What was the last film you watched?

[Snarky Oracle!]

On the lighter side...

This morning, John Waters' SERIAL MOM (1993) popped up on my YT algorithm. So, not having watched the film in 30 years, I sat through it. I recalled it being kind of tiresome at the time, and I wouldn't say it's "aged well" necessarily, but I was able to get through it without too much of a problem.

For those who don't know, it's about an all-too-proper suburban mother (Kathleen Turner) who's still stuck more-or-less in the '50s, when she begins to taunt and murder her neighbors who displease her in any way. And the media turns her into a celebrity... The problem with the movie is that it's a one-joke concept; Waters can direct and cast pretty well, but it's just not funny enough to maintain its threadbare satirical plot for however long it runs.

It has that semi-glossy, clean look from the '80s and '90s which has middleclass people living in houses in idealized established neighborhoods which were far too expensive (even in the '90s) for real middleclass people to afford anymore (and are now high end). But post-Reagan Hollywood denial was throwing that at us all the time... A clip of Joan Crawford's STRAIT-JACKET pops up (and I kept thinking a scene from Barbara Bel Geddes' leg-of-lamb episode of ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS should have, too)... Suzanne Somers is a good sport and has a cameo as a narcissistic (ahem!) version of herself who shows up in court in a fur and has been signed to play Turner's character in a cinema biopic. (And when the judge gushes, "I loved you in THREE'S COMPANY" he should have said "SHE'S THE SHERIFF" because it's more obscure and therefore funnier)... And Waters' buddy, Patty Hearst, has a small role as a juror who is beaten and killed in a phonebooth (i.e., a closet, where she was held for 6 months by the SLA). I mean, with friends like these...

Still: meh.

 

[Willie Oleson]

The Rapture (1991)



I had heard of this film a long time ago* but it never appeared on youtube or anything, so I decided enough is enough, buy the DVD and get it over with.
Apparently it has a certain reputation and now that I've seen it I think it qualifies as "cult".
It is obviously very low-budget but that didn't stop them from going all the way which, I guess, is admirable, but it also shows that the themes are a little bit too ambitious for such a small project.
Perhaps it would have helped if they had managed to make it look more atmospheric.
Story-wise it skips a lot of details and convincing character motivation - the protagonist starts reading the bible and in the next scene she's become a religious fanatic. I guess it was a real page-turner.
All things considered I find it pretty amazing that Mimi Rogers turned it into such strong performance, and as far as I know she's not really an A-lister (I only knew her from the soap series Paper Dolls).
The Rapture is not great but at least it delivers as a curiosity.

*I think it happened in the Songs That You Hate Top 10, and I had voted for the Rapture song by Blondie. It will never be a favourite of mine but perhaps it was kinda silly to call it one of the worst songs.


The Last Stop In Yuma County (2023)



Well, this was an unexpectedly awesome hidden gem.
Anything I could mention about the plot would be too much, and I hope it's not a spoiler when I say that it's one the better Coen films that the Coen brothers didn't make.

 

[Seaviewer]

Superman (2025)
I thought I'd rewatch this while waiting for his cousin's movie to come to streaming.

 

[Willie Oleson]

The Godfather Part II (1974)



Despite my successful rewatch of The Godfather (sorta kinda like "the first season") I was still reluctant to revisit the sequel.

Not only was it not the overrated slog I thought it was, but it was also an unstopwatchable cinematic feast. It almost looks as if it's taken ten years to make this film.
And, yes, the Vito origins flashbacks add a lot to the epicness of it all, and it was an excuse to cast Robert De Niro in the role of young Vito Corleone.
I still think it looks a little less "urgent" than the first film and also not completely necessary - the first film had a perfect ending - but the discussion about the what-ifs and what-ifn'ts seems irrelevant since the sequel was made. We must only deal with the reality.
If the first story was about the corruption of Micheal Corleone and his rise to Godfatherhood, the second story shows the consequences which are just as tragic and deadly as Vito's story, but it's also far less romantic. It's the difference between gaining power and fortune and protecting that power and fortune.
Also, the first film opens with a wedding party, the second one with a funeral procession. Which then becomes even bloodier.

For such a beautiful film it's actually rather bleak, and the ending made me think of a storyline in next generation DALLAS.
JR dead, Cliff in jail and everybody hates Bobby.

"I'll do everything to protect my family!"

But where is your family now, Bobby?

All these dynasty type of stories, the westerns, the mafia, the politicians, the corporate tycoons - it's all King's Drama that has existed since the first day people had powerful rulers.
The backstabbers, the paranoia, the daddy issues, the jealous brothers, the prosecutors, the insubordinate wives - it's all the same old stuff and we just can't get enough of it (if 26 or 27 years of soapchat/tellytalk is anything to go by).
Kay Corleone's reveal of the abortion even resulted in a pearl-clutching gasp on this particular side of the internet. We don't get to see much their married life or how she feels about anything therefore I had to take it at face value. But nevertheless, what a shocker.
I'm very glad I talked myself into this rewatch, it doesn't matter that the first Godfather film looks a litte bit more entertaining - and who knows, maybe I'll change my mind about that, too.
Roll on, season 3.

 

[Willie Oleson]

The Godfather Part III Coda: The Death Of Michael Corleone (1990 2020)



The last instalment puts the opera in soap opera, an endless assassination scene that looks like a season finale episode in "which important character is going to die?"
To become an ex-Godfather proves to be equally, if not more, challenging for Michael Corleone, but despite the spoilery re-title he doesn't actually die on screen.
Similar to the previous films there's a lot of typical mafia tit for tat and they do it with smiles and gifts and false promises.
All that decorum and pomposity masquerading the hatred and blood lust is part of the appeal of the Italian gangster genre.
It reminds of the early years of Falcon Crest in which the Channings and Giobertis kept up appearances even though they were all aware of the war that was going on.
"After all, we're family" as Angela Channing would say it.

It started out very simple for Vito Corleone and other Godfathers like him. You help me with this and I'll remember that. I always remember my friends.
But when the stakes are getting higher and the circle of friends becomes bigger and more intricate then someday, someone, is going to be overlooked.
And it only takes one insulted, vengeful person to make that house of cards collapse.
I must say that I didn't understand all the details in the story. The introduction of Sonny Corleone's illegitimate son Vincent and his feud with gangster Joey Saza is rowdy and messy and Michael keeps asking "what does all this have to do with me?" which is exactly the question I was asking myself.
Joey Saza seems to have a big chip on his shoulder and later he declares war on the Corleones and I have no idea where it comes from.
I also wasn't sure if the big Immobilaire Deal was a good or bad thing for Michael.
But when the spectacle happens it's very spectacular - I played the film as loud as possible.
Speaking of sound, the English subtitles are oddly absent in the parts with Italian language therefore I had to use the Dutch subtitles to understand what they were saying. Initially I thought the viewer wasn't supposed to know therefore I wasn't even sure what the Dutch subtitles would reveal. But it was important enough.

Part III looks as beautiful as the previous parts - well, almost - but I had to learn from wiki that this part of the story takes place in 1979, and not 1989 or 1990.
There is nothing about the hair or clothes or environment that looks remotely 1970s. Men like Andy Garcia (who plays the retconned long lost half-nephew!) did not exist in the 1970s.
But anyway, I had a great time watching it and I think it really helped that Diane Keaton got a little bit more screen time.