Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Re: Jennifer Kent, count me in as another one that was more or less lukewarm towards The Babadook, but I keep reading good things about The Nightingale. I'll probably check it out.

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Catching up on some Halloween classics. They're classics for me anyway:


The Thing


Creepshow


Friday the 13th Part 2


Alien

I was pleasantly surprised by this one when I watched it a short while ago. Much more character driven than I expected.

Mandy (Panos Cosmatos, 2018)
Not sure Barry Manilow would, but I found it fairly entertaining

Have you also seen Color Out of Space? It and Mandy would make for a fine double feature.

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IMDb
Letterboxd

I haven't yet, hopefully I'll get around to it one day.

Strange, it shows for me, no matter which device or browser I'm on. It's The Mortuary Collection. Someone else also said it didn't show for them...

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Russia, 2020

Pretty cool.

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

The Greatest Showman (Michael Gracey, 2017) +
The songs and spectacle were enjoyable enough, the tale is unremarkable though and the sound mixing downright irritating in places

Watched the unrated version of the film.



Snooze factor = 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

A Face in the Crowd -8.5/10

Felt in the same vain as All The King's Men but it may be just a bit better. Andy Griffin almost sucks all the energy out of the movie with his really good performance but it's all good.

The Unholy Three - 1925 Lon Chaney silent feature where he plays a decidedly bent ventriloquist named Echo who, when the film opens, is teamed up with pickpocket Rosie O'Grady (Mae Busch). He comes up with the idea of expanding his criminal enterprise by bringing in strongman Hercules (Victor McLaglen) and midget Tweedledee (Harry Earles). Together they form The Unholy Three and, using a pet shop as a front, start casing well to do targets. Given the era it is a melodrama of course but it's a well made one with a strong lead performance by Chaney that illustrates why he was such a huge star at the time. The ending is especially effective and melancholy. 85/100

Some great films there. Glad to see some love for Friday 2. It's my favorite from the franchise.

Monster Problems (2020)
aka Love and Monsters

A PG-13 adventure-horror-comedy that loans from things like Fallout, I Am Legend, Shaun of the Dead and a bunch of old B-movies with monstrous animals due to radiation or poisons. As a comedy, it isn't exactly my cup of tea coffee but at least it was watchable without any desire to self-harm. Still, way too predictable, formulaic and without an edge to actually be funny.

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

Dunkirk (2017)

Impressive movie with believable action scenes and great performances. Not *strictly* my bag film-wise but I can admire the job Nolan has done here.

If you liked this then you will probably love Argento's. Definitely get watching.

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Too weird to live, and too rare to die.

It's my favorite of the bunch and a lot of it is because of what you said. It's also the first one I saw (my babysitter dragged me to it) so there's some nostalgia. For a Ft13th flick the characters are kind of decent and Ginny is my favorite of the Final Girls.

Dirty God (2019) -
Busby (2019) -
Fantastic Beasts (2016) -
Resolution (2012) -
Cam (2018) -
Night Tide (2016) - +
The Pleasure of Being Robbed (2008) -

Dust Devil - (108 minute director's cut)

Dust Devil is a stylish, mystical and unique serial killer tale for how it ponders if supernatural forces are to blame for the evils of the world. While other serial killer movies do this - Seven and Fallen come to mind - it is refreshing to see one from a non-Judeo-Christian and non-American perspective for a change. Robert John Burke is chilling as the killer and a likely depiction of how southern African natives imagine the devil. The actor retains his American accent, which is an inspired choice for how it makes him all the more otherwordly. The opening scene, which reveals the killer's M.O., expertly sets the tone, made me clench my armrests each time he appeared afterwards and best of all terrified me.

The movie also deserves credit for giving the native characters their own lives and voices instead of just being there to point the leads in the right direction. To be fair, Joe, a sangoma and the most prominent believer does the latter for Mukurob, but the movie gives him three dimensions and that is not all he is there to do. Actually, while director Richard Stanley and not Joe may believe more than anyone, he wisely leaves it up to the audience whether the killer is really pulling the strings of fate or if there are really any strings at all. Stanley is not the best actor's director - too many performances are flat and robotic - and even though I enjoyed the poetic narration and dialogue, some of it is delivered in the same manner and thus leads to tone-disrupting unintentional comedy. The movie's surreal and mystical properties still shine through, though, and besides, how many other serial killer movies fit that description?