Tag: Films from 2018

Reel 70: Love During Wartime

Roughly two-thirds of this show’s life ago, we did an episode titled “Life During Wartime“, in which the war wasn’t always neatly spelled out.

In today’s episode, it’s Love During Wartime, and again the war isn’t quite so obvious, except that it’s referring specifically to the Cold War. We’re looking at a pair of films that each deal with a couple and how they respond to Soviet oppression. In both cases, it’s rather early in that oppression, but they’re still set many years apart.

In Part One we’ll be looking at 1988’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being, directed and co-written by Philip Kaufman. Daniel Day-Lewis is a man who falls in love with a woman and eventually finds it in himself to change, however slowly, for her benefit. It’s a long, convoluted story that will run you through all of your emotions, no matter how cold-hearted you are.

Part Two is a more recent film. From 2018, it’s Cold War, a film about star-crossed lovers who seem to find themselves on the opposite sides of many  different lines throughout their relationship, including the Iron Curtain itself. They’re together, then they’re separated, but they manage to find their way back together.  Was it worth it for them? We’ll leave it to you to decide that part.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: 

Episodes 71-73 will be all about spycraft, but for the first one we’re going to keep it light. We’ll start with 1979’s The In-Laws, starring Peter Falk and Alan Arkin.  From there we go to 1984 and Top Secret!, a spy spoof that stars Val Kilmer as an Elvis-like musician who is recruited to perform in Europe and finds himself mixed up in espionage.  Join us, won’t you?

Reel 59: TANSTAAFL

For the record: Sean kinda hates this title, but there was nothing we workshopped that was any better, so.

For the uninitiated, “TANSTAAFL” is an acronym meaning “There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.” It derives from Robert Heinlein’s novel The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. It’s one of my favorites of his, although there are a couple of things in it that don’t make a ton of sense. But if you’re along for the ride, you don’t really mind so much. Also, if you’ve read the book, check out the audiobook. The reader puts a neat spin on it that gave me a whole new perspective.

Where was I? Oh, yeah. Reel 59.

In this episode we look at a couple of unconventional families who are caught up in the dark side of capitalism. We start with 2018’s Shoplifters, written and directed by Hirokazu Koreeda. It’s a Japanese film about a family that succeeds, largely through various forms of deception. And it works—until it doesn’t. There are some moments of high drama, others with comedy, and a couple of really  sweet scenes involving these folks just spending time together and exploring their relationships with one another.

In Part Two we jump to Korea and 2019’s Parasite, directed and co-written by Bong Joon Ho. It’s a comedy throughout until, again, everything goes wrong and the tone changes. But, like Shoplifters (and, for that matter, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress), you’re already so enthralled by the story that you’re going to want to ride it out. Parasite is so good that it won four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature Film. And my personal opinion is that these awards will stand up to scrutiny in later years (looking at you, Rocky, Crash and Forrest Gump).