I’m actually not that fond of this era. “New Hollywood” I guess it was called? It’s always seemed to me like there was a bunch of American directors really impressed by European films, so they tried to make their own — but they had none of the depth or interest of the movies they were aping, so instead you got… American 70s movies.

And this is about The Magic Of Movies, I guess.

I’ve never seen this one before, but I’ve wanted to, so here we are.

I’m not sure about this 4K Criterion restoration… There’s no scratches or anything, it’s stable, and the blacks are black, but there’s so much grain that it looks like fake grain. It’s like a swarm of bees — I’m not sure you can see that in the clip above, but it’s pretty distracting.

So picaresque… it’s just like we’re in 50s Italy…

One of the big problems with these movies are that American actors act (and they’re good at acting). And in these movies the director is always going “no, just be natural! be natural!” and they get so stiff and artificial.

Hey, it’s that guy.

Tense!

OK, I guess I understand why this movie made a splash…

I’ve seen almost no Bognodovatorish movies… I’ve seen What’s Up, Doc? And that might be it. Possibly Paper Moon, or I might have read the Mad Magazine version of it.

One of the most disturbing things about this movie is the foley work. They have a guy making noises throughout the movie — so when they get in the bed, there’s squeek squeek squeek etc. It sounds so fake.

What’s her name! She looks so familiar…

The plot on this movie is frankly unbelievable. Cybill Shepherd is hot for this asshole and he’s all like “no, not until you’ve had sex (with Jeff Bridges)”, and she’s like “oh no, not Jeff Bridges”.

It’s like… wat?

This movie annoyed me on many levels. I mean — it’s a good movie — but it goes for the easy solutions all the time. Like killing off the goofiest character, so that it’s “tragic” but not too sad? The easy sentimentality of small town theatres closing down. The horniness. (OK, that’s actually fine.)

I guess I was most annoyed by how the actors seem a millisecond away from looking at the director going “was that OK, mr. Bogdavonitarish? was that natural?” all the time.

The Last Picture Show. Peter Bogdanovich. 1971. ⚃

Heh heh, that’s a funny opening.

I guess this movie is what is going to represent the Biden era for any generations that might follow — a brief respite when things seemed kinda normal.

This is funny and all, but… earlier today I watched Merrily We Live, where every scene had been honed to maximum hilarity, and in comparison, this just seems lazy: Most of the jokes are either referential or stuff like “I’ll beach you off”, which is funny because IT”S SUCH A DOUBLE ENTENDRE. Almost a century apart, it’s like I’m watching the decline of human humour or something.

And this dance number? It’s not good. I mean, for non-dancers it’s not bad, but…

Oh, now we’re in SNL land…

I thought this would be better. It’s like they thought that the entire concept of “Barbie, but slightly sarcastic” would be so hilarious that they don’t have to write any actual jokes. Instead it’s just references, and a shot of Miss America and them going “Oh, the Supreme Court”…

The script feels lazy. And I’m just half an hour in and I’m already thinking that this is too long.

Some of the scenes are pretty zippy, but most of them are just too slow.

I wonder whether Hazel Flagg saw this movie.

And:

OK, I didn’t think she’d like it, but that’s harsh, man! I fear she’s right, though. I hope the movie picks up…

OK, that’s not a bad joke. But it’s a one-liner seemingly designed to be quoted on Twitter.

Man.

Those 1-star reviews are obviously all Nazis, but people actually seemed to like this movie.

This really is like a really, really long SNL skit.

Did this song win the Oscars? It did not, and it’s not a good song.

Wow, that’s harsh! But accurate.

Oh my god. I’ve been ready for this to be over for at least half an hour, but there’s 15 minutes more to go?

It’s just been one preachy scene after another and I’m ready to gnaw my foot off.

There are funny bits in this, but the last half of the movie is unbelievably boring. It just can’t stop preaching at the audience — when one rousing speech stops, you get the next one.

So while it’s a really miserable thing to see, I have to go with:

Barbie. Greta Gerwig. 2023. ⚁

So this movie is about preachers swindling people out of money and stuff? That must have been a spicy subject in 1931.

This looks pretty odd! I mean, the lions in the background are back projection, but the bars on the cage don’t look like they’re in the same shot as the actors, either? Oh, no, it’s just the odd way it’s lit…

The premise here is interesting — it’s about a fake preacher/healer, but she’s not totally fake, and then there’s a blind guy, and there’s a meet cute… But it’s not exactly zipping along, either. I mean, it’s not bad or anything, but…

Stanwyck is great, of course.

They pronounce Palestine as /ˈpæləˌstiːn/, weirdly enough.

Hazel Flagg is right again. It’s fun to watch Stanwyck in this, and Capra does some really interesting things here. But the script, while having an interesting concept, just gets lost in the weeds all the time.

…

Anyway!

The Miracle Woman. Frank Capra. 1931. ⚂