Rate The Last Movie You Saw

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Superman (1978)


Haven't watched it for 30 years.

Kind of wish I hadn't watched it today.

So much nostalgia, but I found faults with it that I simply didn't notice when I was 10

Just curious what the faults were, in your opinion, Sarge.

Certainly there are plot problems (if you're going to reverse time, why not just go back a little further and not open Luthor's lead box with the Kryptonite and prevent the bombs from ever being launched?).

Or was it things like Margot Kidder's casting as Lois?





Bit of a slog to get through, but glad I did.



Re-watch of a German classic.
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Dior and I, 2014

This documentary follows Raf Simons as he becomes the new creative director at Dior and must turn around a new collection in just eight weeks. The film follows the creative process while also reflecting on the history of Dior and spending some time with the workers in the atelier as they discuss the process.

I really enjoy watching talented people go through a design process. It's what draws me to cooking shows and shows like Project Runway or Blown Away. That element of the film is really fascinating. Simons must incorporate his own vision and philosophy (women being able to move freely, minimalism) with classic Dior expectations such as certain silhouettes. You can understand the pressure of working for such an established and iconic design house--the dual pull of bringing a fresh point of view and honoring tradition at the same time.

Some of the clothes are really cool. In one very memorable sequence, five workers stand around the same skirt, hand stitching each bead into place. The work is really beautiful. And when it comes time to stage the show, the floor to ceiling flowered walls are art in and of themselves.

My only complaint is that I wanted to see more of the design and construction process. The history stuff was fine, but not my main interest.

Even if you're not hugely into fashion, you might still enjoy seeing the process of designing a collection and the physical labor that goes into creating haute couture garments.




Legend in my own mind
Just curious what the faults were, in your opinion, Sarge.

Certainly there are plot problems (if you're going to reverse time, why not just go back a little further and not open Luthor's lead box with the Kryptonite and prevent the bombs from ever being launched?).

Or was it things like Margot Kidder's casting as Lois?
Mainly the reversing the earths spin to reverse time.

Planting a boat in the street and also burrowing down through a busy street to get to Luthors lair were a bit eye roll inducing.

That and changng his clothes instantly when falling from a window despite looking for soemwhere to change the previous time.

Only little things really, but all things that I didn't notice as a kid.
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Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

Guest Artist (Timothy Busfield, 2019)
5.5/10
Tombstone Rashomon (Alex Cox, 2017)
+ 5/10
The Room (Christian Volckman 2019)
6/10
Host (Rob Savage, 2020)
6.5/10

Pretty damn scary for an hour-long movie about a seance on Zoom during the COVID lockdown.
Cruel Peter (Christian Bisceglia & Ascanio Malgarini, 2019)
5/10
Hair High (Bill Plympton, 2004)
+ 6/10
Maximum Force (Joseph Merhi, 1992)
.5/10
Black Is King (Emmanuel Adjei, Blitz Bazawule & Beyoncé, 2020)
6/10

Beyoncé's album crossed with The Lion King.
Embraceable You (Felix Jacoves, 1948)
- 5.5/10
Poetry in Motion (Ron Mann, 1982)
6.5/10
The Golden Blade (Nathan Juran, 1953)
+ 5/10
The Wise Kids (Stephen Cone, 2011)
+ 6/10

Faith and sexuality mean a lot to a small religious community.
Deep Blue Sea 3 (John Pogue, 2020)
5/10
Enter the Fat Dragon (Kenji Tanigaki, 2020)
+ 6/10
The Fever (Maya Da-Rin, 2019)
+ 5/10
Yes, God, Yes (Karen Maine, 2019)
+ 6/10

What did I say about The Wise Kids?
Tarnished Angel (Leslie Goodwins, 1938)
+.5/10
Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists (3 Directors, 2018)
7/10 R.I.P.
A Woman's Revenge (Rita Azevedo Gomes., 2012)
+ 5/10
Echo (Rúnar Rúnarsson, 2019)
+ 6/10

Iceland is a beautiful country but the people can be as ugly-hearted as anywhere.
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Mainly the reversing the earths spin to reverse time.

Planting a boat in the street and also burrowing down through a busy street to get to Luthors lair were a bit eye roll inducing.

That and changng his clothes instantly when falling from a window despite looking for soemwhere to change the previous time.

Only little things really, but all things that I didn't notice as a kid.
I always interpreted reversing the Earth's rotation as a visual metaphor (even when I was a kid) for turning back time in the same way some movies will show a calendar with the pages coming off or a clock with it's hands moving around the dial - and no one thinks that somewhere someone is just ripping pages off a calendar or that clocks have just started running super fast.

(What Superman was actually doing was flying faster than light - theoretically breaking the time barrier and travelling back in time just like the Enterprise did several times in Star Trek.)

Correct me if I'm wrong - but doesn't he change clothes instantly in Superman II? (But yes, that always did bother me for the same reasons... and on the account of altering or acquiring new powers, don't get me started on the cellophane shield and "super kiss" at the end of II, or putting the Great Wall of China back together with telekinesis in IV!)

Some of the other super-heroics are impractical, but show off his powers - in real life a super-powered do-gooder would not leave boat-sized problems for the authorities to contend with, but without some of this grand-standing, you'd have a much less visually interesting film.





Barbarella, 1968

Always interesting when a movie is both better and worse than you'd imagined.

Barbarella is a space adventurer who is tasked with tracking down a missing doctor/scientist who has created a weapon which could threaten the peace of the universe. Crash landing on a planet, she encounters various strange groups and societies.

Let's start with the positives. Jane Fonda, as Barbarella, gives a very funny, knowing performance. I think that actors sometimes have a hard time capturing a comic book character "vibe", but Fonda really nails it, making her character just slightly extra. It feels cartoonish but not one-dimensional. Most of the other actors fare pretty well in this regard, and the film's universe of character feels consistent.

More than that, the cast of characters is wonderfully eclectic: a fallen angel, a pack of feral children, members of a sociopathic society who worship evil deeds, and so on. Much more than the usual archetypes that often populate sci-fi.

The comic book vibe continues into the excellent costuming and set design. I had not expected that the film would look so dang good. The color scheme is really cool and there are scenes with surreal, creative design, such as a labyrinth where the people trapped inside are slowly growing into solid rock. The overall look of the film and the sets were easily my favorite thing about the movie and the most pleasant surprise.

On the down side, the plot definitely meanders. The film credits almost 10 different writers, and there's a very episodic feeling to the film. It creates a disjoint path to the conclusion, and the main plot itself (finding the missing scientist) often feels like an afterthought. When the film's final act does swing into motion, it's kind of underwhelming because the stakes have been so poorly established.

I also thought that for a sex romp/comedy, too much of the sex came off as "sci-fi nerd male fantasy." A main character who is really into sex, male or female, can be very fun. But the different scenarios were often kind of . . . sad? Here is why, according to Barbarella, you might have sex:
1) You professionally thank someone for helping you. He asks for sex as a thank you. You're clearly not into it. He whines and badgers you until you agree.
2) A man needs a self-esteem boost.
3) You need someone's help. He expects sex as payment for that help (even though you are also helping him).
4) You are being assaulted/attacked.

Fonda does a great job of playing her character's sexual awakening and enjoyment, but I found the scenarios themselves kind of pathetic and unsexy, especially with the context of Barbarella's "cheerful naive" character. Having watched this dynamic be portrayed much more successfully in the comedy WR: Mysteries of the Organism, it felt like a missed opportunity. The film's moments that actually come across as sexy are those in which Fonda is on her own, such as her "weightless striptease" at the beginning, or her infiltration of a hedonistic club. There's a weakness to her relationships with the other characters that dings the film that slow's the film's momentum and weakens the satisfaction with the plot arc.

Better than I expected, but could have been much better.




Submarine (2010)




Great Britain seems to have a lot of excellent coming of age films and this is one of them. Good mix of comedy and drama with the right amount of quirkinesses. Good cast and I loved that it was set in beautiful Wales.



Submarine (2010)




Great Britain seems to have a lot of excellent coming of age films and this is one of them. Good mix of comedy and drama with the right amount of quirkinesses. Good cast and I loved that it was set in beautiful Wales.
I'd agree with a 3.5/5. I liked it, but didn't love it. It's been too long for me to be specific.

I really enjoy Richard Ayoade, so I was happy to support his debut film. I was a bigger fan of his next feature, The Double.





Crip Camp, 2020

The laws around what is commonly known as section 504 (a law guaranteeing the right of people with disabilities access to public education via accommodations) are very close to my heart. I originally planned to be a special education teacher, but ended up mainly working as a general educator. I do, however, have a degree in special education and frequently work with students with moderate to severe disabilities in my classroom.

Crip Camp is essential viewing, in my opinion.

The story begins as a look at a summer camp for children with disabilities, affectionately dubbed "Crip Camp" by its attendees. The camp allows the kids and teens to just be themselves. There's singing, dancing, sports, swimming, and sex. In one hilarious sequence, the camp attendees howl in laughter as they describe an outbreak of crabs among the camp population. For people who are used to being seen only as a disability and not as a person, the chance to have "normal" experiences without being judged or coddled is literally life changing. Thanks to the fact that a film crew was very interested in filming the camp and interviewing the kids there, there's a ton of footage from the camp in the 70s.

Then the film shifts and explores how several alumni from the camp went on to advocate for increased rights and protections for people with disabilities. The interviewees recount the various discriminations, dangers, and indignities that they suffer in a world that does not have to accommodate their needs. Doors they can't fit through. Having to roll a wheelchair down the street because they can't get over the curb and up to the sidewalk. Having to drag themselves up staircases because there are no ramps or elevators, something that extends to not being able to use public transportation.

Before I was a teacher I worked for three years with a young woman who had severe complications from cerebral palsy. Watching the way that the campers were treated (gentle reminders "Talk to her, not about her") gave me goosebumps. The group gives everyone a voice, even those whose words are borderline unintelligible. The camp breaks down the hierarchies within disability, then the campers set their sights on breaking down the hierarchies that exist in the outside world. A few years ago I volunteered at a camp for children with muscular dystrophy (I was not working with the children--I'm a massage therapist and I was working for free on the adult counselors)--watching the way that the kids were able to live a normal life was really moving--something that's compounded by knowing that many children with MD will not live past their 20s. At the end of the film you see how long some of the featured kids lived--some of them having died in their 30s and 40s. This realization only adds to an understanding of the urgency of giving people with disabilities a full and active life.

I grew up in the era after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities act. It was shocking for me to see some of the footage of sidewalks with no ramped curbs, and to realize that people with wheelchairs could not uses buses or the subway. Protesters had to be taken from place to place in U-Haul trucks because they could not get on buses. There's disturbing footage of a home for children with disabilities, where neglected children rock or cower, many of them partially or entirely undressed. I had seen footage like this during my Master's program, but it's shocking every time. Many of the people in the film are highly educated and intelligent, and it's a painful reminder of how many brilliant minds have been wasted over the years because of assumptions about what a smart/capable person looks like.

I can't recommend this documentary highly enough. I think that it will give you a renewed point of view on disability and maybe challenge some assumptions of what people with disabilities can do. Not in a "anyone can do anything!" rah-rah way, but in a realistic, "This is what people can do when given love and opportunity" way.




Kingdom of Heaven (2005) (Director’s Cut)


Call it Gangs of New York syndrome. Even with this cut’s additional material, there remains a distinct lack of an emotional through-line. The result feels less like one cohesive narrative and more a series of extravagant vignettes. Though what extravagance.

7/10



Legend in my own mind
I always interpreted reversing the Earth's rotation as a visual metaphor (even when I was a kid) for turning back time in the same way some movies will show a calendar with the pages coming off or a clock with it's hands moving around the dial - and no one thinks that somewhere someone is just ripping pages off a calendar or that clocks have just started running super fast.

(What Superman was actually doing was flying faster than light - theoretically breaking the time barrier and travelling back in time just like the Enterprise did several times in Star Trek.)

Correct me if I'm wrong - but doesn't he change clothes instantly in Superman II? (But yes, that always did bother me for the same reasons... and on the account of altering or acquiring new powers, don't get me started on the cellophane shield and "super kiss" at the end of II, or putting the Great Wall of China back together with telekinesis in IV!)

Some of the other super-heroics are impractical, but show off his powers - in real life a super-powered do-gooder would not leave boat-sized problems for the authorities to contend with, but without some of this grand-standing, you'd have a much less visually interesting film.
That would make sense!
In Superman he falls out of the window as CK and then is changed instantly, now I know that he is faster than a speeding bullet, but even if it was a question of speed, where did he put his clothes?

I will watch the subsequent ones over the coming days.

Superman II was always my favourite.



Dead Man’s Letters 1986 ‘Письма мертвого человека’ Directed by Konstantin Lopushansky



The Thin Red Line 1998 Directed by Terrence Malick (First re-watch since '98)

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Welcome to the human race...
Superman -


not entirely convinced that this is a superior film to Man of Steel

also if I'm thinking about revisiting Superman II but have only ever seen the Lester version, should I try watching the Donner version for the first time instead
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Watched The Imitation Game again the other night, great film.