It’s striking how few movies have been made that are just, like, set during covid? And just use face masks as if it’s the most natural thing? That was reality for a couple of years, but it seems a bit memory holed…

The movie is pretty odd — it seems so static. We got the setup in the first few minutes, and after that basically nothing has “happened”. Instead the go over the same thing over and over again…

The film was made very quickly, and I wonder whether the dialogue is partially improvised? It has that feel.

You know… sometimes when you’re watching movies and you go “but why should I be interested in these people?” Which is really any movie — all movies are about these people who you don’t really have an innate interest in, but… then you are! Movies have to overcome that hurdle. That’s the magic of movies.

And this kinda doesn’t? These people just… aren’t… that interesting? So the movie is failing there.

But I like the way it’s filmed.

Some of the problem is definitely with these actors — Juliette Binoche is great, but the rest are just sort of there.

Love this shot.

I don’t think this movie quite works? But there’s quite a few striking shots and some good scenes.

Both Sides of the Blade. Claire Denis. 2022. ⚂

What an odd way to start a movie. We get three and a half minutes of the above… but with about 20 seconds worth of excerpts for various songs. Not even artfully mixed together, but just faded in and then faded out.

Very strange.

Anyway, I’m watching this because Hazel Flagg mentioned it… but it’s certainly a name I’ve seen a gazillion times before. It became, like, a zeitgeisty thing, right? But like with many 70s movies, I’ve never seen it before.

Oh, the 70s.

Heh heh, that’s some set.

Does this count as a “New Hollywood” movie? I mean, it looks like one (i.e., more naturalish lighting and more grainy etc), but:

Richard Brooks certainly is a veteran director (and this is on the tail end of his career)… (And he never did anything substantial after this movie, so whatever was left of his career was tanked by this movie.)

*gasp*

Sex n drugs n porn!

The mix of fantasy and reality is a lot of fun.

Hey! Richard Gere!

Right, this is like his second movie…

I like this movie… but it is a bit of a mess. It’s like it tries to cram All The Issues into one movie: You’ve got abortions, Catholicism, orgies, racism, deaf children, drugs, feminism, poverty… every new scene is an opportunity to cover a new Issue…

That is whatsisface, right? But… how… I thought he was younger? Or is it his older brother or something?

I’m constantly interpreting scenes as being obviously fantasy… but then they turn out not to be. I guess that’s something done on purpose, but… these are some pretty absurd scenes.

Oh!

Got me!

Heh heh.

She’s cleaning her disgusting fridge!!! She’s really turned a corner…

Seems like a good guy!

The ending of the movie really, really sucks, so I can understand all the negative ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. But on the other hand:

Keaton’s performance in this movie is great. And it looks good. So while the entire thing feels misguided:

Looking For Mr. Goodbar. Richard Brooks. 1977. ⚃

That’s a very big face mask.

Yes, it’s another movie from the Hazel Flagg Collection.

These mainstream US 70s movies… I’ve watched so few of them, which was one of the attractions of Hazel Flagg’s list of movies. This is very amiable, very professional — the jokes keep coming, and the performances are totally on point.

But I can totally see that this is one of those lost movies — it’s not very high concept (i.e., no hook) and the actors seem mostly to be character actors. And so I’m watching this on DVD:

The director here does not have an extensive career, but I’ve seen Slither, at least…

It’s just so… well made. Matthau and Glenda Jackson have incredible chemistry, and that doesn’t hurt, of course, but the entire thing just feels so effortless and charming. The repartee keeps on being amusing, but without feeling forced.

*gasp* Shoes on on the bed!

I’ve been wondering what this reminds me of, and it dawned on me that this is giving me “superior 1980 TV episode”, in a way. I don’t mean that as an insult — it’s just that this puts me in a similar mood as to what I remember being when I was thirteen and watching Hill Street Blues or something. It’s just three years off, Google tells me.

Like one of those shows, only loads better, of course.

The interest here is (like in Hill Street Blues) the characters and the witty lines, and the plot is basically incidental. But watching this has made me want to re-watch Hill Street Blues! I wonder how that holds up…

Anyway, this was incredibly satisfying to watch.

House Calls. Howard Zieff. 1978. ⚅