Media Log 2022

[Facetious]

January

Music:
1. Corduroy's Mood - Fishmans (1991) [6.7/10]

Films:
1. The Godfather - Francis Ford Coppola (1972) [8.2/10]
2. Goodfellas - Martin Scorsese (1990) [7.8/10]
3. After Life - Hirokazu Koreeda (1998) [7.7/10]
4. Seven - David Fincher (1995) [7.6/10]
5. Groundhog Day - Harold Ramis (1993) [7.5/10]
6. The 39 Steps - Alfred Hitchcock (1935) [7.2/10]
7. The Lady Vanishes - Alfred Hitchcock (1938) [7.1/10]
8. Die Hard - John McTiernan (1988) [7.1/10]
9. Never Rarely Sometimes Always - Eliza Hittman (2020) [7.0/10]
10. The Big Short - Adam McKay (2015) [6.9/10]
11. 28 Days Later - Danny Boyle (2002) [6.9/10]
12. Lethal Weapon - Richard Donner (1987) [6.8/10]
13. Rush Hour - Brett Ratner (1998) [6.5/10]
14. Ghost - Jerry Zucker (1990) [6.3/10]
15. Don't Look Up - Adam McKay (2021) [6.3/10]

Literature:

[AfterHours]

Great to see this! "Liked" and "Followed"
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[AfterHours]

Your update of Goodfellas at 7.8/10 inspired me to give it a revisit, and I upgraded it onto my "Greatest" list. This is also sort of an answer to your question about it/Scorsese from several months (maybe a year? 2 years?) ago on a prior round of film-viewing. Also another reply (that was a separate convo I think?) where I answered that I had it at 7.2 but also thought I might be underrating it (and possibly, other Scorsese works).

Sometimes I take forever but I do get back on these things -- one way or another

Fwiw - I almost upgraded to 7.7 or 7.8, and still might but may want to double check After Hours (hey!) and Mean Streets first in qualitative comparison (both 7.6) and perhaps King of Comedy (at 7.5) just to ensure I have it in the right spot among Scorsese or if it should be higher. Casino (7.4) its closest companion in Scorsese's oeuvre, should perhaps be revisited too, although it hasn't been too long since I last re-watched it. As it stands now, I have (mild) misgivings about if Goodfellas' second half and finale is quite enough to reach higher than 7.6 overall. Its first half is possibly on pace for 8.0 or so if it were also matched by the 2nd half (2nd half isn't bad at all, its just very hard to maintain an 8+ pace for any director) and if it culminated in a more compelling, meaningful way at the end (again, not that it's bad, and of course it is limited some by the need to follow the real story of its source material). The ending is perhaps a slight disappointment from what the multi-faceted "morality play" that has been developed for 2+ hours prior and certainly less compelling than the finales of his other masterpieces. But again, these are nitpicking on a very great film where Scorsese unleashes so much of his talent. As a group character study and in terms of the craft of storytelling and the multitude of techniques applied (editing, camera shots/angles, etc), as an ensemble performance, and perhaps most of all: its electrifying mixture of tones (both harrowing and hilarious, both spontaneous and impeccably crafted, especially so many of the scenes featuring Pesci) it is a stunning portrait of mobsters and makes a fascinating parallel with the Godfather series (illustrating, intended or not, the difference in time periods, how things have changed in more modern times).

Side note just for fun: Casino and Goodfellas make pretty decent "equivalents" to an album like Kanye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Casino probably more so, due to its more "operatic" and mythologizing nature/illustration.
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[AfterHours]

Some friends are strongly recommending Don't Look Up to me as a masterful satire and metaphor for the ridiculous idiocy and times we live in right now, and have suggested that at least some of its criticism (low ratings; I don't mean your 6.1 but those of Rotten Tomatoes etc) may be due to it striking a nerve that such critics don't want touched (again, I don't mean yours as I don't think this sort of thing would alter one of your ratings, plus or minus). One friend even compared it to "a Dr Strangelove of this era". This has me much more curious about it than I was before (aided also by how excellent I thought The Big Short was). While I certainly won't hold out hope that it will be a masterpiece on the order of Kubrick's, I am now itching to see it and am curious if I end up agreeing with you, the general critical consensus, or not, and may check it out tonight.
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[kokkinos]

Hey, that’s cool. I have to say I’m highly intrigued by the literature category, looking forward to it. Will you focus on prose, poetry or both? Any particular works you intend to read in the near future or any you’ve already read and have made it to your favourites?
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[AfterHours]

Fyi I gave McKay's Don't Look Up a 7.3 ... which surprised me (despite those friends hyping it up). I didn't think it would be that outrageous and find such a striking and absurd merging of tragi-comedy. There were a few parts where the comedy got a little bit too stupid to hit the mark (many would probably say those "parts" are the whole damn film). I am referring to some of the convos between Jonah Hill, the President and the two main protagonists. But other than that it was almost always the "right" balance between reality and absurdity. Fwiw, I can easily understand you/anyone giving it a 6.3 or similarly "decent" rating. It is maybe my most "tentative" 7.3-7.4 since I first saw Southland Tales? Definitely a "so bad it's (maybe) great" type film.

Also, completely unpredictable what Scaruffosaurus Rex will give it.

I'll probably try and revisit it one more time during this film-viewing round to double check the rating, as I am somewhat hesitant in the back of my mind how well it will hold up without the element of shock and surprise. Could go either way.

One of the best things about it was how ambiguous it remained between its political affiliations, how it lambasted both sides, often simultaneously, often mixing their messages. For example, the cell phone mogul that was trying to save the world was -- personality wise (and hilariously) based on Biden (I assume), while his career and humanitarian message may have been more modeled on Elon Musk or Bezos or maybe Steve Jobs, or a combination of them. The president was probably based on Hillary Clinton along with how much a failure her campaign messaging was ("Don't Look Up"), yet her rallies, its presentation and the people attending seemed to be more modeled after Trump. One of the funny things about the movie (and I might argue, its genius, assuming it holds up on revisits) is that those viewers too stuck in one side (Trump or Clinton, or especially Republican or Democrat), and unable to see the bigger picture (that it's not about "sides", but humanity as a whole) will likely see the film only through that specific visage and think the film is either completely against them or completely for them, either completely pro-Trump or anti-Trump, or completely anti-Clinton or pro-Clinton. But much of it is an ambiguous or combined blasting of both sides, even fusing them, and making fun of them at the same time, so the jokes are often playing doubles.

So its possible that, for instance, someone like Scaruffi, who is 100% anti-Trump (with no possible positives or gray area whatsoever), may see the film in a very one-sided way and could miss the double-sided nature of many of the jokes/scenes. Though I hope he is more clear-headed about it and catches its multiplicative comedy, because that's a key contributing element to it being as high as 7.3. It is in many ways "this decade's Southland Tales".

It's possible, upon revisit, I might find this genius to be superficial IF the jokes are overly-reliant on knowing the political scene at the time and don't really stand enough on their own too and/or were too reliant on the element of surprise/shock value. So, again, I'm curious how well it holds up...
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[Facetious]

[AfterHours]

Any plans to continue this?

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... ... ... 25 days later ... ... ...

Top Secret Answer That Shall Not Be Uttered:

NO



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[Facetious]

[AfterHours]