Rate The Last Movie You Saw

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Outcast (2014)

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May those who accept their fate be granted happiness.
May those who defy their fate be granted glory.💜

Almost an identical take from me. I couldn't understand all the love for this. There were parts I found stomach churning and there was no one worth rooting for. You're right about Haig though. He's a hard guy to dislike for some reason. But that grandiose ending with them being set up as some kind of folk heroes had me mystified.

I think THE DEVIL’S REJECTS works best as a stand alone, given that it is so tonally removed from its predecessor and neglects many of the characters/plot elements that define HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES.

I also think it’s the spiritual sequel to TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE that it deserved but never received.

Very interesting film from Joachim Trier. First half is a quirky relationship drama focusing on Julia who seems to be at a crossroads in her life. It injects humour and ditsyness (the lead character even breaks the fourth wall at one point) that wouldn't be out of place in films like Amelie and 500 days of Summer. This surprised me as Trier's previous films have been a little less playful. (This is Trier's final film in his Oslo Trilogy and he is proving to be a very competent filmmaker).

At the 90 minute mark it gets a little more weighty with subplots that are both moving and poignant and starts to feel alot more European, perhaps like a Ruben Ostlund film. Renate Reinsve's performance is key to the power of this film. She is perfect.

In the end it is a character study but also a really interesting take on life choices, family and fate and the point that there are no real right or wrong choices at all. Perhaps, in the end, what will be will be.

my childhood fav movie

I loved House Of 1,000 Corpses and still struggled with this film, though I thought it was "good".
I think if you don't loathe every character in this film, there's something wrong with you.

Those Who Wish Me Dead -

This is a decent thriller starring Angelina Jolie as a Montana smokejumper a.k.a. forest firefighter. She becomes the ward of Finn Little’s character, a teen with damaging information that’s made him the target of professional assassins. It’s a movie that is likely inspired by '90s wilderness-set thrillers like Cliffhanger, which is not a bad thing at all, especially to me since I love a lot of those movies and prefer to see real locations and for conflict and action to be between people rather than each one's CGI alternative. Granted, the fire is CGI, but it's done so well and realistically that I could feel the heat and intensity. The action and suspense are no less intense, the highlight for me being a standoff between Aidan Gillen's hitman and Medina Senghore's sharpshooting wife of the sheriff (Jon Bernthal). They and the rest of the cast are as reliably good as you would expect, my favorite being Jolie, which I admit is mainly because I haven't seen her on screen in ages. I found a lot to like about the movie, but it doesn't really do anything that rises above the "competent to pretty good" range. It's an airplane movie, in other words (although I'm not sure if you should watch it on one with how much fire is in it). Regardless, if you enjoy watching the thrillers of its ilk as much as I do, I doubt you'll be disappointed. Just be prepared to constantly look over your shoulder or be compelled to hide behind a tree the next time you're in a national forest.

A few cringe moments, but overall, a good movie experience. Not for everyone though.

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

Carnal Knowledge follows these two best friends, Sandy and Jonathan (Art Garfunkel and Jack Nicholson), during three distinct stages of their life: college, several years after, and when they're middle-aged. The focus of each act is how the two interact and engage both with different women in their lives, and with each other.

If there's one thing we can gather from that opening quote, and from watching these two men interact, is that men are pigs. Cause that exchange perfectly encapsulates the contradictory ways these two men feel about women ("I want them to put out, I will even force them to... but if they do, they're sluts"). The two are stuck in a constant quest to prove themselves to each other, while also performing a metaphorical "dick measuring contest".

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

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Thanks, at least I was 'lying on the sofa and watching movies' sick, not 'hooked up to a ventilator' sick.

This was my first watch of The Poseidon Adventure and I enjoyed it a lot. Just real gripping adventure.

Spiderman: No Way Home (2021)

First film at the cinema after coming out of covid isolation!

If you don't like Marvel movies, this is unlikely to convert you. If you do, this is an entertaining addition to the franchise. The script could be sharper and funnier in places, I wanted a *little* more from the ending and I don't quite know how well the whole thing would hold up to a second viewing, but I went into this with fairly low expectations and was definitely entertained. I liked it a lot more than the previous Spiderman which I thought was messy and too reliant on dubious technology. I guess the biggest problem it has is that even a lot of what it does well was done first and better by Into the Spiderverse.

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A classic of American cinema. So good.

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

Blast of Silence - This 1961 lowest-of-low-budgets character study might well be the noiriest noir that ever noired. And don't get thrown off by the "low budget" tag. Writer/director/star Allen Baron manages to do more with less than any other film I can remember. And we're not talking FX or recognizable stars making surprise appearances. The reported 20,000 budget appears to be mostly used on equipment and whatever salaries Baron found he couldn't avoid. One of which was probably Lionel Stander's fee for doing the second person voiceover narration that runs throughout the film. Having dealt with the technical side of things he was able to put together a surprisingly cohesive and professional looking production. We've all sat through films with a low budget look and feel or vibe and this isn't one of them. The film takes place during the Christmas holidays and there are plenty of shots of our protagonist walking the streets of Manhattan. There are obviously no studio shots and Baron did it all guerilla style with zero permits. He also used plenty of screen test footage that he had filmed earlier in hopes of scaring up some financing.

Frankie Bono (Baron) is a hit man from Cleveland in NYC to kill a mid level mobster named Troiano (Peter Clune). Frankie shadows his target and his bodyguards to find the best place for the hit then goes looking for a pistol and silencer. He visits Big Ralph (Larry Tucker), an old acquaintance that has always made him uncomfortable. Ralph lives in squalor and keeps countless rats in cages as pets and he provides Frankie with an address where he can pick up the gun. It's not till the next day so Bono is forced to wait and fills his time by continuing to scout his target. He runs into childhood friend Petey (Danny Meehan) from his days in an orphanage and he invites the reluctant Frankie to a Christmas party where he spots his old girlfriend Lori (Molly McCarthy). Frankie is a solitary figure by nature and, given his line of work, has never formed any meaningful bonds. But seeing Lori and spending time with her brings up long dormant issues.

This has a relatively short runtime of 77 minutes and Baron makes the most of it. The denouement literally takes place in the midst of a cataclysmic storm. Chosen for it's remoteness and desolate surroundings it was filmed on the northernmost tip of Long Island sound during Hurricane Donna.

There's some fascinating trivia attached to this production. Baron had worked on Errol Flynn's last movie, Cuban Rebel Girls, which was filmed while the actual Cuban Revolution was unfolding. The production ended up having to flee the country and were forced to abandon valuable equipment including cameras. Baron made a deal with the producer for free use of the equipment if he could figure out a way to sneak back into the country and smuggle it back out. He had to use subterfuge because he was a wanted man at the time, having stabbed a local man during an altercation. He had also offered the role of Frankie to a friend from his acting class named Peter Falk. Falk had to turn it down when he found an acting job that actually paid.

This is one of those films that shouldn't exist but was made against all odds. The fact that it's also a surprisingly effective slice of noir adds a touch of serendipity to it.

90/100

Loved that film, and thought it was one of the best of the 21st Century. As in all silents it was nice to watch their actions, interplay and emotions without them speaking about them.

I actually thought that since this film was so great (5 Oscars) that it would spawn a few imitators. But unfortunately, no. Return to Babylon (2013) was a nice try, but it became too comical.

Time for a re-watch for me.

The Forest of the Lost Souls (2017)

A Portuguese attempt to mix thriller and arthouse that largely fails at both. It's shot in decent-looking B&W, and the first half an hour works pretty well, as long as the characters don't talk as the dialogue is terrible. The rest is just a poorly made thriller trying to hide its shortcomings under the arthouse carpet.

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Cringe and awful!


I have dreamed a dream, but now that dream is gone from me.

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"Some people just doesn't understand the dangers of indiscriminate surveillance."

The Rules of Attraction (2002)

I'm scared to watch this, but it's Matrix, so I have to

By The poster art can or could be obtained from the distributor., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51552764

Free Fire - (2016)

When Michael Cimino ran his nearly-6-hours-long rough cut of Heaven's Gate for studio executives, the climactic battle between ranchers and cattle barons alone ran for approximately 90 minutes. Well, Free Fire doesn't go for 6 hours, but the entire film is one shootout. I remember seeing trailers for this at the cinema a few years ago, and was mildly interested. Hearing about it subsequently, I decided I'd have to check it out one day, and here we are. I watched the film where the entire thing is one long shootout, set off by an arms deal gone wrong. If you sit back and imagine the problems this might cause, you'd be right - there's a reason. The film takes around 20 minutes before the pivotal moment that turns this into a shootout, and this buildup plus the start of the action really had me excited. Characters were interesting, humour spot-on, and everything had a tight flow. Around 30 minutes into the shootout however, and I was sick to death of it. This sorely needed a flashback or something, anything to break up the monotony of pot-shots and yelled insults. The film takes up quite a lot of the slack in it's final 15 minutes or so - but it just couldn't pull off the unusual stunt of having a film take place over the course of the one event.

Parts of this film are great, and looking at the characters I'm reminded of a lot of standout moments - but if I have to rate the film as a whole, it just rates a pass from me.

6/10


By The poster art can or could be obtained from Universal Pictures., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58827951

Happy Death Day - (2017)

Happy Death Day is marketed as a horror film and slasher, but it's a really quite tame in respect to most of those - and trades primarily on it's Groundhog Day premise in connection of college girl Tree (Jessica Rothe) being continually murdered by an unknown assailant. Unfortunately for Tree, it seems there are a number of people who would potentially want to murder her. The filmmakers have so much fun with this you have to wonder why dozens of others haven't attempted to play around with this whole concept. Tree wakes up in a college boy's room at the start of the same day every time she dies, and undertakes the same lonely journey Bill Murray did a few decades ago. Any progress or connection she might make is wiped out every time - making her the sole source of change in a rat's maze with deadly dead-ends. Christopher Landon shows that this younger generation have a trick or two up their sleeve, even though they mainly trade in reinterpretations of previous films. My second time watching this.

7/10

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