Oh, right, this is by Ethan Coen without his brother. I was just going to write “this doesn’t really seem like a Coen brothers movie” and I was right?

Anyway, I’m probably the only person in the world who think they’re overrated? I like most of their movies fine, but I don’t quite understand the adulation. But I guess they’ve got a kinda oldee tymey auteur thing going that’s attractive.

It’s a confusing movie so far? They’ve got the repartee going on like it’s a 30s screwball comedy, which I love, but then they have these scenes of intense violence that’s just a total turn-off. It’s giving me whiplash.

And also the wonderful wonderful sets… but with these CGI things imposed here and there? It’s visually distressing.

Hey, this reminds me of what I was reading earlier today…

Paris Review.

>

This movie looks good, and it’s got some great performances. And it has a fun fluffy comedy plot like they used to do back in the 90s. And this was apparently written a quarter century ago? But it’s just tonally veering from So Much Fun to Eep all the time…

I kinda feel guilty for not loving this movie.

Drive-Away Dolls. Ethan Coen. 2024. ⚃

The tenth anniversary?

So this is partly a jokey documentary about Tuxedomoon and party footage from them going around Europe in the 80s…

Here they’re doing Holy Wars.

See?

Winston!

I like it, but I think it could have been edited together more er aggressively. Or perhaps I’m just saying that because I’ve seen a lot of Derek Jarman movies lately.

It’s a nice little move for Tuxedomoon fans. If you’re not a fan, though, it’s not going to be very interesting. Still, I’m a fan, so:

The Super-8 Years With Tuxedomoon. Steven Brown. 1997. ⚄

Hey! Futura!

I think I’ve seen this before — probably in the late 80s, at the local Cinematheque. I don’t remember anything about it, though…

And I’m not sure whether I’ve seen any traditional stagings of The Tempest.

Obviously some white balance problems.

I was thinking what Toyah’s performance reminds me of… and it’s Jennifer Saunders when she’s doing a High Culture skit. That wide-eyed thing.

OK, that’s not quite fair.

Heh heh:

Toyah Willcox, who played Miranda, said: “Derek cut out the boring bits, which I’m very grateful for, because Shakespeare doesn’t half gabble on.”

He’s very bad at chopping wood.

I feel for this wonderful building they filmed this in.

I think half the budget went on sailors’ suits.

This is good stuff, but is it great? It’s mostly… slightly less than riveting? But it’s very good.

The Tempest. Derek Jarman. 1979. ⚄