Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)

10/10

very funny if like nonsensical humor.

Die endlose Nacht - 6.5/10
Great foundation, but no relationship development.

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Transformers Rise of the Beasts
I've been tired of this formula since the second movie, but I guess it's my childhood love of this toy that keeps bringing me back to it. It never fails to disappoint.

6/10.

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Boldly going.

Captain Marvel - (2019)

1st re-watch after the original release. More bumps on the road than I remembered, but still enjoyable. Endgame next

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There has been an awekening.... have you felt it?

Passenger - 7.5/10


I thought I'd already seen this movie, so I just let it pass... for years.

|Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993)

I was a little supercilious going in because the subject of the great Glenn Gould would be easy to mess up. But after the first 2-3 segments I was hooked. The screen play by director Francois Girard and Don McKellar was clever and fascinating. There was just the right balance between dramatizing some of Gould's well know exploits, and interviews between people who knew him well.

I was surprised that they didn't touch on his several year's affair with Cornelia Foss, wife of famed conductor Lukas Foss. That would have been an interesting inclusion.

The recordings of his playing, oftentimes used in the background are stunning, and draw the viewer right into Gould's insights. I particularly enjoyed the use of his recording of the 3rd movement of his Piano Sonata #7, the Precipitato, an extremely difficult piece technically.

It was a shame that he died young, at aged 50, of a stroke possibly brought on by his prescription drug usage. The world is not likely going to see another Glenn Gould.

10/10 from me.

Attachments

 

SF = Z


[Snooze Factor Ratings]:
Z = didn't nod off at all
Zz = nearly nodded off but managed to stay alert
Zzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed
Zzzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed but nodded off again at the same point and therefore needed to go back a number of times before I got through it...
Zzzzz = nodded off and missed some or the rest of the film but was not interested enough to go back over it

By The poster art can or could be obtained from Beijing New Picture Film Co.EDKO FilmMiramax Films., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10804100

Hero - (2002)

Okay, I have to confess a general antipathy I have to "wuxia" martial arts films (antipathy might be too strong a word - but you get my meaning) - it colors my regard for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and it likewise makes Hero, for me, less than the average high-regarded viewing that it would be for people who enjoy this kind of thing. Not that I didn't see the excellence in it, or enjoy it - I did both, and admire it all the same. I'm not quite sure how much I enjoy seeing people float through the air though - no matter how good you are at martial arts, that's not happening I'm sorry to say. (I'd love to see one of these apex fighters float their way to market in the morning.) Hero is a mix of assassin stuff, and "the king who united warring provinces into the Chinese nation" stuff. What I'm most aware of when I see two super martial arts experts fight is how much they have to concentrate throughout the whole business - I would so become distracted by something. I'd see a gas stove, think about that unpaid gas bill, and before you know it I'd be toast. I wouldn't float in the air - I'd be lucky if I didn't trip over or more likely bang my toe and double over, cursing. Beautiful looking film this - I have to give it that, because it's probably my favourite thing about it. Much lauded one, Hero.

7.5/10


By https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1425384.../?ref_=tt_ov_i, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71555689

Speak No Evil - (2022)

Rewatch. I contemplated not watching the last 10 minutes of Speak No Evil, knowing what was to come - but I didn't want to be chicken, so I sat there and took it. Familiarity diluted it's power a little, but after it finished I found I once again had a lot to think about - and when a horror movie gives you cause to have an internal, searching, conversation with yourself (or others, if they're watching with you) then it's done it's job. A Danish family of 3 visit new friends in Holland, and these new friends turn out to be ones that test their limits. Would you call out a new friend straight away if you found they were being rude, or if you didn't like their behaviour? Turns out you really should.

7.5/10

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Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6977740

Mata Hari - (1931)

Too tired to catch the end of this very melodramatic movie last night (finished this morning) about the downfall of Mata Hari (Greta Garbo) - discovered as a German spy by the French after she falls in love with Russian pilot Lieutenant Alexis Rosanoff (Ramon Novarro). Yes, love was her undoing - but I loved the treacherous shadows that follow her, and Garbo's oh-so-sexy performance as a sultry seductress. It's very '31 this one - mainstream for it's day, but pre-code, and it's unfortunate that all copies available are censored versions. I don't think we're missing all that much though. A scene of pillow talk and revealing costume or two. Starts really slow but picks up more and more leading up to her final goodbyes. Nice cinematography, and good film overall.

7/10


By artist Renato Casaro - Never Say Never Again UK quad poster - impawards.com, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37430785

Never Say Never Again - (1983)

I've changed my stance on this film. Years ago I really disliked it for lacking any real great action sequences, and having a kind of dull score for a Bond movie (not to mention a lack of Monty Norman's signature tune.) Now it just looks like a sly dig at the series itself, with an obviously too old Connery only half serious and the film itself often making light of his age. "I hope we're going to have some gratuitous sex and violence!" says Q (Bond calls him Algernon in this. Eon even owned the rights to the letter Q?) It's not going to win many awards, but overall the nostalgia associated with Connery being Bond, and the inclusion of Klaus Maria Brandauer, Max von Sydow as Blofeld, Barbara Carrera (her Fatima Blush is a blast) and Kim Basinger elevates it. We even get Mr. Bean dropping in for a scene or two. Nearly everything except the kitchen sink, with jet packs and sharks with friggen' laser beams (okay - very nearly, with tracking devices) attached to them. It's not quite your average Bond film, but a pleasing oddity (loved the deadly video game sequence.) It's starting to win me over after years of being held in low regard.

6/10

Aw, it does?

Home Alone (1990)


First time I've watched this in probably 20 years...I was never a huge fan as a kid, but it's fine. Never a classic to me though.

Napoleon (2023)



It's better than I expected. Critics and some filmmakers I know hated it, so I was expecting a disaster. It was a solid, well-executed biographical movie. It is higher in quality than most of Ridley Scott's movies except his holy trinity of Alien, Blade Runner, and Gladiator. It is not as good as Gladiator, but I liked it about as much as Kingdom of Heaven: a very good historical movie.

Also, the depiction of battles is pretty nice. Perhaps the best battles in the movies since the battles in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The Devil's Own (1997)

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Man On The Tracks - 8/10
Very good movie. Man, it's been a long time. But I notice I'm finding them all on YouTube or TCM (not as much). They got rid of their Underground series, which was the best. Tired of noir, and the same saccharine stringed 3-act plays I've seen a thousand times before. Once you've seen 100 noirs, you've probably seen them all.. Anyway, it seemed like there was an undercurrent of political messaging. Something the government might have even endorsed. A bridge between the old guard and the reality, the young people. Kazimierz Opaliński is amazing in this movie, and he makes the movie. I had very little interest in the others as individuals, except their relationship with Orzechowski.

Ukraine/Germany movie. This young boy is excellent in his first acting rôle. Interesting storyline.



Excellent ensemble cast. Based on a true story, it’s a very amusing movie. Paul Dano very good as per usual.

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I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.

Bottoms -

This is a very funny and zany comedy in the same vein as Booksmart. Out and proud lesbians PJ and Josie (Sennott and Edebiri), like that movie's Amy and Molly, are best friends and outcasts at their high school, which prioritizes football above all else. After the principal discovers the accidental violence they did to football star Jeff (Galitzine), who pretty much runs the school, they invent a lie that they're in a self-defense club which they later organize. Their "fight club" takes off and becomes their ticket to improving their confidence and pursuing their crushes much to the football team's chagrin.

Having gone to a high school where the football players seemingly had more privilege than the teachers, this movie succeeds at capturing the anxiety and powerless of being, well...anyone else. It does this hilariously and with a surreal touch such as in a lunchroom rendering of the Creation of Adam with Jeff as Adam. The movie's affection for over-the-top moments like this may be its secret weapon (club member Hazel is a demolitions expert). Also, its treatment of the queer life is tasteful and raunchy at just the right times, and despite being far removed from high school, Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri totally convince as students. I also love Marshawn Lynch's funny turn as a lackadaisical history teacher and later ally to the girls. If the movie has a fault, the story is a tad on the predictable side. It remains one of 2023's funniest comedies and proof that those who would rather not throw a football or shake pom-poms in high school do not deserve to be sidelined, no pun intended. Oh, and the grand finale may be on par with Animal House's.

Stamped From the Beginning (2023) An ambitious, provocative, challenging and interesting documentary about an important subject. I liked the interviews with the experts and the use of a variety of clips from different sources. There is a lot of material here and I feel they could have gone a little deeper on some of it and actually spread it out over multiple films. I hope it gets an Oscar nomination for best documentary feature. Watched on Netflix.

The Color Purple (2023) Good performances from Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks, and Taraji P. Henson. I really liked the singing and the costumes. Not everything works and it is a little too long, but there are some wonderful moments.

Rush Hour (1998)

Yeah. Every few years I give it another shot, hoping that my 7/10 feelings for it are going to be transformed into 9/10 or 10/10 feelings for it.