{"id":13481,"date":"2024-02-25T11:56:59","date_gmt":"2024-02-25T16:56:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=13481"},"modified":"2024-02-25T11:59:08","modified_gmt":"2024-02-25T16:59:08","slug":"weekly-movie-roundup-64","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=13481","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Movie Roundup"},"content":{"rendered":"<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0037558\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/1-3-194x300.jpg\" alt=\"Brief Encounter\" width=\"194\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13476\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/1-3-194x300.jpg 194w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/1-3.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 194px) 100vw, 194px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0054687\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-3-194x300.jpg\" alt=\"Blast of Silence\" width=\"194\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13477\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-3-194x300.jpg 194w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2-3.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 194px) 100vw, 194px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0031252\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/3-3-201x300.jpg\" alt=\"Drums Along the Mohawk\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13478\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/3-3-201x300.jpg 201w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/3-3-686x1024.jpg 686w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/3-3-768x1146.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/3-3.jpg 804w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0037558\">Brief Encounter<\/a> is such a lovely gem of a movie\u2014one that, as Greta Gerwig puts it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.criterionchannel.com\/videos\/greta-gerwig-on-brief-encounter\">in an interview on the Criterion Channel<\/a>, &#8220;lets you be in love with falling in love.&#8221; It doesn&#8217;t feel at first like it should even work, told so simply through flashback and voice-over narration, but there are such wonderful performances in it, particularly by Celia Johnson, and the movie is directed so deftly by David Lean.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>I don&#8217;t know that I would go so far as to call <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0054687\">Blast of Silence<\/a> a &#8220;neglected film noir masterpiece&#8221; (as Patton Oswalt does <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Qel1gGc65bE&#038;t=37s\">here<\/a>), but it&#8217;s a uniquely grim and impressive early neo-noir.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0031252\">Drums Along the Mohawk<\/a> isn&#8217;t very culturally sensitive, to say the least, but there are good performances and strong direction by John Ford.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt19500164\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/4-3-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Nimona\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13479\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/4-3-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/4-3-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/4-3.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0086429\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/5-1-198x300.jpg\" alt=\"Testament\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/5-1-198x300.jpg 198w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/5-1-676x1024.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/5-1-768x1163.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/5-1.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0114367\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/6-1-202x300.jpg\" alt=\"Screamers\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13482\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/6-1-202x300.jpg 202w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/6-1-690x1024.jpg 690w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/6-1-768x1140.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/6-1-1035x1536.jpg 1035w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/6-1-1379x2048.jpg 1379w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/6-1-scaled.jpg 1724w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt19500164\">Nimona<\/a> is, top to bottom, such an awesomely delightful and genuinely touching movie.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0086429\/\">Testament<\/a> is a remarkable, but difficult, watch\u2014a movie that, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/testament-1983\">as Roger Ebert put it<\/a>, &#8220;asks how we might act toward one another, how our values might stand up, in the face of an overwhelming catastrophe.&#8221; It is such a heartbreaking movie that, nevertheless, refuses to let go of hope.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>It&#8217;s not that there are great ideas in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0114367\/\">Screamers<\/a>\u2014those feel more than a little shopworn, confused, and under-developed\u2014but there is (again <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/screamers-1996\">as Roger Ebert put it<\/a>) &#8220;a certain imagination and intelligence&#8221; to the filmmaking. Most of that comes through Peter Weller&#8217;s performance, which isn&#8217;t enough to recommend the movie, but is strong enough to make it interesting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt21440780\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/7-1-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"How to Blow Up a Pipeline\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13483\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/7-1-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/7-1-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/7-1.jpg 729w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0059825\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/8-1-196x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Train\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/8-1-196x300.jpg 196w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/8-1-669x1024.jpg 669w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/8-1-768x1175.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/8-1-1004x1536.jpg 1004w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/8-1-1338x2048.jpg 1338w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/8-1.jpg 1456w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0118125\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/9-1-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Watermelon Woman\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13485\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/9-1-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/9-1-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/9-1-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/9-1.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt21440780\/\">How to Blow Up a Pipeline<\/a> is a terrifically tense film, though I suppose how you end up feeling about it will depend on how much you sympathize with the characters, or how comfortable you are with not knowing who to sympathize with.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>John Frankenheimer&#8217;s documentary-like filmmaking is well suited to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0059825\">The Train<\/a>, as is Burt Lancaster&#8217;s performance, though you can&#8217;t often go wrong with either one of them.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0118125\/\">The Watermelon Woman<\/a> feels every bit like a mid-&#8217;90s independent movie\u2014loose, semi-improvised scenes by non-professional actors\u2014but it asks important questions with warmth and humor. Even if the filmmaking itself feels somewhat dated, or at least very much of its time, it&#8217;s an entertaining movie made by and about black lesbians.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0109592\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10-205x300.jpg\" alt=\"Cemetery Man\" width=\"205\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13486\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10-205x300.jpg 205w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10-698x1024.jpg 698w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10-768x1126.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10-1047x1536.jpg 1047w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10-1396x2048.jpg 1396w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/10-scaled.jpg 1745w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 205px) 100vw, 205px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt21027780\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/11-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"Fallen Leaves\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13487\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/11-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/11-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/11-768x1138.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/11-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/11-1382x2048.jpg 1382w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/11-scaled.jpg 1728w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt8128188\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/12-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"High Flying Bird\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13488\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/12-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/12-692x1024.jpg 692w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/12-768x1137.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/12.jpg 1013w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0109592\">Cemetery Man<\/a> feels reminiscient of Sam Raimi or early Peter Jackson, but is never as clever, interesting, or fun as either of them. It holds only scattered moments of enjoyment. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfgate.com\/movies\/article\/Cemetery-Arouses-Sexy-Newly-Deads-2983092.php\">As critic Mick LaSalle wrote<\/a>, &#8220;It aims high and misses, but it does hold interest with visual flash, wry humor and a couple of sex scenes that can make steam come out of your ears.&#8221;<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt21027780\/\">Fallen Leaves<\/a> is a bittersweet and deceptively simple love story.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>I don&#8217;t really share Steven Soderbergh&#8217;s recent fondness for anamorphic lenses, but the choice is less distracting in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt8128188\/\">High Flying Bird<\/a>, which is thoroughly engaging, thanks to some terrific performances all around, particularly by Andr\u00e9 Holland.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I also rewatched <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0093773\/\">Predator<\/a>, which is still a fantastic &#8217;80s sci-fi action movie, but I don&#8217;t think it could ever be as cool as it was to ten-year-old me watching it on hotel cable in 1987.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brief Encounter is such a lovely gem of a movie\u2014one that, as Greta Gerwig puts it in an interview on the Criterion Channel, &#8220;lets you be in love with falling in love.&#8221; It doesn&#8217;t feel at first like it should even work, told so simply through flashback and voice-over narration, but there are such wonderful &#8230; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=13481\">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-13481","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\/13481"}],"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=13481"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13493,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13481\/revisions\/13493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}