Rate The Last Movie You Saw

[LeBoyWondeur]

The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan (2023)

104645

The first time I heard about this new adaptation I dismissed it as yet another example of modern cinema's creatively bankrupt remake-mania, but in this case it turns out to be a blessing in disguise.
If anything, it needed to be done again because there's something (very) problematic about all the previous versions though I haven't seen the one from 1948.

The dream cast in the seventies films could have given us the definitive version, but unfortunately it was ruined by camp and slapstick farce (incidentally, that misplaced tone made the execution of Milady look disproportionately dark, and not in a bad way).
Musketeers '93 is bland and forgettable but at least we got a pop hit out of it.
I'm not a Dumas purist therefore I wasn't offended by the fantasy version from 2011, but it's just as "Musketeers" as the sixties Casino Royale was "Bond".

This new European adaptation is the first one that satisfies in every aspect: the action, the story, the characters and scenery.
Interestingly, my favourite fight scene happens in the background during the queen and duke's secret rendezvous.
My only point of criticism is that modern film makers often confuse "realistically gritty" with "colourless". There is nothing realistic about a world in washed-out colours.
On the other hand I can understand this sylistic choice as it kinda resembles the colour palette by classic painters such as Rembrandt.

The casting is spot on, imo. It's the best group of Musketeers I have seen so far, and of course there was never any doubt Eva Green would pull it off as Milady.
And yet I was mostly enchanted by Lyna Khoudri as Constance Bonacieux.

The rating is a combination of "film" and "Musketeers film".
4.5

Roll on, Part II.

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4.5

[this_is_the_ girl]

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Nosferatu (2024, Robert Eggers)
3
Cool visuals and cinematography, the sets were pretty convincing, nothing to complain about there, but the pacing and editing was a little weird and awkward at times, and just generally the atmosphere was a bit off (for me). The film definitely succeeded in showing the horror in all its gross detail but if you ask me, sometimes less is more, and that's how I feel in this case. I mean, I remember how much more spooked, and awe-struck, and creeped out i was by Max Schreck's Count Orlok and just the whole vibe of Murnau's film. It had that spectral, otherworldly quality to it. Remember the ship scene in that one? That film is still the king for me. This one was ok but I didn't love it.

[Gideon58]

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Umpteenth Rewatch...Barbra Streisand put her own feminist leanings into this second remake of the Janet Gaynor/Fredric March classic playing a struggling singer who falls in love with an alcoholic rocker (the late Kris Kristofferson) whose career missteps and constant partying are affecting both their careers. This film really could have been something special but it really suffers from all the backstage turmoil that was going on during production, most of it fueled by Streisand's boyfriend at the time, an ex-hairdresser named Jon Peters, who butted heads with both Kristofferson and director Pierson throughout filming. The film does come alive whenever Streisand sings though, especially "Woman in the Moon" and the Oscar-winning "Evergreen." 2.5

[Gideon58]

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Umpteenth Rewatch...The ultimate date movie that made an official movie star out of Julia Roberts. Garry Marshall was in the director's chair for this charmer about the romance between a wealthy executive named Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) and a Hollywood Boulevard hooker named Vivian Ward (guess who). This movie is just as richly entertaining as it was back in 1990, despite the slightly cliched presentation of Roberts' character.

[Raven73]

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
6.5/10.
Yet another unnecessary sequel.
Over 30 years later, the cast have not aged gracefully (except Catherine O'Hare, who doesn't seem to age, and Michael Keaton - only because he wears makeup the entire time; he does have a noticeable gut, though). Winona Ryder's acting seemed a bit off. The movie suffered from too many subplots, one of which didn't amount to much in the end.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/ba/Beetlejuice_Beetlejuice_poster.jpg

[Gideon58]

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4th Rewatch...This Americanized re-imagining of La Cage Aux Folles has a lot for going for it, and I came to a revelation during this most recent viewing. On paper, it might seem like Gene Hackman's conservative Senator Kevin Keeley is the villain of the piece, but if you ask me, the real villain of the piece is Armond's son, Val (Dan Futterman) who blows into town and demands that his father (Robin Williams) and his lover (Nathan Lane) completely cover up who they are in order to please his future father-in-law. Mike Nichols' direction is splendid as are the performances. There is a school of thought that Lane should have received an Oscar nomination, but Williams quietly brilliant performance is just as effective and Hank Azaria steals every scene he's in as the housekeeper. Never tire of re-watching this movie. 4

[Gideon58]

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1st Rewatch...The extraordinary performance by Renee Zellweger in the tile role that won her a second Oscar, is the anchor of this lavish and heartbreaking look at the final years of show biz icon Judy's life, as she struggled to keep her career going in an effort to not lose custody of children Joey and Lorna. Zellweger absolutely nails Garland and I really liked Finn Wittrock as Judy's fifth and final husband Mickey Deens too, 4

[LeBoyWondeur]

104646

Snow White meets Dorian Gray meets The Fly meets Baby Jane meets Requiem For A Dream.
Good luck respecting that balance.
I won't mention anything about the story, but the instructions for the substance kit give a good indication of the way it will spiral out of control.
I guess it's the modern equivalent of the grande dame guignol exploitation movie, or in this case, a grande demi guignol.
It's funny, it's kitsch and has lots of T&A.
As for the themes of youth and beauty ideal, and the possible dangers thereof, I feel the film has arrived late to the party.
My favourite scene doesn't have any horror in it. I found it very nerve-racking to see that she coudn't leave the house because she had to check and redo her make-up one more time, and then again and again. And each time she got a little closer to the door.

3.5

[Allaby]

The Brutalist (2024) One of the best films of the year. Masterfully directed by Brady Corbet, The Brutalist has excellent performances, especially by Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones, both of whom deserve to win the Oscar. The score is fantastic, one of the year's best, and the cinematography is great too. It's very long, but always compelling, engaging, and interesting. This is my current prediction to win best picture, director, and actor at the Academy Awards. 4.5

[Captain Quint]

104650

I finished with the first part, would give it around a 4.5. But decided to switch over and watch the referenced films themselves, starting with Nazi Concentration Camps (1945), directed by George Stevens. And Jesus H... I can't begin to fathom the depths of evil that human beings sink to. I've seen these images before or ones like them (Resnais' "Night and Fog") but it never fails to devastate me. Horrific - I can't really grade a movie like this.

[skizzerflake]

Wow....was this one ever tense, September 5. Back in 1972 a group of Palestinian Black September terrorists kidnapped a group of Israeli athletes during the Olympics, holding them hostage against the release of a large number of prisoners. The outcome ended when German officials stormed the building, resulting in the deaths of both hostages and terrorists.

This was portrayed in grim detail in this movie, from the perspective of German police/military who attempt to negotiate but end up storming the building. It's all about as tense and grim as you might expect. I don't know enough details about the event to judge whether it was operationally accurate, but the situation and the outcome conforms to the history.

The movie is tense, pretty much from beginning to end. The only cast member I'm familiar with is Peter Saarsgard. The director is Tim Fehlbaum. I knew pretty much what I was getting into in this movie, but when it was over, I found myself wishing that the theater showed a couple of old Mickey Mouse cartoons after the movie so I could de-compress before I left the building. It seems quite documentary, names names of the broadcasters who intended to be narrating Olympic sports and ended up covering this awful event. It appears that the shaky-cam production was melded with actual footage from the event, since actual broadcasters from the time were mentioned in the credits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azud40CQ3IE

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/96/Children_of_a_Lesser_God_film_poster.jpg
By [1], Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31876962

Children of a Lesser God - (1986)

I've always loved this film's title (would it be as good if it had a title like "Gettin' it On!"?), but I'm not sure if I'd seen the movie before in it's entirety. James Leeds (William Hurt) is a teacher of deaf children who meets an employee of the school he's arrived at - the combative, bad-tempered and passionate Sarah Norman (Marlee Matlin), a deaf woman with unresolved issues reaching back to a difficult childhood. He's a little clumsy in the way he expresses himself, and she's quick-witted and fierce - a difficult combination, but soon the two become attracted to each other and start to learn about themselves through their interactions. It's a messy, yet productive relationship - the only thing stopping them the question of can something that passionate last without burning itself out? Two great performances lift this one beyond mere melodrama - the apparent drug use and physical violence behind the scenes the only black spot on an otherwise compelling, Best Picture Oscar-nominated Eighties film.

7/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/22/The_Game_film_poster.jpg
By The poster art can or could be obtained from United States:PolyGram Filmed EntertainmentScandinavia:Buena Vista International., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9805680

The Game - (1997)

I've never been completely sold on The Game, but I have to admit now that I've seen it so many times that there must be something to it. There's some really sterling intrigue that still hooks me in even well and truly after I know all the secrets and what's really going on, and the character of Nicholas Van Orton suits Michael Douglas more than just about any other character he's ever played. It's not in the least believable, but as time has gone on I've let go of that aspect a little more and a little more until I get to a point now where I just enjoy the ride - Nick is an ultra-wealthy investment banker who is given the "gift" of a "game" by his wayward brother Conrad (Sean Penn) - but is it really a game, or is Nick being manipulated and slowly destroyed by a shadowy organisation which fools and tricks him into not knowing what's real and what's not? I love the slow build-up and the ratcheting up of Nick's dissolution from reality. Excellent movie.

7/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c0/Despicable_Me_%282010_animated_feature_film%29.jpg
By The cover art can or could be obtained from IMP Awards., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29323367

Despicable Me - (2010)

Really cute and funny animated film where supervillain Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) adopts three young girls to deliver robot cookies to his arch-nemesis Vector (voiced by Jason Segel). His little yellow minions proved such a hit that they instantly became a huge property themselves and featured in spin-off films. Finally have this on Blu-Ray - but does that make me a big kid? Nah. This kind of animation knows no age boundaries.

7/10

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Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2700507

The Lemon Drop Kid - (1951)

The Lemon Drop Kid has every element that makes Bob Hope films what they are. He gets to croon a few numbers and is the absolute focal point in a movie where fun and laughter takes precedence over story - normally that would be a criticism from me, but in this guy's films he should be given the stage and just let loose. I liked it a lot. Full review here (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2530089#post2530089), in my watchlist thread.

7/10

[skizzerflake]

104650

I finished with the first part, would give it around a 4.5. But decided to switch over and watch the referenced films themselves, starting with Nazi Concentration Camps (1945), directed by George Stevens. And Jesus H... I can't begin to fathom the depths of evil that human beings sink to. I've seen these images before or ones like them (Resnais' "Night and Fog") but it never fails to devastate me. Horrific - I can't really grade a movie like this.

I have not seen this, but I did grow up around some people who witnessed the actual events and said that no media version could ever come close.

[Raven73]

Wicked
8/10
I can see a movie like this sparking a return of the musical to the big screen, the way musicals were big in the '40s and '50s.
Having said that, while the dancing was great, none of the actual songs really stood out to me. Everything else about the movie was well done: the story, what they did with the characters, the sets, the special effects, etc.
I'm looking forward to the second part.

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[Captain Quint]

I have not seen this, but I did grow up around some people who witnessed the actual events and said that no media version could ever come close.

According to the doc, in regard to the camps, they didn't know what they were coming upon, they heard rumblings, and thought it would be like a prison situation, they weren't expecting to walk in and find a nightmare.

I just finished the full doc and I'm still shaking, I can't imagine what it was like for people who witnessed it firsthand.

[Fabulous]

Kill Your Darlings (2013)

3.5

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[LeBoyWondeur]

Blink Twice (last year)

104654

From Demi Moore to Geena Davis horror, and Channing Tatum (or is it Tatum Channing?) performs an apology that looks as if they've inserted a popular meme GIF into the film.
Basically, this is ROPE. Take a hypothesis and work it out to the extreme, and then remake it as the enjoyable Stepford Wives remake we didn't get in 2004.

When the story opens with characters taken to an idyllic island then it usually doesn't bode very well. Once it's revealed what is going on it also reveals what didn't happen, and why that was a clue hidden in plain sight.
The scenery doesn't look like a typical island at all and the cinematography is a little too "instagram" for my old-fashioned taste, but older Channing/Tatum appears more believable as a character actor. The pin-up appeal has been replaced with redneck hotness and that's certainly not a bad thing.
Naomi Ackie would be my first choice for a Donna Summer biopic, if she hasn't done it already.
Kyle MacLachlan co-stars in a mysterious supporting role and I'm still trying to figure out how he fits in. He might be the cause of everything that happens...it wouldn't be the first time.

I don't think this is going to be a very memorable film but overall it seems to achieve what it sets out to do.
3

[Nausicaä]

^ Just finished watching that.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/56/Blink_Twice_poster.jpeg/220px-Blink_Twice_poster.jpeg

3.5

SF = Z

Viewed: Amazon Prime


First ever film I've seen with a trigger warning before it starts...




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

[Corax]

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What if someone made a Hammer Horror film in 2013? This improbable question has an answer.

The location of the shoot appears to be a tourist trap town, probably in Northern Italy. Montalto Dora Castle stands in as Castle Dracula. The shots are locked off. One gets the sense that if the camera moved an inch upwards or to the left we would see an "Exit" sign or entrance to a gift shop. The buildings are old, but with new stonework. The castle looks old enough, but has red brick reconstructed(?) crenellations. The sets are harshly overlit. The DP is not someone I would ever hire again. The look is strangely flat, especially for a 3D movie. The CGI would have been acceptable in a film made in 1997 or 2003, but not 2013. Praying Mantis-form Dracula is hilariously bad. Rutger Hauer sleepwalks through as Van Helson. His mobility appears limited here and his fights are one-move affairs where he dispatches his opponents with a single move.

In this version, there is no move to London. Renfield, no longer a Londoner, lives near the Castle. Jonathan and Mina Harker and Van Helsing oblige the limited budget by coming to and staying near Castle Dracula. The voyage of the Demeter is out, a cozy (one?) location shoot is in.

This is a one-star quality film, but it is also curious as it looks like a film shot in the 60s or 70s.

[exiler96]

The People's Joker (2022 but it's '24)... Took me a while to get used to the self-deprecating humor of this - maybe I never did, but what made it bearable was the surprising emotional weight which became more apparent the further it went on. I salut Vera Drew for throwing enough movies and internet-culture refrences up there to make this not boring for a second, even if I don't get behind parts of her philosophy (not her lived experience; but views on identity).

5/10 for the visuals (diverse in style but always decidedly jerky), 7 and up for it's emotional punch. I sit for 6 for now but I love that it had success, all things considered.

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[ueno_station54]

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the score rocks and its pretty good visually but nothing else about it made me feel much.
3.5

[matt72582]

Dawn of a New Day - 6.5/10
Egyptian melodrama in the ballpark of "All That Heaven Allows" and "Harold and Maude". There are so many better Egyptian movies than this, though.



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[MovieGal]

Dawn of a New Day - 6.5/10
Egyptian melodrama in the ballpark of "All That Heaven Allows" and "Harold and Maude". There are so many better Egyptian movies than this, though.



https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d3/Dawn_of_a_New_Day_%281965_film%29.jpg

Matt, have you seen The Night of Counting the Years?

I thought that was a very good Egyptian film.

[skizzerflake]

According to the doc, in regard to the camps, they didn't know what they were coming upon, they heard rumblings, and thought it would be like a prison situation, they weren't expecting to walk in and find a nightmare.

I just finished the full doc and I'm still shaking, I can't imagine what it was like for people who witnessed it firsthand.

Yep. The old folks would NOT talk about it with the kids. Period. I met some direct survivors and, as kids, we were not supposed to ask. I got to go on with my comfortable suburban life until I started reading about history.

[matt72582]

Matt, have you seen The Night of Counting the Years?

I thought that was a very good Egyptian film.


I haven't, but now I'm interested after reading the first line of the IMDB description. Thanks!


Have you seen:
-Chitchat on the Nile
-Cairo Station
-River of Love
-Cairo '30
-Empire M

[MovieGal]

I haven't, but now I'm interested after reading the first line of the IMDB description. Thanks!


Have you seen:
-Chitchat on the Nile
-Cairo Station
-River of Love
-Cairo '30
-Empire M

No. JJ nominated that film for a HOF. It's the only Egyptian film I can recall seeing.

[ueno_station54]

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the 13th camp blood movie i've seen and one of the better ones unfortunately. loved the shark effects.
3

[Gideon58]

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Umpteenth Rewatch...I love this cinematic nightmare, even if I might not completely understand it. Edward Norton plays aninsomniac whose life is changed forever when he meets an enigmatic soap salesman named Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) who start an underground boxing club for which Tyler has a much more dangerous agenda. Tis film has the same dark and dirty atmosphere a another David Fincher classic, Se7en. Just like Stanley Kurbick's Eyes Wide Shut, I don't understand everything that is going on here, but I still find the film endlessluy fascinating. 4

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1st Rewatch...Most Astaire/Rogers fans consider this their best film, though I waffle between this film and Roberta. Astaire plays a Broadway hoofer named Jerry Travers who is brought to London to star in a show produced by his BFF (Edward Everett Horton) and meets an elegant fashion model named Dale Tremont (Rogers) who even though she is keeping a hot-blooded Italian (Erik Rhodes) at arm's length is attracted to Jerry, who for some reason, is under the impression that he is Horton's character, who is married to her best friend (Helen Broderick). The plot has just enough meat on it to justify some fantastic dance numbers by Hollywood's most famous dance team with "It's a Lovely Day", "Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails", "Cheek to Cheek" and the Busby Berkley style finale "The Piccolino." If you've never had the pleasure of watching Fred and Ginger and wondered what all the fuss was about, this is a good place to start. 4

[Gideon58]

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3rd Rewatch...Joan Allen was robbed of an Oscar nomination for her powerhouse performance in this 2005 dramedy playing Terry Wolfmeyer, the mother of four daughters, who is good and pissed off that her husband has run off with his secretary, taking her anger out on her daughters, as well as Danny Davies (Kevin Costner), her pot-smoking former pro baseball player neighbor who was her husband's BFF and has his own radio show. The near perfect blending of comedy and drama makes for a lot of cringy moments, including a heartbreaker of an ending. Allen commands the screen like she never has and I didn't realize it until this viewing, but I have rarely enjoyed Costner onscreen this much, playing one of his most flawed and funny characters. Director and screenwriter Mike Binder also wrote a juicy role for himself as Costner's scummy boss, who has an affaur with Terry's daughter Andy (Erika Christensen) and the young actor who plays the object of Terry's youngest daughter's affection, is the real life younger brother of Christensen. Loved Keri Russell as Terry's angry daughter, Emily too. Fans of the 1983 Best Picture winner Terms of Endearment will have a head start here. 4

[Gideon58]

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1st Rewatch...Otto Premenger directed this gritty 1955 drama that features what is, in my opinion, the finest performance of Franmk Sinatra's career tha earned him an Oscar nomination for Lead Actor, right after winning a supporting actor Oscar for From Here to Eternity. Sinatra plays Frankie Machine, a heroine addict who has just returned home from rehab and is planning to start a new life as a musician but because he doesn't do any of the things that recovering addicts are supposed to do to stay clean, it's not long before he relapses. His relapse is further complicated by Zosh (Eleanor Parker), his clingy and pathetic wheelchair bound wife who wants his undivided attention and Molly (Kim Novak), an old girlfriend who still loves Frankie but cannot deal with his drug problem. Pretty sure there were a lot of concessions to get this story on the screen in 1955, most notably that the words "heroine" nor "rehab" don't appear anywhere in tje screenplay. Elmer Bernstein's jazzy, Oscar-nominated music is a little intrusive for my tastes, but it is only one of the dated elements that still don't detract from the power of this film. Parker is brilliant and should have earned a nomination as well. 4

[LeBoyWondeur]

The Three Musketeers: Milady (2023)

104670

Hm. I feel there's too much going on in this second part. It's almost like a film based on a TV series with a plot-of-the-week.
While Milady's Revenge from 1974 allowed the character to display more of her delicious villainy (hence why it looked like a step up from the first part), Eva Green's Milady is more interesting as the cloak-and-dagger schemer in Part I.

Her origin has been changed from ruthless criminal to victim of domestic abuse (and later punished for defending herself) therefore she's quite similar to Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman in Batman Returns. To be fair, it works for Eva Green because I find it difficult to hate her no matter what character she plays.

Remixing characters for the sake of a fresh and new interpretation can be done successfully (the characters in Shrek, for example) but this has become a trend for commercial reasons only.
Too many of the classic, hateful antagonists are sanitised or downplayed in order to sell them as anti-hero protagonists, because without that new protagonist it's not possible to create a franchise out of it.

Apart from that, I think this Musketeers film could have ramped up the melodrama a little bit.
I feel some key moments are deprived of momentum and in that regard it takes itself too seriously in its attempt to create a more realistic version.

2.5

[PHOENIX74]

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By http://www.evl.uic.edu/pape/Marx/films/posters/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7416278

Monkey Business - (1931)

Very good - not quite as good as Animal Crackers, and you feel that's because the Marx Bros aren't basing this off one of their Broadway shows but performing original material. In fact, the script they initially got was so lousy they had to rework the entire thing to suit their crazy, manic style. The movie is an extremely energetic affair, with the four vaudeville comedians being chased around a ship after being discovered as stowaways - giving them a chance to perform their routines in all manner of different locations. Of course, this means less time for super-smart comedic dialogue and more time for pratfalls and physical comedy, as well as endless chases here and there. The cast do eventually make landfall, where two competing gangster bosses try to win the comedians over to their side. The climax takes place in a barn (of all places) with a big brawl. I enjoyed this quite a lot, but I was expecting another step-up from the second Marx Bros film - especially as the next two, Horse Feathers and Duck Soup are considered their very best. Still, I can't complain because there are still a plethora of fantastic lines and one hell of a lot of fun.

7/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/32/The_Killing_Fields_film.jpg
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2737539

The Killing Fields - (1984)

I was far too young for this film when it first came out, but my parents watched it a whole heap of times and by dint of that I'd pretty much seen it already, even if I'd rarely sat down to concentrate on it from start to finish. It's such a highly charged film emotionally - about deep, abiding love existing amidst the worst humanity has to offer. I really feel compelled to read more about Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge - I have a book about them, and never knew how far Cambodia had slipped into absolute madness. Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) and Dith Pran's (Haing S. Ngor) story, covering the war and the fall of Phnom Penh, is so beautifully told, with a nerve-wracking score and particularly solid screenplay. The cinematography and editing ended up winning Oscars, as well as Haing S. Ngor's performance. The final scene brought tears to my eyes, and I've seen it about a dozen times already!

9/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/66/From_Hell_film.jpg
By The poster art can or could be obtained from 20th Century Fox., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2752764

From Hell - (2001)

The murders attributed to Jack the Ripper and the excellent graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell should have been the basis for an excellent film - so what went wrong? The Hollywood treatment, and the fact that instead of Daniel Day-Lewis we had to settle for Johnny flippin' Depp as Inspector Frederick Abberline. That character shouldn't have been the focus of the movie anyway, and if the graphic novel had of been more faithfully adapted, this might have been a much better movie instead of the forgettable tripe it turned out being. It's a fictional retelling of the murders based upon one of the more prominent Jack the Ripper conspiracy theories, but too much information is telegraphed far too early. It should be more spooky, but simply ends up being gory and violent - more like a slasher movie than a dark mysterious horror film and atmosphere is lost because the film never commits to one distinct tone. For Ripper enthusiasts and fans of the graphic novel, a bitter disappointment. For horror fans, a very average movie. It's not poorly made, but it was a terrible missed opportunity.

5/10

[Fabulous]

Heist (2001)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/hUuqZOF94fF5Cchvj90ivNxr3RV.jpg

[LChimp]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTQ2NjY3NzU1NV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODA5MjgxNg@@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg

Cold Fish - (2010)

Disturbing, gory and based on a true story. 8/10

[rileywheeler]

Superman Returns , 9/10

[sawduck]

Flow 8.5/10 - A beautiful movie about a bunch of lovable animals with no dialogue, i'm not sure if i want this or The wild robot to win at the oscars, both are wonderful

A Different Man 8/10 - Sebastian Stan deserved the golden globe for this, he's a great actor.

Juror 2 8/10 - Nicholas Hoult had one hell of a year, yet he's been ignored at all the award ceremonies. Such an underrated actor, i hope one day he gets more appreciation from the award shows

[iluv2viddyfilms]

Singin' in the Rain - A+
Vernon, Florida - B

[chawhee]

Dr Strangelove (1964)
https://www.vintagemovieposters.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_1837-968x726.jpeg
3
Maybe this is just from a different era that I don't generally enjoy, maybe I was just too tired after watching the Chiefs game...this was just okay for me.

[iluv2viddyfilms]

Dr Strangelove (1964)
https://www.vintagemovieposters.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_1837-968x726.jpeg
3
Maybe this is just from a different era that I don't generally enjoy, maybe I was just too tired after watching the Chiefs game...this was just okay for me.

It's still brilliant, timeless, and applicable, but without proper Cold War context or a solid introduction into satire or a very dry and understated British humor it might not resonate well. Give it time. I've taught and screened the film many a time and some people do end up loving it and others just don't appreciate the style of humor or find its subtleties to be funny. It's not a loud obnoxious and in your face humor, but one that celebrates ridiculousness of serious situations. It's very similar to absurd realism and I love it and consider it the funniest film of all time.

[Sedai]

Los Colonos
Felipe Gálvez Haberle, 2024

3_5

https://media.traveler.es/photos/6525c8330f750700ba4a50d6/16:9/w_2560%2Cc_limit/LOS%2520COLONOS_STILLS__1__0001_LOS%2520COLONOS_STILLS__1.1.29.jpg

Checking off another 2024 release, this is another film that should probably be included in the list of nominees for best cinematography. Whatever the politics of the academy are, this apparently didn't get an invite to the awards party. Exceptionally shot, well acted film about the effects of colonialism on South America and the ensuing Selk'nam genocide. Not a cheery film, but well worth a watch. It's a little rough around the edges in places, but it's the director's first film, and with that in mind, it's pretty damned good.

I liked the mix of English and Spanish language, as it helped me work on my listening comprehension as I trudge along the long road of learning a second language. I need more films like this to help in my studies.

[ScarletLion]

Los Colonos
Felipe Gálvez Haberle, 2024

3_5

https://media.traveler.es/photos/6525c8330f750700ba4a50d6/16:9/w_2560%2Cc_limit/LOS%2520COLONOS_STILLS__1__0001_LOS%2520COLONOS_STILLS__1.1.29.jpg

Checking off another 2024 release, this is another film that should probably be included in the list of nominees for best cinematography. Whatever the politics of the academy are, this apparently didn't get an invite to the awards party. Exceptionally shot, well acted film about the effects of colonialism on South America and the ensuing Selk'nam genocide. Not a cheery film, but well worth a watch. It's a little rough around the edges in places, but it's the director's first film, and with that in mind, it's pretty damned good.

I liked the mix of English and Spanish language, as it helped me work on my listening comprehension as I trudge along the long road of learning a second language. I need more films like this to help in my studies.

One for my watchlist, Thanks.

Edit: Oh I have seen that. It's 'The Settlers' in English. Good film.

[Stirchley]

According to the doc, in regard to the camps, they didn't know what they were coming upon, they heard rumblings, and thought it would be like a prison situation, they weren't expecting to walk in and find a nightmare.

I just finished the full doc and I'm still shaking, I can't imagine what it was like for people who witnessed it firsthand.

These scenes were highly effective & moving in Band of Brothers. What the soldiers couldn’t understand at first was why the “prisoners” couldn’t be fed right away. They could only digest very small meals at first.

[Stirchley]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTQ2NjY3NzU1NV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODA5MjgxNg@@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg

Cold Fish - (2010)

Disturbing, gory and based on a true story. 8/10

After I checked to make sure this is not a Dustin Hoffman movie, it’s now in my watchlist.

[Stirchley]

104697

For some strange reason I have never seen this very good movie.

104698

Good movie from Pakistan. How horrible to be a woman there.

104699

First half very good, but didn’t finish.

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61X8agcdRxL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg



3.5

[Steve Freeling]

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/mFC52cN0oz1WqTXR0jRT69oHKTp.jpg

The Colors Within (2024) rating_5
Well, then. Saw Naoko Yamada's latest theatrically last night and couldn't be more pleased. A Silent Voice set a high benchmark—personally, I've bought it on Blu-ray twice over the years, first through the barebones Shout Factory Blu-ray and again through the Nozomi Entertainment two-disc limited collector's edition—but this is definitely another of her masterpieces. Reiko Yoshida's screenplay is more than up to par, and Kensuke Ushio's score matches the story. Since this is Yamada, the animation also more than passes muster. NYAV Post has given us another excellent English dub. Every voice actor, from the three leads—Kylie McNeill (who made a real name for herself as Suzu in Mamoru Hosoda's Belle) as Kimi, Libby Rue as Totsuko, and Eddy Lee as Rui—to the supporting characters—including Colleen Clinkenbeard as Rui's mother—gives a faultless performance, and the dub script is completely natural. Overall, if you're a Yamada fan, don't miss it—personally, I can't wait to add it to the collection when it arrives on Blu-ray and/or UHD later this year.

[*Sky*]

Gone with the Wind (1939) - Victor Fleming: 1/10

[PHOENIX74]

Gone with the Wind (1939) - Victor Fleming: 1/10

Bold.

[iluv2viddyfilms]

Bold.

Or just trolling... very few films I absolutely don't like earn 1/10 ratings.

[iluv2viddyfilms]

Fists in Pocket (1965) - C

[matt72582]

Banditi a Orgosolo - 7/10


Thanks to whoever recommended this.


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/85/Banditi_a_Orgosolo.jpg

[SpelingError]

Ornamental Hairpin (1941) - 4

Shimizu explores the finiteness of time, yet gets you to recognize both the joy and sadness of it. Time manifests itself in a few different ways. You have the backdrop of soldier Nanmura on a short leave from the Pacific War, varied characters staying at the resort for the time being, the inevitably of Emi's uncertain future hanging over her, and the spa gradually emptying out as the occupants depart throughout the film. Nanmura's injury from the titular hairpin is the clear emotional core. Being the MacGuffin which holds Nanmura and Emi together, its presence also proves finite. With each day Nanmura's condition improves and with each trial he completes, one can feel each minute of his time at the spa running out since there's nowhere for him to go but forward. In less talented hands, this film could've just been a tragedy, but I was surprised as to how much humor and lightness Shimizu brought to the film. We have the adults keeping each other awake with their snoring, a professor constantly seeking a masseur, the children cheering Nanmura on throughout his trials, and the newfound love and family Emi finds through Nanmura and several characters. There's no telling what the future may bring, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy yourself in the present. I also find it interesting how the entire main conflict is set off by something so insignificant - a single hairpin left on the ground. It creates a sense of escalation and makes the thematic richness all the more noteworthy given how slight the film should've otherwise been. Phenomenal ending, by the way. Overall, this was far more interesting than it had the right to be and more people should check it out.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/y80xnbxH/beast.jpg
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20132125

Beast - (2015)

Jaime (Chad McKinney) is a young up-and-coming half-Filipino half-American boxer who is coached by his father, Rick (Garret Dillahunt) - and provided with plaster-infused boxing gloves for his latest match to help cheat him to victory. Unfortunately, his opponent, Pedro, dies, and this sends Jaime on a guilt-fuelled crusade to help save Pedro's family once they're targeted by local gangsters who were in on the fixed fight. An Australian/Philippines co-production, I didn't think it was too bad an examination of redemption, guilt, responsibility and morality - but not too many people have seen Guilt, and I reckon it would be hard to find, so it has really fallen through the cracks. Jaime isn't really all that complex a character, so McKinney's talents don't get a full work out and the screenplay does most of the heavy lifting. Co-director Sam McKeith has never made anything else but Tom McKeith has recently released another movie - horror/sci-fi In Vitro, which sounds interesting.

6/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/84/Poseidon_%282006%29_film_poster.jpg
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8257024

Poseidon - (2006)

This rather cynical Wolfgang Peterson-directed remake of The Poseidon Adventure has it's share of tense moments and decent set-pieces, but falls down in several areas - the "water filling the room, narrow escape, hold your breath" segments become repetitive, and after a while you really start to wonder why the screenplay lacked invention and imagination. I mean, you have a whole other movie to help you think of episodes to put the movie's band of survivors through. Talking about the survivors - no husband and wife teams in this, and many characters are completely forgettable. Some set-ups (turns out Richard Nelson, played by Richard Dreyfuss, has killed one of his co-survivors' friends on his way) are abandoned, and the movie simply seems in a hurry to try and squeeze as much suspense out of affairs without any character or storytelling elements added to the mix, making this another forgettable remake amongst a whole slew which came out around this time. Gone is the emotion, the great Gene Hackman and the wonderful John Williams score - which makes Poseidon stand out even more as comparatively poor. Kurt Russell, Josh Lucas and Kevin Dillon sink this $160 million bomb.

5/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/72/The_shop_on_main_street_post.jpg
By from http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews11/the_shop_on_main_street_.htm, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20132125

The Shop on Main Street - (1965)

I figured that this would have to rank up in my Top 10 of Holocaust-based films. Simply a powerful, powerful movie that would probably be a timely watch in this day and age in many places around the world. We need films like this - all of us. I hope it lives on for generations. Full review here (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2530897#post2530897), in my watchlist thread.

9/10

[LChimp]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZmFiMWFhMzUtZDBmNy00YTk0LWEzZmEtZjYwMmJhNDJiYmMzXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_.jpg

Blood & Cold - (2023)

German movie set during WWII. 7/10

[Sedai]

I've got the Holden Pike Favorites of the 1990s bookmarked, and I am checking off titles I haven't seen in preparation for the upcoming countdown. First up:

To Die For
Gus Van Sant, 1995

4

https://cinemafromthespectrum.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/to-die-for.jpg?w=1200

Not sure how I managed to get to 2025 not having seen this film, especially with how big the Pam Smart case was in the area of the country in which I live, but here we are! I am guessing it is because at the time it came out, I was busy with my band and wasting time partying on Friday nights.

Anyway, really fun stuff, and I got a few good belly laughs out of this one, Some sharply written comedy nested in scathing satire that sort of sprinkles in mocumentary tropes as it goes along. A clear indictment of America's obsession with true crime at the time, which from what I can tell, has only gotten worse over the years.

Kidman is in her prime here in more ways than one. Was fun to see young Phoenix and Affleck as the two dipshit stooges, and I like Illeana Douglas, as well.

Not sure this one will make my ballot, but I really enjoyed this one. Rating might go up on additional viewings, but I have other films to get to for now.

Next up for me is Weir's Fearless.

[Gideon58]

I've got the Holden Pike Favorites of the 1990s bookmarked, and I am checking off titles I haven't seen in preparation for the upcoming countdown. First up:

To Die For
Gus Van Sant, 1995

4

https://cinemafromthespectrum.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/to-die-for.jpg?w=1200

Not sure how I managed to get to 2025 not having seen this film, especially with how big the Pam Smart case was in the area of the country in which I live, but here we are! I am guessing it is because at the time it came out, I was busy with my band and wasting time partying on Friday nights.

Anyway, really fun stuff, and I got a few good belly laughs out of this one, Some sharply written comedy nested in scathing satire that sort of sprinkles in mocumentary tropes as it goes along. A clear indictment of America's obsession with true crime at the time, which from what I can tell, has only gotten worse over the years.

Kidman is in her prime here in more ways than one. Was fun to see young Phoenix and Affleck as the two dipshit stooges, and I like Illeana Douglas, as well.

Not sure this one will make my ballot, but I really enjoyed this one. Rating might go up on additional viewings, but I have other films to get to for now.

Next up for me is Weir's Fearless.

LOVE this movie…my favorite Nicole performance and on my list of sexiest female movie characters Suzanne Stone Amaretto clocked in at number one

[Gideon58]

LOVE this movie…my favorite Nicole performance and on my list of sexiest female movie characters Suzanne Stone Amaretto clocked in at number one. And I don’t want to spoil it for you but Fearless is amazing 🥲

[Gideon58]

https://i.postimg.cc/y80xnbxH/beast.jpg
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20132125

Beast - (2015)

Jaime (Chad McKinney) is a young up-and-coming half-Filipino half-American boxer who is coached by his father, Rick (Garret Dillahunt) - and provided with plaster-infused boxing gloves for his latest match to help cheat him to victory. Unfortunately, his opponent, Pedro, dies, and this sends Jaime on a guilt-fuelled crusade to help save Pedro's family once they're targeted by local gangsters who were in on the fixed fight. An Australian/Philippines co-production, I didn't think it was too bad an examination of redemption, guilt, responsibility and morality - but not too many people have seen Guilt, and I reckon it would be hard to find, so it has really fallen through the cracks. Jaime isn't really all that complex a character, so McKinney's talents don't get a full work out and the screenplay does most of the heavy lifting. Co-director Sam McKeith has never made anything else but Tom McKeith has recently released another movie - horror/sci-fi In Vitro, which sounds interesting.

6/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/84/Poseidon_%282006%29_film_poster.jpg
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8257024

Poseidon - (2006)

This rather cynical Wolfgang Peterson-directed remake of The Poseidon Adventure has it's share of tense moments and decent set-pieces, but falls down in several areas - the "water filling the room, narrow escape, hold your breath" segments become repetitive, and after a while you really start to wonder why the screenplay lacked invention and imagination. I mean, you have a whole other movie to help you think of episodes to put the movie's band of survivors through. Talking about the survivors - no husband and wife teams in this, and many characters are completely forgettable. Some set-ups (turns out Richard Nelson, played by Richard Dreyfuss, has killed one of his co-survivors' friends on his way) are abandoned, and the movie simply seems in a hurry to try and squeeze as much suspense out of affairs without any character or storytelling elements added to the mix, making this another forgettable remake amongst a whole slew which came out around this time. Gone is the emotion, the great Gene Hackman and the wonderful John Williams score - which makes Poseidon stand out even more as comparatively poor. Kurt Russell, Josh Lucas and Kevin Dillon sink this $160 million bomb.

5/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/72/The_shop_on_main_street_post.jpg
By from http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews11/the_shop_on_main_street_.htm, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20132125

The Shop on Main Street - (1965)

I figured that this would have to rank up in my Top 10 of Holocaust-based films. Simply a powerful, powerful movie that would probably be a timely watch in this day and age in many places around the world. We need films like this - all of us. I hope it lives on for generations. Full review here (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2530897#post2530897), in my watchlist thread.

9/10

Hated Poseidon; never seen Beast but it sounds really good and am adding it to my watchlist

[Stirchley]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZmFiMWFhMzUtZDBmNy00YTk0LWEzZmEtZjYwMmJhNDJiYmMzXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_.jpg

Blood & Cold - (2023)

German movie set during WWII. 7/10

Did you know you have a misspelling in your signature? Should be “awakening”. Maybe it’s intentional - if so, simply ignore me. :)

[LChimp]

Did you know you have a misspelling in your signature? Should be “awakening”. Maybe it’s intentional - if so, simply ignore me. :)

I did not notice it until now, thanks.

[Stirchley]

I did not notice it until now. Thanks man.

I’m female, but that’s okay. :)

[LChimp]

I’m female, but that’s okay. :)

Sorry and thank you again, miss/ms./mrs.

:D

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71BipU-HQZL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg


4

[exiler96]

Born on the Fourth of July (1989) - Oliver Stone's most emotionally impactful film?... It wasn't perfect, but I didn't expect to be a mess afterwards.
Top 5 Cruise, easily.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTBiYjZmMjItYzMxOS00ZTk0LWE1YTktMGUwZmJjNzQzYWZmXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_QL75_UX480_.jpg

[Fabulous]

The Double Life of Véronique (1991)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/ricHotVERNIQVev4RhLLr55InK2.jpg

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/46/Mysterious_Object_DVD_cover.jpg
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10300979

Mysterious Object at Noon - (2000)

Off to Thailand in this next World Cinema Project entry, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Mysterious Object at Noon, an experimental film which travels the country asking various people to contribute to an ever-growing story (the exquisite corpse game is what the exercise is called) while the director flirts with interpreting the story on film. It mixes and matches cinéma vérité with a variety of other styles and methods, while presenting this to us with visuals filmed on 16 mm black and white film before being blown up to 35 mm - giving the whole spectacle a hazy, dream-like quality. At times we segue into what appear to be completely random asides - a doctor and her patients, the crew actually filming this film and people telling personal stories about themselves. You have to be very accepting of artistic expression and experimental cinema to find your peace with this feature (A.W.'s debut), which at times feels a little all over the place but is short enough not to become overly painful. Surely a very strange one, and nearly impossible to rate - I think it has tremendous merit, but at times I found it a chore to watch. It's more fun to think about and ponder once you've soaked it all up, and been on the voyage it takes you on. I'm just going to split the difference.

6/10

[I_Wear_Pants]

Tonight I watched Die! Die! My Darling! (which is a direct quote from the movie), and loved it. I loved the occasional Psycho homage, although they're pretty different films, including no one believing dead Stephen was alive vis Tallulah Bankhead's Mrs Trefoile knew he was dead the whole time. Mrs Trefoile is grieving over her loss and tries to compensate with her dead son's ex-girlfriend. Things don't work well. Die! Die! My Darling! is a spectacular film. I didn't know it was Hammer. That didn't change my opinion. I just thought it was cool.

[Fabulous]

The Pawnbroker (1964)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/8L16E06tKUkypSVYV47pHg7gOHM.jpg

[LChimp]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNTNkMjQzNmQtNzE4ZC00NDlmLTkyYjAtZDZkYTQ5NjBmYThlXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_.jpg

Carry-on - (2024)

8/10

[Thief]

STAR WARS: EPISODE III
REVENGE OF THE SITH
(2005, Lucas)

https://i.imgur.com/tz4ckkl.jpeg


"Good is a point of view, Anakin. The Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power."



Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith closes out the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy by showing us the final descent of Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) into the Dark Side. Set three years after the events of Attack of the Clones, the film follows Anakin's relationship with Padmé (Natalie Portman) and his strained friendship with Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) while the Republic is in the middle of a full-scale war. Meanwhile, Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) uses any opportunity to poison Anakin's mind and lure him to his side.

I've seen this film a couple of times, but I've been continuing my rewatch of this trilogy with one of my kids. I often cite this one as the best of this trio, although I think I've warmed up to The Phantom Menace more than to this one. Still, Lucas manages to polish a lot of the rough edges from the previous film and the result is, well, competent enough. The dialogue is slightly better, the CGI isn't as intrusive, plus it has most of the conflicts boiling down to their resolutions, so to speak.

Grade: 3


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2531237#post2531237)

[Fabulous]

The Burglar (1957)

3

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/dJFuCtcO5Q3JyZaFTZYLb3xC8Bp.jpg

[Marco]

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2006)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8e/The_Three_Burials_of_Melquiades_Estrada_Poster.png
Tommy Lee Jones starred and directed this. It's about a Border Police (the brilliant Barry Pepper) who, stressed out and leading an unfulfilled life is short on patience. His wife is a vacant airhead and they live in a shitheel town so he can be close to the border for work. He also has a healthy disdain for "wetbacks". Now, does this cumulate in him shooting the titular illegal immigrant or is it simply a case of culpable homicide (Melquiades fired off 2 shots at a coyote before he is shot). Farmer Pete reckons he owes he owes his friend a burial that Estrada believes is his true home, kidnapping the Border Policeman to accompany him. This is about people living shitty existences (the blind farmer not the least) and, to an extent, racism and regret. TLJ can rightly be proud of this modern western and it is interesting that he didn't direct again. It shows a deft touch behind the camera.
4

[gomorra82]

Bad Day at Black Rock. Full score.


The New World. My memory of this movie was it being, not my cup of tea.
But after my rewatch, love it.




Winchester 73'. Solid. Cool western. Celebration of a new generation of armory. I am a big fan of Pawn Stars Las Vegas. with Chum Lee. So i have ground level knowledge if guns.


I have trouble translating last movie, so i post this and ad my last.


Maby not many movies, but i started on Lost, three weeks ago.

[gomorra82]

Being There. Wow. Opening score was very nice.

[Gideon58]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/88/FunnyGirlPoster.jpg



Umpteenth Rewatch...One of the most dazzling film debuts in history...Barbra Streisand reprised her Broadway role as Ziegfeld legend Fanny Brice amd won the Oscar for Best Actress. If you're looking for a true biography of Fanny Brice, this is not the place, but if you're looking for a lavishly produced movie musical with a shining star at the center of it, you can't beat this. 4

[I_Wear_Pants]

Dr Strangelove (1964)
https://www.vintagemovieposters.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_1837-968x726.jpeg
3
Maybe this is just from a different era that I don't generally enjoy, maybe I was just too tired after watching the Chiefs game...this was just okay for me.

I know Cold War era history and I appreciate the implications and mindsets and all of that, and I appreciate subtle British humor. I still found this movie insufferably dull. I laughed at one scene and found most of the dialogue stale and contrite. It's yet another Kubrick waste of time that I'll never understand how anyone can like. Oh well... I guess I'm not a film buff...

[KaiserImpact]

Longlegs- 9/10

[Fabulous]

Possible Worlds (2000)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/9KgLQ8C4dGLaQmq5u9ORLewlnQx.jpg

[LChimp]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZTM4ODllZjQtMWExNS00MDkzLThmZmYtYWE3Mzc1ZGRjMDlkXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_.jpg

A Different Man - (2024)

8/10

[ueno_station54]

https://a.ltrbxd.com/resized/film-poster/6/8/4/6/5/7/684657-untitled-fall-95-0-2000-0-3000-crop.jpg?v=bc6c3fddbd
a series of hit or miss sketches but one of them is sooo iconic and the one recurring sketch that takes up probably half the total runtime is fairly compelling too.
rating_3_5

[Stirchley]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZTM4ODllZjQtMWExNS00MDkzLThmZmYtYWE3Mzc1ZGRjMDlkXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_.jpg

A Different Man - (2024)

8/10

Excellent movie.

[LChimp]

Excellent movie.

Yes, Adam Pearson was awesome!!

[Stirchley]

Yes, Adam Pearson was awesome!!

Yes. I saw him in Under the Skin & I was glad to see him in a proper role rather than just someone with a minor role.

[LeBoyWondeur]

The Browning Version (1951)

104778

A story about disillusionment and the feeling that it's too late for anything, even regrets.
The stuffy, passive-aggressive tone suits the film beautifully.
Jean Kent is perfectly hateable and pathetic as the embittered, unfaithful wife, despite the fact that we understand her position.

4

[Allaby]

Sing Sing (2024) Good performances from the ensemble, especially Colman Domingo and Clarence Maclin. It's an interesting story with a well written screenplay. It was nominated for three Academy Awards (actor, screenplay, song), but missed picture. Sing Sing is better than at least two of the best picture nominees (Emilia Perez and A Complete Unknown). 4

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/42/HorseFea.jpg
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1210053

Horse Feathers - (1932)

Very funny - probably the funniest Marx Bros film I've seen so far, and also very short. That's never a complaint really, but still, I was surprised by Horse Feathers' runtime of 68 minutes. There's an easy confidence about all of the skits, and I loved Groucho's opening number "I'm Against It". This takes place in an American college - Huxley - of which Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff (Groucho) has just become president. It's a college that Wagstaff's son, Frank (Zeppo) goes to, and is desperate to field a successful football team, for which two flunkeys, Pinky (Harpo) and Baravelli (Chico) have accidentally been recruited. Appearing again after being in Monkey Business is Thelma Todd. Chico's piano playing and Harpo's harp playing seem rather truncated, and aside from an oft-reprised "Everyone Says I Love You" there isn't as much music in this Marx Bros film, but the comedy is pure gold and Groucho is in top form. The film ends with the craziest game of football that's ever graced the big screen. Had a lot of fun seeing this for the first time.

8/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5f/Perfectmurder.jpg
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16232635

A Perfect Murder - (1998)

Loose remake of Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M For Murder - it kind of becomes your stock standard thriller with a wily Steven Taylor (Michael Douglas) trying to have his wife Emily (Gwyneth Paltrow) murdered by bribing her lover, the equally wily David Shaw (Viggo Mortensen). It's these three characters who do most of the plotting and investigating - this time the detective, Karaman (David Suchet) smells a rat but doesn't have much to do with the story. There are plenty of surprises, even for those already familiar with the Hitchcock version and Michael Douglas is perfect as the slimy Wall Street financier (he'd had practice) - so overall this is a pretty solid piece of entertainment. The ending, I thought, was the right choice.

6/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/51/Oddballposter.png
By https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3401748/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48814325

Oddball - (2015)

This one is a shame, because it's based on a true story that was really interesting and uplifting. A community of fairy penguins that live on a small island are being ravaged by foxes, and they're about to be wiped out as every attempt at protecting them is failing - so call in the Maremma Sheepdogs (in this film Sheepdog, singular - Oddball) to look after them and keep the foxes at bay. I understand that this is meant to be a family-oriented movie, but it gets so kid-cutesy, cheesy, light and sweet. Add Shane Jacobson to that mix as chicken, sheepdog and Oddball owner "Swampy" and it's a recipe for disappointment as far as I'm concerned - a bridge too far when it comes to his attempts at hokey laid back Aussie charm. Can't be saved. Not even by two of my favourites - Alan Tudyk as token American character Bradley Slater and Frank Woodley as the only genuinely funny and entertaining character in the movie, the dog catcher.

4/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3e/Official_poster_Black_Book.jpg
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7321556

Black Book - (2006)

A very thrilling, captivating and absorbing cloak and dagger movie which pulls out all the stops. Full review here (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2531332#post2531332), in my watchlist thread.

8/10

[skizzerflake]

:popcorn::popcorn:
A three hour + intermission movie with too much padding. It seems like a bio-pic, but some quick check on the main character shows that he's a composite of some architects that invented "Brutalism" as a building style. Those buildings have not fared well, like Baltimore's Morris Mechanic Theater, which was so unlikable that it was torn down and replaced with a vacant lot. In this one Lazlo Toth is a Holocaust survivor who jump-starts the style. Somebody in the script department of the studio didn't do a basic Google search and gave the character the name of the miscreant that defaced DaVinci's Pieta back in 1972. Ugh. Even Adrian Brody can't make this dog hunt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdRXPAHIEW4

[Nausicaä]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9e/You%27re_Cordially_Invited_film_poster.jpg/220px-You%27re_Cordially_Invited_film_poster.jpg

3

SF = Z

Viewed: Amazon Prime



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

[Fabulous]

Night Moves (2013)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/xxEkFpSmwDJdzviPYxmoZcIiTsm.jpg

[John W Constantine]

Groundhog Day

8/10

[Allaby]

Bookworm (2024) Watched this today. I enjoyed it. Nell Fisher is wonderful in it and Elijah Wood is good here too. 4

[Wooley]

L.A. Story (1991)

Yup, this is still one of my favorite movies ever.
It's farce, and surrealist comedy, and romantic comedy, and romantic drama, it has a thread of Shakespeare running prominently through it, it is before Enya broke through (at least on my side of The Pond) so her music seems like an ethereal dream out of nowhere, the characters have real depth, and everybody understands their assignment. Oh, and it's funny and sweet at the same time.
This might be Steve Martin's best work.


Edit: I was in the test-audience for this film in like the fall of '90 or January '91 in Los Angeles (at USC) and we all loved it. And later, when I transferred to Ft. Worth, Texas, when it was still only known for "Cow Town", I showed it to a bunch of North Texas frat boys and they mostly ended up loving it too, it was in heavy rotation in my House.
I haven't seen it in over 20 years because I've been waiting, actually, to watch it with the Right Woman. Which was, possibly a fool's errand that cost me 20 years of enjoying this movie. Though I may have last night.

[Tugg]

The Invisible Guest (Spanish: Contratiempo) (2016) 3.5
https://fr.web.img5.acsta.net/r_640_360/videothumbnails/17/08/07/17/29/456546.jpg
Department Q: The Keeper of Lost Causes (Danish: Kvinden i buret) (2013) 3.5
https://bobmann447.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/k1.jpg?w=640
The Absent One (Danish: Fasandræberne) (2014) 3
https://images.justwatch.com/backdrop/787317/s640/the-absent-one
The Substance (2024)
Strong 7 otherwise known as 3.5+
Thematically it was pretty much what I expected, but it was well done and it had my attention from beginning to end.
https://www.artforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Best-of-2024.jpg?w=1000

[I_Wear_Pants]

I watched Aliens this afternoon. I can certainly call it a good movie. I did like it, even with it being from 1986 (I am notorious for disliking 70s and 80s movies), and in spite of the fact I'm not a huge James Cameron fan. It's a solid piece of entertainment, although some of the dialogue sounded really silly hither and thither. Overall it's pretty good. If you force me to choose between Alien and Aliens, I'm choosing Alien because I'm more of a slow-burn fan than a guns-blazing fast-action fan. For what Aliens is, it's just fine. I am quite glad I watched it.

An interesting thing that I thought about these movies is the titular aliens. They aren't really evil. They're just really vicious. They're animals trying to breed and eat. It's just they're trying to use humans as their vessels and their meals. That's where they land in trouble. Yes they are definitely antagonists. No question about it. They just aren't "evil".

Would John McTiernan's (sorry if I butchered spelling his name) Predator titular predator be evil, or is he just a ruthless, uh, predator? The three films I've seen feel like tales of survival more than good versus evil. I've only seen the first Predator and first two Alien movies, just so you are aware. Predator I suppose could be evil because he hunts for sport, although people do that too and they aren't necessarily deemed "evil" unless they hunt humans.

[Marco]

Tog Gun: Maverick.
I knew I wouldn't be too much into this but decided to watch as saw the Pt 1 quite bit. And I was right. The piano playing Jerry Lee Lewis scene and the bonhomie from chugging beers to flying fighters was just creaky. The arrival and redemption of "Maverick" (my estimation~60yo in this) was pretty much in "HeartBreak Ridge" territory. The story just paper thin.
1.5

[skizzerflake]

Tog Gun: Maverick.
I knew I wouldn't be too much into this but decided to watch as saw the Pt 1 quite bit. And I was right. The piano playing Jerry Lee Lewis scene and the bonhomie from chugging beers to flying fighters was just creaky. The arrival and redemption of "Maverick" (my estimation~60yo in this) was pretty much in "HeartBreak Ridge" territory. The story just paper thin.
1.5

Yeah, as I recall, the first one was fun in an amusement park sort of way, even though it also played like a recruitment come-on for naval aviation, but the second one was just unfortunate.

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/70/HeartandSouls.jpg
By IMDb, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12066084

Heart and Souls - (1993)

This was a cute light comedy - normally I wouldn't like that kind of thing, but I think that actors and the performances they gave really sold it, and I was quite charmed. Julia (Kyra Sedgwick), Harrison (Charles Grodin), Penny (Alfre Woodard) and Milo (Tom Sizemore) are killed when their bus crashes, and all four of them become spiritually connected to a baby boy that's being born right near where their deaths occur. This boy is Thomas Reilly (Eric Lloyd as a kid, Robert Downey Jr. as an adult), and he can see, hear and interact with his four lost souls, who eventually realise that they haven't moved on because they need Thomas to help them resolve important issues that are holding them back. It's very mildly funny, but I'll be damned if this isn't the sweetest, most good-natured comedy I've seen in a long, long time. Like I say - not normally my bag, but I was really wowed by the energy and burgeoning talent flowing from everyone on that screen. I don't think I can call this a classic - but it went down really easily and I enjoyed watching it.

6/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/01/Chances_are_poster.jpg
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12216884

Chances Are - (1989)

Back in the day (and it was a long time ago now) I saw the trailer for this movie about a million times. Louie Jeffries (Christopher McDonald), husband to Corinne (Cybill Shepherd) and friend of Phillip Train (Ryan O'Neal) is run over while crossing the street and killed - while in the afterlife, a mistake is made before he heads off to be reborn (he's not given his amnesia injection!) That rebirth eventually takes the form of Alex Finch (Robert Downey Jr.), and via pure chance he runs into Corinne, her daughter Miranda (Mary Stuart Masterson) and Phillip. All hell breaks loose when he remembers his previous life and tries to convince Corinne that he's actually the lost husband she's still pining for. This wasn't a big box office hit, but I still think it was huge for Robert Downey Jr., who was only 23/24 but breaking out big time and on his way. I look at the movie as kind of average - your typical mainstream comedy with perhaps above-average writing and okay performances, but lack of emotional punch and suitable conclusion. The song "After All" was nominated for an Oscar.

6/10

[gbgoodies]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/70/HeartandSouls.jpg
By IMDb, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12066084

Heart and Souls - (1993)

This was a cute light comedy - normally I wouldn't like that kind of thing, but I think that actors and the performances they gave really sold it, and I was quite charmed. Julia (Kyra Sedgwick), Harrison (Charles Grodin), Penny (Alfre Woodard) and Milo (Tom Sizemore) are killed when their bus crashes, and all four of them become spiritually connected to a baby boy that's being born right near where their deaths occur. This boy is Thomas Reilly (Eric Lloyd as a kid, Robert Downey Jr. as an adult), and he can see, hear and interact with his four lost souls, who eventually realise that they haven't moved on because they need Thomas to help them resolve important issues that are holding them back. It's very mildly funny, but I'll be damned if this isn't the sweetest, most good-natured comedy I've seen in a long, long time. Like I say - not normally my bag, but I was really wowed by the energy and burgeoning talent flowing from everyone on that screen. I don't think I can call this a classic - but it went down really easily and I enjoyed watching it.

6/10



Heart and Souls is one of my favorite Robert Downey Jr. movies. It might even make my list for the 1990s countdown.

[*Sky*]

Bold.
Not at all, I just have standards.

[*Sky*]

This is an extraordinary film, a must-see, especially now and especially in the U.S.

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) - William Wyler: 9.5/10
https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExYXlidGhleGZsdGc2MWl6bW1nNzd3YTFiZGN4bWFsamR2c3J3NHAydCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfY nlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/mGJ6AkdrwEp5unV7qX/giphy.gif

[Nausicaä]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4c/Deadpool_%26_Wolverine_poster.jpg/220px-Deadpool_%26_Wolverine_poster.jpg

3

SF = Zzzz

Viewed: Blu ray


I want this dog!

https://64.media.tumblr.com/474275f2ad6258c10de49e74d0f4e2b1/e3f419bc528069e6-23/s540x810/1b56e3c332cf7e3a36b56863d250eda0d73fe6de.gif



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

[Fabulous]

Clockers (1995)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/xhYs4yaBnDNM3utncVzLmFVpAmK.jpg

[John W Constantine]

Groundhog Day

8/10

[exiler96]

Groundhog Day

8/10

Tell Andie you love her for who she is already!

[chawhee]

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)
https://cps-static.rovicorp.com/2/Open/Starz/The%20Three%20Burials%20of%20Melquiades%20Estrada/_derived_jpg_q90_500x500_m0/TheThreeBurialsofMelquiadesEstrada-PosterArt.jpg
3.5
I watched this after someone here recently reviewed it, thinking it was up my alley. I was hoping this would be a little better than it was. I liked the plot, but the acting and dialogue left much to be desired. It was enjoyable as I watched it, but I doubt I'll ever really think of this again.

[LeBoyWondeur]

The Train (1964)

104832

A sort of "Mission Impossible" to stop the Nazis stealing art treasure from France.
We know what needs to be done, and why, but since there's little communication between the people of the Resistance we are unaware of the various details until it actually happens.
That makes it very unpredictable and exciting to watch but sometimes also a little bit confusing. It's a film that requires your full attention and I rewinded a few scenes to make sure I understood who-was-where-and-why.

The action and moments of violent destruction is jaw-dropping by 1960 film-making standards, heck even by today's standards. Or perhaps especially by today's standards.
This is not about actors dangling in front of a green screen doing gravity-defying acrobatics.

Having art as the subject that needs be saved (as opposed to people) gives the story the additional oomph of nobility and patriotism.
But it also made me aware of the irreplaceable value of art versus the importance of human life. It's quite a dilemma when you think that art is supposed to outlive us, and the devastating finale surely doesn't help to make that decision any easier.

I don't know if this an American film, a European film or one of those international collaborations, but I don't think it would have made any difference regarding the casting of Burt Lancaster's very marketable star-power.
Nevertheless, Burt Lancaster is one of those actors willing to go the extra mile, and I never got the impression that he took his career for granted.
Incidentally, he also starred in my favourite 1970s disaster movie The Cassandra Crossing and there's even a resemblance in the ending of the respective character arcs.

Burt gets help from Jeanne Moreau, but instead of making these characters look enthusiastically heroic they're actually quite reluctant to get involved. It's a detail that makes them more relatable in a typical human selfish way, but I'm not suggesting that the war didn't need any true heroes.

4.5

[exiler96]

The Train (1964)
4.5

Saw this last year. A Dynamite of a movie... and let's not forget Paul Scofield.

https://media.vanityfair.com/photos/52f2646d82d3ecda7d000042/master/w_1600%2Cc_limit/1391617134208_the-train-2.jpg

[Allaby]

Better Man (2024) In many ways, this is a fairly standard music biopic (except for the monkey of it all). The monkey was well done, but I don't think it was really necessary. The story is entertaining enough and there are some effective moments here, monkey or not. So quit monkeying around and watch the movie. 3.5

[ScarletLion]

Groundhog Day

8/10

I see what you did there.:D

[LeBoyWondeur]

You're Cordially Invited

Annoying and terribly unfunny.
0

[*Sky*]

The Maltese Falcon (1941) - John Huston: 3/10
https://mattsko.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/maltese-falcon-gif.gif?w=700

[Gideon58]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/70/HeartandSouls.jpg
By IMDb, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12066084

Heart and Souls - (1993)

This was a cute light comedy - normally I wouldn't like that kind of thing, but I think that actors and the performances they gave really sold it, and I was quite charmed. Julia (Kyra Sedgwick), Harrison (Charles Grodin), Penny (Alfre Woodard) and Milo (Tom Sizemore) are killed when their bus crashes, and all four of them become spiritually connected to a baby boy that's being born right near where their deaths occur. This boy is Thomas Reilly (Eric Lloyd as a kid, Robert Downey Jr. as an adult), and he can see, hear and interact with his four lost souls, who eventually realise that they haven't moved on because they need Thomas to help them resolve important issues that are holding them back. It's very mildly funny, but I'll be damned if this isn't the sweetest, most good-natured comedy I've seen in a long, long time. Like I say - not normally my bag, but I was really wowed by the energy and burgeoning talent flowing from everyone on that screen. I don't think I can call this a classic - but it went down really easily and I enjoyed watching it.

6/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/01/Chances_are_poster.jpg
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12216884

Chances Are - (1989)

Back in the day (and it was a long time ago now) I saw the trailer for this movie about a million times. Louie Jeffries (Christopher McDonald), husband to Corinne (Cybill Shepherd) and friend of Phillip Train (Ryan O'Neal) is run over while crossing the street and killed - while in the afterlife, a mistake is made before he heads off to be reborn (he's not given his amnesia injection!) That rebirth eventually takes the form of Alex Finch (Robert Downey Jr.), and via pure chance he runs into Corinne, her daughter Miranda (Mary Stuart Masterson) and Phillip. All hell breaks loose when he remembers his previous life and tries to convince Corinne that he's actually the lost husband she's still pining for. This wasn't a big box office hit, but I still think it was huge for Robert Downey Jr., who was only 23/24 but breaking out big time and on his way. I look at the movie as kind of average - your typical mainstream comedy with perhaps above-average writing and okay performances, but lack of emotional punch and suitable conclusion. The song "After All" was nominated for an Oscar.

6/10

LOVED both of these movies.

[Gideon58]

This is an extraordinary film, a must-see, especially now and especially in the U.S.

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) - William Wyler: 9.5/10
https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExYXlidGhleGZsdGc2MWl6bW1nNzd3YTFiZGN4bWFsamR2c3J3NHAydCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfY nlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/mGJ6AkdrwEp5unV7qX/giphy.gif

Amazing film...a link to my review:

https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/2397888-the_best_years_of_our_lives.html

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/26/Manhattan_Murder_Mystery.png
By IMP Awards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60058466

Manhattan Murder Mystery - (1993)

I think I saw this when it came out - it might even have been at the movies - and while I didn't hate it then, I do enjoy it much more now with the perspective of being an older guy who has seen movies such as Double Indemnity and The Lady from Shanghai. The older person perspective relates to way I really get the relationship shared between Carol (Diane Keaton) and Larry Lipton (Woody Allen), a married couple who are growing distant because they have their own personal likes and dislikes. When Carol latches on to what she thinks is a murder in their New York apartment complex, she at first finds Larry cold to the idea - and as such becomes closer to Ted (Alan Alda), who is enthusiastic about investigating the potential murder with her and is in love with her. Larry has to open his mind and find where his wife is coming from to save their marriage. There are moments of absolute hilarity in this (going back for another dinner date at murder suspect Paul House's (Jerry Adler) place to retrieve a pair of glasses Carol dropped while breaking in and searching the place), and many references to famous cinematic gems concerning the perfect murder. Allen, Keaton, Alan Alda and Angelica Huston (as novelist Marcia Fox, the woman with the sharpest mind among them) are terrific and the movie has this warm, free-flowing fun feeling that relaxes you and opens you up to the many moments of domestic humour that keep cropping up at a steady rate. I had a good laugh, and was reminded that Allen's ability as a filmmaker has been surprisingly constant throughout the years. It's Keaton though, who manages to steal the whole show, with her energy and perfect delivery, with Alda also impressing.

8/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/7a/Revenge_%281989_film%29.webp/258px-Revenge_%281989_film%29.webp.png
By Kazakhfilm - https://www.kinopoisk.ru/film/46616/covers/page/1/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77216891

Revenge - (1989)

Is this the first Kazakh film I've ever seen? Well, technically, Revenge is a Soviet film, and if you're looking for a poetic, arthouse meditation on revenge then this might be for you. Poetry and poets are a crucial part of Revenge's narrative, and the film itself is divided into stanzas, with various characters becoming central to a story about vengeance that's passed down through generations. Tsai (Kasym Zhakibaye) has a daughter who is brutally slain by her teacher, and as he becomes too old and frail to take revenge for this himself, Tsai has a son, Tsai Sungu (Aleksandr Pan), specifically with the intent of making Tsai's revenge the very reason for his son's existence. Part of Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project, it's very interpretative at times, but beautiful to look at. Starts with a prologue that has no narrative connection to the rest of the film but really outlines the theme of violence passed down from generation to generation. Like I said, fairly abstract at times while at others straightforward, which adds a small touch of unevenness to the movie as a whole.

7/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/33/Risky_Business.jpg
By Warner Bros. - impawards.com, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7620852

Risky Business - (1983)

Okay, so Risky Business isn't the wacky comedy I've thought it was all these years (that "Old Time Rock and Roll" scene completely threw me) - it has much more of a dramatic coming of age in ultra-capitalistic America vibe. But if it's really an updated version of The Graduate, then what of today's young generation? I wonder what recent film can be compared to that Mike Nichols classic. High school student Joel Goodsen (Tom Cruise) is left home alone by his parents for a while, and he rings up call girl Lana (Rebecca De Mornay) who ends up becoming involved in Joel's life in all kinds of ways - leaving this kid on the brink of either transformation or catastrophe as he learns what he can't from school. Of course, the "business" side of the film really reflects American attitudes prevalent in the Eighties which make the way audiences react to Joel and this movie change as time goes by, and I think the tone feels a lot more dark and ominous today than it would have in 1983. A Risky Business sequel with us seeing what became of Joel Goodsen would be a really interesting prospect.

7/10

[StuSmallz]

The Maltese Falcon (1941) - John Huston: 3/10
https://mattsko.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/maltese-falcon-gif.gif?w=700Geez, that low?

[I_Wear_Pants]

Tonight I watched Batman Killing Joke for the first time. What an awesome movie. Of the ten I've seen in the 18-Movie 80th Collection DVD I have on loan, it's my second or third favorite. I know it's kind of panned. I still loved it. Joker was definitely scarily creepy. I just wish Paris Franz did more than be on screen for 10 minutes. He could have been a good villain. Ah well. It worked regardless.

[Fabulous]

Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)

3

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/oUptKQLatCgywVDx0ETVhq7knHt.jpg

[ScarletLion]

The Maltese Falcon (1941) - John Huston: 3/10


:D 3 out of 10 for one of the greatest noirs of all time? Come on.

[LChimp]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjM4YjA1NTItOWI3Ni00MzAwLThmMjMtNmM2MWY2Y2ZmOGIzXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg

Juror #2 - (Eastwood, 2024)

Excellent - 9/10. I'm a sucker for courtroom movies.

[Gideon58]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/26/Manhattan_Murder_Mystery.png
By IMP Awards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60058466

Manhattan Murder Mystery - (1993)

I think I saw this when it came out - it might even have been at the movies - and while I didn't hate it then, I do enjoy it much more now with the perspective of being an older guy who has seen movies such as Double Indemnity and The Lady from Shanghai. The older person perspective relates to way I really get the relationship shared between Carol (Diane Keaton) and Larry Lipton (Woody Allen), a married couple who are growing distant because they have their own personal likes and dislikes. When Carol latches on to what she thinks is a murder in their New York apartment complex, she at first finds Larry cold to the idea - and as such becomes closer to Ted (Alan Alda), who is enthusiastic about investigating the potential murder with her and is in love with her. Larry has to open his mind and find where his wife is coming from to save their marriage. There are moments of absolute hilarity in this (going back for another dinner date at murder suspect Paul House's (Jerry Adler) place to retrieve a pair of glasses Carol dropped while breaking in and searching the place), and many references to famous cinematic gems concerning the perfect murder. Allen, Keaton, Alan Alda and Angelica Huston (as novelist Marcia Fox, the woman with the sharpest mind among them) are terrific and the movie has this warm, free-flowing fun feeling that relaxes you and opens you up to the many moments of domestic humour that keep cropping up at a steady rate. I had a good laugh, and was reminded that Allen's ability as a filmmaker has been surprisingly constant throughout the years. It's Keaton though, who manages to steal the whole show, with her energy and perfect delivery, with Alda also impressing.

8/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/7a/Revenge_%281989_film%29.webp/258px-Revenge_%281989_film%29.webp.png
By Kazakhfilm - https://www.kinopoisk.ru/film/46616/covers/page/1/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77216891

Revenge - (1989)

Is this the first Kazakh film I've ever seen? Well, technically, Revenge is a Soviet film, and if you're looking for a poetic, arthouse meditation on revenge then this might be for you. Poetry and poets are a crucial part of Revenge's narrative, and the film itself is divided into stanzas, with various characters becoming central to a story about vengeance that's passed down through generations. Tsai (Kasym Zhakibaye) has a daughter who is brutally slain by her teacher, and as he becomes too old and frail to take revenge for this himself, Tsai has a son, Tsai Sungu (Aleksandr Pan), specifically with the intent of making Tsai's revenge the very reason for his son's existence. Part of Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project, it's very interpretative at times, but beautiful to look at. Starts with a prologue that has no narrative connection to the rest of the film but really outlines the theme of violence passed down from generation to generation. Like I said, fairly abstract at times while at others straightforward, which adds a small touch of unevenness to the movie as a whole.

7/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/33/Risky_Business.jpg
By Warner Bros. - impawards.com, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7620852

Risky Business - (1983)

Okay, so Risky Business isn't the wacky comedy I've thought it was all these years (that "Old Time Rock and Roll" scene completely threw me) - it has much more of a dramatic coming of age in ultra-capitalistic America vibe. But if it's really an updated version of The Graduate, then what of today's young generation? I wonder what recent film can be compared to that Mike Nichols classic. High school student Joel Goodsen (Tom Cruise) is left home alone by his parents for a while, and he rings up call girl Lana (Rebecca De Mornay) who ends up becoming involved in Joel's life in all kinds of ways - leaving this kid on the brink of either transformation or catastrophe as he learns what he can't from school. Of course, the "business" side of the film really reflects American attitudes prevalent in the Eighties which make the way audiences react to Joel and this movie change as time goes by, and I think the tone feels a lot more dark and ominous today than it would have in 1983. A Risky Business sequel with us seeing what became of Joel Goodsen would be a really interesting prospect.

7/10

Love Manhattan Murder Mystery and I never considered the correlation between Risky Business and The Graduate but it’s true

[Gideon58]

Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)

3

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/oUptKQLatCgywVDx0ETVhq7knHt.jpg

I think I rated this the same as you did

[Sedai]

Fearless
Weir, 1993

4_5

https://images.moviesanywhere.com/43189b9c171cde316fe6c278d6f30bf6/2afb3b14-a25f-495a-8c4c-9afd82e3e64b.jpg?w=2560&r=16x9

I mentioned in another thread in which The Fisher King came up that I really enjoy this era of Jeff Bridges' career. That said, I had somehow missed this film entirely. As in, I didn't even know it existed until recently.

I am glad Holden mentioned it, as it was excellent. An exploration of the phenomenon that some people experience when they have a close brush with death, as well as a study on grief and all that comes with it. Excellent performances all around.

[skizzerflake]

This is an extraordinary film, a must-see, especially now and especially in the U.S.

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) - William Wyler: 9.5/10
https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExYXlidGhleGZsdGc2MWl6bW1nNzd3YTFiZGN4bWFsamR2c3J3NHAydCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfY nlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/mGJ6AkdrwEp5unV7qX/giphy.gif

Yeah. When I was a kid, I recall being told about this by some old folks that lived through that era. I didn't get around to seeing it until much later, but I recall just how pithy it was. It's one of those "moment in time" movies that really resonates as these three guys try to re-integrate into "normal life", and deal with their various traumas. I recall being told about Harold Russell, one of the three, the guy on the left, a service member who actually did lose both hands in the war. Those articulated hooks were real, as was his dexterity with them that you see in the movie. It's quite a memorable movie, in a way that few are now, real and recent.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Harold_Russell_still.jpg

[*Sky*]

:D 3 out of 10 for one of the greatest noirs of all time? Come on.
3/10, 3 out of 10, three out of ten, yes.

[*Sky*]

Geez, that low?
For you.

[*Sky*]

Amazing film...a link to my review:

https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/2397888-the_best_years_of_our_lives.html
Your review got me teared up again Gideon58, thank you so much for sharing it. What a remarkable film! :'-)

[Darth Pazuzu]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/0c/Presence_film_poster.jpg/220px-Presence_film_poster.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/76/Wolf_Man_2025_poster.jpg/220px-Wolf_Man_2025_poster.jpg

January 28, 2025

PRESENCE (Steven Soderbergh / 2024)
WOLF MAN (Leigh Whannell / 2025)

I saw a couple of really good horror films last week. Both of them are based on two of the oldest and familiar tropes within the genre: The haunted house story and the werewolf story. However, directors Steven Soderbergh and Leigh Whannell manage to take such familiar genre material and do something fairly unique - albeit with mixed degrees of success. One thing both of them have in common is a refreshingly "slow-burn" approach, neither of them in any real hurry to get to the scary stuff right off the bat.

Presence has an almost experimental quality to it. Filmed with a bare minimum in terms of cast and crew (the end credits must be two minutes tops! :eek:), it's almost playful in the way it seems to deliberately equate the prowling presence of the movie camera itself with that of a haunting spirit - and not in any kind of cheesy "first-person slasher" sense. The fact is, in most films, the camera is "invisible" in the sense that we're experiencing what the characters are going through and don't feel as if we're adopting some outside-looking-in perspective. This time around, however, we cannot help but be aware of the presence signified by the furtively prowling camera perspective, and we cannot help but wonder what a movie camera's perspective is meant to signify in general and not just within the context of this particular film. I was quite amused at first by the fact that when the "presence" is following the characters around, it never passes in front of a mirror, as if not wanting to signal its presence despite its invisibility. (And, without giving spoilers, this will actually pay off in a shockingly cathartic way in the movie's last scene.) The story itself deals with a somewhat dysfunctional family (parents played by Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan) that moves into a new house. The daughter (Callina Liang) is recovering from the experience of losing two former school friends to (apparent) drug overdoses and is highly sensitized to the mysterious supernatural presence that appears to be haunting their new home. The unsympathetic brother (Eddy Maday) doesn't believe in the supernatural and only wants to hang out with his best friend (West Mulholland) who is becoming involved with his sister. More I will not reveal, except that it seems as if the supernatural presence does not have harmful intent, perhaps just the opposite... BTW, Presence is the first of two films made practically back-to-back by Soderbergh with screenplays by David Koepp. The other one is a spy thriller called Black Bag starring Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender which should come out in mid-March.

A bit more of a conventional horror film than Presence, Wolf Man takes a very familiar scenario - also involving a family - and manages to imbue it with a great deal of humanity. (In point of fact, the anticipated monster transformation - while competently executed - is rather less than exceptional, and as a consequence the movie is that much more dependent upon an audience's emotional investment in the characters.) In this story, a father (Christopher Abbott) takes his family on a vacation into the mountains of Oregon (beautifully rendered in very scenic photography) in order to discover the fate of his estranged father (Sam Jaeger) who has disappeared and is presumed dead. His wife and daughter are played by Julia Garner and Matilda Firth, respectively, and the family's story becomes one of survival once their truck veers off the road and falls on top of a tree. (If you've seen the trailers, you've seen this moment.) Something slices out of the darkness, breaks the passenger windshield glass and wounds the father's arm, after which he starts to become deathly ill. Nothing that happens from this point on will come as much of a surprise to fans of the werewolf sub-genre, but the story has a thoughtful and humane quality to it, dealing with issues of parents and children, fathers and sons, and the unwanted emotional baggage that can get passed down from one generation to another. As I've said before, Wolf Man is the less exceptional of the two films I saw last week - and the transformation effects are nothing to write home about - but I still think it's a decent werewolf thriller.

[I_Wear_Pants]

The Train (1964)

104832

A sort of "Mission Impossible" to stop the Nazis stealing art treasure from France.
We know what needs to be done, and why, but since there's little communication between the people of the Resistance we are unaware of the various details until it actually happens.
That makes it very unpredictable and exciting to watch but sometimes also a little bit confusing. It's a film that requires your full attention and I rewinded a few scenes to make sure I understood who-was-where-and-why.

The action and moments of violent destruction is jaw-dropping by 1960 film-making standards, heck even by today's standards. Or perhaps especially by today's standards.
This is not about actors dangling in front of a green screen doing gravity-defying acrobatics.

Having art as the subject that needs be saved (as opposed to people) gives the story the additional oomph of nobility and patriotism.
But it also made me aware of the irreplaceable value of art versus the importance of human life. It's quite a dilemma when you think that art is supposed to outlive us, and the devastating finale surely doesn't help to make that decision any easier.

I don't know if this an American film, a European film or one of those international collaborations, but I don't think it would have made any difference regarding the casting of Burt Lancaster's very marketable star-power.
Nevertheless, Burt Lancaster is one of those actors willing to go the extra mile, and I never got the impression that he took his career for granted.
Incidentally, he also starred in my favourite 1970s disaster movie The Cassandra Crossing and there's even a resemblance in the ending of the respective character arcs.

Burt gets help from Jeanne Moreau, but instead of making these characters look enthusiastically heroic they're actually quite reluctant to get involved. It's a detail that makes them more relatable in a typical human selfish way, but I'm not suggesting that the war didn't need any true heroes.

4.5

This sounds awesome. I'm going to have to watch it.

Addendum; it's on Kanopy so I can watch it that way. Hooray!

[Fabulous]

Sidewalks of New York (2001)

3

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/xQ5YLRx8GaeTB8TpkLjwBnPdV4F.jpg

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/96/Jour_de_fete-poster.jpg
By The poster art can or could be obtained from the distributor., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5100071

Jour de fête - (1949)

This was really interesting - and I guess I should be saying "hilarious", but it took me a while to warm up to and get used to Jacques Tati's brand of physical comedy, which is often underpinned by props, themes and set-pieces. It takes place in a very quaint French village which is being visited by a fair - and eventually settles on mailman François (Tati) as a main character. François sees a film promoting America's postal service, and decides he has to really lift his game - leading to some comedic results. I tell you - the comedy is really fast in this movie, so if you're not awake and fully tuned in you'll miss around 80% of the gags, and I'm sure I still missed many even though I tried my hardest to concentrate. I'm hooked though, because Jour de fête seems stuffed full of interesting tidbits and cinematic invention - I look forward to seeing documentary À l’américaine, which I previewed last night, for it seems to lay out much of what I find curious about this movie and filmmaker. Then I want to watch this movie again.

7/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a4/Ford_v._Ferrari_%282019_film_poster%29.png
By IMP Awards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60921288

Ford v Ferrari - (2019)

I grew up in Australia where all guys are obsessed with cars and for some reason I wasn't, but I can appreciate a good film where determined engineers and determined drivers aim to push the envelope and be the best. Doing enough to entertain a non-enthusiast is a pretty good benchmark to aim for - so this still gets my tick of approval after a second watch.

7/10

[*Sky*]

The Grapes of Wrath (1940) - John Ford: 8.5/10
https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1735228477ra/36329572.gif

[I_Wear_Pants]

I watched The Train 1964. It was kind of disappointing. Not because it's bad; because it isn't great. I like the movie. I just hoped for more. The film just didn't resonate with me. Burt Lancaster was good though.

[Sedai]

Carlito's Way
DePalma, 1993

4

https://film-authority.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/carlito.jpg

Checking off another film from the Holden Pike Top 100 of the 1990s.

I was unsure if I had had seen this or not. As I watched, some parts seemed familiar, so I am guessing I probably rented it back in 1994 on VHS, watched a pan and scan copy of the film, didn't find it memorable, and never ended up going back to it.

This is one of DePalma's best films, right up there with Blow Out for me. I still give Blow Out the edge as his best, but this is close. I do have this thing with film in which Al Pacino portrays Hispanic characters, but he wasn't trying to put on a bogus accent, so this wasn't as annoying as Scarface, which I don't really care for.

This is a more restrained effort from DePalma, and he doesn't lean into diopter shots or over-the-top violence anywhere near as often as his other films - the violence is still there, but it is more restrained - and I think it's all the better for it. DePalma like to insert homages to Hitchcock and even his own films into his work, so you get some of that here, as well. This is one of his best start-to-finish directorial efforts, especially the final cat and mouse sequence that closes out the film. The man delivers a clinic on cinematic tension, and I was on the edge of my seat for the duration of the finale.

Great cast, excellent script, excellent cinematography...it might even deserve a 4_5 but I will leave it where I have it for now. I might toss another half point its way on additional viewings.

[ueno_station54]

https://a.ltrbxd.com/resized/film-poster/3/1/8/7/2/5/318725-tokyo-cabbageman-k-0-2000-0-3000-crop.jpg?v=fd7d1cd3fc
4

[Allaby]

September 5 (2024) This came out on demand today, so I went ahead and splurged and bought it. It's well paced, tense, and has a sharp, tightly written screenplay. Good performances from the ensemble cast. 4

[Marco]

Clockers (1995)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/xhYs4yaBnDNM3utncVzLmFVpAmK.jpg
Great film, I wouldn't have recognised "strike" from that photo.

[LeBoyWondeur]

Deathtrap (1982)

104869

I think this film works on a technical, mechanical level but I can't say I enjoyed it very much.
Similar to Sleuth from a decade before the farcical tone overshadows the mystery, and the comedy is sabotaged by elements of suspense (as in: what will happen next?).

Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby derives its humour from the eeriness and vice versa, it's perfectly osmotic. Deathtrap looks like they've taken two different genres and put them in the same movie.
The talented actors make the best of it (although I find Michael Caine rather hit-or-miss) and the only reason I kept watching was Christopher Reeve.
Even before his career was tragically cut short I feel his talent didn't always reach full potential but I guess that's how it works in the movie business. It's also a matter of luck and being in the right place at the right time (and especially the right movie).
Nevertheless, I found Christopher the most watchable in Deathtrap.

Dyan Cannon plays Michael Caine's character's ditzy wife whose main purpose is performing a running gag of hysterical surprise screams. It's funny enough but again it doesn't really suit the context or even the scenery.
Even if it's meant to look this way (adapted from a stage play) doesn't mean I have to like it.
Btw, Dyan Cannon was great in the real murder mystery The Last Of Sheila.

Deathtrap was in my to-watch therefore I'm grateful that youtube suggested this brand new upload, apparently by WB Classics itself (?).

2.5

[ueno_station54]

https://a.ltrbxd.com/resized/film-poster/9/7/7/1/7/2/977172-companion-2025-0-2000-0-3000-crop.jpg?v=66c5c946ec
fun!
3

[Gideon58]

Fearless
Weir, 1993

4_5

https://images.moviesanywhere.com/43189b9c171cde316fe6c278d6f30bf6/2afb3b14-a25f-495a-8c4c-9afd82e3e64b.jpg?w=2560&r=16x9

I mentioned in another thread in which The Fisher King came up that I really enjoy this era of Jeff Bridges' career. That said, I had somehow missed this film entirely. As in, I didn't even know it existed until recently.

I am glad Holden mentioned it, as it was excellent. An exploration of the phenomenon that some people experience when they have a close brush with death, as well as a study on grief and all that comes with it. Excellent performances all around.

On my list of favorite Jeff Bridges performances. this clocked in at # 1

[Fabulous]

The Creator (2023)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/8Za1GDoyycPftTeXlqRvLHq9z5v.jpg

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/12/The_Sessions_poster.jpg
By May be found at the following website: IMP Awards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36266012

The Sessions - (2012)

I knew nothing about sex surrogates before watching The Sessions, and I'm surprised I wasn't more eager to see it once finding out what it's about - 38-year-old poet Mark O'Brien (John Hawkes) is paralyzed from the neck down and lives in an iron lung most of the time due to complications from polio earlier in life. After discussions with his priest, Father Brendan (William H. Macy), and especially after falling in love once already, he decides to try to lose his virginity with the help of sex surrogate Cheryl Cohen-Greene (Helen Hunt), who guides him through the process of having a healthy sex life with all of the difficulties he has. Through their sessions, Mark and Cheryl start to develop feelings for each other, despite Cheryl's happy marriage, home life, and general rules about getting close to clients. Hunt was nominated for an Oscar for her performance, and she equals Demi Moore's bravery this year for going naked and baring it all unabashedly. This was sweetly humanizing and the way we go through the process with Mark helps demystify the whole arena of a disabled person's sex life and shows how learning processes can normalize any difficult situation. It was interesting too - I think at first I wasn't sure how it was going to be treated (I thought it would be more comedic), but in the end it strikes a pretty good tone, and that made me feel more comfortable.

7/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/15/D%C3%BDri%C3%B0_poster.jpg
By IMDb, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78081132

Lamb - (2021)

Is this a probing examination of anthropomorphism, a searching look at our interference in the natural world or did some guy just daydream about a lamb's head with a human body attached and go from there? It seems the latter when it comes to Icelandic film Lamb (Dýrið), so it constantly feels like there's a lot of missing depth while the film kind of just unspools and we wait for for some kind of denouement that'll blow out minds and have us thinking. What we get is something of a letdown, considering how much we're promised by the weird scenario - especially when we simply sit and live with that scenario for so long. A moron could have thought up that ending - and it's one that doesn't leave us a lot to chew on. Still, after all of that I guess Lamb can get by as a freaky little horror movie when all is said and done.

6/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/46/Dawn_Anna_FilmPoster.jpeg
By The cover art can be obtained from Movieposterdb.com., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33785827

Dawn Anna - (2005)

TV movie Dawn Anna coasts on main character Dawn's (Debra Winger) struggle with some kind of brain disease while her four children and sweet boyfriend cheer her on and help get her back on her feet one agonizing step at a time. Then it suddenly pivots when one of Dawn's daughters ends up getting killed in the Columbine High School massacre, making it (and I don't want to be disrespectful here) a kind of '2-in-1' TV movie of the week instead of just tackling one or the other subject. The Columbine segment gets no real time to breathe after the marathon disease fighting - and despite the fact Debra Winger was nominated for 'Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie' at the 2005 Primetime Emmy Awards I was more shocked by what the filmmakers attempted to squeeze into 88 minutes more than the events themselves. You can't just tack a Columbine tragedy at the very rear end of a very typical Lifetime movie without the contrast upsetting the whole.

3/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a4/Film_Poster_for_Heroes_for_Sale.jpg
By Gene Mitchum - IMDb, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45702287

Heroes For Sale - (1933)

Perhaps the gravity of the times weighed on some of the writers and producers at Warner Bros - but for whatever reason, we ended up with a heartening (despite much of it's grimness) piece of cinema with Heroes For Sale. Full review here (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2532627#post2532627), in my watchlist thread.

8/10

[LChimp]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZjRmN2JhYjctOWY4YS00YWRiLWIxMWYtZDlkNWZjNmEyYmYyXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_.jpg

Loop Track - (2023)

Slowly building the tension and when stuff is finally reveald, it was kinda disapointing. The ending is pretty bad too. 5/10

[Stirchley]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZjRmN2JhYjctOWY4YS00YWRiLWIxMWYtZDlkNWZjNmEyYmYyXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_.jpg

Loop Track - (2023)

Slowly building the tension and when stuff is finally reveald, it was kinda disapointing. The ending is pretty bad too. 5/10

Looks like Sainsbury wrote, acted in & directed this movie. Don’t think I’ve heard of him, but maybe he took on too much.

[Stirchley]

104878

Good movie.

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZDNhMGYwM2UtMTdlZS00MGQ1LWI2YzAtODY5YWI1MjYyNzRmXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_.jpg


3rd Rewatch...Martin Scorsese's atmospheric direction and Robert De Niro's bone-chilling performance anchor this psychological thriller than became an instant classic. De Niro plays Travis Bickle, a lonely insomniac whose psychotic leanings have him planning the murder of a presidential candidate until his mission is thwarted by a 12 year old prostitute named Iris who becomes his new mission. Scorsese and De Niro put themselves on the map as the premiere actor/director collaborators in 1976 and Jodie Foster was robbed of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her Iris. This movie improves with each viewing.
5

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71Et6vUU5LL._AC_UF350,350_QL50_.jpg


1st Rewatch...Natalie Portman was robbed of a second Oscar for her breathtaking performance in this voyeuristic drama that looks at first lady Jacqueline Kennedy a few days after the assassination of her husband. The film is mounted on the hooks of Jackie's CBS tour of the white house and an interview with a journalist (Billy Crudup) whose every question to Jackie as she worked to manipulate the narrative of the article, showing Jackie to be a lot more calculated than I imagined. Also loved Peter Skarsgaard as Bobby Kennedy, John Carroll Lynch as LBJ and Beth Grant as Lady Bird, but Portman drives this movie and helps to make the viewer feel like a complete intruder. 4

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZTQ4MWFjOWUtMDlkMy00OWM0LTg5N2QtMzFlOGE0NDM0NjE0XkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg


2nd Rewatch...Judy Garland is absolutely delightful in this bawdy western musical playing a woman who travels by train to a western as a mail order bride for a man she's never met (Chill Wills). The engagement doesn't work out but Garland decides to stay in town and joins a group of waitresses called The Harvey girls and becomes involved in a range war with the saloon across the street and romantically involved with the man who really wrote the letters that brought her here (John Hodiak). Judy is terrific and gets terrific support from Ray Bolger, Angela Lansbury, Virginia O' Brien, and a very young Cyd Charisse. The bouncy score includes the Oscar winning "On the Acheson, Topeka, and the Santa Fe". 4

[Gideon58]

https://www.rogerebert.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/The-Boss-jpg.webp



Third Rewatch...Melissa McCarthy is hysterically funny in this comedy about a female Donald Trump who gets arrested for insider trading and loses everything. When she gets out she decides to build her empire again by starting a brownie company with a receipe made by her former assistant (Kristen Bell). McCarthy pretty much blows everyone off the screen with the exception of Peter Dinklage, brilliant as always, as McCarthy's rival who wants to destroy her because he's in love with her. 3.5

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2b/Insignificance.jpg
By Heritage Auctions, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6185128

Insignificance - (1985)

This Nicolas Roeg film, based on a Terry Johnson play, brings together four icons in a fictional account of one night in New York when Marilyn Monroe (Theresa Russell), Albert Einstein (Michael Emil), Joe DiMaggio (Gary Busey) and Senator Joseph McCarthy (Tony Curtis) end up becoming embroiled in each other's lives at a hotel. McCarthy wants Einstein to testify at his hearings and make a grand statement, Marilyn wants to prove to him that she has brains (and also sleep with the famous professor), DiMaggio just wants normality and respect for his physical abilities while Einstein wrestles with what this current generation of thinkers have delivered to the world. Visions of their childhoods and various past incidents haunt each character, each one of them trying to come to grips with who they are and their own self worth. Despite their fame, they are all as insignificant as each other and everyone else when judged by how large the universe is and how far away real stars are. Funny to think that Tony Curtis once starred opposite the real Marilyn Monroe - I wonder what he was thinking? Strangely, I thought this film was at it's sharpest during the very brief interludes with the Cherokee elevator operator (played by Will Sampson) - but it was an interesting diversion that attempts to find wisdom by combining four very different personality types who relative to us were very significant people. Do we finally know the shape of the universe? Today's brightest minds say it's flat. God must have sat on it.

7/10

https://i.postimg.cc/cHJ6W7kc/gilda.jpg
By Robert Coburn - Scan via Heritage Auctions. Cropped from the original image., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=88142536

Gilda - (1946)

Rita Hayworth dominates everyone and everything around her in Gilda, despite a powerful performance from Glenn Ford and some terrific villainy from George Macready. I reviewed it a couple of years ago here (https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/2425731-gilda.html), and enjoyed watching it again last night.

9/10

[iluv2viddyfilms]

The Ten Commandments (1956) - A

[Fabulous]

Barbie (2023)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/3N5QNUqS76GFYNoEayfkkJyAyTN.jpg

[Siddon]

https://apps.watershed.co.uk/shared/imagecache/wvs/480x270/shared/uploads/wvs/images/25/01/screenshot-2025-01-29-at-17.09.33.png


The Seed of the Sacred Fig (2024)


This foreign language film from Germany by way of Iran is the story of a investigator who's family life falls apart due to the head scarf protests in Iran. This film is shot guerrilla style so it was made against the Iranian Government wishes and it limited what the filmmakers could actually achieve.



This means how they shot this film is more interesting than what they put on the screen for understandable reasons. Still it is a great look into this theocratic world where everyone is in conflict with each other. But this movie is long, it's almost 3 hours long and the last 45 minutes really drag on. What the actual plot point to the second half of the film is interesting but it's not executed in the best way.


I think some of you are really going to like the novelty of the film but if I'm comparing this to other foreign language films...well it's still better than Emilia Perez but it's pretty far behind Flow. If I could describe this film best it's a very good student film.



3

[Allaby]

Soundtrack to a Coup d’État (2024) I felt this was too long. It was more like a visual essay or presentation than a documentary film. There was too much stuff going on and the film wasn't focused or engaging enough for me. No disrespect to the filmmakers, but I don't think it deserved to be nominated for best documentary when there were other better documentaries last year. 2.5

[matt72582]

Nayak - 7/10


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a5/Nayak_Indian_film_poster.jpg

[Fabulous]

The Madness of King George (1994)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/2Rf6jQMHGDZpzoeoNdBLbCyRCK7.jpg

[Thief]

A REAL PAIN
(2024, Eisenberg)

https://i.imgur.com/aofsloA.jpeg


"Now, it may seem obvious, but a word of warning, this will be a tour about pain... Pain and suffering and loss, there’s no getting around that."



That's how James, a tour guide, prepares his guests as they begin a "Holocaust tour" in Poland. The tour will include visits to the Warsaw Ghetto and Majdanek concentration camp, so all of that is indeed expected, but for cousins David and Benji Kaplan (Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin), pain and suffering and loss are closer. A Real Pain follows their attempt to reconnect and smooth some tensions after the death of their grandmother.

Evidently, my main motivation to watch this film is the fact that it has a couple of Oscar nominations. However, I was very much captivated by the story and relationship between the two main characters and how they relate with each other, and with others. On the surface, David is reserved, restrained, and maybe a bit OCD-ish, while Benji is more outspoken, a bit loud and abrasive. But beyond that, both characters have numerous layers and nuances that are interesting to see unfold and clash as the two try to see how they fit with each other.

Grade: 4


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2533249#post2533249)

[Stirchley]

104932

Re-watch that I haven’t seen for many years. Perfect little rom-com. Couldn’t be better.

104933

Didn’t much care for this the first time I saw this. I am working my way through the “series”. It’s not bad by any means, but contrived in many instances.

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91wctyBxQdL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg


Umpteenth Rewatch...This 1962 film adaptation of the classic Jule Styne/Stephen Sondheim musical has a few problems, but it is always worth watching because of the enchanting performance by Natalie Wood as Louise and that show-stopping number by the three strippers called "You Gotta Get a Gimmick". Rosalind Russell works very hard at being a convincing Mama Rose, but never quite gets it. 3.5

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTgyMTY2NTIxM15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTg3NzczMw@@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg


1st Rewatch...Despite a solid cast, this story of three female employees of the Federal Reserve (Diane Keaton, Katie Holmes, Queen Latifah) who come up with a plan to rob their employer of old money they plan to destroy is just a little hard to swallow. 2.5

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91wfmzCZynL.jpg


!st Rewatch, Despite the presence of the always watchable Kevin Hart, file this under unnecessary sequels which finds a police detective (Ice Cube) reluctantly having to allow his rookie cop/future brother in law (Hart) to accompany him on a case in Miami to nail a drug and arms dealer (Benjamin Bratt). Having the always annoying Ken Jeong in a major role doesn't help matters either. 2.5

[WHITBISSELL!]

https://www.movieposters.com/cdn/shop/files/scan002_00e0a1a8-b4ad-49ff-861f-8dd64ac12a6d_480x.progressive.jpg?v=1723571603

Deadpool & Wolverine - Finally got around to watching this. It certainly deserved all the money it made with audiences liking it more than critics (94% rating to 78% for the critics). A little long but it doesn't noticeably drag. Made with comic book fans in mind but easily accessible to everyone else. I think all the controversy involving Ryan Reynold's wife will color some people's perceptions of him. It has mine but luckily that all came to light after the films box office run was over. Am I in a hurry to watch it again? No. I may revisit this again or maybe I won't. That has nothing to do with the Lively/Baldoni ruckus. It has mostly to do with superhero fatigue. You should probably still watch it at least once though. It is a pretty good movie after all is said and done.

80/100

[Yoda]

Made with comic book fans in mind but easily accessible to everyone else.
I can't really overstate how much it got me with...

...Evans as the Human Torch. Such a great fake out. I laughed right out loud and might've spontaneously applauded slightly. Such a great meta-comment on how messy the whole comic book movie thing has been over the last couple of decades, too, where having momentarily forgotten that bit of casting helps the joke work on a second level.

[LeBoyWondeur]

The Nest (2020)

104940

This is very much my kind of dysfunctional family drama but as a film it looks a little bit too understated.
Not that it needed something bigger or special, it just needed more - especially when the film's theme is about more, more, more.
The Nest looks like a terrific pilot episode of a series that was cancelled before production had started.

3

[matt72582]

Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison - 1/10


(I just pasted my IMDB review onto here.. I'll add only that I was going to avoid leaving an IMDB review because I plan on uploading it, and don't want the 2nd comment on IMDB to be a 1/10 with the following critique.. If you are an expert, check it out, otherwise, you'll not only be wasting money, but some of that disinformation will stick to your memory)


I hate giving anything related to Jim Morrison a bad score, because I want people to be reminded more of Jim Morrison, and hopefully look things up, but I've seen what ollie stone's movie did to ruin his image. When people say things and spread them (sometimes to millions if they have enough followers - perfect term) then they become part of you, in your head. When someone mentions Jim Morrison, I'm guessing most aren't thinking of the source - which magazine they read it from. Especially nothing in text - our minds remember video (which also includes audio, text and juxtaposed with music for effect). Don't make my word for it, Jim Morrison said "Movies are the most authoritative of all the arts". All the allegations in this movie will stick, especially since it's new - recency bias. Instead of focusing on facets of Jim Morrison that have been neglected (his sense of humor, as one of many examples) with previous documentaries and writing, he asks NOTHING of value to Andy Morrison. I'm guessing he told the director he'd give him 20 minutes of his time, and then the "director" cut them up into 20 parts and spread them throughout the "documentary" with this AWFUL noise. I can't call it music, because there isn't a single musical instrument used. Nope just "apps", "drum-machines", and other computer generated AI nonsense... I've been a collector of Jim Morrison since the 90s. The only guy I'm more interested in is Mort Sahl, so I did see this. Just listen to the audio interviews, or the many magazines from the 60s/70s. This is a way to exploit Jim Morrison for money. This thing makes stone's movie look like a documentary. Avoid it. Go on YouTube and look up actual documentaries. There are Patreon dedicated to uploading things you can't on YouTube for copyright issues, or because they're interviews in magazine PDF formats. There are something amazing REAL things - don't be lazy and watch anything fictional and suspect documentaries unless it's coming from Jim's sister (despite them sugarcoating and leaving out the craziest stuff which is understandable) or a member of The Doors, but also remember people forget things after 50 years, or jumble things, and you can actually do research for yourself. If you are interested in the truth, find a way to contact me. I have a YT channel and a message board dedicated to proving all the lies about him with truth. If you have any questions, I'll gladly give you first-hand sources, not some silly hearsay by a groupie... I've been waiting for this for 8 years, and have seen this guy launch gof***me campaigns everywhere to finance this, which is why it took so long I'm sure - waiting for Mary to die? I hope Jim's siblings say something, but they're the most silent people of any rock star I've ever witnessed.

And this trend of making every dead man a homosexual is another pejorative.



https://youtu.be/FYYDlXE2rWQ

[Wooley]

Deathtrap (1982)

104869

I think this film works on a technical, mechanical level but I can't say I enjoyed it very much.
Similar to Sleuth from a decade before the farcical tone overshadows the mystery, and the comedy is sabotaged by elements of suspense (as in: what will happen next?).

Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby derives its humour from the eeriness and vice versa, it's perfectly osmotic. Deathtrap looks like they've taken two different genres and put them in the same movie.
The talented actors make the best of it (although I find Michael Caine rather hit-or-miss) and the only reason I kept watching was Christopher Reeve.
Even before his career was tragically cut short I feel his talent didn't always reach full potential but I guess that's how it works in the movie business. It's also a matter of luck and being in the right place at the right time (and especially the right movie).
Nevertheless, I found Christopher the most watchable in Deathtrap.

Dyan Cannon plays Michael Caine's character's ditzy wife whose main purpose is performing a running gag of hysterical surprise screams. It's funny enough but again it doesn't really suit the context or even the scenery.
Even if it's meant to look this way (adapted from a stage play) doesn't mean I have to like it.
Btw, Dyan Cannon was great in the real murder mystery The Last Of Sheila.

Deathtrap was in my to-watch therefore I'm grateful that youtube suggested this brand new upload, apparently by WB Classics itself (?).

2.5

Hm. I agree you don't have to like it. I understand your complaint. It worked for me. I really enjoy Death Trap very much for what it is (a film doing its best to be a play) and don't mind what it isn't (a more direct-cinematic adaptation of a play). And I really enjoy the story and the characters. It's not without a small wart here or there but it almost entirely works for me.
Plus, this is my favorite Christopher Reeve performance and character, Clifford. When he loses his temper in this one, that's actually the moment I always think of when I think of him, over Superman, believe it or not. And this movie actually always makes me a little sad the way his career went even before the accident, because I feel like he was a real talent that people didn't understand how to use (other than him making the most marvelous Superman).
And Michael Caine is marvelous as always. Diane Cannon does a lovely woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

[Gideon58]

The Ten Commandments (1956) - A

Try as I might, I have been able to sit through this movie from beginning to end

[iluv2viddyfilms]

Try as I might, I have been able to sit through this movie from beginning to end

Have or have not?

Why is that?

[Gideon58]

I meant I haven’t. I guess because I found it long and boring. Yul Brynner is fantastic though

[Darth Pazuzu]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/48/Companion_film_poster.jpg/220px-Companion_film_poster.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e2/Flight_risk_2024.jpg/220px-Flight_risk_2024.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/7c/TheBrutalist2024.png/220px-TheBrutalist2024.png

February 4, 2025

COMPANION (Drew Hancock / 2025)
FLIGHT RISK (Mel Gibson / 2025)
THE BRUTALIST (Brady Corbet / 2024)

A very packed and exhausting Tuesday afternoon! :eek: :D I don't think I've ever watched three movies in one afternoon at a local movie theater in my life, but the opportunity presented itself so I grabbed it. The results, as one might expect, are sort of a mixed bag.

I'm not going to give easy spoilers, but a rather easy way to describe Companion would be to say that it picks up where The Stepford Wives (1975) leaves off, thematically speaking, updating the classic Ira Levin story for the AI age and quite rigorously following through on that earlier tale's implications with a quite witheringly brutal logic. The story deals with Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid), who appear on the surface to be the ideal, perfect couple. They arrive at the posh home of a filthy rich Russian named Sergey (Rupert Friend), who is presumed by some characters to be involved in criminal activity and is also the lover of their friend Kat (Megan Suri). Also present are friend Eli (Harvey Guillén) and his boyfriend Patrick (Lukas Gage). At one point early in the story, Sergey attempts to force himself on Iris, resulting in her murdering him in self-defense. Then things really go haywire, and out of the blue the story introduces the elements of science fiction and social commentary, turning what initially started out as just another romantic comedy / drama into something extremely sharp, scathing and rather bloody. While I found myself extremely entertained by the movie and I was very much on Iris' side throughout, I somehow still can't help but feel of two minds about Companion. While the movie makes rather incisive commentary on the more toxic of immature male attitudes, namely the sense of entitlement and the chronic inability (or just the refusal) to be accountable for one's actions (not that I think masculinity is necessarily more toxic than humanity overall), I kind of feel like the movie is "shooting fish in a barrel," so to speak. I mean, what reasonable, thinking, sensible human being would not ultimately find the actions of Josh deplorable? Like I said, the movie is very much on target in its observations, and yet at the same time it feels like it's preaching to the choir. It's kind of the same way I felt about another movie I mostly liked, Zoë Kravitz's Blink Twice from last year, another indictment of bad male behavior. (The most disturbing aspect of the movie, to me, was the offhand revelation - made late in the movie by a minor character - that "companion robots" are also used for purposes more violent and anti-social than that of merely a convenient sexual partner. Some future Skynet-style rebellion in this movie's fictional universe would be quite deserved, I think.)

Flight Risk isn't really all that bad, despite fair-to-scathing reviews, but it's not necessarily a masterpiece of the action thriller genre. If you've already seen the trailer, you pretty much get the drift: A U.S. Marshal (Michelle Dockery) arrests an accountant on the lam (Topher Grace) with the intention of making him testify against the powerful crime family he works for, and charters a private plane to take them from Anchorage, Alaska to New York City, but it turns out that the pilot (Mark Wahlberg) is not who he appears to be. You can probably guess what happens next, and for the most part you'd be right. Wahlberg turns out not to be simply working for the opposition, he's a serious hardcase with more than a few loose screws, and it turns out he's the only one with any flight experience. Which means that after he's subdued and bound in the back of the plane, the Dockery character has to get instructions from another pilot over the radio just to operate the plane. I found the movie to be a great deal of fun despite its predictability. This is a bit of a comeback bid for Mel Gibson, whose direction is assured throughout. (And I know that there's plenty that one can say about dear ol' Mel, particularly at this moment in time, but I'm only concerned with his talents as an actor / filmmaker, so look elsewhere for self-righteous cattiness.) Not to give any spoilers, but I was rather grateful that the Wahlberg character's ultimate fate was such that it was impossible for him to make any last-minute "back-from-the-dead" slasher-movie style pop-up at the end. But given that he has to be overpowered and restrained by Dockery no less than three (?) times during the course of the story, it was wise for the movie to ultimately give up that particular ghost. Granted, there is a bit of last-minute jeopardy (and let's face it, from a genre appreciation standpoint we'd be kind of disappointed if there wasn't), but it mercifully sidesteps the whole "not dead yet" cliché.

I had previously seen The Childhood of a Leader (2015) and Vox Lux (2018) - mainly because the late singer / songwriter Scott Walker (of solo and Walker Brothers fame) had written the scores and being a fan I was naturally curious - and I ended up being very intrigued by Brady Corbet's filmmaking style. So naturally when I learned that one of this year's Oscar contenders was Corbet's new film The Brutalist (his first in six years), I felt like I had to check it out. (And speaking of Walker, this movie is dedicated to him at the front of the end credits.) First of all, this movie is quite dauntingly long at 215 minutes, but like any great epic film it's involving enough so that it never feels that way. A never less than brilliant Adrien Brody plays László Tóth, a Hungarian-Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor who emigrates to the United States, where a relative offers him a job with a furniture business. Eventually, he meets a patron in the form of wealthy industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce), who is intrigued by his unique architectural style and tasks him with the building of a community center complete with a library, theater, gymnasium and chapel. This particular project will encounter many obstacles in the course of its construction and become an on-again, off-again affair, with the architect and his patron (temporarily) falling out at one point. Also threatening to complicate matters is László's heroin habit. Eventually, László's ailing and wheelchair-bound wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones) and mute niece Zsófia (Raffey Cassidy) are brought over to America, where they are introduced to the Van Buren family. This will eventually have dire consequences for László's family, Harrison's spoiled-brat son Harry (Joe Alwyn) having designs on Zsófia. And there is one story development that I found... well, I don't want to say shocking, because I sort of pride myself on being un-shockable when it comes to art and entertainment - but it's certainly startling and it's something I frankly didn't see coming. The whole thing with Zsófia and Harry, while certainly distressing, was not terribly outside the box (and it was certainly dealt with tactfully and subtly). But I frankly didn't expect László himself to be further victimized in quite the way he was, especially considering the traumas he had already endured in his life. Much of the power of the story, particularly in the second half, lies with the character of Erzsébet and the strength with which Felicity Jones imbues her, unwavering in her support for her husband in spite of his weaknesses and the shared traumas of their past. The penultimate scene of the movie, in which the wife forcibly confronts the Van Buren family head on, positively crackles. (And the violent distress of young Harry's reaction to her revelation in this scene makes one shudder to imagine what the whole back story between father and son might have been!) In short, I heartily recommend The Brutalist for those who have the patience for a three-hour-plus work of cinema. And don't worry if you need a restroom break, Corbet was kind enough to include an intermission (complete with a 15-minute countdown)!

One last little beef with my theater's showing of The Brutalist: This movie was filmed using the legendary Vista Vision process familiar to those fans of '50s classics such as John Ford's The Searchers (1956) and Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958), among many others. Apparently, this doesn't necessarily translate well to digital projection, because whenever there are abrupt movements from any of the characters, there's a kind of red-and-green "motion blur" effect which I found kind of distracting at first. Granted, I found the movie so engrossing that I ceased to notice this after a while, but it still struck me as very odd. Don't let this deter you from enjoying the theatrical experience, however...!

[Gideon58]

Hm. I agree you don't have to like it. I understand your complaint. It worked for me. I really enjoy Death Trap very much for what it is (a film doing its best to be a play) and don't mind what it isn't (a more direct-cinematic adaptation of a play). And I really enjoy the story and the characters. It's not without a small wart here or there but it almost entirely works for me.
Plus, this is my favorite Christopher Reeve performance and character, Clifford. When he loses his temper in this one, that's actually the moment I always think of when I think of him, over Superman, believe it or not. And this movie actually always makes me a little sad the way his career went even before the accident, because I feel like he was a real talent that people didn't understand how to use (other than him making the most marvelous Superman).
And Michael Caine is marvelous as always. Diane Cannon does a lovely woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Deathtrap is my favorite Christopher Reeves performance too

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/BbGcSr2j/duck-soup.jpg
By "Copyright 1933 by Paramount Pictures Distributing Corp.". - Scan via Heritage Auctions., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=85716946

Duck Soup - (1933)

The heavy weight of expectations hung over my watching of Duck Soup, because I was quite aware of it's exceptional reputation. Well, if Horse Feathers really was the best of my viewing experiences so far, then I can analytically say that Duck Soup is the best of the Marx Bros films I've seen. I enjoyed it at a similar level to Horse Feathers, but the climax of this one and the fact that the wonderful Margaret Dumont is back (the Marx Sister - she really belonged as part of the act) makes it a winner. The nation of Freedonia is in trouble, and Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho) is appointed leader in the hopes he can solve the financial troubles the nation is in. By the time the film is ending, Freedonia is at war with her neighbouring nation and chaos is unleashed. The brand of humour is nothing that'll surprise someone who has seen plenty of Marx Bros films, but there is a political edge to the film simply due to it's subject matter, and the sets seem to be the most magnificent ever utilized for one of these movies. I was surprised that we get no Piano playing from Chico or harp playing from Harpo - the movie more or less concentrates on chaos and comedy. That of course means that Zeppo gets hardly anything to do. Once again, the film fires off at a brisk 68 minutes, and is relentless in it's pace and manic comedic style.

8/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ad/Legend_2015_poster.jpg
By Telegraph.co.uk, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47721944

Legend - (2015)

Often it's the performances that can make or break a movie, and that's certainly the case with Legend - a biographical look at the infamous Kray Twins, London gangsters who were so gleefully violent and cunning that they insinuated themselves at all levels of 1960s London society. The whole "outsider narrating" (this time Reggie Kray's eventual wife, Frances - played by Emily Browning) thing when it comes to gangster films feels especially trite. However, I really thought I got something from this movie just by enjoying Tom Hardy's pair of performances as both Reggie and Ron Kray (the latter quite mad, and a lot of fun in a Caligula-esque kind of way.) He really brings something that a film with this sort of screenplay and direction didn't really deserve, but in any event I can't say I didn't enjoy the movie because I loved watching Hardy do his stuff (two times over.) David Thewlis also rises to the occasion as the Krays' financial wizard Leslie Payne. Not a great movie, but really great performances no doubt. In fact, it's worth seeing for what Tom Hardy does here.

6/10

[WrinkledMind]

September 5
I went in expecting a movie on the attack, but this is about how ABC covered the event. So it was neither a good or bad surprise for me. It's my fault & not the movie's. The film itself is quite well made.


It's amazing how terrible the media standards were, & how far we have come when it comes to covering such events.

[Nausicaä]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f6/Dogman_2023_poster.jpg/220px-Dogman_2023_poster.jpg

2.5

SF = Zzz

Viewed: Amazon Prime


Caleb Landry Jones would make an excellent Joker. :)


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

[Fabulous]

No Hard Feelings (2023)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/t0zJXqmx3BL2W934hnNk7gcF4Re.jpg

[LeBoyWondeur]

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

104950

Yes, there are still some seventies classics I haven't seen, and it was only a few weeks ago that I watched Star Wars for the first time.
Again, it's not because I've never had the opportunity to watch these films so I may have avoided them on a more subconscious level.
But sometimes it's tempting to ignore that precious little instinct even though I usually have to pay dearly for it.
I wouldn't say that's the case with Rocky Horror and actually I think there's a lot to like, but...I don't know...
Maybe I went in with the wrong expectations, hoping it would be as outlandish and psychedelic and energetic as Tommy (from the same year), and from the perspective of "has it aged well?" I think Rocky Horror looks too tame and commercial for my taste.

While I think that "story" might be overrated sometimes I do appreciate an overarching theme, and Rocky Horror seems to be a potpourri of ideas with no other purpose than to show it. And that's fine and it certainly doesn't lack enthusiasm, but it's just not bizarre or outrageous or funny enough to make it memorable, its cultural and queer significance notwithstanding.

Perhaps my favourite part of Rocky Horror is the Time Warp coverversion that came out in the late 1980s.
https://youtu.be/gti_D7jx7cM

3

[xSookieStackhouse]

3.5
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYmFkYTNhMWUtMjEyNy00MWE0LWJlYTQtMWFmNDUwNmFjMzAxXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg

[Gideon58]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/52/NineA_ver4.jpg



1st Rewatch....This glossy, big budget film version of the smash Broadway musical directed and choreographed by Tommy Tune makes a less than impressive transition to the silver screen. Fresh off his Oscar win for directing 2002 Best Picture winner, Chicago, Rob Marshall faces the same problem he had with the Kander and Ebb musical...brining a stage piece to the screen that was not suited for the stage and should have stayed there. Three time Oscar winner Daniel Day Louis stars as an Italian film director named Guido Contini who, after two major flops, is returning to the director's chair for an epic called Italia, despite the fact there is no script and the only given is that it will star his most famous leading lady. Claudia Janssen (Nicole Kidman). Loosely, based on the Felinni film 8 1/2, this film looks at Contini's life through the various women who have inhabited it. The film features impressive production values, some stunning Oscar-worthy costumes by Colleen Atwood, and some interesting songs by Arthur Kopit, it never totally gels as a movie musical. Three time Oscar winner Daniel Day Lewis is a little stiff as Contini, looking clearly uncomfortable in a musical. There are memorable performances by Marian Cotillard as Guido's wife and Penelope Cruz, who earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her work as Guido's clingy mistress, which includes a memorable musical number called "A Phone Call from the Vatican", but the film kind of lumbers across the screen. 3

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/910zG2L4KpL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg



1st Rewatch...The 80's teen comedy gets a delightfully fresh coat of paint in this delicious coming of age comedy about a 17 year old high school student who has a great family, fantastic friends, and a part in the school's upcoming production of Cabaret bu is frustrated by a secret that he's keeping...the fact that he's gay and no one in his life knows about it. Nick Robinson is undeniably charming in the title role, as are Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel as his parents. Emmy winner Tony Hale (Veep) also steals every scene he's in as the school principal. A winner from opening to closing credits. 4

[Gideon58]

https://musicart.xboxlive.com/7/9c405100-0000-0000-0000-000000000002/504/image.jpg?w=1920&h=1080



Umpteenth Rewatch...Despite the wooden performances from the late Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw that inexplicably earned them Oscar nominations, this film was the top grossing movie of 1970, even earning a Best Picture nomination. This is the story of a Harvard law school student named Oliver Barrett IV who meets and falls in love with a snooty Radcliffe music student named Jennifer Cavilleri. They marry, struggle for awhile and just when it looks like they're going to have everything they want, tragedy intervenes. I don't knwo what it is about this movie, because O'Neal and MacGraw really aren't that great, I guess it's the story. Ray Milland plays O'Neal's nasty father and John Marley earned a supporting actor nomination for playing Jennifer's very likable dad. Francis Lai's gorgeous music did win an Oscar though. 3.5

[LeBoyWondeur]

Anaconda (1997)

104955

Second rewatch.
A creature feature B-movie that doesn't waste any time building up suspense - in other words, we're here for the kill count.
Nevertheless, the introduction of the story and its crew of documentary makers is very promising, it has that laid back but not-too-comically vibe similar to the crew of the Nostromo and I think Anaconda had the opportunity to create a bunch of characters to root for.
Unfortunately, most "character" goes out of the window as soon as the human villain shows up. All the characters on board become interchangeable and dispensable and that's exactly how the film treats them.

We do get to see a lot of the snake and the special effects are what I expect from a film like this so in that regard it doesn't disappoint.
It's entertaining but not as menacing as, say, the monkeys scene in A Passage To India.
Anaconda features a gorgeous bamboo flute opening theme but the story suffers from a relentless ominous score, as if the situation isn't self-explanatory enough.

The last act - which doesn't feel like a climax anymore because too much has already happened - seems intentionally filmed/edited in a fast-paced and confusing way to cover up how bollocks it all is. But then again, that happens in a lot of films.

But I'm not saying I will never watch it again :D

2

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYTA2NTA5NDYtMzlkOC00MTQxLWI0NDQtMzk2M2YzMGE4MTkxXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg


4

[stillmellow]

Dog Man


https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSU7i5jCGu6a5kKowtYRgD2ULQXMj7bYHaoiA&s


It had its moments and some laughs, but overall it's a very standard DreamWorks kids movie. There will be butt jokes, fart jokes, and plenty of cats and dogs, so they can use the same pet jokes in all their movies. They do manage to keep the same feel and energy of the Captain Underpants Movie, which I liked.


"C+"

[Tramuzgan]

Legend (1985) - 7/10

I greatly enjoyed it in a ''shut your brain off and enjoy the vibes'' way, but it's disappointing because I see the potential within it to be much more. The base of creating a flowery fantasy film full of sparkly visuals and dialogue that sounds like ''mine heart is darker than the darkest witch'' is done excellently. The costume and set design are the biggest selling point, turning the whole thing into a moving fairy tale illustration. I can't understate how thick the atmosphere is. It's underscored by some moments of very inspired directing, as well as decent special effects and music. The problems show up in the script, theming, and characterization. The pacing could've done some work, as well as more time to figure out who the hero is and how he's supposed to make you feel. As it stands, he and his troupe of sidekicks are boring. It would've benefitted from someone with that Sergio Leone-esque skill of laying out characters without derailing the plot or overexplaining them to you like you're retarded. Someone who has a good feel for the pieces as well as the whole. That'd also let the film amount to something thematically - as it is, it feels like it lacks a punchline. Plots conclude disparately, and while it's clear how they're supposed to make you feel individually, they don't really form any whole worth talking about. Oh yeah and the fight directing was bad.

There is no complaints about the villain. Tim Curry chews the scenery as the devil in a way that does total justice to the visual style.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3J91bPrW9A

[Fabulous]

My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)

2.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/nheK0SrGhpMKEM1cj2MD5WbrG3E.jpg

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7f/Fast_Times_at_Ridgemont_High_film_poster.jpg
By IMP Awards / 1982 Movie Poster Gallery / Fast Times at Ridgemont High Poster (#1 of 4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15487949

Fast Times at Ridgemont High - (1982)

You get pretty much what you'd expect with this 80s high school coming of age comedy, but at least it's really down to earth and genuine in it's portrayal of awkward teenagers fumbling their way towards adulthood. What's special about it is the soundtrack and the fact that you get to see a young Sean Penn and Jennifer Jason Leigh at a very early moment in their careers, not to mention an especially young Forest Whitaker and Eric Stoltz. Nicolas Cage is in this movie (billed as Nicolas Coppola), but despite having a credit as "Brad's (Judge Reinhold) Bud", he's basically a glorified extra, appearing in the background and one shot where he jumps for joy during a football game. Apparently he tested for the role of Brad, but didn't get the part because Reinhold looked goofier than Nic Cage.

6/10

https://i.postimg.cc/vT0YqDQ9/exodus.jpg
By Saul Bass - http://images.moviepostershop.com/exodus-movie-poster-1961-1020217413.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25518666

Exodus - (1960)

Well, this one is as politically sensitive as it ever was - even today. About the founding of the state of Israel, Exodus follows the plight of an American gentile nurse, Kitty Fremont (Eva Marie Saint) as she volunteers her services for a group of Jewish prisoners on Cyprus who journey to Palestine thanks to Ari Ben Canaan (Paul Newman) and wait for a landmark United Nations vote on whether they'll pass a resolution on the partition of that place and the creation of a Jewish state. In the meantime the British, the Arabs and the Jews make life hard for each other, and those trying to make this a new home argue over whether the sword or the olive branch is the right way to go about it. If you're not ready for a three-and-a-half hour endurance test, be wary - it's very well made and compelling and tries as hard as it can not to be all-out pro-Jewish propaganda but all the same is very much from that perspective. It's not a bad starting point to get you interested if you don't know much about the founding of the State of Israel. A huge movie really, with a great Oscar-winning score.

7/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0d/Down_by_Law_%281986_film%29_poster.jpg
By The poster art can or could be obtained from the distributor., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1719117

Down By Law - (1986)

These days, this is my kind of movie. It's independent American cinema that is nonetheless technically brilliant and driven by a filmmaker who is pretty much well known without making many movies that you could call part of the mainstream. Full review here (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2533644#post2533644), in my watchlist thread.

8/10

[WHITBISSELL!]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/84/Quiz_lady_poster.png

Quiz Lady - Actual belly laughs are few and far between in this buddy comedy with Awkwafina and Sandra Oh playing mismatched sisters Anne and Jennifer Yum. Anne is the introverted one, obsessed since childhood with the game show Can't Stop the Quiz. Jennifer is the flaky failed actress. Their mother runs off to Macau, leaving them with a 80,000 dollar gambling debt which leads to Anne's beloved pooch being dognapped. This ultimately ends with Jenny kidnapping Anne and driving her to open auditions for the show. So add road movie to the plot description.

Even though it's not strong in the laughs department it still manages to hold your attention thanks mostly to the chemistry between the two stars. Will Ferrell contributes a quiet supporting performance as the kind hearted host of the show, Terry McTeer. By the time it wraps up you'll somehow find yourself squarely in the Yum sisters corner. Sandra Oh has always been that kind of performer and Awkwafina acquits herself quite well also.

75/100

[Nausicaä]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9f/Close_to_you_film_2023_poster.jpg/220px-Close_to_you_film_2023_poster.jpg

2.5

SF = Zz

Viewed: Amazon Prime



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

[LeBoyWondeur]

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

104982

Entertaining performances in a script that goes out of its way to keep the audience guessing.
Since The Plot Twist has become sort of mandatory in modern cinema entertainment, and also because I'm familiar with the A vs. B trick (the answer is C) I wasn't very surprised by the final act.
I like the way it plays out except that the action scenes are over-the-top and totally unbelievable which cheapens the overall effect, although it's possible that it already started with the MacGyver-ish solution of the survival outfit. That was more Cleverfield than Cloverfield.

I wonder how it's going to hold up compared to the first Cloverfield film. That was a mind-blowing experience but the rewatch was a little disappointing. The element of surprise can be very powerful, but take it away and you see the film for what it really is.
I feel that the mystery of John Goodman's character hasn't been solved yet and perhaps that'll make it worthwhile to revisit his bunker drama.

I thought there was a third Cloverfield story - about a boy who supects his father is a serial killer - but a quick youtube search reveals that this is the Clovehitch Killer.

3.5

[iluv2viddyfilms]

Cleopatra (1934, Cecil B. DeMille) - B+

Hot on the heels of re-watching my long-loved The Ten Commandments, I saw this Cecil B. DeMille film streaming on Criterion and couldn't resist. I absolutely love the melodramic and emotionally charged poetic hyperbolic dialogue in this film. The story and writing is a bit of a mess as it seems to borrow from multiple sources including Shakespeare's Julius Cesar and other stuff, but I think DeMille was a fan of piecemealing multiple sources and adding his own flair to the mix or whatever he thought would make exciting cinema.

Talk about opulence! Cecil B. DeMille is a man who sure enjoyed both spectacle and the female form and this film... maybe one of the very last that got away with stuff before the Hayes Code was in full effect, has plenty of both.

Even though the narrative is slightly awkward and feels hastily edited together with some bizarre pacing and the acting is just... well, not great, this film is a wild hoot and just fun and neat to see. Claudette Colbert who is a great actress and right at home in screwballs seems completely miscast in this film and the tone changes don't entirely work.

Still, I really loved this thing despite its multiple flaws. Wow, just wow. Cecil B. DeMille taking it up to 11.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlTmFvxc288

[Deschain]

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

104982

Entertaining performances in a script that goes out of its way to keep the audience guessing.
Since The Plot Twist has become sort of mandatory in modern cinema entertainment, and also because I'm familiar with the A vs. B trick (the answer is C) I wasn't very surprised by the final act.
I like the way it plays out except that the action scenes are over-the-top and totally unbelievable which cheapens the overall effect, although it's possible that it already started with the MacGyver-ish solution of the survival outfit. That was more Cleverfield than Cloverfield.

I wonder how it's going to hold up compared to the first Cloverfield film. That was a mind-blowing experience but the rewatch was a little disappointing. The element of surprise can be very powerful, but take it away and you see the film for what it really is.
I feel that the mystery of John Goodman's character hasn't been solved yet and perhaps that'll make it worthwhile to revisit his bunker drama.

I thought there was a third Cloverfield story - about a boy who supects his father is a serial killer - but a quick youtube search reveals that this is the Clovehitch Killer.

3.5

The third Cloverfield movie is called The Cloverfield Paradox. It’s about a space station and it was shadowdropped during the Super Bowl.

[Gideon58]

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

104982

Entertaining performances in a script that goes out of its way to keep the audience guessing.
Since The Plot Twist has become sort of mandatory in modern cinema entertainment, and also because I'm familiar with the A vs. B trick (the answer is C) I wasn't very surprised by the final act.
I like the way it plays out except that the action scenes are over-the-top and totally unbelievable which cheapens the overall effect, although it's possible that it already started with the MacGyver-ish solution of the survival outfit. That was more Cleverfield than Cloverfield.

I wonder how it's going to hold up compared to the first Cloverfields film. That was a mind-blowing experience but the rewatch was a little disappointing. The element of surprise can be very powerful, but take it away and you see the film for what it really is.
I feel that the mystery of John Goodman's character hasn't been solved yet and perhaps that'll make it worthwhile to revisit his bunker drama.

I thought there was a third Cloverfield story - about a boy who supects his father is a serial killer - but a quick youtube search reveals that this is the Clovehitch Killer.

3.5

John Goodman gave me chills in this

[LeBoyWondeur]

John Goodman gave me chills in this
Absolutely, and I think it makes for a good double feature with Russell Crowe's Unhinged :D

[Gideon58]

Really liked Unhinged too

[MovieBuffering]

The Hustler - 1961

Enjoyed it. Newman was great as always. Thought Minnesota Fats was a cool character. The pool hall stuff I really dug. I bought The Color Of Money so I wanted to get this under my belt first. I just didn't really care for the love interest in the flick. Just thought she was sort of a flimsy character and I didn't much care for the performance either. Also, shallowly speaking, that hair do sucked on her lol.

As the movie went along she just got more and more important and I thought really? I get what they were trying to do with her, I just wanted scenes with her to be over with. Then the pay off at the end wasn't great...don't want to spoil anything. I think if it had less of her and more of the pool hall or attacked her character different it would have elevated the movie. It was fine enough but think it had potential to be even better. Maybe the sequel executed it better. I get why Newman won an Oscar for his character/performance. (in the sequel)

2.5

https://i0.wp.com/cine-vue.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/maxresdefault-1-3167651902-1534329402514.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1

[ueno_station54]

https://a.ltrbxd.com/resized/film-poster/5/3/2/7/0/8/532708-damselvis-daughter-of-helvis-0-2000-0-3000-crop.jpg?v=77203eafe9
had high hopes for this and it had promise early but there's sadly just not much in the second half and the dialogue is nearly inaudible.
2.5

[exiler96]

Vermiglio (2024) - Italy's submission at this Oscars for the best international film... nice photography (loved moments like a little kid's POV from under the chair) and the use of classical music evoke a sense of nostalgia and just an era that is gone. I was in tune with it for the first hour, but then struggled to finish it (where the story goes is just not interesting as I find every character but Lucia and her dad - the town's teacher - not compelling in the least)...... 6/10.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/JsDbzyr5KE3qygdV39LrbsOq0v8Fpr_oYzYjniZNH2bDSI8TZdklqBm5ZWRwH0xLfHshznoyzKnSGQ2j1tt_x6m8uh2lN3zsksLy fDM9tkRV

[LeBoyWondeur]

Longlegs (2024)

105004

I find it pretty amazing that a film overcooked with different but somewhat related themes can be so sluggish and uneventful.
It's like Exorcist III without all the fun stuff.
Even the dread and atmosphere this film is obviously going for falls flat because it isn't attached to anything specific apart from the crime cases being discussed in painfully lacklustre dialogue. I never got the impression that any of the characters believed in this story.
It ends with a rushed explanation that still doesn't make much sense and it also doesn't elevate what has happened before.

0.5

[markdc]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71KgOSSzS1L._AC_SX679_.jpg
Watched this with a young friend who’s never seen this before. One of the best movies of the Eighties!
rating_5

Mark

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7d/Molly_maguires_movie_poster.jpg
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5833416

The Molly Maguires - (1970)

Working in coal mines during the 19th Century seems crazy - it halved your life expectancy, was particularly dangerous backbreaking work, and those running the show often cheated and exploited their labour force (as if the whole deal wasn't bad enough.) The Molly Maguires were a group of Irish coal miners who formed a secret society that fought back with violence and sabotage. Richard Harris stars in this movie as Detective James McParlan, sent in undercover to gain employment in a Pennsylvanian coal mine and make contact with the group. The exploitation that went on is illustrated when James gets to the head of the queue in the pay office after a week's soul crushing work - it's added up to $9.24, but then a list of deductions wipes out $9 of that pay, and he ends up with 24 cents for the week. Sean Connery is "Black Jack" Kehoe - leader of a local chapter of the Molly Maguires and Ancient Order of Hibernians, who befriends and recruits James despite his suspicions. The Molly Maguires quietly came and went in 1970, but I liked it and thought it a well-rounded film with some nicely shot scenery by the amazing James Wong Howe and a super score from Henry Mancini. It was nominated for an Oscar for it's art direction. There's serious money up there on the screen (which amounted to a big loss for Paramount), and the film opens with a fantastic 15-minute pre-credit sequence which shows the work the coal miners were doing, the Maguires setting up charges to blow an entire mine to smithereens and the crew leaving - it ends up focused on Sean Connery walking away from the towers and mining buildings as they explode, and it's really "bravo!" stuff, setting up a whole lot of anticipation regarding the conflict to come. It's not perfect - I'm thinking that the screenplay is it's weakest link, but Connery and Harrison are fine and the subject matter compelling and interesting. Another fine chapter regarding the lowly workers fight for fairness, decency, respect and equality instead of being exploited, and how the law is inevitably on the side of those who have money and power - for it's those people who make the rules in the first place.

7/10

[LChimp]

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/HSkAAOSwpe1bOPzC/s-l1200.jpg

Rise of The Planet of The Apes - (2011)

2nd watch. 7/10

[Sedai]

Welcome to the Dollhouse
Solondz, 1995

3_5

https://images.mubicdn.net/images/film/1677/cache-47096-1692696686/image-w1280.jpg

Continuing along on catching up with unseen films from Holden's Top 100 of the 90s, next up was 1995's Welcome to the Dollhouse. I am a big fan of coming of age flicks, so I am unsure how I missed this. I think what ended up happening is that I managed to conflate this with film with Party Girl, the Parker Posey flick that was released a couple of years later.

Welcome to the Dollhouse is a dark comedy featuring a kid that is such a misfit that ever her parents make fun of her. It's the forgotten middle child concept taken to extremes. Some of the jokes most certainly wouldn't fly today - this film shares DNA with stuff like heathers, which is a breed of film that doesn't get made anymore. Heather Matarazzo nails the lead perfectly.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this, and certainly got some laughs out of it, but I doubt it will make my ballot.

[Stirchley]

104932

Re-watch that I haven’t seen for many years. Perfect little rom-com. Couldn’t be better.

104933

Didn’t much care for this the first time I saw this. I am working my way through the “series”. It’s not bad by any means, but contrived in many instances.

105016

Cringe. This was bad. Glad she finally got married & had a baby, but, boy, I found it hard to finish this. Not to mention they killed off Hugh Grant. :eek:

[Stirchley]

105019

Very good indie movie. Really enjoyed it. And I have a huge crush on Lewis Pullman. :p

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjI0ODcxNzM1N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMzIwMTEwNDI@._V1_.jpg


3rd Rewatch...Frances McDormand won her second (and probably most deserving) Oscar for her performances in this emotional mine field of a movie playing Mildred Hayes, an angry and bitter divorced mom of two whose daughter was brutally raped and murdered a year ago. When she hasn't heard anything from the sheriff about her daughter in seven months, she spends $5000 to erect three huge billboards on the road outside of town demanding answers from the sheriff (Woody Harrelson). who is dying of cancer. This explosive and raw motion picture provides constant surprises, never going exactly where you expect it. McDormand is a revelation and Sam Rockwell won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his open sore of a performance as Harrelson's deputy. A one of a kind motion picture experience that will leave the viewer limp. 4.5

[Gideon58]

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c48d499fcf7fdd787356865/1702657151197-DMMJL9NLVBL7YFC5LFTM/my_fair_lady.jpg?format=1500w


Umpteenth Rewtach...This 1964 film version of the classic Lerner and Lowe Broadway musical that won eight Oscars, including Best Picture. Based on the Shaw play Pygmalion this is the story of a phonetics professor named Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison, reprising his Broadway role) who agrees, on a bet to turn a cockney flower girl named Eliza Dolittle (Audrey Hepburn, taking over the role originated on Broadway by Julie Andrews), into a lady by teaching her to speak properly, but allows the young lady to get under his skin. This is textbook on how to bring a stage musical to the screen, one of the very rare screen adaptations of a stage musical where the score was pretty much not tampered with. Rex Harrison won the Best Actor Oscar for his flashy turn as Henry Higgins (though, if the truth be told, that award should have gone to Peter Sellers for Dr. Strangelove) and though Hepburn is enchanting as the transformed Eliza, I never really buy the cockney girl part of her character. She also loses demerits for her singing being dubbed by Marni Nixon. Julie Andrews did get sweet revenge for losing this role by winning Best Actress that year for Mary Poppins while Hepburn wasn't even nominated. BTW, on my list of favorite movie costumes, Cecil Beaton's breathtaking Oscar winning creations for this film clocked in at #1. 4.5

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjI1NDYzNzY2Ml5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwODQwODczNTM@._V1_.jpg


2nd Rewatch...This brassy big budget look at PT Barnum (not to be confused with the 1980 Broadway musical starring Jim Dale and Glen Close) works thanks to a terrific score by the composers of the score for La La Land and a flashy performance by Hugh Jackman in the starring role that leaps off the screen. Also have to give a shout out to Keala Settle as the Bearded Lady. 4

[Gideon58]

https://i5.walmartimages.com/seo/Lili-POSTER-27x40-1964_f7aa53e9-222a-4498-a070-0fde38ab9e9e.7623c36fc4d2f97c374f522a1e30313e.jpeg?odnHeight=768&odnWidth=768&odnBg=FFFFFF

1st Rewatch...Leslie Caron's enchanting performance in the title role earned her her first Oscar nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress. She plays a 16 year old French orphan who lands a job at a carnival where she becomes romantically involved with to very different men. Marcus the Magnificent (Jean Pierre Aumont) is a womanizing magician with a very clingy and possessive wife (Zsa Zsa Gabor) and Paul (Mel Ferrer) is a very bitter former dancer whose dance career was ended by an injury that forced him to become a puppeteer and can only communicate with Lili through his puppets. Charles Walters who directed many Hollywood classics like Summer Stock. Please Don't Eat the Daisies and The Unsinkable Molly Brown, received his only Oscar nomination for Best Direction for his work here. Despite the slight ick factor because her leading men are way too old for her, Caron is just luminous here. 4

[Gideon58]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNmJmYmUyODctZDU2Mi00NDhlLWFmYWYtZDcxZmZhMzUxZTFhXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_.jpg


1sdt Rewatch...This fact-based story of fighting redneck justice pissed me off more this time than the first time I watched it. Michael B Jordan plays Bryan Stevenson, a recent Harvard law school graduate who has decided to devote his career to helping people who are already on death row and decides to take on the case of Johnny D (Oscar winner Jamie Foxx) who is to be executed for a crime he didn't commit. I let my anger about what happens in this movie affect my rating and am upping my original rating. 4

[Stirchley]

105016

Cringe. This was bad. Glad she finally got married & had a baby, but, boy, I found it hard to finish this. Not to mention they killed off Hugh Grant. :eek:

Or maybe they didn’t. :eek:

[ueno_station54]

https://a.ltrbxd.com/resized/film-poster/3/1/1/8/0/9/311809-disembodied-0-2000-0-3000-crop.jpg?v=f0f512c25e
50's B-movie by way of a crusty, low-budget 90's movie that i wish i liked more because there is some really cool stuff here and a lot of it is done surprisingly well.
3

[*Sky*]

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) - Stanley Kubrick: 8.5/10
So very relevant these days (especially this scene)!
https://media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExbXlkODB4b3R1d2xpbWZqbnN2azI3d255dXIzOXViYnFnOTRvbWR4dCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfY nlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/diCmiRFzbd6Cc/giphy.gif

[Thief]

A DIFFERENT MAN
(2024, Schimberg)

https://i.imgur.com/fjoXPC6.png


"It’s kind of brilliant seeing you who looks like you, but you’re not yourself."



A Different Man follows Edward (Sebastian Stan), a C-level struggling actor who suffers from a severe case of facial neurofibromatosis. This not only limits his acting opportunities, but also makes him struggle with his social interactions with co-workers, neighbors, and potential love interests. When the opportunity of an experimental procedure that might heal him comes up, he takes it thinking it will change his life. However, Edward will soon realize that his perception of himself goes beyond what his face looks like; something that is made more evident when he meets Oswald (Adam Pearson), a fellow actor that suffers from the same condition.

One of the main reasons I caught up with this film was that it was nominated for an Oscar. However, I had been curious about it since its release. Maybe because of the involvement of Stan, his subsequent nomination for The Apprentice, and my curiosity to see him in something other than the MCU, but also because of Pearson, who I've been following on social media since Under the Skin. Turns out that my instincts were right, cause both Stan and Pearson deliver some really strong performances that I would even call "great".

Grade: 4


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2534115#post2534115)

[matt72582]

The Night Porter - 7.5/10


6.6/10 on IMDB was political.



https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b8/Thenightporter.jpg

[Darth Pazuzu]

The Night Porter - 7.5/10


6.6/10 on IMDB was political.



https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b8/Thenightporter.jpg

I'm a really big fan of this movie, and I've seen quite a few other films from its director, Liliana Cavani. Have you seen her Beyond Good and Evil from 1977, starring Dominique Sanda as Lou von Salome, Erland Josephson as Friedrich Nietzsche, and Robert Powell as Paul Rée? To my knowledge, it has never been properly released on VHS, DVD, Blu-ray or 4K UHD at all in the United States! When I first found out about this movie (reading the booklet that came with the Criterion Collection edition of The Night Porter), I was intrigued. I later found out that the movie was about a short-lived ménage à trois between three philosophers, and I thought to myself: "This could be either the greatest biopic that Ken Russell never directed or the greatest sketch that Monty Python's Flying Circus never made!" :lol: Perhaps it has aspects of both, but thankfully it's very much its own thing, and is quite worthwhile viewing. I got my DVD copy on bootleg... ;)

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/cRj1VbmyMXIPpj0mji3M73gZMEX.jpg

[matt72582]

I'm a really big fan of this movie, and I've seen quite a few other films from its director, Liliana Cavani. Have you seen her Beyond Good and Evil from 1977, starring Dominique Sanda as Lou von Salome, Erland Josephson as Friedrich Nietzsche, and Robert Powell as Paul Rée? To my knowledge, it has never been properly released on VHS, DVD, Blu-ray or 4K UHD at all in the United States! When I first found out about this movie (reading the booklet that came with the Criterion Collection edition of The Night Porter), I was intrigued. I later found out that the movie was about a short-lived ménage à trois between three philosophers, and I thought to myself: "This could be either the greatest biopic that Ken Russell never directed or the greatest sketch that Monty Python's Flying Circus never made!" :lol: Perhaps it has aspects of both, but thankfully it's very much its own thing, and is quite worthwhile viewing. I got my DVD copy on bootleg... ;)

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/cRj1VbmyMXIPpj0mji3M73gZMEX.jpg


I couldn't make that movie unfortunately.

[Fabulous]

The Taste of Things (2023)

4.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/f5wCpzDKRYkAoZvOZN5fKNu2j2D.jpg

[WHITBISSELL!]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ec/Thelma_2024_film_poster.jpg

Thelma - There comes a moment during Thelma where it goes in an unexpected direction and you think, "Oh sh*t, I thought this was a comedy." But it isn't accurate or fair to pigeonhole this as farce. It covers a fair bit of territory in regards to aging and family dynamics and this country's treatment of the elderly. Unsung 95 year old actress June Squibb stars as Thelma Post. She's a widow living on her own after her husband's passing. Her grandson Danny (Fred Hechinger) regularly visits but Thelma chafes at his worrying and fussing over her. She also feels her daughter Gail (Parker Posey) and son-in-law Alan (Clark Gregg) lean towards being overly controlling.

One day Thelma gets a phone call from someone claiming to be Danny. He's been arrested and needs bail money. A lot of us are familiar with these kinds of scams which exclusively target the elderly. Thelma dutifully sends 10,000 dollars in cash to a PO Box in Van Nuys. After finding out Danny is fine and getting nowhere with the cops she quickly tires of her family's advice to let it go and decides to do something about getting her money back. She eventually manipulates one of her friends, Ben (Richard Roundtree) into letting her test drive his motorized scooter, whereupon she quickly steals it. He catches up to her and decides to accompany her to Van Nuys.

This turns out to be a winning endeavor with the cast responsible for a large part of that. Squibb has been great in all the things I've see her in. About Schmidt, Nebraska, The Humans. Richard Roundtree was such a consummate and well rounded actor that seeing John Shaft riding around in a motorized scooter isn't the curio one would think. Parker Posey is one of those actresses I always take note of and Clark Gregg won me over playing Agent Colson. Malcolm McDowell is always a welcome addition to any movie and he contributes a small but valuable performance. This is worth a watch.

80/100

[LeBoyWondeur]

Gladiator II (2024)

105038

I really liked the original Gladiator when I saw it in the early 2000s (it may have been a VHS rental, before everything changed to DVD) but on a recent rewatch I was put off by the emotionally-manipulative schmaltz and the simplistic black-and-white situation.
But I know there are a lot of people who (still) love it, and it's not unusual to feel protective of our favourite films or music especially when it comes to sequels and remakes.

Because I don't belong to that Gladiator fanclub, watching this sequel should give me the advantage to enjoy it for what it is rather than hating it for what it isn't i.e. the original.
And yet the reason I watched it is because I wanted to see for myself just how bad it really is - a morbid curiosity, as it were.

Gladiator didn't need a sequel in 2002 or 2005, but this one actually follows the story's timeline in real time, 25 years later, which, at least, makes it a little bit more deserving of getting a sequel. Furthermore, it's a continuation that actually makes sense because it's about Lucilla's song Lucius, a character that exists in the original rather than a new one haphazardly retconned into the story.
Gladiator certainly didn't need the remake that Russell Crowe himself wanted: the return of Maximus. So much for "respecting" the original.

So anyway, while I was watching this sequel I wondered when the bad stuff (that what makes so many people hate this film) would start to happen, because all I saw was a gloriously over-the-top and eye-popping Ancient Rome spectacle for the modern ages.
105036
Monster-monkeys, rhinos....sharks!! I seriously wish Ridley Scott had had the audacity to combine it with the Mount Vesuvius disaster...and why stop there? Bring on the UFO!

I also don't understand how this film can be seen as a rehash of the original because it's much more a Rome story than a one man's journey.
Characters including Lucius himself are far more political driven which gives the film an epic feel that's different from the first one, although I admit that it lacks the emotional punch of the original (albeit too emotional for my taste).
At the same time I appreciate that it pays some homage to the original without milking it for all it's worth. It was exactly enough to make the connection work.

It's funny that another renowned filmmaker brought Rome to New York in 2024 while Gladiator II brings New York to Rome especially in the character played by Denzel Washington, a fabulous, cape-flapping Disney villain.
His vision that ancestry is irrelevant and that everyone can make it to the top seems very much like the archetypal Nouveau Rich American attitude (or at least the way it used to be).
In essence, I support that vision, but it all depends on what we're willing to sacrifice and also how much of that success we like to share with other people.

Oh, and there's even funny "graffiti" on the walls!
I've enjoyed the heck out of this film.
4.5


But why the nudity warning? For bare arms? Geez, we may as well go back to the Hays Code.

[matt72582]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7d/Molly_maguires_movie_poster.jpg
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5833416

The Molly Maguires - (1970)

Working in coal mines during the 19th Century seems crazy - it halved your life expectancy, was particularly dangerous backbreaking work, and those running the show often cheated and exploited their labour force (as if the whole deal wasn't bad enough.) The Molly Maguires were a group of Irish coal miners who formed a secret society that fought back with violence and sabotage. Richard Harris stars in this movie as Detective James McParlan, sent in undercover to gain employment in a Pennsylvanian coal mine and make contact with the group. The exploitation that went on is illustrated when James gets to the head of the queue in the pay office after a week's soul crushing work - it's added up to $9.24, but then a list of deductions wipes out $9 of that pay, and he ends up with 24 cents for the week. Sean Connery is "Black Jack" Kehoe - leader of a local chapter of the Molly Maguires and Ancient Order of Hibernians, who befriends and recruits James despite his suspicions. The Molly Maguires quietly came and went in 1970, but I liked it and thought it a well-rounded film with some nicely shot scenery by the amazing James Wong Howe and a super score from Henry Mancini. It was nominated for an Oscar for it's art direction. There's serious money up there on the screen (which amounted to a big loss for Paramount), and the film opens with a fantastic 15-minute pre-credit sequence which shows the work the coal miners were doing, the Maguires setting up charges to blow an entire mine to smithereens and the crew leaving - it ends up focused on Sean Connery walking away from the towers and mining buildings as they explode, and it's really "bravo!" stuff, setting up a whole lot of anticipation regarding the conflict to come. It's not perfect - I'm thinking that the screenplay is it's weakest link, but Connery and Harrison are fine and the subject matter compelling and interesting. Another fine chapter regarding the lowly workers fight for fairness, decency, respect and equality instead of being exploited, and how the law is inevitably on the side of those who have money and power - for it's those people who make the rules in the first place.

7/10


Sean Connery, Marty Ritt, and coal miner struggle - I'll try to check this out soon. Thanks!

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/51/Healing_2014.jpg
By http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/sites/www.limelightmagazine.com.au/files/News/healing_0.jpg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43639274

Healing - (2014)

Pretty straightforward movie that makes a very straightforward metaphorical connection between a group of low-security prisoners serving out their time on an Australian farm and the birds that they're put in charge of rehabilitating and trying to release back into the wild. Some birds can make the transition, and some can't - much like the people who are nursing them back to health. The main character is Iranian Viktor Khadem - played by Topol? No, it's Don Hany, but it looks like Topol. The only really recognizable face amongst the cast is Hugo Weaving, who plays Senior Case Worker Matt Perry, tying his hardest to put broken lives back together, since many of the prisoners have tragic backstories - such as one who ran over his own child by accident after getting high. Viktor is having trouble reconnecting with his family, but the healing process is aided by the relationship he develops with a wedge-tail eagle, which is having it's own struggles. Light on melodrama, this film doesn't give any of the actors a real chance to shine but instead works in subtle ways and is a low key endeavour that I could only really recommend to bird enthusiasts and Hugo Weaving superfans.

6/10

[Fabulous]

Saturday Night (2024)

4

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/crAEWin3WuSG0FjsnpyAp8XcdL3.jpg

[markdc]

Uprising (2001)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e4/Uprising_%28film%29.jpg
Jon Avnet’s TV docudrama about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising does a stellar job of portraying the events that took place before, during, and after the greatest display of Jewish resistance to Nazi evil during the Second World War. The movie opens with Germany’s 1939 invasion of Poland and shows how, step by step, the Nazis enacted a program of genocide that began with the herding of Warsaw’s Jews into a small, confined ghetto, where they were brutalized and starved, and ended with their deportation to the death camps. We meet the key figures in the Jewish resistance movement and witness their planning and coordination of the uprising that took place in April 1943. When the uprising finally happens, seeing the Jewish David fight the Nazi Goliath is exhilarating, and although the outcome is never in doubt, the movie’s message about the importance of fighting for honor and dignity even when the odds are hopelessly stacked against you is a universal one that can apply to any oppressed people. Unfortunately, as great as Avnet’s film is, it also perpetuates an egregious historical crime, so I can’t give it the perfect popcorn rating that I’d like to.

rating_4_5

[Gideon58]

https://resizing.flixster.com/FTHBGq9jCInQsKBj9dhfLIVIxrM=/ems.cHJkLWVtcy1hc3NldHMvbW92aWVzLzg2NWVmODUwLWIzMDAtNGVkMC1iODgwLWZmZDAyOTVkODkwYS5qcGc=



4

[exiler96]

New Rose Hotel (1998) - Abel Ferrara is one of those filmmakers that are better with ideas than they are with the executions of those ideas, and since he never "sold out" to be anything but an independent auteur, he apparently is greenlit to do whatever the hell he wants on the screen; which is why I think he alienates like half of the audience most of the times (the imdb ratings for the majority of his films are abysmal - and not always fair, imo).

Here for example he wants to tell a story of modern men being puppets in the random and wild corporate world; destined to be robbed of love and salvation... but it's not a deep film by the end (and by design, you could say) cause it doesn't operate in our world at all. It requires you to sit with it... and I did, how can I not when it basically features Willem Dafoe and Christoper Walken hanging out for 90 minutes; two actors who are born star in post-modern stories such as this and render nonesensical dialogues of this type into something interesting to hear...

I vibed with it. Didn't check but he was probably inspired by Lost Highway to make this... 6/10.

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/59b6d8ceb65c6d949cfa2471d6718c3ba02cc2d7/47_201_6505_3901/master/6505.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none

[Thief]

I'M NOT A ROBOT
(2023, Warmerdan)

https://i.imgur.com/6vcN86b.png


"It's called Captcha... Completely Automatic Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart."



I'm Not a Robot follows Lara (Ellen Parren), who finds herself questioning her true nature after repeatedly failing CAPTCHA tests at work. This is one of the live shorts nominated for an Oscar this year, and I thought it was pretty well done. I thought the way that they build up this uncertainty about Lara's identity was really well done, while also never losing perspective of her "humanity" and emotions.

Grade: 3.5


Full review on my Movie Loot (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2534438#post2534438)

[AboveTheClouds]

https://universeofentertainment.es/cdn/shop/files/beneaththevalleyoftheultravixens.jpg?v=1735217773&width=1920A very solid 4.5/5


Russ Meyer has been a favourite of mine since I first saw Supervixens back in the early 2000's, and finally some of his films are available on Blu/4K and I couldn't be happier.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/g0QT5n8k/It-s-a-wonderful-life.jpg
By "Copyright 1946 RKO Radio Pictures Inc." - Scan via Heritage Auctions., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=85715937

It's a Wonderful Life - (1946)

Put this on with no expectations, and really in a mood to just take this as it is - seeing George Bailey (James Stewart) as I might myself depending what mood I'm in. Is he an abject failure, or an extraordinary success story? Such a measurement depends on what you value, and of course the humanistic viewpoint is always going to score points with me. I didn't care if it was 1940s hokey, or if Stewart's "by golly, gee whiz" demeanour is something from an age long past - it was as heartwarming to me as it was always meant to be, and I really must start watching these films with a less critical eye from that perspective. Anyway, against expectations I enjoyed myself a lot thanks to this spur of the moment decision to put It's a Wonderful Life on - and of course anything questioning the merits of all-out rabid capitalism against the merits of community and basic tenets of what civilisation is meant to be is going to be a winner in my book. Thank goodness for all the George Baileys out there - the real success stories of our day and age. Anyone who enriches themselves at the expense of their fellow man without any sense of the greater good need take note of what really makes a wonderful life. Oh and yes - a very well made movie to boot.

8/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/26/West_of_the_Pecos_1945_film_poster.jpg
By https://www.moviepostershop.com/west-of-the-pecos-movie-poster-1945, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75334964

West of the Pecos - (1945)

Everything that makes a B-grade western is in West of the Pecos, which really plays up the comedy (and is occasionally really funny.) Robert Mitchum really shows off the qualities which would make him a huge star (apparently this was the first ever movie in which he was leading man.) All-up though, aside from those good qualities it goes through the motions when it's not aiming for laughs or giving Mitchum his chance to shine.

5/10

https://i.postimg.cc/4yxhrCqf/a-brig.jpg
By Derived from a digital capture (photo/scan) of the Film Poster (creator of this digital version is irrelevant as the copyright in all equivalent images is still held by the same party). Copyright held by the film company or the artist. Claimed as fair use regardless., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26592776

A Brighter Summer Day - (1991)

I really need to watch Edward Yang's A Brighter Summer Day again, and that's not an easy ask for this 4-hour epic Taiwanese film - or any 4-hour film for that matter. I find the prospect tantalizing, and I also find my ability to not enjoy actually watching a film because of a kind of restless first-viewing lack of focus something that often makes it hard to judge a movie like this fairly. That's absolutely exponentially amplified when the film has a running time of 237 minutes. Full review here (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2534469#post2534469), in my watchlist thread.

6/10

[Fabulous]

Anyone But You (2023)

3

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/nTPFkLUARmo1bYHfkfdNpRKgEOs.jpg

[LChimp]

https://i0.wp.com/screen-connections.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Millers.Girl-Digital.Poster.jpg

Miller's Girl - (2024)

Almost fell asleep halfway through. Aside from Jenna Ortega, there's little to like here. 5/10

[ueno_station54]

https://a.ltrbxd.com/resized/film-poster/2/2/6/0/2/0/226020-after-school-massacre-0-2000-0-3000-crop.jpg?v=74cf5015f6
from what i've seen from Jared Masters, when he's trying to make something goony it never actually feels like it but unfortunately this one does come off as kind of gross. has a bit of charm in spots but nah this ain't it.
2

[Gideon58]

Or maybe they didn’t. :eek:

Saw the first film a few months ago and have been fearing the sequels. Thanks for legitimizing my fears.

[chawhee]

Vice (2018)
https://filmdb.landmarkcinemas.com/FilmImages/22/1/121534/OscarPoster-Vice.jpg
3
This is my first time seeing this since many of the reviews from when the original movie came out seemed very lukewarm, and my opinion of it is similar. Kudos to Bale for trying to become Dick Cheney, but I found nearly all of the acting to be subpar. There is a story to be told here, but I don't think McKay and his style worked well for this (I actually only liked Big Short by him now that I think of it).

[Stirchley]

105080

Powerful movie that still holds up after several viewings. My favorite kind of movie: a woman on a journey.

105081

Good movie. Ralph Fiennes excellent as he always is.

[seanholmes2]

The last movie I saw was Venom: The Last Dance. Sony's live action movie Venom Three wasn't bad, but it had pacing issues. In my opinion, highlight moments of Sony's Venom Three movie was seeing Marvel's Sadie and the Payback symbiote.

[Gideon58]

Vice (2018)
https://filmdb.landmarkcinemas.com/FilmImages/22/1/121534/OscarPoster-Vice.jpg
3
This is my first time seeing this since many of the reviews from when the original movie came out seemed very lukewarm, and my opinion of it is similar. Kudos to Bale for trying to become Dick Cheney, but I found nearly all of the acting to be subpar. There is a story to be told here, but I don't think McKay and his style worked well for this (I actually only liked Big Short by him now that I think of it).

I thought Bale was amazing in this and was robbed of a Best Actor Oscar. JMO.

[exiler96]

4:44: The Last Day on Earth (2011)... the sam year as Melancholia, Ferrara made the saddest hangout movie. It's minor but effective, considering all he has going for him here, which is Willem Dafoe (Abel's avatar in his own films?) and a bunch of other actors, f*cking and fighting and loving and awaiting the end of the world. Doesn't say much beyond "cherish the moments you have with those you care about" but it's nakedness appealed to me. The world is broken, you're part of it, and eastern philosephy might make your last hours more bearable.

He doesn't want to over-complicate things in the least, but I can sense sincerity here... generous 6/10.

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2012/03/23/arts/23FOUR_SPAN/FOUIR-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale

[Allaby]

Nickel Boys (2024) I have mixed feelings about this film. I respect what they are trying to achieve with the first person point of view, but sadly it didn't work for me. It didn't feel organic or natural and I found it distracting. It took away from the story and the actors performances. The performances were good, but I couldn't fully connect with the characters. There are some beautiful shots and powerful moments, but the film felt too long and much of it wasn't as effective or as engaging as it should have been. 3

[exiler96]

Siberia (2020)... Now this one just ran through me. I should dig what Ferrara is doing here (a man in total isolation remembers his past and regrets) but it's a prime opposition of the "show. don't tell." rule in cinema (we're told he loved his family, we're told he had to leave etc.) and thus is robbed of much of the weight that it could have. I think of Bergman's Wild Strawberries (1957) but there the protagonist had actual conversations and encounters with real people (one of them being his daughter in law, if I'm not mistaken); whereas Ferrara's character not only has left his past life behind, he's cut off from life in an icy landscape where he has nobody to talk to and all he can do is to see visions... Maybe there's comfort at the end in this film but I was so unengaged throughout that I didn't care. Might give it a revisit in the future since it leaves one in some kind of a mood..... A generous 5/10 for now.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BODIzZjRhYjYtNzJlNC00YWQ4LWEwMmYtOGI1NzYyNDM0MGY3XkEyXkFqcGdeQVRoaXJkUGFydHlJbmdlc3Rpb25Xb3JrZmxv dw@@._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg

[LeBoyWondeur]

Captain Fantastic (2016)

105100

The title can be read in different ways and I guess that's what the story is all about, but at least it's appropriate for a The Incredibles family in the wilderness.

It starts with a healthy, resourceful family being relatively happy in their outlook on life and human's place in the world but since I didn't even know what kind of film it would be I could only cautiously root for this situation.
The clash of societies shows the pros and cons on both sides but I never got the impression that the film wanted me to agree or disagree with the story or its characters.
The real strength of Captain Fantastic is in its confident and uncompromising narrative, just like the Cash family itself.
There are lots of charming moments but these are counterbalanced by awkwardness especially the parts about the mother. They're eccentric but it doesn't really feel that way because they play it straight.

The whole cast is terrific, no need to pick a favourite, and Viggo wears some truly hideous outfits except when he isn't wearing anything.
Funniest scene: she said "interesting!".

4.5

[Captain Quint]

105102

The Girl with the Needle
I was familiar with the case it's based on, but even going in with eyes wide open, this was difficult to watch. The B&W photography is a wonder and its overall well crafted, just very, very harsh, though not without nuance.

At MUBI

4

[Wooley]

105104

Holy crap.
It's not like this is the first Russ Meyer film I've ever seen but it is the most explicit.
I've finally seen the film that Roger Ebert wrote. And I can't believe it.

[Fabulous]

Quiz Lady (2023)

3.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/amn608coM0n5Z2RuNpb41uCyr5X.jpg

[PHOENIX74]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bb/Unfinished_Sky_%282007_film%29.jpg
By Peter Duncan, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47180331

Unfinished Sky - (2007)

A sex slave from Afghanistan escapes her captors in a small Australian town and finds refuge with a man who needs saving in a spiritual sense. The fear and distrust that has to be overcome is epic, and language barriers add a sense that our two characters, John Woldring (William McInnes) and Tahmeena (Monic Hendrickx) can only really express what they're feeling, not thinking - but Hendrickx, a Dutch actress who also starred in the same role in the original version of this (The Polish Bride), is eminently watchable and the real takeaway from this pretty average but reasonably decent Aussie movie. It's always nice to see something with actors you've never seen before - although David Field, who shows up as the questionable Sergeant Carl Allen, is an Australian staple and favourite of mine. Hendrickx won a very deserved AFI Award for Best Actress, and I'd say she beat her competitors hands down.

6/10

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6b/WalkingOnWater2002.jpg
By All Movie Guide [1], Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12485563

Walking on Water - (2002)

I didn't initially take to all of the characters in Walking on Water - of which there initially seemed to be too many. The film starts with the death of Gavin (David Bonney) from AIDS - promised a dignified death, his family and friends are much aggrieved when multiple overdoses of morphine simply don't do the trick, so his close friend Charlie (Vince Colosimo) puts a bag over his head - a decision that will haunt him during the messy grieving process all of Gavin's friends and family go through. About how different people handle grieving, it's a movie that I felt really pulled itself together during the final stretch after leaving me unimpressed during it's first two-thirds - and that makes me wonder, how much do I rate a movie that had me feeling "Bravo!" at the end but kind of "Oh, I am so bored and fed up with these characters" for a good while before that? I think a significantly higher rating would have been in order if we'd have been able to see a little deeper into what was going on earlier instead of watching people dance and have sex, but perhaps shallow attempts to distract ourselves from the recent death of a loved one is the point. Anyway, this isn't a complete waste of time and anyone with the slightest interest should perhaps give it a chance. You'll get a few renditions of "Under the Milky Way" for your trouble (The Church and Sarah McGregor) which is quite a haunting song, and made for a movie like this - one which won 5 AFI Awards in it's day.

6/10

[LChimp]

https://resizing.flixster.com/-XZAfHZM39UwaGJIFWKAE8fS0ak=/v3/t/assets/p23926270_v_v13_ab.jpg

Kill Boksoon - (2023)

7/10

[exiler96]

The Girl with the Needle
I was familiar with the case it's based on, but even going in with eyes wide open, this was difficult to watch. The B&W photography is a wonder and its overall well crafted, just very, very harsh, though not without nuance.


Going in unaware about what it'll be about, this was pretty shocking. What do you think about the first hour which is not about a certain case though? I'm surprised it takes this long for our protagonist to encounter her.

[Captain Quint]

I thought it was a good set-up, that nightmarish opening scene sets the stage smartly, and while it doesn't excuse what Dagmar did, after witnessing all of that ugliness and knowing this is happening to women all over (not to mention what the men went through during the war and its aftermath), you can see how that might break and twist a mind, the "This world is a hell, they're better off not living in it", type of thought process.

[markdc]

@chawhee
“This is my first time seeing this since many of the reviews from when the original movie came out seemed very lukewarm, and my opinion of it is similar. Kudos to Bale for trying to become Dick Cheney, but I found nearly all of the acting to be subpar. There is a story to be told here, but I don't think McKay and his style worked well for this (I actually only liked Big Short by him now that I think of it).”

I thought Vice was a crappy movie; it was just another typical Leftwing Hollywood hit job against Conservatives/Republicans (and I’m saying this as someone who’s always loathed Richard the Lyingheart.) Bale’s performance is the only good thing about it.
With all that being said, Adam McKay is a talented director. Don’t Look Up is one of my favorite movies; that’s an example of political satires done right.

Mark

[markdc]

Broken Arrow (1996)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/91/Broken-Arrow-poster.jpg
This film by hit-and-miss action helmer John Woo is mildly entertaining but ultimately forgettable. Woo did a much better job the following year with Face/Off.
rating_2