I’ll echo this. I adore Drive My Car. I think back on the scene with the two leads in the snow often. It’s a very affecting film!
I hadn’t seen the trailer for his new movie until now. Looks good!
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I watched Spermworld, the new documentary from Lance Oppenheim. I loved his last doc, Some Kind of Heaven, and would recommend it without any caveats. I feel the same about Spermworld which is about the underground sperm donating community. A thing I appreciate about Lance Oppenheim is his ability to find the humor and humanity in real people. All three of his subjects made me laugh, one of them made me cry, and the movie did not shy away from the moral complexity of the whole situation. Also the color grading is out of this world. Check it out! It is on Hulu here in the USA.
Also on Hulu is his previous film, Some Kind of Heaven, which is about the nicest/most expensive retirement community in the USA. It is odd in all the right ways!
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I cannot believe there is a film called ‘sperm world’ about an underground community of people who jack off for money
edit: I just KNOW someone will get offended and/or reply in some smug way, so no, I have nothing against that, I was just assessing it in a way i find comedic.
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The doc does find the humor in it (trailer below if you wanna check the vibe) while also highlighting the injustice of creating such an expense around something that is naturally created constantly by half the population’s bodies. It’s also surprisingly tasteful as there is no nudity and most of the shots which include sperm are either distant or abstract.
Also, at least one of the three subjects the film focuses on says that they don’t charge for their donations. Some people definitely do, but I don’t think the film confirms the situation for the other two guys.
Look I love this guy’s work. If it seems too weird, check out Some Kind of Heaven and see if you like Lance Oppenheim’s movies.
Some Kind of Heaven trailer
Spermworld trailer
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Finally saw Oppenheimer. It was awesome.
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I saw Road House (2024), and it was fine. It is full of tone armor- self aware of how dumb it is but that self awareness can only carry it so far. The action is fun and Connor McGregor gives an entertaining, albeit one-note performance. The movie isn’t without merit, but is it worthy of your time? Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh.
I also saw Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion and I loved it. It was very funny. I giggled most of the time, and it has an affirming message for funny little weirdos which is how I identify. Happy I gave it my time.
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This does look right up my alley, thanks for the heads up. Hopefully it’ll pop up somewhere I can see it as here I live isn’t great for foreign language films.
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Currently I have been really enjoying NCIS Hawaii because it’s the shortest NCIS series plus it’s still going. Also love the three Chicago shows because I live in Chicago. Then there are my very two funny fire shows which are 9-1-1 (cruise ship three episode arc was great!) and Fire Country (fire tornado enough said!)
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Rewatched Whiplash the other night. A great cautionary tale about seeking praise from the dark father. Recommended.
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I saw May December, and I would describe it as more interesting than it is good. The premise is an actress is studying a woman who had sex with a thirteen year old to portray her in a film. This is 20+ years after the statutory rape and the woman and this now adult man are married with three children. It’s a fascinating premise (loosely based on Mary Kay Letourneau), and the film explores what that does to all the people involved and on the periphery. It has a lot to say and there is a lot going on. I think the movie would have been my kinda thing if it were a bit more focused. That being said, I think it is worth a watch just for the strong performances and the terrific score.
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I enjoyed it quite a bit. It’s very much a quintessential Todd Haynes movie melodrama. I maintain that Charles Melton should have received an Oscar for his performance. And Julianne Moore was her spectacular self. Portman I consider the weakest within the film, but it was still a competent performance.
Have you ever watched Safe by Haynes? It’s his first movie with Moore and one of my favourite films in general.
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I think Portman is good but has less to do than Melton and Moore as they are the titular May and December. Melton was truly great. I hadn’t seen him in anything before so I was surprised to see him shine here.
I checked the poster for Safe. I have no awareness of it outside of the poster I just saw. I’m not all that familiar with Todd Haynes although I did see I’m Not There when I was seventeen- knowledgeable enough on Dylan to enjoy the project but not knowledgeable enough to really understand the movie. I’ll probably watch that again down the line.
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I HATED that movie. I sat there the whole time being incredibly angry at how it portrayed a teacher and thinking “this bloke should have been booted long ago.” Yes, I know that’s not the point of the film, but it’s what I got from it. 
On the flight back from AU I watched several films. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was dumb fun, but I’d be fine if they never made another.
Black Adam I didn’t think was anywhere near as bad as the internet would have you believe. Sure, it’s far from perfect and if you had no pre-existing knowledge of the characters you’d have no idea why you should care about any of them, but I’ve gotta give it props for not pulling back too far on Adam’s more violent nature (looking at you, The Wolverine) and the not-so-subtle commentary of the US’ need to get involved in any and all conflicts only to make things worse, but only if it somehow directly benefits them.
The highlight by far was Crimes of the Future which was both the most visually disturbing and fascinating thing I’ve seen. All the performances were amazing (who knew Kristen Stewart had a larger range than “plank of wood?”) and props has to be given for coming at the subject matter from the perspective of performance art. Ignore the ridiculously low score on IMDB, it’s totally worth checking out. Just don’t eat before watching.
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I know that this miniseries is essentially aimed at fans of The Clone Wars but I have to say that his trailer was just one hell of a ride. Especially with that obvious but significant gut punch at the end regarding Barriss.
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I re-watched the Street Fighter 2 animated movie, and tonight I finally watched the Street Fighter IV animated movie. I think I like the former better
I saw that they’re making another live-action movie
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What do you think is the reason you prefer the SFII film to SFIV? I haven’t seen the latter, but SFII is such a quintessentially 90s anime film, and I wonder if the shift in style that is exhibited in the later film affects its impact. So would you say it’s a stylistic thing, or is it the story told that you don’t enjoy as much?
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There weren’t as many one-on-one Street Fights…more like fights against a bunch of henchmen, like in the original live-action movie. Maybe I’d have to watch it again
I’d like to see a movie with Poison, but I guess with so many characters it’s hard to fit in everyone’s favorite. Maybe they should make a Final Fight movie too
I like a relatively funny/lighthearted story
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Anyone here watch Law and Order or the Chicago shows?
I recently bit the bullet and subscribed to Dropout on YouTube. One of the best decisions I’ve made. God I love Game Changer!
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I watched Zone of Interest and I can definitively say that Nazis are bad!
I watched it with my wife and about half way in I whispered “this guy also directed the Virtual Insanity music video for Jamiroquai”.
I would recommend folks check out Z of I for the spectacular sound design and excellent shot composition. It is a fairly unsettling watch, but probably worthwhile to sit through the moral ick at least once.
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