Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Winter Sleep (2014) 3.5/5

First of all, this is one heck of a long movie. Definitely not for the impatient - if you're not a fan of ultra slow moving films with profuse dialogue, steer clear of this one. Personally, I was intrigued by the way it progressed because I am very much drawn to films that challenge me and leave me with next to no clues as to what might happen next. Admittedly, at some point during the film I was on the point of being bored to death but I carried on till the end. Overall, I thought it was definitely worth it, although it didn't impress me all that much.

To me, the best thing about this film was the cinematography which was utterly beautiful. There were some fantastic shots and scenes, and the acting was great. But I have to say some of the conversations really tested my patience - but then again, I'm certain that was part of the intent as they helped reveal the delicate nuances of the characters' psyche.

Anomalisa
Duke Johnson, Charlie Kaufman | 2015


Carol
Todd Haynes | 2015


Ex Machina
Alex Garland | 2015


Youth
Paolo Sorrentino | 2015

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MM, you've convinced me to give The Martian a try

Had nothing to do and this was on TV.
It's not bad! Some funny moments and the animation was solid.
There were a lot of cliches and the last 30 minutes summarize everything I think is wrong about current animation, but it was a good distraction.

Oh, and the sloth, the typical cute character of every animated movie, was definitely the plus of this movie! DA-DA-DAAAA!

Reese Witherspoon plays an average girl with a drug problem who sleeps around a lot. She decides to go through with her crazy idea of taking a 1200 mile hike. Then it ends.

Umberto D (De Sica, 1952)



The director of this film, Vitorrio De Sica, doesn't have a noticeable style compared to other directors of his generations. In De Sica's films there are no fancy long take shots or atmospheric lighting. Instead what he does is show post-war Italy as realistic as possible. Thus his use of relatively unknown actors is explained, because if there were big-name stars in a film like this it would be a major distraction. Umberto D is a heartbreaking story of a poor old man who only has his dog and a lonely housemaid. It's only 89 minutes long but by the end the surroundings around you will seem beautiful,

Wild - 6/10

Opens up with a great Simon & Garfunkel song "El Condor Pasa" and then one of my favorite childhood songs "Let Em In" by Paul McCartney and Wings.

I backpacked, but never stayed in a hotel or in a tent. It was either a hostel or camping outside without a tent, but still drew interest. The travel is one part of it, some of it for her was to get away from her past life, a way to start over, or as she says "Take a time-out". Don't wanna give anything away. There are some cliche about traveling, predictable stuff. It's not a very long movie, but seemed to take forever. I even had to take a shower to build more energy while I was in the shower thinking of my own scenarios.

On the writing, which is the most important to me, I felt they would start a great situation to write about, but then abandon it. Probably because it's difficult, but makes the overall piece great. Worth a watch if you only watch new movies.

Wild didn't delve enough into the heroin aspects. It just kept focusing on rape paranoia.
I was disappointed how most of the intensity from this film kept coming from her worry about being raped.

As far as I know she was never raped in the past. But for some reason the film just kept trying to amp up that rapey tension.

Well, it's a netflix series but better than almost any movies, like, ever.

You're not kidding! Every single time she came across somebody, my wife and I got that feeling. By the end of the movie, we were joking about it.

It would have been nice for a verbal exchange between that hunter and her.. A situation comes, and then poof, dissolve instead of diving into it. It only takes 20 seconds to write up some good dialogue, to give us more insight, character development.

I didn't like Wild either. I thought it would be a film about the spiritual connection to the wilderness and being alone, but it was just a bunch of contrived danger situations. Crummy writing on the script.

I reviewed Wild and gave it 2/5

My review of Wild

My wife picked it out and then I ended up liking it more than her.

I'm guessing the book was better.

First viewing in almost 20 years, and I didn't like it as much as I had remembered. I'd call it average Hitchcock, which is still pretty good. Cary Grant and Grace Kelly have great chemistry, the French Riviera setting is stunning, and there's a couple of nicely shot car chases. On the downside, I thought it had moments of dullness.

Bollywood Movie Kis Kis ko Pyar Karo... Really nice movie. 8/10

Elite Squad - (maybe )

Not quite the action movie I was led to believe that it was, but still a rather competent crime drama.

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Sicario (2015)


There's really not much to it.

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I thought the rape paranoia came naturally, it didn't feel to me like the film was "trying" anything. But I think it really works in the film's favor in my opinion, because to me it reflects the kind of world we live in, where that sort of (justified) paranoia does exist for women. Wild is one of my favorite films of 2014.