Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Then my job is done!

Him and Barry Jenkins' first films are often forgotten and share some interesting overlap. Jenkins' first film was Medicine for Melancholy, for the record.

I was hoping for a "Leatherface is not a soundbite, spinoff, tie-in, some kind of celebrity scandal..."

Nah. It's dumber and more succinct. It's more *holds up phone for live stream* "try anything and you'll get cancelled!" *abruptly gets chainsaw'd*

__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) is mediocre and unnecessary. The characters and story are underdeveloped. The film isn't very fun or scary or thrilling. It isn't much of anything and feels mostly pointless. There are a couple good moments, but not enough to make this worthwhile.

Fat City - 1972 boxing drama directed by John Huston and adapted from Leonard Gardner's 1969 novel. It stars Stacy Keach as Billy Tully, never more than a run-of-the-mill fighter now scrabbling to earn a living. Feeling motivated he makes a half-hearted attempt at training where he runs across into 18 year old Ernie Munger (Jeff Bridges). After sparring with him Billy realizes that Ernie is a natural so he gives him the name of his former trainer Ruben (Nicholas Colasanto).

Even though it does have a definite "A Star is Born" vibe it follows a different narrative path than alot of sports movies. There aren't the usual manufactured towering highs or crushing lows to help the viewer out. The victories are small and virtually indistinguishable from everything else going on. The lows are just a little more acute than the perpetual disappointments of these characters lives. And through it all there's Ruben and his unwavering "look on the bright side" take on his fighter's bouts.

Even though their trajectories are apparently moving in different directions Billy and Ernie share similarities when it comes to their personal lives. Saddled with drinking issues Billy has hooked up with pugnacious alcoholic Oma (70's mainstay Susan Tyrell) while Ernie has gotten his young girlfriend Faye (Candy Clark) pregnant. Filmed in the seedier parts of Stockton, California and peopled with current and former professional boxers the film does have an unmistakable authenticity to it. But it's about as far from rousing as you can get though. It's like the anti-Rocky. But Huston does excel at these kinds of "guy" movies. Hard luck types chasing illusory success.

80/100

I'm about to dive into this one, so I'm glad it delivers to some extent.

__________________

Approach it with the grace that a rebootquel slasher of the modern era merits and you should come away entertained for it's brisk runtime.

Eat, Play, Love (2017) This was a cute and sweet romance.

Flee
-

__________________

SF = Z


[Snooze Factor Ratings]:
Z = didn't nod off at all
Zz = nearly nodded off but managed to stay alert
Zzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed
Zzzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed but nodded off again at the same point and therefore needed to go back a number of times before I got through it...
Zzzzz = nodded off and missed some or the rest of the film but was not interested enough to go back over it

Bladerunner: Final Cut





i really loved the visuals and music.

400 Petals follows the relationship of René and Sol (Esteban Ruiz and Anna Malavé). The short opens with René buying a marigold for Sol's birthday, early in their relationship. The florist tells him that some people believe that its petals "retain the warmth of the sun" which she calls a "nice coincidence". As time passes, we see René and Sol's relationship go through ups and downs, and with every "down", a petal of the flower drops. What will happen when the last one falls?

I have to give props to writer and director Angelie García for avoiding some of the typical tropes of other romcoms and actually surprising me in the end. In the end, we get to see that it's up to us to put all the necessary care in our relationships, even if all the petals seem to fall from it.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

I don't know what this is?

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh follows Pooh (Sterling Holloway) and his friends as they go through, well, many adventures. Released during the so-called "Disney Dark Age", it is comprised of several short featurettes that are tied together by themes of weather, accepting your friends, and the passage of time.

This rewatch was in preparation for a future guest spot I will have on some friend's podcast, and we were live-tweeting along with their listeners. It was a lot of fun to share with others the joy of this rather innocent and charming look at childhood. It is interesting how, unlike others animated films, this one is significantly more "childish" and features no typical "villains" or story arcs. This makes for a rather refreshing watch.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

Sorry, I thought this movie was a total snooze fest...and the title is Eat Pray Love,

As far as I know, Diesel is an avid Dungeons & Dragons player (D&D is the biggest role-playing game brand there is if you don't happen to know that). He's such a nerd

__________________

Eat Pray Love is 2010. I suppose he's referring to this one.

Flee (2021)

The film tells a frankly ordinary refugee story but does so with a number of bells and whistles to keep you engaged. None of the figures in the story have any discernible personality which for me kills the film. It moves from one plot point to the other with the people being defined solely by their relationship to Amin and Amin is not a charismatic lead. It's okay but this feels like a political nom not a quality one.

Set 50 years after the original, Texas Chainsaw Massacre follows a group of young entrepreneurs planning to create a trendy, tourist spot in the now abandoned town of Harlow, Texas. Leading the group are sisters Mel and Lila (Sarah Yarkin and Elsie Fisher), the latter of which is still coping with the aftermath of a school shooting. When they inadvertently "reawaken" Leatherface, the group must decide whether to run or fight for their lives.

The notion of "not running", but rather doing something, is very much present in the film as it also brings us the sole survivor of the original film, Sally (Olwen Fouéré), who famously managed to flee the scene of the crime. However, she is still haunted by the past and is determined not to run anymore, but to finish Leatherface once and for all.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot