{"id":14019,"date":"2025-01-26T16:42:36","date_gmt":"2025-01-26T21:42:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=14019"},"modified":"2025-01-26T16:42:36","modified_gmt":"2025-01-26T21:42:36","slug":"weekly-movie-roundup-105","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=14019","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Movie Roundup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, I watched 9 movies:<\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1-3-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Day of the Locust\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-14010\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1-3-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1-3-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1-3-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1-3.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/td>\n<td><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2-3-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"A Real Pain\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-14011\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2-3-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2-3-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2-3-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2-3.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/td>\n<td><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/3-3-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Lucky Lady\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-14012\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/3-3-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/3-3-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/3-3-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/3-3.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li>There&#8217;s something to be said for the way <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/day-of-the-locust-1975\">Roger Ebert<\/a> described <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0072848\/\">The Day of the Locust<\/a>, as a film that &#8220;misplaces its concern with its characters.&#8221; There&#8217;s a lot that works about the movie, but I don&#8217;t think Ebert is wrong that &#8220;We begin to sense that they\u2019re marching around in response to the requirements of the story, instead of leading lives of their own. And so we stop worrying about them, because they\u2019re doomed anyway and not always because of their own shortcoming.&#8221;<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt21823606\/\">A Real Pain<\/a> is a deeply affecting look at human connection, and the limits of it. There are some quiet, deliberate moments in this film that are going to stick with me a long time.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/lucky-lady-1975\">Roger Ebert<\/a> called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0073317\/\">Lucky Lady<\/a> &#8220;a big, expensive, good-looking flop of a movie.&#8221; A cast that&#8217;s not put to much good use tries their best, but this is like the very definition of forgettable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/4-3-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Naked Civil Servant\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-14013\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/4-3-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/4-3-682x1024.jpg 682w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/4-3-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/4-3.jpg 989w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/td>\n<td><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/5-3-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Protagonists\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-14014\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/5-3-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/5-3-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/5-3-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/5-3.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/td>\n<td><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/6-3-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Wind and the Lion\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-14015\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/6-3-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/6-3-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/6-3-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/6-3.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li>The core of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0073438\/\">The Naked Civil Service<\/a> is Crisp&#8217;s humor and John Hurt&#8217;s great performance.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0167351\/\">The Protagonists<\/a> is deliberately odd enough to be occasionally interesting, but it&#8217;s hard to see what, if anything, that oddness is in service of.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>I find myself much more interested in the scattered scenes of Brian Keith&#8217;s Teddy Roosevelt in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0073906\/\">The Wind and the Lion<\/a> than in anything between the film&#8217;s ostensible leads. And that&#8217;s even leaving aside the film&#8217;s dubious historical accuracy or the questionable nature of Sean Connery playing a Berber chieftain.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/7-2-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Nosferatu\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-14016\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/7-2-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/7-2-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/7-2-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/7-2.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/td>\n<td><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/8-2-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Through a Glass Darkly\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-14017\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/8-2-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/8-2-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/8-2-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/8-2.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/td>\n<td><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/9-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Blood Beast of Terror\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-14018\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/9-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/9.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt5040012\">Nosferatu<\/a> is often stunning and unsettling in equal measure.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>Bergman&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0055499\/\">Through a Glass Darkly<\/a> is both stark and haunting, with a remarkable performance from Harriet Andersson.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>Peter Cushing once called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0061411\/\">The Blood Beast Terror<\/a> the worst movie he&#8217;d ever made. Well, when you&#8217;re right, you&#8217;re right. The movie isn&#8217;t <em>unpleasantly<\/em> bad to watch\u2014indeed, I had a great deal of fun watching it as part of <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/hashtag\/horrorwatch\">#horrorwatch on Bluesky<\/a>\u2014and Cushing acquits reasonably himself well. But it&#8217;s so goofily and poorly plotted, taking these weird side routes and uninteresting digressions. It&#8217;s can be <em>enjoyably<\/em> bad, but it&#8217;s bad nonetheless.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, I watched 9 movies: There&#8217;s something to be said for the way Roger Ebert described The Day of the Locust, as a film that &#8220;misplaces its concern with its characters.&#8221; There&#8217;s a lot that works about the movie, but I don&#8217;t think Ebert is wrong that &#8220;We begin to sense that they\u2019re marching &#8230; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=14019\">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-14019","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\/14019"}],"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=14019"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14022,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14019\/revisions\/14022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}