I'm watching a Great Courses episode on the Etruscans and, in case anyone was wondering, I'm still a dork who wants to prove to the professor that I know the answers.

Leviathan (1989)

This was a movie that was so bad that it was good. I was really entertained by Leviathan. Sure it’s an amalgamation of other (better) creature feature movies, but it has enough cheese and corniness to redeem itself. The creature was scary enough. The underwater scenes are convincing even if they were filmed dry for wet.

Rated 6 out of 10.

Streamed on Kanopy.

Outland (1981)

A space western detective story with a badass Space Marshall, O'Neil (Sean Connery) and a snarky Space Doctor (Frances Sternhagen). Peter Boyle is unrecognizable.

The production design reminded me of Alien.

The way people die in this movie is rather explosive. The countdown clock was unnecessary. The special effects did not age well. And sniper shotguns?

I enjoyed this seemingly underrated Connery film, it was really entertaining.

Rated 7 out of 10.

Incendies, the 2010 drama directed by Denis Villeneuve, has left me without words to describe it other than powerful and masterful.

It's free on Kanopy via participating libraries in the U.S.

Watch it knowing as little as possible about the plot and let it unfold and envelope you. If you appreciate the art of #cinema, this is a reward.

I was devastated starting with the bus scene, less than halfway in.

#reg: https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/15215750

First off, this is a horror film. Demonic possession and gore are involved. If this is not your jam, skip the film.

If you enjoy that sort of cinematic presentation, check this out. It perfectly encapsulates the late-’70s hysteria about Satanism and Psychic Phenomenons that American TV had at the time.

And you will never watch an Antman film in the same way as before. David Dastmalchian is brilliant here as the host of the show.

Highly recommended.

★★★★★

Rewatching Lola Rennt, and this movie holds up after all these years. Really good. Tight, fun, inventive, great storytelling. All in 80 minutes.

Streaming on #Kanopy if you’re a library-using person.

Ok, that’s weird. I was reading the #Kanopy email that just came through while waiting in the petrol station. “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” was one of the movies suggested for me.

I get to the counter and hear on the radio, that song by Deep Blue Something called Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

John Singer Sargent: Fashion and Swagger

–John Singer Sargent is known as the greatest portrait artist of his era. What made his 'swagger' portraits remarkable was his power over his sitters, what they wore and how they were presented to the audience.

Through interviews with curators, contemporary fashionistas and style influencers, Exhibition on Screen's film will examine how Sargent's unique practice has influenced modern art, culture and fashion.

Filmed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Tate Britain, London, the exhibition reveals Sargent's power to express distinctive personalities, power dynamics and gender identities during this fascinating period of cultural reinvention. Alongside 50 paintings by Sargent sit stunning items of clothing and accessories worn by his subjects, drawing the audience into the artist's studio. Sargent's sitters were often wealthy, their clothes costly, but what happens when you turn yourself over to the hands of a great artist? The manufacture of public identity is as controversial and contested today as it was at the turn of the 20th century, but somehow Sargent's work transcends the social noise and captures an alluring truth with each brush stroke.

Step into the glittering world of fashion, scandal and shameless self-promotion that made John Singer Sargent the painter who defined an era

Explore the unique creative process of the late 19th century's favourite portrait artist and the way in which his portraits captured the spirit of a vibrant and rapidly changing age.

My ★★★ review of Oh, Canada on @letterboxd: https://boxd.it/8Ykdqb

Unfortunately, "The French Connection" and "The Royal Tannenbaums" aren't on Kanopy, but "Mississippi Burning" is.

One Life
– Anthony Hopkins stars as Nicholas Winton in this remarkable true story of a young London stockbroker who, in the months leading up to World War II, rescued over 600 children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia.
The film alternates between Winton's younger years, where he's portrayed by Johnny Flynn, as he navigates personal risks and bureaucratic hurdles to save lives, and his later years, reflecting on his legacy.
#OneLife #AnthonyHopkins
#Holocaust #NeverForget
#kanopy https://www.kanopy.com/video/14440547

The Taste of Things
Worth a watch. The audio, quite the opposite of loud, really is important to the experience.
#kanopy
#theTasteOfThings https://www.kanopy.com/video/15033197

#NowWatching: The Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of #Neoliberalism (& how it came to control your life)

To make it even better? Watching it for free on #Kanopy using my local #library card.

This feels like something @hannu_ikonen would watch.

"Based on #ThomasPiketty's No. 1 NYTimes bestseller, Capital in the Twenty-First Century explores one of the most important and controversial subjects of our time: wealth, and who gets a share of the dividends."

Perhaps most telling of our times: this documentary is unavailable for viewing by non-subscribers without coin to spare; your library card might work. Fortunately, for the moment, bittorrent is still egalitarian.

Capital in the Twenty-First Century | #Kanopy
https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/capital-twenty-first-century-0

Watching "Molli and Max in the Future" which is a 2023 sci-fi comedy. Very low budget, but is entertaining with a bit of topical political parody.

(It's on #Kanopy)

This may be about the making of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s 1989 film “Santa Sangre,” but in actuality it’s about how he makes art. He may be a filmmaker, but that is merely the form his artistic output takes to share with the world his expression.

I’m firmly of the opinion that someone needs to make a bio picture of Jodorowsky’s life. His father worked in the circus, he studied with Marcel Marceau… he’s a fascinating person.

Highly recommended.

★★★★☆

Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, Woody Harrelson, and Tom Waits, all directed by Martin McDonagh who also wrote the script.

What more do I have to say, really?

Watch it. It’s bloody fantastic.

★★★★★

Many of the things in this movie are true. Not all of them, however. Some, if not all, of the things from somewhere in the middle of Act I onwards are entirely fake.

Possibly.

Honestly, this is the version of ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic’s life I REALLY WISH were true.

Well, except the very end. That part is sad.

And also fake.

Maybe.

Highly recommended.

★★★★☆