| Title | Qt3 Movie Podcast: The Lighthouse |
| Author | Tom Chick |
| Posted in | Movie podcasts |
| When | November 5, 2019 |
From the director of The Witch?
Next: Terminator: Dark Fate
I’m with Kelly. Genre is a label (from which I guess you can infer my feeling on sticking everything in little boxes). Expectation’s gonna get ya.
The aspect ratio is not even 4:3. It’s 1.19:1, which is even more square. I thought maybe it was trying to call back to 80’s VHS porn. So that Eggers could sensuously pan up and down that erect lighthouse.
I can also imagine him trying to frame those shots down the lighthouse spiral staircase and wondering what to do with all the blank space at the edges.
Apparently Eggers wanted to do a match cut from the lighthouse to Pattinson’s erect penis, but had to drop it for ratings purposes. He was also worried that the image would be too scary for Tom, though it seems Eggers made too many concessions on that front and ended up making a mythic drama by mistake.
I want the whole podcast to be nothing but sea shanties with you guys commenting on the lyrics.
My favorite movie about people in a lighthouse going crazy and fucking each other up is Annihilation.
Tom’s idea of horror:
Comments I heard in my theater, both before and after the movie: " ."
I had plenty of room to stretch out in my entirely empty theater. I know Tom mentioned that this played in fewer theaters than The Witch, but I was still able to see it closer to home and in the same theater that is showing The Addams Family and Maleficent.
My verdict is a thumbs up (NICE!). Early on I was thinking it might be vying with Midsommar for #1 this year, but by the end it settled into somewhere in the back half of the top ten. I loved just watching work being done. Very hardy. Beautiful labor. Like The Witch I didn’t understand like half the dialogue on a first viewing, but that was part of the pleasure. Since I saw it I’ve viewed the old “soup saver” aspect of facial hair as a sign of rugged masculinity and not as much of an embarrassing faux pas. I guess I could thank Arthur Morgan for that as well.
I can’t believe Tom didn’t feel dread or anxiety. I thought this movie was horrifying. Stranded on an island with an old farting man? Toiling the days away with no sense of time, and no internet? What madness. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a horror movie, but it contains that element. I haven’t seen First Man, but I would bet that that is also something of a horror movie. I mean, can you imagine doing that? Fuck outta here. Kudos to that Neil fella.
@tomchick: What are the notable recent A24 movies that didn’t get theatrical releases?
Don’t forget that if you want more Pattinson from this year you’ve got High Life. It’s a reunion of one of Tom’s favorite movies, Cosmopolis, in which Robert Pattinson apparently has sex with Juliette Binoche. This affront caused Mr. Chick to leave the theater in disgust at such a mismatched pairing. Mr. Wand later asked if he took it personally, to which Mr. Chick replied in the affirmative.
(And don’t forget Non-Fiction if you want a little bit of Assayas-directed Binoche from this year.)
-Chris Webb
Okay, look, when the ears flop down, they aren’t as terrifying.
I’m not the least bit surprised you were into The Lighthouse. You know what I’d rather see instead of watching The Lighthouse again? Watching you and @Kelly_Wand watching The Lighthouse. It has Wand/Webb written all over it. The two of you would be a delight.
As for Midsommar, I hope we get to talk about it. As I said, I have thoughts. And I’d like to know what you, Kellywand, and Dingus think. Especially Dingus now that he turned out to be a Lighthouse fan.
Ha, a Red Dead Redemption reference just for me! How weird is it that of the three of us doing a movie podcast for a videogaming site, only one of us knows the name Arthur Morgan?
The Souvenir and Gloria Bell were the ones I was thinking of specifically. I’m pretty sure Peter Strickland’s In Fabric is streaming only (you’ll hear a little about Strickland’s Berberian Sound Studio at the end of this month). Kill Team and Slice are both pretty terrible, so it’s entirely appropriate A24 didn’t waste anyone’s screen time with those. Actually, since Zazie Beetz was in Slice, it might have been awesome, but I couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to anything that wasn’t Zazie Beetz herself. I really wish she’d stop doing movies so I could focus on the actual movies she’s in.
Claire Denis’ Trouble Every Day is one of the most brilliantly bloody things ever committed to film, but what the hell was going on with High Life? Did you see it? It’s a science fiction movie with a production budget of about twelve dollars. Mia Goth is in it, so it’s got that going for it. But I felt embarrassed for Pattinson and especially Binoche, who has to do weird creepy sex stuff that isn’t at all hot. Ugh.
I’m telling you, I’m going to end up watching a Twilight movie. I’m gonna do it.
I should probably try to get through Personal Shopper again…
-Tom
You know, this is more true of Van Der Meer’s book than Alex Garland’s movie! But I like the cut of you jib. Do they have jibs on lighthouses?
-Tom
Arthur Morgan should be no more foreign to the average American than Charles Foster Kane.
Those both got theatrical releases in my neck of the woods, however brief. My strong intention is to see both.
I must admit I only really know about Denis because Barry Jenkins seems to love her. High Life was my first exposure. I liked it… I definitely want to see it again though.
Sounds awesome. Our little Dingus is growing up.
Yeah, I was like what? Gloria Bell wasn’t in theaters? In that case, can I get you to write a letter to the Alamo Drafthouse I saw Gloria Bell at to give me back my $25 or whatever. Also the $20 for the burger. It wasn’t that great.
Can this be a stretch goal?
I would be happy to pre-pay my fundraising votes now to replace @Kelly_Wand’s missing microphone.
<3 I know I’m looking a gift horse in the mouth. I just want to hear what you’re saying!
We’ve gotten on him twice now. If he can’t figure out how to work a microphone, me and Dingus will just start whispering.
-Tom
My son and I were thinking of seeing this yesterday, but the closest theater still playing it was about an hour away. I guess three weeks past release is too long to wait. Guess we need to wait until it’s on Blu-ray!
Saw this last night. I can confirm that Tom is a silly person who let his expectations torpedo his enjoyment of solid top ten of the year contender.
It’s not a matter of my expectations so much as the director’s previous movie. I would have felt the same way about The Lighthouse if it were made by a first-time director. But I’m additionally disappointed that Eggars strayed so far from what made The Witch as great as it was.
But give me ten years or so and I might feel differently.
-Tom
So you’re saying…you didn’t have expectations, but the director’s previous movie affected your enjoyment.
How? How did the VVitch affect your enjoyment? If not by creating a certain expectation and The Lighthouse not fulfilling it? Did it suck enjoyment particles out of The lighthouse and feed it to Black Phillip?
All hail Black Phillip.
I’m pretty sure I talked about this on the podcast, but the director has made two very different movies. I preferred the one that was slithery and smooth and rooted in a genre I prefer over the one that was jagged and histrionic and similar to the kinds of stage plays I find arbitrary, confused, and ultimately tedious.
Now you can call it expectations, personal preference, bias, or what-have-you, but those are going to apply to some degree to every single shred of art, entertainment, and cultural hoo-ha I consume. So when you claim I’m “torpedoing” my enjoyment of one of the top ten movies of the year – top ten, huh? ugh… – and imply it’s somehow my fault for forming an opinion about the director from his previous movie, there’s not really much wiggle room for a conversation beyond “nuh uh”. But, hey, I tried!
-Tom