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Victim of The Night
Hot take:

Dark City > The Matrix
I've heard this hot take many times and, while I really like Dark City and have watched it many times, I cannot agree in the slightest.



Victim of The Night
Metropolitan - 7/10
Finally saw a good movie. This had a good feel, and I respect any guy who directs and writes their movie. And it's a newer movie, so if I liked it, chances are you will too. But now that I think about it, those threads John Connor started (yearly favorite movies of 1990, etc), I noticed no one listed the movies I liked, so I guess my tastes are a bit unorthodox.


I thought the lead actor, Edward Clements was good and likable, so I wanted to see if there were any available movies with him in it, but after playing a crew member in a movie the year after, he never did another movie again.


If you liked this I would recommend Stillman's Barcelona.



I've heard this hot take many times and, while I really like Dark City and have watched it many times, I cannot agree in the slightest.


WARNING: spoilers below
I think The Strangers memory swapping in search of the human soul just resonated a little more in me




I would say The Matrix was definitely the far more groundbreaking film though, especially when you consider everything that has come after.


I dig both of them, though. And I'm also a bit of a defender of Reloaded and Revolutions



I just watched Magnolia for the first time and it might be one of the best movies I've ever seen.
Yeah, it's a terrific film. I believe it cracked my top 30 a while ago, but was pushed off over time. I should rewatch it someday to see how well I respond to it.
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Victim of The Night
WARNING: spoilers below
I think The Strangers memory swapping in search of the human soul just resonated a little more in me




I would say The Matrix was definitely the far more groundbreaking film though, especially when you consider everything that has come after.


I dig both of them, though. And I'm also a bit of a defender of Reloaded and Revolutions
I also dig both and I agree with your statements for the most part. I also liked Reloaded but Revolutions felt like a bit of a letdown for some reason.



Victim of The Night
I just watched Magnolia for the first time and it might be one of the best movies I've ever seen.
That is a good film. That's funny because I just mentioned it in another thread even though I haven't seen it in years. Really a helluva movie.



I forgot the opening line.

By Impawards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8623823

Sling Blade - (1996)

I don't know what it is with me and Oscars lately. Anyway, this film heralded the arrival of Billy Bob Thornton and won him a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar (and, along with his role in A Simple Plan, one of his two nominations for acting.) This film started out as a one-man play, which was in turn adapted into a short and eventually into this lengthy film. The version I have runs for 148 minutes - above the 135 minutes listed in most places. Kudos to it for keeping me engaged until the end. The best way to describe it is as a darker kind of Forrest Gump - wherein Gump is as friendly as always but occasionally kills the odd person here and there. Only if they deserve it though. Having been released from a mental institution, Karl (Billy Bob Thornton) struggles to adapt to a life of freedom. He somewhat sees himself in a child he befriends, and that brings him into the vicinity of Doyle (Dwight Yoakam) - a man who is cruel to the kid and Karl.

Interesting, trying to figure out what makes the unusual Karl tick. I thought it was very good, but it didn't blow me away as much as it did others.

7/10







Secrets & Lies - I hadn't seen this 1996 Mike Leigh film in years. It's about a successful London optometrist who decides to look for her birth mother after her adoptive mother dies. Marianne Jean-Baptiste plays Hortense Cumberbatch and she happens to be black. Meanwhile, Cynthia Rose Purley (Brenda Blethyn) toils away at a box factory while living in her dilapidated East London childhood home with her resentful daughter Roxanne (Claire Rushbrook). Her younger brother Maurice (Leigh regular Timothy Spall) runs a successful photography business and lives in the London suburbs with his peevish wife Monica (Phyllis Logan). Monica has never gotten along with Cynthia the result of which is that Maurice has distanced himself from his older sister. The couple are particularly fond of Roxanne though which is one of many details that will eventually be addressed.

WARNING: spoilers below
Hortense eventually tracks down Cynthia who so happens to be white. This is the catalyst that brings together numerous separate storylines but the acting from all involved is solid and their characters engaging so it's a seamless transition. After the expected pushback from Cynthia the two women slowly ease into an amicable relationship based on their mutual loneliness. It all comes to a head after Cynthia talks Hortense, under the guise of coworker, into attending a barbecue at Maurice and Monica's home in honor of Roxanne's 21st birthday. With Hortense out of the room Cynthia can't keep her secret bottled up any longer and drops the bombshell that her so called "mate from work" is actually her daughter and Roxanne's sister. It's readily apparent that she does it not to cause strife or upset anyone but partly because of her decades long guilt and her unanticipated love for her newfound daughter. The dysfunctional family uses the somewhat unsettling news to acknowledge and eventually come to terms with long dormant issues.
Admittedly that's a very clinical and dispassionate way of summarizing the third act of a very fine film filled as it is with marvelous performances and adroit direction by Mike Leigh. As far as his works go I've only seen this and Vera Drake but I did enjoy both immensely and hope to delve deeper into his catalogue.




I just watched Magnolia for the first time and it might be one of the best movies I've ever seen.

Hah. Just yesterday I was just telling my wife she needs to see it after John C Reily came up in a conversation we were having about actors that excel in both drama and comedy. Unbelievable flick from an unbelievable filmmaker. Man, I could talk about Punch Drunk Love for days. Watch it if you haven't seen it.


PTA does no wrong





Pirates of The Caribbean anyone? Anyway, it's a very weak film. I couldn't recommend it any less.
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date with a stranger
7/10



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Boldly going.
Dragonheart: Vengeance (2020)
7/10.
Better than I thought it was going to be, and not bad for a made-for-video movie. They used real locations and an actual symphony orchestra.
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Django -


Django, a B-movie riff on Yojimbo, is as fun as spaghetti Westerns get. Granted, I'm no expert on the genre since I haven't even seen that other Yojimbo riff, A Fistful of Dollars, but how could it possibly be more fun than this one? For starters, it does not merely ape the movie that inspired it and swap feudal Japan for the Old West. Besides defying my expectations as to what would happen next on many occasions, this version has a hooker with a heart of gold, two tense heist scenes and a very deadly weapon. Franco Nero, taking a break from ninja lessons to play Django, is just as much if not more of an action star and as charismatic as Clint Eastwood. What's more, he manages to do this while carrying a giant coffin around for most of the movie. If action is what you love about Westerns, look no further. It's excessive in the best way and it has a spontaneous, short burst style that always surprises and excites. As you would expect, there is plenty of cheese to be found, especially in the dialogue. Even so, the cheese is grade A parmesan, and what goes better with…sorry, I’m getting to be too cheesy myself. Oh, and it features what may be the dingiest, most decrepit and muddiest Western town in movie history.

Mildly interesting tidbit: while I actually wanted to watch this, I chose to out of superstition because I saw three movies from 1966 in a row (Torn Curtain, Dracula: Prince of Darkness and Persona). Barring Torn Curtain, which I didn’t like, what a great year for movies, huh?



Mildly interesting tidbit: while I actually wanted to watch this, I chose to out of superstition because I saw three movies from 1966 in a row (Torn Curtain, Dracula: Prince of Darkness and Persona). Barring Torn Curtain, which I didn’t like, what a great year for movies, huh?
That was the year of Manos, so yeah
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Mildly interesting tidbit: while I actually wanted to watch this, I chose to out of superstition because I saw three movies from 1966 in a row (Torn Curtain, Dracula: Prince of Darkness and Persona). Barring Torn Curtain, which I didn’t like, what a great year for movies, huh?




Agreed.
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That was the year of Manos, so yeah
Haha, it is!
I see other MST3K movies Agent for H.A.R.M. and Secret Agent Super Dragon also came out that year, so it was a good year for junk, too.



Mildly interesting tidbit: while I actually wanted to watch this, I chose to out of superstition because I saw three movies from 1966 in a row (Torn Curtain, Dracula: Prince of Darkness and Persona). Barring Torn Curtain, which I didn’t like, what a great year for movies, huh?
Yeah, 1966 is easily my favorite year for film. It has a phenomenal lineup of films (Persona, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, Andrei Rublev, Seconds, and The Battle of Algiers are all masterpieces in my book).



Yeah, 1966 is easily my favorite year for film. It has a phenomenal lineup of films (Persona, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, Andrei Rublev, Seconds, and The Battle of Algiers are all masterpieces in my book).
I've been meaning to see those two. Au Hasard Balthasar is another masterpiece from that year that I recommend if you haven't seen it already. Tokyo Drifter and Sword of Doom aren't half bad, either.



Yeah, 1966 is easily my favorite year for film. It has a phenomenal lineup of films (Persona, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, Andrei Rublev, Seconds, and The Battle of Algiers are all masterpieces in my book).
Blow-Up also.