From: arthur@alum.calberkeley.org   
      
   On 1/7/2026 1:49 PM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:   
   > Rhino  wrote:   
   >> On 2026-01-07 1:46 p.m., Adam H. Kerman wrote:   
   >>> Rhino  wrote:   
   >   
   >>snip   
      
      
   I watched:   
      
   Opus (HBO) 2025 movie produced, written, and directed by Mark Anthony   
   Green (Yeah, I have no idea who he is either).  The movie stars Ayo   
   Edebiri as a journalist who heads out to interview a reclusive musician   
   (John Malkovich) who is releasing his first album in 30 years.  When   
   Edebiri and some other journalists arrive at the isolated compound they   
   find a cult like environment which soon prompts Edebiri to want to get   
   our while she still can.  The movie seemed to have an interesting   
   concept but generally failed in the execution.  One of the main problems   
   I had with the movie is it didn't seem to have much of a point beyond   
   the premise (I hope that makes sense).   
      
   Then when it came to the two leads, Malkocvich is more than capable of   
   chewing the scenery, but for whatever reason he held back.  I don't know   
   if he was told to hold back by the director or just showed up for the   
   paycheck and didn't care.  Edebiri also felt like she was maybe phoning   
   it in.  Or if not that, her character reminded me way too much of her   
   character from "The Bear."  I know some actors pretty much always play   
   themselves, but because I haven't seen her in much else, I just couldn't   
   tell if that's simply how she always acts, or if like Malkovich, she   
   just didn't care and decided to put in zero effort to differentiate this   
   character from her character on "The Bear."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)