What are you watching?

[backyardchef]

Hacks is back and I am very happy. Jean Smart is fantastic and the writing is snarky and dark and dry. 

[small h]

That was two strong episodes, I thought. Also, Helen Hunt, come back!

[Wilfrid]

Oh good, I like that. 

[Wilfrid]

Criteron Channel teaching me again. Three films by Michael Roemer, who I'd never heard of. First up, Nothing But a Man.

Here's me being dumb. The female lead's face radiates from the screen. Captivated I look at the cast list. Abbey Lincoln. Hmm. Name sounds familiar.

Moments pass.

Oh duh, it should sound familiar. It's the great singer and I didn't know she had made (a few) movies.

[bloviatrix]

Watched Breaking Away for the first time in 30+ years. And we had the kid watch it with us.

[small h]

Does it hold up? I loved it when it first came out, and watched maybe two or three time after. But not recently.

Refund!!! Refund!!!

[bloviatrix]

13 hours ago, small h said:

Does it hold up? I loved it when it first came out, and watched maybe two or three time after. But not recently.

Refund!!! Refund!!!

It does. Many of the themes are still quite relevant. What's interesting is the language - there are words and phrases that you would never use if you were writing the film today - for example using the word retard. And it's kind of jarring to hear it.

[small h]

1 hour ago, bloviatrix said:

there are words and phrases that you would never use if you were writing the film today

I spend a lot of time explaining to The Young People that a lot of things were "allowed" then that aren't "allowed" now. And vice versa.

[StephanieL]

1 hour ago, small h said:

I spend a lot of time explaining to The Young People that a lot of things were "allowed" then that aren't "allowed" now. And vice versa.

The Bad News Bears would probably give them a heart attack.  Or a case of the vapors.

Edited May 6, 2024 by StephanieL

[small h]

Screen Sixteen Candles at your peril.

[bloviatrix]

5 hours ago, StephanieL said:

The Bad News Bears would probably give them a heart attack.  Or a case of the vapors.

A friend of mine was considering showing it at her son's birthday party last year. She said it was a good thing she watched it in advance because there were so much inappropriate stuff in it.

Edited May 7, 2024 by bloviatrix

[Wilfrid]

The Taste of Things is streaming after a brief theater-only run. French food and Juliette Binoche. Did anyone see it yet?

[StephanieL]

17 hours ago, bloviatrix said:

A friend of mine was considering showing it at her son's birthday party last year. She said it was a good thing she watched it in advance because there were so much inappropriate stuff in it.

And yet somehow us Gen Xers survived. 😉

[small h]

9 hours ago, Wilfrid said:

Did anyone see it yet?

Yes, in the actual theater. It's beautifully shot, well-acted, and make sure you have some food within reach if you watch it.

[Wilfrid]

Yummy.

[small h]

Look! We've had this conversation before.

And another thing - if you see it with another person, be sure to announce the name of each dish as soon as you recognize it. They will be very impressed with you! Or tell you to be quiet and let them watch the movie, one or the other.

[Wilfrid]

As if I can remember something that happened three months ago.

[small h]

I remembered posting about the movie right after I saw it. I didn't remember responding to you, 'til I did the search.

[bloviatrix]

Tonight the boy and I watched Big. It's still charming.

[Mitchell101]

1 hour ago, bloviatrix said:

Tonight the boy and I watched Big. It's still charming.

Not the Ranger game? 

[bloviatrix]

10 minutes ago, Mitchell101 said:

Not the Ranger game? 

Considering that I loathe the Rangers and am still smarting about Carolina? No.

[Wilfrid]

What a marvellous movie The Taste of Things is, and yes @small h it made me hungry.

I refreshed by memory of the 1920s novel by Marcel Rouff on which it is based. One big change; in the novel, the gastronome marries his cook to prevent her being poached by a prince. In the movie he marries her because, well, because she is Juliette Binoche, so it becomes a touching love story.

The first section of the movie should be mandatory viewing for Mouthfuls members, the preparation of an amazing meal in the kitchen of the gastronome's stately home. The actors seem to actually do the cooking -- Binoche handles massive platters and multiple ingredients with balletic grace. It's like Iron Chef, but with better food and better looking cooks.

Later, there's a serving of ortolans which I suspect were actually quails because I think they were too big and presumably it would be illegal to serve ortolans even in a movie. And there is a prince in the movie who has his chef read out a menu of nauseating length and scope.

Sad things happen, so you will need tissues as well as snacks.

One unsolved mystery (unless I missed it) is why the gastronome is so rich. Inherited wealth? Rouff worked with Curnonsky on La France Gastronomique, so he must have known there isn't much money in food connoisseurship.

[mongo]

On 1/8/2024 at 10:04 PM, Wilfrid said:

Past Lives had a bunch of nominations, won nothing, but it was the one movie last year I really wanted to see, did see, and loved. But it’s the kind of cinema I love.

 

god, i thought this movie was utter shit. and boring shit, which is the worst kind. the acclaim it's gotten in so many quarters (not least from wilfrid) completely mystifies me.

[Wilfrid]

I think a lot of movies I like would be very boring to other members. And vice versa.

It's hard to imagine Mouthfuls members not enjoying The Taste of Things. But I may be wrong.

[small h]

Unfrosted. It was funny. There were a lot of people in it that I recognized. That is all.