Rate The Last Movie You Saw

My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)

I was thinking more along the lines of the Queen personally, and the royal household and family. Leading up I was getting used to beheadings, the sovereign dying in bloody battle, war against the church, disease, madness etc. Victoria had her assassination attempts, but by Lord her reign seems to be as sensible and stable as you can get compared to British Kings and Queens before her. Helped her set the record for longevity.

It's all relative though - calm and stability. It could be argued that the human condition itself precludes either of those two things.


By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60892911

The Goldfinch - (2019)

Donna Tartt's Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Goldfinch polarized critics, but was still praised more warmly than this adaptation directed by John Crowley. I say that if you haven't read the novel it's still well worth a shot. Theo Decker (played by Oakes Fegley and Ansel Elgort over different time periods) has just experienced the death of his mother during a bombing at an art gallery. He blames himself, for reasons which don't reveal themselves until late in the film, and is about to go on an odyssey which involves life with his alcoholic and abusive father (who had abandoned him,) and a descent into alcohol and drug abuse. Decker has a secret though. A big secret with which he is biding his time and which will lead to unexpected consequences.

I felt the sense of mystery for me was held at just the right pace, and that Ansel Elgort proves himself in the crucial role of the older Theo Decker (I'm a big fan of Baby Driver.) Some people will again find that this film is simply too long - which has been a theme for me lately. I didn't mind though. I enjoyed watching Nicole Kidman and Luke Wilson, but felt that Jeffrey Wright was a little bit of wrong casting for the character of Obie. I would have very much enjoyed Ralph Fiennes (the first choice) instead. I didn't find much wrong with it at all - but most people will disagree with me there. The film was a box office bomb and was mauled by the critics.

7/10



Run Lola Run - (1998) - Germany - DVD rewatch - (aka Lola rennt)

Inventive and exciting, Run Lola Run is set at a cracking pace to techno beats and constant movement. Lola has just had a phone call from her boyfriend Manni, he's lost 100,000 marks, which he was due to hand over to his underworld boss in 20 minutes. Lola has little to no time to sit and plot his rescue. She has to find 100,000 marks. First and foremost, she has to run. As her attempts to save him fail in disaster, we're taken back to the starting point and given an alternative series of events.

This film exists as a good explanation of 'the butterfly effect', where minute changes to anything bring about massive differences over time. Writer/director Tom Tykwer uses deft techniques to illustrate this, running by the same people and initial circumstances with slight changes each time. First of all, Lola's flight down the stairs of her apartment are animated, and the source of the slight change. Secondly, the people Lola comes across have their 'future' revealed to us with the clever use of photographic stills. 7 or 8 stills gives us enough information to do this very effectively. The course of Lola's journey itself tells a coherent story as well - each time reveals a bit more - and Lola herself seems to be partly aware of this.

I remember being electrified by this film the first time I saw it - and nothing can really beat the impression you get from the film the first time around. It packs a lot into it's short running time and never lets go of you once it's off and running. Franka Potente and Moritz Bleibtreu give us enough insight into their personas that we're definitely on their side. Every desperate action appears completely justified.



Extra Features - Talent profiles for those who can't be bothered looking them up on the IMDb. The music video for Believe, which is performed by Franka Potente herself and I assume it was released as a single. The trailer. A commentary track by Tom Tykwer and Franka Potente which unveils a lot of things that most people will not have noticed, but didn't give me the motivation behind the making of the film. I always prefer 'why' they did it over 'how' they did it - and 75% of the commentary is 'how'.

8/10

Near Dark (1987)

Lila & Eve (2015) - 4.5/10. Just poor. I was planning to watch this for a long time. Now that I have seen it, what a disappointment. The meandering plot, the actors seemed disinterested,
the Fight Club like twist. It was just lame.

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My Favorite Films

rewatched

rewatched

Fear Street:1994(2020)


<sigh> Fear Street 1994 is a mixed bag, at times a pleasant homage to the 90's at other times a toothless reminder of the era we're in. While the film has the sadly obligatory multi-ethnic group of friends it has a first act twist that just sucks the life out of the story. If you are going to make a woke slasher film...which is fine stick to the slasher theme. You then get a second act twist that just ugh...is fine but not in a slasher film. And then you get a dreadfull CGI moment that completely killed the film for me.


You've got some good costume design but the filmmakers ADHD and failure to make a horror film killed it for me. Some people will like it and I'm going to keep with the series but this felt like an episode of Supernatural...not a solid horror film.

Come True (2021)


There are several reasons why I disliked this emphatically enough to put my thoughts in writing. Like any cinephile worth their salt, I abhor the ‘it was all a dream’ kind of ending, unless the film is a true masterpiece (can’t think of an example, actually). That said, I quite like films about dreams/sleep, perhaps because I suffer from insomnia (though none of that sleepwalking/sleep paralysis stuff).

Though undoubtedly visually striking (still, no Malick here, and the comparison to Cronenberg in some reviews seems preposterous), this made no sense, and not in a Lynchian kind of way.

I find the idea that ‘dreams are real’ (as in, whatever the subconscious cooks up can manifest on a physical level) a perfectly good one for any speculative film. Yet there must be a reason why everyone who touches it messes it up. To me, the premise of Before I Wake seemed stronger than Come True, because it eliminated the need for the exhausting scientific study set-up that Come True gets bogged down in, and also because it was more focussed on the basic concept that - an opportunity Come True misses except for one brief moment where

My own pervasive problem is that I never feel invested in these troubled-“teenage”(note the quote marks)-girl protagonists, whatever the plot. The sympathy should apparently stem from the fact Sarah can’t sleep, but for me, that doesn’t work. Contrast with Trevor in The Machinist: there, we have real stakes, . We sympathise because this is likely to haunt Trevor for the rest of his life.

Here the “teenager” can’t sleep; as someone who actually does have insomnia, I just didn’t feel the stakes were high enough. We’re not shown a single life-threatening situation where she walks head-on into traffic, nearly falls under a moving train, or something like that, which would demonstrate that her sleep problems constitute an acute threat to her life and safety.

If she eventually passed out at school, she’d have been taken to A&E, and something would have been done. Also, if she’s to have any hope of getting rid of her insomnia, she really shouldn’t be knocking back all that coffee.

The most interesting aspect of the film to me is the uncomfortable ambiguity regarding Sarah’s age, which is almost Lolitaesque. In several non-spoiler short synopses intended to encourage one to see the film, she’s referred to as “a teenager”. I know that even though , this is technically correct, but it really changes the entire dynamic, and that felt almost like a letdown cop-out twist in itself. Legal definitions and debates aside, I think in a film synopsis the word “teenager” is a very deliberate one that evokes a 13-year-old in sneakers. In addition, we see her at school and there’s not a single mention of

This ambiguity was exploited masterfully in Hard Candy, but Come True doesn’t use it at all, which is a huge shame, especially as it suggests that it will be explored: JSS’ body is the Lisbeth Salander type of flat, with barely any breasts, which again misleads the viewer.

Worse still, Sarah does not behave except perhaps a super-sheltered daddy’s girl live-at-home rich kid, which is the opposite of what she is. Hence, when we suddenly get the sex scene with Jeremy, I, who is usually chill about such things, had a full-on ‘What the ****?’ reaction. This was probably authorial intent. In the end, I think the disconnect between Sarah’s age and how she looks and behaves was the most unusual and fresh aspect of the film.

Another Round (2020)


This was much different than I expected, even after reading brief reviews of others' here. Starts out a bit slow, but for good reason once it gets going. I expect my score will be higher upon a rewatch. The only thing that threw me a bit was



Definitely up there with Promising Young Woman as far as favorite from 2020

This movie is nonstop craziness, think if Guy Ritchie and Rob Zombie combined to make a foreign language version of Joker. Sometimes it's too comic bookish, and probably could have used a little more realism. It's still a great ride with a load of violence and some dark humor.

Likewise, agree re: the ending, but overall, a fun little thing.

"Delivery Man" - ('13 - Scott)

Better than average Vince Vaughn vehicle, co-starting Chris Pratt.

6.5/10

The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)

Killing Them Softly (2012)

Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini, Richard Jenkins, Ray Liotta, Ben Mendelsohn, Scoot McNairy, Sam Shepard.

Director/screenwriter: Andrew Dominik

This mediocre film squanders the talents of its group of high-test actors. I've always felt that it's often tricky for a director to helm his own screenplay into a first rate production. There are exceptions, but this picture is not one of them.

The technical aspects were high quality. The acting was predictably good, given the dream cast. James Gandfolfini steals the show as a weary, idiosyncratic, heavy drinking mob hit man, whose kooky philosophy on life provides for a memorable performance by Gandolfini.

Richard Jenkins too shines as a corporate style liaison with the hit man. Pitt starts weakly, then comes up a notch. But the part has some questionable writing.


The film could have been better with a more deft screenplay. It's puzzling that the movie had one of the dumbest endings so far in the 21st Century. They might as well have had someone simply face the camera to say. "Well, that's all folks. We couldn't think of a better way to end it." Whether the intent was comedy, irony, or artistry, it caused the film to land with a thud.

Doc's rating: 4/10

Ha, I saw that one in the cinema and my seasoned cinephile mother fell asleep! I was so pissed off at her at the time, but now I kind of get it.

I watched Marihuana (1936) on blu ray. This was actually pretty good, much better than I expected. The story was fairly interesting and it kept me entertained. The acting, for an exploitation movie, was decent. I would rate it a .

Independence Day -

rack off, Yanks

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

A Nous la Liberte, 1931

Two prisoners, Louis (Raymond Cordy) and Emile (Henri Marcand) make a daring escape from captivity but only Louis actually makes it. Years later, Louis has transformed himself into the successful owner of a factory producing phonographs. Emile by chance shows up at the factory and becomes enamored with a young woman, Jeanne (Rolla France), who works there. Louis welcomes his old friend after some initial suspicion, but their criminal past threatens to derail their happiness.

After being disappointed in the way that Pygmalion totally chickened out on its ending--opting for a happy ending in defiance of the character growth made by Eliza--it was a real delight to watch this film in which a complex plot is resolved in a way that makes narrative and character sense.

To back up, the thing that makes this film so fun is the enjoyable friendship between Louis and Emile. In short, they are both nice guys, and it is easy to root for them. Louis has become wealthy, but he has retained his sense of humor and compassion. Twice--once in the prison and once after they are reunited in the factory--we watch Louis tend to Emile when Emile has cut himself. There is an ease to their friendship that adds a really pleasant note to the whole story. And in his pursuit of Jeanne, Emile also shows kindness and compassion. He first meets her after she's been sexually harassed and assaulted by a factory guard, and his wooing of her is marked by a gentle respect. When he realizes that she has a boyfriend, he does the right thing and backs off.

Funny to watch this film on the heels of Modern Times, as the factory dynamic is a major part of the plot here as well. In a sequence that feels a lot like something from Modern Times, Emile gets behind on placing a part so he hustles down the line, disrupting the next worker. The effect snowballs until there are half a dozen squabbling on the conveyor belt. When a manager appears, each man points the blame back down the line. The film embraces the vision of a future where machinery will free up people to leisure time, and it is interesting to see that portrayal. It isn't so much money that the characters want, but freedom. And, as the film acknowledges, you need money to have freedom sometimes.

From a style point of view, it is all very charming. There are frequent, short bursts of music/singing. The film has stakes for every character, and yet the tone manages to stay light and optimistic.

I had very few complaints about this one. I felt that there was a little lag heading into the last act. I just felt myself disconnecting from the story a bit. And while it is very much of the time, it's kind of off-putting to watch how part of the Jeanne romance is handled. When Louis finds out that Emile likes Jeanne, he tracks down Jeanne's uncle, who works at the factory. It's a bit gross watching Emile, Louis, and the uncle basically make a decision about Jeanne's future without any of them asking her what she wants. They make a deal for her to marry Emile without her knowledge or permission. It is to the credit of the story and Emile's character that he calls it off when he realizes she loves someone else, but still kind of icky overall.

Very charming, and not a film that was previously on my radar.

The Love Witch, 2016 (D)

A film about a witch, in what appears to be the 60s, using magic to seduce men.

There's traces of something like a Giallo in the movie's style, but it's very lazy. Either they realized how much effort it is to be on the entire movie they way Giallos used to be, or they just didn't get why any of it worked. The movie is shot mostly conventionally, with a few occasional stylised shots here and there. It's not cohesive or interesting, and it feels gimmicky.

I think they bet everything on the style, because there isn't much plot here to bolster the rest. The movie is pretty long at 2 hours, and involves a lot of conversations. It feels directionless. Either that or they really buried the point they were trying to make deep inside the film.

Lastly, and that might sound stupid, but here goes. The movie is about this really oversexed witch that wants to bone men to make them love her, but the two main witch ladies with speaking roles aren't really in in. There's 2 digits worth of extras showing full frontal, but the two leading witches won't even show nipples. And it's not like they don't get undressed. They do, but it's very perfunctory instead of commiting and going for the vibe. That took me out of it every time, and all I could think of is that they didn't find actors that would do everything they wanted.

I love this movie.. Would love to find similar movies.. If anyone has recommendation, I (and others maybe) would appreciate it!

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Getting some strong Peter Vincent vibes here.