Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Huh?

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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.

1st Rewatch...This overheated fact-based melodrama is about a hothead who drifts from professional boxing to acting to, in an attempt to win the heart of a seriously religious girl, decides to become a priest. Mark Wahlberg's over the top performance really hurts this one, not to mention the fact that this guy's desire to become a priest is initially rooted in the desire to get this girl into bed. Not to mention the fact that we never really see Stu experience a true religious calling, making everything that happens here ring hollow. Mel Gibson and Jackie Weaver are excellent as Stu's parents.

3rd Rewatch...Lin-Manuel Miranda's pulse-pounding score and John M Chu's energetic direction help to bring Miranda's first Broadway triumph to the screen. The story revolving around several Washington Heights residents taking different approaches to making their dreams come true is a bit hard to follow at time, but this film comes totally alive during the incredible musical numbers that come fast and furious and feature some of the best choreography I've seen. That number in the giant public pool "96000", never gets old. This film never got the recognition it deserved.

Today is Tuesday, the day when you can get into your local Marcus Theater for $7 and change.

And I've decided I'm not going today.

I know, I had made a promise to myself last year that I would go see a new movie at the local theater every Tuesday. But as of right now I'm feeling seriously burnt out on mainstream Hollywood. Most of the movies which are playing right now I've seen already, and you can check out my reviews for them on this thread. The ones I haven't seen are Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and Tarot, and I honestly can't work up any serious degree of enthusiasm about them. Alas, I missed Abigail, and I strongly suspect I'm none the worse for that. After the FX-laden eye-candy overdose monster-mash that was Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and the too-clever-by-half "meta" action/rom-com hijinks of The Fall Guy, I feel like I seriously need a break, lest I become totally dispirited. Granted, my recent moviegoing experiences haven't been a total loss: Civil War I found to be intelligent, intense and thought-provoking, with an ending that I have to assume is meant to be deliberately disturbing (by my own reckoning, a good thing), and Challengers is a youth-oriented, sports-centered relationship movie that doesn't insult the intelligence of its audience. Beyond that, however, it's been really hit-and-miss, and most of the "hits" have been modest and not exactly mind-blowing. Yeah, it's good to see the characters from your favorite franchises in all-new adventures, but I'd be lying if I said that Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire would have any kind of long-term resonance for me comparable to the classic '84 original.

Not to mention the fact that there are, like, 20 minutes' worth of trailers to get through before the movie starts, to the point where I have seen the previews for most of the upcoming attractions five or so times, to the point where it feels like I've actually seen those movies already! (And in some cases, I might just as well have! ) And I am getting seriously sick and tired of looking at Greg Marcus' obnoxiously ingratiating, glad-handing face every time one of his "humorous" announcements or quasi-skits comes on between the trailers and the film! (God, I am sooooooo sick of that guy )

So at this point, I feel it is imperative for me to withdraw from the big screen for a while. Whether it's for another week or so, or another month, or for however long, I honestly couldn't say. If I check online and see that there's something interesting playing, I'll definitely check it out. (I'm definitely going to see Kevin Costner's new Horizon: An American Saga when it comes out, no question.)

But as of right now, I think I just need a rest...

BTW, I just ordered a copy of John Sturges' Bad Day at Black Rock from 1955. I'd borrowed the DVD through inter-library loan a couple months back and decided I would put the Warner Brothers Archive Blu-ray edition on my must-buy list. I guess most of my greatest cinematic sustenance these days lies in the past!

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"Well, it's what people know about themselves inside that makes 'em afraid" - Clint Eastwood as The Stranger, High Plains Drifter (1973)

"I'll let you be in my dream if I can be in yours" - Bob Dylan, Talkin' World War III Blues (1963)

Enjoyed reading your comments, and I agree about contemporary cinema.

As an 11 year old kid, I saw Bad Day At Black Rock when it came out, and it absolutely blew me away. Westerns were really in their heyday then, but this was a contemporary "western" like no other, although it had a similar feel to a combo of High Noon and Shane.

It has a dream cast of Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, and Anne Francis.

But what grabbed me was the near noir mystery of it, which keeps us guessing until well into the picture. And I thought nothing was cooler than Spencer Tracy playing a one-armed middle aged guy who dispatched attackers with ease using karate with one hand!

It was a very catchy story for it's day, in beautiful color, shot with a very impressive wide screen CinemaScope, which was still very new in 1955. I think I'd previously seen it only in The Robe (1953) and The High and the Mighty (1954).

It was one of the best pictures that year, and to this day remains as a unique film.

When Evil Lurks (Cuando acecha la maldad), from 2023. It was overall praised and while the first 30 minutes or so are really well executed and keep you on the edge of your seat, the rest is all over the place, it was a mess.

6.50 out 10 for me.

The Zone of Interest (2023)

Sparrows (1926) 3/5

I write this 24 minutes into it, the introductory intertitle spoils things by saying the kids didn't have shoes till the last scene, sort of run of the mill, not nearly as special as Stella Maris which was my only other Mary Pickford film so far. How the Bible is misquoted must be the inspiration of Samuel Jackson in Pulp Fiction. The film played a role in securing child rights, as this depicts the appalling conditions on these farms where parents sold their kids so they could be essentially slaves. Religious overtones are abundant, it limped so that Night of the Hunter could fly.

Good news it gets better when the color tinting and plot kicks in, so this is a strong 3 rating, that could be 3.5, but i want to be sparing with my fractions.

I don't watch movies anymore

0/10

What year was that made in?

2024

Why do a re-watch if you didn’t like it much?

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I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.

Really liked this movie - Giamatti made it for me - but the first half was definitely better than the second half.



Kinda nutty, but I plowed through.

Poolman belongs right up there with L.A Story as one of the most offbeat and idiosyncratic comedies ever made about Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, Chris Pine doesn't have the same kind of cultural presence that Steve Martin already did when he made his take on L.A. life, which means that Poolman will barely play in theaters but, hopefully, could eventually become a bit of a cult hit down the road.
The pure plot mechanics aren't enough to describe the experience of watching the movie, but let's just say that it involves a poolman and would-be private investigator getting involved with some shady types in L.A. politics. References to Polanski's Chinatown are almost too many to keep count.
What can I say? The movie clearly won't work for everyone, but if you're in the right wavelength, it can be a lot of fun.
The rather adorable cast also includes Annette Bening, Danny DeVito, John Ortiz, DeWanda Wise, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Stephen Tobolowsky.




A comedy that's all about the ups and downs of pregnancy isn't necessarily a bad idea. But the makers of Babes forgot that a comedy is supposed to be funny, for starters.
The movie struggles with that basic concept for most of its running time, and a few chuckles here and there aren't enough to sustain it. Perhaps most bizarrely, it features Oliver Platt and Sandra Bernhard in small parts - if they didn't appear in this movie, it would be easy to assume they had already retired from acting (and this one shouldn't really be counted, I guess)

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

Brian And Charles (2022)


This was rather cute. In rural Wales an oddball and lonely inventer named Brian finds a mannequins head in a "fly tip" and decides to make a robot whom likes the name Charles. Filmed in mockumentary style this is low budget with heart and very funny.


Charles: You built my body

Brian: I built his body

Charles: And my tummy is a washing machine

Brian: And his tummy is a washing machine

Swordsman and Enchantress -



Read the full review and more in my Hong Kong thread.

The Danish Girl (2015)

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Bird Box - (2018)

Browsing the horror section of Netflix last night brought me to Bird Box - a post-apocalyptic feature starring Sandra Bullock which is a little bit of A Quiet Place mixed with The Road, The Happening, The Mist and the rest of the genre. You get a little bit of Jacki Weaver and John Malkovich - both playing random civilians stuck in a house while the outside world is shuttered away, for there's some phenomenon which can't be seen, lest you become infected with a mind disease which has you kill yourself. These "entities" we never see, but they force characters to walk about blindfolded, and make travel cumbersome. You can make as much noise as you like though - although there are loonies who are sight-immune - you don't want to attract those. The film, part "how the world ended" and part "Malorie (Bullock) and two kids searching for sanctuary", is pretty much stock standard post-apocalypse stuff. I'm always attracted to these movies, but rarely satisfied. This one was okay, but nothing I'd really rave about.

6/10

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