Saturday Evening Movie Thread [moviegique]: Be With You

We had a great run of movies this fortnight-and-a-half, an easy feat when your viewing is almost entirely classics. The Conversation, Legends of the Fall, Army of Shadows, Rear Window, and...uh...Point Break. (OK, I saw the last via Rifftrax, but you know, it's a cheesy movie but a fun one.)

The only new movie we saw was Strange Darling a shot on 35MM crime/thriller/horror which hearkens about the '70s by way of the '90s. It's worth a review of its own but I had to get book four to the editor and today is a rare chance to go see Korean movies with The Boy (who has been increasingly busy as well).

But The Boy pointed out that one thing Strange Darling did so well was something Korean movies do excellently and that is: recontextualizing something you've seen in a new light. So I thought I'd revisit one of my favorite Korean films, the life-affirming Be With You.

Right here. This, this sort of movie, this is the reason we go see Asian films.

They show them on the wall of this little tunnel.

Be With You is a sweet little Korean film about a father and son, the father working hard at odd hours so he can make breakfast for his son and get him off to school, both of them kissing a picture of a woman on the way out the door. The woman is, of course, the wife/mother, who has passed away about a year ago. The movie, in fact, opens with her reading a story about a mother who has died and comes back down to see her child when the rainy season starts. Then she has to go back when the rainy season is over.

I forget what kind of animal it is. Sheep or duck or something. But it seems like an oddly specific story, doesn't it? Needless to say, the movie begins right before the rainy season starts and the little boy is expecting to see his mother. The father, not having the heart to break the truth to him, does not correct the child.

Also, needless to say, the rainy season starts and there she is! (So we got ourselves some magical realism here.)

Things are a little strained.

But there's a catch (besides the obvious one): The mother doesn't know who they are. And the movie becomes the progress of the family rebuilding itself around the amnesiac woman, telling us in little flashbacks and snippets how the two parents met in school, and how the father pined for her but couldn't ever approach her. They don't tell her anything about her own death, only that she's been away for a year.

But then! She discovers her own diary. And she discovers that she did die, and from there on she changes radically, becoming more motherly and wifely, and gradually sets it all up so that when she has to go back, the audience is going to bawl its eyes out.

It's cute, funny, poignant, charming and with a bunch of likable characters, like the husband's would-be-Lothario of a boss, forever frustrated because all the girls much prefer the young widower (whose heart belongs to his late wife). And the "uncle" of the family, a comical college friend who, for all his obnoxiousness (especially in trying to fix up the hero with a new girl) turns out to have been the one that got the two of them together in the first place (precisely through obnoxiousness).

Stumbling upon your private workshop you didn't know you had.

And then, as we've seen so many times, you get to that final act and you think, "Well, this is solid and enjoyable, if not spectacular"—and the movie goes on for another 20 minutes completely shifting your POV around. In this case, when an American movie would've ended, instead we get to see the whole thing played out again (much abbreviated, of course) from her point-of-view.

The thing about magical realism, though, is that has to be delicately balanced. There have to be rules. And this one seems a little too neat, a little too tidy about how everything plays out. And then in the last 20 minutes, everything comes into sharp focus and you realize that everything you thought was just a convenience had a solid background of character development and a different kind of "magic" behind it. In other words, you think you get the rules, and the movie tells you at the end, "No, you had that wrong. This is what was really going on."

It's a sweet birthday pic...except you know what's coming.

It's quite a sleight-of-hand. And it works because you want it to. You want this all to be something amazing about love and life, and it does not let you down.

And that is why we go see the Asian films.

Young love. And because they're Asian, you don't have to do any dumb makeup.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 08:27 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Sorry, guys. Got home in time to press "publish" and totally forgot.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at August 31, 2024 08:27 PM (asXVI)

2 I called nood.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 08:29 PM (y31cs)

3 Saw a Korean double-feature, which is always culturally interesting.

First one ("Land of Happiness") was on the aftermath of the assassination which, by their current narrative, was replacing one fascist with another. There's a lot of talk about treason and what constitutes a "coup". And the narrative has it that it was neither, but the captured judicial system killed everyone involved so that the new Big Man could move in.

The other was ("Pilot") where a pilot who says some indelicate things (he literally calls the female stewardesses of his company "a bouquet") ends up cross-dressing to get a job with the same company, which is hiring minimum 50% women.

It was interesting and subtle in places and remarkably un-woke. Would've been completely unwatchable if made by an American studio.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at August 31, 2024 08:31 PM (asXVI)

4 Aetius451AD --

Thanks!

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at August 31, 2024 08:32 PM (asXVI)

5 They must not trust me- or everyone is reading the content.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 08:32 PM (y31cs)

6 But the thing about the assassination one, and a lot of political dramas, is that the Koreans just assume government is corrupt--and yet never take the position that Koreans themselves are inherently evil. They'll show Koreans doing dumb things or scared things or wicked things, but the overall message is always "Koreans are good and Korea is good."

Makes a movie a lot more watchable.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at August 31, 2024 08:33 PM (asXVI)

7 5 They must not trust me- or everyone is reading the content.

Literally impossible.

Although I guess I squelched the "First"ers.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at August 31, 2024 08:34 PM (asXVI)

8 There we are, was giving up

Posted by: Skip at August 31, 2024 08:35 PM (fwDg9)

9 I have seen a few korean films. You can usually tell the massive cultural difference in how they depict things as well as relationships between the characters.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 08:36 PM (y31cs)

10 I'm here. I asked before but I'll pose the question again. Anyone seen the Dennis Quaid Reagan movie yet. I wouldn't trust professional reviews on this one so I haven't read any.

Posted by: Tuna at August 31, 2024 08:37 PM (oaGWv)

11 I'll put in my plug for "Strange Darling" too. Went for Kyle Galner ("Breakfast in America") and was blown away by Willa Fitzgerald.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 31, 2024 08:38 PM (kpS4V)

12 I have not seen "Reagan". I wouldn't even consider it but I understand Nick Searcy's involved, and he's usually a good barometer.

That said, the director's resume is long but contains nothing I've ever seen or wanted to see.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at August 31, 2024 08:40 PM (asXVI)

13 As said below, got new big screen TV so watched the Russian version of War and Peace the last few days

Posted by: Skip at August 31, 2024 08:41 PM (fwDg9)

14 I'm here. I asked before but I'll pose the question again. Anyone seen the Dennis Quaid Reagan movie yet. I wouldn't trust professional reviews on this one so I haven't read any.

It's something that might get be back to a theater again, after a very long hiatus.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at August 31, 2024 08:41 PM (mH6SG)

15 Strange Darling looks good

Posted by: Skip at August 31, 2024 08:41 PM (fwDg9)

16 11 I'll put in my plug for "Strange Darling" too. Went for Kyle Galner ("Breakfast in America") and was blown away by Willa Fitzgerald.

But it is intense, violent, dark. Good suspense/thriller, wonderfully shot, definitely not for everyone.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at August 31, 2024 08:41 PM (asXVI)

17 13 As said below, got new big screen TV so watched the Russian version of War and Peace the last few days
Posted by: Skip at August 31, 2024 08:41 PM (fwDg9)

Just an observation, but your bent seems to be towards the Napoleonic.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 08:44 PM (y31cs)

18 I watched "Ironweed" last week (TCM). Great Depression-era flick based on a great William Kennedy novel, about a fading alcoholic (Jack Nicholson) haunted by the ghosts of his past. Before Jack started to just phone in his performances, he was really affecting and there were moments of near redemption.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 31, 2024 08:45 PM (kpS4V)

19 That overgrown railroad tunnel reminds me of "Dark" a German time travel mystery.

Really good.

Posted by: nurse ratched at August 31, 2024 08:45 PM (DGwDa)

20 Aetius It's a major hobby

Posted by: Skip at August 31, 2024 08:45 PM (fwDg9)

21 For some reason this reminded me of Sweet November.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at August 31, 2024 08:46 PM (63Dwl)

22 Greetings from Onawa, Iowa this evening. Heading down to I-80 tomorrow to begin our return journey west to our home port of Huntington Beach.

Posted by: Anonymous Rogue in Kalifornistan (ARiK) at August 31, 2024 08:47 PM (I2t54)

23 Be With You sounds like a sweet flick. You've slowly been interesting me to explore Asian movies, moviegique. This may be the one that convinces me to dive in. Thanks for the write up.

Posted by: She Hobbit at August 31, 2024 08:47 PM (ftFVW)

24 21 comments and nobody said it?

I'd hit it!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 31, 2024 08:48 PM (d9fT1)

25 "Reagan" got a 19% score with the critics on RottenTomatoes.

And 98% with the audiences!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 31, 2024 08:50 PM (d9fT1)

26 24 21 comments and nobody said it?

I'd hit it!
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 31, 2024 08:48 PM (d9fT1)

Korean 1 or 0 is even more so.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 08:51 PM (y31cs)

27 25 "Reagan" got a 19% score with the critics on RottenTomatoes.

And 98% with the audiences!
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo

Ok that sounds encouraging. Maybe I'll go see it tomorrow.

Posted by: Tuna at August 31, 2024 08:51 PM (oaGWv)

28 Legends of the Fall is one of my favorites. I'll watch it anytime I see the title.

Posted by: lin-duh at August 31, 2024 08:52 PM (VCgbV)

29 Remember the glory years of schlockmeister Irwin Allen, when disaster movies in sensurround ruled the googolplexes?

"The Swarm" starred Michael "Our Basement Needs Refinishing" Caine and a cast of former greats. Lots of big stars yelling at each other about The Beeeeees. I read that Caine didn't read the script, just saw all the luminaries signed on, and thought it would be great. Ha!

I love bad movies. I popped the popcorn and enjoyed the cheezfest.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 31, 2024 08:52 PM (kpS4V)

30 One thing I do like about the Korean stuff I have seen: the lack of a compromised/downer ending.

One can argue that Train to Busan is kind of a downer, but the protagonist DID succeed. His child survived.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 08:53 PM (y31cs)

31 I watched "Ironweed" last week (TCM). Great Depression-era flick based on a great William Kennedy novel, about a fading alcoholic (Jack Nicholson) haunted by the ghosts of his past. Before Jack started to just phone in his performances, he was really affecting and there were moments of near redemption.
Posted by: All Hail Eris
-------

And, Tom Waits. Unlikely actor, but there he is.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at August 31, 2024 08:54 PM (XeU6L)

32 21 For some reason this reminded me of Sweet November.
=
There are similarities with "The Lake House", speaking of Keanu's romance phase.
-----

24 21 comments and nobody said it?
=
I'd hit it!

You...you'd hit it? *looks back up at post* I'm gonna assume you're not talking about the gradeschool boy or the widowers.

So you're saying you'd hit Son Ye-Jin, one of the highest paid movie actresses in Korean history?

I mean...congratulations, you're heterosexual!

https://shorturl.at/gvzLN

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at August 31, 2024 08:55 PM (asXVI)

33 Can't believe they remade "The Crow", one of the most perfect genre movies (and soundtracks) ever, and also totally botched the idea behind it. Critical Drinker reviewed it and it sounds hellaciously awful.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 31, 2024 08:56 PM (kpS4V)

34 I mean...congratulations, you're heterosexual!

https://shorturl.at/gvzLN
Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at August 31, 2024 08:55 PM (asXVI)

For CBD, this is a major accomplishment.

I mean 'Charlie Brown's' Dildo.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 08:56 PM (y31cs)

35 33 Can't believe they remade "The Crow", one of the most perfect genre movies (and soundtracks) ever, and also totally botched the idea behind it. Critical Drinker reviewed it and it sounds hellaciously awful.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 31, 2024 08:56 PM (kpS4V)

I am in the minority on this one for the original:

-the music was perfect. Height of grunge and STP was catchy as hell for the trailers.

-Brandon Lee dying during production gave it a heck of a lot of juice.

-the movie is just... ok.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 08:58 PM (y31cs)

36 Critical Drinker reviewed it and it sounds hellaciously awful.
Posted by: All Hail Eris

Will have to watch that. Remaking The Crow really had me scratching my head, and for good reason it seems.

Posted by: She Hobbit at August 31, 2024 08:59 PM (ftFVW)

37 "One thing I do like about the Korean stuff I have seen: the lack of a compromised/downer ending."

I've reached a point where if a movie has a downer ending I won't see it. I hate paying money to be depressed. The last downer movie I saw was "Cold Mountain". Decided then and there life was too short to feel bad when walking out of a theater.

Posted by: Tuna at August 31, 2024 08:59 PM (oaGWv)

38 It's kind of like Death Wish but with more martial arts.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 08:59 PM (y31cs)

39 It's kind of like Death Wish but with more martial arts.
---

The Sound of Music?

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 31, 2024 09:01 PM (kpS4V)

40 I prefer Korean zombie films.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 31, 2024 09:02 PM (RIvkX)

41 Decided then and there life was too short to feel bad when walking out of a theater.

Posted by: Tuna at August 31, 2024 08:59 PM (oaGWv)

THIS.

I got into a major fight with a girl I knew over Requiem for a Dream. She had brought it over but I did not want to watch it. This is how the fight went:

-'But Jennifer Connelly's Boobs!'

'I can see those other places in a less depressing venue.'

'Double headed dildo!'

'Real Porn exists. Plus, this movie is nothing but watching somewhat happy people self destruct and devolve into a world of misery and addiction. I don't want top watch that.'

She stormed out. *sigh*

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 09:02 PM (y31cs)

42 The downer endings leave me thinking American film makers are too lazy to resolve their stories or they just hate their audiences. Probably both.

Posted by: She Hobbit at August 31, 2024 09:03 PM (ftFVW)

43 The Sound of Music?
Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 31, 2024 09:01 PM (kpS4V)

No, that's Death Wish with more Nazis.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 09:04 PM (y31cs)

44 'Double headed dildo!'
----

WUT

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 31, 2024 09:04 PM (kpS4V)

45 42 The downer endings leave me thinking American film makers are too lazy to resolve their stories or they just hate their audiences. Probably both.
Posted by: She Hobbit at August 31, 2024 09:03 PM (ftFVW)

They are empty and they want to share that emptiness and despair. That's all they can see.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 09:04 PM (y31cs)

46 All Japanese movies are downers.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at August 31, 2024 09:05 PM (K2d9l)

47 'Double headed dildo!'
----

WUT
Posted by: All Hail Eris

When you just can't decide?

Posted by: She Hobbit at August 31, 2024 09:05 PM (ftFVW)

48 WUT
Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 31, 2024 09:04 PM (kpS4V)

It's a thing in the movie.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 09:05 PM (y31cs)

49 To those of you saying you don't like downer movies, I can only steer you as far away from Korean revenge pictures as I possibly am able.

Korean revenge pictures, at least since the Vengeance trilogy, "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance", "Oldboy" and "Lady Vengeance" are damned dark.

These are not cathartic "get the bad guy" movies, they're "bring two shovels" movies. There's no happy endings to be had.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at August 31, 2024 09:05 PM (asXVI)

50 When you just can't decide?
Posted by: She Hobbit at August 31, 2024 09:05 PM (ftFVW)

*golfclap*

I think SheHobbit just earned the faux gold edging for her cardboard membership!

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 09:06 PM (y31cs)

51 These are not cathartic "get the bad guy" movies, they're "bring two shovels" movies. There's no happy endings to be had.
Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at August 31, 2024 09:05 PM (asXVI)

Yeah, I have steered clear of the 'Oldboy' genre.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 09:06 PM (y31cs)

52 No yellow! Ever!

Posted by: Hunter at August 31, 2024 09:07 PM (mH6SG)

53 Just passing this along. Don't know if Blake Edwards has been featured in movie threads past. Writer Mark Evanier this week mentions the work of Edwards, how some of his work was mangled by the studios, and restoration of those films.

https://www.newsfromme.com/
2024/08/30/clouseaus-dad/
and a follow-up
https://www.newsfromme.com/
2024/08/31/from-the-e-mailbag-424/

Sorry for the long, broken URLs. Still haven't been able to get back into my bitly account.

Posted by: mindful webworker - at 24 fps at August 31, 2024 09:08 PM (SFn6i)

54 I thought we all knew about the double-headed dildo.

I haven't even SEEN "Requiem" and I knew about it, and I still knew better than to go see it. You know why?

Because Darren Aronofsky.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at August 31, 2024 09:08 PM (asXVI)

55 I think every Japanese movie ends in tragedy

Posted by: Skip at August 31, 2024 09:08 PM (fwDg9)

56 That overgrown railroad tunnel reminds me of "Dark" a German time travel mystery.

Really good.
Posted by: nurse ratched at August 31, 2024 08:45 PM (DGwDa)
====

I'm too dumb to follow all the plotlines. But my German got better.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 31, 2024 09:09 PM (RIvkX)

57 I think SheHobbit just earned the faux gold edging for her cardboard membership!
Posted by: Aetius451AD

*eyes well up*

I'd like to thank the Academy or something...

Posted by: She Hobbit at August 31, 2024 09:09 PM (ftFVW)

58 I could do a Blake Edwards thread.

I have been mistaken for him.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at August 31, 2024 09:10 PM (asXVI)

59 Gonna be at BasedCon next week, if anyone's going.

I'm hosting a panel on Humor in SF/F.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at August 31, 2024 09:11 PM (asXVI)

60 * presents She Hobbit with a double-headed Oscar *

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 31, 2024 09:11 PM (kpS4V)

61 I like a good downer ending -- the finish, say, of BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI or I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER or A SIMPLE PLAN or MYSTIC RIVER. Where the downer comes about almost because it has to be that way.

The kind I don't care for these days are those like the one in ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE -- seeming to be just tossed in for the sake of kicking the audience in the teeth.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 31, 2024 09:11 PM (q3u5l)

62 I've told this story many times. At the end of "Cold Mountain" some guy a couple of rows behind us voiced out loud, "Are you shitting me?". I nudged my husband and said that's just what I was thinking.

Posted by: Tuna at August 31, 2024 09:11 PM (oaGWv)

63 * presents She Hobbit with a double-headed Oscar *
Posted by: All Hail Eris

Lordy, cackled to rival Kumala just now.

Posted by: She Hobbit at August 31, 2024 09:12 PM (ftFVW)

64 Because Darren Aronofsky.
Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at August 31, 2024 09:08 PM (asXVI)

I looked up his imdb to see if I could counter. Of the stuff I knew about, yeah a Cavalcade of Desolation.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 09:12 PM (y31cs)

65 Message in a bottle was a decent chick flick that ruined it with a downer ending.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at August 31, 2024 09:14 PM (K2d9l)

66 Critical Drinker reviewed it and it sounds hellaciously awful.
Posted by: All Hail Eris

Will have to watch that. Remaking The Crow really had me scratching my head, and for good reason it seems.
Posted by: She Hobbit

When they proudly announced "we won't have guns on this production" they lost me. Really?!

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 31, 2024 09:15 PM (MGB5H)

67 Say Blake Edwards and everyone thinks immediately of Clouseau -- but EXPERIMENT IN TERROR was a nifty little thriller, SOLDIER IN THE RAIN was an off-beat comedy-drama with Jackie Gleason and Steve McQueen, and if memory serves DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES was just heart-breakingly grim. Guy had a lot of range to him.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 31, 2024 09:17 PM (q3u5l)

68 65 Message in a bottle was a decent chick flick that ruined it with a downer ending.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at August 31, 2024 09:14 PM (K2d9l)

So many games and movies do that these days that it is actually subversive to have a completely happy ending.

The zombie genre is a perfect example, which is one reason that even though Days Gone (game) was a bit of a mess in its pacing and rambling in execution, when I reached the end I was like 'Holy Crap?! That was actually a happy ending! Who'd a thought?'

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 09:18 PM (y31cs)

69 I like Aronofsky. Are his movies through on in the background feel good romps? Or course not. But I love most of his stuff. Requiem and wrestler chief among them.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 31, 2024 09:19 PM (MGB5H)

70 Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 31, 2024 09:17 PM (q3u5l)

City Heat with Reynolds and Eastwood was an overlooked gem.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 09:20 PM (y31cs)

71 I don't mind endings that are ambiguous regards to the ending where it's neither happy or sad or maybe it's both.

Gone Baby Gone is such a movie.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at August 31, 2024 09:21 PM (K2d9l)

72 The Wrestler was a depressing movie that made up for it with its ending .

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at August 31, 2024 09:23 PM (K2d9l)

73 Aetius --

Hadn't seen City Heat -- will give that one a look some time soon. Thanks.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 31, 2024 09:24 PM (q3u5l)

74 Ach, a film thread, ja? And the cinema of the Hermit Kingdom, no less? The magic there is palpable, and Werner delights in it.

Such cannot be said of all projects, of course. Werner is reminded of the occasion when, by a perverse twist of fate, he was brought on board to shore up the collapsing abomination that was John Boorman's Zardoz. Why me, you might ask? Werner certainly asked this, and demanded money up front. The studio honchos said, Vern (they persist in this, and it may even decorate my headstone), Boorman is mad, and you have indulged in madness of your own in following the Cinematic muse. Perhaps you can rectify this shoot and salvage a movie out of the four-alarm fire Boorman has created.

I am Deutsch, I informed them. What you call madness is a defining characteristic of our culture. You call it nuts, we call it Thursday. You expect sanity from the people who created lederhosen, whose language may run for a page of dialogue before one gets to the verb? Feel Werner, do you, my homies.? I pray you accept this as fo' shizzle.

Ach, ein mehr post, mein Freunds.

Posted by: Werner Herzog Has Opinions at August 31, 2024 09:24 PM (tmPIh)

75 The Wrestler was a depressing movie that made up for it with its ending .
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth

Watch it like once a year. Among my all time favs. Another great wrestling movie to check out is Iron Claw. Depressing and still somewhat happy in the end.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 31, 2024 09:25 PM (MGB5H)

76 Off topic (unless you count this as a 'short film') but that History of Yacht Rock video linked on the sidebar....That video is 17 years old! Its best resolution is 240p. Wow. Like a window into the past... To think, that's how I used to watch Lodoss War and Patlabor animes on the ancient Toonami website...

Posted by: Castle Guy at August 31, 2024 09:28 PM (0UoT+)

77 I hate depressing movies with depressing endings but I have to say The Human Stain was captivating and I didn't mind the depressing ending because you knew it had to be and it wasn't a surprise.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at August 31, 2024 09:28 PM (K2d9l)

78 Depressing: The Ice Storm

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 31, 2024 09:30 PM (RIvkX)

79 I think there is definitely a place for depressing movies. Especially when they are telling a poignant story. But many things now are just depressing for depressing a sake. If you aren't trying to say something then what's the point.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 31, 2024 09:31 PM (MGB5H)

80 Depressing: The Ice Storm
Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 31, 2024 09:30 PM (RIvkX)
----

Not nearly as depressing as Ang Lee's Hulk movie.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 31, 2024 09:31 PM (kpS4V)

81 Get Carter (original)

Michael Caine version.

A downer but pretty much everyone got what they deserved.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 31, 2024 09:32 PM (ohOaC)

82 Not nearly as depressing as Ang Lee's Hulk movie.
Posted by: All Hail Eris

*snort*

I did like the comic book style editing though. It was unique.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 31, 2024 09:32 PM (MGB5H)

83
SOLDIER IN THE RAIN was an off-beat comedy-drama with Jackie Gleason and Steve McQueen

I have that on my DVR recorded from TCM in the middle of the night. I couldn't make it past 15 minutes or so. Just found it unappealing. Didn't erase it. Maybe I'll try again.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at August 31, 2024 09:33 PM (63Dwl)

84 I don't mind depressing movies, wouldn't want to watch them all the time. Better if it's a surprise

Posted by: Skip at August 31, 2024 09:34 PM (fwDg9)

85 I should amend my previous comment on depressing endings... Sometimes it is definitely appropriate and a happy ending would feel manufactured and fake. It's more the prevalence of it in recent years that bothers me. Life is often crap, and much of the time I'd rather my entertainment leave me with hope than despair.

Posted by: She Hobbit at August 31, 2024 09:34 PM (ftFVW)

86 I wonder if you would call Unforgiven a downer?

I think I would say... no. And yes. Munny struggles throughout the movie to not let that part of him out or hopes it is gone maybe. The last ten minutes s not only awesome in of itself, but it completely recontextualizes the entire movie up to that point.

So, the monster is still in there, but he also stuffs it back into it's prison after getting revenge.

I dunno, less depressing than say High Plains Drifter.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 09:35 PM (y31cs)

87 I like happy endings.

Posted by: Algore at August 31, 2024 09:36 PM (i0F8b)

88 Life is often crap, and much of the time I'd rather my entertainment leave me with hope than despair.
Posted by: She Hobbit at August 31, 2024 09:34 PM (ftFVW)

There is a difference between poignant and torture porn.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 09:36 PM (y31cs)

89 "Reagan" got a 19% score with the critics on RottenTomatoes.

And 98% with the audiences!
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo

I've mentioned that I'm a video game slut. Accordingly, I pre-ordered Star Wars Outlaws. It's the opposite of the above. The critics, generally, treated it well; the gamers not so much. I've been playing for only three days but so far it seems good to me. The protagonist is a stonk woman but, other than that, I've seen no woke crap. I'm suspicious that a huge percentage of the gamer reviews are from people who haven't played the game but are pissed SW has been wokified and publisher Ubisoft has also angered the consumers in the past. (Reviewers complain of bugs but I've had no problem. I thought I did once but turns out I was doing it wrong.)

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Covfefe Today, Covfefe Tomorrow, Covfefe Forever! at August 31, 2024 09:36 PM (L/fGl)

90 Back in my VHS days, I had a tape I jokingly referred to as the suicide reel. REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT, I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER, UNDER THE VOLCANO, and another title that refuses to come to mind at the moment. Liked all four of those flicks, but never could watch that whole tape's movies one after another.

And your mileage may vary, but for my money I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER is one of the great American tragedies. Heartbreaking to watch, and with terrific performances from Gene Hackman and Melvyn Douglas.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 31, 2024 09:37 PM (q3u5l)

91 Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks

I've seen that it's only like 15 hours long? True or no?

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 31, 2024 09:38 PM (MGB5H)

92 Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 09:35 PM (y31cs)

I’d say Unforgiven is ambiguous and up to the viewer. I don’t mind that at all. Eastwood makes a lot of those.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at August 31, 2024 09:38 PM (B1dzx)

93 One of my favorite movies is My First Mister which is decidedly depressing at points. But it leaves you on an uplifting note. Bittersweet with conflicting emotions, like real life.

Posted by: She Hobbit at August 31, 2024 09:38 PM (ftFVW)

94 12
'I have not seen "Reagan". I wouldn't even consider it but I understand Nick Searcy's involved, and he's usually a good barometer.'

Jon Voigt is in it too. I doubt he'd participate in a hit piece on Reagan.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at August 31, 2024 09:38 PM (3wi/L)

95 Holdovers from last year was a fun uplifting story great performances too.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 31, 2024 09:39 PM (MGB5H)

96 A depressing ending to a Western is "Culpepper Cattle Company".

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 31, 2024 09:40 PM (kpS4V)

97 Yup, "The Holdovers" was one of my top movies last year.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 31, 2024 09:40 PM (kpS4V)

98 Best sad /happy ending movie?

Mister Roberts

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at August 31, 2024 09:41 PM (B1dzx)

99 I dunno, less depressing than say High Plains Drifter.

I didn't think High Plains Drifter was depressing at all.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 31, 2024 09:41 PM (ohOaC)

100 Sorry for the long, broken URLs. Still haven't been able to get back into my bitly account.
Posted by: mindful webworker - at 24 fps at August 31, 2024 09:08 PM (SFn6i)

https://www.shorturl.at/ seems to work?

Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar (hOUT3) ~ This year in Corsicana - again! ~ at August 31, 2024 09:42 PM (hOUT3)

101 >>I'm suspicious that a huge percentage of the gamer reviews are from people who haven't played the game but are pissed SW has been wokified

Yaboi's heel turn of late revolves around the concept that "it's okay to like things" and that outrage has been monetized so the people who make money off of it have no choice but to be outraged.

>> Jon Voigt is in it too. I doubt he'd participate in a hit piece on Reagan.

A hagiography of the guy is not something I'm interested in either, tho'.

I almost went with "A Man Named Pearl" today, which is an old documentary about Pearl Fryar, who created a tourist attraction in his little town with his unconventional gardening techniques. (He uses a lot of chainsaws.)

It =is= a hagiography, and I'm okay with that. Less when the subject is a politician.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at August 31, 2024 09:43 PM (asXVI)

102 The first sad/happy ending I remember seeing was probably OLD YELLER.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 31, 2024 09:44 PM (q3u5l)

103 Klaus Kinski at that time was in his kennel at the Vet's office, undergoing treatment for a possible case of distemper, and I had to put film projects on hold for the present, so I acceded to their request. Perhaps Werner can do something. The Void, however, had its own ideas.

This became apparent on set, where Werner witnessed Sean Connery in a thong. Ja, the nightmares still persist from that. Sean Connery, I inquired, darling of the ladies and channeler of 007, why in the name of an allegedly just Cosmos have you donned this garb. Vern, said he (a Scottish accent does not improve it), Boorman wishes that I wear it as an emblem of my character's savage existence, and there is also a paycheck in it. Ja, he is Scottish. Werner remembers how George Lucas convinced a gullible Carrie Fisher that those in the Star Wars canon wore no undergarments, so he is not unaware that the perversity of some directors lead to such horrors.

Gott, one more post. Sorry.

Posted by: Werner Herzog Has Opinions at August 31, 2024 09:44 PM (tmPIh)

104 The first sad/happy ending I remember seeing was probably OLD YELLER.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 31, 2024 09:44 PM (q3u5l)

The Incredible Journey. It’s mean to trick a kid like that.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at August 31, 2024 09:45 PM (B1dzx)

105 I've seen that it's only like 15 hours long? True or no?
Posted by: BruceWayne

It may be only 15 hours for good players but for me it'll be considerably longer.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Covfefe Today, Covfefe Tomorrow, Covfefe Forever! at August 31, 2024 09:45 PM (L/fGl)

106 It may be only 15 hours for good players but for me it'll be considerably longer.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks

Hah! That's me too! I may reconsider getting it now but when it's on sale. I'm still busy plying college football 25. That'll take up my gaming time for awhile

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 31, 2024 09:47 PM (MGB5H)

107 Depressing endings to westerns?

1. Monte Walsh

2. The Ballad of Cable Hogue

Both are "end of an era" tales

Posted by: Muldoon at August 31, 2024 09:47 PM (991eG)

108 >>> 54 I thought we all knew about the double-headed dildo.

I haven't even SEEN "Requiem" and I knew about it, and I still knew better than to go see it. You know why?

Because Darren Aronofsky.
Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at August 31, 2024 09:08 PM (asXVI)

I did not know about this.

I now know to avoid anything involving Darren Aronofsky.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at August 31, 2024 09:47 PM (FnneF)

109 If, however, you wanna see a hagiography of Reagan, I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

Likewise, my issue with Aronofsky isn't in downer endings, it's in his taste. I find his movies "gross", in the sense of being made of large, clumsy movements.

But even this characterization could just be me rationalizing a gut reaction, which is most of art criticism.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at August 31, 2024 09:48 PM (asXVI)

110 I may reconsider getting it now but when it's on sale. I'm still busy plying college football 25. That'll take up my gaming time for awhile
Posted by: BruceWayne

It reminds me a lot of Tomb Raider.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Covfefe Today, Covfefe Tomorrow, Covfefe Forever! at August 31, 2024 09:49 PM (L/fGl)

111 It reminds me a lot of Tomb Raider.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks

The good ones I assume?

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 31, 2024 09:50 PM (MGB5H)

112 Watched 'The Handmaiden' the other night. The Japanese and Koreans don't like each other very much.

Posted by: Braenyard at August 31, 2024 09:52 PM (oE25o)

113 Helena,

True story: I went to see "The Whale" because of Brendan Fraser and I'm standing by the auditorium door while The Boy gets his popcorn, and I'm reading the poster.

And I yell, "Darren Aronofsky! Awww! Aww!" Basically this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2iZJ2TK5cY

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at August 31, 2024 09:52 PM (asXVI)

114 Then it was that I met John Boorman. To call him mad would be like calling the detonation of a Tsar Bomba a slight echo. There are no words for Boorman's insanity. There is a primordial terror to him seen only in the rampage of a T-Rex or the rage of Betty White. The director was suspended upside-down from the ceiling of his trailer. He foamed at the mouth and continually strove to bite any who came near. I was informed that he was his usual self, engaging in fist fights over what the day's lunch would be, making crank calls to HRH Elizabeth II, and mailing obscene pictures of himself to Mother Teres. John, I said, what is your vision for this project? With an unearthly voice, he growled "The penis is bad, the gun is good!" Seriously, John, this is your idea for the movie? He told me nein, that was an observation for the improvement of daily life.

It became apparent that Werner could do nothing here - this abomination must run its course. This was not The Sound of Music, where I had only to cut the knife-fight scene with the nuns and hide Julie Andrew's fifth of "acting medicine." You have seen the results, if you are unfortunate. Still, the check cleared.

Posted by: Werner Herzog Has Opinions at August 31, 2024 09:55 PM (tmPIh)

115 114 There is a primordial terror to him seen only in the rampage of a T-Rex or the rage of Betty White.

Posted by: Werner Herzog Has Opinions at August 31, 2024 09:55 PM
***
You rang?

Posted by: TRex at August 31, 2024 09:58 PM (IQ6Gq)

116 >>>[he] ends up cross-dressing to get a job with the same company, which is hiring minimum 50% women.

It was interesting and subtle in places and remarkably un-woke
-----------------------

I think I see an oxymoron here.

Posted by: Braenyard at August 31, 2024 09:59 PM (oE25o)

117 ||Watched 'The Handmaiden' the other night. The Japanese and Koreans don't like each other very much.||

Great flick. Possibly the most erotic I've seen...ever?

https://moviegique.com/2016/12/the-handmaiden-2016/

As for the Japahinos and Koreans not liking each other, I've gotten so used to it that when my kids and I were seeing "The Bad Guys", and the third act reveal is that the Japanese were behind all the evil (and I told the kids that's how it was gonna be), I did a victory yell.

\o/

(It was just us three in the theater.)

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at August 31, 2024 10:00 PM (asXVI)

118 >>> 113 Helena,

True story: I went to see "The Whale" because of Brendan Fraser and I'm standing by the auditorium door while The Boy gets his popcorn, and I'm reading the poster.

And I yell, "Darren Aronofsky! Awww! Aww!" Basically this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2iZJ2TK5cY
Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at August 31, 2024 09:52 PM (asXVI)

LOL

... DA would *enjoy* the Barrel?!

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at August 31, 2024 10:00 PM (FnneF)

119 Braenyard--

At no point is the woman doing the 50% agenda presented as a good guy.

No, what's interesting is that one of the men is a coward, the woman doing the 50% thing is not good at all, the girl who gets the protagonist hired is ashamed, and the protagonist--who actually discovers some advantages to being female--also get a little sympathy for their plight.

If there's an agenda to this, it's something like "Flying off the handle in an outrage doesn't help whatever cause you support."

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at August 31, 2024 10:02 PM (asXVI)

120 || ... DA would *enjoy* the Barrel?!

The RLM guys thought he was, like, a Russian immigrant, and when they found out he was just a Brooklyn hipster, they were crushed.

He might be Barrel-prone.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at August 31, 2024 10:03 PM (asXVI)

121 Bad Guys: Reign of Chaos review:

https://moviegique.com/2019/10/the-bad-guys-reign-of-chaos/

I feel like the American animated flick "The Bad Guys" might have drawn on this for some inspiration.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at August 31, 2024 10:04 PM (asXVI)

122 ONT is nood.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 31, 2024 10:06 PM (y31cs)

123 I watched Aronofsky’s Requiem once, and remember nothing about it except that I never wanted to see it again.

But I can watch Pi over and over. But that has a weirdly non-downer of an ending.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at August 31, 2024 10:07 PM (olroh)

124 Thanks for the thread, moviegique. Always fun.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 31, 2024 10:07 PM (q3u5l)

125 Thanks everybody!

Sorry I was late!

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at August 31, 2024 10:12 PM (asXVI)

126 I've reached a point where if a movie has a downer ending I won't see it. ...
Posted by: Tuna
--------------------

We watch them plot to kill us every day. That's downer enough.

Posted by: Braenyard at August 31, 2024 10:14 PM (oE25o)

127 Wonderful woгk! That is the kind ⲟf information that arе supposed to be shɑred
around the net. Disgrace on Ꮐooglе for now not
positioning this submit higher! Come on oᴠer and talk over with my site .

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Posted by: turnoff at August 31, 2024 10:50 PM (8LZsh)

128 So many movies. so little time. There are a whole lot of movies hidden on YouTube that are hard to find. I found 'Oklahoma' recently and haven't seen that in a long time. Endless old Scifi movies from the 50-60's, and endless war movies including 'The Great Escape'. I have made a list, and will never get to see them all.

Posted by: colin at September 01, 2024 03:58 AM (e8qy3)

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