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New Film: "One Battle After Another"

 
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Last Post by robslob 1 minute ago
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robslob
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<<<I emailed this yesterday to a lot of friends/family so I'm just copying and pasting my review here>>>

Once in a great while I like to review a film instead of my usual music, so here goes.  Just caught the new one, One Battle After Another, this afternoon.
 
First off, at 2 hours 35 minutes, be ready to spend significant time in the theatre.  Add in 20 minutes of previews, and I was in my seat for three hours.  That being said, I consider it worth it, and I don't think there are a lot of films that could hold my interest for that amount of time.  
 
Paul Thomas Anderson has garnered quite a reputation.  I'm not much of a film buff, I don't watch that many movies, and I go to the theater once a year, maybe twice on the outside.  But I had briefly heard of him.  One Battle After Another is written, produced and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, which kind of boggles my mind.  Wikipedia says, "He is often described as one of the preeminent filmmakers of his generation."  Also from Wikipedia, "There Will Be Blood (2007), Anderson's fifth film, is regarded as one of the greatest films of the 21st Century and of all time."  Wowie.  Guess I'll be renting that one.  I also found out that Anderson directed Boogie Nights, which I own on DVD.  It's an incredible and realistic documentation of the porn movie industry in the San Fernando Valley area of L.A. in the late 70's/early 80's.  
 
One Battle After Another is way too complex for me to go into the plot in detail, but to summarize, it's a battle between revolutionary anti-ICE forces led in part by Leonardo DiCaprio and opposing military factions led in part by Sean Penn.  As you can imagine for any film featuring those two, the acting throughout is just way, way over the top, including  Benicio Del Toro.  There are a couple of prominent females in the film, but without giving the plot away, Chase Infiniti as a teenage freedom fighter is just absolutely incredible, and in the second half ot the film, she is on screen as much as anyone else.  I'd say this young lady has quite a future in the biz.  In real life, Infiniti is 25 years old.  Teyana Taylor gives another over the top performance and she is very prominent in the first half of the film.
 
I caught a strong hint of political commentary regarding racism in our current administration.  It's open for interpretation, but for me anyway, it was fairly obvious.
 
This is an action film and the action never stops, the plot never quits twisting and turning.
 
I won't go into any more plot detail other than to say once again that this film completely held my interest for just over 2-1/2 hours and that is quite an achievement.  Kudos to Paul Thomas Anderson, and I sure want to see some more of his films.  ENJOY.
 
Edit:  I just found out this morning (Wikipedia again) that the film's score was composed by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood.  The film was Anderson's sixth feature film collaboration with Greenwood.
 

This topic was modified 3 hours ago by robslob
 
Posted : October 15, 2025 9:10 am
Rusty reacted
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We agree on this one. 😉

My wife drug me along - I was totally unfamiliar with the film or its concept.  

Dark comedy - took me a while to realize that I was SUPPOSED to be laughing.  Lots of references to Gil Scott-Heron's, "The Revolution Will Not be Televised" ("... Green Acres, Beverly Hillbillies and Hooterville Junction ..." etc.)

I appreciated Leonardo DiCaprio's character - an aging former revolutionary who's forgotten all the passwords!  😉 

Political commentary?  Watching the film and using your imagination  - easy to project members of the current administration onto certain characters.  I thought Sean Penn was outstanding as Colonel Steve L. Lockjaw (possible nod to Colonel Bat Guano in  "Dr. Strangelove"?)

Great movie!


 
Posted : October 15, 2025 10:11 am
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@rusty:  Yes, DiCaprio's weed-addicted, disheveled character was quite laughable at times.  I can certainly relate to that.  Another sterling performance by DiCaprio.  I did a LOT of damage to myself by smoking weed for 40 years, and unfortunately for most of that I was using a butane lighter.  Think of what I was inhaling into my lungs for all those years.  Don't EVER let anyone tell you that smoking weed is not harmful because you're only smoking marijuana, not tobacco.  You're smoking just the same, and inhaling smoke into your lungs eventually will get you.  I quit in January 2016.  I still use weed, but edibles only.  I only wish that edibles had been commercially available 40 or 50 years ago.


 
Posted : October 15, 2025 12:03 pm
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