The Knives Out Curriculum – Mystery 101 with Rian Johnson
Oh HELL yes. This is exactly the kind of movie I was hoping for when I started this project.
The Last of Sheila, written by Anthony Perkins (?) and Stephen Sondheim (???) has all the makings of a fun murder mystery: hammy performances, a unique blend of characters, a provocative setting and secrets on secrets on secrets on SECRETS.
I'm wary to get into too deep of specifics because #spoilers…
Greed is not good.
But The Wolf of Wall Street is.
It is very, very good. Will The Irishman be better? It’s certainly possible, and that excites the shit out of me.
It really can’t be said enough how masterful Scorsese’s work is in this movie.
There’s great movies, and then there’s great movies by great directors. Scorsese delivers the latter, crafting what is flat out one of the best cinematic experiences to ever appear on the silver screen or elsewhere.
Never does Goodfellas feel inauthentic. Never does it slow down or lose the slightest bit of intrigue.
But for all Scorsese does right, the X-factor of this is Joe Pesci. This is…
If you start this movie at 10:30ish on New Year’s Eve, the clock will strike midnight around Cher and Andy Garcia’s duet of Fernando.
I honestly cant think of a better movie to flip the calendar from 2018 to 2019 with.
The first time I watched this was with my best female friend a day or 2 after I found out I got my job.
The last time I watched it, I had just gotten my first Manhattan apartment. Now…
The Knives Out Curriculum - Mystery 101 with Rian Johnson
Notes because I’m sleepy.
- This may set the record for most plot twists in one movie. The ground’s always changing under the audience’s feet.
- Might fuck around and work my way chronologically through Lumet’s filmography.
- Top 10 movie house. Probably top 5. Just gotta do something about those white walls. Gross!
- Christopher Reeve is so great in this. Makes me sad that we lost him so soon.
- I finally see where Rian got his knife statue idea. Good artists copy etc.
Not as technically proficient as 2001, but I think I like it more.
Someday, the children of the new sun will meet the children of the old
God, what a perfect ending to this story. We’re sleeping on a possible masterpiece here. Science fiction doesn’t get much better than this.
Come at me film bros.
Revisiting this and the graphic novel in preparation for the upcoming HBO series.
The Snyder’s direction is impeccable, I just can’t understand for the life of my why the script ommitted certain things from the source material. Even when the roadmap is laid out perfectly in front of him, Snyder feels the need to zig and zag when NO ONE WANTS HIM TO.
Oh well, still a pretty cool movie, and one of the stronger book to movie adaptations we’ve seen in a while. Can’t wait to see what the TV show does with this particular sandbox.
Grade: 8.5/10
The Knives Out Curriculum - Mystery 101 with Rian Johnson
Love a good Poirot monologue! I sure hope Daniel Craig gets one....
Knives Out is only a couple weeks away now, so I’ve got to put the pedal to the metal and finish this up.
Definitely intrigued by the demystifying of the big J, but I guess I’m not religious enough to appreciate the gravity of that choice.
Scorsese’s career can be broken down into 3 categories:
1) Crime
2) Spirituality
3) New York at midnight
2 is what gets me fired up the least, but it’s obvious Scorsese has a lot of built-up inner turmoil over his/our relationship with god.
But casting Harvey Keitel as a ginger Judas. Marty. Baby, what are you doing?