pacaway

Sorry. Make that, Empire of Light will be on Disney+ here in Canada! I've corrected the original post.

pacaway

Did a rewatch of Three Billboards on a whim. I know there are probably mixed feelings but I really love that movie, although it did seem a little more melodramatic this time and the little people jokes fall a little flatter now.

Travis McClain

Got together with a friend last night to stream the new All Quiet on the Western Front. I liked the performances and the use of sound effects. I had a hard time getting into the story, though, because of the visual aesthetic of the cinematography. Every single frame is tinted unnaturally. The lighting consequently looks unnatural. It's the same problem I have with the MCU and so many other contemporary films. They look like video games instead of movies and I hate it. By monkeying with the light the way they did, the action sequences felt hollow. I could tell they used real practical effects (i.e., real explosions) instead of digital ones, but that lighting undermined it. There are also several insert shots of landscapes, and the lighting makes them look fake. I dunno if they were or not, but it's not because if they were fake they'd be convincing enough to pass as real; it's because the lighting makes them look fake even if they were real.

Still, I can get behind this film winning for Sound and Writing (Adapted Screenplay). I haven't seen all the nominees in either category yet, and as a rule I tend to only let myself take a position on Sound if I see the movie in a theater. But since this is a Netflix-distributed title, it has to be seen at home. And, as I said, I thought the use of sound effects was quite well done. As for the screenplay, the two nominees I've seen so far are two I don't believe have any business in the Adapted category (Glass Onion and Top Gun: Maverick). The Academy really needs to revise their definition of what constitutes originality because those two counting for Adapted because they re-used existing characters is asinine.

lisadoris

It's Super Bowl Sunday which means I'll be chillin' on my couch catching up with the Corleone family. I can't wait to watch the trilogy in 4k.

Trevor

Finally watched Spotlight, the 2015 best picture winner. Very good, depressing, and infuriating, film.

pacaway

Just watched All That Breathes and Living and wasn't overly impressed with either. Although it's cool that L was nominated for adapted screenplay since it was adapted from an Akira Kurosawa film.

pacaway

Having finished the novel on the weekend, I threw in my The Green Mile disc for a fresh in mind movie-to-book comparison because this is one of those amazingly well done adaptations. The novel, of course, is better as it fleshes out all the characters and themes much better. But the movie, at just over 3 hours, handles almost every scene from the book very well. Where it really drops the ball is on the story line it uses as bookends. The serial novel bookended each of its 6 parts with this story and really makes the theme about aging (and that there are always a$$holes around) stand out. Funny that it takes out the story writing angle and throws in the "flicker show" hook instead, so at least we don't end up with ANOTHER movie about an author. Nowadays the film would have been done in two (or maybe even three) parts, as LotR did a couple years later to start that trend, but for its runtime it did an effective job and the film still hold an emotional punch... for me anyway.

pacaway

Watched Fathom last night... RIP Raquel Welch (1940-2023). I've owned the DVD since it was released but had never watched it. It wasn't a bad little reluctant hero story.

Indy24LA

The Woman King just hit Netflix. It makes me wish we had 3 wildcards for movies that we feel should have been nominated.

lisadoris

One year I did ask if folks wanted to watch one title that should have been nominated but no one was really feeling that option. We can bring that back next year. I certainly think The Woman King should have been nominated. This also reminds me that I need to pick up the 4k of that title.

mrcellophane

EO will start streaming on Criterion Channel on February 21st.

Mao

-All Animated Short Films are now available for streaming --> Updates


On February 21:

-Babylon streams on Paramount+

-Empire of Light releases on DVD/Blu

-EO is available on Criterion Channel (thank you, mrcellophane!) and for Digital Purchase

-A House Made Of Splinters is available for Digital Purchase

-Woman Talking is available for Digital Purchase

Travis McClain

I caught Titanic in 3D on Friday. I'm not obsessed with it the way some fans are, but it is a favorite of mine. I was skeptical of a 3D conversion so late after production, but since it was James Cameron, I was willing to take a chance on it. I was absolutely awed. Even parts of the film that usually began to test my interest had me captivated, like the entire present day prologue. Normally, I get a little impatient with that and just want to get on with the story proper. This time, I finally understood Gloria Stuart's Best Supporting Actress nomination. (She lost to Kim Basinger in L.A. Confidential; I haven't seen two of the nominees and by now I've forgotten most of In & Out, but I can agree with Basinger over Stuart.) She's always been likened a bit to Peter Falk in The Princess Bride, but I think that's too reductive. Falk as the grandfather was simply the storyteller. As "Old Rose," Stuart had to convince us that all these things really happened and that she'd lived with them all these years. I buy it.

And I can say that the actual sinking had always impressed me on a film-making level, but this time I found it genuinely terrifying. Usually, there's a part of my brain that's conscious at all times, "These are actors/stunt performers; they're working under controlled conditions on sets; that's make-up; this is a prop; etc." But this time, whenever I started to think about that as I watched people consumed with terror scrambling and desperate amid chaos, another part of my brain kicked in and reminded me, "Yeah, but all that is to dramatize the very real experiences of very real human beings who met their end these ways." So while I was conscious not to be moved by the actors I could see onscreen, I was still moved by the people for whom they were proxies. I'd never experienced that, or at least never so intensely, in 2D. And yes, I did see it during its original theatrical run and not just on a TV screen.

pacaway

A House Made of Splinters is now available in Canada on Gem.

Mao

Wish I could see that!!

Edit: Deadline reports that the film will be available on digital platforms (including Apple TV and Prime Video) on Feb. 21st.

pacaway

Saw all nominated short films this weekend at a local theatre, presented by the Calgary International Film Festival. The documentaries were almost 3 hours long but they were ALL so good! My picks are... The Red Suitcase, The Elephant Whisperers and An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It.

With those out of the way, I have only 9 more nominees to see to complete the list. Still have NO source in Canada for Tell It Like a Woman at all, not even available here on iTunes

Mao

Meh...it's just a song nomination...not gonna win, lol. It was barely released theatrically...

You're way ahead of the game. Still gotta get access to "Close", "EO", "House Made Of Splinters", "All The Beauty And The Bloodshed", and 3 of the shorts. Don't think I'm gonna find 'em all before the show, but sometimes it happens at the last minute. Due to rights issues, there won't be a Shorts package available on iTunes like the old days.

pacaway

Ultimately I'm going to have to rent All the Beauty... from iTunes. I'll need to finally sign up for the Criterion Channel for EO. I had to take a day off work to catch Close last week at 2:00pm on one of the last days it was playing. I'll also have to rent Aftersun and Mrs. Harris goes to Paris.

As for Tell It..., I know it's only for a song that won't win but the completist in me isn't going to let me get away with that excuse. I'll have to find it eventually.

Mao

I completely understand, lol!!

Criterion Channel has a free 14 Day Trial, so I'll be signing up for that to see "EO" and a few other great titles! "All The Beauty..." is listed here in the U.S. as an iTunes pre-order with no date, but I'm sure that'll be up before the show. I'll rent "A House Made Of Splinters" on iTunes for $4.99, leaving only "Close" as the one to see theatrically. that and those 3 finicky shorts ("An Irish Goodbye", "The Red Suitcase" and "How Do You Measure A Year") to find somewhere...

pacaway

OMG, those are 3 really good ones too!

Mao

Updates

Yay! "An Irish Goodbye" Just showed up on Vimeo yesterday!!!

And "The Whale" is now available for digital purchase

lisadoris

So yesterday I thought about watching del Toro's Pinocchio and was reading some reviews. Found out that it takes place in 1930s Italy under Mussolini and figured that was coming too close to violating my no Nazi goal for this challenge. This morning, it hits me that I've already violated by rule: Hitler makes a cameo appearance in Contact which I completely spaced about. Ugh. It's way to difficult to get through this challenge without Nazis popping up!

Mao

As we begin winding down...

Update

Of the 39 feature films nominated for Oscars, the only ones that can't be streamed, don't have a date or aren't yet on physical media (in the U.S. anyway) are:

Avatar: The Way Of Water
Living
The Quiet Girl (though it is available on Region B Blu-ray from the U.K. - it also has a listing at iTunes, so fingers crossed - it's a great film!)

and the only shorts not available are:

How Do You Measure A Year?
The Red Suitcase

If anyone sees either of those two shorts pop up, please let me know!

I expect things will change in the next two weeks, but who knows?

pacaway

LOL! That's pretty funny... yes,

I would not have thought about that either! Good luck next year, I guess.

Indy24LA

The challenge for me is to avoid (neo) Nazis in real life! I have a somewhat different quasi-goal for my viewing; to look for coffee and vinyl in everything I watch. Who knew both were so ubiquitous in film.