Patty Hearst

More or less on a whim I watched:

Patty Hearst (1988).

This movie directed by Paul Schrader, stars Natasha Richardson, Ving Rhames and William Forsythe amongst many others, and tells the story of the kidnapping of Patty Hearst by the Symbionese Liberation Army, aka the SLA.

The movie is based on the true events and is mostly factually accurate. There are a few minor details that are made up, but in general, what happens in the movie happened for real.

So Patty, the granddaughter of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped by the SLA as leverage to get some comrades released from prison. While in captivity, Patty starts to sympathize with the radical left wing ideologies of the SLA. Whether she actually believed it or went along to not get killed is the big question, and that question has never been properly answered. She did however participate in several actions, or to be more blunt, crimes.

Her lawyers claimed she was brainwashed, but she was convicted of multiple charges which included bank robbery, and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. President Carter commuted her sentence in 1979, but she remained on probation until Bill Clinton pardoned her in 2001.

The movie is overall well shot. The early scenes of her captivity are very stylish and highlights her confusion and terror. This stylishness gradually goes away until the movie has a fairly dull feel to it. In a sense, the excitement goes away. I think this is deliberate to highlight her emotional state.

The actors are really good. Richardson is excellent, but it is Rhames that steal the early show. His deep voice adds gravitas to his rambling political speeches and helps you understand why she could have become a convert.

What struck me as odd while watching, but made sense later, is what a bunch of losers the SLA really were. They sit around spitting political rhetoric at each other and then go out to commit crimes “for the cause”, but they have no actual plan on how they could change society to become more just. From a movie or story perspective this is strange, but then I realized, why would they? They weren't geniuses. They were normal angry people with some guns and a will to do something. This will does not come with a plan attached.

Of course the real case caused a massive stir in the US. The very idea that a scion from one of the richest families in the country could willingly join 'communist terrorists' was almost unthinkable, but it happened.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes and no. If you just want to watch a movie and relax for a couple of hours, then I suggest something else. If the real Patty Hearst case interests you, then it is absolutely worth watching. It's not bad, and I really don't know how I would do it better, but it isn't that great either.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

Harry Brown

I learned of a revenge/vigilante movie in regards to other such movies like John Wick and Nobody. As the movie stars Michael Caine, I sat down and watched:

Harry Brown (2009).

Minor Spoilers ahead:

Harry (Michael Caine) is a pensioner who was once upon a time a Royal Marine, serving in Northern Ireland. He lives in a dismal, run down council estate that is ruled by drug dealing, drug addled and violent young thugs. Then his wife dies. And his only friend dies. It's all horrible, sad and depressing. Finally he snaps and the old marine wakes up and goes on the war path. The problem is, he's really old and suffers from emphysema, so he's not exactly fit anymore.

To begin with, this movie is really well made. It feels absolutely authentic, though I did read that the graffiti is actually American and not British, but what do I know?

The actors are phenomenal, heightening the already bleak and awful atmosphere. Harry Brown is filmed in that grim, pale way the British do so well. Dead Man's Shoes was the same way, but believe it or not, Harry Brown is much dirtier. That actually surprised me.

Seeing as Harry is old and unwell, there aren't really any action scenes, but there is a lot of violence, which appropriately enough is brutal and nasty. The sexuality on display is likewise dirty and grimy, the whole affair makes you feel like you need a shower afterwards. I don't however hold this against the movie. This subject matter isn't supposed to be glamorous or cool. The thugs are the way they are because they grew up in an environment that gave them few chances if any, not that it is any kind of an excuse. We all make choices in our lives, and we have to face the consequences of those choices. Sometimes that consequence is an old retired and very angry marine.

Michael Caine as the star of the show, does a phenomenal job. He tells his friend Len, that when he met his wife, he suppressed his previous self in order to be able to be a husband and father. Oh yeah, his daughter died as a child just to make all the tragedy just a bit worse. You actually see this in the way he moves and how he observes things. Early on, he sort of staggers forward with a confused look on his face, but later he moves with purpose.

The story isn't what you'd call groundbreaking, but I think a more complicated plot would have made it impossible to follow as well as dragging it out too much. The pacing is just right, and as compelling as it is, it would quickly outstay its welcome if it was any longer.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes, I think so. Harry Brown like I said, is superbly crafted, but I can't say it was an enjoyable watching experience. Normally, vigilante movies have that moment when the protagonist starts getting even and lets face it, that moment is awesome. Whether it is John Wick, Nobody or Death Wish, that moment feels good, but in Harry Brown you don't get that. Sure the bad guys deserve it, but it's just more pain added on to the massive pile of suffering already there, and no one gets to be happy. If you're feeling down, watch something happier for your own sake.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

The Yorkshire Ripper

This week I decided to watch not one, but two documentaries about:

The Yorkshire Ripper.

The first documentary is an older one with interviews with the involved police officers and a few of the surviving victims. If you only want to watch one, watch this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbNsY6j9xSc&t=5847s

The second one is a fan made documentary and to my surprise, it complements the official one nicely. There are no interviews, but the narrator goes into detail about each attack, which the first one doesn't, or at least not in such detail. Warning: The details in the second documentary are very graphic, and sensitive people should give it a miss.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm42xHcunOg

I'll embed both below for easy watching in the order mentioned above.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

 

 

Prose & Codes.

 It should come as no surprise to anyone who reads this blog that I am an avid reader. I've been one my whole life, and that is not likely to change.

I am also a gamer so I was very happy to find the game Prose & Codes on Steam. This is a letter substitution cypher game, based on quotes from classic literature. There are over 400 puzzles in 8 genres to choose from, and the game has super low requirements so that is not an issue either.

The publisher gives a portion of sales to Project Gutenberg in order to support this wonderful library of out of copyright books. They are free and legal to download and come in a variety of formats from .txt to PDF and ePub. 

When you have solved a puzzle, you learn where its from and there is even a direct link to Gutenberg so you don't even need to go looking for the novel yourself if you want to read it. Now that is service! They even recently added more puzzles to the game for free, which is really cool.

There is also a sequel, Poems & Codes, but I'm not done with the first game yet, so can't guarantee its as good, but I assume it is.  

If you like reading, I highly recommend this game. I'll embed the trailer below for your convenience.

 

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

Sorcerer

Basically on a whim, I watched:

Sorcerer (1977).

This William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection) suspense movie has nothing to do with magic, despite the title. It is based on the novel Le Salaire de la peur which was made into the 1955 movie Wages of Fear. Many claim that Sorcerer is a remake of that movie, something Friedkin always denied.

In a nutshell, three men are hiding from their misdeeds in a small hellhole in South America. The only available work is for a US owned oil well, and even so, the pay is garbage. They all want out, but are nowhere near rich enough to be able to escape. A ticket to Argentina and a passport would cost almost 2000 pesos, and one of them has managed to save a hundred. Then a mysterious hitman arrives and the tension rises again.

One day, the local guerrillas blow up the well and the only way to put it out is with dynamite, but the only available dynamite is 351 km (218 miles) away, and it's old and sweating. In case you didn't know, dynamite sweats pure nitroglycerin and nitro doesn't like sudden movement.

The oil company promises 8000 pesos each to the four men who can and are willing to drive the sweaty dynamite through the jungle, down bumpy roads and across rickety bridges. Only the most foolhardy or desperate men would take on such a task.

Sorcerer opens with four short vignettes showing what these men did to end up in the hell hole. Make no mistake, these are not good people but you still can't help sympathize with their plight once the job is on.

Clocking in at two hours, the first hour is basically all set up. The vignettes, the back breaking work, it's all misery and pain. But it is important misery. You could watch the most suspenseful scenes by themselves, but without the buildup I think you'd loose so much. You need to follow these men to understand them, to truly get why they are putting themselves through such suffering. It's easy to dismiss a lot of Sorcerer as theatrical nonsense but I firmly believe that this is a masterfully crafted thriller with well managed slow burn.

The actors are good, with Roy Scheider as the “main character”. The music is by Tangerine Dream and works well, but the star is actually Friedkin and his cinematography. Each scene is meticulously crafted, with a blend of the gritty realism from The French Connection and the overhanging sense of doom from The Exorcist. During the vignette in Jerusalem, I almost expected to see Father Karras, but that would of course be silly. That is however the atmosphere Friedkin managed to create.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes but not to everyone. If you like to have a movie on while you do stuff on your phone, this is not the film for you. Sorcerer demands attention and if you can give it that, it will reward you. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a masterpiece, but it is a really good movie, and that is enough.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week with no sweaty dynamite!

 

Stereotypes

 Hello,

I've had a pretty busy week, so unfortunately I have nothing concrete to talk about this week, but you showed up and deserve something for it.

What I have today is the comedy of  Foil Arms and Hog, a comedy trio from Ireland. I want to highlight their amazing getting past immigration interview series, where the answers are true but never what you expect. I'll link the playlist below for your pleasure:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBhpqVyEFbg&list=PLQYUb9JUs7E_-jkxbSykWTB7NfPOIpYk2

 

Beyond that, join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

Nosferatu

I watched:

Nosferatu (2024),

by Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse).

This is a remake of the 1922 Nosferatu, which in turn is a ripoff of Dracula. That's why the major story beats are more or less identical to Dracula.

Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult), newly married to Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) is sent by his boss, the sinister estate agent Knock to Romania to finalize the purchase of an estate. He visits Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård), our titular vampire, and has a very bad time. Meanwhile, Ellen who is staying with friends, suffers worse and worse seizures and walks in her sleep. Turns out she has a sinister connection to Orlok, and just like in Dracula, he is coming for her. Thomas has to fight to save his wife together with Dr. Sievers (Ralph Ineson) and scientist turned alchemist, Professor von Franz (Willem Dafoe).

First off, Nosferatu looks incredible. Every shot, every scene is a Gothic painting come to life. A grim fairy-tale full of horror and suffering. I sound melodramatic, I know, but this movie genuinely looks amazing. So amazing in fact that it almost becomes distracting. I suppose the sound is good, but I actually can't recall it, that is how mesmerizing this movie is. Count Orlok's caste is in fact Castle Hunedoara, where the real Vlad Dracul spent some time.

The actors are likewise fantastic, especially Hoult and Depp, who in case you didn't guess is the daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis. Both portray terror and despair incredibly well, and the scenes where Ellen has her hideous seizures were not shot with a body double, Depp really did them herself. Strong stuff. It is worth noting that there is a bit of overacting in this movie, and I wonder if it is a homage to the original, since early movies were incredibly over acted.

The titular character deserves a separate mention. Count Orlok is played by Bill Skarsgård, the same man who also played Pennywise the clown. He again goes above and beyond to be terrifying, succeeding so well that several cast members wanted nothing to do with him while in makeup. A makeup that took 4-6 hours for 6 artists to apply. He also worked with an opera trainer to lower his voice an octave, which Gary Oldman also did for Bram Stokers' Dracula.

One can't watch a remake without comparing it to the original, so lets do that. A hard comparison though since Nosferatu 1922 is a silent movie shot in black and white, while Nosferatu 2024 is in color. Pale colors, this is an Eggers movie after all, but color nonetheless. Eggers has added a few scenes while omitting others, but nothing that harms the movie in any way. The most noticeable change is Orlok himself. In the 22 version Orlok is a thin, emaciated and rodent like figure, very creepy, sinister and unsettling, whereas the 24 Orlok is massive, intimidating and brutal. The 24 version is also somewhat decayed and rotten, and sports a large drooping mustache. Eggers wanted him to look like a eastern European aristocrat which is something the 22 version does not do. Skarsgård stands 6'3 normally and in makeup he was a towering 7+ feet, making him even more menacing. Orlok also seems to have difficulty breathing, which is so labored and rattling that Darth Vader sounds healthy in comparison. This detail puzzled me until I realized that as a vampire he doesn't normally breathe and so he has to force air into his decayed lungs in order to talk. Awesome detail.

My biggest gripe with Nosferatu 24 is the pacing and storytelling, which sadly is a bit choppy. Several scenes feel like they forgot them and forced them into the only spot they could go. I of course have no idea of what Eggers wanted, he might have wanted to make the experience more jarring and thus more unsettling, but several times I got annoyed at the flow being interrupted by a new scene popping up. I'll give a small example. At one point the movie cuts to von Franz opening an occult book at a random page, flipping forward a few pages and immediately finding the key to defeating Orlok, complete with illustration. Then the scene ends and cuts to something else. Jarring!

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes, absolutely. The visuals alone make it worth watching and it holds so much more. Nosferatu 2024 is the least sexy vampire movie I have ever seen, and I like it. If you have any interest in vampires or Gothic media, then do watch Nosferatu 2024.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!