Rate The Last Movie You Saw

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There's an undeniable charm to it, but it can only take it so far. Still, I don't regret watching it and would even give a mild recommendation for sci-fi fans.
Understandable. For what it's worth though, here's the review I wrote for it if you're curious:

https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5780345/?ref_=ur_urv
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I thought about it, but since we just got here, I didn't want to "rearrange the furniture", so to speak. I'm still doing it, and I mentioned the new categories in my podcast, but I don't know if I will start a thread here. Maybe for 2021, but it also depends on what I will do for that year.
There is a full-year challenge on here, and the OP talked about maybe turning it into a monthly film challenge.

Much like the horror challenge, I think that people can handle more than one film challenge thread at a time.



Understandable. For what it's worth though, here's the review I wrote for it if you're curious:

https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5780345/?ref_=ur_urv

You bring a fair point with the whole "dreamlike" scenario, but my main issue was more with the whole execution of the plot, how things unfolded, and with some of the production values, particularly the use of stock footage and repeated takes, which I found distracting. Anyway, it's a bit fun.



You bring a fair point with the whole "dreamlike" scenario, but my main issue was more with the whole execution of the plot, how things unfolded, and with some of the production values, particularly the use of stock footage and repeated takes, which I found distracting. Anyway, it's a bit fun.
Those are fair criticisms. I wasn't bothered with those details as much as you were, but I do understand them.



Perfect 10 (2020)

Simple yet thoughtful film about a teen who wonders at gymnastics but has become stifled through a number of factors. The arrival of a step-brother she never knew existed changes her the dynamic of the relationships around her.
Although quite positive, this is not a "feel good film"...the touches of humour and realism I could have sworn it was Shane Meadows influenced.

The performance of Frankie Box is outstanding.





Glass, 2019

(NOTE: This review contains general spoilers for both Split and Unbreakable that are not in spoiler text)

I had been well forewarned that many people either didn't like this film or thought it was incredibly underwhelming. I personally really liked Unbreakable (a film I saw twice in the theater) and I also enjoyed Split (which I also saw twice in the theater).

Even with lowered expectations, it was surprising just how fine I found Glass.

As the culmination of the trilogy, you would expect that the problem would be that the movie is overstuffed or working too hard to tie up any and all loose ends. Instead, the opposite seemed to be the problem to me.

The main action takes place in a mental health facility. David Dunn (Bruce Willis), Elijah Glass (Samuel L Jackson), and The Beast (James McAvoy) have all been captured and are under the "care" of a doctor (Sarah Paulson) who tries to convince them that they are not actually super-powered.

The tragedy of Glass is that it sets up two potentially interesting character arcs/themes. The first is how each of the "Supers" relates to their close ones. David's son, Elijah's mother, and Casey (Anna Taylor-Joy), the young woman who survived abduction and assault by The Beast. The other arc/theme is about how the three men actually connect to each other.

Frustratingly, the film achieves, like, a 25% success rate with both of these aspects.

Performance wise . . . eh. Jackson does fine work with Elijah--a man so lasered on his mission that he no longer has any real bearings of right or wrong. Willis plays David with the same smirk he's had on his face in every film for the last 40 years, and it feels less and less like a wry dude and more like an actor thinking "Can you believe I'm getting paid millions of dollars for this?!". McAvoy puts a lot of effort into his DID-diagnosed character, and frankly I don't think it's his fault that the script is so in love with the trick of rapidly switching between personalities. In fact, I felt as though his portrayal of Kevin (the original personality) was really strong and distinct and devoid of the showboat elements of some of the other personalities. Anna Taylor-Joy is basically wasted. It's nice that Carlayne Woodard and Spencer Treat Clark reprise their roles from Unbreakable, but neither are given much to do and as David's son, Joseph, Clark is given some painful "comic relief" moments.

A handful of nice images and some good character moments, but overall just completely forgettable.

And, frankly, I did not care for (major spoilers)
WARNING: spoilers below
all of them being killed in the end. After so much build up it just kind of made me angry.





Possessor (2020) dir. Brandon Cronenberg

Tries to be slick even though it looks like it was shot on DSLR. Has a couple neat moments visually with some solid effects but they're not all that unique and they don't save the rest of the film looking downright awful. It has an ok premise but it never really gets explored as it just rushes through the plot as fast as possible and feels pretty silly by the end.

4/10
Hmm, was looking forward to this but will keep my powder dry.



The film that was so sought after in "Videomann"



The Children Act (2017)

Good adaptation of an Ian McEwan story. Great to see Emma Thompson play a part like this, really brought out her best I feel. I think the court sequences are excellently done and she portrays a woman under pressure but driven very well.




Hmm, was looking forward to this but will keep my powder dry.
It got a pretty good review from (I think) The Samoan Lawyer. And I read a pretty positive review on the AVClub. I'm still looking forward to it.



The perfect movie for anybody nostalgic for Perfection (Nevada, that is), it's Tremors. Giant, fast, carnivorous worms invade a nowhere, desert town and it takes a bunch of people with lots of guns and rusty pickups to fight them off. With that and Kevin Bacon, what could be better?




The perfect movie for anybody nostalgic for Perfection (Nevada, that is), it's Tremors. Giant, fast, carnivorous worms invade a nowhere, desert town and it takes a bunch of people with lots of guns and rusty pickups to fight them off. With that and Kevin Bacon, what could be better?

gosh i remembered seeing this movie at my ex boyfriends house lol



Victim of The Night


Dreamscape - ★★★☆☆
Joseph ruben, 1984
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Solid little sci/fi thriller that resembles A Nightmare on Elm Street in more ways than one, for well-documented reasons. It's sadly the lesser film of the two, except for the visuals, which do a MUCH better job of constructing a creepy dream world for us to delve into. Of course, a major point of ANOES is the blurring of lines between dreams and reality, so I won't hold that against Craven's flick. But even so, it was nice to see things that are properly dreamy and weird.
Love me some Dreamscape.



Victim of The Night
VIY (1967)



This Soviet film follows Khoma Brutus (Leonid Kuravlyov), a student monk that is put under the spell of a witch, only to find himself tasked later to lead a 3-night vigil over her dead body. Found this to be more interesting than it was "good", but it was still effectively creepy, eerie, and haunting; particularly in its last act. I hate to repeat a term I used in the past review for Terminator: Dark Fate, but during the first two acts, this film also has some tonal dissonance between comedy and horror. But where it succeeds is in creating a haunting ambiance and a weirdly unsettling vibe, especially during its last act. The special effects here were impressive, and the performance from Natalya Varley was pretty good.

Grade:
Hm, I didn't feel any dissonance between the two elements myself when I watched it last month, I thought it was pretty good and a really obvious precursor to Evil Dead. I liked it more than most, I think, but I definitely thought the horror and the comedy went hand in hand.



Victim of The Night
Revenge of the Ninja -


I have a high tolerance for cheese, but this movie made me realize I have a low tolerance for sleaze. There were times while watching it when I longed for the class and sophistication of Samurai Cop or the movies of Andy Sidaris. It stars Sho Kosugi as Cho, who along with his mother, his young (and actual) son Kane and American friend Braden leave much-too violent and offensively stereotypical Tokyo for L.A. - which is obviously Salt Lake City - to open an art studio. We soon learn, though, that the studio's collection is not what it appears to be. To be fair, the movie's action scenes - save one which I'll discuss later - and their martial artistry are impressive. They are tense and exciting and made me care about their outcomes. Even so, that does not excuse the wretchedness and ugliness found in the connective tissue that strings them together. Besides having scant character development and shoddy production design, it features every kind of tastelessness you can imagine such as racial stereotyping, misogyny and child endangerment. Believe me, I'm not against movies depicting such material, but there's a problem when their depiction is tone-deaf, humorless and irresponsible like it is here. As for that "other" action scene I mentioned, it starts with Cho and ally Dave going to a park to question some ex-cons about who is interested in their studio. While a decent rumble ensues, they leave with so little to show for their time and effort that it ends up being one of the most hilariously stupid and pointless scenes in a movie I've ever watched. Again, barring this sequence, the action is above average, so if you don't mind if the quality or taste of the content between fights in movies like this one is much worse, you will probably enjoy it on the whole. Just don't be surprised if you find yourself calling your parents, hugging your pets, cleaning your house or donating to charities afterwards.
Hmm... haven't seen this in years, though I recently re-watched both Enter The Ninja and Pray For Death. Always loved Sho Kosugi but I saw most of these movies before I was able to discern good from bad films and anything with a ninja in it was good by definition (including Ninja III: The Domination).
Your write-up makes me feel like I need to see it again and see if it bothers me the way it did you.