{"id":13687,"date":"2024-06-23T15:32:13","date_gmt":"2024-06-23T19:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=13687"},"modified":"2024-06-23T15:32:13","modified_gmt":"2024-06-23T19:32:13","slug":"weekly-movie-roundup-80","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=13687","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Movie Roundup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I watched a dozen movies last week:<\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0056370\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/1-3-192x300.jpg\" alt=\"Pressure Point\" width=\"192\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13684\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/1-3-192x300.jpg 192w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/1-3-656x1024.jpg 656w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/1-3-768x1198.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/1-3-985x1536.jpg 985w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/1-3-1313x2048.jpg 1313w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/1-3-scaled.jpg 1641w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 192px) 100vw, 192px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt5884796\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/2-3-202x300.jpg\" alt=\"Plane\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13685\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/2-3-202x300.jpg 202w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/2-3.jpg 691w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0418763\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/3-3-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"Jarhead\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13686\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/3-3-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/3-3-693x1024.jpg 693w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/3-3-768x1135.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/3-3.jpg 1015w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0056370\/\">Pressure Point<\/a> sometimes feels a little too stagey, but it has some strong performances and interesting things to say.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt5884796\/\">Plane<\/a> is never <em>terrible<\/em>, but it never does anything remotely interesting. Memorably terrible would be a lot preferable to the boring paint-by-numbers actioner we get here. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/plane-movie-review-2023\">As Nick Allen writes<\/a>, it&#8217;s &#8220;the case of an action movie in which the dumb title\u2014the most memorable thing about it\u2014isn&#8217;t an artistic statement, it&#8217;s an alibi.&#8221;<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0418763\/\">Jarhead<\/a> is like a war movie without the war. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/jarhead-2005\">As Ebert writes<\/a>, &#8220;It contains no heroism, little action, no easy laughs&#8230;[and] is about men who are exhausted, bored, lonely, trained to the point of obsession and given no opportunity to use their training.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt4357394\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/4-3-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"Tau\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13688\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/4-3-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/4-3-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/4-3-768x1138.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/4-3-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/4-3-1383x2048.jpg 1383w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/4-3.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0302886\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/5-3-194x300.jpg\" alt=\"Old School\" width=\"194\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13689\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/5-3-194x300.jpg 194w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/5-3.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 194px) 100vw, 194px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0070819\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/6-2-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"A Touch of Class\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13690\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/6-2-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/6-2-679x1024.jpg 679w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/6-2-768x1158.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/6-2.jpg 995w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li>Even Maika Monroe can&#8217;t save <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt4357394\/\">Tau<\/a>, a never exactly terrible but also instantly forgettable film whose sci-fi premise would probably feel tired even if the film itself brought anything remotely new to the table.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>&#8220;&#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0302886\">Old School<\/a>&#8216; wants to be &#8216;National Lampoon&#8217;s Animal House,'&#8221; wrote Roger Ebert <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/old-school-2003\">in his review<\/a>, &#8220;but then don&#8217;t they all.&#8221; Will Ferrell&#8217;s sincere commitment to the bit is occasionally almost-endearing, but there&#8217;s not a single moment in the movie that I would call <em>funny<\/em>, and it&#8217;s all held together in the laziest way possible.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>There was a time when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0070819\/\">A Touch of Class<\/a> was nominated for Best Picture. Even discounting the quality of the other four films nominated that year\u2014<em>The Sting, The Exorcist, Cries and Whispers, American Graffiti<\/em>\u2014that&#8217;s kind of astounding. I suppose the movie has its lazy &#8217;70s charms in Segal and Jackson&#8217;s performances, but the characters feel very dated and unlikable, and the whole thing feels perhaps best left in 1973.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0105242\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/7-1-202x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Resurrected\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13691\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/7-1-202x300.jpg 202w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/7-1.jpg 564w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0086058\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/8-1-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Osterman Weekend\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13692\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/8-1-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/8-1-678x1024.jpg 678w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/8-1-768x1159.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/8-1.jpg 936w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0079128\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/9-1-195x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Evictors\" width=\"195\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13693\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/9-1-195x300.jpg 195w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/9-1-667x1024.jpg 667w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/9-1-768x1179.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/9-1-1001x1536.jpg 1001w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/9-1-1335x2048.jpg 1335w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/9-1-scaled.jpg 1668w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 195px) 100vw, 195px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li>Cut <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0105242\/\">The Resurected<\/a>&#8216;s runtime (and probably its number of characters) neatly in half, and you&#8217;d likely have a very credible entry in a horror anthology television show. It boasts some impressively gruesome special effects and decent performances, especially by Chris Sarandon, but the dialogue often feels stilted, and the runtime <em>really<\/em> drags halfway through.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0086058\/\">The Osterman Weekend<\/a> doesn&#8217;t make a lick of sense. You get the feeling that the cast is really trying, but the finished product, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/the-osterman-weekend-1983\">as Roger Ebert wrote<\/a>, &#8220;resembles the proverbial movie that was fed through an electric fan and then glued together at random.&#8221;<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0079128\/\">The Evictors<\/a> doesn&#8217;t entirely work, especially once it answers the mystery of what&#8217;s been going on, but there&#8217;s a reasonably effective creepiness up until that point.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0052182\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/10-1-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Separate Tables\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13694\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/10-1-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/10-1.jpg 682w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0063477\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/11-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Queen\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13695\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/11-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/11-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/11-768x1138.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/11-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/11-1382x2048.jpg 1382w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/11-scaled.jpg 1728w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0862467\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/12-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"Valhalla Rising\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13696\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/12-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/12-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/12-768x1138.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/12.jpg 810w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0052182\/\">Separate Tables<\/a> has some lovely performances and quiet tender moments.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0063477\/\">The Queen<\/a> isn&#8217;t revelatory (or even necessarily informative) about the drag queen subculture it presents, but it is an interesting snapshot of a moment in a time, especially daring for 1968.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>By turns hypnotically slow and brutally violent, I&#8217;m not altogether sure <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0862467\/\">Valhalla Rising<\/a> has a whole lot to <em>say<\/em>, but it is often visually stunning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I watched a dozen movies last week: Pressure Point sometimes feels a little too stagey, but it has some strong performances and interesting things to say. Plane is never terrible, but it never does anything remotely interesting. Memorably terrible would be a lot preferable to the boring paint-by-numbers actioner we get here. As Nick Allen &#8230; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=13687\">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-13687","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\/13687"}],"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=13687"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13699,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13687\/revisions\/13699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}