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Or at least it did, until they broke it with Cap going off and living an entire life with Carter, and still ending up in the present. Argh!

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Yeah that's the part that annoyed me also. It can be rationalized as Cap time-traveling back once he gets old/Peggy dies (since it's established that you can time travel to any location, so he could've done that to surprise them), but it's not very good when you need rationalizations like that to make things make sense.

Definitely a touching and thematically powerful ending, and I highly enjoyed it for that, but you need to bend the plot in the background for it to be consistent with the established time travel rules, which annoys me.

Rewatched Endgame this morning. Was definitely a very different feeling watching it in a quiet theater, especially compared to the opening weekend at what was basically the most hyped and cheering movie audience possible (which I surprisingly actually enjoyed). Could catch a lot more dialogue and details this time around though.

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@Laurentus FYI the Russos seem to have confirmed that Steve got together with Peggy in a branched timeline:

So, has Cap been living in the past this whole time — or did he go and live in another dimension?
The directors say it’s the latter.
“If Cap were to go back into the past and live there, he would create a branched reality,” Joe explained. “The question then becomes, how is he back in this reality to give the shield away?”
The brothers smile.
“Interesting question, right?” Joe said. “Maybe there’s a story there. There’s a lot of layers built into this movie and we spent three years thinking through it, so it’s fun to talk about it and hopefully fill in holes for people so they understand what we’re thinking.”

source

I suddenly remembered the song Bright Eyes, performed by Art Garfunkel, yesterday night. I couldn't quite remember what I knew it from, or why it made me so sad. Then slowly, a story about rabbits trying to survive the destruction of their burrow came back to my memory, and when I googled the song, I rediscovered the movie Watership Down. So I also watched it again. I was horrified. I can't believe my parents let me watch this when I was a kid.

It's also spectacular, though, and I would encourage everyone here to give it a try, too. There is a 2018 Netflix remake of the original 1978 movie, but I have not heard anything good about it.

It also has perhaps my favourite quote from the last year:
"All the world will be your enemy
Prince with a Thousand Enemies
And if they catch you, they will kill you
But first, they must catch you!"

I've been trying to get into film this year so I hope nobody minds if I resurrect this post to share some of the stuff I enjoy with you all.

Just got done watching The Killing of a Sacred Deer by Yorgos Lanthimos (who also made The Lobster and The Favourite) and it was the most affecting movie I've seen in a long time. I wouldn't call it a horror film exactly but it was deeply disturbing and as soon as I finished I wanted to scrub myself clean of it.

9/10 would recommend

Trailer here

Ohh I loooooove movies.

Just watched Tangled again. Older movie but one of my favorites.

Just watched a "double feature" last night of Bombshell and Jumanji: The Next Level using Netflix mail shipment and Redbox (yes Netflix still has a mail delivery system).

Bombshell was an interesting story and also had a surprising amount of black comedy.  Overall I would call it a 8/10.

This Jumanji movie started off worse than the remake that preceded it but it ended up being alright later on.  I would give it a 5.5/10.

spoiler for something set up in Jumanji

It also sets up a sequel based off the original Jumanji movie.  That could be interesting but I would say it is unnecessary.

I've watched quite a few films recently

• The Platform is a Netflix-distributed Spanish sci-fi thriller with an interesting concept and some cool visuals paired up with a really clunky script. I won't say too much about the plot but it's all a remarkably on-the-nose anti-consumerist allegory, although I watched an English dub so maybe the writing is better in the original Spanish. 5/10
• It Chapters 1 & 2 were surprisingly fun, I don't really like horror movies and although there are weak moments in Chapter 2 especially it's overall a really good time with some interesting direction and mostly good performances. 6/10
• I've seen The Big Short a few times already and revisiting it was rewarding. An exceptionally comfy movie, despite the grim subject matter. If you've not seen this fun recession comedy I'd recommend it to everyone. 8/10
• Dumbo 1941 rules. I have nothing further to add. 9/10
• The Remembered Film is a 17-minute short where several teenage boys, dressed in military uniforms from various nations and periods in history, recount war stories to the camera and wander through a peaceful forest. I like the premise and it is quite affecting, but the director keeps adding elements which distract from the initial starkness which was what I found attractive in the first place. 6/10

It's been over a month, I'm double-posting.

I just watched The Fall, a 7-minute short by Jonathan Glazer who directed Under The Skin and the music video for Radiohead's Karma Police. It's beautifully shot, with a nail-biting soundtrack and an overall terrifying vibe. Despite that, it did feel a bit light and I was a bit disappointed when it ended without a huge amount having happened. There are far worse ways to spend seven minutes though, so I recommend watching it if you can find it (it's on MUBI UK for the next month). 3/5

I also watched Thoroughbreds which, despite what the baffling trailer might suggest, is not a laugh riot dark comedy but a glacially slow, occasionally smile-inducing character drama. Even though this movie isn't "fun" I still loved it, it reminded me quite a bit of Yorgos Lanthimos' films (The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer). 4/5

Having seen and loved the above Lanthimos films I decided to watch the only English language feature of his that I hadn't yet seen. The Favourite is a period drama set in Queen Anne's court in the late 1600s, but it's a characteristically strange take on a usually mannered genre. We have fisheye cinematography, preposterously exaggerated wigs and revisionist costume design aplenty, as well as amazing performances from Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman (who deservedly won the Best Actress Oscar for this film). 4.5/5

With that down I had seen all three of the director's films in English and loved them all, so I went back to check out Dogtooth, his Greek-language debut and was surprised to find that it didn't do much for me. Dogtooth is widely held up as the most important Greek film of the 21st Century, but so much of the director's distinctive style and tone are yet to fully take form in this early effort. Don't take my word for it though — I'm in the minority on this one. 2.5/5

The Hedgehog (embedded at the bottom of the post as this site doesn't like Vimeo links) is that thing you've seen around the internet being used as a punchline for the last few years. It's a six-and-a-half minute short about mortality, the transience of youth and a kid in a Sonic the Hedgehog costume. It's well-shot, engaging enough and generally fine, if a little light on substance. 2.5/5

As a means of overcoming the Francophobia that dwells within all good Englishmen, I checked out the universally-beloved French period romance Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Did it live up to the hype? Not exactly, but I'm not sure any film could live up to the hype this one gets. Was it great? Oh yeah. Visually stunning (they recorded this in 7k to capture as much colour as possible and you can really tell) and carried by two engrossing lead actresses whose romance is one of the most compelling I've seen. And it ends very, very strong. The best last scene that I can remember of any film I've seen. 4/5

https://vimeo.com/117371025

I just watched Three Identical Strangers. The person who recommended it to me said to go into it with no context, and I think that's a good assessment.

Well, maybe a little: on the surface level, it is a tale of three triplets, who were separated at birth, finding each other again. The story goes deeper than that though.

Highly recommend, the documentary film is very well done.

ninja edit: wrong thread oops

I want to start my monthly dump of film reviews by telling you to watch Do The Right Thing if you haven't already. It's not the best film I've seen in the last month but it's the most relevant to today and it's pretty great. Released in 1989, it depicts 24 hours in a predominantly black neighbourhood in Brooklyn and all the tensions that develop in the inhabitants both across and within racial boundaries on the hottest day of the year. There are a few flaws but the characters are all splendidly drawn and even the most unsympathetic characters are at least understandable, while the tension simmers and builds almost pitch-perfectly before finally coming to a head in the film's final act. It deals with difficult timely issues without being preachy or even taking a side, which is something very few films manage to do effectively. 9/10

I also saw The Seventh Seal, the legendary Swedish classic from Ingmar Bergman. The central conflict of the film, returning crusader Antonius Block's game of chess against Death, is probably the most enduring image in film history and even if you've never heard the name Bergman you've seen his work parodied dozens of times, perhaps without even realising it. Surprisingly accessible and even funny at times, there's a reason this is widely regarded as one of the best films ever made. 10/10

Next up is Accident, directed by Joseph Losey and written by Harold Pinter in 1967. A grim psychodrama with erotic overtones and a scathingly cynical view of the British middle class and the frailty of the male ego. I don't want to say too much about the plot, which unfurls through a series of non-linear flashbacks, like a half-remembered dream, but it is at once dark yet extremely pathetic and pedestrian. I enjoyed this quite a bit but those 1960s filmmakers really seemed to struggle with pace, and this is another one where the runtime should have been cut right down. 7/10

Mid90s is the first film directed by one Jonah Hill, of 21 Jump Street and Superbad fame. I was excited for this as I've long been a massive Jonah Hill fan and a huge advocate for his work — 21 and 22 Jump Street are all-time comedy classics, but he's also turned in excellent dramatic performances in Moneyball and the Wolf of Wall Street, as well as giving the performance in his career as co-lead of the Netflix miniseries Maniac alongside Emma Stone (which I could gush about for hours, it rules). So my expectations were high, and they were met. Mid90s is a beautifully-shot, sensitive character study of a young boy ageing into adolescence, finding a sense of community with a group of local skateboarders. Not a whole lot happens, it's just a slice of life, but I really enjoyed it. 8/10

The last feature film I've watched in the last month is Marriage Story, which you might have heard of as it racked up a lot of Oscar nominations in 2020 so I'll just say that it's too long by at least half an hour, but the performances are flawless, the writing is absolutely exquisite and it's emotionally devastating. Adam Driver is the standout but Scarlett Johansson gives a wonderful performance as his foil. 8/10

Oh yeah, and I watched Hustle. Directed by Chris Addison, who you my know as Ollie from The Thick of It. It's fucking bilge. I hated every minute of it. I can't believe Dean Norris and Anne Hathaway appeared in this. Can't we find those actors better work? God I can't stand Rebel Wilson. Hate hate hate. 1/10

Oh and some shorts:

• Nimic, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, is something I'd been looking forward to for a while. It's very weird and I think Yorgos might need to talk to a mental healthcare professional. AKA, it's exactly what I was hoping for. 8/10
• Bottle Rocket is the first thing Wes Anderson ever directed, a short film starring his friends which would eventually be adapted into his first feature. It's clearly something someone made with no money and no crew, but the writing is sharp and the enthusiasm of the cast bleeds into the thing itself and is really infectious. 4/10 (by student film standards that's a 9 or a 10)
• Hotel Chevalier is Anderson's only other short to my knowledge, and is almost the inverse of Bottle Rocket. BR was made with no money and had none of Wes' signature visual style, but huge amounts of heart and great writing. The writing in this is less impressive, and while the beautiful Wes Anderson aesthetic has finally arrived it feels clinical and cold. 4/10

I just watched The Hunt yesterday.  I recommend it because of the interesting backstory that is also confusing while the movie itself is surprisingly funny considering it is pretty much a bloodier Most Dangerous Game.

It's a new month!

I've had a lot of RL stuff going on this month, not least being on the hunt for a new place to live, so that's kept me away from NS as well as (even more sadly) the movies. I don't know if anybody bothers to read these but I enjoy writing them, and I've seen a few bits, so here we go:

• The first feature I watched this month was John Wick. I'd heard about these movies for a long time but never watched them until now, but this was a really good time and I'm kicking myself for not watching it sooner. Great action, Keanu Reeves gives a great performance and the supporting cast are all a lot of fun too. 8/10
• Then I watched Election, the 1999 high school comedy with Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick. I liked it, but the strongest element of the movie was the tense relationship between Witherspoon and Broderick and the writers seemed more interested in getting into the details of the latter's personal life which is far less interesting. Some good moments though, and the supporting cast are also great in this one. 6/10
• I then returned to familiar territory with John Wick 2 which was a step up in almost every department, particularly the visuals. This one features a shootout in a hall of mirrors which is incredibly surreal and extremely stylish. There are also larger roles for the supporting cast, particularly Ian McShane and Lance Reddick. But the pacing is all off, and I actually started to get a bit bored in the mid point. It ends incredibly strongly though, so overall I'd give this one another 8/10
• After the cliffhanger end of that I of course hopped on Netflix for John Wick 3. Not a whole lot to say here - more inventive kills, more gorgeous cinematography, more Ian McShane, more Lance Reddick, more Laurence Fishburne, there's teleporting ninjas, John kills several people using horses as weapons. It rocks. 9/10
• The last feature I saw this month was a F.W. Murnau's 1927 classic Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. This is the first silent film I've ever watched in full and it was surprisingly accessible, even coming off the John Wick trilogy. Murnau's eye for visuals is genuinely incredible, and this film is full of instantly memorable imagery. The central conflict of the film (which I won't describe here) is resolved halfway through the film which leaves the back end feeling a little longer than it needed to be and I lost a bit of interest after a while, but it comes back to end extremely strongly. You can watch it for free on YouTube here, and I highly recommend it as a first silent for anyone who's interested. 7/10

And then there's the shorts:

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• You thought I would go an entire month without at least one Yorgos Lanthimos project? Hah. Necktie is a 90-second piece commissioned by the Venice Film Festival, which I recommend everybody check out for free here. The theme was "the future of cinema", and I'm not really sure how that applies here but I hope that this is indeed the future of cinema. 7/10
• Olla is a half-hour piece directed by Ariane Labed, an actress who frequently collaborates (and is the wife of) Yorgos Lanthimos. This is her first project as a director and you can feel elements of the work she and Yorgos have done together, particularly in the affectless unnatural dialogue and matter-of-fact, unerotic sex scenes. Olla is a Ukrainian woman who moves to France after she is chosen from a mail order bride website, and the film follows her attempt to integrate into her new home while retaining her autonomy and sense of womanhood. It's a quite funny but also very dark (Lanthimosian?) in its tone, and is a really strong first project. I hope Ariane directs a feature length film in the future. 7/10
• I saw Thunder Road, directed by and starring Jim Cummings. This short was later turned into a full-length film of the same name, also directed by and starring Cummings, and it's not hard to see why. Here, a police officer gives a rambling and emotional eulogy and his mother's funeral, which culminates in a singalong dance to the Springsteen song Thunder Road, which his mother loved. That's all that happens, the entire 13 minutes takes place only in this one room, but Cummings is an absolutely incredible actor and I almost cried by the end. Check it out on Vimeo at the bottom of the spoiler tag (because this site won't let me hyperlink to vimeo). 8/10
• I watched Rejected, a compilation short by the animator Don Hertzfeldt comprising of pieces he created for corporations who commissioned him for ad work. The joke is that he doesn't want to make advertisements, so they're all obscene and nonsensical. If I were 12 years old and still thought asdfmovie was the tightest shit on the internet I would absolutely love this. But I'm not, and I don't. 2/10
• By far the biggest disappointment of the month for me was Anima, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights, Phantom Thread, Punch Drunk Love, etc) and starring Thom Yorke of Radiohead who also provides the soundtrack. This was more of an experimental dance piece, and it just didn't click for me. Not my thing I guess, but it's on Netflix and I know it's been widely lauded by most other people who've seen it so check it out if you think that sounds interesting. But it didn't do anything for me. 3/10

https://vimeo.com/174957219