Rate The Last Movie You Saw

I'm gonna give it a go.

As a counterpoint (well, more just a counter-opinion), I really liked this and so did the people I watched it with.

I think that it certainly helps if you have also seen Thunder Road (which I would consider slightly superior to this one) and have a handle on Cummings' specific brand of dramedy.

It is a very off-kilter vibe, so I can see someone just not clicking with it.

I put it in my Amazon watchlist.

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

Macchie solari (1975)
aka Autopsy, The Victim, etc.

An average Giallo that could have worked better as a supernatural horror (based on the first 10-15 minutes of the film). There's nothing really wrong with it, but after a promising start, it settles for uninspired mediocrity. Oh, and there's a lot of nudity even by Giallo standards.

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Year One (2009)

I don't usually watch comedies, but when I do, I prefer ones with penis jokes, eating poop, and other forms of sophisticated humor. It wasn't crude enough (how the hell is this R rated) and there are few lull moments too many. Way more entertaining than I expected, though.

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One False Move, 1992

Ray (Billy Bob Thornton) and Pluto (Michael Beach) are two psychopathic killers who brutally rob and murder several people while stealing a stash of drugs and cash. They are assisted by Ray's girlfriend, Fantasia (Cynda Williams). Two detectives (Jim Metzler and Earl Billings) have reason to believe that the crew will return to Ray and Fantasia's hometown, a place called Star City. They meet up with the over-eager local sheriff (Bill Paxton), who is eager to see some "real" action in his sleepy town.

This is a film with a lot of moving parts and, at the same time, the kind of film that moves unwaveringly toward what we know must be the ending--some sort of showdown/shootout in Star City. What is really amazing about it is the way that it milks tension from shorter, more contained sequences (such as Ray getting jumpy when he thinks a cop is eyeing him at a gas station), even as the broader story moves toward its inevitable conclusion.

Ray and Pluto are the source of much of the tensions--two very different kinds of violent men, and each dangerous for their own reasons. But they work almost in the opposite way that a normal "straight man" character might work. They give the others something to bounce off of, especially Fantasia. Williams as Fantasia does a really solid job, which is to say that the character is horribly frustrating, but in a way that feels very realistic. She is neither calculating and coldly manipulative, nor is she the innocent victim. I found myself feeling both sympathy and anger toward her, sometimes in the space of the same 5 minutes.

I very much enjoyed the style of the film, so much that I stopped about halfway through to see who directed it. Carl Franklin--who also directed Devil in a Blue Dress.

I also appreciated the film's nuanced take on race and how it has impacted the lives of certain characters. In one of my favorite lines, Fantasia confronts someone, saying "You figured since I kind of look white, you could f*ck me, what the hell... Because I was kind of black... you could dump me, what the hell." Fantasia hasn't ended up where she is solely because of her race, but at the same time her race has directly affected the way that she was treated all through her childhood and early adulthood. It was also nice, honestly, to see a film with important non-white characters who have distinct personalities, and of all different types. Pluto's sociopath murderer exists on the villain side of the spectrum, but there are several other important Black characters who are given time to breathe and be developed. I feel as if it is rare to see such parallel development between the white and non-white characters, and it ended up being something that really stood out to me in the film.

This film was a really pleasant surprise. I did not anticipate the way that it would ratchet up the tension. By the last 20 minutes or so, I was on the edge of my seat. You know that something bad is going to happen, it's just a question of "to whom?" and "how bad?" Without ever really talking about fate or destiny, it is remarkable the way that you get the sense that these characters are being drawn together, almost as if by an outside force.

I didn't really have any complaints. Some characters were frustrating, but that felt intentional. And there was enough complexity to it that even the annoying characters added to the story in a positive way. The film begins and ends with a bang, and its momentum in between is undeniable.

The Lookout (2007)

Oscar noms are out which means I get to torture myself watching all the ones up for BP.

Nomadland (Chloe Zhao, 2020)
Who could possibly care about this? Praying this is the worst one.


Minari (Lee Isaac Chung, 2020)
It's very pedestrian and predictable and far from the tightest or most poignant script but its just such a nice time. Enjoyed the performances, the dialogue is fun and there's some nice shots throughout. Everything is a bit too rushed (being a modern film of course) and underdeveloped but it's a good vibe the whole way through.

loved him on 10 things i hate about you and the dark knight!

Moved me beyond belief. Earth shattering performance from Jasna Djuricic as the titular character. The horrific events of Srebrenica in the mid 90s unfold as history sadly repeats itself. Feels like a massively important film.

9/10





What an absolute visionary Ken Russell was. You can see clear lineage from 2001 a space odyssey and the Holy Mountain and then to projects like The Fly, American Werewolf in London etc. Above all the horror and sci-fi, it's a love story about mending a relationship and learning to love again Altered States isn't flawless but it's a bold piece of filmmaking that crosses genres, makes you think and inspires.

7.1/10

Sound of Metal (Darius Marder, 2019)
I have almost nothing to say about this but its solid enough. Would say the second half isn't quite as engaging as the first but its never bad or anything. Good performances and some clever sound design. It's nice.

Il Bidone - Messed around and inadvertently completed a trilogy of sorts. Went into this cold based solely on it being a Federico Fellini film. From 1955 and sandwiched in between La Strada (1954) and Nights of Cabiria (1957) this was the midpoint of what has been dubbed Fellini's "Trilogy of Loneliness".

It involves a trio of grifters, Carlo (Richard Basehart), Roberto Giorgio (Franco Fabrizi) and de facto leader and oldest member Augusto (Broderick Crawford). Carlo, a would-be artist dubbed "Picasso" by the other two, is married to Iris (Fellini's wife Giulietta Masini, second billed despite it being a small role) and has a small child. He is the one most troubled by what they do which mostly involves conning uneducated peasants out of their paltry life savings. Augusto also has his moments of doubt but they're mostly fleeting and quickly forgotten. Roberto, the youngest, is callow and unashamedly debauched. The film follows them in somewhat episodic fashion as they blithely ply their trade while dreaming about a better life, which to Augusto and Roberto means bigger scores.

Not a bad movie. Not as good as La Strada or Nights of Cabiria but a fitting enough centerpiece.

Enigma rosso (1978)
Virgin Killer, Rings of Fear

Another lackluster and mediocre Giallo (and poliziotteschi crossover). Fortunately, it's pretty short as there's not too much in the story department. Some gratuitous nudity tries to keep up the interest. Easily the weakest film involving Massimo Dallamano I've seen (he's only a co-writer here).

Happily N'Ever After, 2006

In a fairytale kingdom, the lives of the various citizens are controlled by a wizard who makes sure that their stories have happy endings. Ella (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is destined to end up with a Prince (Patrick Warburton), despite the fact that her friend (and lowly dishwasher) Rick (Freddie Prinze Jr) is in love with her. But when Ella's evil stepmother (Sigourney Weaver) gets access to the wizard's tower while he is away on vacation, she begins to change the balance of the stories.

This film was so bad. Just so, so bad. It doesn't look good--the animation is like the quality you'd expect in a TV ad. The humor seems to be aiming for the tone of The Emperor's New Groove or the fractured fairy tale camp of Shrek, but it really misfires in terms of the cynical, self-aware vibe. I couldn't tell you a singe joke from the film. I know that a few line readings put a smile on my face, but that's purely due to the presence of a WAY overqualified cast. George Carlin, Wallace Shawn, John DiMaggio, and others all know how to deliver a line, but even they can't give the film the lift it needs.

I always look for the positive in movies. But aside from some (wasted) voice talent, there was nothing about this film that sparked joy in me. It feels like something an AI machine would create after being asked to design a box office hit. It lacks soul and it suffers by comparison with other films that have pulled off the same narrative trick with much more aplomb. How and why they made a second one is beyond me.

Rachel Getting Married (2008)

Anaconda (1997) 8/10 from my dvd collection wanted to rewatched it

Nice review. I hadn't seen this film, despite the fact that I'm a big Billy Bob Thornton fan. I must have passed it by in '92. So I watched it last night.

Thornton co-wrote the screenplay, which is probably why a lot of it is set in Arkansas (he's from Hot Springs). It was pretty edgy for its day, and many films have imitated it in one way or another since.

Bill Paxton, as the local sheriff, was meant to be the central character, but I don't think he quite rose to the task. He was often convincing, but at other times, his attempts at an AR accent and good old boy traits seemed inauthentic. Likewise the white L.A. cop character was okay at the beginning, but then later seemed lost in the part and made it superficial.

The rest of the cast was very good. Billy Bob played the white trash sociopath very nicely, although I'm sure looking back that he felt he could have done better. But it was Cynda Williams who stole the show in my opinion as Thornton's girlfriend (I didn't realize they were married at the time in real life). Her character covered a gamut of emotions and moods, which she expressed perfectly. It could have been an award winning role.

It's a well directed film about a familiar subject: crazed criminals doing drug deals and murders.... but with a character study twist. 7/10 from me.

I Care a Lot -

If Rosamund Pike didn't terrify you in Gone Girl, she's bound to in this. She's Marla Grayson, who claims guardianship over senior citizens as a means to drain their savings. Her scheme blows up in her face when she earns the ire of Peter Dinklage's gangster Roman Lunyov. What follows is an elegantly crafted game of one-upmanship. A cross between Leona Helmsley, Elizabeth Holmes and a white walker, Pike makes Grayson so chillingly smug that I couldn't look into her eyes at some points, and thankfully, Dinklage couldn't be a better foil. I also enjoyed the small yet pivotal turns by Chris Messina as a sleazy lawyer and Isiah Whitlock, Jr. as a judge who Grayson plays like a fiddle. While it has the almost-too-perfect, friction-free look and feel of the typical Netflix movie that I've grown to dislike, it and the electronica soundtrack approximate Grayson's lifestyle, demeanor and the artificial high of acquiring her ill-gotten gains. The game eventually strains credulity, but when it ended, I was cringing, angry and chilled to the bone. Yes, that is an endorsement.

I have zero interest in Garland & her music so was not sure I would finish this. Not the most interesting movie I’ve ever seen, but Renée was exceptionally good. Not impersonating Garland, but really bringing her back to life. Impressive. Her singing was too.



Re-watch. Forgot how good Gyllenhaal, Sarsgaard & Foxx all were.



Not sure why I bailed out of this movie first time around. There’s a lot more to it than I originally thought. Excellent performances from Clooney, Farmiga & Kendrick.

I haven't seen it but this is still a good review.