Letterboxd — Your life in film

https://ohbpodcast.com/2023/01/22/the-banshees-of-inisherin-a-fecking-good-film/

With stellar directing from Jane Campion and cinematography from collaborator Ari Wegner, The Power of the Dog is a master class in filmmaking. The stunning visuals of the vast New Zealand landscape, doubling for Montana, ultimately don't overshadow Oscar worthy performances from Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons, Kirsten Dunst, and Kodi Smit-McPhee. A haunting score by Jonny Greenwood punctuates the many themes in the film including love, loss, jealousy, grief, and the impact of toxic masculinity in the 1920s. Campion's latest is an incredibly satisfying cinematic experience. 

Catch our Oh Brother podcast review here click to watch

#moviereviews #podcast #thepowerofthedog

With strong directing we’ve come to expect from Steven Soderbergh, an engaging performance from Zoë Kravitz, and a timely premise centered around our everyday use of Alexa type technology, ultimately the strength of the writing couldn’t salvage what might have been an otherwise solid film.  Once the antagonists take center stage, there was nothing that could save the film or one of its characters, protested by Erika Christensen, from its own demise.

Notorious gunfighter Jimmy Ringo (Gregory Peck) comes back into town to visit his estranged sweetheart Peggy (Helen Wescott) to try and convince her he’s no longer a roaming gunfighter and wants her to come with him to settle down. Ringo and Peggy have an eight year old son from their younger days. When Peggy tells Ringo she is not ready, he convinces her to take a year to think it over and he’ll be back for her and their son while proving he’s no longer a wondering gunfighter.

Bill Murray plays cynical TV weatherman Phil Conners who is wasting his talent on a bunch of “hicks” in the town of Punxsutawney to celebrate Groundhog Day and whether or not we will have 6 more weeks of winter. Then Conners finds himself in a nightmare of having to relive the same day over and over again seemingly stuck in some strange type of time warp. Murray is perfect as the annoyed by everything weatherman who ultimately finds a key to unlock his nightmare of reliving the same day.

A group of 1970’s drug addicts led by Bob (Matt Dillon) travel from town to town robbing pharmacies in an effort to stay high 24/7. After an incident during one of their drug outings leads Bob to have second thoughts about his lifestyle due to his superstitious tendencies leaves the rest of the group including Bob’s wife Dianne (Kellie Lynch) with a decision to quit or continue their nomad ways. A brilliant indie film by director Gus Van Sant based on a James Fogle novel should not be missed.

A remake of the 1974 film starring Charles Bronson as architect who’s wife and daughter get attacked by thugs who follow them home from a shopping trip turn Bronson into the ultimate vigilante. The original spawned 4 sequels with each one sillier than the last. The only thing sillier was this 2018 remake with Bruce Willis playing the character of Paul Kersey, now a surgeon instead of architect, makes the scenario even more ridiculous. Directed by Eli Roth this movie does not provide any of the sympathy we feel for Bronson in the original. Just a reason for a little Bloodlust. Do yourself a favor and skip this one.

Disney’s live action remake of their 1998 animated musical classics. When the Chinese emperor notifies each village a male member must fight off a threat from invaders a young woman disguises herself as a make in order to save her frail father to having to represent their village. (See our Mulan podcast for an in-depth review).

Ask most people who like films depicting mobsters and they’ll likely talk about The Godfather or Goodfellas but fans of this genre may have missed the Coen brother's brilliant 1990 film Miller's Crossing. Starring Albert Finney as a mob boss with his top adviser played by Gabriel Byrne with a break out performance by John Turturro a low life wannabe player in the mob world. Leo (Finney), basically runs the town with advice from Tom (Byrne) until Verna (Marcia Gay Harden) comes between the two sending Tom to work with a competing member of the underworld.

A documentary/play/film featuring Al Pacino as director and actor about his passion for Shakespeare’s Richard III. Al Pacino puts together a who’s who Shakespearean cast showing side by side portions of rehearsals, discussions, and performance of one of the tougher to understand and often misunderstood plays written by Shakespeare. Including many popular film stars like Alec Baldwin, Kenneth Branagh,  and Kevin Kline with some of the finest British stage performers to dig deep into the meaning behind the words of one of the worlds most prolific play writes.