The Squid and the Whale, 3-Iron, & 3 Women

The Squid and the Whale is full of a lot of characters I hated. And Pickle and Sophie. I liked them, although what kind of parent would let Pickle do anything remotely like what he did? Apparently, it's based on Baumbauch's actual family. Which is just so messed up. Excellent film, though, and I really recommend it, especially if you have no problems hating characters. Because it's so easy to hate Bernard and Joan, and even Walt for being completely incapable of having his own opinions.

3-Iron is a dreamlike fable. But it's unlike almost anything I've ever seen. And Hyun-kyoon Lee looks just like Yoon-jin Kim. I thought it was her for a long time. Apparently, even with all my experience with Asian women, I still have problems telling some of them apart. Who mistranslated that final epigram? What the hell?

3 Women is, at best, middling Altman. It's all a dream, but I don't care for it. I know that Ebert loves it and maybe if I were to watch it over and over again, I might have more of a respect for it as well, but I don't want to spend another two hours going through it again. Altman is a tremendous talent, but sometimes he just makes a movie that makes little to no sense and then some think it's brilliant. I don't. It feels like a Bergman film, but it isn't nearly as good as Persona. I feel like this movie is one of those movies that critics have to like.