John Otteni

I made a mockumentary about hunting vampires

Criterion Month Day 7: The Soft Skin

The Soft Skin (1964)

We’ve done a good job of covering the early work of François Truffaut here on the blog. Well, I don’t know how good we’ve done, but we’ve done it. Thus far we’ve covered Truffaut’s first film, The 400 Blows, his second film, Shoot the Piano Player, and his fourth, Jules and Jim. We haven’t covered his third film, The Army Game, but it’s not in the Criterion Collection, so it doesn’t exist as far as I’m concerned.

The Soft Skin is Truffaut’s fifth film, a sexy ode to Hitchcock that underperformed upon its release on April 20th (nice), 1964. But why? What was it about The Soft Skin that failed to resonate with audiences? Was it TOO adult? Was it TOO soft? Let’s find out…

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Criterion Month Day 1: Riot in Cell Block 11

Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954)

Welcome to Mildly Pleased’s 8th Annual Criterion Month! Yet again, Sean, Colin, and I will be reviewing stuffy, artsy, and probably long movies from the Criterion Collection for a whole month. So put down those sunglasses, drop that surfboard, and dim the lights—for cinematic purposes (not romantic). Pop some corn and join us for a journey into the world of le cinéma (the cinema).

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Oscars Fortnight: Finding Neverland

Finding Neverland (2004)

The 77th Academy Awards (2005)
Nominations: 7
Wins: 1

Why am I drawn to the worst films nominated for Best Picture? Finding Neverland is not terrible but it has no business being selected as one of the Best Films of 2004. The 77th Academy Awards did otherwise deliver a solid lineup; Million Dollar Baby (the winner), The Aviator, Sideways, Ray, but Finding Neverland? You could have given that spot to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Collateral, or The Incredibles (yeah, right they aren’t that cool). So why Finding Neverland? Answer: the Oscars LOVE middling biopics.

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Oscars Fortnight: Dangerous Liaisons

Dangerous Liaisons (1988)

The 61st Academy Awards (1989)
Nominations: 7
Wins: 3

I like Cruel Intentions more than Dangerous Liaisons (let’s count how many times I misspell “Liaisons”). CI is not a better movie than DL, I’m not even sure if it’s a good movie. Why do I prefer a piece of ‘90s trash to an ‘80s critical darling? Because CI has hot people in it. I mean no disrespect to John Malkovich or Glenn Close, but considering how sexy the source material is here, it would be nice to get more studs and studettes in this joint. DL does have Michelle Pfeiffer (smart move) and Uma Thurman in a smaller role (another smart move) and Keanu Reeves (I love you Keanu but you are terrible in period pieces) but Merteuil and Valmont are the heart of the story, and there’s just not enough blood pumping for my personal tastes.

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Oscars Fortnight: Love Story

Love Story (1970)

43rd Academy Awards (1971)
Nominations: 7
Wins: 1

I had no idea until two minutes ago that Love Story was the highest grossing film of 1970. You know what number 2 was? Airport, which Colin covered two days ago. It’s crazy to think that back in the day, if a film was a big enough hit it would factor big into the Oscars. It doesn’t even matter if it was good. I think this is why the Oscars seemed way more relevant back then. The Oscars, good or bad, were a better reflection of popular culture. Now you ask your average joe how many Oscar nominated films they’ve seen and chances are they haven’t even heard of half of them.

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Oscars Fortnight: From Here to Eternity

From Here to Eternity (1953)

The 26th Academy Awards (1954)
Nominations: 13
Wins: 8

Is there a more romantic scene in cinema than Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr making out on the beach in From Here to Eternity? I can’t count how many times I’ve seen this scene parodied, from Airplane, to The Nutty Professor, to multiple times on The Simpsons. Little did I know the scene in question is depicting two adults committing adultery. Is From Here to Eternity an edgier movie than I thought?

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John’s Top 10 Movies of 2023

2023 was a year of extremes. We had the crushing lows with box-office bombs like Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and The Marvels and glorious highs like the cinematic triumph that was Barbenheimer. We had big stretches of nothing in the summer and then a boss rush of awards darlings all crammed into December.

As usual there are more than a few movies I wish I’d made the time to see before making this list. This year’s collection of neglected hopefuls includes;

Past Lives
Priscilla
May December (ya know, a lot of Colin movies)

And some Sean movies like John Wick 4 and Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning.

Also, The Iron Claw, (which feels like a real John movie). Otherwise I’m happy with my list. Aw, here it goes….

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