BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Recently watched movies.

Yitzock · January 29, 2023 6:06 pm

I have watched some of those films recently as well! I enjoyed The Banshees of Inisherin a lot more than I thought I would. I don't know why I felt that way, I think I'd read somewhere that there was violence and I was expecting the violence to be worse than it was

(it still had my mum dreaming about severed fingers that night, though, unfortunately).

I thought on the one hand it was a touching and funny exploration of friendship and mortality. On the other hand, the absurdity of the friends' conflict was an interesting comment on the conflict happening in Ireland at the time that the character occasionally comment on and observe. I think it was, at least in part, a comment on how it's absurd for friends to escalate into a violent conflict with each other over differences that don't warrant them. And the self-destructiveness of that.

My dad and I are interested in watching The Menu, but we haven't yet watched it because my mum probably won't like it, even if the more gruesome stuff is only at the end. Also,

I don't want my mum dreaming about severed fingers again. I read an article describing some of the violence, even if it was essentially a spoiler to try to guage whether we should watch it. She has trouble getting disturbing images out of her head once she sees them, especially when watching something right before bed.

I would like to see Everything Everywhere, All at Once at some point, since I've pretty much only heard positive things about it. I haven't seen Michelle Yeoh in more than a couple of movies, but I like her.

I watched Glass Onion on Boxing Day and thought it was a lot of fun. I had enjoyed Knives Out as well. My parents and I thought that the Mona Lisa was too big to be the real painting. Of course, they wouldn't have used the real one in the movie, anyway, but it seemed conspicuously unreal. I couldn't help but wonder if that in itself is a commentary on the artificiality of the Edward Norton character's persona. I was pleasantly surprised that Janelle Monae had such a big role in the film and I enjoyed the character(s) she played.

I have not watched Swimming Pool, but it's interesting you've seen a few movies set on an island lately. Perhaps it's a good way to keep characters in a confined place and let things happen. I know sometimes writers like to do that.

I watched The Tragedy of Macbeth, directed by Joel Coen last night. It's shot in a square aspect ratio in black and white. The cinematography and production design are stunning, with a lot of expressionistic shadows. Brendan Gleeson played King Duncan, if you are interested in seeing him in another film. We were able to get a special offer for three months of Apple TV+ for free, so we're trying to watch what we are interested in during that time. I don't know if the film is available anywhere else or where it is available in the UK, though. But I think it's worth watching if you have a chance.

Last edited by Yitzock (January 29, 2023 6:09 pm)

Liberty · January 29, 2023 10:05 pm

Oh Macbeth sounds good! I had forgotten about that. I have a couple of subs on the go at the moment so don't want to pay for apple, but will look out for a free trial when one my subs runs out.

I think that The Menu had more violence than The Banshees of Inisherin, some of it along similar lines, but I don't think it affected me as much. It is a bit disturbing, though, and I didn't find the characters very likeable, whereas there was something endearing about most of the characters in Banshees.
I bet you're right that that the Mona Lisa in Glass Onion being the wrong size was commentary about the artificiality and pretentiousness. I have seen the Mona Lisa in real life, but so long ago that I don't really remember it!
Thinking of it The Menu maybe has some things in common with Glass Onion too, although a different tone.

Yitzock · February 3, 2023 3:41 pm

Yes, from what I've read, they both are pointing out pretentions of rich people and how people talk about things they think are sophisticated.

Yitzock · October 17, 2023 7:44 pm

I haven't posted in this thread in a while, but I realized I didn't post about how my dad and I went to see Oppenheimer about a week ago. I did a search on the forum in case someone else had discussed it already, but I only found a post where someone thought the role of Oppenheimer would be an interesting one for Benedict. Perhaps it could have been, but I thought Cillian Murphy did a good job. My dad watches Peaky Blinders, but I'm not familiar with his previous work.
Overall, the movie was deeply affecting, though I have a few qualms with the portrayals of the women, which isn't exactly unusual in the stories of "great men" of history. Not as bad or as sidelined as some others, but perhaps still flawed. But I liked the film a lot, otherwise. I think watching it in a cinema definitely enhances it, the sound design and visual style are very striking. It's a long film, but I didn't really find it drag except maybe once, briefly. But there is a lot to take in, a lot of information, so I think I would have to see it again to pick up certain things I might have missed.

besleybean · October 17, 2023 7:50 pm

I loved it!

Liberty · October 18, 2023 5:57 pm

I was thinking of going to see it and didn't: thank you for the recommendation and I'll see if I get another chance soon! I haven't been to see anything for a while, which is silly because I have some free tickets (through membership) for the local cinema. Might be good now it's colder to go somewhere warm and get my free drink as a senior!

Yitzock · October 18, 2023 8:34 pm

That's nice that your cinema has free drinks for seniors. Ours just has a ticket discount. I got some free passes for Christmas last year, so that's actually what I've been doing for movies lately, too.
I think it did a good job of showing that Oppenheimer was intelligent and discovered something that changed the world but definitely didn't gloss over the negative aspects of that. There's also a significant part of the plot that is related to politics that I wasn't aware of which I thought was really interesting.

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January 29, 2023 6:06 pm #821

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January 29, 2023 10:05 pm #822

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February 3, 2023 3:41 pm #823

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October 17, 2023 7:44 pm #824

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October 17, 2023 7:50 pm #825

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