It's not for the casual movie goer. I saw it twice. Was a bit disoriented the first time, then joined an hour long discussion on Zoom with my screenwriting group and watched it again. Brilliant. Movies are no different than books. The spectrum runs from Nancy Drew and the Mysterious Staircase to Infinite Jest. (I couldn't get through the first chapter of Infinite Jest.) There should be something like the MPAA alerting viewers how challenging a movie is and how many college film classes they've had or books on cinema theory they're read before watching a particular film.
I dont know if its a "classic" western in the sense that it is very revisionist and trippy. Its far from John Wayne fare haha.
Sounds like something I should see. I totally get Ebert's comment. There are films I've watched two or three times before I got everything, usually reading new commentary between views. There's just too much going on in some films to absorb it all in one sitting. Ebert was brilliant in his approach to film analysis. He used to do lectures at U of I where he was spend a whole day screening a film, stopping it every few minutes then going back almost frame-by-frame to point out something the director, DP, actor or editor did.
Those reviews weren't a bad sign. They were warning signs that the movie wasn't for you. It's an incredibly complex film that requires patience, a sophisticated understanding of filmmaking and at least two screenings to fully enjoy. My only quibble was that it was just too exhausting.
My only quibble was that it sucked ass and was a more pretentious version of the Matrix (which was incredibly pretentious). I'm not sure it was that complex either, maybe a dumb person's idea of what a complex movie is. (I might be exaggerating a little but this was a typical Oscar film which I see once and have no interest in revisiting)
Going to see Il Buono, il Brutto, il Cattivo, aka The Good, the Bad, the Ugly in 35mm this weekend at the Music Box as part of their Cinema Marricone series, featuring film scored by Ennio Marricone. IMO, the score for that film is the greatest in the history of cinema.
I didn't read any reviews to be honest. Looked like it was the kind of film that didnt interest me, and I saw it post-awards to see what the big deal was. It reminded me the academy is a bunch of old foagies that like to reward staid middlebrow fare, like Green Book and Shape of Water.
I rarely wait for the Oscars before seeing a movie. I see what's winning at festivals, then read reviews by a handful of critics I trust to decide if I want to see it. If I want my wife to join me, I'll check the Rotten Tomatoes critics score against the audience score. Best warning sign for most people is a critics score in the nineties and an audience score below 80.
I have a trusted review site, don't really pay attention to RT. I usually try to see stuff before the awards, but sometimes its just not feasible. I'd wanted to see Zone of Interest for months, but I basically had to wait until it was streaming, which was basically after the Oscars. I suppose I could have bought it or paid $20 at the "still in theaters" price but I cant really do that on principle.
Here's 1 that's probably far off most folks radar. I have yet to see it. Think it is on Apple. No RT score, few reviews. I was a big fan of Smoke Signals. So, that would make a good double feature. I wish my name was Cody Lightening. p.s. There is a brewery in Laramie that makes Hey, Victor (sic) which given the tragic role of alcoholism in Smoke Signals, seems tacky.
It won a bunch of Oscars and Golden Globes - what few Oppenheimer didn’t win. Made me Want to see it.
There's actually an entire genre of revisionist and/or trippy westerns called "acid westerns." Pauline Kale came up with the term saying these movies had the excesses of Spaghetti westerns but with a countercultural outlook. My favorite of all those and one of my favorite westerns is Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man. It's a bleakly dark comedy/art film with a great cast; Johnny Depp, Crispin Glover, Gabriel Byrne, John Hurt, Iggy Pop and Robert Mitchum. Has a great score by Neil Young. Sounds like he was just strumming his electric with the reverb cranked up while watching the rough cut.
This is the one I think of, because there are helicopters and automatic weapons in a film set in the 19th century Walker (film) - Wikipedia
Seeing Emma Stone naked didn't make you want to see it? That's the most sex I've seen in a movie that I didn't watch on my laptop.
I tried. I really did - couldn’t do it. Saw a decent western on Netflix the other night - The Homesman Hilary Swank and Billy Bob who also directed it.
