I watched a half dozen movies last week:
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- When I watched Free Solo, I don’t remember thinking, what these directors need to make next is a non-documentary film. Yet now they have, with the sports biopic Nyad, and it’s the things you wouldn’t get with a documentary—namely, the outstanding performances by Annette Bening and Jodie Foster—that make this film worth watching. It’s otherwise a pretty standard-fare biopic, uplifting sure, but also light on the sort of details and critical eye that a documentary might have supplied.
- Albert Finney puts a lot of relish on his portrayal of Hercule Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express, but honestly, that’s kind of what you want from this kind of star-studded whodunit.
- I can’t exactly fault 1984 for being too bleak, since that more or less comes with the territory. But it is bleak more than anything else. It’s very well made, though, and John Hurt and Richard Burton are both very good.
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- I can’t help but feel like Moloch rushes its ending just a little, but that’s only because the rest of it is so well-paced and unsettling. And my quibbles aren’t with the ending itself, which is great and surprising and caps off a really strong small horror film.
- Hangover Square was the last movie in Laird Cregar’s too-short career, and he’s the best thing about it. The rest of the movie feels well made and noir-ish, but also a little dated.
- Body Snatchers makes a lot of really interesting and creepy choices. I still think the 1978 version has it easily beat for stylish science-fiction horror—and this remake apes its predecessor’s most iconic shot a few too many times—but there’s a lot to really like about this version as well.
I also rewatched a couple of movies:
- When Harry Met Sally… holds up really well, and it’s arguably the best romantic comedy ever made. (I’d discredit any list that doesn’t at least have it in the top ten.)
- Around the World in 80 Days…doesn’t really hold up. I probably haven’t seen it in forty-something years, and didn’t remember it terrifically well to begin with, but it was a Best Picture Winner with a great cast. So I was hoping for something a little more than a dated and very Eurocentric (if not borderline offensive) travelogue. It’s not unpleasant, just kind of dull.