Steven Rubio's Online Life

music friday: 2000

Madonna, "Music".

*NSYNC, "Bye Bye Bye".

Vicki Sue Robinson, 'Turn the Beat Around". Robinson died of cancer, age 45, on April 27, 2000.

film fatales #215: the breaker upperers (madeleine sami and jackie van beek, 2018)

This is the fourth film I have watched in "My Letterboxd Season Challenge 2024-25", a "33-week-long community challenge" where "you must watch one previously unseen film that fits the criteria of the theme for the week." This is the 10th annual challenge, and my sixth time participating (previous years can be found at "2019-20", "2020-21", "2021-22", "2022-23", and 2023-24). Week 4 is called "Her Dark Material Week":

Are you familiar with Letterboxd user's hyper-specific lists? You know, the ones with weirdly-similar, surprisingly common details shared by two or three otherwise unrelated films? It's too bad there aren't enough options for an LSC weekly challenge. They're inspiring, though, so, in that vein, we'll cast our attention toward a list that goes a bit broader but still feels sufficiently focused. The first shared element for this week's challenge is that the movie be female-led (or the storyline at least female-driven.) Tipping the scales more equitably is something we're interested in here at LSC, and setting our sights on stories about women is a small but conscious step in that direction. Second, there's a twist! Forget light and frothy. Instead, we need something with an undercurrent of darkness, as there's nothing like a streak of controversy to keep things interesting. And, third, let there be LOLs! Laughing has myriad health benefits (it can increase your immune response, for one), and who couldn't be in better health?

Voila! Your challenge this week is to watch a title from Kevin MJ's The Best Female-Led Dark Comedy Films list. It might not carve out as meticulous a nano genre as some others, but it'll give us a wealth of options and hopefully prove as much fun!

Well, I was warned. The Breaker Upperers is a dark comedy, and I'm not a fan of modern comedies. Using the Letterboxd definition of comedies, I have given my highest rating to only two comedies in the 21st century. At some point (and I reached this point a long time ago) it is pointless for me to comment on modern comedies. Good ones, bad ones, they connect with me so rarely that I have nothing to say, and my evaluation is so biased that no one can learn anything from my opinion. So I'll say that The Breaker Upperers is refreshing in that it's a buddy movie about women, and Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek, who directed, wrote, and starred, are talented. And Lucy Lawless has a blink-and-you'll-miss it cameo.

geezer cinema: transformers one (josh cooley, 2024)

Before today, I had only seen one Transformers movie, the first Michael Bay version. I hated it:

Transformers is a $150 million commercial. It represents the worst in what movies have become in the post-Star Wars era ...A movie that should be a likable goof with some good special effects and a 90-minute running time becomes an overblown fart of a movie with excellent special effects, no idea what to do with those effects, and a running time of 144 minutes. Stuff blows up, and with that, I've summed up the good parts of Transformers. The robot effects are indeed amazing, which is interesting for maybe five minutes. The rest of the movie is a mess, with lame humor, action sequences that are impossible to follow, and, I kid you not, an attempt to make us get teary-eyed over the plight of a fucking toy robot. Its name is Bumblebee ... that sound you hear is me puking.

My wife likes Transformers movies ... it's thanks to her that I saw the new one (it's her turn to pick our weekly Geezer movie). I had long forgotten what I'd said about that 2007 film, but when I revisited my thoughts, I knew there was trouble, because I have learned over the years that Bumblebee is one of my wife's favorite transformers. Oops.

I guess I can say that Transformers One is the best Transformers movie I have ever seen, given that I've only seen the one other and it made me puke. This one is animated, which may help ... it's better when you can't see actual actors blended with CGI. Some of my favorite actors do voice work here, although I only recognized Scarlett Johansson. There's a clever moment when the character voiced by Keegan-Michael Key introduces his friend A-A-Tron. Best of all, Transformers One is 40 minutes shorter than the 2007 Transformers. Beyond that, if you can't say anything nice ...

the mother and the whore (jean eustache, 1973)

The Mother and the Whore has achieved universal critical acclaim over the years. It was #94 on the most recent Sight and Sound poll (between Parasite and The Shining) and it's #105 on the They Shoot Pictures, Don't They list of the top 1000 films of all time. Way back when I and a couple of friends did a long, Fave Fifty Films thread on Facebook, Jeff Pike had it as #4 on his list. Admittedly, at times it seems like Jean Eustache is praised for the rules he is breaking. The Mother and the Whore is more than 3 1/2 hours long ... the length of an epic ... yet it is a talky, intimate movie, what might have come from John Cassavetes filming Is Paris Burning? There is a clear connection to the French New Wave, but it comes perhaps a decade after the initial flowering of the movement ... post-New Wave, if you will. Many critics read a critique of the New Wave in Eustache's film ... the lead character, Alexandre, is played by New Wave icon Jean-Pierre Léaud, whose charm came across in those earlier films, but whose Alexandre is narcissistic and rather unlikable. The Mother and the Whore is also a commentary on Paris 1968, and it benefits from being made so soon after those events. Alexandre misses the sense of commitment he felt in '68, although it's hard to accept that he truly believes in anything.

I found Léaud annoying, although maybe it's Alexandre that I didn't like. But the two lead actresses are impressive in different ways. Bernadette Lafont is a legend who manages to simultaneously suggest a movie star and an ordinary, down-to-earth woman. Meanwhile, the film came very early in the career of Françoise Lebrun ... she doesn't carry the same baggage as Lafont, "the face of the French New Wave". Her Veronika is burdened with having to wear her raw emotions more openly than the others. In a mixed review, Kael claimed that "the picture stands or falls on the viewer's attitude toward her recital of [Veronika's] sexual humiliations and her loathing of sex without love." I thought the character and Lebrun were properly all over the place. Lebrun gets a long monologue near the end of the film that will impress you if you get that far.

I don't think The Mother and the Whore is a masterpiece, but it is unique in many ways, worthy of at least one viewing.

from up on poppy hill (goro miyazaki, 2011)

This is the third film I have watched in "My Letterboxd Season Challenge 2024-25", a "33-week-long community challenge" where "you must watch one previously unseen film that fits the criteria of the theme for the week." This is the 10th annual challenge, and my sixth time participating (previous years can be found at "2019-20", "2020-21", "2021-22", "2022-23", and 2023-24). Week 3 is called "Nicecore Week":

After the stress of last week, let's go the other direction and take it easy with a nice film. Specifically Nicecore, a term I first heard several years ago associated with the release of Paddington 2. “If you’re kind and polite, the world will be right," says the titular bear. In the rather unkind political reality during which the term arose, people looked to the movies for "radical kindness". Although these films are "nice", they can still hold emotional depth, conflict, and complexity. This list is a helpful reference, from Winnie the Pooh to Totoro too.

This week let's celebrate all kinds of kindness and watch a previously unseen Nicecore film.

This is the second film directed by Goro Miyazaki, son of the great Hayao (who co-wrote the script). Compared to some of the classic Ghibli movies, From Up on Poppy Hill is relatively straightforward, missing much of the flights of fantasy associated with Goro's father. It tells the story of teenage love in 1963 Japan, with specific ties to the history of the time. This works fine, so maybe it's on me, but I kept waiting for supernatural beings to turn up, if not Totoro, at least some soot bunnies. The plot, about young romance and coming-of-age family life, captures our attention, and there's really nothing wrong with the movie. It just wasn't quite what I wanted.

That's no one's fault but my own, and your mileage may vary. It is a very good movie. Also, being set in 1963 Japan, it includes a nostalgic memory from my own youth. In 1963, a Japanese pop hit, "Ue o Muite Arukō", was released in the United States under the title "Sukiyaki", where it reached #1 on the charts.

Many years later, my niece gave herself a birthday party where she asked each of us to present something special, not a gift but something creative. I printed out the words to "Ue o Muite Arukō", downloaded a karaoke version and adjusted the pitch to fit my vocal range, and for the party, I sang the song, reading the lyrics off the page. Afterwards, the crowd was split between those who said "I didn't know he could sing" and those who said "I didn't know he spoke Japanese".

I'm not the only American who remembers that song. Bob Dylan played it in Japan in 1986:

music friday: double shot (of my baby's love)

The Swingin' Medallions, "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)". I'm not sure the Swingin' Medallions ever expected to be big stars, and I like to imagine they enjoyed their moment in the sun. Many (most? all?) of the original band members have passed on now, but the band retained a popularity in the South for a long time, and if YouTube is proper evidence, they never tired of playing their classic for fans. I love this trivia about the song. It was originally released in 1963, three years before the Medallions' version, by Dick Holler and the Holidays. Holler went on to write "Abraham, Martin, and John", a memorable record by Dion. "Double Shot" was an example of a subgenre called "Frat Rock" (think "Louie Louie" by The Kingsmen).

One big fan of the song was Bruce Springsteen, who mentioned it at least once when introducing his own frat-rock composition, "Sherry Darling". Bruce being devoted to his influences, and always ready to share the stage, it was inevitable that the following happened in 2009:

Bonus: Bruce Springsteen, "Sherry Darling". I love late-70s Bruce more than anything in the world.

geezer cinema: night moves (arthur penn, 1975)

This is the first bonus film I have watched in "My Letterboxd Season Challenge 2024-25", a "33-week-long community challenge" where "you must watch one previously unseen film that fits the criteria of the theme for the week." This is the 10th annual challenge, and my sixth time participating (previous years can be found at "2019-20", "2020-21", "2021-22", "2022-23", and 2023-24). Bonus Week 1 is called "Roger Ebert's Great Movies Week":

The first bonus entry for this year's challenge is the very first theme from the very first Letterboxd Season Challenge! In fact Roger Ebert's Great Movies made it as a theme on the first five LSCs until previous host Benjamin Milot retired it, with one last time as a bonus theme in LSC 5. We're resurrecting the theme again for the 10th anniversary!

This bonus challenge is to watch one of Roger Ebert's Great Movies!

This may be a cheat. I think I saw this many years ago, but since I can't remember anything about it, I figure it's OK to treat it as "unseen" for the Challenge.

Roger Ebert wrote of Gene Hackman's Harry Moseby in Night Moves:

There is a profound disconnect between his investigation and what is really happening, and essentially the movie shows him acting like a private eye while the case unfolds independently in front of him.... What [Hackman] brings to “Night Moves” is crucial; he must be absolutely sure of his identity as a free-lance gumshoe, even while all of his craft is useless and all of his hunches are based on ignorance of the big picture.

The typical old-school private eye is a bit smarter than everyone else. It's the noir "hero" that gets it all wrong, which is how Night Moves is more neo-noir than private eye movie. It's a bit like Altman/Gould's The Long Goodbye, if not as good. The film takes its time getting to the core mystery ... it's almost a character study at first, and while the acting is good and the characters are interesting, I was getting a bit impatient. When the mystery plot begins to unfold, things pick up, but since Harry Moseby is always unknowingly a step behind, the forward momentum is hesitant at best. Also in the Raymond Chandler tradition, once everything is played out, it's not entirely clear who has done what to whom for what reason, if that kind of thing matters to you.

Night Moves was the first pairing of Arthur Penn and Gene Hackman since Bonnie and Clyde. Crucially, editor Dede Allen is also present, although Stephen A. Rotter is listed as co-editor. I found the film to be more interesting in the post-mortem than in the actual watching ... there are some intriguing things going on with genre here that make for good discussion, but I wanted more from the movie itself.

sabotage (alfred hitchcock, 1936)

This is the second film I have watched in "My Letterboxd Season Challenge 2024-25", a "33-week-long community challenge" where "you must watch one previously unseen film that fits the criteria of the theme for the week." This is the 10th annual challenge, and my sixth time participating (previous years can be found at "2019-20", "2020-21", "2021-22", "2022-23", and 2023-24). Week 2 is called "Anxiety Week":

“Anxious-nervous, like he’s dreading it or anxious-excited like he’s looking forward to it?” I, like Nick from The Parent Trap, am anxious-excited for this week. Last year we featured the Polish Moral Anxiety movement, which featured films made in response to real-world anxieties. This year it will be the films themselves that provide the anxiety. Here we celebrate films that get under your skin and keep you on edge, whether it's action, horror, cringe comedy, or, uh, Stuart Little 2 apparently? I haven't seen it but I can only imagine the tension.

This week we invite you to make yourself uncomfortable and watch a previously unseen anxiety-inducing film.

I can't be particularly fair with Sabotage. I didn't realize it when I started the film, but I was tired, and soon I was struggling to stay awake. It only lasts 77 minutes, and I did manage to keep from falling asleep. But I'm not sure I really appreciated the suspense ... I wasn't anxious enough.

Sabotage was adapted from Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent, and is considered by some to be Hitchcock's finest film from his British period. That feels excessive to me, even if I try to be kind in order to compensate for my sleepiness. It's certainly worth a second viewing after I've had some caffeine. But I found the buildup to the suspenseful scenes to be draggy, such that even at 77 minutes, it felt long. Sylvia Sidney and Oskar Homolka are fine in the leads, and I wasn't annoyed by teenager Desmond Tester. But I didn't care enough about the characters, the setting, anything. Still, as with even the worst Hitchcock movies, there is one classic scene, when the teenager is unknowingly sent off to deliver a bomb to Picadilly Circus station. For these few minutes, Hitchcock delivers the anxiety.

enter the dragon (robert clouse, 1973)

Pauline Kael once referred to Bruce Lee as "the Fred Astaire of martial arts", and that's a good call. There is something so aesthetically pleasing about Lee's fight scenes that you watch, not just in awe, but with a sense that he is elevating the genre. There are limits to this ... as David Thomson wrote, "He seems to me to celebrate a spur of cinema that separates violence from life, and revels in it." Lee's movements are otherworldly, and we react to the violence the way we might to a Road Runner cartoon. When I am watching Lee, I barely think about the damage he is doing to others, because there is such enjoyment in just watching him move.

Lee's place in movie history goes beyond Enter the Dragon, but it remains true that if you only watch one of his movies, this is the one to see. Wikipedia lists the inflation-adjusted worldwide gross revenue at $2 billion. It's his most "Western" movie, an American-HK co-production with actors like John Saxon and Jim Kelly. It looms large in his legend because he died at age 32 just before the film was released. It's a genre classic of crucial importance, although I'd argue it doesn't really transcend the genre. Lee is great, the movie makes the most of his presence, but the action takes a while to get going and the plot is pretty standard. Certainly everyone should see it at least once, and if the genre appeals to you, you will watch it again and again.

[There is a lot of great trivia about the making of the film. My favorite is this: "Bruce Lee had laryngitis for three days of the shoot. The production team did not have vocalisations with the right intonation from Bruce to re-use in the fight scenes, so instead used stock sound clips of animals, including adolescent seagulls, for Bruce's vocal sound effects."]

music friday: stevie wonder

Rolling Stone has a new list put together by Michaelangelo Matos, "The 50 Best Stevie Wonder Songs". Tip of the cap to Matos ... it's a great list ... but what else do you expect when the artist is Stevie Wonder, and you don't wonder how they could possibly find 50 best songs, but instead wonder what they had to leave out. Here are #3-1. First, #3:

Next, #2:

And #1:

Bonus, the song that got our attention in 1963 ... it's #9. I don't think there was another song so exciting on the radio when I was 10 years old: