Rate The Last Movie You Saw

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Pawn Sacrifice





Saw Rashomon (1950) on the big screen for the first time. Completely forgot how sexist it is. Like women are either helpless or evil, take your pick. Do love the whole symmetry with the state of japan at the time etc, and the use of the rain as this sort of fake barrier.

6.5/10



You mean me? Kei's cousin?


It took a couple of years, but it's finally made its way Stateside. Naoko Yamada makes it pretty clear women can direct anime, too. She treats its subject matter with the care and sensitivity it deserves where a male director might not. Of course, credit also has to be given to Reiko Yoshida's screenplay. Some have bemoaned how much of the manga ended up on the cutting room floor, but come on, there was no way all of the manga was going to make it into a 130-minute film and it doesn't even feel truncated or thrown together at all. Needless to say, having jaw-dropping animation (that looks like it was just animated yesterday on the Blu-ray) doesn't hurt things any, either. The English dub is really good, too. Robbie Daymond is excellent as Shoya, the bully who became the victim and is trying to find redemption; I was stunned by how quickly you end up caring about this guy after all the things he did. A stroke of sheer genius is hiring actually-deaf Lexi Cowden to dub Shoko, the deaf girl Shoya bullied who has the same nickname and becomes his one shot at redemption. The fact that Cowden is actually deaf only makes the character feel all the more real and makes the bullying scenes that much more devastating. Kristen Sullivan is more than satisfactory as her sister Yuzuru, who actually pretends to be her boyfriend - yep, they (aside from Shoko, obviously - that would be weird) actually think she's a guy until she reveals herself - before seeing that Shoya really has changed and has no intention of hurting Shoko ever again. Graham Halstead does a fine job as Nagatsuka, who decides Shoya is his best friend after Shoya prevents the theft of Nagatsuka's bike by letting the thief "borrow" his own. He is especially convincing in a scene near the end where he's oddly reminiscent of Anthony Pulcini as Kai in the Pioneer dub of Akira; I'm thinking of a specific scene ("Whaaat?! Kaneda! You're alive! I thought you were in there! I thought you were in there for sure!"). Sara Cravens is also very good in her limited playtime as Miyako, Shoya's mother; she has a great moment near the beginning where she threatens to burn Shoya's money (1.7 billion yen) unless he promises he won't commit suicide. The rest of the cast are also excellent and the dub script is completely natural. It's not the easiest film to watch, the scenes of bullying especially devastating, but it's a rewarding and emotionally satisfying film and you'll definitely pick up something worthwhile if you stay with it. It's no wonder Makoto Shinkai (yes, that Makoto Shinkai) had such positive things to say about this one and frankly, I'd love to see what Yamada does next. She's got the talent without a doubt.
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Look, Dr. Lesh, we don't care about the disturbances, the pounding and the flashing, the screaming, the music. We just want you to find our little girl.



Hellloooo Cindy - Scary Movie (2000)
Gerald’s Game

Some scary and creepy moments but too few and far between. Then a strange ending that seems tacked on and disjointed. It’s a strange last 5 mins.

Slight spoilers and discussion for those who’ve seen the film: Have an issue with certain scenes showing you too much and making it like a traditional sex scene. Makes me uncomfortable watching. Not sure who would want to watch that ordinarily. I like a more subtle approach - not as subtle as the shinning though which I only cottoned on to by reading an analysis.

Overall not a great experience let down by a strange ending. Think they could have made the dog more menacing.

2.5 / 5



The Towering Inferno 1974

A 70's star filled disaster movie that still holds up.
(Unlike The Poseidon Adventure'72, that didn't age well imo)
Features a great McQueen|Newman alpha male actor face off. Although Newman is one of my all time fav actors, McQueen's machismo level is just way higher, what a baws!






Balibo (2009)

Starring Anthony LaPaglia and Oscar Isaac, directed by Robert Connolly, this is a gripping docu-drama revealing the invasion of East Timor by Indonesia in 1975. It is a little known story in the west, but the invasion resulted in upwards of 200,000 deaths.

The narrative focuses on the missing Australian film crew, and the subsequent search by another newsman along with an eventual president of East Timor, who went to try to find out information about the journalists' disappearance.

It watches as a documentary, which adds to the tension and viewer involvement. One is left to wonder if the newsmen were stupid or just possessed.

Available on Amazon and streaming services.


Doc's rating 7/10






They're Creeping Up on You....What the world needs is a new and improved cockroach. In an effort to control cockroaches "naturally" a company creates a roach that feeds on other roaches but only survives for one life cycle. What could go wrong? As it turns out life...finds a way. The roaches don't die after one cycle and they do what roaches do - develop a taste for everything - pets, people, crappy diner food, etc. and some of the roaches, especially the Queen, get pretty big. Like people size. Surprisingly, there were some decent practical gore effects reminiscent of the Fly (not quite THAT good) or Society (on par). Not a very good film but solid B-movie fare.



The Wailing (2016)




This was on my watchlist and I finally decided to get to it after it showed up on the top 100 horror countdown. I had some issues at the beginning, specifically with the tone and the brightness. These are personal issues rather than actual issues with the movie, but the movie was good enough so that I was able to eventually overlook them. It's just over 2 1/2 hours long but I was never bored and it never felt drawn out. The little girl was tremendous and I have no complaint with this making the countdown.



Silence (2016)



Re-watch and every bit as worthy (in the correct way) as my previous watch. A genuine simplicity to this film...a straight tale. Heartbreaking and inspiring and non-judgemental. Scorsese at his best. As a side-note, I read that Benicio Del Toro was originally lined up for the Sebastião Rodrigues role. that would have been interesting...not saying that Andrew Garfield was a bad choice but maybe lacks the gravitas that the part needs.

8/10



Shaun of the Dead (2004)
I don't care about a hype, but this movie just don't stick, even if Pegg and Frost doing their best.
I'm with you on this one Nestorio_Miklos, as likeble as Pegg and Frost are the whole thing is chucklesome but weak.



Shazam!
(2019)
3.5/5


I'm not really a DC fan but I remember watching Shazam when I was a child.



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
Highlander (1986)
aside from Lambert's cheesy accent, I think this movie should get more consideration than it does.


The sequel is the best one, but this is still a great movie.