Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Over the Edge (1979)

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[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

Gaia, 2021

Gabi (Monique Rockman) and her husband, Winston (Anthony Oseyemi) are park rangers conducting surveillance in the depths of a large forest. When they are separated, Gabi is injured and later taken in by a father and son pair, Barend (Carel Nel) and Stefan (Alex van Dyk). While the strange family seems to present a threat, it soon becomes clear that something very strange is happening in the forest.

Intriguing imagery and a neat premise don’t quite sustain this film through a lot of repetitive sequences and a sense that it doesn’t quite live up to its promise.



Full review

Umpteenth Rewatch...My # 2 favorite movie of all time. Still holds up. Elizabeth Taylor is absolutely amazing, one of the best Best Actress Oscar winners ever.

What is your #1 favorite movie? The Sound of Music?

Close...Mary Poppins of course.

Of course I should've guessed that one.

The Neon Demon - Some critics have said this is Nicolas Winding Refn's best film. I don't think it qualifies. The subject matter might be the most in sync with his style of film-making but that doesn't necessarily equate to a superior experience.

Elle Fanning plays 16 year old aspiring model Jesse. She has just arrived in Los Angeles and meets up with all manner of predatory types. There's makeup artist Ruby (Jena Malone), models Gigi (Bella Heathcote) and Sarah (Abbey Lee) regular nice guy photographer Dean (Karl Glusman) and, playing against type, Keanu Reeves as scuzzy motel manager Hank. Much like the living mannequins that Refn is spotlighting the film is beautiful to watch. The color palette is so immersive that his usual languid shots make for an especially superlative accompaniment. But the film sort of holds you at arms length which, even though it also matches up well with the milieu, doesn't make for a very compelling watch.

The third act is jarring but at the same time, doesn't stray from the overall tone of the film. In the end it still comes down to it being a cautionary tale. Albeit an especially gorgeous one. I wouldn't consider this a clinker from Refn. So, I guess ... thumbs up to NWR?

65/100

That happens to be #18 on my list of favorite movies! Granted, that's not #2, but still...

It pains me to say this, but I've got to say that as a long-time fan of the Evil Dead series, the premise is becoming just a bit worn and threadbare. I guess you could say it's beginning to figuratively wear through the scalp to a far greater extent than literally tearing through it. (Couldn't resist. Sorry!) And director Lee Cronin's solution to the problem of how to make things different - transferring the action from a cabin in the woods to a crumbling urban high-rise - only ironically underscores how repetitive things are starting to become. The fact that this time the plot involves a family - a divorced mother, her three children and their aunt who is the heroine - should theoretically make the proceedings far more emotionally involving and shocking, but I don't think Cronin's quite good enough as a writer of character to pull it off. But although Cronin fails to make his story darker, the movie itself is far more drenched in actual darkness than it really needed to be. I'm telling you, I could barely see a thing! I know at one point there's a blackout at a crucial point in the story, and so it's supposed to look dark, but for much of the time I was seriously straining my eyes. I don't know if the movie was filmed digitally or on film - honestly I can't tell anymore - but in any case the cinematography left much to be desired. I think that there's a certain level of invention and creativity, a certain aesthetic sensibility, that's been gradually disappearing in movies over time. Having said all this, I did watch the 4K version first, and haven't watched the Blu-ray yet. And I find the 4K UHD versions of most movies to be certainly less bright than the Blu-ray versions. (Although I admittedly have a relatively inexpensive Vizio TV set and have yet to upgrade.)

(Side note: Does anybody else find it slightly amusing that the director's real name is exactly the same as the anagrammatic pseudonym used by ace writer Gene L. Coon for the episodes he penned for the original Star Trek's third season in 1968-69? Or is that just me? Hey, apropos of nothing, just thought I'd mention it...)

Yes, I'll always be a huge fan of the original Evil Dead trilogy with Bruce Campbell. Heck, I even have a soft spot for Fede Álvarez's 2013 remake, which is a reasonably successful variation on Sam Raimi's classic original. (And I think the additional dramatic element of its lead female character being a recovering drug addict was far more effective than the weakly pedestrian family drama of the new Cronin film.) The Ash vs. Evil Dead series was rollicking good fun, as well (up to a point, anyway). But I think we're starting to see signs of creative fatigue setting in and there are only so many things that filmmakers can do to squeeze any more creative juice out of a premise once it's played out.

But I have only seen Evil Dead Rise once so far since purchasing the 4K, so maybe repeat viewings will reveal other virtues and aspects that I overlooked or didn't notice the first time around. Anything's possible, and we're all entitled to change our minds...

Oh yeah! Everyone was anticipating that movie due to Liz & Richard's real life marriage, and it sure didn't disappoint! Not for the faint of heart, though. Albee was a fairly twisted guy..

Just watched a bit of Liz in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) last night. She did a nice job, while Newman overacted; but I couldn't stop marveling how good Burl Ives was.

All three children from Evil Dead Rise were different looking. Were they from different fathers? If yes, mom must be 304.

I preferred Evil Dead (2013) over this one. I felt it was more cohesive.

I found the scene with the knife (you definitely know what I'm talking about) incredibly disturbing. Like, pause the film and walk away for a minute disturbing.

I was somewhat mixed on the film and scored it about the same as you (6/10). There were some really inspired moments, horror-wise and visually, but it wasn't enough for me. The original jolt of the main character wasn't enough to sustain real interest in her or the story as a whole. It also touches on the whole "women as collaborators in their own exploitation" thing, but doesn't say much worthwhile about it.

Yeah. If you pour gasoline all over a person (he made sure she was covered) and light them on fire, it's reasonable to immediately conclude that they're going to die. Same with perhaps, shooting a person in the head (and many people have miraculously survived that as well.) It's also reasonable to conclude that an intent to kill can form after the decision to drive her to rehab, or else, he intended to convince her not to go during the drive. I think it was alluded to that the argument was about her going to rehab? But what was it with not giving her medical aid or recompense because she happened to have been a drug addict? I understand the rule, but applying it in this instance was completely shoving aside the circumstances of her case and being unnecessarily cruel - because applying it is akin to directly telling her "We think this is your fault." They're using the mindset of her abuser, and in doing that the bureaucracy involved is being an abuser in itself.

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Oh yes. I agree about it being disturbing and my discomfort distracted me to the point where I wasn't sure if it had been a dream or not. She sort of comes to on the floor. But then the stuff that follows was certainly real. Was it Hank that came and rattled her door knob? And was it him next door? I thought about going back and re-watching it. But then thought, "Nah, I'm good."

Add the fashion industry to the list of things that titillate Refn.

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Sisters - (2015)

Great idea for a comedy. Two middle-aged sisters, Anne and Maura Ellis (played by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler) throw an impromptu party at the house they grew up in when their parents (played by Dianne Wiest and James Brolin) decide to sell it. They invite all of the people they knew from high school, and as such we get a version of your average "teen party" movie with much older characters. If you know the stars you know what kind of comedy you're going to get - a mix of ad-libbed moments (usually over dozens of takes, with the best line making it into the film) and Paula Pell's comedic writing, which is good - her pug/waxing strip cameo is very funny as well. The film, overall, doesn't strike me as a comedy classic though. I've seen both Fey and Poehler in better form than this.

6/10


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The Gypsy (Le Gitan) - (1975)

When you think of a crime caper like this, with a durable gypsy (played by a moustachioed Alain Delon) included amongst the characters, you immediately think of Snatch - I couldn't help comparing the two films. The Gypsy lacks the more modern film's farcical comedy, and as such it's a very dry combination of police procedural with heists, raids, escapes and chases. The plot includes two parallel stories - that of the gypsy, who has escaped from prison, and crime kingpin Yan Kuq (Paul Meurisse). Kuq is also an expert safe cracker, and has just participated in a heist when he returns to find his wife talking to a lover on the phone (that lover being a detective who will be involved with this case.) When he confronts her, she threatens to jump off the couple's balcony - and she slips, falling to her death. Both the heist and death have the cops on his tail, and wherever he runs to, the gypsy also happens to be committing his crimes - over and over, by some hard-to-fathom coincidence. With a bit more fun infused into this film's DNA, it could have been more enjoyable. As it is, it's well made - it's leaden tone it's only serious defect.

6/10

Now the last movie that I saw was "The Whale" and that movie was superb but I am going to rate 8.5/10.

Masterpiece

9/10

At first glance a simple revenge story but what sets The Bravados apart from other Westerns of that time. It reflects on the internal moral struggle of a man who by circumstance is forced into the way of the gun and the laws of the land which conflict with his own religious morals and values. Beautiful film in magnificent CinemaScope and I hope ‘58 Joan Collins visits me in my dreams tonight.

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The MacKintosh Man (1973)

Above average British special agent undercover movie. A more realistic 007 without the style and gross wealth and gadgetry. Good story, I liked this more than Bullitt.

7/10