Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Les Maudits/The Damned (1947)
Directed by René Clément

Good to see this finally.

French Second World War drama about a group of Axis officials and various collaborators attempting an unlikely escape from Norway in a German U-boat in the final days of the war. Their plans to reach South America become complicated after an attack by an enemy vessel leaves one of the passengers injured and requiring medical attention. A doctor is successfully kidnapped from the French coast and brought on board so that the mission may continue. Held captive, he realises that once he is no longer required his future will be short lived. Yet this is only the beginning as we come to learn more about the darkly intriguing personalities of the other characters he is trapped with - the damned - each with their own past and uncertain future.

It's a good quality film noir/psychological drama. The quality of the production was excellent, with the gritty black and white photography, compositions, innovative tracking shots through the sub and exterior scenes all giving a good impression of reality, whilst also conveying the necessary darkness of the mood and underlying tension. I feel like this overshadowed the quality of the story to some extent however, which although was reasonably good, didn't quite live up to the same standard. Some events and motivations were a little unbelievable, and some characters were developed better than others. There was some good casting though, and the engaging narration from the doctor character worked very well in expressing the mood and keeping the story tight. Good style and unique character.

7/10

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Pretty disturbing, and I am used to scary/horror movies. It makes you feel unconfortable in a very particular way. Yikes!

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There has been an awekening.... have you felt it?

what do u mean Pretty disturbing? i havent seen this one yet

ヴァーサス (2000)
aka Versus
Kitamura puts all of his idols into a blender and pours the weird mix on film. The result is a bloated mess and the opposite of in moderation. Action scenes drag on and on, a good (or a bad) portion of scenes are parody, acting is quite horrible, and the general feel is childish and insecure. Competes with The Doorman for the worst film by Kitamura that I've seen.

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Poor Albert and Little Annie (1972)
aka I Dismember Mama

This B-movie has a somewhat interesting concept, but the execution is too flawed. The two leads do a decent job, but everything else from the direction, writing, and especially music is below average. It's not sleazy enough and doesn't dare to go where it should go.

Leon Morin, Priest - 7.5/10

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https://www.youtube.com/c/LoyalOpposition

Maybe about 7 or 8 episodes? It was like 8 or 9 years ago.

Anything for Jackson (2020)

It's one of those old-school satanic panic films. The concept is quite okay, but the film is a disjointed collection of ghosts that don't seem to have any other function than just being there to spook the viewer. The film also looks quite ugly, and the cellar-dwelling chief satanist was like a sketch character.

Inferno, 2016 (C+)

There really isn't that much there. Da Vinci Code is obviously the gold standard Dan Brown movie, for what that's worth. It's a good chase movie with an interseting art history and symbology element to it. Angels and Demons was bad, but it still had that interesting element to it. This one is essentially a chase movie that takes place in Italy. Almost nothing is left to rememer after you've watched it. Nothing comes to mind as especially good or memorable.Not the worst, but not worth it.

Possum, 2018

A puppeteer named Philip (Sean Harris) returns to his hometown and to the house where his uncle, Maurice (Alun Armstrong) lives. Philip has a lot of baggage, both figuratively and literally, as he carries around a case that contains a disturbing, spider-like puppet. As tensions simmer between Philip and Maurice, in the background we hear about the disappearance of a boy Philip encountered on the train.

My main association with Sean Harris is upsetting films--things like Creep--and this one was no exception. Philip arrives on screen as a broken, withdrawn character, and things only get worse for him as the film goes on. It is an unsettling character progression, as Philip's past trauma comes more to light and drags him further into an unhealthy headspace.

Someone recently asked me how and why I watch so much horror because just thinking "it's not real" didn't work for them and they got overwhelmed. I think that one of my favorite things about horror is how astutely certain horror films allegorically address the different fears and traumas that many of us have experienced. Possum is a really good example of this, where Philip's deranged puppet (and puppets often being associated with therapy or a means of displaced self-expression) actually seems to represent his past trauma and the way that he has "encoded" what happened to him in his youth.

This is a very slow film, albeit one that is dotted with disturbing and creative imagery. Much of the run time is spent watching Philip wander around town with his bag, trying to dispose of the puppet that always seems to find its way back to him. There is a lot that goes unsaid, or that is expressed minimally, and the narrative is something that builds through the whole duration of the movie.

A parallel to the search for the truth of Philip's past is the search for the missing boy. As Philip tries to sort out his own mind, he ends up going back to many places from his youth, only to find that the missing boy has "followed" him there. Seeking an old hiding place, Philip finds himself chased away by a search party. Stopping by his old elementary school, Philip is confronted by the head of the school and told to move on. The past and present are colliding, but it won't be clear until the end just in what way.

The film does rest almost entirely on Harris's brave and all-in performance and the atmosphere and imagery. While there are a few scenes between Philip and his uncle, this is mostly a look at one man and his descent into a sort of madness as he tries to reconcile with his past. I wish that there had been a little more closure at the end, which is my only real complaint. Probably not a film for everyone, but I really enjoyed it.

Hillbilly Elegy:

A loud, trite, cacophonous parade of shrieking stereotypes perpetually in conflict in order to make a hollow, condescending appeal about titular “hillbilly” culture. The only moments of authenticity are brought by Glenn Close, whom unfortunately is given the worst lines of dialogue in the film (it has stiff competition but her Terminator philosophy is among the worst things I’ve seen on the screen).

7500 (2019-2020)

Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

Soul (2020)

Underwater (2020)

Becky (2020)

The Hunt (2020)

I love this movie

Never Take Sweets From a Stranger (1960) -



Hammer is best known for their horror films, including the Dracula and Frankenstein series, but Never Take Sweets From a Stranger is scarier than any other Hammer film I've seen. I'm not squeamish but the film hit me harder than I ever expected. The film features no gore nor blood, but it's still very strong by showing what it shows and not showing what couldn't be shown. What is largely forgotten nowadays in the age of explicit images and excess is the skill of terrifying the viewer without exploitative images and in-your-face imagery. The rape in Shanghai Express was more painful than the rape in Irréversible even though it happened off-screen. Sometimes what is implied or unseen is the scariest. But it's not like Never Take Sweets From a Stranger doesn't show anything. It does. It shows the dynamics of a small community, ruled by a powerful family that can shake the law. The scenes of victim-blaming at court are strong, but even stronger is the boat scene with a mute zombie-like old man pulling the rope. The ending plays like a very bitter victory bought with a loss much greater than anybody expected. Truly a terrifying picture, which seems to get overlooked while it's only a tad bit below the likes of Psycho and Peeping Tom.

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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.

Mary Magdalene (2018)

Being a Catholic God botherer myself, I was unsure how to go into this film. Lots of portrayals of Jesus have been skewed at best (as far as we know). This was another in that canon but had the advantage of having Rooney Mara as a strong lead in the titular role. It drops to a human level and the actors Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Tahar Rahim shine. Well produced but not for everyone I suspect. It does, however vindicate the role that Mary Magdelene played in that time and place.

same here

That might be enough for me.