Movies (Do Revenge | Furiosa | Dial M For Murder)

[jaggedwolf]

Do Revenge

Obviously had to watch this after seeing Strangers on a Train, because this is a high school modern au of that starring Veronica from Riverdale and the lesbian from Stranger Things. I kept getting surprised by actors I recognized, oh that’s Sansa Stark, oh that’s Buffy Summers, oh that’s Noa from PLL:OS, what that’s one of Kamala’s love interests from Ms. Marvel okay.

Anyway, it was very fun, had a good time watching these teen girls get revenge and argue with each other. Spoilers below.

Though I noted that Eleanor was paying attention to Drea at tennis camp, I did not consider that (1) she was reading Strangers on a Train (2) she could’ve spread the Max video (3) she could’ve caused the car trouble (4) she could’ve been telling Drea a true story that was literally! About! Drea! And going alright, you don’t even remember doing that to me.

Excellent twist.

My only complaint is to do with the very end of the movie, literally the credit scenes: Don’t have Drea and Eleanor reunite with their regular people love interests! The love interests were fine as a forcing function for the plot, but we had Drea and Eleanor acknowledge they are fucked up soulmates, if they don’t kiss they still should not be inflicted on normal people.

Related addendum: what the fuck Drea don’t give up Yale for the fucking Peace Corps your mother is not working night shifts as a nurse for this and also you would enjoy being a terrible achievement grabber at Yale, embrace it.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Excellent watch on the big screen, much like it’s predecessor. Spoilers below.

Stowaway fight scene was my favorite, with Furiosa and that guy taking moments to 👀 at each other. Found it awfully fitting that the reason she never gets to home before the previous movie is that she refuses to head home alone — it’s not in her to leave someone behind, despite her first would-be rescuer’s mercy dooming them.

The film did drag for me post-Gastown battle. I was certain and satisfied we were approaching a climax and then there was another frickin chapter title screen followed by a 40-day war. The ending itself was good, though.

My nitpickiest complaint: it is so, so stupid that she has long hair in the stowaway fight. She is still pretending to be a boy then! She and the guy can have a moment of connection mid-fight without the “wowza it’s a Girl TM” revelation, either her voice when he recruits her can give it away (I forget if she speaks in that scene) or she can have long hair when we timeskip to them being long-time partners and we’ll implicitly understand. See, film, I’ll even allow for the silliness of long hair in fighting so you can have your dramatic haircut reveal at the end.

Dial M For Murder

Next on the Hitchcock endeavour. A fun little....not murder mystery no, but murder unravelment. Columbo-esque or Poker Face-esque, depending on your poison. But it had some horrendous kisses at its start, I was not convinced any of the three characters enjoyed those kisses. Apparently filmed in 3-D. (One must consider if the kisses were worse in 3-D.)

One of the talkier Hitchcocks. Like Rope, you could guess it was adapted from a play without the credits telling you, between the talkiness and the single setting. Hadn’t realized almost all of his films were adaptations. Apparently Hitchcock kept his name out of the negotiations to buy the film rights for Strangers On A Train from Patricia Highsmith, who was later quite annoyed at how little they sold for.

As always, spoilers under the cut.

When Tony is late to make his call you are almost rooting for him to get to the phone before Swann leaves, because once a plan has been described in detail don’t you kind of want to see it work out. The very fact of the plan being described to us means it cannot be executed successfully. Yet in the course of the attack, where the strangulation seemingly goes on forever and I go “oh that shot is just like the movie poster”, I also go “ah shit, Margot’s fucked.”

Except not, because scrapbooking scissors are within reach. (PLL-brain asks: are scrapbooking scissors ever used as weapon in the Fields house or by either of the Fields women? Missed opportunity.) Tony’s ploy of guilt-tripping Margot into staying home scrapbooking — is she specifically scrapbooking articles on his tennis star career, I wonder — is what lets her defend herself. The attack is when Margot peaks in interestingness.

I love Mark. At first I went ohohoho, he’s the crime writer lover he’s going to solve the whole thing and save his girl, but no, he has too much faith in the man whose wife he slept with. He’s here to be very silly. The final act consists of him and Margot blubbering all over each other while Chief Inspector Hubbard works around them. Entertaining. I like him reassuring Margot with “In a couple of days you're going to have the most wonderful breakdown.” because he is so psyched about her potentially not getting executed.

Hubbard gets to go “They talk about flat-footed policemen. May the saints protect us from the gifted amateur” but also dude, you did not notice anything was up till Tony was bad at spending cash.

Random nitpick: Why would you have them be named Margot and Mark? The names are on the edge of similar enough to dissatisfy me.

Do we think there’s enough evidence for Tony to get convicted of the crime, or will his end-of-movie amiability extend to a confession, since his wife is certainly divorcing him and it’s not a capital crime? Though I would nnot take a drink from a guy who tried to kill and then frame me/my lover.