Licorice Pizza (2021)

All non-Nolan related film, tv, and streaming discussions.
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Saw this in 70mm last night. Best of the year with ease IMO. Just an absolute delight to watch. Alana lights up the screen. Had high expectations and once again PTA exceeds them. I do feel like parts of this film could be tighter and wrapped up neater but it's easy to look pass when the energy is this immersive.

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This was great up until
like the last minute. Not a fan of how it turns. The implication here is gross, and they handle it well for the entire film so it was disappointing to see them go that route for the ending.

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My two cents is, that I have no issue with people supporting unethical stuff in fiction whether it's rooting for Thanos, shipping a romance between a woman and a fish or what have you. It's fantasy, whatever is happening inside the director or audience's head can't really hurt me.

There is an exception to this rule and that is when the problematic aspects can potentially have an impact on real life, by encouraging or helping normalize bad stereotypes and whatnot, but that's a whole other area.

However there is an interesting discussion to be had about how in general, adult women being romantically involved with minors or thirsting after them in movies is subconsciously or otherwise deemed by most as much less of an issue compared to men.

It's really hard to deny that few would have actually dared to make a Licorice Pizza type film but gender swapped. And again I have no problem with the film, just making an observation on the inconsistency of the perceptions, which reflects a major social issue.

Or in this scene you have the 40 years old Shirley Henderson performing a thirsty moment (albeit as a teenage character, sort of) with a naked 15 years old Radcliffe, trying to make it a cute goofy scene. If this was an adult male performer doing this in a movie aimed mostly at children, it would have been a subject of much controversy.


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Bacon wrote:
December 27th, 2021, 4:05 pm
This was great up until
like the last minute. Not a fan of how it turns. The implication here is gross, and they handle it well for the entire film so it was disappointing to see them go that route for the ending.
truly believe the thorniness is the entire point of the ending
-Vader

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Very interesting. Def not my favorite PTA as of right now. It passed by quickly given its long runtime which is always a good thing, but it kinda just seems like it has no “point” sometimes? Like, what is the purpose of this movie? Is it just to kind of “experience” the time period and go with the flow, ala Once Upon a Time in Hollywood? Maybe I’ll like it more on a rewatch, but as of right now it’s definitely beneath Phantom Thread, and of course TWBB

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Bacon wrote:
December 27th, 2021, 4:05 pm
This was great up until
like the last minute. Not a fan of how it turns. The implication here is gross, and they handle it well for the entire film so it was disappointing to see them go that route for the ending.
Yeah the ending quite destroyed the character development of Alana. The whole truck scene where she has to be adult and take responsibility and realizes how childish Gary his, should have lead to leaving Gary despite her love for him.
Anyway still a great entertaining movie. More romantic comedies should be like this or Punch Drunk Love.

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how was cooper in this?

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AsianVersionOfET wrote:
December 30th, 2021, 7:02 pm
Very interesting. Def not my favorite PTA as of right now. It passed by quickly given its long runtime which is always a good thing, but it kinda just seems like it has no “point” sometimes? Like, what is the purpose of this movie? Is it just to kind of “experience” the time period and go with the flow, ala Once Upon a Time in Hollywood? Maybe I’ll like it more on a rewatch, but as of right now it’s definitely beneath Phantom Thread, and of course TWBB
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood was just..delightful. Phantom Thread would appeal to a person who hasn't watched older movies which have the same spirit but are more natural and not contrived. The cinematography is particularly bad. Super grainy rough picture.

PTA is about feel. Nolan is about mechanics. Tarantino is about heart. That's how I see it. I think QT will age the best.

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After seeing it yesterday and after much thought, I loved it, it was beautiful.

Only he can and knows how to tell us a story in this way and transport us from beginning to end in such an atypical flow.

We end up being carried by this thread that he weaves for his characters and that his characters embody, to plunge us little by little into something that becomes more and more atmospheric, something very floating but at the same time so gripping, only he can transport us in this way, and Alana Haim is absolutely magnificent, as well as the chemistry between her and Cooper Hoffman (equally magnificent), they are the heart of this story. It is their bewilderment as well as their successive closeness that characterizes the nature of the story, Paul Thomas Anderson is really such a precious auteur, this was beautiful.

And I really think he should do an action movie one day, or a crime/thriller movie, I think of the whole very strong sequence with Jon Peters and the truck, the way he builds the tension around it is incredible. He handles the mechanics of suspens to perfection while bathing it in this atmosphere so special and so dear to him.

An action thriller or a PTA type crime film with Denzel Washington would be great. Give me some Tony Scott moments again!

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This was the worst movie to be nominated for best picture oscar. Amazing looking images conveying nothing and having nothing interesting going on. Started great and lead to nothingburger. I will pick Don't Look Up over this.

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