What did you watch on this first week of spring?(18/03-24/03)

Movie: Julius Caesar
TV series: West Wing, Elementary, Major Crimes, I Love Lucy.

After a long hiatus, in which my free time has been spent mainly on books and video games, I watched a couple of movies this week.

Wife to be Sacrificed (1974, Japan)
A woman runs into her fugitive ex-husband and he kidnaps her and takes her to a cabin in the woods where he reduces her to his sex slave, rapes and tortures her. I'm not sure what I expected from this movie. I didn't expect greatness; it was just a random movie to watch. I guess from the Netflix description I thought it would be a revenge flick or something of that nature, in which the wife would resist and get back at him. But the movie turned out to be something approaching rape fantasy porn, largely from the perspective of the guy perpetrating it. The woman victim eventually comes around to embrace it and discovers her hidden BDSM fetish. Some parts left me downright nauseous and all in all I violently detested it. Not that I'm a prude. It's not just that it turned out to be in the neighborhood of porn. I just don't find rape and sexual enslavement to be a turn-on. And there were a number of other nasty elements to it that I won't get into. Just... ugh. I somehow managed to sit through the whole thing and kept my dinner down, but it was not a great movie experience.

Continued in separate post due to size limit (is it just me or is the size limit even shorter now?).

Lenin in October (1937, Soviet Union)
This was a more pleasant movie experience. I really enjoy old Soviet films, especially those unfairly maligned ones in the socialist-realism style. Made for the 20th anniversary of the October Socialist Revolution, this one follows Lenin as he returns to Russia from Finland and evades capture by the police in the days leading up to the uprising. Boris Shchukin, a great Soviet actor, did a fine job and gave a nice human portrayal of Lenin, a man too often reduced to one-dimensional caricatures. In this movie he comes across as a grandfatherly figure. There's even a lot of humor in the movie, contradicting the anti-communist misconception that the Soviets were stodgy people who took everything too seriously. The movie does feel a bit rushed, though, which it was because the filmmakers wanted to get it done in time to release it on November 7, the 20th anniversary of the revolution. A sequel was made after this one, "Lenin in 1918", in which Boris Shchukin reprises his role as Lenin (sadly he died shortly after making that film), but unfortunately I haven't yet been able to find that one with English subtitles. But anyway I quite liked this one.

The way, way back - I balled my eyes out man, I really wish I had watched that movie earlier

When we first met - It was on netflix and I love how cute the movie was, even if it was hella predictable and cheesy

Godfather III was the weakest of the trilogy and had Pacino's worst performance. "Uneven", as you aptly describe it. He and Talia Shire almost seemed like caricatures of themselves at points. Sofia Coppola was widely panned, but I thought the criticism was overblown. There are scenes where she was fine, and others where she...wasn't. But given this pattern of inconsistent performances affecting others as well, I wonder how much of the fault lies with Francis Coppola as the director.

Before I saw it, I was very skeptical about the casting of Andy Garcia but his performance turned out to be the best of the cast. He elevated the film and I probably would never have re-watched it but for his contribution.

I did see Game Over, Man, and yes it's forgettable, but it was a fun watch and had a few very worthwhile laughs.

I also feel the exact same way about Salvia! I have done it twice, the second time was futile. The first was a life altering experience that made me fear and appreciate the workings of the brain and mind.

The Dark Valley (2014) - Through a hidden path a lone rider reaches a little town high up in the Alps. Nobody knows where the stranger comes from, nor what he wants there. But everyone knows that they don't want him to stay.

I really enjoyed this one! Nice scenery, great score and it kept me guessing until the end.

Star Wars the Last Jedi - Yes, I finally saw it. Weaker than the 1st one, just didn't have that spark. As many other people pointed out, too much comedy in it for my liking. Overall, I enjoyed it and am looking forward to the conclusion.

I'm still working my way through the first season of The Man in the High Castle and am also really enjoying the new series on AMC The Terror.

The Terror - Really enjoying it so far and can't wait for the next episodes. In fact, I want them all, NOW 😁

The Box - I usually don't like Cameron Diaz but she was good in this I thought.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - Fight scenes still great to watch.

The Fall - Some really beautiful scenery & shots. The the costumes maybe not so much.