Interminably up itself.
A rare example of a 1940s film where I hated the costumes. Everyone looks awful most of the time. Insufferable flamboyance. And those sandals - men should never ever wear them.
Ballet usually does next to nothing for me and this was no exception. Top-heavy dance sequences in films usually just strike the worst chord. I will never watch An American In Paris again. Yuck. This might have to join that uncelebrated club.
Anton Walbrook was incredible,…
This is a very lovely film.
In moments it feels too perfectly stenciled-in from an Emotionally Moving Film template, but the resulting charms and human beauty are undeniable. Every bit as wonderfully performed as they say. And very funny, and very elegantly sweet.
“Listen, you hormonal vulgarian.”
1970 is a brilliant time to set a film like this - it shouldn’t take anyone long to notice the aching similarities with the moral terrors and disappointments we see all around us…
Was so profoundly impressed by rewatching Lone Star yesterday that my hungover Saturday watch had to be another John Sayles film. I avoid sports movies like screaming babies so this is testament to how much that aforementioned movie moved me.
This one’s a movie about bullshit, and the bullshit of sports, which I as far as I’m concerned is nothing but bullshit anyway, so it all felt rather obvious. But it’s not incorrect I suppose.
“Talent don’t mean nothing.”
More of…
The sequence when they follow the little red Chevy down the highway while that music plays was pure pure heart-fluttering cinema.
The rest was too much of a crawl for me, I cannot deny.
Lots of thoughts that have been dwelling on me recently came up in this film. I was very glad to watch it. As bleak as it all feels, we’re not alone in our skepticism. But it is bleak out there.
“Where I grew up in Brooklyn nobody committed suicide, everyone was too unhappy.”
Funny, of course. But sort of an exhausted humor that feels even more acutely existential than Allen’s usual.
“Here, have another cheeseburger.”
I really really liked it.
Funny, sweet, clever, filled with witty Casablanca jokes -
what's not to like?! *Nervous coughing and spluttering*
“You two should get married and move into a hospital.”
Plus, my Dad's been quoting this joke to me for as long as I can remember and it's a relief to finally know where it's from:
“What are you doing Saturday night?”
“Committing suicide.”
“What about Friday night?”
Good times.
Livesey steals the show. As does timeless, searing anti-colonial sentiment.
“A weak mind isn't strong enough to hurt itself. Stupidity has saved many a man from going mad.”
Rather stunning. For then, for now.
Do you think this ever happened to Ike Perlmutter? Or will eventually one day?
Odds Against Tomorrow. Perfect title for a perfect film. A brilliantly constructed depiction of inevitable tension, resentment, hatred, eruption, and fallout. It ain’t gonna get better - not tomorrow anyway. And making that point artistically doesn’t get much better than this. Belafonte was a king.
“Your own mother wouldn’t recognize you with those dark glasses.”
“She would if I held up a bank.”
I own this on Blu-ray and pored over it before, but seeing it on the big screen proves that these films are really best when they’re seen big. Marvelous experience watching a marvelous film.