Rome S1

The last two episodes dramatically escalated toward a surprisingly crushing finish, like that series I can't help comparing to (GoT). Not to say it's phenomenal TV, but it packed a punch from an unanticipated angle. Caesar's demise was genuinely sad, and there were other moments of naked drama toward the end there that dwarf the rest of the season. That also reminds me of S1 of Rings of Power. All three shows had take-it-or-leave-it first seasons up until the final two episodes.

So Caesar's fate saddened me. Why, did I like Caesar, or did I just like watching Caesar? I think there was a little of both. Hinds, though a very strange look for the part, was a joy to watch in his character's brilliance. I daresay I even felt some affection toward the dictator himself. There's that natural magnetism about a leader like that. He's one of the more appealing historical leaders to me now. You can't help being moved by the warmth he sheds on his enemies. His biggest smile in the series is welcoming those who betrayed him back into his circle of love, without a wink of a grudge. Reminds you of someone who'll come 44 years later.

Antony also, acting-wise and character-wise, was magnetic. I love that performance, of a smart yet savory individual, despicable and honorable. I have to side with this man, because I like watching him, and I don't want to disappoint him. I hope he doesn't spiral into villainy. But you know every character is right on the brink! That's the most interesting thing about this show: any hero can and probably will prove villainous at interludes. So who's the real villain? Who's the real hero? Not even Vorenus earns your consistent respect.

Usually cheesy things have cheesy conceptions of good and evil, but not Rome. For all its superficialities, all its sugary sweetness, it avoids preaching any kind of easy morality. Literally every character falls hard, whether through violence, infidelity, or excessive fidelity.

Vorenus is a solid performance, though not the performance or character I would have chosen to anchor the series. He's too straight-laced, too chilly, especially beside the charisma of Caesar, Antony, Pullo, Atia, and others. Rome is electric, but Vorenus is stone. He's crumbling under the heat, not conducting it.

Antony is magnetic, but I guess Caesar and Octavian are the most interesting characters. They're both brilliant. Octavian still looks far too young for his political and sexual escapades, like Rhaenyra a few episodes into House of the Dragon. It's a little confusing and upsetting. But it's fascinating to observe his intellect in light of what we know he'll become.

Rome thru 7 episodes

Quite like Game of Thrones, but in place of medieval/fantasy Westeros you have ancient Italy, and in place of not knowing how it will end (that Dany will ascend the throne only to be quickly assassinated by a former friend) you know how it will end (that Caesar... you know).

Similarities:

• HBO show, with all that that entails, including the next bullet
• liberal violence and sexuality, though Rome is slightly tamer than GoT
• grand political arc sprinkled with many subplots
• general tone
• kinda trashy, kinda sophisticated
• Ciaran Hinds, Indira Varma, Tobias Menzies (what a power trio of names). I even think The Hound made a cameo

Differences:

• GoT is somehow much more interesting, partly because you don't know the ending ahead of time, partly because it's probably a better production team. Maybe Martin is a better foundation than history. But lots of Rome is fictionalized, so you'd think with a great writing team the Caesar era would show great potential
• one is pure fiction, the other stays pretty close to history's general outline
• I had almost zero practical reason for watching GoT, at a time when I was super strict with TV, yet I watched it anyway; I have practical reason for Rome, and I'm not as strict anymore, yet I don't feel riveted to its continuation
• I've never heard a single person talk about Rome; I couldn't avoid GoT
• I kind of love GoT; I shall NEVER love Rome!

One Battle After Another

First, this was nothing like the 30 pages and Wikipedia-ing of Vineland I read. The names are different, the action is different, the tone is different. I wondered how and why Leo would do the "downtrodden pothead", as I called Zoyd. That description isn't inaccurate for his character in the film, but it's also not how I'd choose to characterize him; he has a different flavor in the film; less groovy, more sharp. He's Leo, after all -- his whole expression is sharp. I don't think he does hippies like Joaquin in Inherent Vice and like the Zoyd I was perceiving in Vineland. He's fundamentally sharper, and he's fundamentally more heroic. He's a lead. So I thought it was strange he was doing a subdued character like this. It's not as subdued in the film, but it's still not a hero role. His daughter is really the hero, he just ends up being the supporter who's doing his best. Quite heartwarming, actually, in the end. So Leo gives up his hero streak, and Infiniti soars into and out the roof of the picture. She was awesome. Perhaps her role was easy, as far as serious acting goes -- who wouldn't root for her -- but she wasn't an established actor, and the role did demand a variety of intense things. Easy to root for her, but she exceeds that, she gets a whole ovation.

So I only read 30 pages of Vineland, but I also read a bit about it online, and I recall nothing about the revolutionary bit, nothing about any of this plot, in fact, other than downtrodden pothead Zoyd and his cocky lawman rival, like Inherent Vice. The adaptation must have been pretty loose.

Actually, PTA takes a Pynchon novel and a CV of unconventional movies and makes a fairly conventional movie. There's even a jump cut showing someone's face from baby to teenager. There's even a sweet father-daughter moment at the end with uppity music and she's being a rascal. There's even a basic-ass car chase! In a PTA movie! There's a bunch of military content... I'd say PTA robbed this from some more mainstream director, but he made this out of Vineland... he actually made Vineland more conventional, it seems to me, where typically I'd be expecting him to artsify his sources. PTA makes a pretty straightforward movie. And Leo, box office candy, joins. He picked an odd PTA movie to join. He'd be a towering Daniel Plainview or some other iconic role; I don't think this one will be iconic; I don't think it should be; the movie is too straightforward. I'd like to see Leo in a more iconic, more serious PTA movie. The last couple haven't been quite ambitious enough.

I'm calling it a solid movie. It was pretty gripping for being sort of silly. Sometimes the situation got a little too convoluted and went a little too long, but it was generally exciting. My heart was in it. I was deeply rooting for the protagonists, deeply despising the antagonists, deeply desiring resolution. Strange these are the things I'm saying about a PTA movie, but he played it straight.

There were some nice visuals, some nice musical scoring, though those were pretty secondary. Better than the average movie of this genre, but the movie wasn't very artsy. The story was too straightforward and engaging for me to really soak in the artistic qualities.

Sean Penn was one of the more detestable specimens I've seen in recent cinematic memory. Emphasis on specimen. And good for him, that was probably his charge -- to become a physical and spiritual wrecking ball for all that is good in the movie. He gives it his all, leaving no bicep unbulged, leaving no protagonist without the feeling of having been raped by his very presence.

I liked this movie quite a bit. It was weirdly heartwarming for being PTA+Pynchon. Weirdly not deeply ambiguous. The whole thing was propellant and charged, with soft undertones. It was enjoyable and engaging. That said, it's not interesting enough or emotional enough to be a favorite. It's just a solid PTA movie that suits the mainstream better than most of his.

Leo is good. Oddly unheroic, but good.

Here's what I'm thinking:

Magnolia, There Will Be Blood

The Master, Punch-Drunk Love, Phantom Thread

One Battle After Another

Boogie Nights, Licorice Pizza

Inherent Vice

And even One Battle After Another, hovering around the mediocre center of his filmography, is at least a strong 3/4