Movie Tab II

Tools    





May, 2023 movies watched-

The Painted Bird (2019)
As well done a film that I've seen that has this much cruelty.

White Material (2009)
With Isabelle Huppert, it's usually good.

Westfront 1918 (1930)
+ Superb companion piece to All Quiet on the Western Front.

Quo Vadis, Aida? (2020)
Very well done.

The Verdict (1982) Repeat
+ Better than it should be thanks to those involved.

Sahara (1943)
Fun war flick with Bogart.

Days of Heaven (1978)Repeat
Everyone knows it looks great. I like the rest of it too.

No Time for Sergeants (1958)
+ Entertaining military comedy with Andy Griffith.

Three Came Home (1950)
Emotional and powerful World War II drama.

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
Excellent battlefield scenes.

Sons of the Desert (1933) Repeat
Consistently amusing.

Total-11
2023 total-62



June, 2023 movies watched-

The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)
Love Flynn and De Havilland but the war aspect was mediocre.

Terrifier 2 (2022)
- Better than the 1st, and a nice throwback to 80's horror.

Gone Baby Gone (2007 Repeat
I knew I would love it this time.

Run Silent, Run Deep (1958)
Entertaining submarine film with a great cast.

Air (2023)
A half a popcorn too much for my personal feelings.

The 12th Man (2017)
Great story.

The Fog of War (2003)
From our documentary list.

Anthropoid (2016)
Solid wartime action/thriller.

Men Without Wings (1946)
- Czech World War II film from the Cannes list.

A Hero (2021)
My 4th film from the director, and another winner.

Soldier of Orange (1977)
+ A war film with a cool factor.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)
A bit of a mixed bag until an ending that makes a big impression.

Fury (2014)
2/3 awesomeness, 1/3 corny cliches.

Ballad of a Soldier (1959)
Masterpiece

War Witch (2012)
A good lead performance carries this story revolving around rebel fighters in Africa.

The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (1987)
I'd rate it higher if I was less lost, just an incredible documentary.

Total-16
2023 total-78





Recent Watches
Oppenheimer (Nolan, 2023)-

The Whale (Arnofsky, 2022)-

Triangle of Sadness (Ostlund, 2022)-
-
Beau is Afraid (Aster, 2023)-

Cocaine Bear (Banks, 2023) -

Everything Everywhere All at Once (Kwan, 2022) -
++
RW Scream 2 (Craven, 1997) -
+
RW Scream 4 (Craven, 2011) -
+
Scream VI (Oplin, 2023) -

Good Boys (Stupinsky,2019) -
-
Scream (Oplin, 2022)- -

Elvis (Luhrmann, 2022)-

Game Night (Daley, 2018)-
-

__________________
Yeah, there's no body mutilation in it



That would have been worth the time
__________________
Accounting Homework Help



September, 2023 movies watched-

Bandit Queen (1994)
Based on a true story, controversial, good flick.

H-8 (1958) Repeat
Widely regarded as the greatest Yugoslavian film.

Blow-Up (1966) Repeat
Not a movie I can love, but there's plenty I appreciate.

Missing (1982)
+ High quality political drama.

Dial M for Murder (1954) Repeat
My 2nd favorite Hitchcock film.

September total-5
2023 total-83



October, 2023 movies watched-

Cocaine Bear (2023)
- Silly but amusing.

Light in the Piazza (1962)
Good drama with a fantastic performance from Olivia de Havilland.

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) Repeat
Some great qualities but it leaves me unsatisfied.

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) Repeat
Great cast and consistently amusing.

Violent Night (2022)
+ Solid simple minded entertainment.

The Name of the Rose (1986)
I can't call it a poor film but I didn't like anything about it besides the sets/setting.

Secrets in the Desert (2023))
+ My wife made me watch this lifetime movie, but at least it's my kind of story.

October total-7
2023 total-90



Missing - Based on true events of an activist who goes missing during a South American coup. Very worthwhile political drama with great performances from Sissy Spacek as the wife and Jack Lemmon as the father of the missing person.



The Little Girl Who Conquered Time - Still need to write something about this for the HoF but not my kind of movie. Kind of a Groundhog Day thing going on. From the director of Hausu but not nearly as whacked out or fun as that picture.


Sisu - Imagine you strike gold and in the process of transporting it to the nearest bank a bunch of Nazi's stop you, take your gold and try to kill you and your dog? You probably wouldn't be too happy. Neither is Sisu. He's gonna get his gold back and, in the process, he's gonna get his scalps - or what's left of them. It's a really good looking film, vibrant blood splatters, comically over the top violence, not much of a thinker, but boy is it fun. Hit's its peak a little early but it's never dull.



Guinea Pig 2: Flower of Flesh and Blood - Well, I finally watched a guinea pig movie. No idea why I needed to do that because it's ****ing awful. Good fx.



The Killer - I liked it. Very polished revenge flick. Doesn't bring anything new to the table but I love me a good revenge flick and this did the trick.



Inheritance - Good premise, starts off good, but it falls apart in the end. Lily Collins is a Assistant DA who discovers, after her fathers passing, that her father kept Simon Pegg locked up in a room, buried in the woods, for thirty years. Why would he do that? Well, that's what this movie attempts to answer. Collins is fine, Pegg hams it up a little as the film progresses and it's one of those films that gets you wondering how you would deal with the situation. I often felt, especially towards the end, that I would NOT do what Lily is doing. Kind of frustrating.



Bye, Bye Barry - Documentary about Barry Sanders, the most entertaining RB in NFL history, and why he left the game when he did. I can watch you tube vids of this guy making some of the best athletes in the world look like fools for hours. Didn't bring anything to the table that wasn't already out there but watching Barry run is always fun.



BlackBerry - Kind of like Air, the Nike story, but with the BlackBerry and there's a downfall. Movie flies by but it's missing something that would make it REALLY click. Can't quite put my finger on it....



JFK: What the Doctors Saw - Alright, finally! We can put this conspiracy to an end. Not really. We still don't know who did what but we now know who didn't do that. Maybe. Rehashes a lot of what's been said before. Puts an emphasis on what the Dr.'s at Parkland actually witnessed when JFK was first brought in after the assassination and how they vehemently disagree with the official account of what injuries JFK had and how he got them. Put them Dr.'s in the camp of grassy knoll/overpass shooter where most reasonable people reside.



re-watches:
Lost Highway - I think I got it this time.

Dial M for Murder - Second time watching this. I like it more than the first time I watched it.

Departures - Loved it again

Banshees of the Inisherin - Loved it again



The Holdovers - Caught this on my quest to check out a few of the BP nominees. This was pretty good.
Da'Vine Joy Randolph was the star of the show. That was a really good performance.


Suitable Flesh - Little disappointing. It's not bad but I had heard how it was something Stuart Gordon would have been proud of. Maybe he would have been but where was all the gore? Stars Heather Graham and Barbara Crampton as Dr.'s fighting a body jumping demon.



Poor Things - Outstanding! Loved it. Looks great. Great sets and costumes. Loved the cinematography. I haven't seen any of the other BA nominations but I'd be hard pressed to find a better performance this year or any other than what Emma did in this. I thought she was that good. And Ruffalo...not a fan of his but he's also fabulous. A lot of really uncomfortable laughs in this one and Ruffalo earns a lot of them as things start going south for him.
probably going to be a five popcorn box movie after watching it again.


Paid in Full - This was better than I expected. The rise of a Harlem drug kingpin set in the 80's. Stars Wood Harris who you may remember playing Avon Barksdale in The Wire.



Infinity Pool - This didn't do much for me. It's a little weird. Reminded me a little of The Prestige, not in any plot kind of way but in a body swapping kind of way. A couple have an accident and another couple fixes it. Or do they make it worse?



When Evil Lurks - This was a lot of fun and I'd recommend it as one of the better horror films of the last couple years, even if the third act is a bit eh. Everything up to then was really good. A couple scenes are bound to hit you hard and stay with you for a bit.



Bad Match - Barely remember this one. A guy just living his life gets a rude awakening when his latest triumph doesn't just go away quietly. Think Fatal Attraction type stuff for the '20's but not nearly as good.



Saltburn - Not my cup of tea. Well acted, looks good but it was a slow mover for me. I didn't care about any of these douchebags so I didn't care if they lived or died or went broke or whatever. I did appreciate the grave humping scene. Who doesn't do that when your high rolling buddy bites the dust - just hump the pile of dirt he's buried under for a bit. Was probably hoping to find a snake in there.



Small Town Wisconsin - This was alright. An alcoholic is going to lose his son and decides to give him a going away trip to the big city, Milwaukee, to watch his favorite baseball team. I had heard about this a couple years ago when my cousin mentioned that they were filming a movie at his uncles bowling alley in my hometown, but completely forgot about it. So I start watching it and HOLY SHIT there's Katie! and Nobby and Danno and my Aunt. So my cousins are in this for a frame or two and a lot of the places they filmed are instantly recognizable and not just the Milwaukee scenes but the small town scenes. It has a kind of Red Rocket vibe going but not quite that good



Even Lambs Have Teeth - Some girls are captured and abused then turn the tables on the captors. It's a pretty original story, one I haven't seen in weeks, but it doesn't bring anything new to the formula so.



Rewatch


Prizzis Honor - I've been wanting to see this again for awhile and finally came across a copy. I think I like it more now than I did back when I first saw it. Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner star as hitmen who fall in love and marry but complications arise while trying to keep Prizzi's Honor intact. Kind of funny, takes a while to get used to Jack's look but it all ends up working pretty good. Anjelica Houston plays Jacks ex and gives a really good performance as the family's black sheep daughter who will do anything to get her man back. [rating4[/rating]



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
The Little Girl Who Conquered Time - Still need to write something about this for the HoF but not my kind of movie. Kind of a Groundhog Day thing going on. From the director of Hausu but not nearly as whacked out or fun as that picture.


Yeah, it's far from Obayashi's best (I have to rewatch it, though), but it's still great. Not as good as Hausu, sure, and Obayashi has 15+ films better than Hausu, but since he's a genius, The Little Girl Who Conquered Time is still great.

Please don't be one of those people who expect Obayashi to make "crazy" movies. He's not the kind of filmmaker for silly English-speaking watchers to find "crazy" and "out there" like the overrated Miike. (Though my guess is Miike is much more diverse than that, too. Can't tell, cause I can't stand the guy for the most part. I've only seen like 6 out of 100+.)

Incidentally, I wish Hausu was lesser known compared to other Obayashi films. People watch it, don't understand it beyond "it's CRAZY!" and then, if they decide to watch another Obayashi (which is rare), they end up disappointed because "umm, not crazy". This reminds me of Oshima whose two most popular films in the West (In the Realm of the Senses and Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence) are the least Oshimian. (And also among his weakest.)
__________________
Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.



January, 2024 movies watched-

The Little Girl Who Conquered Time (1983)
- A tough sell for this viewer but it's sweetness won me over.

Departures (2008)
Lovely and worthy Oscar winner for best foreign language.

The Woman on Pier 13 (1949)
One of the more mediocre films on the noirs list.

Saltburn (2023)
It didn't blow me away but I need more movies like this.

Story of a Love Affair (1950)
- From the noirs list, it's not a noir IMO but it's worth a watch.

Barbarian (2022)
Well done, especially before it really turned into a horror film.

Der Verlorene (1951)
Another from the noirs list, written, directed, and starring Peter Lorre.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
- Much better than expected, it's entertaining at the very least.

Total-8





Yeah, it's far from Obayashi's best (I have to rewatch it, though), but it's still great. Not as good as Hausu, sure, and Obayashi has 15+ films better than Hausu, but since he's a genius, The Little Girl Who Conquered Time is still great.

Please don't be one of those people who expect Obayashi to make "crazy" movies. He's not the kind of filmmaker for silly English-speaking watchers to find "crazy" and "out there" like the overrated Miike. (Though my guess is Miike is much more diverse than that, too. Can't tell, cause I can't stand the guy for the most part. I've only seen like 6 out of 100+.)

Incidentally, I wish Hausu was lesser known compared to other Obayashi films. People watch it, don't understand it beyond "it's CRAZY!" and then, if they decide to watch another Obayashi (which is rare), they end up disappointed because "umm, not crazy". This reminds me of Oshima whose two most popular films in the West (In the Realm of the Senses and Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence) are the least Oshimian. (And also among his weakest.)

I don't have any expectations for Obayashi because I don't know who the hell that is. I was not aware that it was the same director as Hausu until after I watched it.



In Order of Disappearance
A guy, mixed up with some Norwegian drug dealers, gets his friend killed via overdose which doesn't sit very well with his Pa. His Pa, a snowplow driver, knows something is fishy because his kid wasn't a heroin addict. He starts poking around and eventually goes on a revenge tour trying to get to the top of what happened. Stars Stellan Skarsgård as the grieving father hell bent on revenge. Much better than your average revenge flick.


Ford vs Ferrari - Another
film. I'm not much of a car guy, more of a put it in (D)umb and go, but this was good. One of the Ford's decides to build race cars to compete against Ferrari in the 24 Hour Le Mans after being insulted by Enzo. Good performances from Bale and Damon and the racing scenes were pretty exciting. The ending sucked but apparently that's what really happened.


Cargo 200 - A young girl gets abducted in the boonies of 1980's USSR by a policeman who is moonlighting at a moonshine distillery. Takes a while to get there but trust me, it'll happen. Unbeknownst to the guy (but later beknownst), the girl is the daughter of a well connected Russian dude. Doesn't matter to the guy. He keeps her and a search for the missing girl begins. There's a lot more to this one than a simple kidnapping flick and it's obviously saying something about 1980's USSR but my knowledge of that era of the Soviet Union is all supplied from Kurt Loder and MTV News (They didn't have Jordache? The Horror!). The conditions for the girl in this guys apartment get a little nasty (IT'S A STIFFFFFF!) but this isn't a gore/torture porn flick at all. One of those movies that keeps ramping up the tension until the finale.



Murder Set Pieces - (rewatch) I saw this a long time ago but think it was a heavily edited version. This was definitely not the edited version and it didn't make it any better. A serial killer/rapist kills and rapes and does a lot of driving in Las Vegas. If it wasn't for all the raping and killing it could be a nice little tourism video for the parts of Vegas that nobody wants to go to. This gore-fest, splatter, shocker sucks.



Oppenheimer - Really wish somebody would tell Nolan that you don't need bombastic music in EVERY ****ING SCENE! Especially when people are talking. Other than that I really liked it. Would not be surprised if RDJ walks away with a little statue from this.



The Woman in the Window - Noir about a professor who sees a woman in the window, goes for a drink with her, ends up at her apartment, another guy comes in and he's angry, "WHAT THE **** YOU DOING HERE?!?" a struggle ensues, the other guy dies, the guy and gal get rid of the body, it gets found, an investigation begins, it doesn't look good for the Professor and the end. The ending was awful BUT it was pretty good up to then.



Stray Dog - First Kurosawa film that I didn't like. A cop has his gun pick-pocketed on the bus and begins a search in the seedier parts of town looking for the thief. Thought it was quite slow and I like my Mifune a bit more charismatic.



Out of the Past - Robert Mitchum plays an investigator trying to lose his past when he's recognized by a former associate working in a garage. Apparently there's a job about a missing woman and 400 grand that Mitchum never finished and now the boss, Kirk Douglas, having found him, wants him to finish it. This was good. Reminded me of a cross between Jackie Brown and A History of Violence.





The Big Steal - Another Mitchum film. A Lt. in the Army, Mitchum, is accused of stealing some cash from the Army and is on the run in Mexico from his Captain. The the Lt. however, is also following a guy and the guy he's following is the guy who REALLY stole the money. Not a bad film but it lost me towards the end and the car chases, there are a few, felt a little long. Not as long as driving Route 66 through Oklahoma but long.



Killers of the Flower Moon - Another very good movie. I don't think it's as good as a couple of the other BP nominees I've seen but another solid offering from Scorsese. It could maybe have been trimmed a little, especially in the first hour but who the hell am I to tell Marty how to make his films? Deniro's accent started to grate on me a little.



The Housemaid - Japanese flick about a wealthy family, husband, pregnant wife and young 'un, who hire a new housemaid to take care of the place. If you're going to hire a housemaid make sure she's at least an 8/10 when walking around and a 10/10 when cleaning the bathtub. Anyway, the husband does what husbands in his situation do, he bangs her and knocks her up. That's where things start going a little awry. Not terribly original but it was fun watching how everybody turns on everybody else and the ending is a wtf ending. This was an accidental watch as I was looking for the Park Chan-wook film with a similar name but once I got a glimpse of the wife and housemaid I figured, what the hell, this'll do. [rating4[/rating]


R100 - A sub signs up for a dominatrix service with a twist. The doms come to you but you don't know when and you don't know where. There are rules, of course, like it's a year long contract with no early cancellations and you can't touch or do anything to the girls. Think of the Smokers Anonymous segment in Cat's Eye only with leather clad, Japanese ladies beating the hell out of you and spitting on you and doing whatever dominatrix's do. Had one hilarious scene with a heavy set expectorating lady. Disgustingly funny. Once the giant American Dom showed up to collect payment for an accidental death of one of the ladies I lost interest. Then it just got goofy. [rating]2.5[rating]





Yeah, it's far from Obayashi's best (I have to rewatch it, though), but it's still great. Not as good as Hausu, sure, and Obayashi has 15+ films better than Hausu, but since he's a genius, The Little Girl Who Conquered Time is still great.

Please don't be one of those people who expect Obayashi to make "crazy" movies. He's not the kind of filmmaker for silly English-speaking watchers to find "crazy" and "out there" like the overrated Miike. (Though my guess is Miike is much more diverse than that, too. Can't tell, cause I can't stand the guy for the most part. I've only seen like 6 out of 100+.)
)
I'm going to watch The Discarnates soon as it is supposed to be based on the same novel that All of Us Strangers was based on. Is The Discarnates one of Obayashi's better works? If not what are his top 3? I've always fancied his anti-war trilogy box set.

Thanks



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
Is The Discarnates one of Obayashi's better works?
I wasn't taken by it. I thought it was one of his weakest, but I probably owe it a rewatch since a fellow cinephile liked it a lot.

If not what are his top 3?
TOP 3 is impossible to pick. Here are all my 10/10s:

Hanagatami
Goodbye for Tomorrow
Labyrinth of Cinema
Chizuko's Younger Sister
Four Sisters
Seven Weeks
Legend of the Cat Monster

Plus there are twice as many that are almost 10/10.