well known, or\u2014jumping forward\u2014even particularly good. But several years back, I decided to watch all of the Powell and Pressburger movies, and this, their &#8230; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=13402\">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-13402","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\/13402"}],"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=13402"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13408,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13402\/revisions\/13408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}