Rate The Last Movie You Saw

By 20th Century Fox - http://www.impawards.com/1982/conan_the_barbarian.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63438443

Conan the Barbarian - (1982)

Sword and sorcery fantasy films weren't really my thing as a kid, so Conan the Barbarian has remained a vague piece of 1980s pop culture that I had not seen before last night. I was expecting something borderline bad, in a b-movie kind of way, but I think Conan the Destroyer muddied the water a little. This was interesting as an early Schwarzenegger artifact - he was a bit of a joke early in his career, snagging roles as barbarians and robots because he was basically a body-builder with no acting experience. Some might say that ability never really improved much despite all the on-the-job training he got, but his lack of nuance did nothing to hurt his grunting, yelling, or, basically "aarrrgh-ing" in this film. Surely he patented that "aahhhrrgh" of his - it must have some kind of copyright on it. Does anyone else at all do it in their movies? Lots of violence in this - chopping, blood spurting, stabbing and crushing. It's fun, and James Earl Jones was having a good time. That wasn't his actual hair was it? No. Anyway - what else can you say about Conan? "Arrrrgh!" Sorry. Oh - nice practical effects indeed. Loved that about it.

7/10


By CineMaterial, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58386868

Black Girl - (1966)

I can feel a lot of pain in Black Girl, and despite this only having a 55-minute runtime it says a lot. Review here, in my watchlist thread.

8/10

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I love noir, and have seen every classic noir I've ever had access to. Now, neo noir is a different story. Every new "hot" director wants to either pay homage to the classics, or put their own twist on the genre.
My take on this new "twist' on the classic noir? The director seems a bit too concerned with being "edgy" and provide some "shock" that's more along the lines of what you might find in horror or fantasy movies, and as a result the end product seems unfocused and not terribly appealing.
Which is a real paradox, because KStew and Katy O'Brian are definitely appealing, and the rest of the cast is more than up to the challenge. So are all the tech departments.
While the end result is definitely quite unique, it's also bound not to be everyone's cup of tea. And I guess how you reacted to the director's previous film (Saint Maud) might be a good indicator of how much you will like this.

1st Rewatch...This often hard to swallow comedy does provide relatively consistent entertainment thanks to an extremely likable leading character. Shameik Moore plays a socially awkward teen living in a tough LA neighborhood who gets invited to a party at a drug dealer's house and when he awakens the morning after, finds a a cache of drugs in his backpack which he left behind the bar during the party. Moore is a charmer in the starring role and I actually liked his narration, but the story goes all over the place as it progresses, giving us a story in which Moore's character really shouldn't have come out alive. Moore also gets solid support from Tony Revelori and Kiersey Clemons as his BFF's.

1st Rewatch...Jim Carrey's career took some serious hits thanks to too many films like this one. Carrey plays a bank loan officer who has been living like a hermit since his girlfriend dumped him until he attends a self=help seminar where he is convinced that he can change his life for the better if he agrees to say yes to anything he is asked, which works for him at his job, but pretty much destroys the rest of his life. Once the exposition is set up, this story just gets dumber and dumber as it progresses, despite Carrey's mugging and gift for physical comedy. The romance with a New Age-y rock singer (Zoey Deschanel) never really connects with the rest of the story, though I did like Bradley Cooper as his BFF and Terrence Stamp as the self-help guru.

1st Rewatch...I can't lie, even on rewatch, this movie ripped my guts out. Viggo Mortensen earned the second of his three Best Actor Oscar nominations playing Ben, the father of six children who, along with his wife, have decided to raise their children as survivalists in the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest. Unfortunately, everything Ben is doing comes into question when his wife suddenly passes away and it suddenly comes into focus that Ben may have forced his wife into this decision to raise their children this way and his father-in-law not only forbids Ben to attend his wife's funeral but plans to sue him for custody of his grandchildren as well. This movie had me tangled in knots because Ben's love for his children is all over everything he does, but we can also see that the not all of his children are on board with what his happening, not to mention the fact that children are basically becoming animals and don't even realize it. There is one heartbreaking scene after another here, like when Ben has to tell his children that their mother has died, the fake heart attack at the supermarket, the eldest son confessing to his father that he wants to go to college. Loved the reveal that his youngest daughter can recite the Bill of Rights. Mortensen again proves to be one of the industry's most compelling and versatile actors. Loved Kathryn Hahn and Steve Zahn as Ben's sister and brother-in-law and Frank Langella was robbed of a supporting actor nomination for his chilling performance as Ben's father-in-law. This haunting motion picture is not an easy watch, but well worth it, upping my original rating.

I saw this in the Chinese Grauman's Theater on Hollywood Blvd and it felt like the beginning of the end. The atmosphere in the theater seemed dire and foreboding. The movie sort of added to that sense and I remember thinking there's something very wrong here. Good thing the Egyptian Theater was keeping the spirit of movies alive.

Last Jim Carey movie I went to see.

Tales of a Fifth Grade Robin Hood (2021) This is a Tubi Original (and it shows). The screenplay for this is pretty bad. Some of the characters are too over the top and the adults in the film aren't believable. The child actors do a better job with the material. Iliana Isabella Perez gives the best performance. She is quite charming and lovely and has a lot of potential.

Madam Web

Not as bad as a lot of people were saying, but bad enough. Dakota Johnson does what she could, but is clearly out of place in an action movie.

The concept and most of the script has merit, but would've worked better as a horror/thriller than as a superhero movie.

The worst part is the abysmal performances from the three younger actresses. Zero charisma or chemistry, and again way out of place in a superhero movie. Dialog between them seems written by someone who hasn't spoken to a teenager in decades.

Still, it picks up near the end, and the premise has merit.

Meh, 2 out of 4

I agree about thriller and premise, but is it worth a watch as it is?

One of the most striking physical transformations in cinema history is at the heart of YOLO, and it's a huge part of what makes the movie both remarkable and memorable.
Actor-director Jia Ling, whose 2021 movie Hi, Mom! is not, to the best of my knowledge, available anywhere to Western audiences, transformed herself to play the lead in her new movie, losing over 100 pounds in the process.
That transformation was essential to the movie really working, because Ling's character also undergoes a deep transformation that is both physical and spiritual.
Let's just say this; while using Gonna Fly Now over a training montage isn't a particularly clever or original idea, Ling makes it work and even seem more electrifying than it felt in the original Rocky.
And while becoming a successful boxer isn't necessarily what Ling's character needs to really find herself, she's also not afraid to risk it all in pursuit of a goal that she feels (perhaps quite rightly) will change her life for the better.
It isn't surprising that Sony Pictures picked up the North American rights to the movie, or that it opened in the top 10 at the North American box-office last weekend; unlike quite a few movies coming out of China these days, this one really feels perfect for global audiences.

Not unless you're a Dakota Johnson fan.


An additional problem is when your super power is to avoid danger...it's not very cinematic. The movie teases a cool super team early on, and then never gives it to us. Very meh.



It's more entertaining than Morbius, but that wasn't a high bar to reach.

You've both got it wrong, Madame Web is practically a masterpiece of high camp.

Licence to Kill (1989)



3/5

This could have been one of the best Bond movies. A great set-up puts Timothy Dalton's 007 on a revenge mission. Shame it has Wayne Newton, a forgettable bad guy, and some off jumps in tone.

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Perro Come Perro - (2008)


Dog Eat Dog. Kinda of a latino Reservoir Dogs. Kinda.

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

Kung Fu Panda 4


Incredibly unnecessary, but entertaining enough. Jack Black is always charming.


Kids will like it.


Meh. 2 out of 4.

Le Pont du Nord (1981, Jacques Rivette)

This film is like a game within a game within a game. On the one hand, the director is playing with genres, the actors and the script (well, if you could call it that, because it feels so random as if it's improvised on the spot by everyone involved). On the other, the characters are playing a game too, a sort of fantasy quest amid the urban scenery of Paris involving a map and a mystery encrypted in it. The whole thing is very meta, very postmodernist, the ending being the cherry on top, where Rivette completely shatters the fourth wall and decides to play a trick on the audience as well.

To me, not quite on the level of Celine and Julie... and Duelle but still a lovely cinematic experiment.

Valhalla Rising (2009)

I rated it 7/10.

i seeing this movie today with my support worker

Enjoy!

1st Rewatch...For my money, the weakest of the first four films in the series. The tongue of cheek humor that was so much a part of the first film is gone here. Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson have given us a horror film with a straight face. The film finds us returning to Hillsboro with the premiere of "Stab", the movie based on Gail Weather's book and the murders start right in the movie theater. The opening scenes of Omar Epps and Jada Pinkett getting murdered in the movie theater are stupid as is the scene of Gail (Courtney Cox) and Dewey (David Arquette) trying to chase the killer in the local park before he kills Randy (Jamie Kennedy). The strongest part of the first film were the performances by Skeet Ulrich and Matthew Lilliard and with them gone, a lot of the fun is gone. Kennedy appears to be channeling Lilliard, but too little avail. On the positive side, this film does provide us with a first glance at the chemistry between Cox and Arquette, which would lead to a real life marriage and a couple of strong supporting performances from Timothy Olyphant and Laurie Metcalf.