Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Tools    





Double feature - Incompatible and on the run



Hunt for the Wilderpeople - 2016 Taika Waititi film about an odd couple on the run from the law. Sam Neill plays Hector Faulkner, a reclusive curmudgeon who, along with his wife Bella, take in troubled foster child Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison). He has a history of running away and even though he tries leaving the Faulkner's isolated farm he doesn't get far. He's a city kid so his lack of outdoor skills plus Bella's patient and loving nature convinces him that life with the couple is the closest he'll come to finding happiness. But an unexpected tragedy forces Ricky to leave the farm in order to make good on what he felt to be a dying wish. Hector, who's gone off on his own journey of solitude, comes across a wayward Ricky and the two are eventually forced to throw in together. The authorities in the meantime are convinced that Hector has somehow kidnapped Ricky. The rest of the movie chronicles their weeks long odyssey through the New Zealand wilderness with all manner of police and reward hunters on their trail. Waititi has a knack for gentle whimsy without compromising on the comedy. The script, which was co-written by Waititi, also takes you to unexpected places. Again, without losing sight of the core message. The protagonists are likable and the supporting cast of characters are the usual bunch of affable Kiwis. Another success for Taika Waititi.





Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins - The premise is about the only thing this has in common with HftW. The cast is certainly respectable with the always intriguing Alan Arkin starring as retired Marine Gunnery Sergeant Rafferty. He's an aimless and alcoholic Los Angeles driving instructor who meets two hitchhikers while drinking his lunch in a park. McKinley "Mac" Beachwood (Sally Kellerman) is an aspiring singer and her young friend Rita "Frisbee" Sykes (McKenzie Phillips) is a surly and unapologetic con artist. They're on their way to New Orleans where Mac supposedly will get a job singing in Frisbee's dads bar. That's the story they tell Gunny Rafferty until Frisbee pulls a gun and forces him to drive them there. He has no trouble getting away from them but since his old life was an unrelenting pit of despair he doubles back and picks them up again. From there it turns into a road movie with stops including Las Vegas and Tucson. There are welcome appearances by Alex Rocco as a flaky Vegas hustler named Vinnie, Charles Martin as a lovelorn soldier and Harry Dean Stanton as one of Mac's former suitors.

To me it's an archetypal 70's flick having been released in 1975. But it also has that slightly disheveled, shaggy dog story feel to it that so many films from that era had. I want to like it more than I did because I love 70's movies but I'll have to admit it has limits to it's world building potential and it reaches those limits quickly. But even though it really doesn't have much of a story to tell, the cast makes it worth your while.





QUICKSAND
(1950, Pichel)
A film with Peter Lorre



"I feel like I'm bein' shoved into a corner, and if I don't get out soon, it'll be too late. Maybe it's too late already!"

Quicksand follows Brady, a car mechanic that in his attempt to woo a mysteriously shady woman (Jeanne Cagney) finds himself ensnared in an escalating chain of disreputable and criminal acts. What starts as a seemingly innocent snatch of $20 out of his work's cash register spirals into theft, kidnapping, and maybe even murder.

This film was brought to my attention by Apex Predator and I was immediately intrigued by it. The film is very small scale in terms of goals and stakes, but that works to its advantage. Rooney is solid in the lead role, conveying that certain naive cockiness to the character, while Cagney is pretty good as "femme fatale" Vera. The cast is rounded out by Peter Lorre as the seedy owner of an arcade that has a history with Vera, and with whom Brady clashes in his descent.

Grade:



Full review on my Movie Loot
__________________
Check out my podcast: The Movie Loot!



Bo Burnham: Inside

Has Matthew Modine ever been better? I doubt it. I'm dreading the ensuing sub-genre of quarantine self-pity, but hopefully this ties a bow on it. Audacious and winsome.



9/10



I wasn't as bothered with that as you were, but I can understand that criticism for sure. It seems like the film is caught between two different tones. Out of curiosity though, could you elaborate on why the plot doesn't matter much?
Well, I'd say that's because of the movie's half-satirical tone, which often felt like it was asking me not to take the story too seriously, especially at the end when
WARNING: spoilers below
Marlowe just walks past Eileen without even looking at her, and then starts casually playing his harmonica, as if the film itself is saying to me "See, even the protagonist doesn't care about the plot!".
I mean, that sort of tone didn't hurt my engagement with the plot of M*A*S*H*, because there was essentially no over-arching plot in that movie anyway, just a series of stand-alone "episodes", but when Altman does the same basic thing with another film that does have a real plot (and a fairly convoluted one at that), spends a lot of time developing that plot, but continually chooses to not take it seriously, it feels a bit like wasted time as a result.



'Charade' (1963)



Such a good film. Twists and turns everywhere. Critics say it's the best film Hitchcock never made but Donan's style is there to see as well - the dialogue is full of sharp witty comebacks and sarcastic one liners.

The colours of Paris are brought to life too via Charles Lang's cinematography.

8.3/10




I forgot the opening line.

By Critical Thinking, LLC - IMDB.com, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61515209

Critical Thinking - (2020)

Critical Thinking is the kind of teacher movie you'd see on free-to-air television at lunch time, only with a bit more polish. The true story behind it all is the Miami Jackson High School chess team, which won the U.S. National Chess Championship in the late 1990s. A big feat for an inner city high school. The members of this chess team were all troubled individuals who were taken in by Mario Martinez and taught chess, and were soon all nicely dressed nerds (just look at the poster.) This seems to have been a pet project for John Leguizamo who plays Martinez and directed this movie.

It's not a bad movie, but the teacher drama is such an overstuffed genre - clichés can hardly be avoided. We've had some decent chess movies in the last few decades (I really enjoyed Pawn Sacrifice,) and if you do happen to be a chess fan it delves into strategy which is nice - but it's not going to be remembered as a classic chess film either. If you're tired of watching teachers turn no-hopers into winners, or can't fathom chess, stay well clear.

5/10



Dream Home (2010)




This Hong Kong film is labeled as horror but I didn't completely see it that way. I saw it more as a socioeconomic commentary/satire. It reminded me of American Psycho except with a female lead. I would have rather it been straight horror as it lacks personality and atmosphere. It's well made and it is brutally and graphically violent.



Before the Devil Knows You're Dead 2007 Sidney Lumet




Marisa Tomei all dei
I've been recently thinking of Phillip Seymour Hoffman for no particular reason.

I've re-watched one of his interviews.

Ethan is also a actor I've develop a like for, yesterday I was watching The Purge, was on television.

And Marisa Tomei is probably, alongside with Charlize Theron the sexiest actresses on Hollywood.

Don't know how I've never watched this film.



I've been recently thinking of Phillip Seymour Hoffman for no particular reason.

I've re-watched one of his interviews.

Ethan is also a actor I've develop a like for, yesterday I was watching The Purge, was on television.

And Marisa Tomei is probably, alongside with Charlize Theron the sexiest actresses on Hollywood.

Don't know how I've never watched this film.
If you like Marisa like that, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is definitely a must see!
Favorite Ethan Hawke films so far are probably; Gattaca & Training Day.



If you like Marisa like that, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is definitely a must see!
Favorite Ethan Hawke films so far are probably; Gattaca & Training Day.
One film with Ethan that I fell is so over rated, and to some extent unknown is Maudie.

I'm never emotional watching a film, but I was with this one, also, I think was one of his best performances.

I've never seen any other movie with Sally Hawkins, but from that one I can say she's a great actress.





Invention for Destruction (1958)

I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like this--it’s incredible really. Zeman’s solution for integrating animation with live action is ingenious. By turning the live-action elements into cartoons, the entire design of the film matches the aesthetic of the animation. The actors’ movements are limited but elegant and the settings are crafted to match the Victorian line engravings that inspired the look of the film. The result is spectacular. The story itself, an adventure tale amalgamated from various Jules Verne novels, is simple but effective, but the visuals are the star here.

9/10



I've been recently thinking of Phillip Seymour Hoffman for no particular reason.

I've re-watched one of his interviews.

Ethan is also a actor I've develop a like for, yesterday I was watching The Purge, was on television.

And Marisa Tomei is probably, alongside with Charlize Theron the sexiest actresses on Hollywood.

Don't know how I've never watched this film.
If you like PSH and Ethan Hawke, and have no issues with middle-age crisis and existential dread, then check out Synecdoche, New York and A Late Quartet (with PSH) and First Reformed (with Hawke). Three great films.



Well, I'd say that's because of the movie's half-satirical tone, which often felt like it was asking me not to take the story too seriously, especially at the end when
WARNING: spoilers below
Marlowe just walks past Eileen without even looking at her, and then starts casually playing his harmonica, as if the film itself is saying to me "See, even the protagonist doesn't care about the plot!".
I mean, that sort of tone didn't hurt my engagement with the plot of M*A*S*H*, because there was essentially no over-arching plot in that movie anyway, just a series of stand-alone "episodes", but when Altman does the same basic thing with another film that does have a real plot (and a fairly convoluted one at that), spends a lot of time developing that plot, but continually chooses to not take it seriously, it feels a bit like wasted time as a result.
Aye, I see what you mean. With that being said though, while you could make the argument that Philip doesn't take the movie that seriously given how he reacts to most of what goes on in the film with wisecracks, by making jokes, or by playing the harmonica in the end as you mention, I think there's plenty of moments where the characters around him take the movie seriously, especially with Roger and Eileen. Really, I think the scene is Augustine's mansion where everyone takes their clothes off is the only main scene where the film dips into a completely satirical tone (not just with Philip, but with those around him), so I do think the viewer is asked to take the movie seriously since (for the most part) the secondary characters do. I think it's mainly just Philip who doesn't.
__________________
IMDb
Letterboxd



If you like PSH and Ethan Hawke, and have no issues with middle-age crisis and existential dread, then check out Synecdoche, New York and A Late Quartet (with PSH) and First Reformed (with Hawke). Three great films.
I've seen them, Synecdoche, New York rewatched recently, probably my favorite of the three.





I honestly thought it would be worse, the book was, but this was made in 1975, there was still a lot of religious implications. There's two scenes that were difficult, one is the poster, the other was the end.

I understand those, who watched this film from Criterion Collection, and said it had no meaning whatsoever, and it doesn't if you see each scene with scrutiny. If you do that, you'll insult the director for making a awful picture for no particular reason, apart from making a awful picture. A idiotic man making disgusting food-for-imagination of the weird and depraved we all would glad lock in a room and throw away the key.

If you see it as a whole, you'll understand it's made to show the worse in human beings when there's a hierarchy to be followed, a hierarchy made by those who bought power but don't follow the other end of the blade. The depravity, the bloodbath, the caos of a social system is secured by ideas, symbols and a moral code, it's a blade with two ends, and the two ends must follow it. In one end you have victory, in the other you have loss, rich and poor, strong and weak, healthy and sick, when one end doesn't follow it, the other won't too, that's social balance.

Trought this film you'll see human nature, nothing we'll ever do will not be natural, realize this, it's difficult but is what it is, and what we can all respect but maybe don't want to see, or agree with, is that, this film is honest in showing our nature obscure part, the taboo, without any type of romanticism, he doesn't want you to be empathetic towards anything, that's another movie to be made. It's not like the violence and depravity that are now displayed across our culture, murder glorified by building pictures of heros and good guys. What we now do is mix a awful action according to our moral code but we justify that action using the same moral code. This film threw the moral code out the window and shown the awful action with the power at the will of a few.

There's so much to talk and discuss about this picture, it's the oldest battle in humanity taken to the extreme.



If you like PSH and Ethan Hawke, and have no issues with middle-age crisis and existential dread, then check out Synecdoche, New York and A Late Quartet (with PSH) and First Reformed (with Hawke). Three great films.
I highly recommend Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Thief...here's a link to my review:

https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/...oure-dead.html



QUICKSAND
(1950, Pichel)
A film with Peter Lorre
Quicksand follows Brady, a car mechanic that in his attempt to woo a mysteriously shady woman (Jeanne Cagney) finds himself ensnared in an escalating chain of disreputable and criminal acts. What starts as a seemingly innocent snatch of $20 out of his work's cash register spirals into theft, kidnapping, and maybe even murder.

This film was brought to my attention by Apex Predator and I was immediately intrigued by it. The film is very small scale in terms of goals and stakes, but that works to its advantage. Rooney is solid in the lead role, conveying that certain naive cockiness to the character, while Cagney is pretty good as "femme fatale" Vera. The cast is rounded out by Peter Lorre as the seedy owner of an arcade that has a history with Vera, and with whom Brady clashes in his descent.
Grade:

Full review on my Movie Loot
I can't remember this film, so I'll have to re-watch it. Many people don't realize what a great actor Mickey Rooney was. He had such a strong image as a goody two-shoes guy next door Americana icon from playing in 1930s & '40s movies, that it took the public quite awhile to see the depth of his talent. He really had a helluva range.