DON'T LOOK NOW (Nicolas Roeg, 1973)

in

(**** / *****): Had this one on the Criterion list for too long and avoided it mostly because, while I love Donald Sutherland, my mother's penchant for claiming that my asshole stepfather looked like him (he didn't) made me avoid almost all Donald Sutherland films for the last 30 years and I couldn’t bring myself to click on the cover still of Sutherland here. But they're dead - my mother and stepfather, not Sutherland, thankfully - now and here I am, having overcome my avoidance tics and watched: Great film, but in that “wow what an amazing achievement Great” manner, not in the "spoke to me deeply on an emotional level Great.” Excellent performances across the board, amazing editing, beautiful cinematography (DON'T LOOK NOW is to Venice as THE THIRD MAN is to Vienna?) – but destined to be filed in my "respect (and I do, deeply) more than love and have no interest in seeing again" shelf. But hey, exposure therapy FTW.

shake shake shake

in

A desire to shake things up here though I don't know which things will be shaken. Considered multiple avenues, including simply a homepage featuring a single Attendance Card and occasional edits to the Currently page – though suppose I always could go with the Currently page as the homepage, since it would combine both...

Unsure if this desire is indicative of a switch to more inner processing or a genuine boredom with being online (as I've become generally bored with the internet which is both a reflection of me and of the internet's current state) or something else; I have, I suppose, been doing this blogging thing for a minute or two – but it is, nonethless, a form I've loved and continue to love: along with email newsletters, it's the warhorse of the internet age.

Note: most likely change / shake shake will be no shake / change at all – but I can’t deny that the desire is there.

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (Jon Watts, 2019)

in

(*** / *****): Somehow missed this one but, as with all of the MCU Spideys, it was nothing if not a good time. Holland, Zendaya, and Batalon terrific; Gyllenhaal (unsurprisingly) a great Mysterio: changes made to the source character to fit him into the MCU worked well, especially the ones going back to the first IRON MAN film (Jeff Bridges appearances are always a win). Still, though, it was an MCU film, so it could've been so much more: standard lackings in visual distinction, visceral web-slinging wonder (Insomniac's games are far better in this department), and narrative oomph abound. Night Monkey forever.