Rate The Last Movie You Saw

[Gideon58]

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III
(2006, Abrams)
The third part on a film franchise

https://fromtailorswithlove.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/mission-impossible-3-jacket-suede.jpg




Mission: Impossible III features a semi-retired Hunt, who is now a trainer of new recruits while enjoying "normal" life with his fiancée Julia (Michelle Monaghan). Unfortunately, when a young trainee (Keri Russell) ends up captured, Ethan is pulled back into action; first to try to rescue her and then to try to stop Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the notorious arms dealer that had captured her. And it is at the hands of Davian that the franchise introduces a concept that seemed foreign to this franchise: a real threat and a real vulnerability to our "hero".

Grade: 4


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2191156#post2191156)


This was a good movie...Hoffman was brilliant.

[Thief]

This was a good movie...Hoffman was brilliant.

Indeed. I drool over his performance a bit on the full review.


But the biggest way we feel that threat is through Davian himself. Philip Seymour Hoffman delivers what is probably the best antagonist performance of the franchise. His Davian is ruthless but without veering too much into "moustache-twirling". There's more of a banality to it, an "I don't care" vibe from him that I just find chilling. The above quote is one of the many threats that he throws at Ethan after being captured, and the way he pauses and enunciates Ethan's name is just one of many ways in which he signals to him "I know who you are now. I can get to you."

[Stirchley]

75558

Just could not get into this movie. HUGE Beatles fan & I just wanted to hear their music & the acting got in the way.

[xSookieStackhouse]

1
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTQ2NzUxMTAxN15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMzEyMTIwMg@@._V1_.jpg

[Fabulous]

Zero Motivation (2014)

3.5

https://www.themoviedb.org/t/p/original/5rop1hL6sCQZy3vqBOqrmHLRPBt.jpg

[StuSmallz]

Zero Dark Thirty (Bigelow, 2012)

https://i.ibb.co/pnzyP0B/ZERO-super-Jumbo.jpg (https://ibb.co/Wsyt3x4)

The greatest manhunt in history.

I don't think I have to remind anyone by now that, before it became the punchline for multiple Family Guy gags (some of them even good!), 9/11 was the definition of a watershed, earth-shaking moment, not just in American history, but the entire world's as well. However, in addition to the tremendous historical impact of that September morn, it also holds a certain personal importance for me, as, while I fortunately didn't lose anyone in the attacks, it still happened after I had just become a teenager, which makes it feels like the unofficial dividing line between when I was a "kid", and when I became an "adult", as the world became a much scarier place after it; I mean, how could I and an entire generation of Americans not be traumatized by what was our version of Peal Harbor, as we were pulled out of class to watch the firey deaths of thousands of our fellow countrymen on live TV? However, as our nation rushed to obtain some sort of vengeance, the fallout from that response has proved to be grotesquely overblown, as the deaths of 3,000 people doesn't justify the displacement of over 30 million, or the deaths of over half a million, many of whom were innocent, making the so-called "War On Terror" one without the relatively clear-cut good or bad guys of certain previous conflicts, and rendering it far more difficult for Hollywood's nuance-hostile industry to churn out its inevitable dramatizations. However, with 2012's Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow not only attempted such a dramatization, but also succeeded extremely well (although that's not a huge surprise, considering that her previous effort was The Hurt Locker), resulting in a film that's not only a superb, true-life espionage Thriller, but also the current peak of the director's late career renaissance.

It tells the story of the hunt for bin Laden through the lens of "Maya", a green CIA operative who was recruited fresh out of high school, who, over the course of the film's 2 & 1/2 hours, slowly grows from being just one more small cog in a massive bureaucratic machine, to being the main driver of the hunt herself, as she obsessively digs through mountains of digital data, goes from anonymous, grime-covered "black site" to anonymous, grime-covered black site, and becomes an increasingly willing participant in various, dehumanizing forms of physical & psychological torture, as the stakes become increasingly personal for her, and she comes to display a pathological, quasi-religious fervor for hunting bin Laden, one that borders on being just as fanatical as the actual religious fervor of the terrorists themselves.

Of course, I have to address the elephant that's been in the room since the film's release, which is that it takes a "pro-torture" stance, which strikes me as cherry-picking, and part of a justified backlash against the American war machine that has nonetheless been misdirected at the film itself. I think this is obvious when the film shows multiple times that beating, force-feeding, and waterboarding prisoners is not only unable to consistently produce reliable intel, but also fails to prevent an actual attack in one case, which feels like a defusal of the theoretical "ticking-clock" scenarios that right-wingers loved to spew on Fox "News". In addition, you also have to consider the film's portrayal of the torture itself, which, rather than glossing over it, chooses to magnify it instead, with the lingering close-ups of one detainee in particular's filthy, bloody face, especially as he violently vomits up water, making the film an extremely uncomfortable watch, especially if you viewed it in a packed theater like I did. And finally, while this is outside the "text" of the film itself, I'm still skeptical of the idea that the film's screenwriter, Mark Boal, intended it as some sort of pro-torture cheerleading, considering that he wrote it at the same time he was working on an article (https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/the-kill-team-how-u-s-soldiers-in-afghanistan-murdered-innocent-civilians-169793/) about American war crimes, with the humanization of Maya and her co-workers when they're off the job not feeling like an endorsement of their "on the clock" actions, but a way to emphasize the level of sociopathy required to torture people for a living, while still functioning as a human being.

Anyway, as for the film's overall portrayal of the manhunt itself, ZDT does a superb job of conveying just enough of the maddening minutiae so we can grasp how knotty and dizzying a tangle that the world's biggest needle in a haystack search was, while also avoiding becoming unnecessarily bogged down in those details, with the rapid-fire, globe-trotting jumps between locations, intense handheld camerawork, and Bigelow's sharp, tense direction helping to cut through all the potentially confusing intelligence community jargon and bureaucratic back room meetings, in order to create a engaging, thrilling experience on the whole, with references to shifts in the political landscape to keep us grounded in the timeline, as well as occasional asides to portray real acts of terrorism, driving home the urgency of hunting down the man who's continuing to inspire those acts.

Finally, as for the film's moral stance on the "War On Terror", its overall viewpoint is appropriately as muddy as the war itself, as it refuses to turn a blind eye to the brutality of the conflict, and never strings up easy strawmen, but presents multiple perspectives in a solid fashion, too solidly to be interpreted in good faith as taking any one side, as Maya, though portrayed as being admirably iron-willed at times, still seems to hunt for bin Laden less as an act of collective justice for 9/11, and more for the personal vengeance of a colleague of that was killed in a suicide bombing. And, even then, neither Maya or us get to feel any final sense of fulfillment, as the climatic, half-hour raid sequence, a masterclass in glacial, nerve-wracking tension on its own terms, still takes us back to square zero with the lingering, haunting image of another aircraft on fire, bringing the events full circle, and hinting at an endless, ever-perpetuating cycle of violence as a result. And, even after Maya has personally glimpsed the corpse of bin Laden himself, this closure still fails to bring her peace, with her hunt for him being all she's lived for the past decade, and, when a pilot asks her where she wants to go after, she tellingly doesn't (or can't?) answer his question, as she stares blankly off into space, and a tear runs down her exhausted face, as we abruptly cut to black.

Best Moment:

https://youtu.be/GoDVEYA7VXc

Final Score: 9

[xSookieStackhouse]

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III
(2006, Abrams)
The third part on a film franchise

https://fromtailorswithlove.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/mission-impossible-3-jacket-suede.jpg




Mission: Impossible III features a semi-retired Hunt, who is now a trainer of new recruits while enjoying "normal" life with his fiancée Julia (Michelle Monaghan). Unfortunately, when a young trainee (Keri Russell) ends up captured, Ethan is pulled back into action; first to try to rescue her and then to try to stop Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the notorious arms dealer that had captured her. And it is at the hands of Davian that the franchise introduces a concept that seemed foreign to this franchise: a real threat and a real vulnerability to our "hero".

Grade: 4.5


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2191156#post2191156)

dont forget to watch other 3 missiom impossible films :D they filming number 7 right now and then number 8 :D

[xSookieStackhouse]

5 rewatched. loved the music and the cast <3
http://www.movienewsletters.net/photos/079916R1.jpg

[the samoan lawyer]

Promising Young Woman (2021) - 3.5
Biggie (2021) - 3
The Mole Agent (2020) - 3.5
Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) - 3
Soul (2020) - 3
Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020) - 3
Pieces of a Woman (2021) - 3.5
In Fabric (2019) - 1

[xSookieStackhouse]

Promising Young Woman (2021) - 3.5
Biggie (2021) - 3
The Mole Agent (2020) - 3.5
Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) - 3
Soul (2020) - 3
Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020) - 3
Pieces of a Woman (2021) - 3.5
In Fabric (2019) - 1

is soul good?

[Thief]

dont forget to watch other 3 missiom impossible films :D they filming number 7 right now and then number 8 :D

I've seen them all, most of them multiple times. This was a rewatch since it's my favorite of the bunch.

[the samoan lawyer]

is soul good?


Yes Sookie, good movie, I enjoyed it. Very clever and inventive and the animation was great, as always from Pixar. I wouldnt say its a young kids movie, themes maybe a bit too deep for mine, aged 10 and 5 and slow in parts.

[Thursday Next]

Pieces of a Woman (2020)

Sad topic and unlikable characters don't make for much of an enjoyable watch.

3

Your Name Engraved Herein (2020)

This Taiwanese teen almost-love story starts well, but becomes a bit overwrought and starts throwing in a few cliches. I don't know if I missed something, but I didn't understand what seemed to be a change in the characters' personalities half way through. Some touching scenes though.

3+

[xSookieStackhouse]

Yes Sookie, good movie, I enjoyed it. Very clever and inventive and the animation was great, as always from Pixar. I wouldnt say its a young kids movie, themes maybe a bit too deep for mine, aged 10 and 5 and slow in parts.

i love pixar they make amazing movies . :)

[xSookieStackhouse]

I've seen them all, most of them multiple times. This was a rewatch since it's my favorite of the bunch.

oh good lol that what i do aswell always rewatch my fav movies :p

[Wooley]

1
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTQ2NzUxMTAxN15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMzEyMTIwMg@@._V1_.jpg

That seems about the right score.

[Wooley]

Zero Dark Thirty (Bigelow, 2012)

https://i.ibb.co/pnzyP0B/ZERO-super-Jumbo.jpg (https://ibb.co/Wsyt3x4)

The greatest manhunt in history.

I don't think I have to remind anyone by now that, before it became the punchline for multiple Family Guy gags (some of them even good!), 9/11 was the definition of a watershed, earth-shaking moment, not just in American history, but the entire world's as well. However, in addition to the tremendous historical impact of that September morn, it also holds a certain personal importance for me, as, while I fortunately didn't lose anyone in the attacks, it still happened after I had just become a teenager, which makes it feels like the unofficial dividing line between when I was a "kid", and when I became an "adult", as the world became a much] scarier place after it; I mean, how could I and an entire generation of Americans not be traumatized by what was our version of Peal Harbor, as we were pulled out of class to watch the firey deaths of thousands of our fellow countrymen on live TV? However, as our nation rushed to obtain some sort of vengeance, the fallout from that response has proved to be grotesquely overblown, as the deaths of 3,000 people doesn't justify the displacement of over 30 million, or the deaths of over half a million, many of whom were innocent, making the so-called "War On Terror" one without the relatively clear-cut good or bad guys of certain previous conflicts, and rendering it far more difficult for Hollywood's nuance-hostile industry to churn out its inevitable dramatizations. However, with 2012's Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow not only attempted such a dramatization, but also succeeded extremely well (although that's not a huge surprise, considering that her previous effort was The Hurt Locker), resulting in a film that's not only a superb, true-life espionage Thriller, but also the current peak of the director's late career renaissance.

It tells the story of the hunt for bin Laden through the lens of "Maya", a green CIA operative who was recruited fresh out of high school, who, over the course of the film's 2 & 1/2 hours, slowly grows from being just one more small cog in a massive bureaucratic machine, to being the main driver of the hunt herself, as she obsessively digs through mountains of digital data, goes from anonymous, grime-covered "black site" to anonymous, grime-covered black site, and becomes an increasingly willing participant in various, dehumanizing forms of physical & psychological torture, as the stakes become increasingly personal for her, and she comes to display a pathological, quasi-religious fervor for hunting bin Laden, one that borders on being just as fanatical as the actual religious fervor of the terrorists themselves.

Of course, I have to address the elephant that's been in the room since the film's release, which is that it takes a "pro-torture" stance, which strikes me as cherry-picking, and part of a justified backlash against the American war machine that has nonetheless been misdirected at the film itself. I think this is obvious when the film shows multiple times that beating, force-feeding, and waterboarding prisoners is not only unable to consistently produce reliable intel, but also fails to prevent an actual attack in one case, which feels like a defusal of the theoretical "ticking-clock" scenarios that right-wingers loved to spew on Fox "News". In addition, you also have to consider the film's portrayal of the torture itself, which, rather than glossing over it, chooses to magnify it instead, with the lingering close-ups of one detainee in particular's filthy, bloody face, especially as he violently vomits up water, making the film an extremely uncomfortable watch, especially if you viewed it in a packed theater like I did. And finally, while this is outside the "text" of the film itself, I'm still skeptical of the idea that the film's screenwriter, Mark Boal, intended it as some sort of pro-torture cheerleading, considering that he wrote it at the same time he was working on an article (https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/the-kill-team-how-u-s-soldiers-in-afghanistan-murdered-innocent-civilians-169793/) about American war crimes, with the humanization of Maya and her co-workers when they're off the job not feeling like an endorsement of their "on the clock" actions, but a way to emphasize the level of sociopathy required to torture people for a living, while still functioning as a human being.

Anyway, as for the film's overall portrayal of the manhunt itself, ZDT does a superb job of conveying just enough of the maddening minutiae so we can grasp how knotty and dizzying a tangle that the world's biggest needle in a haystack search was, while also avoiding becoming unnecessarily bogged down in those details, with the rapid-fire, globe-trotting jumps between locations, intense handheld camerawork, and Bigelow's sharp, tense direction helping to cut through all the potentially confusing intelligence community jargon and bureaucratic back room meetings, in order to create a engaging, thrilling experience on the whole, with references to shifts in the political landscape to keep us grounded in the timeline, as well as occasional asides to portray real acts of terrorism, driving home the urgency of hunting down the man who's continuing to inspire those acts.

Finally, as for the film's moral stance on the "War On Terror", its overall viewpoint is appropriately as muddy as the war itself, as it refuses to turn a blind eye to the brutality of the conflict, and never strings up easy strawmen, but presents multiple perspectives in a solid fashion, too solidly to be interpreted in good faith as taking any one side, as Maya, though portrayed as being admirably iron-willed at times, still seems to hunt for bin Laden less as an act of collective justice for 9/11, and more for the personal vengeance of a colleague of that was killed in a suicide bombing. And, even then, neither Maya or us get to feel any final sense of fulfillment, as the climatic, half-hour raid sequence, a masterclass in glacial, nerve-wracking tension on its own terms, still takes us back to square zero with the lingering, haunting image of another aircraft on fire, bringing the events full circle, and hinting at an endless, ever-perpetuating cycle of violence as a result. And, even after Maya has personally glimpsed the corpse of bin Laden himself, this closure still fails to bring her peace, with her hunt for him being all she's lived for the past decade, and, when a pilot asks her where she wants to go after, she tellingly doesn't (or can't?) answer his question, as she stares blankly off into space, and a tear runs down her exhausted face, as we abruptly cut to black.

Best Moment:

https://youtu.be/GoDVEYA7VXc

Final Score: 9

Yeah, I thought this movie was fantastic. Unlike many, I liked Argo, but I would have chosen this film over that one for BP 100/100 times and I thought it was serious bull**** that Bigelow wasn't nominated for Best Director for this. Serious bull****. Like, I wondered if there wasn't some kind of Hollywood-backlash at her for making a better film than Avatar (not hard) back in '08 and taking the statue from that film and from Cameron, or even if maybe there was a little misogyny of, if Bigelow wins BD twice in four years, do we have to admit that the best director in Hollywood might actually be a woman?! :eek:

[pahaK]

The Empty Man (2020)
3
https://64.media.tumblr.com/758db9de91c26ff205b6002521a1d590/8e57b2814c09161f-93/s500x750/acc79474cfeea169542966765cd6de5dc007327c.gifv
A difficult film to rate. Ultimately disappointing despite all the good things in it. It's like three movies mashed together with an extra short as an introduction. Cut the intro (it's good but totally unneeded), remove the teens + urban legend stuff, and concentrate on the cult and cosmic horror, and we have a winner.

[Thief]

Yeah, I thought this movie was fantastic. Unlike many, I liked Argo, but I would have chosen this film over that one for BP 100/100 times and I thought it was serious bull**** that Bigelow wasn't nominated for Best Director for this. Serious bull****. Like, I wondered if there wasn't some kind of Hollywood-backlash at her for making a better film than Avatar (not hard) back in '08 and taking the statue from that film and from Cameron, or even if maybe there was a little misogyny of, if Bigelow wins BD twice in four years, do we have to admit that the best director in Hollywood might actually be a woman?! :eek:

I need to rewatch this, and Hurt Locker for that matter. Both films have a lot of ingredients that I like, and overall I enjoyed them, but I couldn't help but feel detached from them. They didn't really click with me.

[Wooley]

I need to rewatch this, and Hurt Locker for that matter. Both films have a lot of ingredients that I like, and overall I enjoyed them, but I couldn't help but feel detached from them. They didn't really click with me.

I think detachment is actually part of her style in these films, particularly ZDT. I think it's one of the things that makes that film so good is that it doesn't play on any of the genre tropes really, including how the action is handled. Like she intentionally sidesteps on them to focus on the real.

[mark f]

Running Stumbled (John Maringouin, 2006) 2.5 6/10
Story Conference (Roy Mack, 1934) 3 6.5/10
Ring of Terror (Clark L. Paylow, 1961) 1.5+ 4.5/10
Someone, Somewhere (Cédric Klapisch, 2019) 2.5+ 6/10
https://media2.fdncms.com/chicago/imager/u/slideshow/79862847/someonesomewhere.jpg
Two lonely Parisians (Ana Girardot & François Civil) live right next to each other but never seem to meet.
White Sun of the Desert (Vladimir Motyl, 1970) 2.5 6/10
The Louisiana Hussy (Lee Sholem, 1959) 2 5/10
The Astrologer AKA Suicide Cult (Jim Glickenhaus, 1975) 1.5 4/10
Captain Salvation (John Robertson, 1927) 2.5+ 6/10
https://prod-images.tcm.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i306/captainsalvation27_downseafromboston_vd_223x104_112620130633.jpg?w=400
Seminary student Lars Hanson does battle with his New England town about a woman of sin.
Doomsday Machine (Lee Sholem & Harry Hope, 1972) 1.5- 4/10
White Sister (Alberto Lattuada, 1972) 2.5 5.5/10
The Tijuana Story (Leslie Kardos, 1957) 2 5/10
Crying Fist (Ryoo Seung-wan, 2005) 2.5+ 6/10
https://nitter.tedomum.net/pic/media%2FEldggAUXEAA1e3l.jpg%3Fname%3Dsmall
Boxers Choi Min-sik & Seung-bum Ryoo, whose lives are on downward spirals, work hard to get in an amateur championship fight.
Romulus, My Father (Richard Roxburgh, 2007) 2.5 5.5/10
The Touch of Flesh (R. John Hugh, 1960) 2+ 5/10
The Naked Road (William Martin, 1959) 1.5 4/10
Fear No More (Bernard Wiesen, 1961) 2.5 6/10
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/FqFgB4yuXglG4SdnadKvK543kFe3cvXUSu5T5NdLME2GcZbKvla2Lprw5x3zUhxi_vzdsC-TpF-BUtgZ2scDARUgIlagCmpmmHhBX_jbDnAxBgZxq4gmIUuB5Pe8qqU0_BQ
Mala Powers is aided by nice guy Jacques Bergerac when she gets involved in a humongous mystery.
Out of the Wild (Paul Krizan, 2019) 2.5 6/10
Mickey One (Arthur Penn, 1965) 2 5/10
Stallone: Frank, That Is (Derek Wayne Johnson, 2021) 3 6.5/10
Abnormal Family (Masayuki Suo, 1984) 2 5/10
https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56703629cbced6261535a355/1593197209352-0ST8HIHOWI0HZTQWSJOL/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kCJGbg11dVY3l1xu9MR1yDZZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZamWLI2zvYWH8K3-s_4yszcp2ryTI0HqTOaaUohrI8PInUfVoBQiThEX5VO6lNggVd7Zs7JPXGIdJZ0xMABMOPYKMshLAGzx4R3EDFOm1kBS/pink-3-and-4-promo.jpg?format=500w
Porno shot in the style of Ozu by the director of Shall We Dance?

[Marco]

Yes Sookie, good movie, I enjoyed it. Very clever and inventive and the animation was great, as always from Pixar. I wouldnt say its a young kids movie, themes maybe a bit too deep for mine, aged 10 and 5 and slow in parts.

May give this a go then Samoan Lawyer, wee man 12 and I love the pixar. :)

[Captain Terror]

The Louisiana Hussy (Lee Sholem, 1959) 2 5/10

This has been on my list for a while. What should I expect?

[WHITBISSELL!]

Avengers: Endgame - Having finally watched Captain Marvel I decided to give this another go from beginning to end. No interruptions or catching it in bits and pieces. It turned out to be a surprisingly cohesive and more or less fulfilling coda to the franchise. I thought I had watched it before but there were parts I didn't remember. Parts that either helped to clear up questions I had or deepened character arcs. I've never been much of a Marvel fanboy so I don't know if that had anything to do with the Tony Stark death not really resonating with me. The Natasha Romanoff death was a little better. And the final showdown with all the "desaparecidos" reappearing was a foregone conclusion so all that was left was to sit back and marvel at all the CGI. I do appreciate all the artistry and storytelling involved in this and know full well that DC can only hope to make something as good as this someday.

rating_4

[mark f]

The Louisiana Hussy (Lee Sholem, 1959) 2 5/10

This has been on my list for a while. What should I expect?

Weird combo of down-home folksiness/friendliness, cruelty, technical incompetence combined with good on-location photography, music ranging from foreboding to cutesy. The plotting and characters are all obvious. I think my fave part was a sorta precursor to the fist fight in They Live.

[Gideon58]

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0zX6MukFu0E/maxresdefault.jpg


3

[matt72582]

Sunday in August - 7/10
A bit of a hectic start, but it's only because the movie revolves around many different characters, and takes some getting used to, but gets better. I wonder why Marcello Mastroianni's audio was dubbed in by an awful sounding voice.



https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/db/Domenica_d%27agosto.jpg

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fm.media-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FM%2FMV5BMjhlYjNhNmMtMWZhNy00NWI3LTg2NzktMGY5MzJkY2M4ZTI1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNz MzNDI%40._V1_UY1200_CR75%2C0%2C630%2C1200_AL_.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

Madhouse, 1981

Julia (Patricia Mickey) is a teacher at a school for deaf children. At the urging of an old family friend, she goes to visit her mentally and physically ill twin sister, Mary (Allison Biggers) in the hospital. But the visit is disastrous as Mary taunts Julia about the abuse she used to inflict on her and swears to torment Julia again on their upcoming birthday.

Normally I post stills with my reviews, but the poster is legit 85% the reason I watched this film.

Unfortunately, the poster is maybe the best thing about it.

Okay, maybe that's not entirely fair. There are two different, creatively nasty sequences that stand out in a good way from a horror point of view. One in particular manages to be surprising and emotionally involving.

But for the most part, this film is kind of a flop for me. It is easy to sympathize with Julia, who has long repressed her childhood trauma and doesn't totally understand her own complex emotions regarding her twin. But for the most part it just doesn't go anywhere. The film should build and build and build to the final confrontation between Julia and Mary, but in the last third it veers into confusing directions, spending too much time with characters who are not compelling.

There are also some horror movie decisions that are beyond the pale, such as when Julia gets a friend to sleep over . . . but then that friend stays in a different room and also Julia shows no signs of worry when she mysteriously disappears (?!?!?!).

This movie is, especially for a horror fan, fine. A few good moments here and there, albeit with a deflated ending that feels like it was trying to swing big but strains under the weight of some really dumb gimmicks.

That poster is dope, though.

2.5

[xSookieStackhouse]

That seems about the right score.

yep :rolleyes:

[Fabulous]

Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

3.5

https://www.themoviedb.org/t/p/original/eOdKMgGkGzg8Y9UjYpwrpnmn3VV.jpg

[Wooley]

Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

3.5

https://www.themoviedb.org/t/p/original/eOdKMgGkGzg8Y9UjYpwrpnmn3VV.jpg

One of my favorites of the last decade.

[Torgo]

Heavenly Creatures - 4


A disturbing yet beautiful and fantastical true crime tale about Pauline and Juliet, two New Zealanders who are high schoolers, outsiders, soul mates and murderers.* While their hometown of Christchurch is picturesque and a nice place to raise a family, it's also oppressively patriarchal and old-fashioned, which makes it easy to understand why the girls developed a fantasy world for themselves.* With its medieval castles, gardens, costumes and life-size clay figures resembling those Pauline and Juliet mold in art class, Peter Jackson makes their world captivating and odd, not to mention slightly Gilliamesque.* It's also easy to see why the best friends would turn to crime to remain in their world, a certainty that becomes less certain thanks to a marital affair, Juliet's medical condition and cold, harsh reality.* Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet are as good as you'd expect as the best friends, especially for the unique and subtle ways they express their disgust with a world that seemingly everyone else goes along with despite its ridiculousness and oppresiveness.* I also very much like the swooping, slightly manic and Sam Raimi-adjacent camerawork, and going back to the fantasy world, it has practical and digital effects including early morphing technology that still hold up.* All in all, the movie succeeds at capturing how it feels to be an outsider in your adolescence, to be with that one person who understands you and the comfort of fantasy during that difficult period without discounting the harshness of the girls' crime.* I love Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies as much as the next Tolkien devotee, but this may be the director's masterpiece.

[Thief]

Love that film. I try to recommend it whenever I get a chance.

[Fabulous]

Another Country (1984)

3.5

https://www.themoviedb.org/t/p/original/Ame6lnrNQk2zGEZL2JxD73Vxwoj.jpg

[xSookieStackhouse]

5 rewatched
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjMxNjM5OTQ2M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNjUxNzYxMTE@._V1_.jpg

[Fabulous]

Truth (2015)

3.5

https://www.themoviedb.org/t/p/original/gSBHgKkGnNAVGZEfyDzMEYwweKL.jpg

[xSookieStackhouse]

4.5
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/613hyBR5jvL._AC_SY741_.jpg

[StuSmallz]

Yeah, I thought this movie was fantastic. Unlike many, I liked Argo, but I would have chosen this film over that one for BP 100/100 times and I thought it was serious bull**** that Bigelow wasn't nominated for Best Director for this. Serious bull****. Like, I wondered if there wasn't some kind of Hollywood-backlash at her for making a better film than Avatar (not hard) back in '08 and taking the statue from that film and from Cameron, or even if maybe there was a little misogyny of, if Bigelow wins BD twice in four years, do we have to admit that the best director in Hollywood might actually be a woman?! :eek:Geez, she wasn't even nominated for Best Director for it? I mean, I imagine that had more to do with genre snobbery on the part of the Academy than any gender-based backlash, but still...I think detachment is actually part of her style in these films, particularly ZDT. I think it's one of the things that makes that film so good is that it doesn't play on any of the genre tropes really, including how the action is handled. Like she intentionally sidesteps on them to focus on the real.Yeah; I mean, I don't exactly know if that's what Thief was talking about when he mentioned "detachment", but the way the compound raid in ZDT alternates sudden bursts of "action" with long, uneasy stretches of quiet calm for half an hour really dialed up the tension (it didn't feel entirely different from No Country in that regard, actually...), and the way a lot of it is filmed is like night & day when you compare it to the way Michael Bay directed similar scenes in his Benghazi movie:


https://youtu.be/-FoacS_MKOc

[xSookieStackhouse]

4.5
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTgzMTQ2MDQxMF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODEzOTg5Mg@@._V1_.jpg

[beelzebubble]

The Last King of Scotland What a wild ride. Just rewatched this movie about Idi Amin's Ugandan regime. It is about a young doctor (James McAvoy) doing what we would call philanthropic tourism (emphasis on the tourism) who gets in over his head when Idi Amin (Forrest Whittaker) befriends him. Whittaker and McAvoy have a great chemistry together. Whittaker is fabulous as Idi Amin, He uses his physicaity to great effect. I love the cinematography. You are in a lush tropical place and the cinematography shows it through it use of color in both interior and exterior shots. Love how the film moves from light to dark in with the progress of Amin's deteriorating regime and the increasing fear of the young doctor. The editing is great. It shows the roller coaster ride McAvoy and the viewer are on. I also love the soundtrack. I am especially fond of African music of the Seventies and Eighties.
4/5

[chawhee]

Sonic (2020)
https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Sonic-the-Hedgehog-movie-trailer-redesign.png?w=800
3
I don't know how anyone can give this higher than a 3/5, possibly dependent on your feelings about Jim Carrey. A few scenes/punchlines were laughably funny, many jokes were very culturally temporal and fell flat...I never plan to rewatch, but it's strong enough to recommend ONE watch.

[John W Constantine]

ZS Justice League - 3.5

[Stirchley]

The Last King of Scotland What a wild ride. Just rewatched this movie about Idi Amin's Ugandan regime. It is about a young doctor (James McAvoy) doing what we would call philanthropic tourism (emphasis on the tourism) who gets in over his head when Idi Amin (Forrest Whittaker) befriends him. Whittaker and McAvoy have a great chemistry together. Whittaker is fabulous as Idi Amin, He uses his physicaity to great effect. I love the cinematography. You are in a lush tropical place and the cinematography shows it through it use of color in both interior and exterior shots. Love how the film moves from light to dark in with the progress of Amin's deteriorating regime and the increasing fear of the young doctor. The editing is great. It shows the roller coaster ride McAvoy and the viewer are on. I also love the soundtrack. I am especially fond of African music of the Seventies and Eighties.
4/5

Terrific movie.

[Stirchley]

75642

Re-watch of a terrific movie.

[Fabulous]

Japanese Story (2003)

3.5

https://www.themoviedb.org/t/p/original/axbwKo8v7z3DgCE3AIlCMhw8R0v.jpg

[Wooley]

4.5
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/613hyBR5jvL._AC_SY741_.jpg

I keep hearing this is really good. One of these days...

[Wooley]

Geez, she wasn't even nominated for Best Director for it? I mean, I imagine that had more to do with genre snobbery on the part of the Academy than any gender-based backlash, but still...Yeah; I mean, I don't exactly know if that's what Thief was talking about when he mentioned "detachment", but the way the compound raid in ZDT alternates sudden bursts of "action" with long, uneasy stretches of quiet calm for half an hour really dialed up the tension (it didn't feel entirely different from No Country in that regard, actually...), and the way a lot of it is filmed is like night & day when you compare it to the way Michael Bay directed similar scenes in his Benghazi movie:


https://youtu.be/-FoacS_MKOc

Yeah, you're right about the raid comparisons for sure.
And I don't necessarily think it was gender backlash but it did raise the question to me. Especially since the BP winner was also a political thriller so the genre-snobbery seems less of an argument.

[Gideon58]

https://dyn1.heritagestatic.com/lf?set=path%5B2%2F1%2F4%2F1%2F6%2F21416126%5D&call=url%5Bfile%3Aproduct.chain%5D



3

[kgaard]

Sonic (2020)
https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Sonic-the-Hedgehog-movie-trailer-redesign.png?w=800
3
I don't know how anyone can give this higher than a 3/5, possibly dependent on your feelings about Jim Carrey. A few scenes/punchlines were laughably funny, many jokes were very culturally temporal and fell flat...I never plan to rewatch, but it's strong enough to recommend ONE watch.

Ah, the last movie I saw in a theater (not counting drive-ins), good times. Not as awful as I thought it would be, actually! Your rating is about where I would land too.

[Stirchley]

75642

I’ve seen this movie cover a million times, but it only dawned on me last night that it’s a play on Maria receiving communion. Some Catholic I am. :rolleyes:

[WHITBISSELL!]

https://2l7g9kgsh281akevs49v281d-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/toy-story-4-1174922-1280x0-1132x670.jpg

Toy Story 4 - When this was first announced I thought what a lot of other people did. That it was an unnecessary cash grab by Pixar. I should have had more faith in the studio because this is on equal footing with the other entries in the franchise and in some ways better. The animation for one. It's light years ahead of the original which, to be fair, was made during the outset of computer animation. It also injects a lot more humor into the proceedings and the list of voice talents in this is truly staggering. The writing is inspired as well with the story able to build on what was a very satisfying culmination in part 3. This ending felt more elegiac and consequential, like a true farewell. Having said all that I'm still not sure how they did it. How they took something that had been reverently and skillfully closed out, revisited it, and actually improved on it. If you were loathe to see this because of any concerns that it would somehow debase the trilogy then have no fear. Pixar really came through on this.

rating_4_5

[xSookieStackhouse]

4.5
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ad/Ugly_truth.jpg

[cricket]

Another Round (2020)

4.5-

https://www.lasnuevemusas.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Druk-portada.jpg

I don't watch many new movies but I noticed a couple of members raving about this. It's Danish and nominated for a couple of Oscars. I could very much relate to the characters and it's alcohol driven story. Loved the concept and Mads was great in it. Highly recommended.

[xSookieStackhouse]

I keep hearing this is really good. One of these days...

yes it is pretty good loved helena bonham carter on harry potter movie trilogy also, lily james is amazing on downtown abby also they both really good actresses they did amazing job on the movie :)

[LChimp]

https://pics.filmaffinity.com/Yummy-990074630-large.jpg

A zombie movie. It has some comedy going for it, but otherwise it doesn't bring anything new to the table.

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi1.wp.com%2Fwww.vanessasnonspoilers.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F11%2FShane-Carruth-in-The-Dead-Center-2018.jpg%3Fw%3D1200%26ssl%3D1&f=1&nofb=1

The Dead Center, 2018

After committing suicide, a John Doe (Jeremy Childs) wakes up in the hospital morgue and eventually makes his way to the hospital's psychiatric ward where he is admitted by Daniel (Shane Carruth). Already under pressure from his boss (Poorna Jagannathan) for his bending of the rules, things begin to go off the rails in serious fashion when Daniel realizes that the new patient is possessed by someone or something dangerous.

I am on a kick of watching movies with the very superficial stipulation that I really like their titles, posters, or both. While this resulted in the very pleasant surprise that was Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker, I'm sure it won't surprise anyone out there that there are plenty of films with neat titles/posters that just don't live up to these aspects.

The Dead Center is fine, but nothing particularly special. Its the kind of movie that you can tell came from a perfectly good central concept, but never got fully developed. The film is littered with subplots and ideas that could have been neat if they had been more fleshed out. For example, we learn a bit about Daniel's own past with mental illness and violence. But ultimately this is used just as a way for one character to be like "Yup, he's kind of messed up!".

There is also a strangely unresolved element of the relationship between Daniel and his boss/supervisor. At times it seems as if the implication is that they were romantically involved, but that remains frustratingly vague. Many times, the film just seems to want to leverage the tired trope of the leading male character with the shrill female boss (even though, you know, she is right about literally everything she says and he does an abysmal job of explaining himself).

The horror scenes themselves are not badly done. I liked some of the use of a subjective camera and some of the way that the sound design was used. The concept itself is fun and interesting, just underdeveloped. The ending is way too predictable. There is also some inconsistency in the way things work in the film, again something that just needed to be better thought out.

3

[xSookieStackhouse]

5
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1c/Bend_It_Like_Beckham_movie.jpg

[Fabulous]

The Runaways (2010)

3

https://www.themoviedb.org/t/p/original/dvBwDeWTAQdnCyQ20Zdu9exMmrK.jpg

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fd32qys9a6wm9no.cloudfront.net%2Fimages%2Fmovies%2Flandscape%2F92%2F0b1d236aaf92ab569 410383223d112b1_700x259.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

The Devils, 1971

In 17th Century France, a charismatic and worldly priest named Grandier (Oliver Reed) oversees the town of Loudun. While not above callously sleeping with and discarding the women in his orbit, Grandier sincerely defends the town's autonomy, something that earns him some powerful political enemies. When a nun named Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave) speaks of Grandier's hold over her--she is erotically obsessed with him--this claim easily gets twisted into a witch hunt and Grandier is investigated for witchcraft.

Right up front I want to say that I have, of course, heard about this film for many years. I have never read too much about it out of fear of spoilers. If you are in the same boat, I want to say one thing: this movie is indeed crazy and intense, but it is not fun crazy and intense. It is darkly, darkly comic and upsetting crazy and intense. It is kind of brilliant, but know what you are getting into.

In terms of quality, The Devils mostly lived up to my expectations, which after so many years were pretty high. Having already seen and liked Russell's Women in Love, I knew that I appreciated his craft. In this film, which is incredibly intense and violent, he displays the rare ability to take a film past the normal boundaries of comfort and "decency" while still retaining a heart of humanity. "Nuns having orgies" is such a pseudo-porn premise and one that could easily have devolved into very cheap exploitation. While the film is obviously, notoriously graphic, it resists the easy objectification of its characters.

This is the kind of movie I could say a lot about. The main thing that sticks out to me at this point in terms of what I most liked about it was the parallel entrapment of the main characters. What happens to Grandier is for the most part straightforward. He is being railroaded in a sham trial for political purposes. Maddeningly, the more reasonable he is in the face of everything, the worse it gets. But there's an arc to what happens to Sister Jeanne that is not all that different. Her role as someone who is possessed gives her power and care and attention. Like Grandier, even in her moments of clarity and honesty, her words are twisted. If she says Grandier is actually innocent, this is simply reported as a sign of her continued possession. As Grandier's trial brings him a certain clarity about the kind of life he has led to this point, Jeanne's experiences drive her to madness. While I found both main characters off-putting in their own ways, it is admirable that the film finds space for empathy for both of them.

In terms of criticism, I thought it was a little convenient that the woman Grandier impregnates and then dumps turns out to be so awful. It feels a bit like letting him off of the hook for some horrendous behavior. While I liked the fantasy sequences in which Jeanne imagines herself and a Christ-like Grandier as lovers, the conceit of every woman in the whole town being gaga over Grandier felt like a bit much. I also thought that some of the characters looked distractingly modern, especially Michael Gothard, who plays a witch hunter whose main specialty seems to be torture and humiliation. His performance was fantastic, but I found the styling of his character distracting.

I'll also admit that there were some parts I didn't watch and, in the case of a sequence later in the film, just ended up fast-forwarding past. Torture is hard for me to watch, and the second half of the film in particular is pretty rough on this front.

Overall a really powerful and intense viewing experience.

4

[vard]

Promising Young Woman 8/10

[Wooley]

I need y'all's assistance, please.
I have a friend that is arguing with me that the best of streaming television is actually better than the best of contemporary film.
I don't actually want to have that debate here, at all, but I do need a little help since I watch a lot more "classic" (old) film than I do contemporary (though I do watch some of the latter).
Could you guys please give me your short lists of the best American films (he likes Kurosawa but it's hard to get him to watch a lot of other foreign films and the argument is also largely about American film) of the last 2-5 years.
I would be most grateful.
That is all.

[Thief]

I need y'all's assistance, please.
I have a friend that is arguing with me that the best of streaming television is actually better than the best of contemporary film.
I don't actually want to have that debate here, at all, but I do need a little help since I watch a lot more "classic" (old) film than I do contemporary (though I do watch some of the latter).
Could you guys please give me your short lists of the best American films (he likes Kurosawa but it's hard to get him to watch a lot of other foreign films and the argument is also largely about American film) of the last 2-5 years.
I would be most grateful.
That is all.

If we're going as far back as 2016, then...

La La Land
Moonlight
Hell or High Water
A Ghost Story
Phantom Thread
First Reformed
It Comes at Night
The Big Sick
Luce
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Us
Sound of Metal
The Lighthouse
Uncut Gems
Hereditary
BlacKkKlansmen
Annihilation
Cameraperson

That's in no order. Also, I intentionally avoided franchises, but Spiderverse, Last Jedi, and Rogue One could've also been up there.

[SpelingError]

I need y'all's assistance, please.
I have a friend that is arguing with me that the best of streaming television is actually better than the best of contemporary film.
I don't actually want to have that debate here, at all, but I do need a little help since I watch a lot more "classic" (old) film than I do contemporary (though I do watch some of the latter).
Could you guys please give me your short lists of the best American films (he likes Kurosawa but it's hard to get him to watch a lot of other foreign films and the argument is also largely about American film) of the last 2-5 years.
I would be most grateful.
That is all.

Here's something I posted a while ago:

https://www.listchallenges.com/top-25-best-films-of-the-2010s

Not all of these fit what you're looking for, but this should get you a decent amount of recs.

Also, as for 2020, I'd recommend First Cow, I'm Thinking of Ending Things, Da 5 Bloods, and Dick Johnson is Dead.

[StuSmallz]

Yeah, you're right about the raid comparisons for sure.
And I don't necessarily think it was gender backlash but it did raise the question to me. Especially since the BP winner was also a political thriller so the genre-snobbery seems less of an argument.Wait, I just browsed through the IMDB trivia page for ZDT, and I found this:



In January 2013, on the brink of the movie's wider release, three politically active members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Martin Sheen, David Clennon and Edward Asner, announced they were organizing a public condemnation of Zero Dark Thirty (2012) for what they termed its "tolerance" of torture.


Psssh...I need y'all's assistance, please.
I have a friend that is arguing with me that the best of streaming television is actually better than the best of contemporary film.
I don't actually want to have that debate here, at all, but I do need a little help since I watch a lot more "classic" (old) film than I do contemporary (though I do watch some of the latter).
Could you guys please give me your short lists of the best American films (he likes Kurosawa but it's hard to get him to watch a lot of other foreign films and the argument is also largely about American film) of the last 2-5 years.
I would be most grateful.
That is all.Out of the ones that haven't been specifically named here yet, I'd single out Dunkirk & The Irishman, but I remember you saying recently you still haven't seen the latter yet, so both of you can fill a blind spot by watching that one = )

[pahaK]

Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
2
Pretty cool special effects, pretty damn dumb script. It felt a lot like a tribute to old Kaiju films (at times, the monsters were made to move like men in latex suits, and some moves were recycled). I just wish the story was better.

[xSookieStackhouse]

3.5
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/09/Sisterhood_of_the_traveling_pants_two.jpg

[Fabulous]

An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)

3

https://www.themoviedb.org/t/p/original/dzv0shJzi1RTjrVyxVuJ26Ogdj1.jpg

[the samoan lawyer]

May give this a go then Samoan Lawyer, wee man 12 and I love the pixar. :)


Yes Marco, I think 12 would be a better age. Great score too, enjoy.

[the samoan lawyer]

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9f/20/99/9f20996f891f58387c1502faa915f8ff.jpg (https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F252131279110547213%2F&psig=AOvVaw15xwqIr0nJFYnsOms_C3fp&ust=1617360571748000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCKC8k-Xv3O8CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAK)
All About My Mother (1999)


3.5+

[Dog Star Man]

I’ve seen this movie cover a million times, but it only dawned on me last night that it’s a play on Maria receiving communion. Some Catholic I am. :rolleyes:

No worries, I'm a born again Christian and the communion wafer happens to look like the giant pill that keeps my diabetes in check. :laugh:

[Marco]

The American Friend (1977)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/04/AmericanFriendPoster.jpg
From the First shot of this to the last it's mesmerising. I had seen the later adaptation with John Malkovich but this blew my socks off.

Bruno Ganz is wonderful as the life limited art restorer given an offer it seems he cannot refuse.
I think this may be Dennis Hoppers best performance, no forced histrionics.
A Wim Wenders masterpiece.
4.5

[Siddon]

I need y'all's assistance, please.
I have a friend that is arguing with me that the best of streaming television is actually better than the best of contemporary film.
I don't actually want to have that debate here, at all, but I do need a little help since I watch a lot more "classic" (old) film than I do contemporary (though I do watch some of the latter).
Could you guys please give me your short lists of the best American films (he likes Kurosawa but it's hard to get him to watch a lot of other foreign films and the argument is also largely about American film) of the last 2-5 years.
I would be most grateful.
That is all.


Sicario

Isle of Dogs
Ex Machina
Bad Times at the El Royale
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Under the Silver Lake
Logan
Killing of a Sacred Deer
Silence
Eighth Grade

[Thief]

RAN
(1985, Kurosawa)
A film from the Criterion Collection whose number includes the #3

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/00/62/cd/0062cd5941436180197e554513665e03.jpg


"Men always travel the same road"



Set in Medieval Japan, Ran follows Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai), an aging warlord that decides to retire and hand over his empire to his three sons: Taro, Jiro, and Saburo. Unfortunately, he doesn't count on how the thirst for power will corrupt and ultimately destroy their family and the kingdom. As chaos ravages the land, Hidetora starts to lose his sanity, but still finds himself realizing that much of what's happening is a direct result of his past actions and mistakes.

There are many things that I could say about the film. It is definitely an epic in all its spectacle and scope. The setpieces are breathtaking and grandiose, the set and production design is perfect, and Kurosawa's direction is pretty much flawless. His framing and use of color and symmetry on the shots is so gorgeous that you want to take them and put them on a wall. In addition, Kurosawa uses numerous shots of nature, from the mountains and clouds to the chilling last shot, perhaps in an attempt to contrast the beauty and order of nature against the chaos ("ran") of humanity's struggles and wars.

Grade: 5


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2191960#post2191960) and on the PR HOF3 (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?t=63469&page=27).

[Takoma11]

I need y'all's assistance, please.
I have a friend that is arguing with me that the best of streaming television is actually better than the best of contemporary film.
I don't actually want to have that debate here, at all, but I do need a little help since I watch a lot more "classic" (old) film than I do contemporary (though I do watch some of the latter).
Could you guys please give me your short lists of the best American films (he likes Kurosawa but it's hard to get him to watch a lot of other foreign films and the argument is also largely about American film) of the last 2-5 years.
I would be most grateful.
That is all.

I think that the fundamental problem with framing this as an either/or, is that you get something different out of a TV show than you do from a film. There is a depth of character development and the comfort of a continuing story that you just don't get from most film. There is some really interesting storytelling happening on TV these days, especially in limited series. For example, I enjoyed Agent Carter a fair chunk more than most of the Marvel films I've seen.

Your friend might be responding more to the strengths of television than to the strengths of film. I don't think it's an apples to apples kind of comparison.

[Gideon58]

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41%2BfdM9QHxL._AC_.jpg


4

[xSookieStackhouse]

5
https://www.joblo.com/assets/images/oldsite/posters/images/full/2005-just_like_heaven-2.jpg

[mark f]

Diary of a Shinjuku Thief (Nagisa Ôshima, 1969) 2.5 5.5/10
Kaleidoscope (Jack Smight, 1966) 3 6.5/10
Promise Her Anything (Arthur Hiller, 1966) 2+ 5/10
Opal (Jack Stauber, 2020) 3.5 7/10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1pVLJl_snc
A girl with a wild imagination goes into a scary house in this crazy animated short.
The Bride Wore Boots (Irving Pichel, 1946) 2.5 5.5/10
The Last Cruise (Hannah Olson, 2021) 3 6.5/10
Rose Plays Julie (Joe Lawlor & Christine Molloy, 2019) 2.5 6/10
Cinema Novo (Eryk Rocha, 2016) 3 6.5/10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9WRAI3jTHs
Antonio das Mortes by Glauber Rocha is one of the more famous of Brazil's Cinema Novo.
Only Human (Dominic Harari & Teresa De Pelegri, 2004) 3 6.5/10
The She Beast (Mike Reeves, 1966) 1.5+ 4.5/10
The Seventh Day (Justin P. Lange, 2021) 2+ 5/10
Godzilla vs. Kong (Adam Wingard, 2021) 3 6.5/10
http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/43700000/Godzilla-Vs-Kong-2021-movies-43767060-540-222.gif
Godzilla and Kong do battle but things change when Mechagodzilla gets involved.
Japanese Story (Sue Brooks, 2003) 2.5 6/10
The Toll (Michael Nader, 2020) 2 5/10
Ayiti Mon Amour (Guetty Felin, 2016) 2.5 5.5/10
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (Jun Fukuda, 1974) 2 5/10
https://media0.giphy.com/media/3OlfyzZmXlmj6/200.gif
The first confrontation between the two giants.
Son of Kong (Ernest B. Schoedsack, 1933) 2+ 5/10
I Dismember Mama AKA Poor Albert and Little Annie (Paul Leder, 1972) 1.5+ 4.5/10
Mothra vs. Godzilla AKA Godzilla vs. The Thing (Ishirô Honda, 1964) 2 5/10
A*P*E (Paul Leder, 1976) 1.5 4/10
https://filmblitz.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ape-finger.gif
The giant mute ape flips off all the doofuses who get in his way in Korea.

[Fabulous]

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014)

3.5

https://www.themoviedb.org/t/p/original/u8CxCqbR2LMFhbB1oqWQ4QVBuAs.jpg

[Thief]

I enjoyed Agent Carter a fair chunk more than most of the Marvel films I've seen.



I'm gonna step aside from the conversation with you here, since you brought it up... what did you think of season 2 of Agent Carter? I really loved season 1 but had a reeeeaaally hard time with season 2.

[GulfportDoc]

Godzilla vs. Kong (Adam Wingard, 2021) rating_3 6.5/10
http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/43700000/Godzilla-Vs-Kong-2021-movies-43767060-540-222.gif
Godzilla and Kong do battle but things change when Mechagodzilla gets involved.



This looks like it'll have wonderful CG. Looking forward to it more than any Marvel/DC. I just hope it has less hip-hop music in it than does the trailer.

[Takoma11]

I'm gonna step aside from the conversation with you here, since you brought it up... what did you think of season 2 of Agent Carter? I really loved season 1 but had a reeeeaaally hard time with season 2.

I haven't finished it yet. Loved season 1, but struggled with the first episode of the second season.

[Allaby]

I need y'all's assistance, please.
I have a friend that is arguing with me that the best of streaming television is actually better than the best of contemporary film.
I don't actually want to have that debate here, at all, but I do need a little help since I watch a lot more "classic" (old) film than I do contemporary (though I do watch some of the latter).
Could you guys please give me your short lists of the best American films (he likes Kurosawa but it's hard to get him to watch a lot of other foreign films and the argument is also largely about American film) of the last 2-5 years.
I would be most grateful.
That is all.

My short list of great American films of the past few years:
Hereditary (2018)
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
The Irishman (2019)
Joker (2019)
Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
Marriage Story (2019)
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)
Promising Young Woman (2020)
Sorry to Bother You (2018)
A Star Is Born (2018)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

[Thief]

I haven't finished it yet. Loved season 1, but struggled with the first episode of the second season.

Oh yeah, then you might notice that drop in quality too. Anyway, don't wanna over/under sell it to you. Let me know what you think.

[Takoma11]

Oh yeah, then you might notice that drop in quality too. Anyway, don't wanna over/under sell it to you. Let me know what you think.

I absolutely adore Hayley Atwell in the lead role. And I loved the fraught chemistry between her and Sousa (I also happen to adore Enver Gjokaj) and the "double agent" aspect of the first season.

Sometimes when I sense that a sequel or season is going to be a slip from what came before, I will just skip it. At some point I want to go back and rewatch the first season (which I have already watched several times) and then get into the second season.

[Takoma11]

Report cards are due soon which means, yes, it is a movie marathon in the Takoma household.

https://media.tenor.co/images/10b26d08cd122540dc0fac23343b8823/raw

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcgmagonline.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F01%2Fpossessor-1-1024x576.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

Possessor, 2020

Vos (Andrea Riseborough) is an assassin working for a secret organization who uses technology to "possess" the bodies of other people in order to carry out killings. Vos struggles with her identity, which concerns her handler, Girder (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Despite this, Vos goes undercover inside of a man named Colin (Christopher Abbott), on an assignment to kill Colin's girlfriend and the girlfriend's father before committing "suicide". But once inside Colin, Vos begins to experience disorienting emotions and thoughts.

The buzz on this film has been a rollercoaster--first some really positive things, then people saying it was just okay, then some more high praise. I wasn't sure how much I would like it and I was really pleasantly surprised.

The thing about the film that most works for me is simply the cohesion between the character arc and the way that it is communicated via the images on screen. The disorientation that Vos feels is well-realized and slowly ramps up in intensity and the degree of how disturbing it is. When Vos first lands inside of Colin, the film shows us Colin/Vos, disoriented in the bathroom and tentatively exploring his nude body. As Vos spends more time inside of Colin's body and mind, her personality exerts itself more directly, including during sex with Colin's girlfriend and behavior at Colin's workplace.

Riseborough , whose titular performance in Mandy really put her on my radar, is great as a woman struggling to know herself even as she constantly plunges into the minds and experiences of other people. And her performance is well-matched by Abbott as Colin. Abbott brings a certain confused vulnerability to the role, with the interesting twist that we do not know the nature of his character on his own. We only ever really see the Colin/Vos hybrid. As the film progresses, the question of which personality we are really seeing (more Colin, or more Vos) comes up constantly, and Abbott delivers an interesting and nuanced performance as a fusion of two different minds.

In pursuing body horror, Brandon Cronenberg inevitably draws comparison with his father's work. I found the very visceral horror of the film to be effective. The disorientation that Vos feels inside of Colin is both physical and psychological, and the film explores this in sequences that hit on both levels. The sequence from which the poster derives was particularly effective, in my opinion.

I didn't really have any complaints about the film. I think it would be interesting to revisit and see what I think of it a second time around. I was very taken by the performances and the theme in the center might be simple--someone struggling with relationships, literally destroying other people's relationships from the inside--but I thought it was powerful and well-executed.

Definitely not a film that everyone would like--not even horror fans--but it hit the right notes for me.

4.5

[xSookieStackhouse]

3.5
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81RU-X7O8mL._SY445_.jpg

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fmorbidlybeautiful.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F09%2Fvillains18.jpg%3Fresize%3D1000%252C418&f=1&nofb=1

Villains, 2019

Mickey (Bill Skarsgard) and Jules (Maika Monroe) rob a gas station as part of a grand plan to make their way to Florida. Immediately after the robbery their car breaks down and the two make their way to a nearby home. But the homeowners, George (Jeffrey Donovan) and Gloria (Kyra Sedgwick), are hiding a bizarre secret and soon a strange, tense game of cat and mouse ensues.

This film pulls out a LOT of horror tropes/cliches, but it gets a lot of boost from its actors. In particular, Skarsgard brings a sort of golden retriever energy to his character, and the entire cast has very strong comic timing on their own and with each other that energizes the film.

I did find myself a little confused as to just what George and Gloria were meant to have been up to. They are kind of a hodge-podge of horror villain cliches, and it doesn't always cohere or make the most sense.

I also took a little bit of an issue with the end of the film. It's not a bad ending, per se, but it didn't quite match the tone and energy of what came before it.

An above-average horror-comedy that gets a lot of lift from some strong chemistry and comic timing from the cast.

3.5

[xSookieStackhouse]

4.5
https://natashastander.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/proposal-poster.jpg?w=584

[Fabulous]

Love & Friendship (2016)

3.5

https://www.themoviedb.org/t/p/original/8tFWlIchfU179WkNtzUdTVjNvNf.jpg

[Takoma11]

4.5
https://natashastander.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/proposal-poster.jpg?w=584

More people should see this film. Very underappreciated in the romantic comedy canon.

[xSookieStackhouse]

More people should see this film. Very underappreciated in the romantic comedy canon.

i agree love ryan reynolds and sandra bullock they are amazing and love their movies

[StuSmallz]

I think that the fundamental problem with framing this as an either/or, is that you get something different out of a TV show than you do from a film. There is a depth of character development and the comfort of a continuing story that you just don't get from most film. There is some really interesting storytelling happening on TV these days, especially in limited series. For example, I enjoyed Agent Carter a fair chunk more than most of the Marvel films I've seen.

Your friend might be responding more to the strengths of television than to the strengths of film. I don't think it's an apples to apples kind of comparison.Yeah, that's true; I mean, I would absolutely put Breaking Bad, Cowboy Bebop and a number of other GOAT shows up against something like Schindler's List, (https://letterboxd.com/stusmallz/film/schindlers-list/) or any other 10-out-of-10 films I've seen, you know? Certain stories just benefit from the greater runtime, and it's not like cinema has a monopoly on great storytelling, after all.

[Takoma11]

Yeah, that's true; I mean, I would absolutely put Breaking Bad, Cowboy Bebop and a number of other GOAT shows up against something like Schindler's List, (https://letterboxd.com/stusmallz/film/schindlers-list/) or any other 10-out-of-10 films I've seen, you know? Certain stories just benefit from the greater runtime, and it's not like cinema has a monopoly on great storytelling, after all.

I think that movies and TV are very different experiences and I expect different things out of them.

For example, a show like Hannibal is able to build tension and plot points over literal hours and hours. I would put the second season of the show up against many feature films.

There are parts of me that respond to the contained aspect of a movie, and parts of me that really resonate with the long-form storytelling of a good TV show. It doesn't surprise me that someone would vibe more strongly with TV than with film.

[Wooley]

I’ve seen this movie cover a million times, but it only dawned on me last night that it’s a play on Maria receiving communion. Some Catholic I am. :rolleyes:

Really? What else could it be?

[Wooley]

I think that the fundamental problem with framing this as an either/or, is that you get something different out of a TV show than you do from a film. There is a depth of character development and the comfort of a continuing story that you just don't get from most film. There is some really interesting storytelling happening on TV these days, especially in limited series. For example, I enjoyed Agent Carter a fair chunk more than most of the Marvel films I've seen.

Your friend might be responding more to the strengths of television than to the strengths of film. I don't think it's an apples to apples kind of comparison.

I don't disagree but television/sreaming also has a weakness compared to film that I cannot tolerate, which is the need to continue to sustain the narrative long after it should have ended, which leads to meandering seasons with pointless side-plots, a constant moving of the goal-posts, and ultimately, jumping the shark.
I mean, when I think about some of the best "television", like Battlestar Galactica, The Sopranos, and Game Of Thrones, all three of those were doing great until they fell prey to the medium itself. I'm like 50-something hours into BSG and I'm like, "Why are we getting into this secondary character's slip back into a previously unmentioned history of alcoholism and some tacked-on bull**** with his ex-wife coming on board and messing things up the social dynamic? Is this what we call "character development"? Just filling episodes with hastily sketched-up backstories/conflicts for all the individual characters that do nothing but distract from the fact that you're no longer following the arc so you can keep making episodes? What happened to the ******* story? Wasn't this going somewhere at some point? Weren't we on an arc 40 ****ing hours ago?"
Then I watch The Sopranos and the first season is barreling toward this great resolution and you almost can't wait for it and the show gets renewed and suddenly you have an entire episode of Tony talking to his therapist about fantasizing about his neighbor? Seriously? And then the final episode comes and they're like, "Sorry, we can't resolve any of this story or arc satisfactorily because we've been renewed and if we resolve it we don't really have a show for the second season." Thanks, assholoes.
And Game of Thrones, Jesus, do I even need to comment on what a meandering mess that thing became over its last like FOUR SEASONS? Like, holy ****, there was actually a story going on here guys, did you forget? "No, no, we just keep getting renewed for another season and we gotta fill all that time out so now the show is about the individual years-long journeys of all the characters, some of which are going to be really stupid and kinda go nowhere interesting at all, and then we're gonna wrap the whole thing up with the most notorious final season in television history that will satisfy no one and become iconic for how to fail your audience."
"Oh, and we'll put Ed Sheeran in it too."
Film forces the storyteller, sink or swim, to tell the story. When it sinks, it sinks and you have a bad or not very good movie, just like most of television. But when it swims you have something. It's a bit like painting a painting versus painting an endless series of canvases placed before you never knowing how many more you have to/can paint before they stop coming. One you can hang in the Louvre.
This is why the "limited series", something I liken to Kieslwoski's Dekalog, is really the way for television to go. This produced the only "great" television I've seen in a long time, Watchmen.
And with Netflix's "we're only interested in new shows cause that's how we get new subscribers" economic model, the limited series may be what we get from now on. I look forward to it.

[Thief]

I think that movies and TV are very different experiences and I expect different things out of them.

For example, a show like Hannibal is able to build tension and plot points over literal hours and hours. I would put the second season of the show up against many feature films.

There are parts of me that respond to the contained aspect of a movie, and parts of me that really resonate with the long-form storytelling of a good TV show. It doesn't surprise me that someone would vibe more strongly with TV than with film.

There's always been a general belief that TV is a "lesser" medium than film, and that actors that start in TV and then make it up to films are being somewhat "promoted", which is what usually brings this kind of question; especially with the surge of great shows over the last 10-20 years. But like you said, they are different mediums with different approaches to storytelling.

I like this saying that kinda fits this premise of different approaches in each medium that says... Film is a director's medium, TV is a writer's medium, and theater is an actor's medium.

[Wooley]

I'm gonna step aside from the conversation with you here, since you brought it up... what did you think of season 2 of Agent Carter? I really loved season 1 but had a reeeeaaally hard time with season 2.

I know you didn't ask me but Ima agree with you 100% here.
I thought S1 was awesome and it gave me some real pleasure to have that to go to.
I couldn't even finish S2.

[Thief]

I don't disagree but television/sreaming also has a weakness compared to film that I cannot tolerate, which is the need to continue to sustain the narrative long after it should have ended, which leads to meandering seasons with pointless side-plots, a constant moving of the goal-posts, and ultimately, jumping the shark.
I mean, when I think about some of the best "television", like Battlestar Galactica, The Sopranos, and Game Of Thrones, all three of those were doing great until they fell prey to the medium itself. I'm like 50-something hours into BSG and I'm like, "Why are we getting into this secondary character's slip back into a previously unmentioned history of alcoholism and some tacked-on bull**** with his ex-wife coming on board and messing things up the social dynamic? Is this what we call "character development"? Just filling episodes with hastily sketched-up backstories/conflicts for all the individual characters that do nothing but distract from the fact that you're no longer following the arc so you can keep making episodes? What happened to the ******* story? Wasn't this going somewhere at some point? Weren't we on an arc 40 ****ing hours ago?"
Then I watch The Sopranos and the first season is barreling toward this great resolution and you almost can't wait for it and the show gets renewed and suddenly you have an entire episode of Tony talking to his therapist about fantasizing about his neighbor? Seriously? And then the final episode comes and they're like, "Sorry, we can't resolve any of this story or arc satisfactorily because we've been renewed and if we resolve it we don't really have a show for the second season." Thanks, assholoes.
And Game of Thrones, Jesus, do I even need to comment on what a meandering mess that thing became over its last like FOUR SEASONS? Like, holy ****, there was actually a story going on here guys, did you forget? "No, no, we just keep getting renewed for another season and we gotta fill all that time out so now the show is about the individual years-long journeys of all the characters, some of which are going to be really stupid and kinda go nowhere interesting at all, and then we're gonna wrap the whole thing up with the most notorious final season in television history that will satisfy no one and become iconic for how to fail your audience."
"Oh, and we'll put Ed Sheeran in it too."
Film forces the storyteller, sink or swim, to tell the story. When it sinks, it sinks and you have a bad or not very good movie, just like most of television. But when it swims you have something. It's a bit like painting a painting versus painting an endless series of canvases placed before you never knowing how many more you have to/can paint before they stop coming. One you can hang in the Louvre.
This is why the "limited series", something I liken to Kieslwoski's Dekalog, is really the way for television to go. This produced the only "great" television I've seen in a long time, Watchmen.
And with Netflix's "we're only interested in new shows cause that's how we get new subscribers" economic model, the limited series may be what we get from now on. I look forward to it.

These are great points, but it takes us into the clash between creativity vs. business. I mean, a lot of these cases where stories get dragged on forever are a result of the network just wanting to make money out of the property, thus milking it till there's nothing left (i.e. The Walking Dead?) which I think clashes with the creative aspect of the storyteller to tell an arc, a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end.

[Wooley]

Also, I wanna thank everyone that contributed films for me to talk about/see with this friend of mine. Lotta good stuff there and a lot of things I have yet to see that I should.

[Thief]

I know you didn't ask me but Ima agree with you 100% here.
I thought S1 was awesome and it gave me some real pleasure to have that to go to.
I couldn't even finish S2.

Oh man, I finished it but it was a chooore and ultimately not very rewarding. When I get into a show, I try to watch one or two episodes every other day, as I juggle it with whatever films I want to watch, but this one? I started it months ago, then lost interest, then tried to get back into it, and really didn't care... ultimately I pushed through the last 4 or 5 episodes just so I could say I finished it.

[John W Constantine]

Tropic Thunder - 3

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-Tdr1VzG0k1M%2FUvWrUC_V0lI%2FAAAAAAAAgA4%2FWWj_dXE_TLI%2Fs1600%2Fgrandmothersh19.JPG&f=1&nofb=1

Grandmother's House, 1989

David (Eric Foster) and Lynn (Kim Valentine) have just lost their father, and go to live with their mother's parents (Len Lesser and Ida Lee) on an orange farm out in the country. But from the very first night, David sees and hears strange things, coming to believe that his grandparents have killed a woman (and possibly others). And how does this all connect to a mysterious figure who seems to be stalking the children?

Overall this film did not wow me, but at the same time there were some aspects of it that I really liked.

To begin with, I really enjoy horror that manages to retain a degree of ambiguity about whether what we are seeing is "real" or whether there is something supernatural involved. For a solid 2/3 of the film, this ambiguity falls over everything we see, including whether the grandparents are evil or if something else is going on.

I also enjoyed the very off-kilter vibe, courtesy of strange angles and intense but quirky performances from the grandparents. There is just a heightened oddness to the whole thing which only feels semi-intentional, but for me it worked.

I would also like to shout out the ugliest outfit I have ever seen in a film, glimpsed in part below. Whoever dressed that child in those shorts is a madman and I am here for it.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.OJgj0_LXbohviqrCVCg_cgHaFk%26pid%3DApi&f=1

On the down side, the film struggles strongly with its characterization. David has a bit of an arc, but Lynn really falls by the wayside. She is, inexplicably, romantically drawn to Kenny (Michael Robinson), a guy who looks about 10 years her senior, sexually accosts her and ogles her at the public pool, and walks around with a cigarette pack rolled up in his shirt sleeve like a tool. This could have been framed as a reaction to the loss of her father, but it . . . isn't. The film indulges in jiggle shots of her at the pool and the movie doesn't seem to know what to do with her aside from objectifying her.

There's a similar problem with the grandparents. Because the film wants to keep its cards close to it chest in regards to whether or not they are killers, neither David nor we the audience get to spend much quality time with them. There are plenty of fun scenes of them being adorable and/or ominous, but they are never really developed as characters.

There was enough weirdness and enough twists and turns to keep me engaged with this one, but ultimately some weak characterization brings it down. Still it does end on a bonkers, memorable note.

3.5

[Takoma11]

I don't disagree but television/sreaming also has a weakness compared to film that I cannot tolerate, which is the need to continue to sustain the narrative long after it should have ended, which leads to meandering seasons with pointless side-plots, a constant moving of the goal-posts, and ultimately, jumping the shark.

That might be true of some TV, but certainly not all TV.

Also, much like the way that you can choose or not choose to watch a sequel, you can often choose or not choose to watch a new season of a TV show.

I have only seen one season of Daredevil, it ended on a reasonably resolved note, and I was happy with the experience.

I thought that, for example, The Good Place ran for exactly as long as it needed to.

There are also a lot of brilliant series intended to stand on their own. I haven't seen it yet, but I am very excited to watch I May Destroy You.

A thought I sometimes have when watching a film is that the story would have been better served as a miniseries. With the freedom afforded by streaming platforms (no set time frames, no required number of episodes), limited series are more of a thing and they are not restricted to services like HBO.

[Wooley]

These are great points, but it takes us into the clash between creativity vs. business. I mean, a lot of these cases where stories get dragged on forever are a result of the network just wanting to make money out of the property, thus milking it till there's nothing left (i.e. The Walking Dead?) which I think clashes with the creative aspect of the storyteller to tell an arc, a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end.

Yeah, that's pretty much my point.

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.billboard.com%2Ffiles%2F2021%2F02%2FTina-Turner-1990s-billboard-1548-1612975435-compressed.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

Tina, 2021

This electric, moving documentary charts the ups and downs of Tina Turner's career, with particular focus on the singer's reinvention of herself after her split from Ike Turner.

I did not know much about Tina Turner going into this film, beyond a passing familiarity with her music and the very basics of her volatile relationship with Ike Turner. I left this documentary with a strong sense of admiration, at times verging on awe, for Turner and her perseverance through a horribly traumatizing series of experiences.

The part of the film that hits the hardest, emotionally speaking, is not just the abuse that she endured at the hands of her husband. (And, lest anyone accuse her of exaggeration, the film features heartbreaking audio from one of her sons, recounting his experience of seeing and hearing his mother be scalded--to the point of 3rd degree burns--by her husband). The stories of abuse are, of course, horrifying.

But what the film really hammers home is the fact that, due to her fame, Turner is never able to escape constant reminders of her past. Despite bluntly, repeatedly saying that she wants to move on, her abuse is the well that interviewers go back to over and over. We see outtakes on interviews in which the emotion of it suddenly overwhelms her, and we watch her flinch and break when references to her past come out of nowhere. There is a two-way element to it, though, as many women find strength in her story of escape and survival.

Oprah speaks insightfully about her and Turner's generation being the first to really speak out about sexual, physical, and domestic abuse. But so often, Tina Turner is not given warning or asked for consent to go to those dark place in interviews. It speaks to the general dehumanizing effect that fame has on the way we treat others. In one stunning moment an interviewer asks Turner why she hasn't watched What's Love Got to Do With It, and Turner responds that she doesn't want to see "the violence". But it isn't just movie violence, it is her personal trauma that has been dramatized and staged.

I was also just in awe of the way that Tina Turner reinvented herself, at an age when many rock stars would be considered too old to begin a career. I loved her story about declaring that she wanted to fill a stadium the way that Mick Jagger could. It is inspiring to see the strength in Turner, and also wonderful to hear the way that people around her, and particularly Roger Davies, believed in her talents and helped her to achieve her goals. Tina Turner followed her passions and interests as an artist, and it is wonderful to see the way that she succeeded.

This was an engaging, sincere, and informative documentary. I loved the range of interview subjects (including Angela Bassett, who played Turner in the film What's Love Got to Do With It), and the use of archival footage is outstanding.

4.5

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.flickeringmyth.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F01%2Fbliss-owen-wilson-salma-hayek-600x338.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

Bliss, 2021

Greg Wittle (Owen Wilson) is a man who seems to be suffering from some sort of neurosis and/or mental health issues. Fired from his job at a tech support company, Greg meets a strange woman named Isabel (Salma Hayek). Isabel claims that the world around them is merely a simulation and that only they (and a handful of others) are "real". As Greg is drawn more into Isabel's reality, his daughter searches for him on the streets. So is it just a simulation, or is Greg suffering from a serious, shared delusion?

I will be perfectly honest and say that I struggle with films in which the "quirks" of people who are mentally ill (and also sometimes homeless or otherwise disenfranchised) are used as plot points. There is a sort of "homeless chic" that the film uses--especially in the styling and look of Isabel--that just rubs me the wrong way. It ends up landing somewhere between sympathy and "isn't this fun?" with the characters who live on the street (including sassy prostitutes!), and that whole aspect of the movie made it hard for me to fully engage.

The best part of the film, for me, was the subplot involving Greg's daughter, Emily (Nesta Cooper). Urged by her brother to just "follow mom's lead" and forget about him, Emily cannot just ignore her father's plight. From her point of view, he is mentally ill, and she wants to support him and have him in her life. I thought that this aspect of the plot was genuinely moving. How do you have a meaningful emotional relationship with someone who doesn't reciprocate those feelings? Who doesn't believe that you are "real"? Who behaves in erratic and sometimes dangerous ways? Cooper does a great job of portraying a character who is dealing with not only the stress of helping a mentally ill loved one, but a character who is realizing that she must become "the adult" in their relationship. Her father is no longer her protector (and clearly hasn't been for a while), and she must find a way to redefine their dynamic.

I like Owen Wilson and I REALLY like Salma Hayek. I think that they each have their own distinct and really engaging energy. I enjoyed them as an odd couple, but I felt that the romantic/sexual chemistry just was not there at all. Part of the film is meant to hinge on Greg choosing between Isabel and Emily and what each woman represents, but the story really lacks a compelling connection between Isabel and Greg.

There are also certain elements of the film that I didn't totally understand. Greg and Isabel take "crystals" that give them powers inside of the simulation. (Or are they just high? This is left ambiguous for much of the film). They can do things like crush cars or knock people down with their minds. But, like, why though? It's an aspect of the film that provides the opportunity for a few neat visual moments and some out-there physical comedy--such as Greg knocking down an elderly woman--but it didn't advance the plot at all.

Points for the dynamic between Greg and Emily, but I wish that the heart of the film had been more devoted to that storyline and not the "worldbuilding" of the whole simulation idea.

3

[Stirchley]

Then I watch The Sopranos and the first season is barreling toward this great resolution and you almost can't wait for it and the show gets renewed and suddenly you have an entire episode of Tony talking to his therapist about fantasizing about his neighbor? Seriously? And then the final episode comes and they're like, "Sorry, we can't resolve any of this story or arc satisfactorily because we've been renewed and if we resolve it we don't really have a show for the second season." Thanks, assholoes.

I loved every minute of The Sopranos. Seen it 3 times & it’s still my fave tv show.

[Stirchley]

75716

Ken Loach movie. Apart from the lead actor, all non-professionals. A bleak, grim & depressing look at England.

[Wooley]

I loved every minute of The Sopranos. Seen it 3 times & it’s still my fave tv show.

Yeah, I quit after the first season. It pissed me off that much. I am glad that some other people enjoyed it though.

[WHITBISSELL!]

... I mean, a lot of these cases where stories get dragged on forever are a result of the network just wanting to make money out of the property, thus milking it till there's nothing left (i.e. The Walking Dead?) ....HA! I know you and I have had numerous conversations about the show but you want to know what happened on this latest episode? Darryl tries to fix his motorcycle and Carol tries to make a pot of soup. Yep ... good times, good times.

[Thief]

HA! I know you and I have had numerous conversations about the show but you want to know what happened on this latest episode? Darryl tries to fix his motorcycle and Carol tries to make a pot of soup. Yep ... good times, good times.

https://media.giphy.com/media/26FxCOdhlvEQXbeH6/giphy.gif

[WHITBISSELL!]

Heh. Not to derail the thread or beat an undead horse but since the show has been relying on alternating storylines the previous week's episode decided to showcase some of the benchwarmer characters in the still ridiculously huge cast. Eugene (the cowardly annoying guy who talks like he's trying to poop out a thesaurus), King Ezekiel (good enough character but they don't know what to do with him) and Yumiko (a somewhat new character they introduced last season with a bunch of other characters). But then they devoted most of the episode to Princess, a brand new character and her toys-in-the-attic storyline. The most impressive thing about this show is how much it mirrors the central concept. That of a shambling, rotting corpse wandering around aimlessly. I'm hate watching at this point. But this next season is supposed to be the last one so ... fingers crossed.

[Thief]

Heh. Not to derail the thread or beat an undead horse but since the show has been relying on alternating storylines the previous week's episode decided to showcase some of the benchwarmer characters in the still ridiculously huge cast. Eugene (the cowardly annoying guy who talks like he's trying to poop out a thesaurus), King Ezekiel (good enough character but they don't know what to do with him) and Yumiko (a somewhat new character they introduced last season with a bunch of other characters). But then they devoted most of the episode to Princess, a brand new character and her toys-in-the-attic storyline. The most impressive thing about this show is how much it mirrors the central concept. That of a shambling, rotting corpse wandering around aimlessly. I'm hate watching at this point. But this next season is supposed to be the last one so ... fingers crossed.

:laugh: Yeah, I'm pretty sure I've used that analogy myself. It's amazing the potential they had. They should've limited themselves to a certain amount of seasons, establish the arcs from the beginning and aim for that. But considering that the comic is still going, I guess they thought they could've gone forever too.

[Gideon58]

More people should see this film. Very underappreciated in the romantic comedy canon.

I had issues with this film, the primary one being that Bullock and Reynolds had no chemistry in my opinion.

[Takoma11]

I had issues with this film, the primary one being that Bullock and Reynolds had no chemistry in my opinion.

Sexual chemistry, no, agreed. But I thought they had good comedic chemistry and rapport.

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.wDPhThmN5LK274fVYE5h9AHaEK%26pid%3DApi&f=1

Next of Kin, 1982

Following her mother's death, Linda (Jacki Kerin) inherits an old house that serves as a sort of rest home for the elderly. But as Linda spends more time in the house, reading her mother's old diaries, she discovers a history of deaths in the home. Soon, mishaps begin befalling people in the home and Linda must figure out who or what is behind them.

This was a really enjoyable little horror flick, and I appreciated the way that it ramped up from unsettling and eerie sequences to something more explosive and action-based in the last act. Linda is an engaging lead character--if her boyfriend Barney (John Jarratt) is a bit of a tool--and it is easy to enjoy following her journey of discovery in the old and atmospheric house.

The film makes very strong use of its setting. One of my favorite moments was simply the way that the camera follows a woman as she runs down a long, curved flight of stairs in a panic. The house is just big enough to feel like the kind of place you can have a chase, but small enough that it retains the menace of an old house.

The only downside, though it didn't bother me much, was that the pace of the first two-thirds is a bit slow. You are very much aware that you are waiting for the antagonist(s) to reveal themselves, and so at certain moments there's a sense of impatience. There are one or two moments of characters saying things like "There's something I need to tell you!" and then . . . not just saying the thing.

I've seen clips of this film in both Rumpled's Ghouliath GIF competition and Crumbsroom's screenshot game, and I had that delightful resonance of going "Oh, yeah!!".

This is a solid little horror flick. I can sort of understand why you don't hear about it a ton, but at the same time it is definitely deserving of a watch.

4

[StuSmallz]

I think that movies and TV are very different experiences and I expect different things out of them.

For example, a show like Hannibal is able to build tension and plot points over literal hours and hours. I would put the second season of the show up against many feature films.

There are parts of me that respond to the contained aspect of a movie, and parts of me that really resonate with the long-form storytelling of a good TV show. It doesn't surprise me that someone would vibe more strongly with TV than with film.Yup. Also, have you watched Bebop yet, Takoma?

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Finbeautymoon.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F08%2Fccelebritiessoleilmoonfrye-punkyreboot.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

Kid90, 2021

Soleil Moon Frye (best known to most people as the star of Punky Brewster) digs into her extensive personal archive of home video, audio recordings, and diaries, to explore life as a child star in the 90s. Using interviews with fellow child stars--like Mark Paul Gosselaar, Stephen Dorff, and David Arquette--Frye paints a bluntly honest picture of what life was like for the surprisingly close-knit group of teenagers.

It can be a very dangerous thing when a filmmaker decides to center a story on themselves. Usually this is because the person making the movie finds themselves a lot more interesting than they actually are, or because their constant need to use themselves as a focal point cuts off more interesting stories that could have been told.

In this case, however, Frye is a perfect subject, in no small part because of both her honest and open reflection on her past and the astounding amount of archival material that she brings to the table. Frye documented seemingly every moment of her teenage years, with ahead-of-her-years meditations on subjects like body image, sex, popularity, public perception, happiness, and the artifice of celebrity.

There is so much to unpack in this film that it is hard to know where to begin. Frye's experience with her changing body, for one, is a heartbreaking moment. Her breasts developed into borderline E-cups by the time she was 15 years old, and she recounts the way that this was perpetually remarked upon by everyone she encountered. Still in her teenage years, Frye elects to undergo breast reduction surgery, as much out of a sense of mental well-being as physical. The people she interviews were, to be blunt, much more empathetic and articulate than I expected. Gosselaar in particular seems very tuned into the objectification that Frye describes. "That's why I don't want my kids anywhere near this business," he says, "Because I don't believe it is a place for children."

Then there's the subject of sex and oh my god. Frye, as a teenager, spoke openly about being a virgin. Her intention being to help other young women understand that it is okay to say no or to want to wait. This is then followed with a horrifying account of a sexual experience she had in which she told someone she did not want to have sex with her, he disregarded this and pushed himself into her, then relented and left the room, only to then ask her "So what does it feel like not being a virgin anymore?". In her diary from the time, she recounts him asking "So are you going to say I raped you now?" and her past self takes part of the blame for her own "forwardness." Whether for liability or privacy reasons, Frye does not disclose the identity of this man, and just personally I found that a little frustrating. (I respect her decision, but part of me is like, drag him, you know? Ignoring consent is not something people tend to do just one time.)

But the real mind-boggling element of the film is the literal body count among Frye's group of friends. In the space of 12 years, Frye loses eight different friends/acquaintances, most of them to suicide. What is startling is that so many of her friends expressed their sorrow, isolation, and in one case explicit suicidal ideation on camera. The film does not delve exactly into the way that fame and the pressures of acting contributed to these deaths. Frye talks a lot about her own guilt in not realizing the danger her friends were in and her lack of action to help them. I found myself wondering where the adults were.

Much like the Tina Turner documentary, I think that this film makes a powerful argument for empathy. While it is true that child stars can be entitled and arrogant and can engage in self-centered and destructive behaviors, it is also true that these children/teens were subjected to a tremendous amount of pressure and behavior from adults that can lead to disordered thinking. Another Gosselaar quote that stuck with me was when he talked about being a kid and trying to internalize the kind of feedback they would get like "Well, you didn't get the part because they didn't like the way you looked." How does a teenager--who is already dealing with the anxieties and turbulence of adolescence--process such a statement?

I would highly recommend this film, even if you are not in the age bracket of having grown up with these actors.

4.5

[Takoma11]

Yup. Also, have you watched Bebop yet, Takoma?

I watched a fair chunk of it several years ago and liked it for the most part. (It does suffer the anime thing of BOOBS BOOBS BOOBS, which I find kind of off-putting).

[WHITBISSELL!]

Sexual chemistry, no, agreed. But I thought they had good comedic chemistry and rapport.I avoid romcoms but I did genuinely enjoy Two Weeks Notice. She and Hugh Grant made for a surprisingly great pairing.

[Takoma11]

I avoid romcoms but I did genuinely enjoy Two Weeks Notice. She and Hugh Grant made for a surprisingly great pairing.

I think that Sandra Bullock is kind of great (if you have not seen the video of her accepting a Razzie and then roasting the committee for not having actually watched the movie, rectify that ASAP). I know that her movies are sometimes not the best written, but I feel as if she almost always makes for a good scene partner.

[edarsenal]

http://img.youtube.com/vi/_L8ZqgtYvwM/0.jpg

Rome, Open City aka Roma città aperta (1945) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038890/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0)
5:yup::yup:

Firstly, may I express --

https://media0.giphy.com/media/tODygE8KCqBzy/giphy.gif


Run a checklist of what makes a viewing experience utterly enjoyable, memorable, and every other happy as hell accolade. But screw the checkmarks, put f@ckin stars. I'm talkin the fancy gold mirrored, puffy-@ss ones.
And please, understand where this is coming from.
Since the new year, it has been an utterly glorious buffet of ever-increasingly quality dripping cascade of brand spanking new, endeared favorites.
Comes this wonderful jewel that is the locals of Rome during Germany's occupation during WWII. They were bubbling over with Life. They are passionate, and quite often, amusing as godd@mn hell. From Pina, (Anna Magnani) and her son, Piccolo Marcello, (Vito Annichiarico) to my absolute favorite, the charitable, in the trenches, Don Pietro Pellegrini, (Aldo Fabrizi)
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTnD4cnrbb9dImFTsD2Cuo0R3XwuiG_JzUkNn9YgVgVFFzsBebIW8qZ2DgYfhochgZA8k0&usqp=CAUhttps://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRGZUSSi4tjn-_I_HqnxMEUgHgq228aNgZlnal9Z-N_k5BhNlsdCrJ8ZYRe6dTolILQ220&usqp=CAU

Simple folk working with Italian Resistance Leaders that the Gestapo, specifically these excellently portrayed viper and black widow spider moving in for the kill.
https://a2.tvspielfilm.de/imedia/2094/1752094,HotdoFAWuchymwVDXj9N8GA2hcJeE9vJge9CrjUZuYX4r5TY24IM9cRM2SCMKP06elknLpHFbZJg4Rtww2ME0w==.jpg

And move in, they do.

Against Italian Bravado,
https://media1.giphy.com/media/113zJbeQ3ccabK/giphy.gif

ROC is not an arthouse representation of War, but there is, very much, wisdom infused to this more action-oriented, tragic cat & mouse espionage done expertly by Roberto Rossellini.
Bit o' Trivia; this is my christening of Rossellini films, and I've already got Germany Year Zero aka Germania anno zero (1948) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039417/?ref_=nm_knf_t1) on my 2021 Movie Challenge Watchlist.

Any Hoot, Rome, Open City is a film that I would be entertaining good friends at home and say, "Hey, you guys wanna watch a really, really good film?" as I hit Play.
I adored, rooted for, and was captivated by Locals. The Chase's suspense, the amusing/clever attempts to distract the Germans kept me grinning continuously. Counterbalanced sublimely by the villainous machinations of the Germans, The ending was superb. All of this wrapped up in a very intelligently written story and dialogue befitting a cast of warm, determined folks against a ruthless predator.
LOVED IT
JUUUUUST LOVED IT

[Thief]

I think that Sandra Bullock is kind of great (if you have not seen the video of her accepting a Razzie and then roasting the committee for not having actually watched the movie, rectify that ASAP). I know that her movies are sometimes not the best written, but I feel as if she almost always makes for a good scene partner.

Ohh, man, I hadn't seen this. It's great :laugh:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghS98BKy29Q

[Wooley]

...if you have not seen the video of her accepting a Razzie and then roasting the committee for not having actually watched the movie, rectify that ASAP...

Oh, you can bet your sweet ass I am doing that immediately.

And I agree with you on Bullock. I think the reason she won Best Actress for The Blind Side is because she made a maudlin bull**** white-savior movie not only watchable but kind of enjoyable, single-handedly. And that takes real talent.

[Wooley]

Ohh, man, I hadn't seen this. It's great :laugh:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghS98BKy29Q

She's awesome.

[Gideon58]

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/d5/b2/e9/d5b2e9c532dea55a56b5ed2141201199.jpg



4

[xSookieStackhouse]

4.5 rewatched
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91n9OKbLDSL.jpg

[StuSmallz]

I watched a fair chunk of it several years ago and liked it for the most part. (It does suffer the anime thing of BOOBS BOOBS BOOBS, which I find kind of off-putting).Wait, just a fair chunk? Do you remember how far you got into it?

[Fabulous]

Ida (2013)

3.5

https://www.themoviedb.org/t/p/original/c9SvfYLJyai34bafR1AvqD9vAJi.jpg

[James D. Gardiner]

https://i.imgur.com/SoHKIBN.jpg

Les Maudits/The Damned (1947)
Directed by René Clément

Good to see this finally.

French Second World War drama about a group of Axis officials and various collaborators attempting an unlikely escape from Norway in a German U-boat in the final days of the war. Their plans to reach South America become complicated after an attack by an enemy vessel leaves one of the passengers injured and requiring medical attention. A doctor is successfully kidnapped from the French coast and brought on board so that the mission may continue. Held captive, he realises that once he is no longer required his future will be short lived. Yet this is only the beginning as we come to learn more about the darkly intriguing personalities of the other characters he is trapped with - the damned - each with their own past and uncertain future.

It's a good quality film noir/psychological drama. The quality of the production was excellent, with the gritty black and white photography, compositions, innovative tracking shots through the sub and exterior scenes all giving a good impression of reality, whilst also conveying the necessary darkness of the mood and underlying tension. I feel like this overshadowed the quality of the story to some extent however, which although was reasonably good, didn't quite live up to the same standard. Some events and motivations were a little unbelievable, and some characters were developed better than others. There was some good casting though, and the engaging narration from the doctor character worked very well in expressing the mood and keeping the story tight. Good style and unique character.

7/10

[xSookieStackhouse]

4.5
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZmYzMzU4NjctNDI0Mi00MGExLWI3ZDQtYzQzYThmYzc2ZmNjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTEyMjM2NDc2._V1_.jpg

[John-Connor]

Incendies 2010 Denis Villeneuve

https://i.imgur.com/Cb4ecUC.gif

3.5+

[LChimp]

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/ag2K4AB1ZT6CkfwrERt6Hg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://media.zenfs.com/pt-br/canal_tech_990/edd2915ce499b6478d4cd3a6cf0cad9d

Pretty disturbing, and I am used to scary/horror movies. It makes you feel unconfortable in a very particular way. Yikes!

[xSookieStackhouse]

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/ag2K4AB1ZT6CkfwrERt6Hg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://media.zenfs.com/pt-br/canal_tech_990/edd2915ce499b6478d4cd3a6cf0cad9d

Pretty disturbing, and I am used to scary/horror movies. It makes you feel unconfortable in a very particular way. Yikes!

what do u mean Pretty disturbing? i havent seen this one yet

[pahaK]

ヴァーサス (2000)
aka Versus
Kitamura puts all of his idols into a blender and pours the weird mix on film. The result is a bloated mess and the opposite of in moderation. Action scenes drag on and on, a good (or a bad) portion of scenes are parody, acting is quite horrible, and the general feel is childish and insecure. Competes with The Doorman for the worst film by Kitamura that I've seen.

[pahaK]

Poor Albert and Little Annie (1972)
aka I Dismember Mama
2
This B-movie has a somewhat interesting concept, but the execution is too flawed. The two leads do a decent job, but everything else from the direction, writing, and especially music is below average. It's not sleazy enough and doesn't dare to go where it should go.

[matt72582]

Leon Morin, Priest - 7.5/10


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/17/Leon-Morin-Priest.jpg

[Takoma11]

Wait, just a fair chunk? Do you remember how far you got into it?

Maybe about 7 or 8 episodes? It was like 8 or 9 years ago.

[pahaK]

Anything for Jackson (2020)
2
It's one of those old-school satanic panic films. The concept is quite okay, but the film is a disjointed collection of ghosts that don't seem to have any other function than just being there to spook the viewer. The film also looks quite ugly, and the cellar-dwelling chief satanist was like a sketch character.

[CharlesAoup]

Inferno, 2016 (C+)

There really isn't that much there. Da Vinci Code is obviously the gold standard Dan Brown movie, for what that's worth. It's a good chase movie with an interseting art history and symbology element to it. Angels and Demons was bad, but it still had that interesting element to it. This one is essentially a chase movie that takes place in Italy. Almost nothing is left to rememer after you've watched it. Nothing comes to mind as especially good or memorable.Not the worst, but not worth it.

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2F9hluYfcp0Tk%2Fmaxresdefault.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

Possum, 2018

A puppeteer named Philip (Sean Harris) returns to his hometown and to the house where his uncle, Maurice (Alun Armstrong) lives. Philip has a lot of baggage, both figuratively and literally, as he carries around a case that contains a disturbing, spider-like puppet. As tensions simmer between Philip and Maurice, in the background we hear about the disappearance of a boy Philip encountered on the train.

My main association with Sean Harris is upsetting films--things like Creep--and this one was no exception. Philip arrives on screen as a broken, withdrawn character, and things only get worse for him as the film goes on. It is an unsettling character progression, as Philip's past trauma comes more to light and drags him further into an unhealthy headspace.

Someone recently asked me how and why I watch so much horror because just thinking "it's not real" didn't work for them and they got overwhelmed. I think that one of my favorite things about horror is how astutely certain horror films allegorically address the different fears and traumas that many of us have experienced. Possum is a really good example of this, where Philip's deranged puppet (and puppets often being associated with therapy or a means of displaced self-expression) actually seems to represent his past trauma and the way that he has "encoded" what happened to him in his youth.

This is a very slow film, albeit one that is dotted with disturbing and creative imagery. Much of the run time is spent watching Philip wander around town with his bag, trying to dispose of the puppet that always seems to find its way back to him. There is a lot that goes unsaid, or that is expressed minimally, and the narrative is something that builds through the whole duration of the movie.

A parallel to the search for the truth of Philip's past is the search for the missing boy. As Philip tries to sort out his own mind, he ends up going back to many places from his youth, only to find that the missing boy has "followed" him there. Seeking an old hiding place, Philip finds himself chased away by a search party. Stopping by his old elementary school, Philip is confronted by the head of the school and told to move on. The past and present are colliding, but it won't be clear until the end just in what way.

The film does rest almost entirely on Harris's brave and all-in performance and the atmosphere and imagery. While there are a few scenes between Philip and his uncle, this is mostly a look at one man and his descent into a sort of madness as he tries to reconcile with his past. I wish that there had been a little more closure at the end, which is my only real complaint. Probably not a film for everyone, but I really enjoyed it.

4

[ThatDarnMKS]

Hillbilly Elegy:

A loud, trite, cacophonous parade of shrieking stereotypes perpetually in conflict in order to make a hollow, condescending appeal about titular “hillbilly” culture. The only moments of authenticity are brought by Glenn Close, whom unfortunately is given the worst lines of dialogue in the film (it has stiff competition but her Terminator philosophy is among the worst things I’ve seen on the screen).

1

[Tugg]

7500 (2019-2020) 3
https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/b19f5a99-bc11-41fd-844a-accfb84aae48/ddyhy1q-50d408f3-68c2-4fe1-ba5d-20daf8a4b306.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjph cHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYjE5ZjVhOTktYmMxMS00MWZkLTg0NGEtYWNjZmI4NGFhZTQ4XC9kZHloeTFxLTUw ZDQwOGYzLTY4YzItNGZlMS1iYTVkLTIwZGFmOGE0YjMwNi5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9h ZCJdfQ.ehzXGchLFAqxnSBMJrnAneAH_htVj6245bbjTHdU8Mg
Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) 2
https://www.filmfreakcentral.net/.a/6a0168ea36d6b2970c0278801f82bb200d-800wi
Soul (2020) 3
https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/c7268c79-9436-4230-b75e-2814495b25f4/de789rf-9c603872-1cac-4cef-9bcb-091c3addb4e2.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjph cHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYzcyNjhjNzktOTQzNi00MjMwLWI3NWUtMjgxNDQ5NWIyNWY0XC9kZTc4OXJmLTlj NjAzODcyLTFjYWMtNGNlZi05YmNiLTA5MWMzYWRkYjRlMi5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9h ZCJdfQ.cH4jXqCRpuW1NZpAZtpRyYpio2EJJOMrRCJSZTNU8Js
Underwater (2020) 3
https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/i/e69afd87-c9b4-4fdb-a96e-dedfb69a36aa/ddpm67n-e2a7c41d-4d77-4b69-8bca-efad0a6e70f3.png
Becky (2020) 3
https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/c7268c79-9436-4230-b75e-2814495b25f4/ddywszr-8fbb5040-fb11-4688-989b-f38db1becb5b.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjph cHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYzcyNjhjNzktOTQzNi00MjMwLWI3NWUtMjgxNDQ5NWIyNWY0XC9kZHl3c3pyLThm YmI1MDQwLWZiMTEtNDY4OC05ODliLWYzOGRiMWJlY2I1Yi5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9h ZCJdfQ.VP96G0-0p1eivo8Zpq9lVlzmen3-uP_G_iSi7Y5SxgY
The Hunt (2020) 3.5
https://www.booktopia.com.au/covers/big/9317731155383/5807/the-hunt-2020-.webp

[Gideon58]

5
https://www.joblo.com/assets/images/oldsite/posters/images/full/2005-just_like_heaven-2.jpg



I love this movie

[Mr Minio]

Never Take Sweets From a Stranger (1960) - 2

https://i.imgur.com/to6Eyxi.png

Hammer is best known for their horror films, including the Dracula and Frankenstein series, but Never Take Sweets From a Stranger is scarier than any other Hammer film I've seen. I'm not squeamish but the film hit me harder than I ever expected. The film features no gore nor blood, but it's still very strong by showing what it shows and not showing what couldn't be shown. What is largely forgotten nowadays in the age of explicit images and excess is the skill of terrifying the viewer without exploitative images and in-your-face imagery. The rape in Shanghai Express was more painful than the rape in Irréversible even though it happened off-screen. Sometimes what is implied or unseen is the scariest. But it's not like Never Take Sweets From a Stranger doesn't show anything. It does. It shows the dynamics of a small community, ruled by a powerful family that can shake the law. The scenes of victim-blaming at court are strong, but even stronger is the boat scene with a mute zombie-like old man pulling the rope. The ending plays like a very bitter victory bought with a loss much greater than anybody expected. Truly a terrifying picture, which seems to get overlooked while it's only a tad bit below the likes of Psycho and Peeping Tom.

[Gideon58]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2d/Lost_in_yonkers_poster.jpg



4

[Marco]

Mary Magdalene (2018)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/83/Mary_Magdalene_%282018_film%29.png
Being a Catholic God botherer myself, I was unsure how to go into this film. Lots of portrayals of Jesus have been skewed at best (as far as we know). This was another in that canon but had the advantage of having Rooney Mara as a strong lead in the titular role. It drops to a human level and the actors Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Tahar Rahim shine. Well produced but not for everyone I suspect. It does, however vindicate the role that Mary Magdelene played in that time and place.

3

[xSookieStackhouse]

I love this movie

same here

[Wooley]

Mary Magdalene (2018)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/83/Mary_Magdalene_%282018_film%29.png
...It does, however vindicate the role that Mary Magdelene played in that time and place.

3

That might be enough for me.

[Fabulous]

A Mighty Heart (2007)

3

https://www.themoviedb.org/t/p/original/zjVE6yJE3UvQbBTB6QbiN3fK52m.jpg

[xSookieStackhouse]

3.5
https://uk.nicholassparks.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2013/07/dearjohn1-680x1020.jpg

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.uwatchfree.vg%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F08%2FDead-Buried-1981-Poster.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

Dead and Buried, 1981

In the small town of Potter's Bluff, a man on a beach is suddenly and ruthlessly murdered by a group of people who stage his death as a car accident. Local Sheriff Dan Gillis (James Farentino) begins to investigate the incident, and soon finds that things in his town are not quite as picturesque as he imagined.

This movie, for the most part, manages to just walk the line of controlled chaos. As the film goes on, our understanding of what is happening and who is involved is constantly shifting and evolving, all peppered with violent attacks and disorienting encounters. There are a lot of "wait, what?" moments, but the film controls them with a deliberate pace and a steadily building sense of dread.

Farentino does a really solid job as lead protagonist Dan, who through the film also begins to suspect that his wife might have some part in things. And the rest of the cast is good as well, including Jack Albertson as the quirky local mortician, Lisa Blount as a mysterious woman who is always present at the killings, and Estelle Omens as Dan's flighty administrative assistant.

In terms of negatives, there aren't really many for me. The look of the film (which I don't think was just the print I watched) was a bit hazy at times. I also had some logistical quibbles with our ultimate understanding of the plot, but at the same time the last act is so strong and packed with such memorable imagery that I Didn't mind all that much.

This is a film I've heard a lot about (broadly speaking) for many years and I see why it is considered a classic.

4

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-5KP-TedA2i8%2FUP6bqlVFgRI%2FAAAAAAAAIos%2F30f3n9CMzkU%2Fs1600%2FA%2BColt%2BIs%2BMy%2BPassport.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

A Colt is My Passport, 1967

A cool, calm, and collected hitman named Kamimura (Jo Shishido) is hired by one mob boss to take out another. He does so, but soon he and his partner, Shun (Jerry Fujio) find themselves trapped between both gangs as the one group is out for revenge and the other group decides they might be better of taking him out of the picture. Along the way they meet up with lonely waitress Mina (Chitose Kobayashi), who has had her own unpleasant run-ins with the mob.

I could tell you that this film is part of a Criterion Collection series of Japanese noir and that this is what made me interested. But if we are being perfectly honest, it was like 75% that title, which, coolest title ever, right?

I enjoyed this film from beginning to end, starting with the tense build-up to Kamimura assassinating the mob boss to the final, inevitable showdown between Kamimura and the mob crew chasing after him.

Much like films such as Yojimbo and Fistful of Dollars, A Colt is My Passport pulls off the neat trick of giving us a cool-as-can-be killer, and yet one who still has enough emotional connection to those around him that we stay invested in his story and survival. In particular, Kamimura's big brother attitude toward Shun is incredibly relatable and becomes the character's main point of vulnerability and motivation. This is a really wise choice, because while it is true that he develops something of a relationship with Mina, their young romance doesn't feel like enough of a motivator for some of the actions he takes later.

The film begins and ends with a bang, literally. It's an interesting structure for the film, in which there is a lot of action right at the beginning, then the middle mainly concerns the characters just trying to get out of town, then ending with the final showdown. Both the beginning and ending sequences have some interesting parallels, in particular the way that we watch Kamimura prepare for the encounters. He is a professional, but even the most astute professional has his limits.

While she was not developed quite as much as I would have hoped, I liked the film's use of the character of Mina. She takes certain actions later in the film that are a bit off-putting, so it is good that we are given a solid chunk of time to understand where she is coming from. Mina's lover was killed by a mob lackey who wants her for himself, and her relationship with Kamimura offers her a real chance of escape. Having this baseline understanding of her character is really critical later when she makes certain choices.

One minor complaint that I had was the soundtrack. At times it is really awesome and deliberately scored like a spaghetti western. But there were one or two times where I found the intensity of the soundtrack a bit jarring and felt like the mix of levels was off. In one scene, Mina is just . . . walking around, but the soundtrack would make you believe that she was a gunslinger walking into a saloon. That said, the score does work really well in certain action scenes, and especially in the final sequence of the film.

Overall I really dug this one. It more than lives up to the promise of its title.

4.5

[Marco]

That might be enough for me.
It was a good "outside looking in" film Wooley....calm and well done.

[Marco]

I agree. This picture has received (and will receive) awards that IMO it does not deserve, simply because it has McDormand and Chloe Zhao in the production. McDormand pretty much played herself, and Zhao was missing for much of the filming. My review is here:

https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?t=63402

Great review GulfportDoc and resounds with all my thoughts!

[Marco]

Cherry (2021)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/86/Cherry_2021_poster.jpg
This is a solid but predictable film. Concerns the vagaries of a young man trying to come to terms with his situation by joining the army and training as a medic. He then suffers PTSD and turns to drug abuse...it was well put together but I didn't really see the point in the love angle, it was superfluous.

Although I thought Tom Holland did a good job, it required a bigger mans shirt to really hit home.
2.5

[Wooley]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.uwatchfree.vg%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F08%2FDead-Buried-1981-Poster.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

Dead and Buried, 1981

In the small town of Potter's Bluff, a man on a beach is suddenly and ruthlessly murdered by a group of people who stage his death as a car accident. Local Sheriff Dan Gillis (James Farentino) begins to investigate the incident, and soon finds that things in his town are not quite as picturesque as he imagined.

This movie, for the most part, manages to just walk the line of controlled chaos. As the film goes on, our understanding of what is happening and who is involved is constantly shifting and evolving, all peppered with violent attacks and disorienting encounters. There are a lot of "wait, what?" moments, but the film controls them with a deliberate pace and a steadily building sense of dread.

Farentino does a really solid job as lead protagonist Dan, who through the film also begins to suspect that his wife might have some part in things. And the rest of the cast is good as well, including Jack Albertson as the quirky local mortician, Lisa Blount as a mysterious woman who is always present at the killings, and Estelle Omens as Dan's flighty administrative assistant.

In terms of negatives, there aren't really many for me. The look of the film (which I don't think was just the print I watched) was a bit hazy at times. I also had some logistical quibbles with our ultimate understanding of the plot, but at the same time the last act is so strong and packed with such memorable imagery that I Didn't mind all that much.

This is a film I've heard a lot about (broadly speaking) for many years and I see why it is considered a classic.

4

I am pleased.

[Thief]

VAMPYR
(1932, Dreyer)
A film from the 1930s

https://i.blogs.es/3741ea/vampyr-f1/1366_2000.jpg


"Who can solve the riddle of life and death or fathom the dark secrets hidden from the light of day?"



Vampyr follows Gray (Nicolas de Gunzburg) as his studies of devils and vampires take him to the village of Courtempierre. It is there that he finds himself immersed in a dreamlike journey where death is not only a matter of investigation, but a constant threat to him, and everyone around him; especially the family that he's trying to protect.

This is my second time watching this film and, even though I still find it hard to peg down, I still find it visually mesmerizing and captivating anyway. Much like Gray himself seemed eager to dive into this journey, I was looking forward to rewatching it myself.

Grade: 4


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2192671#post2192671) and on the HOF24 (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2192672#post2192672).

[Thief]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.uwatchfree.vg%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F08%2FDead-Buried-1981-Poster.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

Dead and Buried, 1981

In the small town of Potter's Bluff, a man on a beach is suddenly and ruthlessly murdered by a group of people who stage his death as a car accident. Local Sheriff Dan Gillis (James Farentino) begins to investigate the incident, and soon finds that things in his town are not quite as picturesque as he imagined.

This movie, for the most part, manages to just walk the line of controlled chaos. As the film goes on, our understanding of what is happening and who is involved is constantly shifting and evolving, all peppered with violent attacks and disorienting encounters. There are a lot of "wait, what?" moments, but the film controls them with a deliberate pace and a steadily building sense of dread.

Farentino does a really solid job as lead protagonist Dan, who through the film also begins to suspect that his wife might have some part in things. And the rest of the cast is good as well, including Jack Albertson as the quirky local mortician, Lisa Blount as a mysterious woman who is always present at the killings, and Estelle Omens as Dan's flighty administrative assistant.

In terms of negatives, there aren't really many for me. The look of the film (which I don't think was just the print I watched) was a bit hazy at times. I also had some logistical quibbles with our ultimate understanding of the plot, but at the same time the last act is so strong and packed with such memorable imagery that I Didn't mind all that much.

This is a film I've heard a lot about (broadly speaking) for many years and I see why it is considered a classic.

4

Yep. As opposed to you, I don't remember hearing/reading about this until I saw it mentioned here or in Corrie a year or two ago. Which maybe is why I considered it such a pleasant surprise when I finally got around to it last year.

[John W Constantine]

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 4

[wositelec]

Aladdin (2019) - I think that it was too predictable and definitely too long. My rate is 6 / 10.

[Thief]

Re: Dead & Buried (perhaps a bit spoilerific)...

Some of the things I liked were how it effectively treaded the line between several horror sub-genres...


(i.e. creepy small town, slasher, zombie film)

Also, how the director avoids repetition and monotony by treating each kill from a different angle (first kill kinda creeps on you since you don't expect it, and has that creepy vibe of seeing all these regular folks in on it... the fisherman one relies more on foggy atmosphere, jumpscares, and gore... the hospital one gets you cringing and fidgeting... and the family one has more to do with the constant dread and atmosphere of being trapped and surrounded).


I also thought that Farentino was pretty solid, but really enjoyed Jack Albertson as the coroner. I think he stole most of his scenes.

Finally, the special effects from Stan Winston were superb.

[Allaby]

The Hooked Generation (1968), directed by William Grefé, on blu ray as part of the He Came From the Swamp box set. It's alright for a low budget B movie. There are some good moments, acting is decent, and the screenplay is alright. It's worth a watch. My rating would be 3.

[Wooley]

VAMPYR
(1932, Dreyer)
A film from the 1930s

https://i.blogs.es/3741ea/vampyr-f1/1366_2000.jpg




Vampyr follows Gray (Nicolas de Gunzburg) as his studies of devils and vampires take him to the village of Courtempierre. It is there that he finds himself immersed in a dreamlike journey where death is not only a matter of investigation, but a constant threat to him, and everyone around him; especially the family that he's trying to protect.

This is my second time watching this film and, even though I still find it hard to peg down, I still find it visually mesmerizing and captivating anyway. Much like Gray himself seemed eager to dive into this journey, I was looking forward to rewatching it myself.

Grade: 4


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2192671#post2192671) and on the HOF24 (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2192672#post2192672).

I enjoyed this immensely on my second viewing.

[CharlesAoup]

Godzilla Vs Kong, 2021 (B)

Pretty decent. It meanders a lot in the middle and that takes away from it quite a bit, and for a subplot that felt entirely unnecessary, at least for now.

There's three big fight scenes. The first is the best, Kong vs Zilla in the middle of the ocean, from ship to ship. If you"ve seen that Neon Genesis Evangelion episode; it's like that. Daytime. Super dope.

The second battle is the worst and, along with the first one, will make you squint pretty hard at the physics of it all. The movie is a bit too in love with stabilizing the camera to Kong or Godzilla's face, so it's not top on scenery. It also seems to happen in the same place where Tetris the game is filmed, so there's a slight visual overload happening, where contrast in light and colors would have worked to a better effect than full neon.

Third is a spoiler, but it's great. The humans and their stories are there, but vastly more subdued, and way, way more focused on the monsters. No more family drama interrupting the giants here.

[pahaK]

叫 (2006)
aka Retribution
3.5
Oh boy, Kiyoshi Kurosawa has such a strong resume. It's kinda like Kairo lite dressed up as a police film. Not quite on par with his best, but the level of direction and the general aesthetics are top-notch. The story could have been a bit more polished, though.

[WHITBISSELL!]

https://antifilmschoolsite.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/mothra-vs-godzilla-1.jpg


Mothra vs. Godzilla - This had a 92% rating at RT and several reviews that had called it the best Godzilla movie. So even though I'm not an aficionado I decided to give it a chance. But not having much to compare it against outside of the original Gojira or it's Americanized, Raymond Burr-ized version I had to judge it on it's own merits. It wasn't bad.

I did however definitely remember having watched the part where the twin caterpillars bukkake 'zilla. The plot is straightforward (again, not knowing just how byzantine your average Godzilla flick is) with a giant egg washing up off the coast of Japan after a typhoon. An unscrupulous businessman purchases the egg from the local fishermen who found it and builds a hotel and theme park of sorts. There's a trio of a scientist and reporters who oppose him and there's the two little singing sprites who sort of control Mothra. And of course there's the guy in the rubber suit romping and stomping throughout the Japanese countryside. It's quick (90 minutes) and dirty and imminently watchable. rating_3_5

[Captain Steel]

Due to a holiday weekend of free Showtime (including On Demand) I got to watch a movie I've wanted to see since I first heard about it...

Swiss Army Man (2016).

https://siol.net/media/img/03/84/80693b76f5a99334e87b-swiss-army-man.jpeg

Despite knowing the basic premise, it wasn't what I expected...

I expected it to be silly, but it quickly turns completely cartoonish. It could have been interpreted as a look into the madness brought on by involuntary solitude if not for things depicted that are beyond the realm of possibility - we are left to wonder were these things actually happening since you can't ride a dead body like a jet-ski, or are these just more hallucinations of the protagonist? Then I started interpreting it as a study (from the POV of the protagonist) of the relationship between Tom Hanks and "Wilson" in Castaway (2000) - but taken to a different extreme. Then it kind of turns into a necrophilic Brokeback Mountain (2005)! Ultimately, it ends up being an indictment of the social taboos against farting! ;)


Surreal, uplifting at times, depressing at others, introspective with a few scattered chuckles, yet overall; entertaining and amusing. A weird film beyond just the unusual premise.
3.5

[Citizen Rules]

Due to a holiday weekend of free Showtime (including On Demand) I got to watch a movie I've wanted to see since I first heard about it...

Swiss Army Man (2018).

Despite knowing the basic premise, it wasn't what I expected...

I expected it to be silly, but it quickly turns completely cartoonish. It could have been interpreted as a look into the madness brought on by involuntary solitude if not for things depicted that are beyond the realm of possibility - we are left to wonder were these things actually happening since you can't ride a dead body like a jet-ski, or are these just more hallucinations of the protagonist? Then I started interpreting it as a study (from the POV of the protagonist) of the relationship between Tom Hanks and "Wilson" in Castaway (2000) - but taken to a different extreme. Then it kind of turns into a necrophilic Brokeback Mountain (2005)! Ultimately, it ends up being an indictment of the social taboos against farting! ;)


Surreal, uplifting at times, depressing at others, introspective with a few scattered chuckles, yet overall; entertaining and amusing. A weird film beyond just the unusual premise.
rating_3_5I was surprised at how much I liked Swiss Army Man. Here's my glowing review of it, Swiss Army Man (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=1641061#post1641061)

[GulfportDoc]

75841
Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

I was looking forward to seeing life-like monsters and their battles generated by state of the art CGI. In that respect the film was a bona fide winner, with phenomenal design and construction. It must have taken months of technical work to create the monsters and city settings to put this movie together.

The story, however, was all over the map; not incoherent, but there were too many elements jammed into one narrative. IMO the combination of live monsters and sci-fi seem to cancel each other out

It’s understandable that the producers strove for something different for the 36th Godzilla and the 12th King Kong picture. However the nature of the story does not allow for memorable acting performances. Of the cast, Rebecca Hall did a workwoman-like performance, and was able to represent the most appealing range of emotions. Alexander Skarsgaard did okay as the unwitting and ill-fitted semi-milquetoast scientist (a stronger character would have been appreciated). For the first half of the film every time Millie Bobby Brown appeared, I wondered what she was doing off the set of Stranger Things. There was only a fleeting glance of Lance Reddick from Bosch fame. One assumes that some of his part was edited out, letting his fee accounting flutter to the floor.

The big star of course was Kong. His construction, design, movement, facial expression, et al was wonderful. Kong was given a much wider “acting” range than was Godzilla. There was an interesting collaboration of the two at one point against a common enemy. But at the end they parted ways, all set up for another sequel.

Doc’s rating: 4/10 story, 5/10 acting, 9/10 CGI

[Captain Steel]

I was surprised at how much I liked Swiss Army Man. Here's my glowing review of it, Swiss Army Man (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=1641061#post1641061)


I like to analyze things - so I have to wonder if there are camouflaged messages to what was really going on...

Was "Hank" (Paul Dano) ever on a deserted island?
We're given no background to how he got there - there's no real mention of a boat trip or plane crash that left him on an island in the middle of the Pacific ocean.
Since it's impossible to ride a dead body across the ocean - how did he then end up in a forest in the Pacific Northwest?
A clue to the idea that he may never have been on a desert island or even stranded anywhere (but just insane) may have come near the end where authorities locate Hank's camp (all the stuff he built) just yards beyond the property he ends up at.
Earlier in the film we were left to assume he made all this stuff while lost deep in the woods, hundreds of miles from civilization - yet, almost the whole time he was just yards away from a community. So maybe the desert island just represented his state of mind - when actually he had just run away into the woods and was close to civilization the whole time?

[Citizen Rules]

I like to analyze things - so I have to wonder if there are camouflaged messages to what was really going on...

Was "Hank" (Paul Dano) ever on a deserted island?
We're given no background to how he got there - there's no real mention of a boat trip or plane crash that left him on an island in the middle of the Pacific ocean.
Since it's impossible to ride a dead body across the ocean - how did he then end up in a forest in the Pacific Northwest?
A clue to the idea that he may never have been on a desert island or even stranded anywhere (but just insane) may have come near the end where authorities locate Hank's camp (all the stuff he built) just yards beyond the property he ends up at.
Earlier in the film we were left to assume he made all this stuff while lost deep in the woods, hundreds of miles from civilization - yet, almost the whole time he was just yards away from a community. So maybe the desert island just represented his state of mind - when actually he had just run away into the woods and was close to civilization the whole time?Interesting premise. I guess like most movies & most art, one can see different truths depending on how one looks at it. Me? I just thought it was an interesting movie, I didn't ponder any deeper meaning. Maybe the directors had something else to say? I don't know.

[Thief]

FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL!
(1965, Meyer)
A film from Russ Meyer

https://images.justwatch.com/backdrop/8739624/s1440/faster-pussycat-kill-kill


"I never try anything. I just do it. And I don't beat clocks, just people! Wanna try me?"



That's the power statement of Varla (Tura Santana), a go-go dancer turned criminal, as he faces young "All-American boy" Tommy (Ray Barlow) and his girlfriend Linda (Susan Bernard). Her statement might be born out of a general hatred and disgust towards specific men (like the ones screaming at them in the opening, "Go! Go!"), but it can also be seen as a statement of defiance against the established dominance of the traditional "All-American man".

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! follows Varla, Rosie (Haji), and Billie (Lori Williams), who end up getting rid of Tommy and kidnapping Linda. When they stumble upon an old man (Stuart Lancaster) and his two adult sons, they find out they might be hiding a lot of money, so they decide to con them.

Grade: 3


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2192730#post2192730)

[Takoma11]

Re: Dead & Buried (perhaps a bit spoilerific)...

Some of the things I liked were how it effectively treaded the line between several horror sub-genres...


(i.e. creepy small town, slasher, zombie film)

Also, how the director avoids repetition and monotony by treating each kill from a different angle (first kill kinda creeps on you since you don't expect it, and has that creepy vibe of seeing all these regular folks in on it... the fisherman one relies more on foggy atmosphere, jumpscares, and gore... the hospital one gets you cringing and fidgeting... and the family one has more to do with the constant dread and atmosphere of being trapped and surrounded).


I also thought that Farentino was pretty solid, but really enjoyed Jack Albertson as the coroner. I think he stole most of his scenes.

Finally, the special effects from Stan Winston were superb.

Totally agreed regarding the synthesizing of several horror subgenres. Even the aspect of them filming/photographing their killings adds this weird dimension to it, existing in this weird space between performance art and pornography.

[Takoma11]

FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL!
(1965, Meyer)
A film from Russ Meyer

https://images.justwatch.com/backdrop/8739624/s1440/faster-pussycat-kill-kill




That's the power statement of Varla (Tura Santana), a go-go dancer turned criminal, as he faces young "All-American boy" Tommy (Ray Barlow) and his girlfriend Linda (Susan Bernard). Her statement might be born out of a general hatred and disgust towards specific men (like the ones screaming at them in the opening, "Go! Go!"), but it can also be seen as a statement of defiance against the established dominance of the traditional "All-American man".

This is what happens when you give women the vote!

[SpelingError]

Shame (1968) - 4

This war drama is another impressive addition to Bergman's large body of films. Though some of the themes it boasts (dehumanization) aren't the most original for the genre, I really appreciated the way it handled this aspect. The various struggles that Eva and Jan experienced influenced their connection to each other and their willingness to commit heinous acts to survive. Early on in the film, for example, Jan was unable to kill a chicken, but later developed the stomach to kill another person. By contrast, while Eva was more sympathetic, Jan's actions lead to her despair and her feeling of disconnection from him later on. While the characterizations were effective though, I was mainly drawn to how the film appeared to be anti-war. For instance, we never learn what war was going on in the film. It might as well be a fictitious war. We also don't learn much about why the war is going on. Given the lack of insight over those details, Bergman didn't appear to glamourize either side. While the invading forces obviously caused problems for the two protagonists and other people around them, the army on their side wasn't depicted in a positive light either. In addition to a couple scenes of the soldiers mistreating their own citizens, Col. Jacobi also took advantage of and used Eva and Jan for his own purposes, just like the invading forces who interviewed the couple did. For the most part, I really loved this film, though I wasn't sure what to make of the ending sequence. While it contained some of the most horrifying imagery in the film, the tonal jump from war drama to survival thriller felt like a strange culmination to the film's themes. In spite of that, I really enjoyed my time with this film.

[Thief]

This is what happens when you give women the vote!

Don't forget smoking, driving, and putting them in pants!

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Ftarstarkas.net%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F05%2Ftake-aim-at-the-police-van-05.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

Take Aim at the Police Van, 1960

A police van transporting prisoners is attacked and several inmates are killed. A prison guard named Tamon (Michitaro Mizushima) is accused of negligence and is defamed in the local papers. Incensed, he sets out to determine who was behind the attack on the prison van.

This film starts out incredibly strong. The attack on the prison van is well-staged, and the first part of Tamon's investigation includes some really striking moments, such as when one of his leads, a dancer/stripper(?) is killed by being shot through the chest with an arrow. There is a constant sense of lurking danger and possibly even broader conspiracy. When Tamon visits the house of the woman's employer and sees a wealthy woman practicing archery with incredible accuracy, I was like "Oh, yes." This is the kind of film that trades in a very engaging outlandishness meant to keep you guessing the whole way through.

And yet I have to say that around the halfway mark my attention began to flag. Was this due to my mood? Due to the film? I'm not 100% sure. All I know is that all of a sudden there would be men running around with guns and I wasn't totally sure who they were and I just didn't have the interest to rewind to try and figure it out. The second half of the film has some memorable set-pieces (including a truck dripping gasoline that is being chased by an encroaching flame as the main character is tied to the steering wheel), but I felt that I had lost the plot and it reduced the impact of it all.

I did really enjoy the way that the film was shot. Despite some aspects having a sort of B-movie feel, there were some really neat angles and stagings of things, such as the way that a bridge/overpass frames a certain character after he has been in a fight with another man. Just these occasional moments of really nice composition and artistry.

I wish I'd stayed engaged with this one. Again, I'm not sure of this was on my end of things or if the film itself maybe just ran out of steam or was unclear in its second half. This was another entry in the Criterion Japanese Noir collection and I'm glad I checked it out.

3.5

[xSookieStackhouse]

4.5
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMGJlOWM3ODctZjY3NC00YmRjLTg0NjgtNTFhOWQ4YzI4YjU3L2ltYWdlL2ltYWdlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1 _.jpg

[Fabulous]

The Last Station (2009)

3

https://www.themoviedb.org/t/p/original/j5hSwwpdO0oc8WmrmUlzKFFOqch.jpg

[StuSmallz]

Maybe about 7 or 8 episodes? It was like 8 or 9 years ago.Wait, only about seven sessions? That's less than a third of the entire show, and if it was the first seven, then you would've left off at around "Heavy Metal Queen", which, while a good session, is still far from being one of the show's best; there are plenty of sessions past that are around the same level as "Ballad Of Fallen Angels", and there's a good reason why I reviewed (almost) every session back on the Corrie, trust me. Anyway, regarding the "BOOBS BOOBS BOOBS" complaint, I noticed the occasional gratuity of it too, but the show is so much more than that, especially when it comes to its characterization of Faye (although even a character as minor as Judy still subverts that trope at one point); I mean, part of the reason why Faye dresses and behaves the way she does is to catch her male bounties off guard, and even then, her status as the show's resident "Ms. Fanservice" is still undermined by her personality as an unpleasant "woman with attitude" (as Spike literally calls her at one point), and on top of that, that unlikeable facade is what increasingly cracks over the course of the series, as her backstory gets explored more and more:

https://youtu.be/eoL2RzCGwms

So to bring this full circle back to my other #1 show, I disagree with anyone out there who may act as though Faye was there just for the fanservice as much as I do with the people who claim Skyler was meant to be the "real" bad guy on Breaking Bad, IMO.

[this_is_the_ girl]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dvdbeaver.com%2Ffilm3%2Fblu-ray_reviews54%2Fthe_phantom_carriage_blu-ray_%2Flarge%2Flarge_the_phantom_carriage_blu-ray_10.jpg&f=1&nofb=1
The Phantom Carriage (1921, Victor Sjöström)
5
The film that inspired Ingmar Bergman to become a filmmaker, and it's a wonder to behold. Innovative special effect techniques, coupled with the groundbreaking use of flashbacks and overall impressive visual style, make this a milestone of Swedish, European and world cinema. The story itself is pretty straightforward in its morality, but the way it's executed is downright transfixing - and cathartic.

[this_is_the_ girl]

75526

Re-watch. So good.
One of the best examples of a movie that's a slow burn in a good way. I remember the ending absolutely destroyed me the first time I watched it. Love it.

[LChimp]

https://cinepop.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/godzila-vs-kong-6.jpg

Too many unnecessary humans.

[James D. Gardiner]

https://i.imgur.com/ukiZj0Q.jpg

Man in the Vault (1956)
Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen
Starring: William Campbell, Karen Sharpe, Anita Ekberg, Paul Fix

Fair 50's B-grade crime drama from John Wayne's Batjac Productions. Campbell gives a solid performance as Tommy Dancer, locksmith, who doesn't want to get involved in crime but then doesn't try too hard to avoid it either, getting involved with various crims and associated women along the way, which naturally escalate matters. Decent entry in the genre.

7/10

[pahaK]

Una farfalla con le ali insanguinate (1971)
aka The Bloodstained Butterfly
3
A mix of Giallo, police procedural, and courtroom drama. Lots of unlikable people, and a surprisingly coherent plot. As the majority of the Italian films of this era, it looks beautiful. Surprising to see a film like this on Netflix.

[Raven73]

Devil All the Time
Netflix
4/5
Like a good Quentin Tarantino movie: bold characters, goes for the throat, and offers no apologies.
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZmE1NmVmN2EtMjZmZC00YzAyLWE4MWEtYjY5YmExMjUxODU1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTkxNjUyNQ@@._V1_UX182_CR0,0,182 ,268_AL_.jpg

[Takoma11]

Wait, only about seven sessions? That's less than a third of the entire show, and if it was the first seven, then you would've left off at around "Heavy Metal Queen", which, while a good session, is still far from being one of the show's best; there are plenty of sessions past that are around the same level as "Ballad Of Fallen Angels", and there's a good reason why I reviewed (almost) every session back on the Corrie, trust me. Anyway, regarding the "BOOBS BOOBS BOOBS" complaint, I noticed the occasional gratuity of it too, but the show is so much more than that, especially when it comes to its characterization of Faye (although even a character as minor as Judy still subverts that trope at one point); I mean, part of the reason why Faye dresses and behaves the way she does is to catch her male bounties off guard, and even then, her status as the show's resident "Ms. Fanservice" is still undermined by her personality as an unpleasant "woman with attitude" (as Spike literally calls her at one point), and on top of that, that unlikeable facade is what increasingly cracks over the course of the series, as her backstory gets explored more and more

I mean, it might be more than that. But it also . . . is that.

It's hard finding anime that doesn't include female character design that looks like the animator was drawing her with one hand and furiously masturbating with the other and I appreciate that Cowboy Bebop has a sense of humor and some good character development. But clearly it wasn't enough to keep me engage several years ago.

It's on my list of "stuff I should probably revisit".

[Torgo]

I'm probably just repeating what Stu said, but Faye Valentine's sexualized appearance definitely should not stop anyone from continuing Cowboy Bebop. Her getup is very much meant to manipulate her more toxic and animal-brained marks. She never comes across as a mere sexualized plaything. In fact, she may be one of the best realized female characters in fiction.

Cowboy Bebop is one of the best pieces of art in any medium. It's so damn good. :)

[Torgo]

The B-Side - 4

A low-key Errol Morris documentary - an anti-Fog of War, if you will - that's no less interesting that's about his friend and colleague Elsa Dorfman (R.I.P.), a photographer who championed Polaroid film. Very much a love letter to photography - particularly film photography - it's bound to make photography experts and enthusiasts appreciate the medium even more and amateurs want to explore it further. I also like how the movie explores what we lost when film photography lost the war to digital, namely how we lost imperfections, human touches, what have you like black bars and chemical stains that Dorfman made into her trademarks. It's also a joy simply to listen to hear Dorfman talk about her career and the people it let her associate with like Allen Ginsburg, who ended up being one of her best friends. Again, Dorfman is no Robert McNamara or Steve Bannon (thank God for that), but the movie proves that Errol Morris doesn't need to have someone who makes their kind of headlines as his subject to craft a compelling documentary.

[Marco]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/72/Deadburiedposter.jpg

I just watched this, agree it's a film of it's time with a few wft scenes but solid and believe-able.
3.5

[Stirchley]

Victor Sjöström


You probably know that Sjöström played the old man in Bergman’s Wild Strawberries, which was the first Bergman movie I ever saw.

[Stirchley]

75866

Re-watch. One of my favorite movies.

75867

A very good movie. Unusual interesting storyline & the 3 leads were terrific.

[WHITBISSELL!]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/72/Deadburiedposter.jpg

I just watched this, agree it's a film of it's time with a few wft scenes but solid and believe-able.
rating_3_5I was going to post earlier asking if that movie had a poster showing this enormous stone head half buried in the sand. I remembered seeing it all the time while browsing at Blockbuster. I don't know why I never picked it up. I guess add this to the list of films I need to watch like The Furies and Black Swan.

[Takoma11]

I was going to post earlier asking if that movie had a poster showing this enormous stone head half buried in the sand. I remembered seeing it all the time while browsing at Blockbuster. I don't know why I never picked it up. I guess add this to the list of films I need to watch like The Furies and Black Swan.

As you could tell from my review, I would recommend it. I would also recommend going into it with as little advanced knowledge as possible. I tried to keep my review really vague because I think there are a lot of fun things to discover in it.

[Sedai]

Kiki's Delivery Service
Miyazaki, 1989

4

https://nerdbastards.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Kikis_Delivery_Service_full_937028.jpg

Continuing on through the Studio Ghibli collection with my daughter, we watched Kiki's Delivery Service over the weekend. Stelly just loved this one, especially the cat. I liked it more than I thought I would, but a great deal of my enjoyment stemmed from seeing her so taken with the film.


Sound of Metal
Mardur, 2020

4

https://www.goldderby.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/riz-ahmed-sound-of-metal-e1613580856774.jpg?w=620&h=360&crop=1

This film manages to avoid over-dramatizing and over-the-top acting, presenting a realistic peek into the deaf community. A recovering addict and metal musician finds himself with sudden onset hearing loss. Most of the film focuses on the various ways he tries to cope with the tragedy, and not so much on metal music, in case folks are expecting music to play a large part in the proceedings. As an aside, this is fine, as I found his band to be pretty much unlistenable, and I am a metalhead. Ahmed is stellar, well deserving of any Oscar attention he receives.

[Sedai]

Oops, one more. (SPOILERS AHEAD)

I had attempted to wipe this film from my mind by subjecting myself to shock therapy for 43 hours straight, but instead of forgetting the film, I managed to fuse my body with one of the skulls of Ghidorah, after which I was electrocuted, transferring part of my consciousness and that of Ghidorah into a giant metal lizard. Our consciousnesses merged, becoming one mega-mecha-consciousness, after which, we ran amuck, smashing up a city, and getting into a tag team match with a giant monkey and a giant lizard. The aforementioned giant monkey and lizard were natives of The Hollow Earth(TM Disney Theme Parks, 2021), a place with inverted gravity that you reach by flying a spaceship into a tunnel, which goes through a gravity warp gate, so as to make sure you don't implode, unless you are a monkey, in which case you just climb up by sliding down while holding on to a hatchet. I know this all happened, because a conspiracy theorist, who has a super-secret plan to infiltrate an evil corporation, which he announced publicly on his podcast, because that's what you do to keep **** secret, documented everything, broadcasting it to everyone, including the people who run the evil corporation.

Kong vs Godzilla
Wingard, 2021

0_5

https://nerdist.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Godzilla-Vs.-Kong-Cat.jpg

[StuSmallz]

I'm probably just repeating what Stu said, but Faye Valentine's sexualized appearance definitely should not stop anyone from continuing Cowboy Bebop. Her getup is very much meant to manipulate her more toxic and animal-brained marks. She never comes across as a mere sexualized plaything. In fact, she may be one of the best realized female characters in fiction.

Cowboy Bebop is one of the best pieces of art in any medium. It's so damn good. :)
https://i.ibb.co/0jPpF2g/Jake-Gyllenhall-Point-and-Laugh-Nightcrawler.gif (https://imgbb.com/)

[Takoma11]

I know ya'll mean well, and I do intend to give the show another shot. But I'm going on 17 years of men on the internet telling me how I should feel about objectifying content. Does it tend to work?

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia1.giphy.com%2Fmedia%2FxT5LMVvD2Ib9RRQYdq%2Fgiphy.gif&f=1&nofb=1

But when I do watch it maybe Stu and I can team up for a Newbie/Expert review thread and you can all gloat when it turns out I love it.

[Captain Terror]

But when I do watch it maybe Stu and I can team up for a Newbie/Expert review thread and you can all gloat when it turns out I love it.

I propose we start a MoFo reaction channel on Youtube. Episode 1: Takoma reacts to Cowboy Bebop. Episode 2: Captain Terror reacts to Commando. And so on...

[this_is_the_ girl]

You probably know that Sjöström played the old man in Bergman’s Wild Strawberries, which was the first Bergman movie I ever saw.
:yup:
Also, the Death figure with a scythe in the Seventh Seal - another allusion.

[mark f]

Senior Moment (Giorgio Serafini, 2021) 2 5/10
The Glass Bottom Boat (Frank Tashlin, 1966) 2.5 6/10
Phobias (3 Directors, 2021) 2- 5/10
Out Stealing Horses (Hans Petter Moland, 2019) 2.5 6/10
https://www.dailybreeze.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/TDB-L-OUTABOUT-0814-1.jpg?w=620
Somewhat convoluted tale of love, loss and memory covers multiple time frames and characters. Stellan Skarsgård adds some gravitas.
The Salt of Tears (Philippe Garrel, 2020) 2+ 5/10
Hotel (Richard Quine, 1967) 3 6.5/10
Malmkrog AKA Manor House (Cristi Puiu, 2020) 2.5 5.5/10
A Night to Dismember (Doris Wishman, 1983) 2 5/10
https://horrornews.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/A_Night_To_Dismember-1983-movie-film-4.jpg
With a Criswell-type narrator, trippy music/sound, sex and some not-so-tastefully-done '80s gore, this is an interesting mental breahdown art-horror.
Pink Narcissus (Anonymous [James Bidgood], 1971) 2 5/10
Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway (Randal Kleiser, 1976) 2.5 6/10
Apparition (Isabel [Victor] Sandoval, 2012) 2 5/10
Never Take Sweets from a Stranger (Cyril Frankel, 1960) 2.5+ 6/10
https://www.thedigitalfix.com/img/2/2020/07/never-take.jpg
In Canada, two girls are molested by a wealthy family patriarch (Felix Aylmer) whose family always gets him off.
The Man Is Armed (Franklin Adreon, 1956) 2 5/10
Concrete Cowboy (Ricky Staub, 2020) 2.5 6/10
Señorita (Isabel [Victor] Sandoval, 2011) 2 5/10
Moonrise (Frank Borzage, 1947) 2.5 6/10
https://ocdviewer.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/clark-and-russell.jpg?w=584
Humanist noir where the leads (Dane Clark & Gail Russell) seem at least 10 years too old, but it's still full of poetic touches.
Man in the Vault (Andrew V. McLaglen, 1956) 2 5/10
Black Pond (Jessica Sarah Rinland, 2018) 2.5 6/10
Enhanced (James Mark, 2019) 1.5+ 4.5/10
Chaos Walking (Doug Liman, 2021) 2.5 5.5/10
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QegHdTfZmdw/X7aPi1cn41I/AAAAAAAEMFk/750Uevz4ph0vfHHFSKAOUkEKNfrAiJRwQCLcBGAsYHQ/s697/TOM%2BHOLLAND%2BCHAOS%2BWALKING%2BTANK%2BTOP%2B5.gif
Way too complicated sci-fi actioner still has a few rewards if you aren't tired of seeing most of them. Tom Holland & Daisy Ridley shown here.

[Takoma11]

Chaos Walking (Doug Liman, 2021) 2.5 5.5/10
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QegHdTfZmdw/X7aPi1cn41I/AAAAAAAEMFk/750Uevz4ph0vfHHFSKAOUkEKNfrAiJRwQCLcBGAsYHQ/s697/TOM%2BHOLLAND%2BCHAOS%2BWALKING%2BTANK%2BTOP%2B5.gif
Way too complicated sci-fi actioner still has a few rewards if you aren't tired of seeing most of them. Tom Holland & Daisy Ridley shown here.
[/center]

The book series on which this movie is based is really good. I'm actually not that interested in seeing the film, because the power of the book is so much about the internal life of the main character and I can't really imagine a movie doing it justice.

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bfi.org.uk%2Fsites%2Fbfi.org.uk%2Ffiles%2Fstyles%2Ffull%2Fpublic%2Fimage%2Fstak eout-1958-001-takamine-inside-peeling-fruit_0.jpg%3Fitok%3DYT5KJ6me&f=1&nofb=1

Stakeout, 1958

A man named Ishii (Takahiro Tamura) is the prime suspect in the killing of a pawnbroker. When Ishii goes off the radar, two police detectives, Yuki (Minoru Oki) and Shimooka (Seiji Miyaguchi) stake out the home of Sadako (Hideko Takamine), one of Ishii's former lovers. As the two watch Sadako, they become more invested in her personal life, and Yuki in particular takes an interest in her.

Another film from the Japanese Noir collection, and this one was very interesting.

The primary focus of most of the film is on helping us to try and understand Sadako's life, and just how Ishii might fit into it. There is a lot of speculation from the detectives--will she assist him? Turn him in? Will he kill her and then himself?--and we get different hints from other characters about Sadako's daily existence. Sadako is married to a very stingy man and is helping to raise children from his previous marriage. So is her mundane life an escape from something, or is it something from which she wants to escape?

There are two aspects of the film that are done very well, in my opinion. The first is the way that Yuki begins to project his own emotions onto Sadako. As he watches the way that she is treated and the mundane nature of her domestic life, he begins to speculate about how she must feel. In parallel form, he puts himself in the position of Ishii, thinking about how he might approach Sadako.

When Ishii finally does show up in the film, the movie takes a nice chunk of time to explore how he feels about Sadako and how she feels about him. Parts of this align with Yuki's ideas, while others do not. What Yuki finally begins to realize in the last act is the way that Sadako lacks agency, and even when she takes steps to gain some control over her life, there is always someone there (even Yuki himself) to shut her down.

While this is billed as a crime thriller, to me it was more of a drama. As Yuki and Shimooka continue their weeks-long stakeout, they are forced to a place of empathy with Sadako. For both Sadako and the police, Ishii would provide at least a source of excitement, even if he also brings a degree of danger with him.

I am a bit on the fence about how I feel about the number of scenes we get from inside Sadako's house or her neighbors'. While they flesh out her character and situation a bit, they pull us away from Yuki and Shimooka. I kind of liked the notion of just seeing her life through the lens of the men having to watch her and the ideas they develop about her. The voyeuristic nature of what they are doing is sometimes explored--such as in two different scenes where they follow Sadako--but I wish we had seen the characters grapple with it a bit more. As it is, the main reflection comes at the very, very end of the film.

An interesting concept, but I wish it had been a little more pared down.

3.5

[Rockatansky]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Ftarstarkas.net%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F05%2Ftake-aim-at-the-police-van-05.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

Take Aim at the Police Van, 1960

A police van transporting prisoners is attacked and several inmates are killed. A prison guard named Tamon (Michitaro Mizushima) is accused of negligence and is defamed in the local papers. Incensed, he sets out to determine who was behind the attack on the prison van.

This film starts out incredibly strong. The attack on the prison van is well-staged, and the first part of Tamon's investigation includes some really striking moments, such as when one of his leads, a dancer/stripper(?) is killed by being shot through the chest with an arrow. There is a constant sense of lurking danger and possibly even broader conspiracy. When Tamon visits the house of the woman's employer and sees a wealthy woman practicing archery with incredible accuracy, I was like "Oh, yes." This is the kind of film that trades in a very engaging outlandishness meant to keep you guessing the whole way through.

And yet I have to say that around the halfway mark my attention began to flag. Was this due to my mood? Due to the film? I'm not 100% sure. All I know is that all of a sudden there would be men running around with guns and I wasn't totally sure who they were and I just didn't have the interest to rewind to try and figure it out. The second half of the film has some memorable set-pieces (including a truck dripping gasoline that is being chased by an encroaching flame as the main character is tied to the steering wheel), but I felt that I had lost the plot and it reduced the impact of it all.

I did really enjoy the way that the film was shot. Despite some aspects having a sort of B-movie feel, there were some really neat angles and stagings of things, such as the way that a bridge/overpass frames a certain character after he has been in a fight with another man. Just these occasional moments of really nice composition and artistry.

I wish I'd stayed engaged with this one. Again, I'm not sure of this was on my end of things or if the film itself maybe just ran out of steam or was unclear in its second half. This was another entry in the Criterion Japanese Noir collection and I'm glad I checked it out.

3.5
I remember watching this the same weekend as a few other Japanese noirs and finding it inexplicably hard to follow.*It seems we had similar reactions.*I do remember enjoying a few other films from that Nikkatsu box set more, particularly the ones with Jo Shishido, although my memories are pretty vague.*


Suzuki would eventually get frustrated by studio demands and go on to make much more distinctive films within and outside the gangster genre, eventually getting fired because his films allegedly made no sense and made no money.*Tokyo Drifter is a favourite, and Gate of Flesh and Youth of the Beast are great as well, all making masterful use of colour.*Branded to Kill, the film that instigated his firing, is worthwhile as well, although I do remember it leaving me a bit cold.*I've seen a few others but those should be the priority.*

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fthumbor.forbes.com%2Fthumbor%2Ffit-in%2F1200x0%2Ffilters%3Aformat(jpg)%2Fhttps%3A%252F%252Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%252Fimageserve%252F60206f9128708e68fb4ceef1%252F0x0.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

Black Art: In the Absence of Light, 2021

This documentary uses the 1976 exhibition entitled "Two Centuries of Black American Art" as a pivot point, looking both forward/into the present and back to the 40s, 50s, and 60s in terms of the production and reception of art by Black artists. The film is framed with interviews and commentary from David Driskell (who organized the 1976 exhibition and is an accomplished artist and art scholar in his own right), as well as contemporary artists and art historians.

I absolutely loved this documentary. Loved it.

To begin with, I have always loved watching people create, whether it's cooking, woodwork, painting, drawing, sculpture, fashion design---I am totally taken by the creative process. Even if the final product doesn't move me or isn't to my taste or style, I am fascinated by watching someone explore a methodology or try something new. In that spirit, I really appreciated the way that the film allowed the different artists to articulate both their point of view and show us a bit of their process. Whether they are reclaiming keys from destroyed pianos, turning photographs into vibrant paintings, or adapting classic works into contemporary context--I was there for it all.

I also thought that the film did a great job of framing the issue of Black representation in artistic spaces. One of the film's experts drops the stunning statistic that only 1.2% of artists in museums are Black artists. Not only is there a lack of representation, but it creates a high-pressure situation for artists who are shown in galleries because their art can be seen as a monolithic claim about "the Black experience". While many of the artists interviewed do have some overlaps--for example their regard for the portrayal of Black bodies and specifically Black men--they are all individuals bringing their own cultural and artistic focus to their work. The film really makes the case for why you can't just pick one or two artistic voices to highlight. The power of art comes in part from seeing it in context and contrast to other artists.

As a personal note, my sister and her husband were really floored by a show they saw several years ago from Kehinde Wiley (who created the stunning portrait of Obama that hangs in the National Gallery), and brought back some postcards of his work. I was excited to see him get a fair amount of screen time.

Even if you aren't a big art person, I would still highly recommend this film. It is informative and inspiring and it introduced me to half a dozen artists I had not heard of before. Tragically, Driskell died last spring of complications from Covid. I think it's amazing that this film creates such an in-depth record of his thoughts about Black art and specifically his place in it.

4.5

[Takoma11]

I remember watching this the same weekend as a few other Japanese noirs and finding it inexplicably hard to follow.*It seems we had similar reactions.

Glad it wasn't just me! All of a sudden it was like "And who are these guys?!"

Suzuki would eventually get frustrated by studio demands and go on to make much more distinctive films within and outside the gangster genre, eventually getting fired because his films allegedly made no sense and made no money.*Tokyo Drifter is a favourite, and Gate of Flesh and Youth of the Beast are great as well, all making masterful use of colour.*Branded to Kill, the film that instigated his firing, is worthwhile as well, although I do remember it leaving me a bit cold.*I've seen a few others but those should be the priority.*

I have definitely seen Branded to Kill and I am pretty sure I've seen Youth of the Beast.

Some of the titles on his IMDb page are, um, interesting.

[Wooley]

I was going to post earlier asking if that movie had a poster showing this enormous stone head half buried in the sand. I remembered seeing it all the time while browsing at Blockbuster. I don't know why I never picked it up. I guess add this to the list of films I need to watch like The Furies and Black Swan.

Funny you mention it, I had the same experience of seeing the VHS box at Blockbuster back in the day and being curious and no idea why I never rented it, it's certainly a compelling image. When I finally watched it (maybe a dozen years ago) it wasn't whatever I was expecting from the box-art, but it was good and memorable.

[Wooley]

As you could tell from my review, I would recommend it. I would also recommend going into it with as little advanced knowledge as possible. I tried to keep my review really vague because I think there are a lot of fun things to discover in it.

Completely agree.

[Wooley]

Oops, one more. (SPOILERS AHEAD)

I had attempted to wipe this film from my mind by subjecting myself to shock therapy for 43 hours straight, but instead of forgetting the film, I managed to fuse my body with one of the skulls of Ghidorah, after which I was electrocuted, transferring part of my consciousness and that of Ghidorah into a giant metal lizard. Our consciousnesses merged, becoming one mega-mecha-consciousness, after which, we ran amuck, smashing up a city, and getting into a tag team match with a giant monkey and a giant lizard. The aforementioned giant monkey and lizard were natives of The Hollow Earth(TM Disney Theme Parks, 2021), a place with inverted gravity that you reach by flying a spaceship into a tunnel, which goes through a gravity warp gate, so as to make sure you don't implode, unless you are a monkey, in which case you just climb up by sliding down while holding on to a hatchet. I know this all happened, because a conspiracy theorist, who has a super-secret plan to infiltrate an evil corporation, which he announced publicly on his podcast, because that's what you do to keep **** secret, documented everything, broadcasting it to everyone, including the people who run the evil corporation.

Kong vs Godzilla
Wingard, 2021

0_5

https://nerdist.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Godzilla-Vs.-Kong-Cat.jpg

I'm sad to see people not like it.
I was so bummed by Godzilla: King Of The Monsters as I thought its predecessor had done enough to make slogging it through all the human bull**** but G:KotM was just painful bull****. Why, oh ****ing why can't American studios understand that these movies are about the monsters not some lame one-dimensional "characters" they make up in some studio spit-balling meeting?
Haven't seen this new one yet but it hurts me to think that it could be just as bad or worse.

[Wooley]

I'm probably just repeating what Stu said, but Faye Valentine's sexualized appearance definitely should not stop anyone from continuing Cowboy Bebop. Her getup is very much meant to manipulate her more toxic and animal-brained marks. She never comes across as a mere sexualized plaything. In fact, she may be one of the best realized female characters in fiction.

Cowboy Bebop is one of the best pieces of art in any medium. It's so damn good. :)

Ya know, I wanna tread lightly here as this is something I haven't seen (though I've seen little snippets and commercials and whatnot) and just talk about this idea that because male writers say that a female character is only highly sexualized because she uses her sexuality as a weapon against male adversaries and totally not to titillate male audience members... it just really doesn't hold water anymore. I mean, I was totally sold on the idea 20 or so years ago and I was probably still willing to go along with it, with some doubts, 10 years ago maybe even just a few, but... man, it just doesn't hold up anymore.
That's just my .02, but it seems like we've been trucking in that bull**** for a long time and I mean, come on.
Nothing personal intended to you or anyone else but there is no question about why this trope exists and it's not because it totally makes sense in the context of these characters it's cheap thrillz.

[xSookieStackhouse]

4.5
https://flxt.tmsimg.com/assets/p174037_p_v10_bf.jpg

[StuSmallz]

I know ya'll mean well, and I do intend to give the show another shot. But I'm going on 17 years of men on the internet telling me how I should feel about objectifying content. Does it tend to work?

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia1.giphy.com%2Fmedia%2FxT5LMVvD2Ib9RRQYdq%2Fgiphy.gif&f=1&nofb=1

But when I do watch it maybe Stu and I can team up for a Newbie/Expert review thread and you can all gloat when it turns out I love it.Well of course it does the opposite here if you're assuming that I'm trying to dictate to you how I think you "should" feel about it, rather than me just expressing how I feel personally; there's no need to inject such a faulty assumption into what should remain...

https://i.ibb.co/kKNNh4M/Sp8-Es6-NGf-W3o-QCCz-Sdz-Yg1-S36-Dw.gif (https://imgbb.com/)


:D

That being said, I would still love to do a collab thread with you about it if you ever feel like it, though.

[John-Connor]

Kon-Tiki 2012 Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg
75938
4

[StuSmallz]

Ya know, I wanna tread lightly here as this is something I haven't seen (though I've seen little snippets and commercials and whatnot) and just talk about this idea that because male writers say that a female character is only highly sexualized because she uses her sexuality as a weapon against male adversaries and totally not to titillate male audience members... it just really doesn't hold water anymore. I mean, I was totally sold on the idea 20 or so years ago and I was probably still willing to go along with it, with some doubts, 10 years ago maybe even just a few, but... man, it just doesn't hold up anymore.
That's just my .02, but it seems like we've been trucking in that bull**** for a long time and I mean, come on.
Nothing personal intended to you or anyone else but there is no question about why this trope exists and it's not because it totally makes sense in the context of these characters it's cheap thrillz.I agree that there are plenty of examples of female characters who have been gratuitously objectified under the pretense of them just using their sexuality as a weapon, but, while it may be tricky, I maintain that there is a right way to do that, since there's a world of difference in the portrayal of say, Catwoman in Batman Returns (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2185753#post2185753), and something like this:

https://youtu.be/dPOEoCtllkw


Of course, there are more examples out there of the trope being done wrong rather than right, but it still needs to evaluated on a case-by-case basis, you know?

[xSookieStackhouse]

I agree that there are plenty of examples of female characters who have been gratuitously objectified under the pretense of them just using their sexuality as a weapon, but, while it may be tricky, I maintain that there is a right way to do that, since there's a world of difference in the portrayal of say, Catwoman in Batman Returns (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2185753#post2185753), and something like this:

https://youtu.be/dPOEoCtllkw


Of course, there are more examples out there of the trope being done wrong rather than right, but it still needs to evaluated on a case-by-case basis, you know?

when i saw this movie i always wanted to have halle berry hair cut in this film

[Fabulous]

Of Gods and Men (2010)

3.5

https://www.themoviedb.org/t/p/original/z6SHsQ3HM8Us3Ts3F8Dq0ODSm4D.jpg

[Wooley]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bfi.org.uk%2Fsites%2Fbfi.org.uk%2Ffiles%2Fstyles%2Ffull%2Fpublic%2Fimage%2Fstak eout-1958-001-takamine-inside-peeling-fruit_0.jpg%3Fitok%3DYT5KJ6me&f=1&nofb=1


An interesting concept, but I wish it had been a little more pared down.


:D

[xSookieStackhouse]

5 rewatched
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMzI5OTM0OTg2MF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNjAyMTU1MQ@@._V1_UY1200_CR89,0,630,1200_AL_.jpg

[this_is_the_ girl]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.baselineresearch.com%2Fimages%2F360350%2F360350_full.jpg&f=1&nofb=1
Harry, He's Here to Help (2000, Dominik Moll)
3.5
I enjoyed this low-key Chabrol-esque thriller quite a bit, not in small part because it manages to avoid the cliches and conventions of this type of story (obsessive controlling friend that wants to help but goes too far... just a tiny bit:)), while injecting the narrative with deeper psychological /metaphorical undertones (i.e. conflict between the routine of family life and dreams of artistic career). The final 1/3 of the film may come off as a disappointment (and it probably was) - I thought it was OK. The ambivalence of that final twist was darkly ironic I have to say.

Good movie, not perfect but worth a watch.

[sawduck]

Jurassic World 6.5/10
It was a fun little movie, Chris Pratt was entertaining in it

Trolls 6/10

Freaky 7/10
Interesting twist on the body swap genre

[Gideon58]

5 rewatched
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMzI5OTM0OTg2MF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNjAyMTU1MQ@@._V1_UY1200_CR89,0,630,1200_AL_.jpg


4 bags of popcorn? Seriously?

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNmY2YzY4OTItM2I3Yy00MzcxLWI5YTgtZmIxNTMwMTg0NGM1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTg0MTI3Mg@@._V1_.jpg



4

[Ultraviolence]

https://fanart.tv/fanart/movies/395834/moviethumb/wind-river-5a0d7088d9941.jpg
4
Small town cops and the big problems they have to deal.

https://fanart.tv/fanart/movies/7485/moviethumb/shooter-51b39b438cb5e.jpg
2
A movie that doesn't know what it wants to be. Also, whats up with that FBI agent using a t-shirt of Che Guevara? A terrorist and assassin that killed many in cold blood? Oh, whatever...

https://fanart.tv/fanart/movies/228150/moviebackground/fury-53da70d2b6b8f.jpg
2
It looks like a bad cartoon movie. Even if the setting was right (imo) the execution was lame af.

[Thief]

ANOTHER ROUND
(2020, Vinterberg)
A film nominated for a Best Picture or Best Int'l Feature Film this year

https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/another-round-mads-mikkelsen.jpg


"It's funny, but there's a point to this, which is important and which I hope you'll understand someday: the world is never as you expect."



Another Round follows Martin who, along with his three friends and colleagues, Tommy, Peter, and Nikolaj (Thomas Bo Larsen, Lars Ranthe, and Magnus Millang) find themselves immersed in the typical mid-life crisis: boring job, routine marriage, etc. When they start discussing the theory of a psychiatrist that argued that having a BAC of 0.05 made you more creative, they decide to put it to the test by working while being a little, well, tipsy. Their experiment has great results at first, as all four improve their execution at work, reconnect with their families, and feel altogether more alive. However, things spiral out of control as they push the limits of the experiment and their BAC.

I don't think I was that interested in this, or even knew much about it, until the Oscar nominations were announced. Which is maybe the reason why I was pleasantly surprised by it. Even though the premise itself is not new and the film follows the sorta typical template of the "revitalized" middle-aged man, it is held together by the great performances from the cast, especially Mikkelsen. He really digs deep into the depression, frustration, and emotional chaos of this character as he goes up and down the wave of alcoholism.

Grade: 4


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2193301#post2193301)

[Takoma11]

Funny you mention it, I had the same experience of seeing the VHS box at Blockbuster back in the day and being curious and no idea why I never rented it, it's certainly a compelling image. When I finally watched it (maybe a dozen years ago) it wasn't whatever I was expecting from the box-art, but it was good and memorable.

I watched part of a horror movie (or possibly even an episode of something like Tales from the Crypt?) where a man was being buried alive by a group or maybe a couple. It was not so great. And for years I thought it was Dead and Buried and thus wasn't interested in it.

[GulfportDoc]

I'm sad to see people not like it.
I was so bummed by Godzilla: King Of The Monsters as I thought its predecessor had done enough to make slogging it through all the human bull**** but G:KotM was just painful bull****. Why, oh ****ing why can't American studios understand that these movies are about the monsters not some lame one-dimensional "characters" they make up in some studio spit-balling meeting?
Haven't seen this new one yet but it hurts me to think that it could be just as bad or worse.
I think you'll like it well enough. It's not the worst movie I've seen, but it just had a little too many things going on. And, as you say, there were a couple of "lame one-dimensional 'characters'." Still, I think if I had to choose, it would be monsters over superheros..;)
My review is on this page: https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2192704#post2192704

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fflickersintime.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F01%2Fintimidation-3.jpg%3Fresize%3D584%252C260&f=1&nofb=1

Intimidation, 1960

A bank worker named Takita (Nobuo Kaneko) is blackmailed by his mistress's pimp and decides to rob his own bank. Taking advantage of night guard Nakaike (Ko Nishimura) who believes the two are friends, Takita sets up the robbery with Nakaike as the fall guy.

The Criterion Channel describes this film as a "pocket-sized" noir, and that's just about right. Barely clocking in over an hour, the story unfolds with streamline efficiency, though it does take a moment here or there to let you catch your breath.

Kaneko is solid as the weaselly Takita, a man who has a trapped, feral look for much of the film. Takita is the victim of a blackmail plot, but he more than deserves a bit of comeuppance. It is an interesting sensation to watch him commit his crime, both wanting him to succeed and also being put off by the position in which he puts Nakaike.

Nishimura, as Nakaike, is his own kind of miserable. Teased and looked down upon by the other bank workers, he is an uncomfortable character to watch. When he becomes more important later in the film, the dynamic between him and Takita--two miserable, trapped men--is both compelling and uncomfortable.

This is a straight-ahead thriller that manages to pack in several twists and turns through its short run time. There isn't a lot of character development, but the momentum of this film is in the plot and so betrayals and reversals more than make up for the lack of character depth.

3.5

[Takoma11]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegate.ca%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2FBad-Times-at-the-El-Royale-Featured.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

Bad Times at the El Royale, 2018

On a dark and stormy night, several strangers' stories overlap at a seedy hotel called the El Royale that sits on the border of California and Nevada. These include a priest with encroaching dementia (Jeff Bridges); a talented backup singer (Cynthia Erivo); a secretive, abrasive woman (Dakota Fanning); a pushy salesman--or is he?!-- (Jon Hamm); and the hotel's twitchy clerk (Lewis Pullman).

Some movies are very much I am a movie and every character in them screams I am a character in a movie!. For better or worse, this is how I felt about almost every minute of this film. And this aspect is both a benefit and a detriment to the overall impact of it.

On the positive side, the film is not at all shy about pursuing a stylistic vibe. From the color scheme to the camera movement, there isn't a lot of subtlety. Sequences play out and then we see them again from another point of view. The characters speak very much in a "writerly" way, but for the most part the actors (especially Bridges and Erivo) have a handle on it.

I had also never really seen Erivo in much before this. She was a judge on an episode of Drag Race and I was not familiar with her. (I am well aware she starred in the well-received Harriet Tubman film, but I have not seen that yet). But here I was really impressed with her. She more than holds her own with Bridges, and the two of them together give the film a human element that is desperately needs. Also, dang, Erivo can really sing.

On the down side, that "overly written" feeling left me somewhat alienated from the movie. Many of the characters feel more like pawns being moved around--surviving bullets when it is convenient, dying when it's not--and many of their fates are predictable. This isn't to say that there weren't some real surprises here and there, but for the most part I simply didn't find myself invested. Chris Hemsworth shows up later as a sort of cult leader personality, and I found myself more annoyed by his character than engaged. It doesn't help that Rose--the hotel patron who summons him--is incredibly one-dimensional. Is there any more obnoxious character trope than the doe-eyed "true believer" pixie girl who is willing to tolerate or commit violence because she loves her "leader"?

Bridges and Erivo get the most character development, and by extension they were the characters I was most invested in. But despite their solid core, the movie felt overlong to me and the last act in particular just sort of felt messy.

The movie gets points for some of the acting and some points for general style, but I can't imagine wanting to watch it again.

3.5

[Wooley]

https://fanart.tv/fanart/movies/395834/moviethumb/wind-river-5a0d7088d9941.jpg
4
Small town cops and the big problems they have to deal.



I liked this quite a bit.

[Thief]

THE OMEN
(1976, Donner)
A Biblical film

https://cdn.flickeringmyth.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/The-Omen-1-600x278.png

"Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is 666."



The Omen follows Richard Thorn (Gregory Peck), a US diplomat that accepts to take over an orphan baby boy after his wife's stillbirth. What they don't know is that the boy is actually the Antichrist himself, who ends up wreaking havoc in Thorn's life and those around him.

It had been a while since I had seen it, so I was thrilled to see it was available on Hulu. As I revisited, I'm glad to say it held up pretty damn well. The atmosphere that Donner builds from the first scene is undeniable, his use of light and shadows in the hospital or around the Thorn house, and that haunting scene with the nanny... all of that creeps up on you as you see this evil force engulf this family.

Grade: 4


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2193377#post2193377)

[pahaK]

...and that haunting scene with the nanny...

My favorite scene of the film :love:

[WHITBISSELL!]

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegate.ca%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2FBad-Times-at-the-El-Royale-Featured.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

Bad Times at the El Royale, 2018

On a dark and stormy night, several strangers' stories overlap at a seedy hotel called the El Royale that sits on the border of California and Nevada. These include a priest with encroaching dementia (Jeff Bridges); a talented backup singer (Cynthia Erivo); a secretive, abrasive woman (Dakota Fanning); a pushy salesman--or is he?!-- (Jon Hamm); and the hotel's twitchy clerk (Lewis Pullman).

Some movies are very much I am a movie and every character in them screams I am a character in a movie!. For better or worse, this is how I felt about almost every minute of this film. And this aspect is both a benefit and a detriment to the overall impact of it.

On the positive side, the film is not at all shy about pursuing a stylistic vibe. From the color scheme to the camera movement, there isn't a lot of subtlety. Sequences play out and then we see them again from another point of view. The characters speak very much in a "writerly" way, but for the most part the actors (especially Bridges and Erivo) have a handle on it.

I had also never really seen Erivo in much before this. She was a judge on an episode of Drag Race and I was not familiar with her. (I am well aware she starred in the well-received Harriet Tubman film, but I have not seen that yet). But here I was really impressed with her. She more than holds her own with Bridges, and the two of them together give the film a human element that is desperately needs. Also, dang, Erivo can really sing.

On the down side, that "overly written" feeling left me somewhat alienated from the movie. Many of the characters feel more like pawns being moved around--surviving bullets when it is convenient, dying when it's not--and many of their fates are predictable. This isn't to say that there weren't some real surprises here and there, but for the most part I simply didn't find myself invested. Chris Hemsworth shows up later as a sort of cult leader personality, and I found myself more annoyed by his character than engaged. It doesn't help that Rose--the hotel patron who summons him--is incredibly one-dimensional. Is there any more obnoxious character trope than the doe-eyed "true believer" pixie girl who is willing to tolerate or commit violence because she loves her "leader"?

Bridges and Erivo get the most character development, and by extension they were the characters I was most invested in. But despite their solid core, the movie felt overlong to me and the last act in particular just sort of felt messy.

The movie gets points for some of the acting and some points for general style, but I can't imagine wanting to watch it again.

rating_3_5Those are the exact same problems I had with it. I remember feeling the same way while watching Seven Psychopaths. I could almost picture the lines in the script as they were being recited. And you're also right about Erivo. She was the best thing in it.

[WHITBISSELL!]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNmY2YzY4OTItM2I3Yy00MzcxLWI5YTgtZmIxNTMwMTg0NGM1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTg0MTI3Mg@@._V1_.jpg



rating_4I've never seen it but we should make a game out of this and try and name the actors based on the drawings. Danny Trejo is easy. And I'm going to say that the guy in the slouch cap and red bowtie is Peter Bonerz. The guy playing the piano looks sort of like Richard Dreyfus. That's all I got.

[Thief]

My favorite scene of the film :love:

Probably mine too

[xSookieStackhouse]

4 bags of popcorn? Seriously?

5 bags of popcorn. well been fan of katherine heigl for long time and loved her movies and this one is a chick flick and one of my favorite movies

[Fabulous]

The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012)

3.5

https://www.themoviedb.org/t/p/original/81PKWC73WHI3rLA0pLKhHnc9ETc.jpg

[StuSmallz]

I liked this quite a bit.Me too! (https://letterboxd.com/stusmallz/film/wind-river-2017/)THE OMEN
(1976, Donner)
A Biblical film


https://cdn.flickeringmyth.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/The-Omen-1-600x278.png







The Omen follows Richard Thorn (Gregory Peck), a US diplomat that accepts to take over an orphan baby boy after his wife's stillbirth. What they don't know is that the boy is actually the Antichrist himself, who ends up wreaking havoc in Thorn's life and those around him.


It had been a while since I had seen it, so I was thrilled to see it was available on Hulu. As I revisited, I'm glad to say it held up pretty damn well. The atmosphere that Donner builds from the first scene is undeniable, his use of light and shadows in the hospital or around the Thorn house, and that haunting scene with the nanny... all of that creeps up on you as you see this evil force engulf this family.And don't forget, it inspired this song as well:


https://youtu.be/gE-Bs32Alyc


:D

[xSookieStackhouse]

5 rewatched
https://www.sonypictures.com/sites/default/files/styles/max_560x840/public/chameleon/title-movie/232306_13_going_on_30_2004_1400x2100_7.jpg?itok=AvyyeO9S

[ScarletLion]

The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012)

3.5

https://www.themoviedb.org/t/p/original/81PKWC73WHI3rLA0pLKhHnc9ETc.jpg

One of my favourites of that decade.

[ScarletLion]

'House of Hummingbird' (2020)

https://i1.wp.com/soundtracksscoresandmore.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/house-of-hummingbird-berlinale_1341.jpg?resize=672%2C372&ssl=1

A very promising debut feature from Bora Kim. A coming of age type film about a girl trying to find her way in the world surrounded by a family that has more important things to deal with than her. There are some sombre scenes but some moments of beauty too. Fine performance from Ji-hu Park as the central character.

8.5/10

[LChimp]

https://media.fstatic.com/1Ucc1rMN5-Wqz8cksTsqzzkxqI8=/290x478/smart/media/movies/covers/2020/12/hunted.jpg

Well, things got a little out of hand, huh. Good movie, despite the hyper generic name.

[chawhee]

What Lies Below (2020)
https://cdn.123movies.la/images/tt9264728_fanart.jpg?v=1.1
3
This was a recommend from a friend so I watched it not expecting much given the other reviews I had seen. It was actually pretty tense and enjoyable for the first hour until it goes off the rails for the ending.

The ending itself isn't terrible, because it doesn't spend too much time making you think about how this really could have happened. Yet it does hit a certain level of absurdity to downgrade the overall quality of the movie. It reminded me of Cure for Wellness a bit due to the content, and almost a Sorry to Bother You left turn of an ending.

[Ultraviolence]

https://fanart.tv/fanart/movies/2252/movieposter/eastern-promises-55b2dca2e52ab.jpg
3
Good movie almost ruined by a weak third act.

[Torgo]

Bad Trip - 4

A very funny candid camera comedy in the style of Borat. The plot is as ordinary as it sounds: a hapless guy (Eric Andre) drags his best friend Bud (Lil Rel Howery) along on a road trip to win the affection of his dream girl (Michaela Conlin), but it provides an ideal canvas to string a bunch of pranks together. Highlights include their disastrous country bar visit and when they just miss Bud's murderous ex-con sister (Tiffany Haddish) - whose car the duo stole - at a restaurant, which has a patron whose commentary is pure poetry. Besides Andre, Howery and Haddish being such brilliant performers, the pranks work because they have just the right combination of outrageous and hilarious. Some pranks, like one at a zoo, are a bit more outrageous than they are funny, but there are more hits than misses. Oh, and if you like smoothies, be warned that it might put you off them for a while.

[this_is_the_ girl]

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e9/4b/62/e94b62bd3eebb148932016eff796f2fb.gif
Our Hospitality (1923, Buster Keaton)
3.5
Not my favorite Keaton but still lots of fun.

[Marco]

The Mauritanian (2021)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/53/The_Mauritanian_poster.jpg
Rather disturbing indictment of US foreign policy starting after 9/11. All performances are smart but, really, Tahar Rahim is the stand-out.

3.5

[Stirchley]

Tahar Rahim is the stand-out.

He always is.

[pahaK]

Dèmoni 2... l'incubo ritorna (1986)
aka Demons 2
1.5
I rewatched the first Demons a few years ago, and thanks to Netflix adding both recently, I decided to do the same to the sequel. I'm not too fond of the original, but the sequel is even worse. It seems that the average IQ of the characters hovers around 60 and barely anyone does anything even remotely intelligent. There are also some embarrassing tributes to films like Alien and Gremlins. The script is terrible (it was in the first one too), which is a shame because I think that the concept isn't bad (maybe Luca Guadagnino should have remade Demons instead of Suspiria).