Other things are tapped into too. Konkona's casual attitude toward professional life; Anupam's hellish white-collar repetition made bearable by a love for his son. There is the camaraderie of professional life; one goes out with co-workers, some match well--others don't.
5.27.2024
Wake Up Sid
Bollywood in the late 00s early 10s graduated from the distanced style that domineered
as the industry globalized in the 90s and 00s. This one's songs are in a contemporary/western style,
which hurts it some, yet it completely matches that era's casual sensibility. The songs lack that familiar volatile spirit, but this inanimate quality also in piece with Ranbir's aimless gamer existence.
5.17.2024
Metropolitan
All it takes is a tuxedo and a decent face
Layabouts in a chamber, and its adjoining
But such reciprocity yields the unexpected
A wintertime in New York
A mother, the interstitial, collects and straightens
Dad, sunk under moneypile
What is the Austen code?
The man, autopiloted, hurtling by material and rational alike
Stark blacks, purples, greens
A walk by the brook Addenda
A walk by the brook #21: Blackhat
I've finally seen the director's cut. It was hard to differentiate from the theatrical; things occasionally felt off, but never unfamiliar. But I really struggled to find the same emotional magnetism this time. I need to stop rewatching basic hits. Anyhow, I didn't lose appreciation for all the great roles. Hemsworth, his buddy, and his buddy's sister all shine. Viola fits in, but is less revelatory than before. Holt is amazing. The technical language is a joy to experience (as is par for Mann). Most movies treat you like a dolt--so you end up relenting intensity, and slouch into the calloused sleepwalk
A walk by the brook #22: Girl with a Suitcase
I saw this because it's the next Zurlini and it stars Cardinale. It has the same boy as Corruption. Italy looks good once again. I need to go back to this well
A walk by the brook #23: The Swimming Pool
I don't know what the allure was exactly. Bourgeois misbehavior. I guess maybe Romy, or the remnants Delon's nudge from Indian Summer. This performance goes in a similar lane, though the gravity is still abstract. It's also funny that the poster spoils the movie; the title sort of does too. It has that late-60s feel to it--French New Hollywood. I wish the series didn't end on this one. It has a moment or two of thrill, but those're only a tease. The mind ages it to dread. It's most proper to think of it is as a small summer movie with stars. Who cares what happens--you were there with them
5.05.2024
The Human Factor
Just a bloke and a supermodel. An alluring movie several years ago--I may have been on a Preminger dip. Espionage without the violence--just bureaucrat maneuverings. Greene's prose is easily digested and frequently develops scenarios with slight continuous twisting. Occasional burden easing. There is a blank-face way the characters take on their hands. The movie understandably yields that quality for scenes of wider variation and unambiguous clashes. It's not reasonable to expect full Bressonian acting in any normal mileu anyway. I don't know if Greene ever finds this mode again. I'll have to find something to try. This is a great achievement--and not even considered among his best works
A walk by the brook 13-20
A walk by the brook #13: The Pear Tree
Mehrjui's Leila, though jumping a bit back, led me here. I also wanted to see more of Golshifteh's pictures. The relation between personal relationships and the political sphere. It was mostly a bleak time though, as the early days of sun suddenly were gone, leaving a vacuum for nearby particles to densify and impose a new obsession
A walk by the brook #14: Ossessione
Here lies a brick wall of true reality. How do we translate this as a future life onscreen? Does this bring in another dimension of the book? The source material was tough, though maybe it'd be more bearable now; I'm no longer running gold in the prose olympics (though I still make the final). I forgot some key parts of it. I like how the man seems more ordinary here; we don't see a schemer at all. The adaptation adds texture to bland source material
A walk by the brook #15: Truth and Illusion: An Introduction to Metaphysics
What was this about? Materialism? I buy it. This sort of exercise is fun every once in awhile. It can also be a useful filter. Was it just a paycheck job? It really is the perfect thing to show a classroom full of students
A walk by the brook #16: Passing Summer
The opening scene stands out the most. I can hardly recall the specificity of anything--I can only see flashes of images. A wedding, the waiter in the cafe; the girl is just constantly somewhere else in Europe. The man she's with has an ex and a child. And also maybe a sister? It's all very impressive but it left me exposed. I want to get back to the fluid artspace, but I need more muscle to slip by the wall...
A walk by the brook #17: The Mask
The lore surrounding this movie has always been discouraging but not in a clear way. Andrew once told me to watch it--presumably as an offhand of The Truman Show. More recently other people have mentioned it--always as casually held curiosity, never Simba-beamed. The main appeal was Diaz. But I'm also continuing the journey of Jim Carrey. Very early we see the Jim we love, a man glanced upon in Ace Ventura, and then completely uncaged in Liar Liar. But then The Mask comes in and deflates the whole exercise. I couldn't summon genuine feeling at all. Though this is the type of thing I would've eagerly championed not too long ago (and I'm tempted to a bit still). The whole gangster plot is anvil of drudgery. A deathly familiarity stares blankly at some part of your face--begging for something animated, maybe just something at all
A walk by the brook #18: The Zone of Interest
I used to go to Barnes & Noble and look at the discount racks. This book was there once. I like Holocaust stuff. How is the SS officer's son doing in school? I thought this would be more of an arthouse chore. It's among the most pleasurable experiences I've had in years. I was annoyed by some parts, but only because I was invested in it being something. Imagine if the score didn't try to bruteforce emotion. If it's banal, make it banal. Why do we have to hold the hands of the NPCs? It's basically a series of sketches. I wish they made the Nazis more likable. All we need is off-handed intimations of Auschwitz. The script should have been contorting itself to trick us into forgetting what we were next to. A much longer picnic, with genuinely stirring romance; a longer successful fishing excursion with an abundant yield; a day at the movies
A walk by the brook #19: Space Cowboys
It's just about the hijinks Clint and his gang are up to. Then there is a sharp shift (shocked me again) transforming it into a thriller. And that continues to a nice conclusion
A walk by the brook #20: Ferrari
Another entry etched into the Adam Driver stone. This feels in piece with House of Gucci's stylistic mode. Basically nothing operates at face value. Everything anyone does is a bit. It's impossible to enjoy this conventionally (aside from a few moments) but there is a magic to how all the pieces are constructed. And Mann's fundamentally odd way of constructing a story. The weight is always greater than you think. But it's a less intimate place. It's an arthouse picture in wide release
Note to reader: This has been the last official entry of A walk by the brook. A final addenda will be included at a later date to ensure proper closure is afforded
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