At the beginning of the year, my goal was to watch 30 films from a different actor/actress every month. I ripped the idea off a friend who came up with a "30 Days of Costner" list, which I then preceded to steal his list and complete that task. I then did months for Marion Cotillard, Meryl Streep, Danny DeVito, and Nic Cage. It was at this point that I knew that doing this every month wasn't going to be sustainable, so instead I decided that I would simply continue on with the rest of Cage's filmography, daunting as it may be. Here's the results:
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) - Quite possibly the GOAT comic book movie. 5/5
Raising Arizona (1987) - Is it possible to adore Holly Hunter anymore than I already do? Likely not. But yeah, a great comedy that gets a bit crazy when it needs to, and with some terrific supporting performances. 5/5
Adaptation. (2002) - Probably my favorite Nic Cage performance? Also, Chris Cooper was creepy as hell in this and was just perfect. Like most Kauffman films, still not fully comprehending the movie even after a rewatch. 4.5/5
Pig (2021) - Come for the Nic Cage absurdity, stay for the gorgeous slow-burn examination of existentialism. 4.5/5
Wild at Heart (1990) - This movie went *insert heavy meal riffs* from zero to 100 pretty fast. Thought the scenes with the mom *insert heavy metal riffs* could've used some trimming and not be so f'n weird. *Insert heavy metal riffs* Obligatory stanning of Laura Dern. 4.5/5
National Treasure (2004) - "Snorkel. See, I can do it, too. Albuquerque" Is it dumb? Yes. Am I being biased because of nostalgia? Also yes. But is this still extremely entertaining and fun? Also, yes. I might need to go on a Sean Bean kick here soon, because I'll be damned if the man isn't one of the best at delivering lines, no matter how ridiculous they are. 4.5/5
Joe (2013) - The third act could've used some re-writing, but overall a really solid film and one of Cage's better performances.4/5
Lord of War (2005) - I've seen this plenty of times before, still pretty entertaining each time. 4/5
Rumble Fish (1983) - Oh man, so many things to enjoy about this movie. The stylization, the score, the casting. I also think this is my introduction younger Mickey Rourke, which is...something. 4/5
The Rock (1996) - What a cast. Third act was a little bit if a let down compared to the rest of the movie. 4/5
Leaving Las Vegas (1995) - Well that was grim. Cage was pretty great here, no qualms with him g
... keep reading on reddit ➡I think a good film can use the opening of a film to convey a lot of information to the audience without relying on excessive dialogue, and can help ease viewers into the world they're about to inhabit for the next few hours. I love a good opening and I'd be interested to see which openings r/movies regards highly. It doesn't have to be a film you think is amazing overall, just a strong opening that stayed with you.
I've always been amazed at how much detail and world-building is crammed into the opening of Watchmen, and all to the perfect song to go with it, The Times They are-a Changing.
The film itself is pretty poor, but I remember enjoying the opening of X-Men Origins: Wolverine when I first saw it. It does a good job in presenting the violent bond Wolverine and Sabertooth have after centuries of fighting alongside one another, and it sets up their rivalry well.
Also, UP, because need I say more?
To be clear, my dad has no aversion to Matt Damon as an actor, and likes many of his movies, including other movies in the Bourne series. However, he believes The Bourne Legacy expertly continues the story by combining elements of the original three films while showing a "side story" that is in some ways superior to Bourne's storyline.
I don't agree with him, but it's a weird enough opinion that it made me curious to know if anyone else has random opinions from family members that seem off-base, but make you question what you think about a movie or series?
Pink Floyd and The Beatles have both done this with their albums “The Wall” and “Yellow Submarine” which both visually create a story off each song.
Minnal Murali, directed by Basil Joseph, produced by Sophia Paul (Weekend Blockbusters) with Tovino Thomas in the titular role and Guru Somasundaram as the antagonist, has been receiving accolades from critics and fans across age groups since it premiered on Netflix on December 24, 2021. The film has been called an ‘out and out entertainer’ and ‘the homegrown desi-superhero film India needed’.
Once again proving that great stories are universal, in the first week of its launch, Minnal Murali is trending at number 4 on the global Top 10 list for non-English films on Netflix! This superhero film is also in the Top 10 in Films in 11 countries on Netflix, including #1 in four countries- India, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
https://www.news18.com/amp/news/movies/minnal-murali-becomes-first-ever-malayalam-title-to-feature-in-netflixs-top-10-films-globally-4609013.html
"Circuity Clause "
Description: Filming Locations: Party City, the old roller skating rink in Hydroelectric City, Lower Duck Pond grocery store parking lots, Jerry's General Store, with more TBA
Shooting Dates: 01/15/22-02/28/22
Compensation: Paid
Type: Feature Length Narrative Film
Description: Now announcing Auditions for "Circuity Clause", a surrealistic cyber-noir mockumentary about a private eye finding identity in an oppressive society and a cyber-porcupine army travailing against. Accepting tapes of auditions and in person auditions(which will be held at the community senior center for the next two weeks from 8-9 PM). Also send headshots, resume, and acting reels if applicable. As this is a film noir and mockumentary, expect to do a lot of voice over work and speaking to the camera. Comedic actors and people with experience in improv are preferred but not necessary. However, all backgrounds and experience levels are welcome to apply, except for Frank Folsom who's making some Felini knockoff of himself dressed as sleep paralysis demon named Morty. Sounds pretentious if you ask me
Cinematographers, Concept artists, porcupine wranglers, stunt doubles, stop motion animators, and FX department also needed
ROLES:
Det. Ramone(Lead): 20-30. Gender flexible. Hard boiled private detective trying to figure out the mystery of the circuity clause, works against own programming to find out who killed Dr. Parker. Deadpan and guarded, as well as being introspective. Begins to question of memories are implanted by the Corporation. Fighting against cyber-porcupine mafia to find out the mystery.
M66(Lead): 20-30. Female. Femme Fatale with a heart. Seductive cyborg assassin. Needs to have chemistry with Detective Ramone. Morally conflicted, has had a rough life since childhood after she lost a number of motor functions at young age and was forced to undergo cybernetic surgery by parents without consent. Is also trying to solve the mystery of the clause.
Agent K-3: 20-30. Female. Anarchist and leader of cyber porcupine crime syndicate. Mob boss. Human left side and robotic right side that can detach itself and think separately and even have conversations with self. Idealistic and athletic. Works during the day at a cybernetic porcupine shelter. Gave up ambitions of becoming a geneticist, trained in martial arts.
Dr. Parker: 20s. Gender Flexible. Zoological roboticist who discovers and researches evolutionarily-capable technological lifeforms. I
... keep reading on reddit ➡Any insight on your writing process to structure your screenplay will be appreciated. And how do you use index cards (hand drawn / app) or timeline before you start writing the actual screenplay?
I was too young to have experiences the discussion about the movie. Particularly I'm wondering how people felt about the animation. Was it viewed as cool at the time? Creepy? It's so commonplace now that it's hard for me to even imagine how unusual it would have been for 90s audiences. Was there enough computer-generated animation in the culture (shorts, commercials, usage in otherwise live-action movies) already that it wasn't such a shock?
It is incredibly fitting that Nekromantik should open with crude - almost childish - scribbles. It warns of forthcoming content that viewers may find offensive, and when the very first shot of the film is a close-up of a woman pulling down her pants to urinate on some grass, you are instantly inclined to take heed. Nekromantik doesn’t just double down on the crude content from there, nor does it triple down; At the very least Nekromantik sixty-nines down. The first feature film from German director Jörg Buttgereit, it remains the most infamous of his many disturbed cult classics.
Video Essay version with footage: https://youtu.be/9cUkKLwxzDE
When reduced to a logline summary, Nekromantik is one of my favourites just for sounding so absurd and darkly amusing. The imdb description does a decent job so I’ll just repeat that: “A street sweeper who cleans up after grisly accidents brings home a full corpse for him and his wife to enjoy sexually, but is dismayed to see that his wife prefers the corpse over him.” That ridiculously grim premise and the sick punchline that punctuates that summary essentially gives you the gist of Nekromantik.
Needless to say, this is a purposefully shocking piece of European horror. Scroll through any forums, reviews and comment sections on this film and you’ll see it is the cinematic equivalent of Marmite; some really enjoy the taste of the taboo while others are left gagging under the table. Most discussion on this movie invariably returns to the sex scene. Can’t imagine why. I mean, is it not normal for your love scenes to begin with dragging a decomposing corpse to bed, sticking a pipe in its crotch, attaching a condom to the pipe, before initiating a lengthy and very gross threesome? Riding cowgirl on this boney boner is one thing, but I personally draw the line at him repeatedly sucking at and around the eyeball, which was a real pig’s eye taken from a slaughterhouse no less. You don’t see that every day. Thank fucking Christ you don’t see that every day.
Sequences of necrophilia and short bursts of gory violence aside, it should be noted that there is a prolonged shot of real animal suffering in here. A rabbit is grabbed and stuck with a knife, while the camera holds through the whole process, before the man proceeds to skin and prepare it. The footage is used in conjunction with others as an analogy, so has some reason for its inclusion, but I still feel I should give a heads up.
I
... keep reading on reddit ➡Luisa Madrigal is a positively presented character. She is kind, generous, and unselfish almost to a fault.
And despite these being positive things, and despite Luisa being a positive example of an MoC character in mainstream media, I think she represents a particular example of an ongoing problem.
I’ve not done a proper survey, but my unreliable memory’s sense of it, is that positive potrayls of MoC women, rare as they are, tend to present them as a lot like Luisa: entirely service oriented. Something of a female version of the selfless strong man. Think Fezzik, as played by André the Giant, in [The Princess Bride](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Princess_Bride_(film)). Or, going back to MoC women characters, Susie Myerson, as portrayed by Alex Borstein, in The Marvelous Mrs Maisel.
Which, in a film that does have romantic goings on as a sub-plot, is frustrating, to put it mildly.
I’m entirely bisexual, so I wasn’t specifically frustrated at this MoC woman not having even a hint of a girlfriend. But my frustration was, if anything, worse: Luisa didn’t show even a hint of having a romantic inner life at all.
I’m not expecting a mainstream Disney film to pioneer the presentation of WLW MoC people. But what was done in this film — and what is done in other media with the same character stereotype isn’t just de-sexualising, it’s de-romanticising.^1
And this stereotype — the ‘unattractive’ woman who devotes herself to others (because, says the unspoken sub-text, no-one wants her) — is hurtful, damaging, and so very, very untrue.
FWIW, I still enjoyed the film: it’s a fairytale, but still has some worthwhile things to say about family and intergenerational trauma, especially given its intended audience includes young kids. It manages to get its simple but worthwhile message about trauma and healing across in an entirely primary-school-aged-kid-friendly way.
I watched the film with my entirely MoC partner, however. They are a fan of ‘light’ entertainment fare specifically because their real-world work gives them more than enough hard and gritty reality.^2
So I made a particular point, after the film was over, of reminding my partner of how much I want them, and how much I appreciate their particular and peculiar romanticism.
And I still want more media that treats being and presenting as MoC as just another way of being a person, rather t
... keep reading on reddit ➡Mine would have to be "Going to California" in the finale of Entourage (the tv show).
Yours?
Not Black Swan or Chicago because of reasons. Whatcha got? Criterion or not is okay.
“Next Floor”: https://youtu.be/t60MMJH_1ds
Just wanted to shout out this wonderfully enigmatic little piece of art. It was released in 2008, runtime is ~10 minutes. Gives a nice preview of the film maker Denis has become.
Reason I asked about other shorts is that the “essence” of who a filmmaker wants to be often bleeds through in these mini projects before they make it to Hollywood.
Minnal Murali, directed by Basil Joseph, produced by Sophia Paul (Weekend Blockbusters) with Tovino Thomas in the titular role and Guru Somasundaram as the antagonist, has been receiving accolades from critics and fans across age groups since it premiered on Netflix on December 24, 2021. The film has been called an ‘out and out entertainer’ and ‘the homegrown desi-superhero film India needed’.
Once again proving that great stories are universal, in the first week of its launch, Minnal Murali is trending at number 4 on the global Top 10 list for non-English films on Netflix! This superhero film is also in the Top 10 in Films in 11 countries on Netflix, including #1 in four countries- India, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
https://www.news18.com/amp/news/movies/minnal-murali-becomes-first-ever-malayalam-title-to-feature-in-netflixs-top-10-films-globally-4609013.html
