Paid Members Chris B Posted Monday at 01:23 PM Paid Members Share Posted Monday at 01:23 PM On 9/21/2024 at 8:48 PM, Merzbow said: Don't want to be "that guy" going on a feminist critique but The Substance came across as immensely shallow and even stupid in it's regurgitating of the most basic "Hollywood bad" tropes, shame as it really brought down some of the most spectacular body-horror Ive seen since Crimes of the Future and Demi Moore was brilliant. Maybe something was lost in translation. I was rather mixed on it. When it's good (which is mainly in the set-up), it's spectacularly good. As it goes on, I felt they didn't know how to end it and got muddled in the storyline, so it all rather fell apart and missed all of its targets. That said, Demi Moore (in particular), Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid are all great in it. There's a really, really good film in here, but it had no business being as long as it was. Some spoiler thoughts: Spoiler First of all, I don't care how good she looks at 61, being willing to be filmed fully naked with closeups and under unflattering light while constantly being compared to both a naked Margaret Qualley and her own past self? One hell of a statement and show of force. The film's at its best when it's tight and focused on the main two characters - but for a film that's about women and expectations, this somehow sidestepped the patriarchy in a weird way, with no real sense of exploitation. And when you've got Dennis Quaid giving that fun a performance (which was originally going to be Ray Liotta, apparently), that feels like a real waste - he's even called Harvey, FFS. For me, that's where it went off the rails and became unfocused. If he'd been slightly more of an antagonist, you could have explored some of those issues in a different way, while still keeping all the ludicrousness - have Elizabeth and Sue working together (or Elizabeth taking revenge for how Sue is treated), and forcing the substance onto him for the ending. I'm mainly frustrated because when this was good, it was excellent.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted Monday at 06:31 PM Share Posted Monday at 06:31 PM I managed to catch Strange Darling in the "Luxe" cinema for a fiver and had the entire huge room to myself, legit was the only person in there which was neat but also sad as it's one hell of a film. Pure unfiltered Merzbow fodder, stylish as hell and shot all on 35mm, edgy and violent while being inspired by Lynch and with some real "cleverness" (your mileage may vary). Two stupidly hot leads with my boy Kyle Gallner up there again. After Longlegs and The Substance being decent but not quite nailing it for me this had me giddy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordsfromlee Posted Monday at 08:33 PM Share Posted Monday at 08:33 PM 1 hour ago, Merzbow said: I managed to catch Strange Darling in the "Luxe" cinema for a fiver and had the entire huge room to myself, legit was the only person in there which was neat but also sad as it's one hell of a film. Pure unfiltered Merzbow fodder, stylish as hell and shot all on 35mm, edgy and violent while being inspired by Lynch and with some real "cleverness" (your mileage may vary). Two stupidly hot leads with my boy Kyle Gallner up there again. After Longlegs and The Substance being decent but not quite nailing it for me this had me giddy. Cinematography done by Phoebe's brother from Friends too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaitoRyo Posted Tuesday at 06:44 AM Share Posted Tuesday at 06:44 AM W.W. & The Dixie Dancekings (YouTube) Burt Reynolds is a charming conman who lives out of his car (a very rare, special edition Oldsmobile) and drives around the south robbing SOS gas stations. But in a nice way - he gives the good ol' boy working there some of his takings and doesn't use force. To get out of a jam, he somehow ends up managing country music hopefuls The Dixie Dancekings, taking them to Nashville as the lawman attempts to track him down. I read the novelisation of this last week, which was quite a bit better. This was enjoyable, mind, since Burt just has ridiculous charisma and I'm into just about anything revolving around country music (Jerry Reed, Don Williams & Mel Tillis have roles). Sort of had the feel of a made-for-television film about it, and it's a bit mad that John G. Avildsen's next movie was Rocky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted Tuesday at 11:12 AM Share Posted Tuesday at 11:12 AM 14 hours ago, wordsfromlee said: Cinematography done by Phoebe's brother from Friends too. I thought this was a joke that went over my head at first.. he did a real good job and it seems to be his first time, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted Wednesday at 03:22 PM Paid Members Share Posted Wednesday at 03:22 PM (edited) Watcher - Maika Monroe is very good. This film is not very good. It had some effective scenes but overall it just felt a bit soulless and pointless. I shrugged when the end credits rolled. I don't think I could point out anything specifically bad about it but it failed to engage me emotionally in any real way. Edited Wednesday at 03:24 PM by LaGoosh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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