Ultimately disappointing. In the hands of say the Coen brothers the source material could have lent itself to a five star treatment, but I have to question which of the details were chosen for inclusion and which were omitted (perhaps it was a mistake to involve Graham Greene in the adaptation). For instance I don’t know that we needed any of Hasselbacher’s blue cheese experiments or his German army uniform; meanwhile there was a lot of comedic meat left on…
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The Quiet American 2002
The main plot beats are all there from the book, but all the literary atmosphere and thematic and religious stuff is missing. Such a rich text that the adaptation can’t help but be compelling and I suppose that if it had to zero in on a single theme the fresh-faced, virginal, and self-regarding American treading into old world colonialism was the right choice… but this innocence is somewhat undermined by a climactic speech from Pyle that I don’t recall in…
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A Complete Unknown 2024
If one is going to make a straightforward biopic of Bob Dylan without invention (as in I’M NOT THERE) or rewriting well-known history (as in say later Tarantino), it’s going to have to accept a measure of mystery about its subject. The most expository that the character Bob Dylan gets in A COMPLETE UNKNOWN are a couple scenes when he argues with his Suze Rotolo-based love interest that people invent their own history and a tantrum on stage with Joan…
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May December 2023
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Loved this movie. Doesn’t play the same note twice and gets all the little details right, like Joe and Gracie both jumping in to correct that it was after seventh grade and not sixth grade (as if it makes a difference!). I found CAROL slow but this kept me locked in the whole time. Subtle too, there’s a moment when Joe asks Elizabeth if he’d have stayed with Gracie for 24 years if he wasn’t happy… and the movie just…
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