Cabin in the Sky

This is kinda fun. The performances are pretty engaging (especially Ethel Waters)… but the storyline doesn’t do much for me. And the pacing seems rather ponderous, even for a sentimental movie like this.

Oh, I’ve heard this song…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZxtXy4Ttig]

Ella!

The devil you say!

Oh! It’s Lena Horne!!!

This movie is so amiable that I feel like I should love it. I mean, I’m smiling a lot, and the music’s good. But…

Love this song. Ethel Waters.

It’s these scenes that make me zone out. The musical numbers are delightful, but the main plot (where this guy is being watched over/guided/tempted by angels and devils) just doesn’t have a lot of zing. It just kind of drags.

OK, Lena Horne in the house. Perhaps it’ll pick up now.

I hope she got hazard pay!

Didn’t love the ending, either.

Cabin in the Sky. Busby Berkeley & Vincente Minnelli. 1943.

Jour de Fête

This movie is a mixture of very funny and accomplished physical humour and… well… cringe stuff. I can’t stand the cringe. But the physical humour is very funny indeed.

I’ve only seen one Tati movie before: Playtime, which was totally magnificent. This is Tati’s first movie, so I probably had exaggerated expectations… but… while Playtime was exquisite, this movie seems kinda… normal?

There’s nothing in the mise en scene here that’s extraordinary, I think?

But it is funny.

Jour de Fête. Jacques Tati. 1949.

Tenet

Oooh! 16:9!

OK, I should be drunk enough to watch this now. Let’s go!

Now it’s more 2.4:1…

16:9 again!!!

NOLAN!

Oh, Nolan.

This is really fun. But my main question is: Why is Washington wearing a comedy beard?

He’s able to grow a very nice beard all on his own, so this fake one just seems weird. I guess they didn’t have time… or somebody that knows how to make a fake beard…

Oh! This is the scene!

[youtube https://youtu.be/s2FXfFeRtJo]

It’s a good summation, especially the disconnect between the two people in the scene: Obviously Washington and Michael Caine were never on the same set.

Hey! It’s the Opera in Oslo!

Such Norway.

The sheer silliness of this movie appeals to me enormously.

“This sure is the stupidest way to talk about secrets ever, right?” “You mean on a radio?” “Yes!”

Has Nolan never seen an actual beard? I googled “tenet beard” and there’s all these discussions about whether the beards are CGI or not, and I can totally sympathise. But now, it’s just glued on, I think.

I’ve never been in Tallinn… but it’s so amusing (well to me): Every scene here I’m going “THAT”S IN OSLO… but where?” and then I realise that it’s not in Oslo. Tallinn looks very Nordic, is what I’m saying, and not Eastern Europeish at all.

I should go visit some day.

Heh heh. Magne Viking. That sure is a Norwegian boat name!

This is a very entertaining movie. It’s like James Bond, but stupider. I know that seems impossible, but it really is.

I think some people are really annoyed by how silly the movie is (and are loathing it), and some people think that it’s super-intelligent (and loving it). I, on the other hand, love silly movies, so I really enjoyed it.

But there were parts that really dragged. It’s got at least half an hour of pure flab. On the other hand, it’s really pretty.

Tenet. Christopher Nolan. 2020.