Random Thoughts

Oh, A24? And BBC?

This really does have a BBC vibe going on — as if this were a horror story from the 70s… And I mean that in the best way possible.

I’m totally into this. And I think it really is a horror story? I mean, it’s so well done — the creaky, strangely abandoned hotel, and the growing paranoia (when nothing tangibly horroriffic has happened)… it’s so… 60’s? British horror.

(And, yes — Tilda Swinton plays both the mother and the daughter.)

I don’t think we’ve seen the mother and the daughter in the same frame even once? I mean, I guess the reason for that might be that there’s zero budget for effects shots here, but I’m starting to wonder whether that’s because of… plot reasons. Are one of them not real or something!?

*gasp* Both in the same frame! But in a mirror!

This is the sleepingest, snuggliest dog ever.

I really enjoyed this movie. Of course, when we got the resolution, it was a bit anticlimactic because, well, I don’t wanna spoil anything. But it was! Still, it’s such a lovely movie.

The Eternal Daughter. Joanna Hogg. 2022.

This post is part of The Tilda Swinton Project.

Oh, does MGM still exist?

So aspect-to-aspect editing.

Who’s the main character!?

Hm… is this based on a comic book, by any chance? It feels very comic bookey so far.

Nope:

Written by Miller and Augusta Gore, it is based on the short story “The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye” by A. S. Byatt

And now there’s super-hero references!

Papyrus!!! Dude!

I’m not sure where this is going, and that’s fun. I’m not even sure whether this is supposed to be a knee-slapping broad comedy (in which case it doesn’t quite work) or a deep philosophical thingie (in which case it doesn’t work)… Perhaps it’s a rom-com?

Well, OK, here’s the thing: I know that many (most?) people like fairy tales and stuff. But I just don’t. Whenever things get fairytalish, I just grow impatient. And this seems like it’s going to be mostly about the two characters (played by Tilda Swinton and Idris Alba) telling each other stories. And the shots go all fairytailish, like this bottle of ink portentously being spilled over these sheets of paper.

And I think Miller is basically achieving what he’s setting out to do with these shots, but I’m just sitting here going “gurl, please”.

So I’m not really the ideal audience for this movie.

I’m so bored by this movie that I went to Rottentomatoes and saw what people had to say. One reviewer says that Swinton and Alba has no chemistry? Hm… I’m not sure that’s accurate. They’re fine. The problem lies with those interminable stories the Djinn tells. They’re not exciting or funny or, well, anything. They’re just tedious.

This movie started off well enough, but with every scene, it just got more and more boring. I almost started gnawing off my foot in sheer exasperation.

Three Thousand Years of Longing. George Miller. 2022.

This post is part of The Tilda Swinton Project.

I’ve seen three Apichatpong Weerasethakul movies before, and they’ve all been great, if I remember correctly. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, of course, has the best movie title ever. This looks very Apichatpong Weerasethakul in the first few minutes, so *crosses fingers*.

I have absolutely no fucking idea what is going on here, and I love it!

This film gives you so few clues as to what’s going on (or perhaps just clues and nothing more) that it makes my head buzz with “is she dead? is this a dream? is she dying and trying to make sense of things? is this just normal reality and nothing is strange really? is her sister really dying? wha whaaaa” in the most delightful way.

Not like a mystery box movie, but it’s very open.

I love the way Apichatpong Weerasethakul films these scenes. Most of them are like this:

That is, he starts the camera before the actors arrive, film them while they’re there, and then continues to film the shot after the actors have left. Just a few seconds on either side, but it’s so lovely.

I’m typing this after the fact, because I was too riveted by the movie to do any typing while watching it. But if I had been typing anything at this point I would have said “this is the best movie I’ve seen in yonks! if you’d have tailored a film to me, this would have been it!”

Until two thirds of this movie, I was so into it I literally plotzed!

But then we got to the … third act? I guess? And it’s fine! It’s good! But it’s not as way beyond fantastic as the first two thirds.

But it’s a lovely movie! For the first two thirds I was thinking I had to buy a die that goes up to 7. But then the last third happened and I didn’t have to do that after all.

This post is part of The Tilda Swinton Project.

Memoria. Apichatpong Weerasethakul. 2021.

Huh. Did Fox sell of Searchlight… or… er… Oh yeah, that’s basically the old 20th Century Fox logo thing, isn’t it? How confusing.

Geez. This is head-swimmingly dense. Just so many details. I love it.

Of course, he can’t keep going at that speed — people would faint. I’m still disappointed when he slows down…

This movie isn’t perfect. There are portions that don’t quite work. But there’s bits here that I totally love, and I (as youngsters say these days) laughed out loud several times. So I’m going with:

The French Dispatch. Wes Anderson. 2021.

This post is part of The Tilda Swinton Project.