Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.
Jump in the discussion.
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Notes -
On Sunday evening, I watched Southern Comfort.
Which is a film about how @hydroacetylene spends his weekends.
No, seriously - Louisiana Nat'l Guard in the 1980s. This film is, essentially, an attempt to re-make Deliverance with, I guess, a more military patina. It doesn't do a great job and mostly survives on a sloppy thriller plot and some competent to good performances by a very young Powers Boothe and Keith Carradine.
It isn't a great film, but it is an okay-to-good film that wants to be great.
So, my low stakes question for Sunday is: What are other films that are good, not great, but really want to be great?
Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs, penned by Aaron Sorkin, was a transparent attempt to recapture the magic of The Social Network, Sorkin's earlier film about a brilliant tech entrepreneur whose arrogance and single-mindedness ends up compromising his relationships with his loved ones. It was slated on release, but I thought it was actually quite good, with an interesting narrative structure, great performances all around and some clever cinematography to reflect the passage of time. What was lacking compared to the earlier film was the propulsive force of Nine Inch Nails's score and a strong narrative through-line: Steve Jobs just ended up feeling too episodic for the audience to feel consistently engaged throughout. Each of the three "acts" could have been broadcast as an instalment of a three-part miniseries without compromising the emotional effect one iota.
Slayed? Panned?
To slate:
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