Recently watched movies 2021.03.08

Another batch of movies

Apollo 13 (1995) - rewatch
The Brood (1979) - new to me
Cats (1998) - new to me
Cats (2019) - new to me
Dark Waters (2019) - new to me
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966) - new to me
Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) - rewatch
The Hunt for Red October (1990) - rewatch
The Invisible Man (2020) - new to me
The Meg (2018) - new to me
Rio Bravo (1959) - new to me

Apollo 13 (1995)
directed by Ron Howard
(rewatch)

Being, of course, the dramatization of the 1970 NASA flight intended to be the third manned landing on the Moon which had to be aborted half-way there and became a rescue operation.

Loved this movie from the first time I saw it theatrically. Pretty near flawless production, from the sets to the acting. Every time I watch it I think there's something that must have been made up for dramatic effect, only to look it up and find that it was true, and in fact there were other interesting things which didn't make it in.

Never regret watching it, which I do every couple of years since it came out, and probably will continue to do forever.

The Brood (1979)
directed by David Cronenberg

An early horror movie from Cronenberg, featuring a man whose estranged wife is in the clutches of a cult which preaches "psychoplasmics", which he fears may be affecting their daughter.

Very nicely done suspenseful movie with moments of intense violence and horror. You can really see the flashes of certain filmmaking tendencies which would show up in later more well known Cronenberg work. It's not very long at only 92 minutes, a rare case where I'd actually like to see a movie be longer so it can flesh out a few things.

Cats (1998)
directed by David Mallet
Cats (2019)
directed by Tom Hooper

I always pretty much assumed I wouldn't like CATS, the stage musical, and in any case wasn't likely to go see the live version of it or any other musical (I think maybe 9th grade was the last live musical I've seen). Didn't even know about the 1998 filmed version, which is a modified version of the stage production.

Then the 2019 film version came out, and seemed to be much reviled from all corners, from those who loved the stage production and those who hated it. Not something I'd rush to see on the big screen, but eventually, a year later, I was in the mood to try something I could laugh at rather than with...

Expectations then sufficiently lowered, I watched. And about five minutes in I realize I might like it (I can identify the exact line, "Jellicle cats are queens of the night"). As it turns out, I loved it. I mean, really, I recognize all complaints about it as valid, it's completely strange, it's deeply flawed, but I was completely in the world within minutes, loved the music, the dancing, forgave numerous clunky bits, did not understand the hate for it.

Upon finishing, I did something I infrequently do and went back and rewatched a few scenes I especially enjoyed ("Mr. Mistoffelees" and "Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer", plus the first five minutes or so to watch it in the mood of "I like this" rather than "I'm going to love hating this"). Then the next day I did something I almost never do, and rewatched the whole thing. Then I added various versions (original London, original Broadway, film soundtrack) of it to a playlist on Spotify to listen to, found out about the 1998 version and watched that a week later, watched the full film again with the director's commentary, watched the 1998 version again with the Andrew Lloyd Webber commentary done last year in the early days of the current pandemic, read the original T. S. Eliot book of poems, listened to Eliot's reading of the poems and read way too many websites about the play. There has not been a day since I watched the film, about six weeks ago, that I haven't at least watched a scene from one of the movies or listened to one of the songs (as I type this I'm listening to a German stage production).

I guess I should be grateful that this happened now. If I found out how much I liked CATS a few years ago I might have spent way too much money going to see it live, while we now live in a world where I don't see myself going to a live stage show for a while, maybe ever. I am sorry that I missed the experience of seeing either film with an audience, although based on general commentary I'd have been unlikely to be in a crowd enjoying themselves as much as I was. I also wonder if the oft-complained about CGI effects in the 2019 film would have worked as well on the big screen.

I might have to get back this, as I have a lot of thoughts about all these versions. Like I said, there were missteps, in every version, and I don't see stopping watching it in the near future.

Dark Waters (2019)
directed by Todd Haynes

This is one of the most recent of the subset of legal dramas dealing with dramatizations of real-life lawyers going against corporate malfeasance, in particular environmental pollution. In the tradition of SILKWOOD and ERIN BROCKOVICH and the like. In this case the corporation is DuPont and their poisoning of the water in West Virginia with an unregulated chemical used in the production of teflon. Mark Ruffalo plays Robert Bilott, the main lawyer on what became a class action case against the company.

Overall this is okay. The accents are a bit much, and Mark Ruffalo is kind of weird in the whole thing. He seems to be trying to channel 1950s Marlon Brando, which is an odd choice, and he's also way too old to be the character he's playing in most of the movie (just checking, and Bilott would have been about 32 when the case started, about 20 years younger than Ruffalo when the movie was made). Of course, since these cases tend to drag out, by the end Ruffalo is the right age.

Most amazing is what these companies are able to get away with, and how little they pay even in the cases they lose compared to their overall profits. And how they can continue to do business even under the same name despite all the findings against them.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)
directed by Richard Lester

This is a film adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim stage musical set in ancient Rome. This one turned out to be a bit of a slog, unfortunately. There were random funny scenes spread throughout, but I didn't care for most of the songs (pretty much just "Comedy Tonight" even stuck with me) and various things just go on too long. Especially the chariot chase scene at the end.

And I was somewhat distracted by The Doctor showing up out of nowhere in the middle...

Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
directed by George Armitage

(rewatch)

This one I've seen at least a dozen times since it came out. For those unfamiliar, John Cusack plays a hired killer having a mid-life crisis that comes just as his 10-year high school reunion does, and reconnects with the girl he stood up on prom night, played by Minnie Driver. Wonderful movie, great cast, all sorts of little details to pick up on with each viewing.  I think I wrote about it on a previous viewing. Ah, over here.

The Hunt for Red October (1990)
directed by John McTiernan

(rewatch)

The first of many screen versions of Tom Clancy's CIA analyst Jack Ryan character, played here by Alec Baldwin. His mission this time involves a Russian submarine that goes silent under the command of Sean Connery.

I've seen this before, but it's been a while. It's pretty good as such things go, moves along nicely, lot of good action scenes. The Jack Ryan stuff is kind of superfluous, though, and maybe the whole movie would have been more interesting without the superspy who makes all sorts of improbable guesses based on little evidence that turn out to be right.

The Invisible Man (2020)
directed by Leigh Whannell

Elizabeth Moss stars in this movie very loosely based on the old H. G. Wells novel. In this version it's staged as a sort of stalker thriller with science fiction elements, as Moss escapes from a dominating relationship with an optics scientist who then proceeds to use an invisibility suit to stalk her, attack her and her friends and to generally make her appear to be crazy.

This is a solid but unspectacular film. The acting elevates some of the weaker bits of the writing. Sometimes the directing tends to lean on standard thriller ticks, with the occasional inventive bit based on the invisibility gimmick.

The Meg (2018)
directed by Jon Turteltaub

A big budget giant shark movie, this one about a giant supposedly extinct megalodon rising up from the depths of the Marianas Trench after some scientists provide a path out with their exploration vessel.

Worth watching if you keep your expectations low. It looks good, you can see where a lot of the budget went on the screen. Maybe a few million could have been shaken from that for a pass on a script which isn't as full of clichés.

Rio Bravo (1959)
directed by Howard Hawks

A cowboy movie starring John Wayne, Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson. The latter two mean we get some singing stuck in there before the big finale, but that's one of the few flaws in this story about a sheriff who has to hold off the hired guns of a wealthy rancher after arresting the rancher's brother. I like westerns, I'm not sure why I never got around to watching this one before, one of the most acclaimed ones of that era. Especially liked watching it so soon after re-watching BLAZING SADDLES, since you can tell where a lot of those bits came from. The drunken gunslinger with unsteady hands, the "authentic frontier gibberish" that Walter Brennen delivers as deputy Stumpy.

Glad I watched it, will definitely watch again, and maybe I'll check out a few more westerns from that era.