Memento

Memento is a 2000 neo-noir mystery thriller film about a man who suffers from anterograde amnesia, resulting in short-term memory loss and the inability to form new memories. He is searching for the people who attacked him and killed his wife. It has a nonlinear plot development, which I admit I don't care for in books or movies. This film is not one where you can do other things while you watch. It requires attention throughout. I watched it on HBO Max.

"So you lie to yourself to be happy. There's nothing wrong with that. We all do it." -Teddy

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The Guardian has a positive review and says,

Memento takes, as a starting point, the idea that memories are the building blocks of what makes us human: they inform our sense of self, our relationships with other people, our basic grounding in time and space. And in a genre known for unreliable narrators, memory makes for a shifty central character, telling Leonard (and us) things that turn out not to be true.

Roger Ebert says,

The movie is more like a poignant exercise, in which Leonard's residual code of honor pushes him through a fog of amnesia toward what he feels is his moral duty. The movie doesn't supply the usual payoff of a thriller (how can it?), but it's uncanny in evoking a state of mind.

Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus score of 93%, and their audience score is even higher. This film is included in the book 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

I'm having a refreshing glass of ice water:

I'd been planning on joining in the T Stands for Tuesday blogger gathering but won't be able to this week and maybe next. You are welcome to participate, though, assured of a warm welcome by other participants.

City Lights (1931)

City Lights is a silent 1931 Charlie Chaplin film. Sound film was a growing trend, but Chaplin stuck with silents for years afterwards. I watched it on HBO Max. Our ridiculous copyright laws explain why this 91-year old film is not more freely available. I blame Sonny Bono and Disney.

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Criterion calls it "the most cherished film by Charlie Chaplin". Deep Focus Review has an interesting article on Chaplin's career and this film in particular. Roger Ebert opens his review with this: "If only one of Charles Chaplin's films could be preserved, “City Lights” (1931) would come the closest to representing all the different notes of his genius." Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus score of 97%. It's included in the book 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

Unpregnant

Unpregnant is a 2020 coming of age road movie. I watched it on HBO Max. from Wikipedia: "The film follows a pregnant teenager Veronica (Richardson) who discovers that she cannot get an abortion in her home state of Missouri without her parents' permission and subsequently convinces her former friend Bailey (Ferreira) to take a road trip with her to Albuquerque so she can get one there."

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The Guardian calls it "charming". Variety has a positive review. Roger Ebert says it "has a plot that could fuel a week of apoplectic segments on Fox News Channel" and "the film's solid grounding in friendship and comic teamwork carries the day". Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus score of 91% (meaning 91% of critics gave it a positive rating).

The Whole Damn World is Going Crazy

The Whole Damn World is Going Crazy (1973):

by John Gary Williams, who died on this date in 2019.

from Concord Recorded Music:

Williams formed the group [The Mad Lads] with fellow students from Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis during the early sixties and eventually recorded on Stax Record’s Volt label. With Williams’ high tenor voice and the soft soul harmonies of William Brown, Julius Green and Robert Phillips, The Mad Lads had several songs on the Billboard R&B chart during the sixties

from The Commercial Appeal:

Mr. Williams' Stax career was interrupted by military service in Vietnam, where he participated in dangerous deep-jungle combat missions. Returning home, he joined the Invaders, a so-called "militant" group inspired by the Black Panthers that was especially active during the sanitation strike that brought Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis, where the civil rights leader was murdered in 1968. As the singer himself put it, in the title of a 1973 single he recorded for Stax: "The Whole Damn World Is Going Crazy."

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain is a 2021 film based on the life of Louis Wain. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role. A tragic story, made even more heartbreaking because it's true. I cried. I watched it on Amazon Prime.

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The Independent concludes its positive review with this:

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain is also disarmingly tender, blessed with a deep affectation for its subject that feels fuller and more romantic in its nature than straightforward respect. Unlike the usual stories of very clever, very accomplished men that Cumberbatch seems wedded to by destiny, this film doesn’t measure Wain’s personal struggles up against the scope of his contributions. It doesn’t ask you to applaud his sacrifices, or to think that it was all worth it in the end. Wain lived a very sad life. And Cumberbatch, as an actor, has stripped back a few layers of his armour and bared a little more vulnerability – both here and in his ferocious turn in Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog. These two performances are the best work of his career.

The Guardian calls it "an affecting portrait of a creative but troubled man".

Apostle (2018)

Apostle is a 2018 period horror film. I watched it on Netflix.

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The Guardian calls it an "exhilarating Netflix horror" and "a wild, gory surprise". Roger Ebert's site calls it "an unsettling journey into a very dark corner of the world".

Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Never Rarely Sometimes Always is a critically acclaimed award-winning 2020 drama film about a 17 year old girl dealing with a pregnancy. I watched it on Amazon Prime.

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Variety calls it "a quietly devastating gem". The Guardian calls it "profoundly moving". NPR says it "will stay with you forever".

Roger Ebert's website has a positive review. The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus score is 99%.

Automat

Automat:

by Edward Hopper, who died at the age of 84 on May 15, 1967. I offer this for the weekly T Stands for Tuesday blogger gathering, where we share a cuppa. This woman is enjoying a cup of coffee alone in an automat. I've never known of such a place, but I'm having a cup of coffee alone at home. I feel a certain kinship with her, lost in her thoughts as she is.

Please post something drink related and join us at the T Stands for Tuesday blogger gathering.

Dirty Dancing

Dirty Dancing is a 1987 drama film. Abortion plays a central part in the plot. Want to go back to the days of back alley abortions? Here's what it looked like, and it's not pretty. "The guy had a dirty knife and a folding table. I could hear her screaming in the hallway." God, help us. Baby is pretty, though, and those dance scenes are wonderful! It's on HBO Max.

Sherlock Holmes (1922)

Happy Sherlock Holmes Day!

Sherlock Holmes is a 1922 silent film starring John Barrymore as Sherlock Holmes and Roland Young as Dr. John Watson. This was William Powell's first film.

Errrbody

Errrbody:

by Yo Gotti, born in Memphis

French Dispatch

French Dispatch is a 2021 Wes Anderson film starring Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Edward Norton, Jason Schwartzman, and Anjelica Huston. I am a Wes Anderson fan, and I was excited to see this. I watched it on HBO Max.

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The New Yorker says, "“The French Dispatch” is perhaps Anderson’s best film to date. It is certainly his most accomplished." Roger Ebert's site, The Independent, and Rolling Stone each give it a positive review.

Paheli (2005)

Paheli is an award-winning 2005 Indian (Hindi) fantasy film. A delightful, lighthearted, beautiful romance (and y'all know I don't generally care for romance). This is more along the lines of a fairy tale, though, and those I do like. I watched it on Netflix.

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Maude's Dilemma

Maude's Dilemma is a 2-part episode from 1972. It's funny to read the history of this story and see the objections to it coming from religious -not political- circles. How we ever let a women's health issue become a political one is beyond me. Don't kid yourself. This isn't about "life" but about control and imposing religious beliefs. If your religion has certain requirements I suggest you abide by them, and if it has certain beliefs it requires of you then I suggest you believe them. I object to you requiring them of me.

part 1:

part 2:

The History of Future Folk

The History of Future Folk is a 2012 science fiction comedy film telling the fictional backstory of the musical duo Future Folk. I can't express how much I enjoyed this movie. Such a sweet, charming look at music and humanity. I watched it on Netflix.

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The reviewers at Rotten Tomatoes yield an average 93% rating.

Join me in a cuppa comething (I'm having black coffee, no sugar):

at the T Stands for Tuesday blogger gathering.

Containment

Containment is a 2015 thriller film. I liked this one, and thrillers are never my first choice in film.

from Wikipedia:

The film is set in a 1970s era council block in Weston, Southampton set in the present-day United Kingdom. Mark, an artist, wakes to find that he has been sealed into his flat with no way out. There is no electricity, no water and no communications with the outside world apart from a voice over the intercom, repeating the phrase, "please remain calm, the situation is under control". Strange figures in Hazmat suits patrol the grounds outside and set up a military tent.

via Youtube:

The Guardian calls it "a zippy, clean-cut and ingenious panic-thriller". Rotten Tomatoes has a 92% critics consensus score.

The Batman

The Batman is a 2022 Batman movie. Intended to be the first in a trilogy, I sometimes wonder why they keep making movies about the same characters. The every-decade-or-so remake or re-boot, yeah, ok, fine, but how many Batman movies can the market support? That said, I watched it, didn't I, just like I've watched all the others. (I watched it On HBO Max.) I enjoyed it, I must say -though at almost 3 hours it's too long. I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

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Roger Ebert's site gives it a positive review, calling it "consistently viscerally gripping". Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus score of 85%, and the audience score is even higher.

Phantom of 42nd Street

Phantom of 42nd Street is a 1945 film directed by Albert Herman, starring Dave O'Brien and Kay Aldridge. Wikipedia offers this plot description:

An actor is killed during the performance of a play while critic Tony Woolrich (Dave O'Brien) is attending. Initially Woolrich is reluctant to investigate, even though he's encouraged to do so by his friend Romeo (Frank Jenks), who is also the taxi driver who brought him to the show, and acts as a sort of sidekick throughout the story.

Tony is chewed out by his editor for not investigating when he happened to be at the scene of the crime, and so he takes an initially reluctant interest. Tony becomes more involved in the investigation when there is another murder, and when Claudia Moore (Kay Aldridge, in her last movie role), the girl he loves, is suspected, and is also possibly threatened by the killer.

There's not all that much to it, but it's under an hour long and for its length they tell a good yarn.

TCM has information.

Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine is an award-winning 2006 comedy film. I watched it on Amazon Prime. It's included in the book 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

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Roger Ebert gives it a glowing review and says,

A gentle family satire and a classic American road movie, "Little Miss Sunshine" harks back to the anti-establishment, countercultural comedies of the 1970s such as "Smile" or "Harold and Maude" -- satirical fairy tales that preached the virtues of nonconformity over the superficiality of conventional American values.

Common Sense Media gives it 4 out of 5 stars and calls it "a hilarious but mature family road trip movie." Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus score of 91%.

Commando

Commando is a 1985 Arnold Schwarzenegger action film, perhaps the epitome of 1980s action films. The Younger Son had this on DVD and watched it with me. It's not readily available otherwise except with premium subsctiption services.

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