After mentioning Green Room, my beatboxing sweat-brother Jon Schoss* turned me onto Jeremy Saulnier's earlier film, Blue Ruin, apparently the first in a trilogy of "color" films. Again, I was struck by how spare and direct it was. How "this happened and it went wrong, where do we go from here?" Also how fucking much Macon Blair looks like Graham fucking Skipper. It's beginning to freak me out. I dug the trappings of GR more, but this was a great experience.
Can't recall how I heard about Hard Eight. Probably saw it mentioned around when PTA was up for Oscar shenanigans with Phantom Thread. It's really funny how this feels like a PTA student film; it still has the actors and the situations and the Jon Brion music, but the scope is tiny. One ONE story?! One FOUR characters?! My biggest problem with this movie was believing Gwyneth Paltrow as a prostitute. I can't think of a more haughty actress...maybe Madeline Kahn? But, seriously, even completely broke and dying of starvation, I cannot see Paltrow selling her body for ANYTHING less than 6.5 million dollars.
Also, I strongly believe that Philip Baker Hall has neither chewed gum nor worn jeans in his entire life. The jeans would instantly turn to a black, tailored suit. I also believe he has looked and sounded like he does now, at age 87, his entire life. First words, "Mother, I'd like to suckle, if I may."
* A man who always brings the kukushiki.
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