Last movie you watched......

Ah, The Peter Jackson Principle.

 

Prey, the Predator sequel was pretty good. Strong performance by the young lead....but found the final confrontation too rushed and tidy.

 

We went to a Friday early matinee of Killers of the Flower Moon. We’re in Oklahoma and our son was on set as a background “actor” for 13 or so days. He must be way in the background because we didn’t see him on the first run through. I’m sure in the coming months (years?) we’ll be examining it like the Zapruder film to try to find him and anyone else we might know.

We went to hear a talk by David Grann, the book’s author, at a local college last week. It warmed my journalistic geezer heart when he said that he might of felt or suspected various things about the people involved in the Reign of Terror, but he only put in the book what he could verify with research. I think that some of the emphasis on law enforcement (early FBI) and court proceedings might be due to the paper trail there. His work conveys the fact, which are pretty gruesome in themselves.

Scorsese’s movie uses the details in the book as source material and focuses more on the relationships involved. Mollie Burkhart, an Osage woman with mineral rights that bring wealth, and her husband, Ernest, are the film’s main focus. Many of the characters are abjectly evil, but Ernest’s seems to have flickers of love for Mollie and regret for the pain he causes her.

The production and acting are as compelling as what you'd expect from a Scorsese creation as is the matter of factness of the violence. There are layers and symbolism in the images I might further appreciate after further viewings. It might be interesting to see how people in Oklahoma react to the story. In many ways, the Osage continue to gain as much as they probably should from their oil holdings. The Tulsa massacre was also nearby and during the timeframe of the movie. The Governor is also butting heads with the state’s tribes over sovereignty, gaming money and other issues.

As an aside, we watched in an IMAX theater and I was not impressed because it seemed to be out of adjustment and the image wasn’t quite what it should have been. That was extremely obvious during the preview trailers but persisted to a lesser degree during the film.

 

Went to matinee of KFM yesterday; the 3.5 hrs did not seem onerous or elongated. Really enjoyed it but didn't feel like I was watching a masterpiece or an epic. I thought the Osage were depicted honorably and meaningfully. Amazing that DeNiro can be the same gangster in Italy, Las Vegas, or Oklahoma but differently. Ms. Gladstone has presence, such that she can take attention from Leonardo.

 

William Hale is Jimmy Conway in the last 75 minutes of Goodfellas

 

Scorsese's decision to change the protagonist from the book's (FBI investigator) to Ernest (the nephew/husband DiCaprio) definitely improved the film's presentation immensely IMHO.

 

Watched No Hard Feelings. Jennifer Lawrence is funny, and still hot. Matthew Broderick is good in a minor role, too.

The plot is paper thin and it definitely doesn’t stick the landing, but I appreciate the attempt at old-school raunch.

 

No Hard Feelings. A lot of laughs, Jennifer Lawrence is awesome, great supporting cast. But weak male lead and forced seriousness detracts some. Three stars out of five.

 

Fincher's new one The Killer is coming to Netflix in few weeks but has a limited theatrical release so saw it last night. Fassbender is an assassin and don't want to describe it too much beyond that. Liked it.

 

Leo made that call. Scorsese listened because that got Leo much more invested.

 

Interesting movie. It made me think that, if Lawrence had gone to Alexander Payne to direct it - instead of the guy who wrote the movie - it's better, because it isn't really a sex comedy, but one about class politics.

 

Two movies on Netflix;

"Fair Play": really, really boring. Cringey at times.

"Reptile": Solid flick. Always been a big Benicio Del Toro fan. He co-wrote this modern-day murder mystery set in a high-end Philly burb. It co-stars Justin Timberlake, Alicia Silverstone and Eric Bogosian.