the list of now

I will probably need to watch this a few hundred times more today to be sure, but I’d say that they pretty much nailed it.

I love everything about this. It nearly made me cry.

The trailer for Sydney Pollack’s They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969)

I watched this today. It is an excellent film, but also completely devastating.

It’s about desperate people, during the Great Depression, competing in a dance marathon for prize money, who increasingly become (or realize that they’ve been set up as) performers in a show for wealthy spectators and sponsors. There is a lot I could say about it, but I don’t want to give much away.

Couldn’t stop thinking about how relevant it all is to what’s happening in our country right now.

It’s an incredibly well-directed film and Jane Fonda gives an amazing performance.

I highly, HIGHLY recommend everyone sees this.

((chills))

More comments later after I’ve watched it a bazillion more times and analyzed it thoroughly in HD.

I went into this movie expecting to have fun watching it, good or bad and I am pleased to say that I really did.

Self-aware and meta to the point of self-obsession, the writing as the plot winds-up was either intentionally campy and over-the-top OR a really half-assed hack job.  It turned out to not matter all that much, especially because it was genuinely quite funny. While there were several moments during the first 45 minutes when I wondered what it was intended to be, in the second act it tightened considerably and by the time I was watching the conclusion unravel, I no longer cared.

The ending delivered nearly as much as the original Scream, which I consider a classic (albeit a relic) of the 90′s.  This fourth installment may be a cliche sequel moneygrab, but unlike nearly other franchise piece for which this is true, Scream 4 might be completely aware of that.  Intentionally or not, it managed to remix itself into a punchy, fun and effective commentary on the entertainment industry and our times.