2018 Blind Spot Series: Sex, Lies, and Videotape

-

What I knew going in: As weird as this sounds, I thought I had seen this when I was a teenager and just forgotten most of it, but as I watched it in full now, I'm fairly sure I was confusing it with something else. 

 Ann (Andie MacDowell) is pretty indifferent to sex at this point in her life. Her husband, John (Peter Gallagher) has started an affair with Ann's sister Cynthia (Laura San Giacomo) in the meantime. When John's old college friend Graham (James Spader) comes back to town after a long absence, he changes the lives of everyone involved. 

 You would think with a title like this there would be a ton of nudity and sex scenes, but there isn't, and that's the beauty of it. This film makes its dialogue about sex. It's discussed, described, implied off screen, but never gratuitously shown. 

 Director Steven Soderbergh is an interesting filmmaker. When I view several films from one director, I'm always trying to find their style. What makes them this great auteur. I'm not sure I can nail down his. Everything he does is so different from the film he directors before. 

 I loved the cast here. Gallagher is great at playing smarmy fucks, but it's MacDowell and Spader that are the standouts to me. She was perfect as Ann, especially during her therapy sessions. She felt like a real person. Spader (side note: he was pretty hot back in the day. You go, Ultron.) had excellent chemistry with everyone he shared the screen with. That really shows you how great of an actor he is. I missed him when he wasn't in a scene.

 I like it when I have a certain expectation for a film, and it gives me something completely different and better than what I was expecting. That's what this did.

 Recommended: Yes

 Grade: A

 Memorable Quote: "I've got a lot of problems, but they belong to me." - Graham (James Spader)

Comments

  1. thevoid99May 22, 2018 at 4:25 PM

    This is a great film as I wash surprised by the fact that it is a film about sex but with no nudity. It's just about the discussion of it and what it really means. Truly one of the best debut films ever.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMay 23, 2018 at 11:35 PM

    You sort of make me want to watch this again!

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownMay 24, 2018 at 10:52 AM

    Spader was hot, I agree 😂 I haven't seen this one, might be a Blind Spot for next year. Unless I can't take it and watch it before that! I really like what you said about it, with the lack of nudity/honest sex discussion, and the cast looks SO good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamMay 24, 2018 at 12:20 PM

      Yay I'm not alone! The lack of actual sex still surprises me lol.

      Delete
  4. m.brownMay 25, 2018 at 10:40 AM

    Ouch. That pain I'm feeling...it's you crushing my dreams. Whenever I came across this film, I always had it in my head that it was full of gratuitous sex (likely featuring a 5 minute Ultron dong shot), and now you've set the record straight. Hell, I didn't even know this was Soderbergh!

    I wonder if you and I are confusing it with the same movie...even though I'm not really sure what I'm thinking I thought...this was, if that makes sense.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamMay 26, 2018 at 6:32 AM

      I'm still trying to figure that out. I know once I see the title I'll immediately come to me.

      Delete
  5. s.May 25, 2018 at 1:41 PM

    This sounds very interesting! I really need to see it sometimes. Spader has insane charisma and I always liked Andie, it's a shame she kinda dropped out of the radar mid-90s

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamMay 26, 2018 at 6:31 AM

      I read she almost didn't get this role because Soderbergh did't think she was a strong enough actress. I'm glad he was wrong.

      Delete
  6. GetterMay 31, 2018 at 9:13 AM

    Haven't even heard of this one... sounds intriguing though.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Alex WithrowMay 31, 2018 at 2:56 PM

    SO happy you liked this one. I love this damn film and can't wait for Criterion to release it soon. So great to hear that this one surpassed your expectations.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJune 1, 2018 at 7:26 AM

      I am too, though I'm still trying to figure out what I was confusing this film with in the first place.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing ...
Read more

Indie Gems: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

-
Image
Passionate about your profession? I had never heard of this film until it ended up on one of Jason's favorite horror movie lists around Halloween. It immediately sounded interesting to me, so of course I threw it in my Netflix queue. (and if I'm just now watching it after adding it around Halloween, you know how ridiculous my queue is) Taylor (Angela Goethals) is a journalist who, along with a film crew decides to follow around a serial killer named Leslie Vernon. (Nathan Baesel) He plans on doing the typical slasher thing - getting a bunch of drunk teens in an abandoned house and knocking them off one by one. He gets advice from a retired serial killer, Eugene (Scott Wilson) and is threatened by a man who's on to him, Doc Holloran (Robert Englund) Taylor and crew are there capturing it all. Leslie Vernon is fucking hilarious to start with, and clearly very passionate about what he does. He tells Taylor all of his secrets and can barely contain his excitemen...
Read more

My Favorite Movie Youtube Channels

-
Image
Starting around 2018, I started watching Youtube for more than just movie trailers or music videos whenever a new one dropped. Now I'm in full blown subscription mode and don't bat an eyelash at watching a Youtube video that's over an hour long. I watch Youtube for a few different categories of content, but one of them that I love most is movie/TV essays and commentary, and that's what I'm going to talk about today. Below is a list of my favorite movie related Youtube channels. Let me know if you're familiar with them too, or if you have any you'd like to recommend to me.  Double Toasted - I'm honestly surprised this channel isn't bigger. I first came across Korey and Martin when they reviewed War for the Planet of the Apes a few months before it hit theaters and I thought they were hysterical. While their full length videos stream on Twitch, they often upload their movie reviews and commentary on youtube and they're always hilarious. They've...
Read more