Columbus is full of squares

I've been sympathizing with the deadline critics. Guys and gals who go see a movie that they don't particularly enjoy, then have to continue spending more time with the film in their heads until they get something out on the page for their editor.  Without that external threat of the deadline/editor or an external reward of a paycheck, it is nearly impossible to get myself to care about writing anything on The Square and Columbus.

It's not that either one is worthless. I do think that it'd be easier for me to interact with someone else's positive review than for me to make the effort right now to articulate my negatives.

The Square would be a better film if it were tighter, more focused. I found the first 40-50 minutes thrilling, watching a man feel more and more alive as he progresses from the feeling of saving a woman's life to the astonishment of being robbed to the odd risks of becoming a vigilante. 

The rest of the film, with its focus on the art world and on the protagonist's personal life, lets go of this focus and opens the film up, allowing it to sprawl. There's probably a second interesting film there, but I was annoyed by it. Someone else could write an interesting essay on children and generative activity, on self and selflessness. From the condom scene to the introduction of the daughters to the activity of the wrongly accused boy, it is clear that Ostlund is trying to say something. I just stopped caring.

Which is more than I can say for Columbus. I never found an "in" for Columbus. I couldn't stop caring because I never started caring. I think that my problems are mostly script problems. Every word seems heavy-handed. The scenario seems contrived. It's all so neat and tidy, just like the framing of the film. I'd actually have been happier to just watch a shorter cut of this film with just the Columbus architecture shots and some of the snippets of tour guide narration.

What else have I been watching?

Hostiles was really good.

I just wrote a paragraph, then deleted it. There are problems with Hostiles, but overall it's a richer film than almost anything else Hollywood gave us last year. I'll leave it at that.

Coco was good fun. As a movie, I thought it was great. My reservations have more to do with its glorification of real life Dia de Muertos practices, which I find dangerously demonic.

That's all of the films so far. As for TV Club, I've watched two episodes of Future Man on Hulu (I signed up for another month free trial). A friend recommended this one to me. It's raunchier than I would like and it caters too much to fanboy wish fulfillment, but it has made me laugh out loud a couple of times. I guess that's something.
[Update a day later: It's not worth it. I gave up after episode 3.]

Phantom Thread is better than a fart on the head

Chris, great post.

Here's a bit of interaction.

"I don't know if the Reynolds/Alma relationship is healthy or not."

If this were a real life dynamic, it'd be totally f*cked up. As a narrative metaphor, I do believe that the relationship is healthy, especially mutually healthy by the end of the film.

I might be wrong, but right now I'm convinced that Alma is a purely positive character as presented by PTA.

Reynolds is selfish and self-centered. He delights in Alma, but at his worst it is because she serves his interests. When she gets in the way of his petty habits (not his work) and preferences, he will not budge.  Her dinner party is a desperate attempt on her part to force a loving confrontation, one that has him face himself and face her instead of allowing him to turn in on himself, waiting for her to disappear so that he does not have to do any hard emotional work. It IS an ambush. But he's so hard-hearted that he needs an ambush.

It is for HIS good, not hers. From the moment that Alma enters the relationship, she begins to serve Reynolds. She is the true helper fit to be by his side in ruling his slice of dominion. She submits to him. She serves him. She works for him. In one of the best scenes of the movie, she takes up the cause of the House Woodcock in a ferocious public display. She is protecting the honor and name of her beloved, stripping those who would take that name and wear it in vain. She never asks anything of Reynolds that is not the best thing for him. All of her moves increase his happiness, especially the ones that hurt the most.

Brandon wrote, "my personal favorite scene was towards the end where the doctor was checking Reynolds and he darts a batshit look at Alma."

I'm not sure which shot Brandon is referencing, but there is a very late shot of Reynolds smiling crazily at Alma which I think is the one he means; I saw it as Reynolds totally in love with Alma, finally mutually bowing in love to her. She has (forcibly!) demonstrated that he NEEDS to slow down, that he needs to experience love and joy more than he needs success and control.

He's now happily eating his mushrooms bathed in butter and his life could not be better.

So, yes, the film brings up all of the relationship questions that Chris highlights, and I think that it's richer than any of us can grasp right now. It certainly deserves repeat views. I was going to see it again this weekend, but stupid Regal stopped showing it. I'm hoping that it hits the Cinema Saver before disappearing from theaters entirely.

January Recap

The Killing of a Sacred Deer
See post.

A Ghost Story
I felt like I was trapped inside this movie. Does that mean the movie was a success? I hated it.

The Mask of Zorro
It was an absolute blast to watch this with my kids. The only downside is that my boys keep thwacking me with swords now.

The Shape of Water
I hated this film for how safe and cozy it was. Real monsters are monstrous, not misunderstood wet dreams.

Lady Bird
It's a story of a young person acting shitty toward all of her loved ones, then learning life lessons that teach her who is really important in her life. This is the basic plot of every other 80s movie I grew up watching on HBO. It's fine, but really nothing special.

The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
Like Lady Bird, this one also sticks in old tropes, this time the tired asshole dad one. As such, it's mostly disposable as well, but I was carried along by Sandler and Stiller having fun with it.

Daddy's Home
I guess this was me checking in on mainstream comedy. There were some genuinely funny moments, but for me it worked best when it went all-out over-the-top stupid (motorcycle through the house, electric lines), which it only did a handful of times.

Downsizing
Downsizing was mostly frustrating to me. Overall, I liked it. But it lost me completely in the end with a moment that probably didn't bother too many others. The Magical Negro (um, I mean the Virtuous Vietnamese Voman) gives our hero a bible. He says, "but I can't read the words," to which she replies, "the words don't matter, remember ME," to which I coughed bullshit and stopped caring.

Look & See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry
This documentary was mostly frustrating to me. It's too "lyrical" and "lovely" for me. There were all sorts of interesting ways to go with Berry's material. This film went none of them.

Justice League
So bad that I don't even know.

A Charlie Brown Christmas
I watched this again as a palate cleanser and a pick-me-up, I guess.

Finally, Hybrid TV/Movie Club.

Letterboxd includes each Black Mirror episode as a stand-alone movie, so I guess there's some case for that. I've long felt that the lines are blurred. I've always been chasing "motion pictures" wherever they're found and not "films," though I've also made it quite clear that the theater experience is my chief joy in this cinephilia business.  Anyhow, the series is definitely a work of an auteur, Charlie Brooker. Several obsessions recur. I want to like each episode more than I do. There's always an interesting idea, an interesting hook, but it rarely plays out in any meaningful way. I'd pick Serling over Brooker every time.
Episodes watched, ranked:
Nosedive
The Waldo Moment
White Bear
White Christmas
Be Right Back
(I had watched Season 1 last year. This is all Season 2 and into Season 3.)

That's it. No other TV viewing. I watched one episode of Hogan's Heroes, half an episode of Cheers, and some board game YouTube videos.