Rate The Last Movie You Saw

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Shadows in Paradise - (1986)
There's a wonderful simplicity to Aki Kaurismäki's films that allow the viewer breeze through and enjoy each slightly ridiculous scene. Every line is delivered in a deadpan manner, no matter what - and most of them are particularly funny. Garbage truck driver Nikander (Matti Pellonpää) falls for a grocery store checkout girl Ilona (Kati Outinen) when she bandages his cut hand - but their love life is rocky to say the least. Nikander is quiet, reserved, not adventurous and not really all that romantic - which causes no end of doubt from Ilona, whose uncertainty leads to upheaval. He just might need to evolve a little, and conquer his fears. Minimalist in every way apart from thought, feeling and a devilish sense of humour. Not your usual everyday film - droll comedy it's strongest feature.

7.5/10


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The Innocents - (2021)

When four children who live at the same apartment complex meet, their supernatural powers are heightened - which leads to unspeakable cruelty and horror. Such a tense, gripping movie - I was on the absolute edge of my seat. Review here in my watchlist thread.

8/10

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Choke (2008)

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[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

Nobody's Fool (1994)

This was an unexpected delight. I saw Paul Newman's face on Netflix but thought I'd only last 10 mins as the premise sounded a bit too wistful for me. Instead it balances wistfulness and content really well. Newman plays a rogue builder in a small town trying to atone for being a bad husband and father...in his own way. The acting is pitch perfect and while the story is slight that's what kept me watching. Newman being the equivalent of Eddie Felson in the Colour of Money. I actually think he got better as he got older at his trade. Melanie Griffiths turn is great too and the boob flash made me laugh out loud So unexpected but fitting with a nice story.

I think this was on my watchlist because of positive word of mouth here. I knew nothing going in except that it was horror. The first 30-40 minutes were awesome even though not much was happening. The two actors were very good and there was a heavy sense of dread. From there it turned into a typical horror film, although a good one. Justin Long is great at playing a *******.

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Drifting Clouds - (1996)

The word "battlers" has a certain, distinct meaning in Australia, even though anyone can automatically guess what it means - they're an esteemed group, although by definition that's not going to help them much. If it did, they wouldn't be battlers. Ilona Koponen (Kati Outinen) and Lauri Koponen (Kari Väänänen) are two in this Aki Kaurismäki film. They are by dint of both losing their jobs due to the economic downturn that hit Finland in the mid 1990s, and every single thing they try to either find work or improve their deteriorating situation ends in disaster, as if they have a curse on them. It's almost overwhelming, but Kaurismäki sense of fun in absurdity makes this anything but a miserable viewing experience. Same deadpan delivery, same wicked sense of amusement. Who can't love a film that pays tribute to the battlers in this world?

8/10


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Sergeant Rutledge - (1960)

John Ford's take on ingrained racism is refreshingly direct and frank. Black First Sergeant Braxton Rutledge (Woody Strode) stands trial accused of raping a white girl, and killing her father. Can he hope to be exonerated when nearly everyone simply assumes he's guilty because of his race and the fact there's circumstantial evidence? My review is here on my watchlist thread.

7/10

Memoria (2021) ‐

This is a tough one to rate as, while I was certainly blown away by the time the credits rolled, I felt I didn't get fully on board with it until the final half hour. Before that, while I appreciated the unexpected, albeit uncommon moments of sound design (the recurring sonic booms) and the outstanding framing in certain scenes, its style still felt fairly standard for such an extended period of time (or, at least, less dream‐like than I was expecting given my experiences with some of Weerasethakul's other films). That said, a few scenes still stood out to a degree here and there, like a dog following Jessica around or her walking into an ensemble quartet. Once the action moved to the countryside though, it became one of the most sensually powerful films I've seen in a long time. With the inclusion of the fish scaler's motionless and extended 'sleep', the hand‐holding connection, or a particular genre‐changing set piece at the end which I won't dare reveal, the snail‐like pacing and gorgeous photography grew so surreal that the film became a sensual dream which froze time down to almost a standstill (as has been said of Joe's films numerous times in the past). Mixing audial and visual ambience with prolonged empty space won't work for everyone since the "nothing happens" crowd tends to trash these kinds of films (and to throw those people a bone, while I think their arguments are completely naïve, I will admit that I've struggled with a couple of Joe's films), but if you're able to get on board with the ethereal rhythms his films offer, you'll get such pleasing and unique results. Again, it wasn't until the final half hour where the film fully won me over. Given how moved I was by the final act though, I feel confident enough on this being improved by subsequent watches down the road to not mark its rating down. As an aside, if you don't think you'll be able to watch this in a theater, you should definitely watch it with headphones at the very least.

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One False Move (1991)

Enter the Dragon: 10/10
Fun fact, the film was deemed to violent for Australian cinemas, so it was cut down to get an M rating. However it was classified a year later as R18+ on DVD, then in 1998 as MA15+ unedited.

I can barely write about this film yet, it is so raw. Andrew Haigh's latest film starring Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal is an adaptation of the novel Strangers by Taichi Yamada. The plot is very spoilerable and any attempt to write at length about it would ruin it for anybody thinking about watching. The basic premise is that a man working on a screenplay about his parents meets a person who ignites something very personal within him.

All I can really say is that this film is up there with the likes of 'Aftersun' as one of the most brilliantly directed, acted and moving British films of the last few years. It is an absolute marvel.

At the moment, I can't think of a single flaw in this film.

Umpteenth Rewatch...This slightly raunchy 2000 comedy is one of my guilty pleasures that I never tire of re-watching. This is the story of a quartet of college students who make a road trip from Ithaca New York to Austin Texas to retrieve a videotape of one of them having sex with a girl before his long distance girlfriend sees it. Nothing groundbreaking here, but it provides consistent laughs and features terrific performances from Breckin Meyer, Seann William Scott, DJ Qualls and the late Fred Ward as Qualls' dad.

2nd rewatch...I'm finding this movie gets dumber and dumber with each rewatch. Will Ferrell is tiresome as the owner/coach/star forward of a minor league basketball team trying to find their way into the majors. There's one dumb scene after another here, including a scene of Ferrell wrestling with a bear that brings the film to a complete halt. Even the usually reliable Woody Harrelson is phoning it in here. The only life in this film comes from Andre Benjamin in a star-making performance as Coffee Black.

2nd Rewatch...Sam Mendes, the Oscar-winning director of American Beauty deserves a lot of credit for the mounting of this crisp domestic drama that has a freshness to it as it takes place during the 1950's. Almost a dozen years after they set box offices on fire in Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are reunited in this blistering drama about a couple whose marriage is imploding because he's stuck in a job he hates and she is still stinging from her failure to become an actress. One day, the wife, April, decides that the solution to their problems is to pull up stakes and move to Paris. Mendes is extremely effective in bringing the 1950's and all of its starched and traditional morality to the screen and looking at it through a couple who want nothing to do with it. The film is gorgeous to look at and DiCaprio and Winslet are extraordinary in the lead roles, proving that the chemistry they created in Titanic was no fluke. Winslet is particularly memorable here, creating another of her screaming on the inside characters that she does better than just about anybody in the business. Winslet won the 2008 Best Actress the same year this was released for The Reader, but she should have won for this film. Fans of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf will have a head start here.

⏫️ Good movie.

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

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, 2018

Lara Jean (Lana Condor) loves the idea of romance, but finds the reality a bit intimidating. When her older sister, Margot (Janel Parrish) movies overseas to go to college, Lara Jean must come to terms with the crush she has on Margot’s boyfriend, Josh (Israel Brussard). As she always has done with crushes, Lara Jean copes with her emotions by writing a love letter to Josh and then adding it to a secret box of such letters. But when Lara Jean’s letters get mysteriously sent to all of her former (and current!) crushes, she must deal with the fallout, including being part of a fake relationship with former crush Peter (Noah Centineo).

This is probably one of my favorite teen rom-coms that I’ve seen in the last decade. Just very sweet and funny.



FULL REVIEW

The Boy and the Heron (2023)



It is a tragedy that I had to wait so long to see this masterpiece, as it was released in Japan about six months ago! Miyazaki's last movie is also one of the best ones, as I would place it among his top 10 best movies. His best since Spirited Away. In terms of style, it reminds me a lot of the Nausicaa manga. In fact, a lot of scenes are taken from it, while the overall plot is close to Spirited Away but a bit more complex. The "weakness" of the movie is that its ending felt perhaps a bit too fast; perhaps, its ending was like waking from a dream: the dream is going and going, and then suddenly, it's all over.

Miyazaki was 82 when he finished this movie. As he is older he is also taking longer to make movies: he took about a decade to make it; it was totally worth it, though. I hope Miyazaki lives to 120 so he can continue to make masterpieces for several more decades. The loss of the potential of such artistic genius would be too great for mankind otherwise.

Of course, the art and animation are the best ever; this is Miyazaki working with unlimited time and budget, after all.

(of course, its Miyazaki)

Not the best film noir ever made but definitely solid and enjoyable.

3.5/5

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“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” — Gandhi​

When the Wind Blows, 1986

Elderly couple Jim (John Mills) and Hilda (Peggy Ashcroft) follow government directions to prepare for an imminent nuclear attack. When the bomb drops, the couple survives, sheltering behind their detached doors. But in the days following the attack, the couple begins to experience the consequences of radiation exposure, unable to comprehend that this is nothing like their experiences during WW2.

Devastating, which is exactly its intention.



FULL REVIEW