Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Nocturnal Animals 8/10

Silent Hill is great. I loved the video game and the movie was just as brutal!

Is Frances Ha worth watching? It's been on my radar for awhile but I just can't bring myself to do it.

Damn Hays Code!

Why can't you bring yourself to do it? I've seen it, so if you tell me what the reservation is, I can tell you whether or not you're right.

Totally agree. I enjoyed it for the most part but that ending was maddening, one of the all time worst in my book.

This movie is startling right off the bat with how it looks and that beauty never lets up. I actually think the movie is brilliant, yet I struggled to stay interested for it's duration. Maybe I just needed more focus because I have nothing to complain about. Anton Walbrook, who I just discovered a couple weeks ago, is an amazing actor. I just had trouble wondering what I was supposed to think and feel about his character. Maybe if I could pin something down I'd be able to connect more. I enjoyed Black Swan a little more, but I feel that this movie is substantially better somehow.

Of course it is.

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I felt the same Cricket. Thought it was gorgeous and a very good film but i struggled to pay attention to it. Just don't think it is for me.

¸haha that's crazy! How can 3 mins ruin the whole thing?! I've gotta see this now! Maybe that's the whole point! Because I don't even see how it's possible!

A successful return to a fun character. Marvel has another winner under their belt and has finally brought on a relatable and compelling villain, something the franchise films have been in dire need of.

After the events of Civil War, Peter Parker is able to keep the high-tech Spider suit Stark created and takes it upon himself to help the neighbourhood. When he sees common crooks wielding super weapons, custom made from after the events of The Avengers, Spiderman alerts Tony Stark. Stark has no time for small stuff like this, so who can Peter Parker turn to? He must look to himself, put aside his inexperience and become the hero he is destined to be. Stop those criminals, find the manufacturer and stop being a nerdy and awkward teenager around the girl he likes.

3rd times a charm? I'm still a big fan of Raimi's Spiderman 2, but I would put Homecoming on par with that film for the Spiderman series. The film is able to balance humour and action well, giving the viewer someone more relatable than the previous 'heroes' on the screen. This is a kid who thinks everything that is happening to him is spectacular, or amazing (see what I did there) and we are slowly moving away from the burdened hero. This gives this film the advantage of having a lot more fun with the silly concepts it throws at us, all while keeping it grounded with a compelling villain.

Michale Keaton rocks in this film, his character actually has understandable motivations. No longer are we concerned with world domination, this is smaller scale, which ironically raises the stakes. We've been bombarded with building exploding, world's colliding and hell breaking lose so often that we've become desensitized to it all. Now here's a guy manufacturing weapons from alien tech, working small time and on the ground floor. It's almost as if the people at Marvel listen to the criticism of the their franchise, and actually make ways to improve it. They have given us something a little different here and it works.

The film has some exciting action sequences, one involving a ferry, the other at the Washington Monument. Those sure are fun, but far from the best scenes this film has to offer. There's a scene where Keaton and Holland are in a car together and Keaton delivers some chilling lines that cranks the tension up tenfold. No overacting, just one guy having a conversation with another. Very subtle, but very convincing. Another performance from Keaton that makes me so glad to see him have a career resurgence.

Tom Holland is probably the best version of Spiderman we've gotten so far. He manages to blend innocence, brilliance and comical one-liners better than any previous entries. It might help that he is actually the youngest actor to portray the character. He has arguably the best looking suit as well.

Not everything is perfect. One too many hot aunt May jokes and an unearned ending where Stark wraps everything nicely in a bow for him takes the film down a peg, but otherwise, this is an enjoyable superhero film.

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"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

I'm not sure what the reaction to an ending was at the time, but by today's standard it just seems cliche and overdone. Without too much spoiling, the film spends significant amount of time building up the tension and basically all of it is shattered by the film's 3 minutes. Guess you'll have to see it for yourself,but I personally thought the ending was very frustrating.

We Are X (Stephen Kijak, 2016)

This documentary revolves around the "greatest band to come out of Japan", X Japan, as they prepare for their 2014 gig at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The film mostly revolves around both drummer/pianist/leader Yoshiki and his search for "the meaning of life", which he discovers through his songs and his friendship with lead vocalist Toshi, who in 1997, was under the influence of a cult, which lead to the disbanding of the band only to be a part of the reunion ten years later, finally breaking free of the cult. There's also the mysterious death of guitarist Hide, which from what I understand, has been ruled an accidental suicide as he was drunk doing a neck stretching technique and hung himself in 1998. Yoshiki is also seen going to the doctors as his experiences so many issues from his frenetic headbanging and drumming. He was forced to stop the headbanging and learns a technique to play piano without using too much force.

I've been a huge fan of the band since 1992, when my best friend, who is originally from Japan, had me heard their 1989 album Blue Blood on a class trip. Since then, I've been hooked and they do have a sixth album almost ready to go.

Definitely enjoyed watching this!

Final Rating: A

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The Devils

When he's near, everything goes wrong. Toast falls jelly-side down, children hit tables, and people get hurt

Very deplorable people commit heinous deeds under the guise of holiness. Reed was a great actor.

Aki Kaurismaki (documentary)

Full video on youtube, link down below

Pimpernel Smith (1941)


Surprisingly, a dark horse for my 40's list. A nice mix of tension and comedy, making this a really entertaining watch. Recommended.

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A Separation {Jodaeiye Nader az Simin} (2011, Asghar Farhadi)
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Another beautifully told story by Asghar Farhadi (I've seen About Elly a while back, and liked that one too). And again it explores the themes of family, morality and women's role in a traditional/religious society, alongside the all-pervading problem of lies and their effect on the course of events and, ultimately, on people's lives. Farhadi doesn't go out of his way to shock or impress the viewer technically - he uses the cinematic techniques available to him to the extent that is needed to tell his story, and he does it masterfully.