This documentary was added to my list because of its prominence among critics last year but I never realized how heavily inspired it was by the Jacques Demy film Model Shop. By pure coincidence, we only got around to watching that earlier this year and we’re very glad we did as Echo in the Canyon refers to it almost constantly as a sort of record of what mid-1960s Los Angeles looked and felt like. The producer himself acknowledges that it was watching the film that inspired him to embark on this project to find out what the music scene at the time was light and to organize a sort of tribute concert for those great bands.
This is an earlier film by the same Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos who brought us The Lobster and The Favourite. When he made this, he hadn’t yet become famous so this was made with unknown actors and a limited budget. In fact, it takes place almost entirely within the confines of a family’s house. Yet it doesn’t disappoint with regards to its weirdness quotient while being somewhat easier to understand in terms of theme.
It’s pretty amazing how Elisabeth Moss is the one who achieved the most success and recognition coming out of Mad Men, and here she is in another film that is a hit with the critics. Unfortunately I think only about half of the film is really good as the part that deals with the descent of a rock star is fantastic but the subsequent attempted redemption feels weak and unearned.
Amidst the extended lockdown being imposed by most countries around the world, many works of entertainment have been available for free online. The most interesting of these to us are the recorded versions of live performances which would be otherwise impossible to watch. This one is a play originally run in 2011 based on Frankenstein. It was directed by Danny Boyle and starred Benedict Cumberbatch as alternately Victor Frankenstein or his creation.
This is another old film that is not great enough to be considered a classic and not well known enough to be a cult hit either. Nevertheless its director Alan J. Pakula is an established name, being the producer of To Kill a Mockingbird and the director of All the President’s Men. This film itself is noteworthy for its unusually complex psychological treatment of its characters, especially in the domain of sexuality, though it does feel a little dated now.
Like a significant proportion of the planet, we were on a binge of watching the series a few years ago and my wife was absolutely smitten by it. That’s why watching this highly anticipated feature film was always going to be inevitable even if objectively speaking we all know that it’s not going to be much good. The best thing to be said about it is that it properly reunites the cast, with the exception of Matthew Goode who has a curiously insignificant role, and the show is led by series creator Julian Fellowes.
As far as I know, director Jafar Panahi is still barred from leaving Iran or officially making films but of course he doesn’t let them stop him. Here he and the other characters are still playing themselves but at least he isn’t pretending that this isn’t a film anymore. I do like how Taxi Tehran was mostly about the city of Tehran, but this one is about him driving around in the countryside.
