Lunch Links
A humorous short for those stumbling into the new calendar.
New Year’s Eve (2018) dir. Pranav Bhasin
I’d like to sound off a minute about New Year’s Day falling on a Wednesday. To me, and I don’t believe it’s only me, it feels like the year is stumbling right out of the gate. Take the rest of the week off to recuperate from a late night or squeeze in two more days of work before the weekend? Or skip the whole thing all together? These are not big problems, but there’s a slight existential pressure on the New Year to keep the path smooth as long as you can and put off the inevitable backslide into uncalculated muddling through life until at least Martin Luther King Day, February if you can manage it.
This short from Mumbai-based director Pranav Bhasin captures this feeling of a year out of gear from the start. The young man finds himself with no prospects for kicking off the New Year right – namely at the right party with the right girl – and when he receives opportunity, he gets too much of it and watches his good fortune cancel itself out. The whole rise and fall takes place in something close to real time, nine minutes. God knows what the five hundred sixty-five thousand six hundred starting after midnight will bring.
Long takes are a tricky choice, but this one is bolstered by a well-chosen route and an even better choice of daylight hours, taking advantage of the golden hour for beautiful frames that also point to the rapidly diminishing hours of the old year. Monologue-heavy filmmaking is another bold move in a short, not to mention phone conversation acting. Not everybody is a natural Bob Newhart but Arnav Bahsin (Pranav’s brother) has a deadpan that makes his downtrodden approach to the situation humorously Charlie Brown-esque. Poor guy can’t even buy the kind of wine he wants. Much like good ol’ Chuck (maybe the guy urinating is Pig Pen?), it’s tough to see where the malaise changes from hard luck to bad attitude. Maybe this year it’ll be clearer.
About the writer
C. D. Ploughman
The weary Ploughman is a writer and filmmaker, focusing these days on documentary and educational projects. He obsesses over movies with his very patient wife and children.
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What did we watch?
M*A*S*H, Season One, Episode Four, “Chief Surgeon Who?”
This is an episode that’s ultimately about Hawkeye’s competence. It becomes clear that keeping patients alive is the only thing he really takes seriously; one of my favourite comic bits is when a general shows up and he shows absolute indifference to any military decorum (it doesn’t show up this episode but I’ve always had a lot of affection for his half-assed salutes). Frank, by comparison, is obsessed with the correct image of competence; this is where we learn he has two cars and a $35k house, in ironic countenance to his incompetence.
This episode could be seen, even more than the pilot, as the laying of the basic myth of the show – as long as you get your actual job done, who cares about the accoutrements? It’s a very flattering myth too – I think most people like to think they’re good at something, and that if they’re not good at something, it doesn’t matter. It’s probably very psychologically healthy.
Doctor Who, “The Faceless Ones” – I think that the animated version has watered down facelessness from a visible component to a metaphor. Less that the aliens have no faces and more than that have no individuality since they all look alike. An interesting concept but it kinds of gets lost here. There are a lot of interesting concepts here, but unlike the jet planes that are actually space planes, nothing really takes off. The best parts are the police inspector and the commandant of Gatwick Airport slowly slowly coming around to realize the Doctor is not nuts and then throwing in entirely to help him. This is the last story with Polly and Ben, but having not seen their run with Hartnell yet, I can’t quite tell what I think of them. I can say that the scenes with Jamie and the determined young woman seeking her missing brother are very sweet. The woman was played by Pauline Collins, who was asked to stay on as the next companion and said no. Given that she eventually won a Tony and was nominated for Oscar, I think she did okay (and she would eventually be back to play Queen Victoria opposite David Tennant). First script by Malcolm Hulke, who would stick around for 12 year.
M*A*S*H, “Officer of the Day” – Where Hawkeye will not carry a gun, deals with multiple Kim Luks needing medical attention, and copes with a visit by Colonel Flagg. Funny except of course where Hawkeye and Trapper have to stare down Flagg, and I suspect in real life they would not have gotten away with their dodge. Also, Trapper gets the funniest pinstripe suit ever.
Faceless Ones does have some interesting ideas but it’s a little padded out. Hulke could have trimmed it down to four episodes, but it’s his first time out. Still the last episode has some great suspense and there are a couple of nice cliffhangers. But Polly and Ben are largely absent in their last serial getting a quick if sweet goodbye at the end. Maybe because producer Innes Lloyd saw the great chemistry between Troughton and Hines. One of my favorite tropes or characterizations is the Doctor coming off as a crackpot exasperating the authorities in any given situation while being the smartest person in the room with the authorities not realizing this until it’s almost too late. Troughton did this so well mainly because of his meek, disheveled cosmic hobo characterization. He could flash his anger and assert himself when he needed to. Baker was also good at playing dumb until the right moment while knowing exactly what was going on. While Pertwee would just berate and chastise people into submission until they listened.
New Year’s Eve:
Inside Llewyn Davis – I had this in my Coens second tier but after this rewatch I’m bumping it up to the five-star masterpieces. Everything about it just works so well, the chilly cinematography, the music, the prickly characters, the circular structure that makes for a really unusual, compelling ending. Plus it’s one of the all-time great cat movies!
New Year’s Day:
Dreams – my movie gift, more on unwrapping day.
Hail, Caesar! – this was already in my Coens top tier, I just think it’s the most fun movie they ever made and it fills me with joy. Hobie Doyle is my favourite part of it but all of the digressions are a blast and the main kidnap / communism plot is perfect to hold things together.
The Freshman – a friend mentioned that they were going to try a challenge of watching a previously unseen movie from every year from 1925 to the present and look, if you can hear something like that and not immediately want to join in, you’re a stronger person than me. I looked at 1925 and figured it was a good excuse to see some more Harold Lloyd, and this was a blast – classic campus comedy with some killer set-pieces, more excellent cat content and a ridiculously cute leading lady. The plot is a whole lot of nothing but silent comedy can get away with that if it keeps delivering on the gags and this kept me laughing.
A certain line about the cat and his uh missing piece is one of the funniest Coen lines there is and it’s also in a scene of anguish and a movie of loss and despair. Absolutely one of their best and now it’s an uncomfortable metatext about Oscar Isaac himself, has there been a more wasted (in terms of roles, not booze) actor in the past decade?
Anguish and despair is right – the way they balance that with some of their funniest stuff is pure art. I guess it has been a pretty underwhelming run for Oscar Isaac given his obvious talent. He’s Guillermo del Toro’s Dr. Frankenstein though which could be good? I’d still like to see Alden Ehrenreich get another good role too, he’s so fucking charming in Hail Caesar and I thought he did a good job in Solo but he seems to have vanished a bit. I guess I didn’t see Cocaine Bear yet, erm… maybe he’s incredible in that?
Believe it or not, he’s the best part of that stupid movie.
Hell yeah. I believe in you, Hobie!
Daughterwheel enjoys “movie within a movie” stuff, so Hail, Caesar! was right in her wheelhouse.
And how does this The Freshman compare to the Marlon Brando The Freshman? Shot-for-shot similarity?
College Football Playoff Quarterfinal: Peach Bowl and Rose Bowl
Well, I expected one of these two to be a blowout; I was just wrong on which one was.
Sugar Bowl was postponed for a day. Christ, I was just there 2 ½ weeks ago.
Cunk on Christmas
Felt like the season for this, and a good warmup for Cunk on Life premiering today. Still funny– I particularly like that a couple of the interview subjects seem to be willing to roll with Cunk’s absurdities.
Bob’s Burgers, “Advice Things Are Ad-nice”
Tina becomes the eighth-grade advice columnist for the school newspaper, which leads to some hijinks when Linda and Louise raid her diary to send in questions because no one ever writes in. And Teddy offered to build a float for a fraternal order in the town parade out of his panic and desire to be accepted. Pretty solid Bob’s all in all.
Credits gags: The Pilate Kid (Pilates for Children), Creature Discomforts
Happy Endings, some season 3 episodes
We just ended up watching some of these to wind down the day yesterday. We picked “P&P Romance Factory,” “Ordinary Extraordinary Love,” “The Ex Factor,” “Un-sabotagable,” and “The Ballad of Lon Sarofsky.”
I dunno what more there is to say about it, but it’s still as great as ever. Most notable in these stretches for Rob Corddry’s recurring role as the Car Czar, and Mark-Paul Gosselaar’s double appearance as Max’s (brief) roommate whose life Max, Dave, and Alex accidentally ruin. Also has Jane trying to break into the boy’s club at work, and Brad’s great overreaction to that; Brad-and-Jane overreactions are also the story of the day when Jane’s ex comes over for dinner.
Dream Productions – An Inside Out limited series (4 30-minute episodes, basically a sidequel movie with three extra credit breaks) based around the production “studio” that makes Riley’s dreams. There are quick check-ins with the core emotions (the secondary ones introduced in the sequel are nowhere to be seen) but this is mostly centered around new characters who keep chasing the next “hit,” i.e. a dream Riley will actually remember and that influences her waking life. This is done through movie studio tropes that are too generic to offer insight into Pixar’s own process – no doubt their creatives know something about the pressure to make everything memorable and influential. So it’s not particularly descriptive of dreams and not introspective despite the opportunity and not very funny on top. I’m getting the “meh” feeling i heard from most quarters for the sequel this summer, a film I liked much more than the critical average, so I have some extra “meh” to heap on this further dilution of a strong idea. Don’t know if there’s enough room in Riley’s head to support this stuff ad infinitum, but I didn’t think you could make four entertaining movies about talking toys, so who knows.
Pitch for the next episode: A remake of the Mulholland Drive Winkies scene, but with Bing-Bong behind the dumpster.
The Circus (1928) – 2025 is going to be a clown show, so I started the year right. Chaplin has a bit more of a directorial eye than usual. There’s a shot of the Tramp at the top of a pole having escaped from an angry donkey while his love interest is on the ground. That shot takes full advantage of the height of the frame in a way that feels distinct among Chaplin’s work. Similarly, Chaplin actually pans the camera! I feel like camera movement isn’t too common in Chaplin’s works so it felt like there was a reason for it.
The content of the film is interesting because it’s almost like Chaplin commenting on the state of comedy at the time. These other clowns are trying their best, but only Chaplin can deliver the laughs. Also, this stands out from City Lights and Modern Times in that he doesn’t get the girl. Surprisingly mature of Chaplin.
If there is an underrated Chaplin feature, this is probably it, coming amidst his much more celebrated stuff. But it’s interesting to see how much Chaplin’s anxiety about being left behind by the circus (as it were) is already present even before the talkies have changed the game.
Carry-On – I thought going in this had a de-aged T2 era Robert Patrick running around. That was the selling point for me. To his discredit Taron Egerton does get Patrick’s robotic stoicism while at other times outbursts of over-acting and over-emoting. After that initial disappointment I settled into a half-baked Die Hard knock-off with plenty of stupid stuff. The casting of Jason Bateman as the sarcastic psycho giving pop-quizzes to hotshot Not-John McClane is the film’s biggest strength. But if you gave me a pop-quiz on why he’s doing this I wouldn’t pass. The TSA propaganda romanticizing them as chill protectors of America’s airways, the last line of defense, who personally care about your baggage is the film’s biggest implausibility. There isn’t a moment of yelling, power tripping or seething hostility from any of them. Any hope for an influx of applicants isn’t going to happen. It recycles all the TSA, air travel and unruly airline passenger jokes made in multiple episodes of Seinfeld, including a body search montage with passengers cracking wise. Where Die Hard didn’t announce it was a Christmas movie, something that grew into it over the years, this Not-Die Hard wants you to know it’s a Christmas movie from the beginning that you’ll want to watch every year. It felt like opening a package from grandma when you’re seven and seeing socks. Big missed opportunity with no needle drops from CSNY or Kansas.
Cien Años de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude)
Season 1, Episode 4. “El Castaño”. First time.
The sharpest episode so far, drawing a straight line between government representative Apolinar Moscote coming to Macondo and José Arcadio Buendía losing his mind. Well, semi-straight, as we also see the emerging rivalry between Moscote and Buendía, Aureliano falling in love with Remedios’, Moscote’s underage daughter, the gypsy Melquíades being the first person to die in Macondo, and Pietro Crespi agreeing to marry Rebeca Buendía to the murderous dismay of her sister Amaranta. All of this, plus Ursula taking Rebeca out of Macondo to calm her down, is what ultimately drives José Arcadio to insanity. But it’s all remarkable cogent, and the throughline of Macondo coming to the crossroads of death and tragedy is unmistakable.
Notably, the violence of José Arcadio’s breakdown is equal to the love he still undeniably has for every person in the story (expect Moscote), a fact that shines through Diego Vásquez’s performance. It all comes to a head in the astounding set piece that concludes this episode, where Ursula (in a remarkable scene for actress Marleyda Soto) comes back home to find José Arcadio tied to the chesnut tree, muttering forever in latin about death. It’s by far the most incredible moment in the show, and the one that truly shows the value of putting this particular story on screen. It also drives home one of the key points in the novel: in Macondo, as in life, love and death are inescapably together.