Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Not bad. A decent, if predictable action spy movie. Certainly an improvement over 2, but not as good as 1.


2.5 out of 4

Climax (2018)

Finally got around to seeing this and it's one hell of a ride. In a nutshell, dance troupe goes pretty postal after being spiked with LSD in an isolated location. It's a very claustrophobic viewing experience which actually intensifies the mania. Supposedly adapted from a true French incident. Typical of Gaspar Noe the acting is raw as is the dialogue and there are a few genuinely harrowing moments. I don't think it's Noe's best work but he works with a much smaller palette here than say, Irreversible or Enter the Void and it is effective.

Here, kitty kitty...

A movie that promises to do for cats what The Birds did for, well, birds, must definitely be approached with caution.
Not that it isn't often endearingly hilarious for all sorts of reasons...
And if you don't like cats, then this movie definitely isn't for you!

1st Rewatch...Danny Boyle, who won an Oscar for directing Best Picture winner Slumdog Millionaire scores a bullseye with this harrowing and claustrophobic docudrama that is one of the most troubling films to watch, containing several moments where I actually couldn't look at what was going on, even on this rewatch. James Franco delivers the performance of his career as Aron Ralston, a mountain climber who, during a climb in Moab, Utah, falls into a cavern and gets trapped because his arm gets trapped under a boulder and realizes he only has one option for escape. My stomach was in knots watching this movie again, on so many levels. Boyle puts the viewer right down there with this guy and makes you feel like you're trapped with him. The hardest parts of the film are watching the guy try to preserve the little bit of water he has and not long after, a thunderstorm brings him all the water he needs. It's also heartbreaking when he leaves messages on his camera. My heart also sank during a moment where a bird flies over him and he actually calls out to the creature. Loved that great reverse shot in fast motion that goes from Aron's location all the way back to his vehicle and the shot ends on a bottle of gatorade in his back seat. The film was nominated for six Oscars, including a Lead Actor nomination for Franco and a screenplay nomination for the director. If you have the stomach for it, belly up.

Albert Pyun Roulette, Part 6

Dollman -

Despite a clever premise and another strong Tim Thomerson performance, this movie offers little - no pun intended - to write home about. With such a short running time, I expected something lean and mean, but I only got the former...in terms of content, that is. Whether it's the overly long montage of Dollman's new home, the Bronx, the seemingly endless footage of his new gangster enemies waiting for him to show up or the end credits, which have footage of characters like the mayor who only have a few minutes of screen time unironically, there's no shortage of filler. I also went in knowing the budget is low, which normally isn't a problem since Pyun was a guy who could do more with less, there's not a whole lot of ingenuity, especially when it comes to our hero. There's forced perspective, the model of his ship, and...that's about it. It's not a good look when movies that are 30-40 years older than this one do the miniaturization thing better. Also, besides one moment involving Frank Collison's floating head villain, whose performance is another one of the few bright spots, it's nothing if not predictable.

Again, Thomerson and Collison shine, as does Kamala Lopez's mom (who oddly doesn't mind Dollman's brand of vigilante justice despite seeming to prefer actual justice, but I digress), and the way the movie shines a light on gang activity and the government's lackadaisical attitude towards it deserves applause...not a standing ovation, though. Other than that, it’s not on my short list of Pyun’s best work. If it's any consolation, though, I would not be opposed to checking out the followup, Dollman vs. Demonic Toys.

1st Rewatch....Under the category of unnecessary sequels, This sequel to the 1999 comedy about a group of black friends who gather for a wedding and to get the dirt on a book that one of them (Taye Diggs) wrote finds the same group reuniting for the Xmas holiday, where several mini-dramas materialize, including Diggs wanting to jump start his writing career by writing the memoirs of his pro football BFF (Morris Chestnut) and the teacher (Harold Perrineau) whose job could be in jeopardy because of the stripper (Regina Hall) he married at the end of the first film, not to mention the reveal that one of the characters has cancer. The first film was a somewhat clever black re-working of The Big Chill, but this film is just pure soap opera. I like a good soap opera, but this is one is so corny and predictable you can recite the dialogue with the actors. This is also another one of those sequels, where if you didn't see the first film, you're probably not going to care about what's going on anyway.

6th Rewatch...My favorite Woody Allen film. The 1986 Best Picture nominee won Oscars for Woody's screenplay and supporting actor and actress for Michael Caine and Dianne Wiest. Love, love, love, love this movie.

Four stars really? I thought this movie was terrible.

Hiding on my lunch break at work to drop this comment in cause it’s day one of my getting back on the forums after five years and an old deleted account, and I’m super excited to be reengaging with movie discussion.

Brave (2012) - [5.7] 🧡

I really really wish I loved this movie more, and it stretches itself across the finish line almost purely because of that Pixar charm, that is able elevate this otherwise quite bland and morally unsure princess tale to something acceptably mediocre.

Merida is a really strong character, who struggles to find exactly what the point of her lesson is, as the movie battles 10th century Scottish ideals, with the more modern sensibilities of women’s roles in society, without quite knowing what it wants to say in its era.

It exists outside of that time in some ways, in part because they don’t want to lean too far into the more Braveheart (1995) portrayal of Scottish culture, and all its difficulties, whilst still using women’s subjugated roles and marital expectations as a launching pad for its larger themes.

By being a Disney/Pixar films though it can only do so much to really engage with those ideas, and mostly functions as a neat little showcase of cute character design, and a plot device that feels a bit too similar to Brother Bear (2003), especially considering they’re from the same company.

I always had some weird resentment for this movie because I had seen every Pixar film with my family up to this ones release, but for some reason they all went to see this without me, and I wondered for a while if any silly embittered feelings from my childhood caused me to judge this movie to harsh but, on every rewatch I find myself a little more detached from it emotionally, and what it wants to achieve.

Its by no means a lesser Pixar film, still achieving of quality, but not up to par with the truly stellar work and design they’ve crafted up to this point.

Watched it in a theater, it took everything I had to NOT walk out. And I'm a pretty huge Ana de Armas fan!

Seen it twice. Good movie.

Good movie.

“Blonde” - yeah, me too. Bailed out PDQ.

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I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.

Re-watch of an excellent movie.



@AgrippinaX liked this movie too. I enjoyed it.

Pretty much snap but I did also stay until the end, even though I was asleep for the last hour of it. I did see a few walk out before I slumbered though.

My latest home video purchases...!



The Tall T (Budd Boetticher / 1957)
Decision At Sundown (Budd Boetticher / 1957)
Buchanan Rides Alone (Budd Boetticher / 1958)
Ride Lonesome (Budd Boetticher / 1959)
Comanche Station (Budd Boetticher / 1960)

...If You Meet Sartana Pray For Your Death (Gianfranco Parolini / 1968)
I Am Sartana, Your Angel Of Death (Giuliano Carnimeo / 1969)
Sartana's Here... Trade Your Pistol For A Coffin (Giuliano Carnimeo / 1970)
Have A Good Funeral, My Friend... Sartana Will Pay (Giuliano Carnimeo / 1970)
Light The Fuse... Sartana Is Coming (Giuliano Carnimeo / 1970)

Tombstone (George P. Cosmatos / 1993)

More adventures in the Wild West! First, the sparse, lean Western adventures of Randolph Scott in Budd Boetticher's so-called Ranown Cycle (named after Randolph Scott and producer Harry Joe Brown). My personal favorite in the series is the second, Decision At Sundown.

Then the flashier, trashier Italian stylings of the "official" Sartana series. This is one of those rare instances of a film series which actually improved and got much better with each individual film! My favorite is probably a tie between the last two. The quasi-supernatural, high-tech avenger that is our title character is played by the great Gianni Garko, with the exception of the middle chapter in which George Hilton temporarily took over.

And finally... perhaps the definitive take on the adventures of Wyatt Earp, his brothers and Doc Holliday, and the legendary gunfight at the O.K. Corral. I'm referring of course to George P. Cosmatos' rock-em, sock-em Tombstone from 1993, starring Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp and Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday. (Granted, Lawrence Kasdan's underrated Wyatt Earp from the following year with Kevin Costner and Dennis Quaid is really good, too. If I may be permitted such heresy, I'd have to say I like Quaid's Doc just a tad more than Kilmer's! See also the great John Ford's My Darling Clementine from 1946 with Henry Fonda and Victor Mature, as well as Frank Perry's 1971 Doc with Stacy Keach as Holliday, the awesome Faye Dunaway as Kate Elder, and Harris Yulin as the most sinister Wyatt Earp you'll ever see.)

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"It's what people know about themselves inside that makes 'em afraid." - Clint Eastwood as The Stranger, High Plains Drifter (1973)

Rosetta (1999)

2nd watch. This is an unremittingly bleak portrayal of a Belgian teenager living on a campsite with her alcoholic mother trying to find a way out of a random and pitiful existence. Unsympathetic to others needs she will trample on even those who like and support her to escape such desperation. Directed by the Dardenne Brothers it really does pull no punches and rings almost like an early Ken Loach movie. Émilie Dequenne is simply outstanding as the rough streetwise diamond trying anything for better life. One of those films that stays with you.

Dune Part 2 (2024)



Very nice 9/10, would be even better with bigger sand worms, battles, and explosions.

Yes, that's exactly what the franchise needs, bigger sand worms

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Love Lies Bleeding - (2024)

The narrative doesn't do anything very unexpected, even though I love seeing girls just serving it up big-time to ratty men. I didn't feel like I'd been told a really great story - but it's the way it tells it's story that makes Love Lies Bleeding at least worth checking out. Oh, and of course the joy of travelling back in time to 1989. Lou (Kristen Stewart) falls for butchy, bodybuilder bum Jackie (Katy O'Brian) - but introduces her to steroids, leading to a 'roid rage murder that sets off a string of horrifying events. This film gets creative with Jackie's steroid-induced delusions, and uses artistic license in interesting ways - as well as giving us another nice evil Ed Harris performance. He's great as a bad guy - I mean, A History of Violence only has him appear briefly, but he's the reason I like the movie. Overall, I don't think this is going to go down as a classic I love - but there's always a lot going on in each scene, and it entertained. It's no Saint Maud though, so while I liked it fine I felt a just a little, tiny bit let down.

7/10


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The Ghost - (2004)

This South Korean, Kim Tae-gyeong-written and directed film tries to be a lot of things. The Grudge, The Ring and the like. It's one of a million South Korean high school horror movies with teenage characters working out mysteries while besieged with angry spirits and ghosts. It shares familiar themes - water, for one, and revenge. It's not lazy - it works hard at telling us a story that, while somewhat derivative, is complex enough to be it's own thing. Maybe that's it's problem - it tried too hard. I was always aware I was watching a South Korean horror movie, and I never got lost in it. I wasn't the least bit spooked. You can't just throw so many elements together, all tried and tested, and expect anything but a reheated stale meal of a movie.

5/10


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Fat City - (1972)

Aiming for the stars, yet hopelessly attracted to the gutter. Old, broken down fighter Billy Tully (Stacy Keach) is working his way back into the ring, while at the same time young Ernie Munger (Jeff Bridges) is just starting out. This is a great film about humanity at it's lowest, told in a way that is more enlightening than depressing. Review here, in my watchlist thread.

8/10

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