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)

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.