Rate The Last Movie You Saw

I once asked in my review thread, whether I should do Gone Girl or Nightcrawler next, as a bonus review. I ended up doing both of them for y'all, and Nightcrawler is now live in my thread with Gone Girl already posted a week ago! Please check them out!

...One evening, when Bloom accidentally ends up in the middle of the merciless mayhem of television reporting, he suddenly knows exactly what his next big step in life will be ... His new life style, filming violent and shocking images, have indeed led to cash and recognition, but ever so gently and concurrently he also removes himself from the real world, and the people who live in it.

Dan Gilroy has created a film that slowly comes creeping like a mysterious and frightening figure in the illuminating gloom of the night lights. For it is certainly not a pleasant film to live through, and especially its picturesque projection of the barbarous perfidy of the TV medium, truly creeps uncomfortably under your skin......

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MovieMeditation's Cinema Reviews // Film Diary 2015 // Letterboxd Profile // MovieMeditation's Top 50 Horror

Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)



I posted my thoughts in the Horror Hall of Fame thread.

The Interview

Unfunny.

Viva Maria! (1965)

This was a pretty wacky movie. I absolutely loved the first 45 minutes, and then it kind of turned into a Western and it lost me. Jeanne Moreau and Brigitte Bardot were gorgeous and fun to watch, especially Bardot.



Tale of Tales (1979)

I have trouble enjoying watching something that doesn't have a definitive storyline, but this was amazing visually and musically.

The Night Stalker (1972)



I posted my thoughts in the Horror Hall of Fame thread.

The Silence




If a movie is this deliberately cryptic it better give me something else to cling to. The Silence never did, despite my expecting it to at any moment. I know with the muddled time and place people are probably going to tell me it is meant to be dream like. That is all well and good, but I need more. This is my least favorite Bergman by a long shot so far.

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Top Five (2014)

Chris Rock wrote, directed, and stars in this entertaining comedy that co-stars Rosario Dawson and features cameos by Tracy Morgan, Cedric the Entertainer, Jerry Seinfeld, Adam Sandler, Whoopi Goldberg, Gabrielle Union, and rapper DMX.


Rock's style of directing and storytelling in Top Five mirrors to a certain extent the style of Woody Allen, notably for the backdrop being New York City, which becomes just another character in the movie.

Draft Day (2014) - Ivan Reitman

- Very good I love football and this movie for me was one of the best I've seen in 2014, so nice and sweet. I love it and highly recommend it to everyone who's like football.

+

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The Knack...and How to Get It (1965)

I was a little skeptical of this; I thought it was a bit of a red flag that it was a Cannes' winner, yet not on the top 100 British films list. Unfortunately, it was pretty much what I expected; likable with that British charm, but very forgettable.

"Cold Mountain" 6/10
But I have enjoyed the reminders of Hell in it. By the way, if you want a mini video collection about them (+ articles, pictures and ebook in one file), here is the download link:
https://www.mediafire.com/?daogeeyepp6amux

This franchise theoretically should have been a part of my childhood memories. It was very popular back in the day. In fact, most of the people I know have seen it. It's a fantasy movie, which I love, and so I honestly don't know how it happened that tonight was the first time I saw it. Still, I'm probably better for it because now that I'm a grown-up, I can see it for what is really is.

And what it really is is fake. Unbelievably fake. First of all, for a fantasy movie, it's not very magical and imaginative. Every character and theme in the movie is just a mixture or a direct copy from something that's already been done. There nearly no originality in this at all. You have your orcs, your talking animals, your ice queen or whatever, your unicorns and so on and so forth. And then, in terms of the story, you have your usual prophecy-driven battle of good vs. evil.

And all of that would be wonderfully insignificant but take a look at the following quote from RottenTomatoes:
This has got to be the first time I've seen the critics consensus quote to be a completely opposite description of what a film is like.

First of all, the "first-rate" special effects are actually utterly rubbish. And I don't mean early 2000s rubbish, I mean rubbish, full stop. That would be ok, except this is a fantasy movie, and if you want your stuff to look convincing, realistic and magical, you've got to have decent special effects. I'm not saying you can't enjoy a fantasy movie without them, but they are a significant part of the illusion. There's crappy CGI everywhere, obvious green screens where they didn't need to be, and what little props there are that aren't computer generated might as well be, because they are of such poor quality. The swords, for instance, are very clearly made of plastic.

Now let's talk about the "will please moviegoers of all ages" part. Excuse me, but that's just not true. In fact, this movie shouldn't please anyone. The story is quite childish. It's simple, straightforward, easy to follow. So it's for little children right? Well, let's just say that the Disney logo should be overlaid onto the frames during the main battle in which creatures are slashed, pierced with swords, and bitten to their deaths. So it's for adults, right? With a story like this most adults would probably fall asleep during the movie. The only age group I think would be even remotely satisfied by Chronicles of Narnia are teenagers, but then why would they watch this cheap version of The Lord of the Rings, while they can watch... The Lord of the Rings, for instance?

All in all, the movie is an utter piece of garbage and a waste of time. It could work if it wanted to be something simpler, but then the movie had to follow a book, so it really couldn't. As a result we got something which should have been done with more imagination and, most crucially, with more money. It really puzzles me why this thing was so popular, and why it got such good ratings on RT. It's worthless.

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The Theory of Everything 9/10

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Winter Sleep (2014) (Turkish: Kış Uykusu)

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A normal man? For me, a normal man is one who turns his head to see a beautiful woman's bottom. The point is not just to turn your head. There are five or six reasons. And he is glad to find people who are like him, his equals. That's why he likes crowded beaches, football, the bar downtown...

Umberto D (De Sica) - 7/10 - I love this movie, but I still think it could have been better. Being a shorter movie, some things are redundant. For example, we learn the landlady is a cold hearted woman, but we keep seeing new scenes between the tenant and her.. When Umberto tries to sleep, over and over music going on, it takes way too much time. We get it, Florence is not for him, but we understood it the first time. Lots of time spent walking back and forth, including Maria going back and forth, opening or closing the window, even though nothing is being said between her and the soldiers. Lots of repetitious stuff--

There were some silent parts that said something, but sometimes silence with nothing happening. It would have been nice to know about the main character. Why is he alone? Does he choose this? Did he just want to live with his dog, have a better wage? Is old age his true enemy? Was he ever married?

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The Lady from Shanghai

An absolute masterpiece from welles and one of the finest film-noirs I have ever seen. Stunning photography and lavish setpieces give the film a dark,seedy atmosphere which very few films can evoke. That final scene with the mirrors is unbelievable, it genuinely left my jaw on the floor.

May (2002)



Posted my thoughts in the Horror Hall of Fame thread.

Opera

The story is sorta rubbish, but Opera is damn good entertainment nonethless. The first hour is typical slasher fare but Argento eventually goes all out and provides some of the most vibrant direction and glorious murders of his entire career. Thoroughly enjoyed this one and I'll definitely be watching some more from the master of giallo.

Big Trouble (Cassavetes) - I won't rate this, because of the circumstances of the movie. 1/3 was shot, and Peter Falk asked Cassavetes to finish it. John asked for his name to be removed, but of course they probably only used his name to sell a few more, or to have someone like me watch this. It's awful. It's just so sad reading from Cassavetes right before he died that people will think this was the last movie he did.

Pierrot Le Fou (1965)

I often don't know what to expect going into a movie like this, especially with a director like Godard. I had previously seen 3 of his movies; one I didn't like(Breathless), one I liked(Band of Outsiders), and one I loved(Contempt), and I still felt in the dark after about 15 minutes of this one. After that, it basically settled into a lovers on the run movie, which is something I like. It didn't have the normal type of excitement that I look for in a movie like that, but I don't think that was the goal. It was lovers on the run Godard style, and I enjoyed the different style with a familiar narrative. I did not like Belmondo in Breathless, but I thought he was good in this, and I liked Anna Karina a lot.