Mafia Universe Monthly Movie Exchange

[Kuti plz]

MU MONTHLY MOVIE EXCHANGE

Inspired by the MU Monthly Album Exchange, I bring to you the MU Monthly Movie Exchange!

So exactly how does this work?

• I will announce a theme for the next month movie exchange
• you will submit a movie that fit the theme before deadline
• the first few days of the month I will assign one movie that was submitted to everyone
• you have the rest of the remaining month to watch the movie and write up a review

Is there any limitations or what not for movies?

As of writing this, no. Short films, long movies, animated movies, etc are fine to be submitted unless stated by the theme. Obviously if there's issues in the future I will make note of it.

What about streaming availability?

Streaming availability is not required. I will try to figure out how to make the movie accessible.

[Kuti plz]

NOVEMBER 2022 THEME: FIRST EVER

The theme is: First Ever.

The interpretation is up to you. It can be the first ever for the genre, debut for the director or actor, first ever movie shot in whatever medium, first ever directed by a woman, etc. There's freedom in this.

Deadline SIGN UP: 11/09/2022


Sign up here:

https://surveyheart.com/form/6362a050b85f9f7c46581da6

Subbed:
1) @nutella
2) @benneh
3) @Johanna
4) @c4e5g3d5
5) @LordQuas
6) @Visorslash
7) @Hallia
8) @Cron
9) @iaafr
10. @Mischief
11. @Sett
12. @ThePretender
13. @staypositivefriend
14. Kuti plz
15. @neopest

[nutella]

Subbed, ppl have prolly seen it but w/e

[benneh]

Subbed glgl

[LordQuas]

i will do this this sounds right up my alley

[Kuti plz]

So I am. Changing it up this month so we don't have to wait a month for exchange.

Sign ups dead line 11/9, exchange 11/10, reviews by 11/30.

December sign ups open 11/20 and close 11/30.

[Visorslash]

in and subbed

eta: the film i submitted was the directors first feature length movie

[Hallia]

Subbed!

I thought my movie was the actress' first but it ended up being a different first!

[Cron]

In and submitted

[iaafr]

i subbed youll never guess what

[Kuti plz]

i subbed youll never guess what

Can you explain why it's the first ever lol

[Mischief]

Subbed

[iaafr]

i subbed youll never guess what

Can you explain why it's the first ever lol

oh i actually misread

sure ill dm it to you

[ThePretender]

Will sub later today

Posting for reminds sake

[Sett]

subbed

[ThePretender]

subbed c:

[Kuti plz]

Tomorrow is the last day to sub!

[neopest]

subbed

[Kuti plz]

November 2022 Picks

Theme: First Ever

(yes this is slightly different then how albums is done but I like it this way so :P)

***

@nutella gets Tampopo (1985)

Subbed by @iaafr.

its the first ever philosophical comedy centered around examining the culture around food

Can be found on HBO Max (will provide link soon)

@benneh gets Ocean's Eleven (2001)

Subbed by @neopest

First ever installment in the Ocean's franchise. It was the first ever movie in the franchise known as the Ocean's franchise. When you order the Ocean's franchise, it is the first one. TW: Stalking, violence, addiction. Age rating: Pg-13

Will provide Netflix and Peacock link soon

@Johanna gets Perfect Blue (1997)

Subbed by @Mischief

Directorial film debut for Satoshi Kon (TW: Sexual assault)

I have link

@c4e5g3d5 gets Throne of Blood (1957)

Subbed by @LordQuas

As far as I'm aware its the first Shakespeare film adaption in Japan. It was certainly the first Kurosawa made. It was also the first time his three main script collaborators worked together. The "First Fort" is also a plot point in the movie. People get killed as $%#! in this movie but I wouldn't say it's gory.

Will post YouTube link later

@LordQuas gets We're All Going To The Worlds Fair (2021)

Subbed by @staypositivefriend

A psychological horror/drama that explores the impact of growing up on the internet and getting lost within a virtual world. As described by the director, this film is also an attempt to "use the language of cinema to articulate the hard-to-describe feeling of dysphoria.”. It is the acting debut by the lead actress, and possibly the feature film debut of the director, but not as sure about this one

As far as trigger warnings go, I would note that the film has an unsettling and uncomfortable atmosphere and includes intense conversations about topics such as suicide and abuse. It is a heavy watch, so tread lightly

Link for Amazon and HBO soon

@Visorslash gets Tangerine (2015)(2020)

Subbed by @Kuti plz

first professional full length festival film ever shot entirely on an iPhone

Link to paramount later

@Hallia gets Castle in the Sky (1989)

Subbed by @nutella and @ThePretender

The first film produced by Studio Ghibli! Fantasy adventure, magic crystal, sky pirates, floating island, cool robots, GOAT soundtrack

Link to HBO Netflix Amazon soon

@Cron gets Hawking (2004)

Subbed by @Sett

Benedict Cumberbatch is the first actor ever to play Stephen Hawking on screen in this film, & the plot concludes with the discovery of the first ever physical proof of the big bang. Coincidentally, it is also Cumberbatch's first protagonist role in a movie ever. It is rated PG & I cannot recall any specific tws.

Link to Amazon soon

@iaafr gets McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)

Subbed by @c4e5g3d5

First movie to feature a Leonard Cohen song as part of the soundtrack, and Leonard Cohen is where a large part of its vibe comes from. It's rated R and it's about a brothel, but the act isn't depicted. Subtitles are strongly recommended, a lot of the dialogue is very hard to hear.

It's about a man named McCabe starting up a successful brothel out in the West, and a woman, Mrs. Miller, partnering up with him when she realizes he doesn't have a clue, but I don't want to spoil much more than that.

Link to Amazon soon

@Mischief gets The Chaser (2008)

Subbed by @Visorslash

A disgraced ex-policeman who runs a small ring of prostitutes finds himself in a race against time when one of his women goes missing.

a lot of violence/can be hard to watch scenes, probably rated R

@Sett gets The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

Subbed by @benneh

A collection of absurd Western short stories by the Coen brothers. The meme "First time?" is from this movie therefore it fits as memes reign supreme. Rated R for violence/blood/language.

Link to Netflix soon

@ThePretender gets Labyrinth (1986)

Subbed by @Hallia

The owl in the title sequence is computer generated. The first attempt at a photo-realistic CGI animal character in a feature film.

Link to Netflix soon

@staypositivefriend gets Badlands (1973)

Subbed by @Johanna

First movie by Terrence Malick, screen debut for him, Martin Sheen, and Sissy Spacek (I think), contains murder, violence, and generalised crime.

@neopest gets True Lies (1994)

Subbed by @Cron

This is the first film to cost $100 million. Also it’s awesome. Rated R

***

Reviews Due by 11/30/22

December Subs open 11/20-11/30/22

Sorry if you got a movie you already watched.

Sorry it isn't formatted better, I'm tired.

[Kuti plz]

Also feel free to also review any of the movies subbed that wasn't assigned to you if you want to.

[neopest]

some great subs

[Cron]

some great subs

I hope you haven’t seen yours. Enjoy

[neopest]

some great subs

I hope you haven’t seen yours. Enjoy

I have not, which is surprising because I'm a huge Jamie Lee Curtis fan

[Kuti plz]

I enjoyed all the interpretation of the theme.

Yes I skipped myself this month because we had a duplicate sub of a movie. #GoodHost

[Visorslash]

I enjoyed all the interpretation of the theme.

Yes I skipped myself this month because we had a duplicate sub of a movie. #GoodHost

what sub was that

[Visorslash]

castle in the sky is p good, not the best ghibli movie, but p good

[Kuti plz]

I enjoyed all the interpretation of the theme.

Yes I skipped myself this month because we had a duplicate sub of a movie. #GoodHost

what sub was that

Castle in the Sky

[Visorslash]

I enjoyed all the interpretation of the theme.

Yes I skipped myself this month because we had a duplicate sub of a movie. #GoodHost

what sub was that

Castle in the Sky

weebs

[iaafr]

Yes I skipped myself this month because we had a duplicate sub of a movie. #GoodHost

sick way to dodge a writeup

[Kuti plz]

Yes I skipped myself this month because we had a duplicate sub of a movie. #GoodHost

sick way to dodge a writeup

I'm reviewing other movies that were subbed instead :P

[LordQuas]

November 2022 Picks

Theme: First Ever

(yes this is slightly different then how albums is done but I like it this way so :P)

***

@nutella gets Tampopo (1985)

Subbed by @iaafr.

its the first ever philosophical comedy centered around examining the culture around food

Can be found on HBO Max (will provide link soon)

@benneh gets Ocean's Eleven (2001)

Subbed by @neopest

First ever installment in the Ocean's franchise. It was the first ever movie in the franchise known as the Ocean's franchise. When you order the Ocean's franchise, it is the first one. TW: Stalking, violence, addiction. Age rating: Pg-13

Will provide Netflix and Peacock link soon

@Johanna gets Perfect Blue (1997)

Subbed by @Mischief

Directorial film debut for Satoshi Kon (TW: Sexual assault)

I have link

@c4e5g3d5 gets Throne of Blood (1957)

Subbed by @LordQuas

As far as I'm aware its the first Shakespeare film adaption in Japan. It was certainly the first Kurosawa made. It was also the first time his three main script collaborators worked together. The "First Fort" is also a plot point in the movie. People get killed as $%#! in this movie but I wouldn't say it's gory.

Will post YouTube link later

@LordQuas gets We're All Going To The Worlds Fair (2021)

Subbed by @staypositivefriend

A psychological horror/drama that explores the impact of growing up on the internet and getting lost within a virtual world. As described by the director, this film is also an attempt to "use the language of cinema to articulate the hard-to-describe feeling of dysphoria.”. It is the acting debut by the lead actress, and possibly the feature film debut of the director, but not as sure about this one

As far as trigger warnings go, I would note that the film has an unsettling and uncomfortable atmosphere and includes intense conversations about topics such as suicide and abuse. It is a heavy watch, so tread lightly

Link for Amazon and HBO soon

@Visorslash gets Tangerine (2015)(2020)

Subbed by @Kuti plz

first professional full length festival film ever shot entirely on an iPhone

Link to paramount later

@Hallia gets Castle in the Sky (1989)

Subbed by @nutella and @ThePretender

The first film produced by Studio Ghibli! Fantasy adventure, magic crystal, sky pirates, floating island, cool robots, GOAT soundtrack

Link to HBO Netflix Amazon soon

@Cron gets Hawking (2004)

Subbed by @Sett

Benedict Cumberbatch is the first actor ever to play Stephen Hawking on screen in this film, & the plot concludes with the discovery of the first ever physical proof of the big bang. Coincidentally, it is also Cumberbatch's first protagonist role in a movie ever. It is rated PG & I cannot recall any specific tws.

Link to Amazon soon

@iaafr gets McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)

Subbed by @c4e5g3d5

First movie to feature a Leonard Cohen song as part of the soundtrack, and Leonard Cohen is where a large part of its vibe comes from. It's rated R and it's about a brothel, but the act isn't depicted. Subtitles are strongly recommended, a lot of the dialogue is very hard to hear.

It's about a man named McCabe starting up a successful brothel out in the West, and a woman, Mrs. Miller, partnering up with him when she realizes he doesn't have a clue, but I don't want to spoil much more than that.

Link to Amazon soon

@Mischief gets The Chaser (2008)

Subbed by @Visorslash

A disgraced ex-policeman who runs a small ring of prostitutes finds himself in a race against time when one of his women goes missing.

a lot of violence/can be hard to watch scenes, probably rated R

@Sett gets The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

Subbed by @benneh

A collection of absurd Western short stories by the Coen brothers. The meme "First time?" is from this movie therefore it fits as memes reign supreme. Rated R for violence/blood/language.

Link to Netflix soon

@ThePretender gets Labyrinth (1986)

Subbed by @Hallia

The owl in the title sequence is computer generated. The first attempt at a photo-realistic CGI animal character in a feature film.

Link to Netflix soon

@staypositivefriend gets Badlands (1973)

Subbed by @Johanna

First movie by Terrence Malick, screen debut for him, Martin Sheen, and Sissy Spacek (I think), contains murder, violence, and generalised crime.

@neopest gets True Lies (1994)

Subbed by @Cron

This is the first film to cost $100 million. Also it’s awesome. Rated R

***

Reviews Due by 11/30/22

December Subs open 11/20-11/30/22

Sorry if you got a movie you already watched.

Sorry it isn't formatted better, I'm tired.

@Kuti plz having only read rabbit's description of his movie I would like to make sure you think about age ranges for stuff

which we're all adults this time so whatever doesn't matter but for future just keep that in your brain lol

[LordQuas]

@staypositivefriend lol

[c4e5g3d5]

@Kuti plz having only read rabbit's description of his movie I would like to make sure you think about age ranges for stuff

which we're all adults this time so whatever doesn't matter but for future just keep that in your brain lol

@nutella gets Tampopo (1985)

Subbed by @iaafr.

its the first ever philosophical comedy centered around examining the culture around food

Hm yeah this one definitely raises the question

(I'm aware which you mean lol)

[Visorslash]

kids banned

[staypositivefriend]

@staypositivefriend lol

that's how u know it's a good movie!

[c4e5g3d5]

Ngl I've watched plenty of Kurosawa in my days and the way he directs his actors in his period pieces is still jarring as $%#! to me, and my best bet is usually just to try and ignore it, so that's kinda the mindset I'm going into this one with lol

As far as Kurosawa goes, this is... fine honestly, like he can clearly make basically any scene hard to look away from, but it doesn't have any of those grimy drawn out battle sequences where the whole scene feels like it's alive, and it doesn't have the personality or emotional staying power of Seven Samurai or Yojimbo, because you're never really made to care about the characters of Macbeth, you're only supposed to watch them die in interesting ways. One of the most convincing Mifune performances I've seen tbh, and the acting didn't feel nearly as distracting in this one as in other Kurosawa samurai movies I've seen.

It comes out to basically being the best, fanciest, most refined PB&J you've ever had, because there were lots of those scenes where I can tell Kurosawa's $%#!ing with me based on where he knows I'll be looking, or he makes the composition of a shot hard to focus on a single part of to make a scene about an uncomfortable decision even more uncomfortable, or all kinds of artsy stuff like that that show the movie's coming out exactly how he wanted it to, but like... I don't really care about what's actually in the shots, so I'm just appreciating the work he put into it, like I'm in a museum or something, instead of particularly enjoying the movie.

7/10

Fastest review in the West mfers

[iaafr]

did i miss where i was supposed to give an age rating?

it's like pg-13 tbh

[iaafr]

did i miss where i was supposed to give an age rating?

it's like pg-13 tbh

yeah i did whoops my bad

no real TWs imo

content warning is some nudity, some sexual themes, some violence (nothing super graphic or extreme)

[ThePretender]

I enjoyed all the interpretation of the theme.

Yes I skipped myself this month because we had a duplicate sub of a movie. #GoodHost

what sub was that

Castle in the Sky

weebs

How would you know smh

Glad to see all movies here I've yet to see or even heard off less oceans eleven. That movie is goated

[Visorslash]

Tangerine (2015)

As soon as I saw the opening scene I was like hey, I've seen this bit before - I think I saw a review of this movie or something years ago and it triggered a memory, but I had 100% seen the opening to this before (though that's all I had and I didn't remember anything about it). The graininess of the iphone is a little jarring to begin with, but fits the vibe of LA (?) and the sort of seedy underbelly of sex work within the city and you get used to it after awhile. The washed out palette also kinda really hits the atmosphere nicely. It feels dirty, grimy, hazy and gives you a nice window into the characters lives.

The acting is surprisingly good (I had low expectations given Iphone movie, but even the bit characters were pretty good - theres lots of nice little interactions between the characters and the movie going for a more realistic style rather than the over dramatic framing was a good choice). It's a pretty interesting showcase into the life of sex workers (transgender or otherwise) and the struggles they have on both the day to day and existential side, as well as the range of customers (from the devoted, to the robbers, to the attackers and so on). There is no real happy ending for the characters, which kind of makes sense and you suspect from the moment you begin that this is kind of just going to be a trainwreck until its over for everyone, (though there is a nice moment right at the end), it's just a sort of comedy of personalities dragging the film by the hair from place to place.

Overall, it's a pretty decent movie, I don't think its particularly groundbreaking in the cinematography style (and the music choices and inclusions are pretty jarring and kinda not really fitting the vibe) but the characters are fun enough and the comedy generally carries you along to see how the plot turns out.

6.4/10, 3/5 or so - where a 5 is average, so its above average - if you think you're interested in a movie thats kind of a snapshot of a day in the life of sex workers in LA on a quest to find this cheating boyfriend and their hijinks along the way, as well as looking at the sex industry in general, this movie will be of interest to you. The overall plot isn't particularly compelling, its more of a vehicle to get these characters moving along, but the comedy is good, and the personalities of the players keep it entertaining throughout.

Overall: Recommended.

[Visorslash]

Out of that list i had heard of most of them:

Tampopo was already on my list of to-watch films
Ocean's Eleven i've seen (though have been meaning to revisit to see if it holds up)
Perfect Blue is already on my list of to-watch movies as well (I believe he did Paprika which was p good (and has a fantastic soundtrack)
Throne of Blood I've seen (don't remember a huge amount but I've always thought out of the popular Shakespeare works Hamlet >>> Macbeth)
World's Fair I've not seen
Tangerine I just watched
Castle In the Sky - is p decent anime, top half ghibli probably
McCabe and Miller - not seen or heard of
The Chaser - goat
Ballad of Buster Scruggs - been meaning to see at some point.
Labyrinth - know its a classic but never seen.
Badlands - not heard of it, but do know the director obv.
True Lies - a pretty fun thriller movie, can't go wrong with that.

[Visorslash]

@Mischief if you need help finding the film let me know

[LordQuas]

Ngl I've watched plenty of Kurosawa in my days and the way he directs his actors in his period pieces is still jarring as $%#! to me, and my best bet is usually just to try and ignore it, so that's kinda the mindset I'm going into this one with lol

As far as Kurosawa goes, this is... fine honestly, like he can clearly make basically any scene hard to look away from, but it doesn't have any of those grimy drawn out battle sequences where the whole scene feels like it's alive, and it doesn't have the personality or emotional staying power of Seven Samurai or Yojimbo, because you're never really made to care about the characters of Macbeth, you're only supposed to watch them die in interesting ways. One of the most convincing Mifune performances I've seen tbh, and the acting didn't feel nearly as distracting in this one as in other Kurosawa samurai movies I've seen.

It comes out to basically being the best, fanciest, most refined PB&J you've ever had, because there were lots of those scenes where I can tell Kurosawa's $%#!ing with me based on where he knows I'll be looking, or he makes the composition of a shot hard to focus on a single part of to make a scene about an uncomfortable decision even more uncomfortable, or all kinds of artsy stuff like that that show the movie's coming out exactly how he wanted it to, but like... I don't really care about what's actually in the shots, so I'm just appreciating the work he put into it, like I'm in a museum or something, instead of particularly enjoying the movie.

7/10

Fastest review in the West mfers

boo macbeth goat

[Mischief]

@Mischief if you need help finding the film let me know

Should not be a problem.
I have it open already.
Thank you, though.

I look forward to watching it, will probably try to do that today.

[c4e5g3d5]

@LordQuas gets We're All Going To The Worlds Fair (2021)

Subbed by @staypositivefriend

A psychological horror/drama that explores the impact of growing up on the internet and getting lost within a virtual world. As described by the director, this film is also an attempt to "use the language of cinema to articulate the hard-to-describe feeling of dysphoria.”. It is the acting debut by the lead actress, and possibly the feature film debut of the director, but not as sure about this one

As far as trigger warnings go, I would note that the film has an unsettling and uncomfortable atmosphere and includes intense conversations about topics such as suicide and abuse. It is a heavy watch, so tread lightly

I'm sorry, I'm all for experimental, as-few-moving-parts-as-possible, extra-slow-long-takes movies, but that was not it lol. The best part is the lead actress, she's awesome and deserves an entire career off the back of this movie, but in terms of writing/structuring/editing, it all goes downhill from there.

The thing about those long shots, which, believe me, moke up most of the movie even though it's as short as it is, is that you still have to keep the audience's attention somehow. There are two main ways to do this:

1. Make the shots look good

The shots look fine in this movie, but they're far from particularly creative or interesting. The most "interesting" shot in the whole movie is

...a shot of a recording computer on a chair that lets you see both the room behind/around the computer and what the computer's recording,

...and that's a cool shot to throw into the movie, but I've already seen and understood it in the first 30 seconds, why am I staring at it for another 150?

That's the best one mind you, this movie's filled with seemingly arbitrary lingering wide shots in scenes with no narrative tension. Which brings us to

2. Narrative tension

This movie's story is extremely abstract. On some level, this could've played off of fear of the unknown, but at a certain level of obscurity, fear of the unknown turns into disinterest in the un-knowable, because there's so little to go off of that your imagination wraps all the way back around to just waiting for the answers, instead of making guesses in the dark that you know have basically no chance of being right.

There's exactly one scene that felt suspenseful to me, and it was obviously

...the stuffed lemur scene, which was genuinely impactful when the moment came, but come on. We all knew what would happen the moment she held it up to the camera. Then it drags, drags, drags and stalls until it happens.

So this movie comes out feeling like the shots are long for the sake of being long. It feels like it was nakedly made to do well at a film festival.

There are clearly a lot of great individual things about this movie, and great individual scenes that make me want to like this movie, but when it's all put together... I enjoyed a 7-hour movie that starts with 5 minutes of cows, and I thought this one was boring. I feel like it definitely needed more time in the writers' room to put flesh on its bones.

[Twice Shrunk]

(tl;dr sub a bunch of cow movies for c4)

[Cron]

Hawking (2004)

I’ve never heard of this movie before and I had no idea Benedict Cumberbatch played Hawking in this TV movie. I remember watching Theory of Everything and only recall the love story / their relationship with some minor scenes about his actual work. Honestly I wasn’t a big fan of that movie and I’m not a big fan of Cumberbatch BUT I’m still looking forward to watching. I’m hoping it’s a bit more about the work and not a love story but we’ll see. I don’t totally hate Cumberbatch, I really liked him in The Imitation Game and kind of Sherlock but I’m not a fan of Strange. Maybe I just never forgave him for his character in Atonement. Anyways, watching movie now

Ok just finished.

There were a few things I liked and things I found annoying. When you first see Cumberbatch he’s sitting in a chair at an odd angle watching the tv. I thought it was a great shot that kind of mirrored his look in his wheelchair. I think he had the look of Stephen hawking down pretty well with his hair and his movements and speech were good. Cumberbatch did a fine job, not better than Eddie Redmayne but that’s no fair considering they went deep into his later life in that movie.

As far as the story of the movie I was hoping for more. His future wife was odd and scenes with her in it felt boring and awkward. I felt zero chemistry. Hawking had random friends who would come in and out whenever needed and who had no stories of their own so I really didn’t care. I liked the dynamic of professor Hoyle who pushes the belief that the Universe is constant and Big Bang is cartoonish. I wish they did more with him, was interesting between the two. The biggest part of the story is hawking slowly losing his motor functions and how he’s dealing with that, which is somewhat powerful but kind of uninteresting. How many times can you show him struggling with simple tasks? Spoiler: a lot. They throw in pieces of Hawking working on various things. The eureka moment with reversing time to map out the universe was good, just wish they built that up more.

Also all throughout this movie they cut in scenes of these other two scientists being interviewed like a decade later before receiving a Nobel prize for discovering physical proof of the Big Bang, the heat of it in space. I thought those scenes, although relevant to proving Hawking correct, felt unneeded. They were super annoying as characters to me. Even after Hoyle asks Hawking where the proof is and they cut back to the two scientists who have been explaining how they found it, it didn’t hit that big payoff for me. They didn’t even show Hawking in the 70s, strictly early and mid 60s Hawking. The end of the movie he’s walking with a cane still.

I was hoping for more physics and Hawking’s work but most of it was him dealing with his disease, his wife who had no chemistry with him, and two scientists from the future who don’t even interact with Hawking at all. It was only like 90 minutes long and they chose how to use that time poorly.

I prolly wouldn’t recommend watching this movie. 3/10. Sorry if this is a favorite to whoever suggested.

[staypositivefriend]

@LordQuas gets We're All Going To The Worlds Fair (2021)

Subbed by @staypositivefriend

A psychological horror/drama that explores the impact of growing up on the internet and getting lost within a virtual world. As described by the director, this film is also an attempt to "use the language of cinema to articulate the hard-to-describe feeling of dysphoria.”. It is the acting debut by the lead actress, and possibly the feature film debut of the director, but not as sure about this one

As far as trigger warnings go, I would note that the film has an unsettling and uncomfortable atmosphere and includes intense conversations about topics such as suicide and abuse. It is a heavy watch, so tread lightly

I'm sorry, I'm all for experimental, as-few-moving-parts-as-possible, extra-slow-long-takes movies, but that was not it lol. The best part is the lead actress, she's awesome and deserves an entire career off the back of this movie, but in terms of writing/structuring/editing, it all goes downhill from there.

The thing about those long shots, which, believe me, moke up most of the movie even though it's as short as it is, is that you still have to keep the audience's attention somehow. There are two main ways to do this:

1. Make the shots look good

The shots look fine in this movie, but they're far from particularly creative or interesting. The most "interesting" shot in the whole movie is

...a shot of a recording computer on a chair that lets you see both the room behind/around the computer and what the computer's recording,

...and that's a cool shot to throw into the movie, but I've already seen and understood it in the first 30 seconds, why am I staring at it for another 150?

That's the best one mind you, this movie's filled with seemingly arbitrary lingering wide shots in scenes with no narrative tension. Which brings us to

2. Narrative tension

This movie's story is extremely abstract. On some level, this could've played off of fear of the unknown, but at a certain level of obscurity, fear of the unknown turns into disinterest in the un-knowable, because there's so little to go off of that your imagination wraps all the way back around to just waiting for the answers, instead of making guesses in the dark that you know have basically no chance of being right.

There's exactly one scene that felt suspenseful to me, and it was obviously

...the stuffed lemur scene, which was genuinely impactful when the moment came, but come on. We all knew what would happen the moment she held it up to the camera. Then it drags, drags, drags and stalls until it happens.

So this movie comes out feeling like the shots are long for the sake of being long. It feels like it was nakedly made to do well at a film festival.

There are clearly a lot of great individual things about this movie, and great individual scenes that make me want to like this movie, but when it's all put together... I enjoyed a 7-hour movie that starts with 5 minutes of cows, and I thought this one was boring. I feel like it definitely needed more time in the writers' room to put flesh on its bones.

i think your perspective is fair, and i won't try to talk you into liking the movie, but i did wanna add another perspective as someone who Really Likes this film:

1. i wouldn't say that the long shots in the film are "arbitrary". throughout the film, casey expresses feelings of loneliness, dissociation, and a disconnection from herself, and a feeling that the world is a "dream that she needs to wake up from". the way that the film hangs on shots for an uncomfortably long amount of time and jumps from scene to scene with little regard for narrative structure feels like a very intentional choice to replicate the dissociative state of the main character, and to get us into the headspace of a character who is using the internet as a means to try to battle through her loneliness and alienation

if you found that boring or if the film didn't really pull you in, i think that is valid tbh, but i really appreciate the atmosphere of the film and i think it nailed what it was going for

2. i think the narrative of the film relies on a few important questions:

A. was casey roleplaying for the entire film, or did she genuinely believe that the "changes" as part of the world fair were happening to her? did she seriously intend to kill herself/her father, or was she simply using her creativity to work through some stuff?

B. is the monologue that JLD says at the end of the film true, or is it a story that he's making up to try to comfort himself from not knowing what happened to casey? as an extension of this question, was JLD's relationship with casey inherently predatory, and what were his intentions throughout their exchanges?

the nature of the internet is that sometimes you form these unique connections with strangers, and then they disappear and you never hear from them again. there are so many mysteries on the internet that can never be answered, so many cases where you can never learn the full truth about a situation because the people involved have disappeared back into anonymity

i think this film is partially about that ambiguity, about not knowing how dangerous certain situations were or could have been, about these bizarre and formative online experiences that only people in the younger generations who grew up on the internet are really capable of understanding

i find the way that the film portrays the experience of Growing Up Online and the way that it tackles themes of dysphoria/alienation in a more sub-textual way to be really fascinating and impactful, but i also think it is perfectly valid to not like the film, tbh. i just wanted to share a bit about why i enjoy the film as much as i do, and why it connects with me

[c4e5g3d5]

I'm obviously not gonna tell you not to like a movie that you like because if you like it that's good lol, but

the way that the film hangs on shots for an uncomfortably long amount of time and jumps from scene to scene with little regard for narrative structure feels like a very intentional choice to replicate the dissociative state of the main character, and to get us into the headspace of a character who is using the internet as a means to try to battle through her loneliness and alienation

If you wanna see a movie that does this for me, check out the aforementioned 7-hour movie that starts with 5 minutes of cows, it's called Satantango and it's one of the most immersive pieces of media I've ever consumed, sometimes I swear I can smell mud when I watch it

But cmon that wide of the forest, why lol

[Sett]

Hawking (2004)

I’ve never heard of this movie before and I had no idea Benedict Cumberbatch played Hawking in this TV movie. I remember watching Theory of Everything and only recall the love story / their relationship with some minor scenes about his actual work. Honestly I wasn’t a big fan of that movie and I’m not a big fan of Cumberbatch BUT I’m still looking forward to watching. I’m hoping it’s a bit more about the work and not a love story but we’ll see. I don’t totally hate Cumberbatch, I really liked him in The Imitation Game and kind of Sherlock but I’m not a fan of Strange. Maybe I just never forgave him for his character in Atonement. Anyways, watching movie now

Ok just finished.

There were a few things I liked and things I found annoying. When you first see Cumberbatch he’s sitting in a chair at an odd angle watching the tv. I thought it was a great shot that kind of mirrored his look in his wheelchair. I think he had the look of Stephen hawking down pretty well with his hair and his movements and speech were good. Cumberbatch did a fine job, not better than Eddie Redmayne but that’s no fair considering they went deep into his later life in that movie.

As far as the story of the movie I was hoping for more. His future wife was odd and scenes with her in it felt boring and awkward. I felt zero chemistry. Hawking had random friends who would come in and out whenever needed and who had no stories of their own so I really didn’t care. I liked the dynamic of professor Hoyle who pushes the belief that the Universe is constant and Big Bang is cartoonish. I wish they did more with him, was interesting between the two. The biggest part of the story is hawking slowly losing his motor functions and how he’s dealing with that, which is somewhat powerful but kind of uninteresting. How many times can you show him struggling with simple tasks? Spoiler: a lot. They throw in pieces of Hawking working on various things. The eureka moment with reversing time to map out the universe was good, just wish they built that up more.

Also all throughout this movie they cut in scenes of these other two scientists being interviewed like a decade later before receiving a Nobel prize for discovering physical proof of the Big Bang, the heat of it in space. I thought those scenes, although relevant to proving Hawking correct, felt unneeded. They were super annoying as characters to me. Even after Hoyle asks Hawking where the proof is and they cut back to the two scientists who have been explaining how they found it, it didn’t hit that big payoff for me. They didn’t even show Hawking in the 70s, strictly early and mid 60s Hawking. The end of the movie he’s walking with a cane still.

I was hoping for more physics and Hawking’s work but most of it was him dealing with his disease, his wife who had no chemistry with him, and two scientists from the future who don’t even interact with Hawking at all. It was only like 90 minutes long and they chose how to use that time poorly.

I prolly wouldn’t recommend watching this movie. 3/10. Sorry if this is a favorite to whoever suggested.

Honestly I happened to watch it on TV a few years ago & I thought it was alright. Just thought it fit the theme in multiple ways. Can't say it's a movie I'd watch again though. Not one of my favorites.