Rate The Last Movie You Saw

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

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

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

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

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

Next of Kin, 1982

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kid90, 2021

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Firstly, may I express --




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


Simple folk working with Italian Resistance Leaders that the Gestapo, specifically these excellently portrayed viper and black widow spider moving in for the kill.


And move in, they do.

Against Italian Bravado,


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

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

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What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes

~Mr Minio

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

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

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

She's awesome.

rewatched

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

Ida (2013)