Love your movie reviews, Roy. I've heard vague good things about the film, but before reading this it would not have made its way onto my watch list. Now it has.
So bizarre... Saw the trailer a couple of months ago and got a hit of deja vu. Thought I had seen it a couple of years ago...
Just checked. It was shot relatively recently, so obviously that couple of years ago thing is wrong. It's an original screenplay, so it couldn't have been because I had read something about the source... Maybe the trailer reduced the story to something familiar, almost a cliche plot? (Yes, I know, the relationship between trailer and actual movie can be very tenuous...)
Now that's going to gnaw away at me for a couple of moments til I forget about it...
This must be the dotard's version of that Far Side comic with the boy in a schoolroom: "Mr Henderson? My brain is full." Only it's "Sorry, my brain's all used up."
Stanislaw Lem once compared his creative process to a toilet. He writes a novel, then needs to spend some time not-writing to wait for the tank to fill again. Not sure what that has to do with your condition except that it's the only other plumbing-related analogy to the human brain I can think of.
Maybe it was this! I will say most of the memorable lines are in the multiple trailers I've seen on Twitter. The movie's more about the power of incident than wordplay, which I count in its favor.
Up until now, I'd only read a one line description like "Curmudgeonly instructor at New England prep school babysits students with nowhere to go during Christmas." Being a cynical old fart, I thought this was going to be one of those "Dead Poet's Society" meets "History Boys" at "The Breakfast Club" or something worse, and dismissed it out of hand. Your persuasive and thoughtful review makes me think the missus and I would enjoy it. So thanks for that.
There are a few actors that I will eagerly watch whatever they're in, even when it's pretty bad (e.g., Meryl, I forgive you for "Death Becomes Her"). Paul Giamatti is one of them; Streep of course, Willem Dafoe, Frances McDormand, Emma Thompson, Cillian Murphy, Damian Lewis, etc. etc. and many from the BBC roster. Who are yours?
I think I've actually stopped doing this -- as a youngster I watched anything Pacino and DeNiro were in, but though I love the actors you mention I won't go to see them in the equivalent of, say, "Bobby Deerfield." My loss! I loved being a fan.
Bogart. Tim Roth. Helen Mirren. Faye Dunaway. Peter Sellers. Laura Linney. Benedict Cumberbatch. Jamie Lee Curtis. Rita Moreno. Bob Hoskins. Peter Lorre. John Malkovich. Claude Rains. Sandra Oh. Steve Buscemi. Roy Scheider. Michelle Yeoh. Zero Mostel.
I have to say, Zero Mostel gave me pause, because I just HATED The Producers the first time I saw it. Generally, I really don't like "manic" comedy or characters*, and LOUD characters really turn me off. But the movie, and Zero, have grown on me over the years.
*I have only one exception to give, it's been taken by Bringing Up Baby, no more exceptions will be issued, thanks.
The only even sort of acceptable Willis movie is The Fifth Element which manages to overcome having Willis in it. I don't really like Tarantino movies either
I think about saying " Fuck it" and.turning it all off and I gotta admit, it sounds good!
A couple of months ago somebody sent me a message on LinkedIn. I had to log in to read the message and couldn't remember my password. I was ready to go through the whole "forgot password " deal. Then I thought, fuck this and went ahead and quit. It was liberating!. I can imagine how great it would feel to tell the whole political industrial complex to piss up a rope.
Ha ha, about once a month I get an email saying "someone is noticing you" on LinkedIn. I haven't logged into LinkedIn in over 5 years, but it's nice to hear I'm being noticed.
Aw, that's no fun. BTW, fun teacher tip: Teaching in an N95 mask greatly reduced my anxiety about leaning over a student's shoulder and asking a question.
I guess we’ll watch this but I have to admit, when I saw the trailer about the lonely boy abandoned at the boarding school with the tyrannical teacher, I thought, “Oh, somebody decided to expand on the Ghost of Christmas Past’s first vision.” Of course Dickens, who saw the evils of the world clearly without the benefit of rose colored glasses, made young Ebenezer’s school holiday a season in Hell, giving his protagonist a reason to become a greedy asshole as an adult. His redemption is less saccharine because we see how he was embittered at an early age, so much so that even the saintly Fezziwick can’t save him. The old boy didn’t write Hallmark flicks, that’s for sure.
Think I mentioned before how much I hate teacher movies (as do most of the teachers I know) so I'll probably be steering clear of this one. But I enjoyed the review very much, you're quite good at this!
There‘s a YouTube channel, In Front of Ira, with two German historians (of American history, and speaking in English) who do deep dives into Hallmark Christmas movies. O brave new world, &c. (Don‘t get me wrong, these two are a blast! I just never had anything like this on my Gettin‘-Old-Bingo card)
Dammit, once again you have made me want to see a movie I had dismissed as treacle. Bitter old man and angry young man teach each other the meaning of life while trading insults. I'm seeing Adam Sandler and Timothy Calumette (sic). Throw in a wise black woman to call out both of them and we've got a movie! Now I have to start over. Though I did love Citizen Ruth. One of the darkest things I've ever seen.
I never saw Election, either (teacher movie) but I might give that a try. Roy's reviews often have this effect on me, which is that I almost never end up watching the movie reviewed, but he always does spark me to watch SOMETHING.
The one with Mathew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon? May be the only Mathew Broderick movie I like. Not as dark as Citizen Ruth, but definitely not a feel-good trifle.
Was that the one with Brando playing Don Corleone for no apparant reason? Yes! My memory is that was the only interesting thing about the movie. I have an uncanny valley reaction to Broderick for some reason, keep expecting him to pull off a mask to reveal a stainless steel skull. That works in his favor in Election.
My own history including the way biology and environment all the way back to the Big Bang and the first living cell cause me to view Payne's movies as studies of a way I'll never be. We're talking schismogenesis to the max. Even my open-minded acceptance of differences in others fails to quell my extreme dissociation of myself, what remains of identity I have been shedding over a lifetime, with Payne's characters and his storylines.
It has been a long time since I saw Citizen Ruth, but I have a fairly good recollection of it, and its humor appealed to me. Election I have seen bits of more recently and that one, not so much. By the time we get around to Sideways, we have arrived at the place where I am drawn back again and again to cringe at every turn, every detail, only for it to be eclipsed by a greater cringe-worthiness of a following scene. It is like a mysterious bad smell I want to identify: What was it before it went bad?
Based on your review here, however, I intend to watch this latest film. Así soy yo.
Ah, Sideways. I just never got why so many people loved it. Is there a single character in the movie that we're supposed to like? I guess that just shows what a philistine I am, that I don't want to spend two precious hours in the presence of a group of people when I dislike every last one of them intensely.
Even worse, when the characters seem to have been designed out of the worst impulses one can have in the scripted situations. The plot follows a chain of poor decision-making and makes you feel it. I cannot imagine how bad that guy's novel must be!
The intentional choice to do something different, usually the opposite or refraining from a practice, to set oneself apart from others. Cultural Us/Them. People right next to each other do this, and generationally it happens.
I knew I would be seeing The Holdovers so I avoided reading this post until now. I started tearing up a bit reading it. I loved this movie. I still think about it a couple of weeks later. My partner insists it had a happy ending.
Love your movie reviews, Roy. I've heard vague good things about the film, but before reading this it would not have made its way onto my watch list. Now it has.
So bizarre... Saw the trailer a couple of months ago and got a hit of deja vu. Thought I had seen it a couple of years ago...
Just checked. It was shot relatively recently, so obviously that couple of years ago thing is wrong. It's an original screenplay, so it couldn't have been because I had read something about the source... Maybe the trailer reduced the story to something familiar, almost a cliche plot? (Yes, I know, the relationship between trailer and actual movie can be very tenuous...)
Now that's going to gnaw away at me for a couple of moments til I forget about it...
Glad the Maestro enjoyed it.
Hearted for the length of your memory. Don't waste brain power – we might need it sometime!
Surely too late for that.
This must be the dotard's version of that Far Side comic with the boy in a schoolroom: "Mr Henderson? My brain is full." Only it's "Sorry, my brain's all used up."
The rusty, hole-ridden tank can only hold and process so much as it slowly disintegrates.
Stanislaw Lem once compared his creative process to a toilet. He writes a novel, then needs to spend some time not-writing to wait for the tank to fill again. Not sure what that has to do with your condition except that it's the only other plumbing-related analogy to the human brain I can think of.
Like any involved project, you sometimes just have to wait for inspiration. Can’t always be forced.
No, my mind isn’t like with a tank refills after use.
I just leaks, nothing gets refilled...
Maybe it was this! I will say most of the memorable lines are in the multiple trailers I've seen on Twitter. The movie's more about the power of incident than wordplay, which I count in its favor.
Up until now, I'd only read a one line description like "Curmudgeonly instructor at New England prep school babysits students with nowhere to go during Christmas." Being a cynical old fart, I thought this was going to be one of those "Dead Poet's Society" meets "History Boys" at "The Breakfast Club" or something worse, and dismissed it out of hand. Your persuasive and thoughtful review makes me think the missus and I would enjoy it. So thanks for that.
Boy, I hope you like it!
"Dead Poet's Society" meets "History Boys" at "The Breakfast Club" while breathing in "The Scent Of A Woman" during "Tom Brown's School Days."
In "Casino Royal" there was speculation that Bond had gone to Public School on someone else's dime.
His Swiss mother probably insisted on it.
("School days, school days, moldy bread and gruel days. . .")
England, where Public School is Private School. What a crazy country.
There are a few actors that I will eagerly watch whatever they're in, even when it's pretty bad (e.g., Meryl, I forgive you for "Death Becomes Her"). Paul Giamatti is one of them; Streep of course, Willem Dafoe, Frances McDormand, Emma Thompson, Cillian Murphy, Damian Lewis, etc. etc. and many from the BBC roster. Who are yours?
I think I've actually stopped doing this -- as a youngster I watched anything Pacino and DeNiro were in, but though I love the actors you mention I won't go to see them in the equivalent of, say, "Bobby Deerfield." My loss! I loved being a fan.
Bogart. Tim Roth. Helen Mirren. Faye Dunaway. Peter Sellers. Laura Linney. Benedict Cumberbatch. Jamie Lee Curtis. Rita Moreno. Bob Hoskins. Peter Lorre. John Malkovich. Claude Rains. Sandra Oh. Steve Buscemi. Roy Scheider. Michelle Yeoh. Zero Mostel.
Fred & Ginger.
Barbara Stanwyck. Joan Blondell. Edward G. Robinson. (Think I can see one of those Roger Angell-style Christmas poems taking form.)
Ooh, we have lots of overlap here —
I have to say, Zero Mostel gave me pause, because I just HATED The Producers the first time I saw it. Generally, I really don't like "manic" comedy or characters*, and LOUD characters really turn me off. But the movie, and Zero, have grown on me over the years.
*I have only one exception to give, it's been taken by Bringing Up Baby, no more exceptions will be issued, thanks.
For a second, I thought you had put Rob Schneider in there
That one's more fun: Who are the people that tell you just by their mere presence, that you will NOT be watching this movie?
I'll go first: Rosalind Russell. Especially in her later, shouty-musical years.
Then neither of us will be watching "Gypsy", you because of Rosalind Russell, me because of Natalie Wood, who I despise.
My God, is that an awful movie. The only thing worse is Auntie Mame.
Bruce Willis
Even Pulp Fiction?
The only even sort of acceptable Willis movie is The Fifth Element which manages to overcome having Willis in it. I don't really like Tarantino movies either
Oof. OOF.
I got Sardou and scribe/ well made play.
It took awhile. It was a 48-year-old memory of something that didn't really interest me. But I found it.
"Strabismus" though- I am convinced that only you and some ophthalmologists know what that is.
Fine review! You should do more of these.
Don't tempt me, politics makes me sick.
Strabismus is mentioned in the movie.
"politics makes me sick"
I think about saying " Fuck it" and.turning it all off and I gotta admit, it sounds good!
A couple of months ago somebody sent me a message on LinkedIn. I had to log in to read the message and couldn't remember my password. I was ready to go through the whole "forgot password " deal. Then I thought, fuck this and went ahead and quit. It was liberating!. I can imagine how great it would feel to tell the whole political industrial complex to piss up a rope.
Ha ha, about once a month I get an email saying "someone is noticing you" on LinkedIn. I haven't logged into LinkedIn in over 5 years, but it's nice to hear I'm being noticed.
but it's nice to hear I'm being noticed
I hear you're being noticed more and more these days
Oh, that's not good, usually that means you've been dead for more than a hundred years.
I really love your film reviews.
I'm delighted to hear it. Since it's the end of the year, when the studios push a bunch of big movies out, you'll see more!
Now I'm so fascinated by this thing that I'll deliberately NOT goggle it. Something to do with your eyes that also makes you smell?
They are two separate conditions.
OH! You spoiled it!
Aw, that's no fun. BTW, fun teacher tip: Teaching in an N95 mask greatly reduced my anxiety about leaning over a student's shoulder and asking a question.
So THAT’s how you define a fun teacher...
I guess we’ll watch this but I have to admit, when I saw the trailer about the lonely boy abandoned at the boarding school with the tyrannical teacher, I thought, “Oh, somebody decided to expand on the Ghost of Christmas Past’s first vision.” Of course Dickens, who saw the evils of the world clearly without the benefit of rose colored glasses, made young Ebenezer’s school holiday a season in Hell, giving his protagonist a reason to become a greedy asshole as an adult. His redemption is less saccharine because we see how he was embittered at an early age, so much so that even the saintly Fezziwick can’t save him. The old boy didn’t write Hallmark flicks, that’s for sure.
Think I mentioned before how much I hate teacher movies (as do most of the teachers I know) so I'll probably be steering clear of this one. But I enjoyed the review very much, you're quite good at this!
Mr Holland's Opus meets Die Hard!!
Mr. Holland’s Opus Dei!
There‘s a YouTube channel, In Front of Ira, with two German historians (of American history, and speaking in English) who do deep dives into Hallmark Christmas movies. O brave new world, &c. (Don‘t get me wrong, these two are a blast! I just never had anything like this on my Gettin‘-Old-Bingo card)
Thanks, that sounds great
Dammit, once again you have made me want to see a movie I had dismissed as treacle. Bitter old man and angry young man teach each other the meaning of life while trading insults. I'm seeing Adam Sandler and Timothy Calumette (sic). Throw in a wise black woman to call out both of them and we've got a movie! Now I have to start over. Though I did love Citizen Ruth. One of the darkest things I've ever seen.
I never saw Election, either (teacher movie) but I might give that a try. Roy's reviews often have this effect on me, which is that I almost never end up watching the movie reviewed, but he always does spark me to watch SOMETHING.
The one with Mathew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon? May be the only Mathew Broderick movie I like. Not as dark as Citizen Ruth, but definitely not a feel-good trifle.
Yeah, aside from it being a teacher movie, Matthew Broderick put me off. I should strive to be more open-minded.
His greatest role!
Was I think The Freshman
Was that the one with Brando playing Don Corleone for no apparant reason? Yes! My memory is that was the only interesting thing about the movie. I have an uncanny valley reaction to Broderick for some reason, keep expecting him to pull off a mask to reveal a stainless steel skull. That works in his favor in Election.
My own history including the way biology and environment all the way back to the Big Bang and the first living cell cause me to view Payne's movies as studies of a way I'll never be. We're talking schismogenesis to the max. Even my open-minded acceptance of differences in others fails to quell my extreme dissociation of myself, what remains of identity I have been shedding over a lifetime, with Payne's characters and his storylines.
It has been a long time since I saw Citizen Ruth, but I have a fairly good recollection of it, and its humor appealed to me. Election I have seen bits of more recently and that one, not so much. By the time we get around to Sideways, we have arrived at the place where I am drawn back again and again to cringe at every turn, every detail, only for it to be eclipsed by a greater cringe-worthiness of a following scene. It is like a mysterious bad smell I want to identify: What was it before it went bad?
Based on your review here, however, I intend to watch this latest film. Así soy yo.
Ah, Sideways. I just never got why so many people loved it. Is there a single character in the movie that we're supposed to like? I guess that just shows what a philistine I am, that I don't want to spend two precious hours in the presence of a group of people when I dislike every last one of them intensely.
Even worse, when the characters seem to have been designed out of the worst impulses one can have in the scripted situations. The plot follows a chain of poor decision-making and makes you feel it. I cannot imagine how bad that guy's novel must be!
Two hours of yelling NO DON'T GO IN THE BASEMENT.
Guys, guys, I explained all this in 2005: https://alicublog.blogspot.com/2005/04/late-bloomer.html
How does that affect your holidays?
schismogenesis?
The intentional choice to do something different, usually the opposite or refraining from a practice, to set oneself apart from others. Cultural Us/Them. People right next to each other do this, and generationally it happens.
no one move a muscle as the dead come home
I knew I would be seeing The Holdovers so I avoided reading this post until now. I started tearing up a bit reading it. I loved this movie. I still think about it a couple of weeks later. My partner insists it had a happy ending.