Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Scott was otherwise pretty faithful to the events of Tarantino’s script. He put it in chronological order but kept the scenes virtually identical to as written.

Some online outlets say the Unrated version has the original ending but I’m pretty sure I have and watched it, only to find Scott’s ending intact.

Yeah, I've always felt this film had a lot to offer and great potential, but was the right director and the right leading man short.
Slater came off, in moments like the Elvis bits, like the wrong guy for the role. He was a very specific movie star and I feel like he got cast in this by a producer or studio-guy not someone who really understood the script. Conversely, I thought Arquette was pretty good except that Scott directed the wrong movie and she was in the middle of it.
Which brings me to Scott who I think can be a good director (see The Hunger) but he was not the right one for this script. His style is just a little too Hollywood, a little too polished, a little too mainstream-edgy instead of Tarantino edgy for this script. And I feel like you see that in most of the movie, outside of a few very good scenes that were written (and cast) too well to be ruined. Tarantino would demonstrate how a film like this should have been directed a year later.
Still, it is not without entertainment value, I've enjoyed the film a few times.

That didn't occur to me when I watched the film, but I get that criticism.

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Pieces of a Woman (2020)

Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18099602

Shadow of the Vampire - (2000)

Despite Willem Dafoe's Oscar nomination, this film had completely slipped my radar until recently. That performance is the reason to see this interesting alternate-history telling of the making of Nosferatu (100 years old this year.) He ostensibly plays actor Max Schreck, unknown to all the cast and crew except director F. W. Murnau (John Malkovich) - as to the reason they have to wait until they're on location to meet him, Murnau explains that Schreck is a method actor, and will only appear to them in character. Well, what Murnau has done is found himself a real vampire - one who will play havoc with the production of the film. Dafoe's seedy, pathetic, yet dangerous ancient monster nearly steals our attention away from any other aspect of the film, and as good as Benicio Del Toro was in Traffic - I give this Oscar to Willem Dafoe. I enjoyed watching it enormously last night, and if I watch it again it will simply be to witness that especially strange incarnation of "Schreck". Having Udo Kier in the cast was like a cherry on top of the cake.

While I'm at it - you beat Rami Malek and obviously deserved the Oscar for your performance as van Gogh in At Eternity's Gate, Willem - that's 2 you deserve. Your other 2 nominations were also very winnable. You know what's gonna happen in the end, don't you? You're going to end up winning an Oscar for some average piece of crap because the Academy is going to be worrying you won't get one towards the end of your career.

8/10


By Entertainment Film Distributors - Direct from the distributor as I am one of the films distributors and it is all over the internet, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60315686

Fisherman's Friends - (2019)

A feel-good pick-me-up kind of true story, this fairly predictable movie is well made, but came at a bad time for me. I've been picking movies these days based on perceived quality, but I'm going to get more picky genre-wise in the future because I'm kind of tired of all of these rags-to-riches and coming of age films. It doesn't matter how well made they are, they all follow the same formula so closely that I find myself watching a film I feel like I've seen a thousand times before. The obligatory romance, financially-driven main character who comes to understand friendship is more valuable than money and transformation of people from average joes to big stars all make their showing here with nothing really distinctive except for the fact that fishermen singing sea-shanties is an unusual group to be selling heaps of records in today's age. This is pleasant, bright and sounds good - but I feel like begging filmmakers to do something a little more different than just rolling out measured scenes that follow a safe tried-and-true pattern.

6/10

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Okay, I shared it: http://matchcut.artboiled.com/showth...l=1#post648733


By the way Takoma (or anyone interested here), have you considered joining the Match Cut forum yet? I think you'd fit in just fine with all the other serious cinephiles already there.

Truth.
I don't know what Rami Malek put in the water but, hey, good for him, I guess.
Not good for Willem, though, who has been an elite guy for years.

Not that I was specifically invited, but I consider myself a deeply silly cinephile so it’s probably not my crowd.

Sillyphiles are the best imo.

(Full disclosure - I'm one myself)

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Lol I hope you spaced these far enough apart.


Also, if you're exploring the work of Ho Meng Hua, might I recommend The Vengeful Beauty? It's a kung fu movie with a pregnant heroine who gets in multiple fight scenes and periodically clutches her stomach to remind us that she's supposed to be pregnant.

Seconded. A great film.

Doom Asylum (1987) This was fun. Acting was mostly bad, but in an amusing sort of way. The dialogue was ridiculous and I laughed a lot. If you enjoy cheesy and wacky 80s horror comedies,then this is for you!

I liked the guy who wore a necklace with his name on it.

Yeah, he was funny. I also enjoyed when the one girl prayed to God that if she makes it through she will give God money, sex or a gift card for Bloomies. And of course the other girl who offered the killer a discount on therapy sessions!

I Basilischi - 7/10

It's like a lesser version of "i vitelloni" and you can access it via Amazon

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A Touch of Zen, 1971

Unambitious scholar Gu (Chun Shih) has his world turned upside down when a mysterious stranger strolls into town looking for a fugitive named Yang (Feng Hsu) who is hiding out after her family was targeted by a corrupt government official. A dangerous mix of deception and violent showdowns ensues.

Always a good sign when you have to agonize over which stunning image to include at the top of a review.

This film is just great, with an interesting story, engaging characters, and a visual style that somehow starts strong and only gets better as it goes until it reaches a kind of other-worldly apex in the last five or ten minutes.

While this film is about three hours long, it's the kind of movie where you don't really feel that length. The minutes are all used purposefully, and the action or the character development is constantly moving forward. The relationship between Gu and Yang subverts typical action dynamics, as she is the seasoned warrior and he is the innocent. When Gu does participate more directly, it is to come up with a Scooby-Doo-esque plan to scare the bad guys into thinking a temple is haunted. Chuckling about his brilliance when the ruse is a success, Gu is then brought up short when he encounters the very real carnage that resulted.

While there are many great sequences in the film, the final 20 or so minutes are truly epic, from both an action and visual standpoint. At each step the film just pushes things one . . . step . . . further.

A lot to like here. No notes!

Earth Light - 7.5/10

Found this also via Prime. I think it's in the Mubi and/or Cohen streaming site. It's trying to be "art-house", and the photography in Tunisia is wonderful, and once you get past some of that, it's a very good movie, centered around one young man, but the people he meets along the way are interesting, especially one woman in particular. It's different, which is exactly what I've been wanting.