Rate The Last Movie You Saw

I watched Death Brings Roses (1975) today. This was not good, even by B movie standards. Acting was wooden and performances were not fun or interesting. Screenplay was poorly written and the story was fairly dull. The film takes itself too seriously and might have worked better if it was sleazier or cheesier. My rating is a

VERY nice commentary, although I only got part way through due to the cookie acceptance firewall. No matter what I clicked on, no dice. But in his early films it's interesting to see the formation of a genius director...

I'm sorry but the MKS interpretation cannot be disputed.

This movie blew me away.
One of the dozen or two films that changed what I thought about the history of film.

Nope is a big yes from me! Nope is an ambitious, smart, entertaining film with a sense of fun. I liked the performances from the cast, especially Keke Palmer. Jordan Peele is 3 for 3 as a director. Nope is one of the best films of the year. My rating is a high .

Four to Dinner, 2022

A couple is hosting a dinner party, and gets into a discussion with one of their guests about soulmates. In an effort to make a point about the flaw in the concept of soulmates, the host tells a story about four of the people who have not yet arrived at the dinner party: Dario (Giuseppe Maggio), Matteo (Matteo Martari), Giulia (Matilde Gioli), and Chiara (Ilenia Pastorelli). Only the host weaves two parallel stories, in which the men and women partner in different ways.

It is really hot here. Really hot. (Okay, I know that this is relative, but this is one of those days where you're sweating starting at 7am.) I was tempted to blame the heat for my confusion in watching this film, but then was gratified that the first review I read of it after watching remarked on how difficult it was to follow at times.

The film switches between the two "realities" seemingly at random. One minute Matteo and Giulia are expecting a baby, and the next Dario and Giulia are having a tense phone call at an airport. To add to the confusion, the two realities also play fast and loose with the wardrobe, so all of a sudden Chiara is wearing the very distinctive top that Giulia was sporting just moments before.

There are some basic similarities between the two plotlines, which I guess are meant to show that that some people will behave in certain ways no matter who they are with.

What I found most confusing about the film, however, was the lack of distinction between the two alternate versions. The couples seem to follow roughly the same track, no matter how they are mixed and matched. And maybe that's supposed to be the point, but honestly it makes for kind of a boring watch. Oh, now Dario is being a playboy jerk to Chiara in a slightly different but basically the same way he was with Giulia? Neat.

The actors are not bad, but I feel as if they were given very little to work with. We learn their jobs, but not much more about them. I would be hard pressed to characterize any of them past their occupations and some very basic personality traits.

Nope

https://boxd.it/32Qs7Z

4.5/5

Had a blast with it. Close Encounters meets Jaws.

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

Ahhh, I see. A fan. I won't argue the case then, in jest or otherwise.

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Deliverance - (1972)

Was very happy to catch up with this epochal film last night, a masterpiece from the decidedly hit-or-miss John Boorman. It features a struggle between modern city-dwelling man and his more backwards, backwoods ancestors - with the looming destruction of their habitat and history going on in the background. It also dwells on the savage nature of man, and features a vista that never quite feels beautiful - only full of death, pain and struggle, with man as those thing's biggest harbingers. The thing that really strikes you is how good the editing is in this, and just sitting back to admire that brings as much thrill as the story or visuals. A superb film, and I can't stop being envious for those who first saw it back in 1972, when films like this were few and far between. Instead of putting people off going to this film's location, the film actually increased tourism to it markedly.

10/10


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Oranges and Sunshine - (2010)

Lets get this out of the way right now - Oranges and Sunshine is a formulaic true story, and it takes a while to really hook it's audience. The reason for that is how multi-layered and horrifying the scandal at the heart of it is. Just when you think you've heard the worst of what happened, it deepens, and becomes truly shocking. It shows us the "Home Children" scheme, which was instigated in 1869. Margaret Humphreys (Emily Watson) discovers that young boys and girls (from the age of 3) were being shipped from England to Australia to institutions where they'd be recruited for hard labour - no matter how young they were. In these places they were often raped, whipped, and punished in other horrifying ways. They were told their parents were dead (in most cases they weren't) and the abuse they suffered was phenomenal - with their parents being told they'd been adopted by good families (which was a lie.) 150,000 such children were shipped off in this way, and the deportation program ran up the 1960s and 70s. This film follows how this was discovered and exposed, and the damaged adults that live on in the shadow of what happened to them. Eye-opening, and something I didn't think could happen post-1945.

7/10

Have you seen Boorman's earlier movie Point Blank? That one has some great editing inspired by the French New Wave.

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I've been meaning to see that for a long time. From what I've seen I know I'll really like it, and everything I hear about it only increases my need to see it.

Don't forget to check out Boorman's true masterpieces: Zardoz and Exorcist 2

A friend and I become so obsessed with the cinematic awfulness of Exorcist II : The Heretic that he literally wrote a book about it :



We watched Zardoz as well. It's a hoot.

Amazing and agreeable!

According to IMDb Boorman directed 17 films. I've seen eight of them and IMO the only clinkers were Zardoz and Exorcist II: The Heretic.