Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Essentially this is a 2 hour film about a man cleaning public toilets in Tokyo. If you don’t like slow moving cinema you won’t enjoy it. The film is very understated and meditative. Wim Wenders does this purposefully to show how our central character (played wonderfully by Koji Yakusho) is moved and happy to be content with just being alive. He’s ecstatic to see leaves in the wind and plants growing in the soil. That’s about the extent of it.

There are a few sub plots that don’t really develop fully and come and go quite quickly, but Wenders seems to be saying that there is no point in searching for a meaning in life – the fact we are here at all is amazing enough in itself. Profound but some will fins it extremely pretentious. There wasn’t quite enough here to be very emotional, or very dramatic but Wenders wasn’t going for that angle. Outstanding sound track too with some classic tunes.

7.2/10

The Menu (2022)


I wanted to like this one even more, as the absurdity of it all is fantastic. The satire works well for the most part, but the end seems to try and walk it back a bit to be more serious (unless that was supposed to be satirical too, it just seemed like a slight misstep to me).

5th Rewatch...This delicious 1999 black comedy has officially found its way onto my list of films that i never tire of re-watching. Alexander Payne is the genius behind this twisted story of a Nebraska high school election that forever alters the lives of several students and one teacher. Payne's screenplay and direction are extremely clever but the heart of the film is the performances by Matthew Broderick, in the performance of his career, as the teacher who keeps making one bad choice after another and Reese Witherspoon, in a crisp and ferocious performance that should have earned her a Best Supporting Actress, as the dangerously ambitious Tracy Flick.

4th Rewatch...For my money, the Cohen Brothers' masterpiece that was robbed of the Best Picture Oscar. The only thing that keeps this film from a 5 rating is the scene of Marge's reunion with an unstable high school classmate. Still don't understand the necessity of this scene and never will, but otherwise, everything else works here, especially the performances of William H Macy, Steve Buscemi, and Peter Stormare.

I had a very similar reaction, plus the fact that the movie seems very much like weak tea when compared to Peter Greenaway's The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover.

1st Rewatch...There was a lot of hate floating around these boards when I reviewed this the first time and I still don't think it's as bad as its reputation. This sexy, erotic drama based on a runaway bestseller by EL James is the story of a virginal college student named Anastasia Steele who thinks she has found the man of her dreams in an enigmatic billionaire named Christian Grey. Anastasia is looking for romance but learns Grey doesn't do romance. This film oozes sexual tension, but there is a reality at the core of it. Grey never pretends to be something that he's not, even presenting an elaborately detailed contract for Anastasia to sign before the begin any kind of relationship. As a matter of fact, the scene where they meet so that she can renegotiate the contract is my favorite scene in the film. I loved the way the showed the text of the contract onscreen while Christian's voice verbalized it on the audio. Unfortunately, the film gets a little messy when Anastasia refuses to sign the contract and the relationship continues. Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan create chemistry and look great in various states of undress. I love the moment when he catches her biting her lip and he says, "You need to let me do that." It gets messy toward the end and, for some reason, I think people who read the book will have more trouble with it than I did.

Lisa Frankenstein (2024)

One of te biggest flops of the year I was going to pass on this until I saw the audience score and decided to give it a shot. Modern female films tend to have a very specific character and tone that has become so dull and predictable that the films now just feel masturbatory. In addition to this the filmmaker is Zelda Williams, Robin Williams daughter making her feature film debut and it stars the child actor from the Sweete Life of Zach and Cody and a girl that looks like the girl from Stranger Things. So you'd think bad film and Siddon and he's just going to rail about wokeness...thing is, they one was pretty good.

Don't get me wrong Diablo Cody wrote the script and she ruined what could have been an A film with terrible pacing, but this film has a lot of good stuff in it. This movie is a throwback to the horror/comedies of the early 90's like Serial Mom or My Boyfriends Back or Dead Alive. It's a horror comedy and while the humor falls flat the romance and horror doesn't...it's strange but it's also gorgeous and well crafted. The characters are distinctive for a change, the settings and production design feal more lived in and real. This movie doesn't feel like it's generally in the 80's rather a specific time in the 80's.

I believe this film might actually become a cult classic of sorts.

B+

I wouldn't call it "one of the biggest" flops of 2024 for the simple reason it didn't cost a lot in the first place. With a reported budget of $13m and having already grossed almost $10m, it really doesn't looks as huge a failure as Argylle (which cost $200m) or Madame Web (around $100m).

This was a pretty fun watch. The film takes a very comedic approach to the story with Robin Hood's character design and attitude being cool and slick, without feeling arrogant. However, most of the humor falls on Prince John, which is understandable cause he's a really colorful and funny character. It's also worth noting that I saw it with my kids, so I went for the dubbed version.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

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For budget yes it's not a huge flop...for screens though it's top ten worst opening of all-time

Peter Ustinov as Prince John made the film worth the price of admission all by himself.

Hopefully Dune Part 2 will be box office hit and more importantly a good movie.

I got that impression, which is why I will try to check the English version at some point. But I wanted the kids to understand it fully, so I went dubbed for them.

Unfortunately it's not getting the month long birth Mario got last year so it might not clear a billion but it's going to be one of the five biggest films of the year.

The Country Girl (1954)

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[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

What a mediocrity! I've hardly reached the end of this rubbish.
Ugh...Just one more dumb show for the monkey-descendent populace. That shifty Greek just tricks the imbecile hollywood investors to take their fake millions.
I give a star and a half only because of the good production design.

30/100

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"Population don't imitate art, population imitate bad television." W.A.
"You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." M.T.

Poor Things (2023) Emma Stone is fantastic here, in a career best performance. Her performance is funny, interesting, complex, and bold. The production design and costumes are excellent. The screenplay is wonderful with some memorable and amusing dialogue. Poor Things is a delightfully demented, weird and wild, exceptionally well made cinematic experience.

@mrblond & @Allaby
Are you guys working for Lanthimos? With two such different takes on this movie, now I feel I have to see it. And I don't like Lanthimos.

Yes, it is all part of Yorgos's brilliant plan. Poor Things could be a love it or hate it, divisive type of film. I would definitely consider it a must see.