What are we watching now?

In the middle of L'Avventura from 1962. I'm going on an Alain Delon Run, and he is in the third film in a trilogy, so really, I have to start with the first film in the trilogy, which is L'Avventura by Michelangelo Antonioni. I'm really curious to see if this gets good, because so far it's just a bunch of rich people with rich person ennui and rich person malaise. I don't know if I can sit through a rich person's ennui trilogy. My wife and I have been wondering if the ennui or the malaise will win out.

There's a sophistication to the direction that I like, but I'm not sure if it'll have made the film worth it. I'm prepared to tough it out though. Films can surprise you.
 
Just watched Any Number Can Win from 1963. It was delightful from beginning to end. It reminded me of Rififi and The Killing, but because of Alain Delon, it was just fun throughout. That's what I was hoping for.
 
JiveTurkey said:
Denzel is :satan Devil In a Blue Dress is seriously underrated.
Click to expand...

Last night was my wife's decision, and she chose Devil In A Blue Dress. I thought it was great. This was really nice because you get to see Denzel Washington have a range of emotion, and he's not just the same all the time. Here's so capable; I don't know what the deal is when his performances get boring.

Anyway, I liked seeing a 90s noir set in the 40s, so lovingly made to look and feel like the time period. It's the only time I can remember seeing anything with Washington narrating, and that helped make him warmer, in addition to his ability to generally warmer from scene to scene in this film.

That's another thing that killed me: his reactions and his presence were really cool in this film, in a nuanced and complicated way. When he first sees the late great Tom Sizemore completely lose it, his instinct is not just to be immovably tough and stoic, and he's visibly upset on such a deep level that it's really the kind of thing you see only the best actors do. He's not trying any artifice here; he's just acting, and that seems so tough for people when you could use every opportunity just to try to look cool.

I thought the director was great, because you got a real sense of good acting all the way around, even from Jennifer Beals, who I remember being bad in Flashdance. Whenever I see a mediocre actor do a good job I tend to think it's probably a good director. This is interesting to me because I've seen one other of his films, Out Of Time, and I hated that, from what I remember.

Finally, I fucking love Don Cheadle. I drove a couple hours to see a screening of Miles Ahead when it was first released. No one has that perfect combination of being an outstanding actor with such a great feel, and here he knew how to be funny too. Just awesome. Great recommendation.
 
State of Epicicity said:
Last night was my wife's decision, and she chose Devil In A Blue Dress. I thought it was great. This was really nice because you get to see Denzel Washington have a range of emotion, and he's not just the same all the time. Here's so capable; I don't know what the deal is when his performances get boring.

Anyway, I liked seeing a 90s noir set in the 40s, so lovingly made to look and feel like the time period. It's the only time I can remember seeing anything with Washington narrating, and that helped make him warmer, in addition to his ability to generally warmer from scene to scene in this film.

That's another thing that killed me: his reactions and his presence were really cool in this film, in a nuanced and complicated way. When he first sees the late great Tom Sizemore completely lose it, his instinct is not just to be immovably tough and stoic, and he's visibly upset on such a deep level that it's really the kind of thing you see only the best actors do. He's not trying any artifice here; he's just acting, and that seems so tough for people when you could use every opportunity just to try to look cool.

I thought the director was great, because you got a real sense of good acting all the way around, even from Jennifer Beals, who I remember being bad in Flashdance. Whenever I see a mediocre actor do a good job I tend to think it's probably a good director. This is interesting to me because I've seen one other of his films, Out Of Time, and I hated that, from what I remember.

Finally, I fucking love Don Cheadle. I drove a couple hours to see a screening of Miles Ahead when it was first released. No one has that perfect combination of being an outstanding actor with such a great feel, and here he knew how to be funny too. Just awesome. Great recommendation.
Click to expand...
Glad you dug it! Hopefully your wife did as well.

I just saw a listing on his filmography with BillyBob and Bill Paxton. I'm going to dig it up and give it a watch. Cheadle is 100% underutilized. His work in Boogie Nights is awesome. Both hilarious and sad at the same time.
 
JiveTurkey said:
Glad you dug it! Hopefully your wife did as well.

I just saw a listing on his filmography with BillyBob and Bill Paxton. I'm going to dig it up and give it a watch. Cheadle is 100% underutilized. His work in Boogie Nights is awesome. Both hilarious and sad at the same time.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, she thought it was great, except she thought the big secret about Jennifer Beals character was totally obvious the whole time. This just makes me yearn for Denzel Washington to show a lot of more range, because whenever he does, his performance is truly great.
 
Watching more Robert Englund, who is a stellar actor, even when he's got one scene. He still steals the show, regardless.

Tonight is Urban Legend and The Last Showing.
 
We just watched Spirits of The Dead from 1967. It has the different directors, each with a segment telling a Poe story. The first and last were garbage, but the middle one, by Louis Malle and starting Alain Delon, was interesting. I forget how incredibly hot Jane Fonda was, and how incredibly terrible her acting was. And Fellini can just go fly a kite.
 
We just watched American Me from 1992. That is one of, if not the most, brutal films I've ever seen. Completely unflinchingly brutal. And so well directed, and so well acted. I don't know if I can get over this one. It's one of those I don't ever want to see again because it was too brutal, but I feel lucky that I got to see it because the directing was just so creative and great.
 
DrewJD82 said:
I didn't realize The Boys started back up!
Click to expand...
YEEP! :banana :pickle
I still haven't had time to start watching the new season

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Watched the Enfield Poltergeist series on Apple TV. Interesting style of documentary using actors lip syncing the actual tape recordings. Interesting vibe with that approach, but holy fook is that thing about two hours too long. It would not end.
 
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