Author: Ga2so

After seeing The Girl with the Needle yesterday I was afraid that The Brutalist would be equally soul-crushing. It’s definitely not lighthearted, but not relentlessly down. The story actually lets László the architect have some good days. Crazy! It’s also over three hours long plus an intermission, but it didn’t feel long at all.

BONUS RANT! WHEEEEE!

My main problems with the movie had nothing to do with the movie. For the record: Going to the Westfield Plaza Century City AMC 15 Theatre suuuuuuuuucks. The underground parking is narrow and labyrinthine; the spot I eventually found required parallel parking against the driver’s side, with a bonus low pole to make it extra challenging. Inside the theater the people next to me kept having a conversation, and two people in front of me thought a long movie with subtitles was a great time to send text messages. Oh, and a guy’s phone rang. People still have their ringers on?

Part of the “It’s weird I’ve managed to go this long without seeing this movie” collection. Brian will probably be surprised.

Some thoughts:

• This was a good movie to watch wearing headphones.
• Jessica Harper is 25, but looks like a 35 year old who looks 25.
• Brian De Palma sure does love his split screens.
• Faust wasn’t enough story, so they threw in The Video Tape of Dorian Gray.

This feels like someone like a stage production of The Rocky Horror show but didn’t want to pay for the film rights.

The Girl with the Needle

If you like movies that start with a woman getting evicted and forced to live in filth because her husband disappeared during World War One, and then things get worse, this is the movie for you. Beautifully shot, well performed, compellingly told, and I never need to see it again. I came out of the theater so down that I decided to watch a lighter film to clear my head.

And that’s how I ended up seeing…

Tampopo (1985)

A cowboy trucker helps a woman form a crack team to make the perfect ramen restaurant, with a storytelling method that’s like a slightly more structured Dazed and Confused? Count me in!

Bonus Graphic!

I can only use one graphic for the “featured image,” so here’s the one I made for The Girl with the Needle.

Another film crossed off the “I know all the memes but I’ve never watched the movie” list!

This movie has the simplest plot possible – “I gotta get my gang out of this bad area” – but it zips by before you can get bored or tear open too many holes in the plot (and there are plenty of holes to choose from).

Some thoughts:

• There sure were a lot of costumes at the start of this movie. Some of them were pretty detailed – some costumer made a set of yellow satin jackets with custom “Electric Eliminators” logos for less than a minute of screen time.
• On the other hand, a lot of gang costumes seemed to be “everyone gets the same color of dirty shirt.
• So, all the gangs of New York send unarmed representatives to a meeting, but then they all split up?
• I like the idea that somewhere in New York City people live in terror of a group of kids with mime costumes.
• Weird to see one of the cast of Too Close For Comfort as a sex worker. Henry will be flummoxed.
• Also weird that the sexy radio announcer is The Chief from Carmen Sandiego.

Also, if Mercedes Ruehl is sitting alone on a bench in Central Park in the middle of the night, don’t try any funny stuff.

None of this would have happened if Kim Richards wasn’t so fussy about her ice cream.

If you’re at all familiar with John Carpenter, you’ll know he made the film as soon as the music starts.

Also: The movie is called “Assault on Precinct 13,” but the chief says it’s “Precinct 9, Division 13,” and when the lieutenant arrives the sign out front says “ANDERSON POLICE STATION DIVISION 14.” This obviously the entire film.

I kid. The whole thing is ridiculous and fun. I especially love the idea that a police station is closing, and no one thinks to put up a sign until the night before.

The wildest thing in this screwball comedy is watching Katharine Hepburn casually walking around with an actual leopard. Most of the leopard shots in the movie are done with rear projection or double exposure, but there are moments where the leopard is rubbing itself against Hepburn’s legs like a house cat.

Also: dialogue in 1930s movies cracks me up. “Make sure at least one person is taking as fast as they can at all times. We need to make sure the audience knows the sound is working.”

I can see why executives at Warner might think his wouldn’t make money. I can imagine them saying “it’s too old school for modern audiences,” and that may be true. I’m not sure I would have enjoyed this as much if I hadn’t grown up watching the Looney Tunes from the Thirties and Forties. The best parts were when the movie leaned into the new weirdness of things like Farmer Jim (a character I will not spoil here), or when they went way back to the original, truly screwy Daffy Duck from his very first appearances.

FARMER JIM 4 EVER!

A noir movie about a gunman hired to kill someone. I’m sure he’ll be fine. If you like a movie with a raspy narrator, this is made for you!

The writer/director/star of this film is Allen Baron, who I’m sure you’ll instantly recognize as the director of the pilot of The San Pedro Beach Bums. Also: This is explicitly a Christmas movie, so gather the family and drink hot cocoa while you watch a miserable man try to escape his life at Christmas. Isn’t that what “It’s a Wonderful Life” is about?

One of the advantages of being a poor history student is that well-known past events in film can still be surprises. The most unrealistic part of the movie: A major television network only has one German/English translator available in Germany.