Rate The Last Movie You Saw

The Last Temptation of Christ
Even if I don't particularly like it, this is a fascinating film. I think the final act is excellent, and Dafoe's performance as Christ is terrific; yet, many segments feel tasteless, the white-washed cast is too distracting to ignore, and the time setting doesn't feel sufficiently anachronistic.

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage +
So much fun. Considering that this is Argento's directorial debut, you can colour me impressed. It's also a surprisingly unpredictable mystery, which kept me guessing throughout the entire runtime.

Night of the Lepus (1972)

Corny but totally fun cheesy horror flick about giant, killer rabbits, naturally. Lepus is the Latin term for rabbit. Apparently the producers didn't want to give away the fact that it was about killer rabbits when that's the main draw to this movie. Anyhow, regular rabbits are out of control, wreaking havoc on farmers' crops and such, and naturally overpopulating the area. So, two scientists, the married couple Stuart Whitman and Janet Leigh, with their daughter in tow, come up with a serum meant to control the overpopulation. But, the daughter becomes unknowingly responsible for the whole debacle when she switches rabbits so she can have one of her own and she picks a rabbit injected with the wrong serum, who promptly gets away and starts making giant rabbits.

What follows is pretty hilarious, although not mean to be. We have tons of giant bunnies barreling their way through miniature sets, quick shots of men in rabbit suits savaging victims, people trapped in a cellar shooting through the ceiling, with bunnies with fake blood suddenly flying into the air, obviously with an invisible string wrapped around their bodies, pulling them. Good times. A cast with Whitman, Leigh, Rory Calhoun, DeForest Kelley (with hilarious long sideburns and mustache) and Paul Fix. all perform with a straight face. I really like this flick, in a MST3K kind of way. In fact, I'm wondering why they never tackled this one. Recommended, if you're in the mood.





Gentlemen Broncos (2009)

From the man who wrote and directed Napolean Dynamite comes this same style of comedy. In other words, weird characters, quirky situations, some deadpan acting, and lots of laughs. We have Benjamin (Michael Angarano), a young writer who is still living with his mom, Judith (Jennifer Coolidge), a struggling clothing designer. Benjamin takes his unpolished novel to a writer's convention and goes to a class "taught" by a puffed-up, ludicrous wrtier, Chevalier (Jemaine Clement) who promises prizes to whoever's manuscript a "panel of jurors" find to be the best. Of course Chevalier is the sole member of the panel and he rifles through the manuscripts to find something to steal as his work is no longer drawing interest from publishers. And Benjamin's story is naturally the one he steals and changes enough to make into his own story to sell. It's up to Benjamin, his friends (who've made a really bad amateur movie from his manuscript), and even his mom, to help stop Chevalier. It's all great fun but the best part of this movie by far is what we see when Benjamin's work is read. We see Samuel Rockwell as his hero, Bronco, who is all buffed up, with wild, unruly hair, who is outrageous to say the least. I don't want to give away the dialogue that Rockwell says but I was laughing from the moment he opened his mouth and the moment I saw his getup. The fantasy/sci-fi scenes are as cheesy/hilarious as possible and really make the show. Also, we get the treat of Chevalier's ripoff reading of Benjamin's book being seen from Chevalier's point-of-view, with Rockwell and the same characters changed and not for the better. If you're looking for something offbeat and goofy, this is your ticket.

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"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."

Beautiful!!



How many films can delivery a climax and an anticlimax at the same time?



"Sword Devil" (1965)
Directed by Kenji Misumi
Awesome!

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
This movie gets better every time I see it.
9/10

Bring me the head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) - +
Hairspray (1988) -
Rubble Kings (2010) -
Chicken (2015) -

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Too weird to live, and too rare to die.

The Last Wave (1977)

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A normal man? For me, a normal man is one who turns his head to see a beautiful woman's bottom. The point is not just to turn your head. There are five or six reasons. And he is glad to find people who are like him, his equals. That's why he likes crowded beaches, football, the bar downtown...

The Fate of the Furious 9/10

Free Fire - 2017

Sadly, despite of all the positive I found in this movie, I felt the running time weighing down my experience. You can only see people shooting and crawling through the floor for so long before you desire something to break the monotony. It got to a point where I honestly didn’t care who came out on top, as long as they walked out instead of crawled out.

Free Fire is not a bad movie, it's a little disappointing since I had high hopes for it. The movie has great bones, it's just missing some meat to it that helps the audience throughout the entire running time. But, Sharlto Copley is why I love movies.

Full review over at my site!

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whyilovemovies.com

A History of Violence
Eastern Promises

I remember really enjoying both of these on release. Now both seem overacted and forced; A History of Violence especially. Yeah, I kind of hate typing that but it was my gut reaction having not seen either in so long.

I see a Cronenberg theme developing here.... I'll have to dig up eXistenZ and Naked Lunch now and start over.

Yeh I rewatched A History of Violence recently and had the same reaction regarding over actin g. Eastern Promises I've never rewatched. I found it too bleak.

Hidden Figures 8/10

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three - 7/10

I've always preferred this version of the movie to the later version. Matthau and Shaw are both wonderful in this movie, as is the dry, dark wit in the script.

Open the pod bay doors, HAL.

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Ali: Fear Eats the Soul - 8/10

Very good tale about an older woman meeting a younger foreigner.

Damien Omen II. Seven years after the original Omen and Damien, now living with his uncle and aunt and cousin, is about to turn 13 - and about to learn his true identity and destiny, even as dark forces conspire to remove anyone who threatens that destiny coming to fruition. This 1978 horror sequel to the original Omen has always been a favourite of mine, I used to watch this endlessly as a kid - that explains a lot, doesn't it? - though I hadn't seen it for more than 20 years, so I was pleased to find it still stands up well with a great cast including William Holden, Lee Grant and Lance Henriksen, though its best asset is undoubtedly Jonathan Scott-Taylor, who is perfectly cast as the creepy Damien. Really enjoyed it!

Love is Colder Than Death - 4/10

Reminds me of that awful movie breathless.

I saw Roman Polanski's The Pianist (2002) for the first time last night. One of the most powerful and affecting movies I've ever seen that rivals Schindler List. It's really a film that should be compulsory viewing.

5/5

Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)

Love this. At times it's akin to a light comedy but you ought to expect as much from Herzog. Kinski and Adjani are so mesmerizing in their roles.

There's also a kind of somnambulistic tone to it all.

It's worth watching for Roland Topor's bat**** performance as Renfield.

8/10

Edit: one more thing I need to say - this movie shoots the hell out of wind and smoke. It's ethereal. A fog covering a memory. That what I meant by somnambulistic.