It was a scattered week, but I actually saw a current movie! I’ve mostly stopped doing that because I’d rather wait for stuff to stream.
One Battle After Another (2025): recommended. Illuminati-esque and military battle revolutionaries and immigrant activists. Despite being a salacious cash-grab, the story is more interesting and realistic than most – especially compared to super heroes. Everyone is an over the top caricature but that works for what is essentially an action movie.
Megalopolis (2024): recommended with caveats. Must-see for visual beauty. The good part of this mess is Coppola showing us what it feels like to be a director. The bad part is that by making Our Hero an architect designing a Utopia for the ungrateful masses, it rings of Fountainhead and gives credit to the falsehood that rich geniuses know better than the people under their rule. ::: spoiler Digression
At least the film points out that rich and connected charismatic leaders who DO associate with the common man should be eyed with suspicion, but one could interpret that to mean ‘trust the rich unless they appeal to the poors’, which is an even worse message than ‘trust the rich’. It would have felt less cringey if instead of all the Roman Empire, the stakes were a Hospital or the studio of a marble sculptor where one dictator had to order others about, but he was irrelevant to most people until his shining creation was made – with questions about his methods and supporters getting a chance to say, 'He struggled to afford supplies and cast out those who called him a fool. Yes, he worked his supporters like dogs, but all he asked was that he have the chance to complete his work without interference from the outside."
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Save the Children (1973): So much good source material of concert footage but they clipped the songs, which diluted the quality. Still good, and there’s nice oration by Rev. Jesse Jackson in there.
Once Were Brothers (2019) - Doc about the Band and getting booed for being Dylan’s electric band (rather than acoustic), made their own way, found heroin, then played with Dylan again in addition to playing as themselves.
Happy as Lazzaro (2018): recommended. Naïve and honest Lazzaro makes the people around him better, but he can’t cure the world.
Nocturna (2007) - fanciful imagery and charming characters make for a light little film despite a vacuous plot with both kind and questionable messages.
Skin Game (1971): James Garner scams slave owners by repeatedly selling Louis Gossett Jr. then helping him escape. It’s better than I expected.
The Murderers Are Among Us (1946) Die Mörder sind unter uns – Germany! This was the first film made & exhibited in West Germany after WWII. Director Staudte, who stayed through the war, said the film is about his shame of being used for/by Hitler. This initiated the sub-genre ‘trümmerfilme’ (rubble films). ::: spoiler Digression
It starts with bold text: Berlin 1945 DER STADT HAT KAPITULIERT… (ellipsis included) translated, this is ‘The city has capitulated…’, but seeing it spelled out and then immediately followed by the camera showing a grave amid rubble, reminds one of the nearness of ‘kapit-’ to ''kaputt" (broken/destroyed) – and if one has ever heard the Ton Steine Scherben song of the same name, one may imagine the refrain overlaying the film, Macht kaputt, was euch kaputt macht (destroy that which destroys you). Surely Rossellini knew this film before he made Germany, Year Zero, and there’s much to compare between them; the choice of endings, in particular, because they each take something of a cop-out as was need for the times. TOTAL SPOILER FOLLOWS: Because the Allies wanted to tamp down any vigilantism and impose rule of law, the ending here doesn’t give us the satisfaction of a justifiable homicide and the repercussions of such. Instead, there’s an implied future that resolves in more proper justice maybe being done in the future. Rossellini used a different cop out.
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Berlin Express (1948): not first film, but first Hollywood film of post-war Germany (the 2nd was Wilder’s Foreign Affair). Frankfort and Berlin are ruined backdrops to quite a thriller with lots of Pro-UN type politics.
Tarzan the Ape Man (1932): Animals WERE harmed in the making of this film. This is worth watching for a view into a past time, but there’s lots of imperialist whiteness to complain about. Filmed in California with some footage from the 1931 movie Trader Horn. The not-pygmy-dwarves are white people in black face.
Tarzan and His Mate (1934): Similar, but this has a lovely scene of swimming where Tarzan and Jane slip beautifully through the deeps.
Tarzan Escapes (1936): More of the same, but the first two were pre-code (technically in place for the 2nd, but not adhered to for that pic) and by '36 they couldn’t show so much sexy skin so they had to have more plot.
Out of curiosity how did you watch Megalopolis? I imagine that impacts the experience
That movie is so crazy and I’m glad it exists. My criticism is that it seems to be arguing that utopia is a solarpunk libertarian commune, which are certainly contridictary words to describe something. It’s like it believes in the “free market of ideas” while ignoring that ideas inevitably become actions. Like there was a way to connect Driver’s desire to achieve perfection with the fall of the Roman American empire around him but instead goes for a goofy handwave ending. I think there’s something here but you’d need to do a lot of work to drag it out
Alone at night off blu-ray with 5.1 sound (I only have 6 speakers, not 8) and a big screen. The disc appears to be a legitimate import but who knows? I’d link you to the store, but its page now says they’re sold out.
It was a scattered week, but I actually saw a current movie! I’ve mostly stopped doing that because I’d rather wait for stuff to stream.
:::
It starts with bold text: Berlin 1945 DER STADT HAT KAPITULIERT… (ellipsis included) translated, this is ‘The city has capitulated…’, but seeing it spelled out and then immediately followed by the camera showing a grave amid rubble, reminds one of the nearness of ‘kapit-’ to ''kaputt" (broken/destroyed) – and if one has ever heard the Ton Steine Scherben song of the same name, one may imagine the refrain overlaying the film, Macht kaputt, was euch kaputt macht (destroy that which destroys you). Surely Rossellini knew this film before he made Germany, Year Zero, and there’s much to compare between them; the choice of endings, in particular, because they each take something of a cop-out as was need for the times. TOTAL SPOILER FOLLOWS: Because the Allies wanted to tamp down any vigilantism and impose rule of law, the ending here doesn’t give us the satisfaction of a justifiable homicide and the repercussions of such. Instead, there’s an implied future that resolves in more proper justice maybe being done in the future. Rossellini used a different cop out.
:::
Out of curiosity how did you watch Megalopolis? I imagine that impacts the experience
That movie is so crazy and I’m glad it exists. My criticism is that it seems to be arguing that utopia is a solarpunk libertarian commune, which are certainly contridictary words to describe something. It’s like it believes in the “free market of ideas” while ignoring that ideas inevitably become actions. Like there was a way to connect Driver’s desire to achieve perfection with the fall of the
RomanAmerican empire around him but instead goes for a goofy handwave ending. I think there’s something here but you’d need to do a lot of work to drag it outAlone at night off blu-ray with 5.1 sound (I only have 6 speakers, not 8) and a big screen. The disc appears to be a legitimate import but who knows? I’d link you to the store, but its page now says they’re sold out.