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WARNING: spoilers below
Them girls believed in what they were doing more than the other gang members. Even Alien was pressured into going with girls plan. Alien didn't believe in a success of their mission. Then, he died first.
Right, but
WARNING: spoilers below
enough to take out half a dozen well-armed men? The first time that they actually use the guns as opposed to just wielding them at people?


WARNING: spoilers below
Faith didn't want to cross lines whereas Candy and Brittney wanted to become good girls only after the massacre at the end.
Right. As the film goes on we see
WARNING: spoilers below
that the girls all have different breaking points. For Faith, it's when they are hanging out in the pool hall. For Cotty, it's when she gets shot. For the other two it's (MAYBE) after they've killed a bunch of people.

But I felt that once Faith was gone, something in the dynamic between the girls just didn't have as much enjoyable tension. The sense of them being this weird little tribe kind of dissolved. In some ways that really works for the film--because we get them swanning around in their matching bathing suits and face masks--but the dynamic of their group became a lot less interesting to me once Faith was out of the picture.



Right, but
WARNING: spoilers below
enough to take out half a dozen well-armed men? The first time that they actually use the guns as opposed to just wielding them at people?
It feels like a dream... Just pretend it's a video game...
Right. As the film goes on we see
WARNING: spoilers below
that the girls all have different breaking points. For Faith, it's when they are hanging out in the pool hall. For Cotty, it's when she gets shot. For the other two it's (MAYBE) after they've killed a bunch of people.

But I felt that once Faith was gone, something in the dynamic between the girls just didn't have as much enjoyable tension. The sense of them being this weird little tribe kind of dissolved. In some ways that really works for the film--because we get them swanning around in their matching bathing suits and face masks--but the dynamic of their group became a lot less interesting to me once Faith was out of the picture.
WARNING: spoilers below
After Faith leaves
the movie becomes more crime oriented instead of party oriented.





Spring Breakers, 2012

A group of college students, Faith (Selena Gomez), Candy (Vanessa Hudgens), Brit (Ashley Benson), and Cotty (Rachel Korine), are desperate to go on a spring break to Florida. A few of the girls pull off an armed robbery to fund their trip, and they head down to the beach. But after a few days of partying, they are arrested, only to be bailed out by Alien (James Franco), a self-styled "gangster" who leads the girls down an even more dangerous path.

Does anyone else ever feel left out when you watch a movie that has repeatedly been described as "love it or hate it" and instead of feeling either of those strong emotions you just think it's, like, fine?

The best part of the film is the overall style and look of it. The heavily neon costuming and lighting nicely mirror the sensory overload of a wild spring break party. As the film moves into its final third, the deep saturation of neon pink begins to take on an eerie, demented quality. The characters have gone from taking a break from their normal lives to existing in a completely different, alien mindset.

There are also some good laughs to be mined from the self-serious way that the characters talk about themselves and spring break. Fed up with living in their small town, Faith sincerely opines that going on spring break is how the girls can "find themselves", as if drinking games and unhinged groping are a path to enlightenment as opposed to an exhilarating teenage indulgence. And their posturing is matched by that of Alien, who thinks that his DVD collection and Calvin Klein body sprays somehow make him a triumphant figure. (I'm sorry, but is there anything sadder or more off-putting than a man dousing himself in TWO different body scents?).

And even though it's a bit cliche, I did enjoy some of the "who's actually the dangerous one here?" dynamic between Alien and the young women. Alien clearly believes that he's exploiting them, but he doesn't understand just how far they will go for a thrill.

Fundamentally, though, I thought that the film lacked some grounding. Several times I just didn't feel like the way that the movie was shot aligned well with a point of view, especially in the first half. I get why we have so many jiggle shots in the sequences on the beach. But why are we zooming in on crotches when the girls are just hanging out with each other in the dorm hallway? Several times the leering eye of the camera didn't make sense to me.

I was also unsure of what to make of the film's portrayal of Big Arch (Gucci Mane) and his entire organization. On one hand, the film is very comfortable satirizing the extent of Alien's shallow appropriation of Black culture (his cornrows, grill, rap career, use of racial slurs, Kool Aid, etc). But where does that position Archie and his colleagues? Are they the "real thing"? How are we meant to take, then, that they are
WARNING: spoilers below
effortlessly dispatched by two petite blonde college students? It feels trapped between being allegorical and literal in a way that I don't think serves the film very well.
.

There are some really great visual moments--and yes, the Britney Spears "Everytime" montage is really good--and it certainly held my interest from beginning to end. But it loses something when
WARNING: spoilers below
Faith decides to head home
and it never manages to recapture the character dynamics of the beginning of the film.

I tried to watch this once a few years back. I had to turn it off. The first 30 minutes is just like one big music video. Had absolutely no structure. No desire to revisit it.
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I came here to do two things, drink some beer and kick some ass, looks like we are almost outta beer - Dazed and Confused

101 Favorite Movies (2019)



I tried to watch this once a few years back. I had to turn it off. The first 30 minutes is just like one big music video. Had absolutely no structure. No desire to revisit it.
The same thing happened to me when I first tried to watch it after it's release, only I lasted 15 minutes. Now it's one of my all time favorites, 10/10.



When Harry Met Sally... (1989)

Never got around to watching this, big gap in my movie watching career if you will. I really dug this flick. I knew it would at least be entertaining with Crystal and Ryan in the lead but it felt authentic. I can see where a lot of future Rom-coms stole from this formula specially the friends of the protagonists. It took it's time and didn't rush and man did it pay off at the end. It got me in my emotions at the end because it was extremely earned. Ryan and Crystal completely stuck the landing at the end, executed perfectly by both. Might be one of my favorite endings to a movie now.

I thought it was a beautiful film with charismatic leads. I haven't enjoyed a film like this in awhile.






The same thing happened to me when I first tried to watch it after it's release, only I lasted 15 minutes. Now it's one of my all time favorites, 10/10.
I was 10 years younger so maybe my perspective has changed if I viewed it again. I just doubt it. I was bored and getting angry at it I remember. Maybe one day I'll try again.





The Turin Horse, 2011

In a bleak, wind-swept landscape, a father (János Derzsi) and his daughter (Erika Bók) live alone in a house, along with a horse who pulls the father's cart. Over the course of several days, we watch as the mental wellbeing of all involved slowly disintegrates and life itself seems to grind to a halt.

I can certainly see why this film is so beloved. In addition to looking absolutely gorgeous, its slow meditation on isolation and death and maybe on depression plays out with small twists and turns. While I never felt myself fully give over to the rhythms of the film, I really enjoyed it.

I haven't read much about the film or analysis of it, because I think I'd like to write about it without subconsciously trying to align my feelings with someone else's. For me, the movie was about the weight of being and of survival, and what it means to hit a breaking point.

The film begins with the story of Nietzsche having a breakdown when he witnessed a cart driver whipping a horse who refused to move. Everyone has some degree of a survival drive, and this film seems to examine the strange space where that drive gives way. The first thing that happens is that the father notices that the woodworms are no longer working their way through the house. This lack of appetite eventually extends to the horse, and finally to the father and daughter.

In fact, one of the earliest surprises to me was how little of their food they ate. I was shocked to see how much came off of their plates, seemingly just thrown away by the daughter after their meal. The baseline existence that we see of the two inhabitants already feels like a portrait of serious depression: the father spends a lot of time just laid out in bed, while the daughter spends a lot of time staring out the window.

Where the movie goes from there with the idea of death and what it means to give up the basic gestures of living was interesting and unexpected, especially in the last 10 minutes or so.

The movie is, as I mentioned, absolutely beautiful. It's a haunting beauty, to be sure, with a perpetual flutter of leaves and whistling winds. The film is crisp to look at, so that you see every crease in the characters' faces and every grain in the wood of their home.

I had no criticisms of this movie. It's true that while I really enjoyed watching it, I never totally felt myself fall under its spell. Had I resonated more with its rhythms, I bet this would be a perfect score for me. As it stands, this is a great film and I'm really glad I checked it out.




47 Meters Down (2017): 3/10 (I really have no interest in seeing this again)


Jaws (1975): 10/10


Both are fictional in nature, but Jaws to me is far more interesting.





The Turin Horse, 2011

In a bleak, wind-swept landscape, a father (János Derzsi) and his daughter (Erika Bók) live alone in a house, along with a horse who pulls the father's cart. Over the course of several days, we watch as the mental wellbeing of all involved slowly disintegrates and life itself seems to grind to a halt.

I can certainly see why this film is so beloved. In addition to looking absolutely gorgeous, its slow meditation on isolation and death and maybe on depression plays out with small twists and turns. While I never felt myself fully give over to the rhythms of the film, I really enjoyed it.

I haven't read much about the film or analysis of it, because I think I'd like to write about it without subconsciously trying to align my feelings with someone else's. For me, the movie was about the weight of being and of survival, and what it means to hit a breaking point.

The film begins with the story of Nietzsche having a breakdown when he witnessed a cart driver whipping a horse who refused to move. Everyone has some degree of a survival drive, and this film seems to examine the strange space where that drive gives way. The first thing that happens is that the father notices that the woodworms are no longer working their way through the house. This lack of appetite eventually extends to the horse, and finally to the father and daughter.

In fact, one of the earliest surprises to me was how little of their food they ate. I was shocked to see how much came off of their plates, seemingly just thrown away by the daughter after their meal. The baseline existence that we see of the two inhabitants already feels like a portrait of serious depression: the father spends a lot of time just laid out in bed, while the daughter spends a lot of time staring out the window.

Where the movie goes from there with the idea of death and what it means to give up the basic gestures of living was interesting and unexpected, especially in the last 10 minutes or so.

The movie is, as I mentioned, absolutely beautiful. It's a haunting beauty, to be sure, with a perpetual flutter of leaves and whistling winds. The film is crisp to look at, so that you see every crease in the characters' faces and every grain in the wood of their home.

I had no criticisms of this movie. It's true that while I really enjoyed watching it, I never totally felt myself fall under its spell. Had I resonated more with its rhythms, I bet this would be a perfect score for me. As it stands, this is a great film and I'm really glad I checked it out.

You should check out Werckmeister Harmonies and Satantango as well. Both are very good.
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I forgot the opening line.

By http://www.impawards.com/2013/thor_t...orld_ver2.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39158831

Thor : The Dark World - (2013)

I was hoping this second Thor film would be a fresh start for the character, but it didn't quite win me over in the end - just so happens that the climactic finale was more confusing than anything, and as I pondered what I'd seen I felt the uneven narrative and overall direction were lacking. Not a good superhero movie at all - and when I looked this up I saw that Mr. Terminator Genisys, Alan Taylor helmed. There are always going to be some effects and designs that I enjoy - with a film taking place in Thor's corner of the universe it's such a rich environment. Villain Malekith failed to impress, but his henchman looked the goods. I shouldn't be asking "What the hell just happened?" at the end though - the film's weak links seep into other areas making this cinematic venture fail despite it's good points. This was the film I liked the least out of all the MCU films I've watched so far. A very average story told in a manner that simply wasn't up to scratch.

4/10


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Captain America : The Winter Soldier - (2014)

Now this is what a superhero film should be like. It felt like part of the cinematic universe these guys were creating, instead of a standalone, episodic money-grab. There was a great story for starters, with high stakes for all the characters in the film. There were callbacks that made sense in relation to a few of the other MCU films. The action was very well directed, and easy to follow. The film had a few things to say about the direction this modern world is heading in. The effects were up to scratch, and overall this was a lot of fun to watch. I can barely fault Captain America : The Winter Soldier, and for me it's the best standalone MCU film I've seen so far. Everything was perfectly balanced, and the film's rhythms were expertly timed to maximize my interest - introducing some startling new event or surprise in unexpected ways. There was the reintroduction of a previous character I didn't quite gibe with - but apart from that I enjoyed watching this immensely.

7.5/10
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Latest Review : Le Circle Rouge (1970)




By http://www.impawards.com/2014/captai...dier_ver7.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38234223

Captain America : The Winter Soldier - (2014)

Now this is what a superhero film should be like. It felt like part of the cinematic universe these guys were creating, instead of a standalone, episodic money-grab. There was a great story for starters, with high stakes for all the characters in the film. There were callbacks that made sense in relation to a few of the other MCU films. The action was very well directed, and easy to follow. The film had a few things to say about the direction this modern world is heading in. The effects were up to scratch, and overall this was a lot of fun to watch. I can barely fault Captain America : The Winter Soldier, and for me it's the best standalone MCU film I've seen so far. Everything was perfectly balanced, and the film's rhythms were expertly timed to maximize my interest - introducing some startling new event or surprise in unexpected ways. There was the reintroduction of a previous character I didn't quite gibe with - but apart from that I enjoyed watching this immensely.

7.5/10
It's still the only MCU film I'm a fan of.





Spring Breakers, 2012

A group of college students, Faith (Selena Gomez), Candy (Vanessa Hudgens), Brit (Ashley Benson), and Cotty (Rachel Korine), are desperate to go on a spring break to Florida. A few of the girls pull off an armed robbery to fund their trip, and they head down to the beach. But after a few days of partying, they are arrested, only to be bailed out by Alien (James Franco), a self-styled "gangster" who leads the girls down an even more dangerous path.

Does anyone else ever feel left out when you watch a movie that has repeatedly been described as "love it or hate it" and instead of feeling either of those strong emotions you just think it's, like, fine?

The best part of the film is the overall style and look of it. The heavily neon costuming and lighting nicely mirror the sensory overload of a wild spring break party. As the film moves into its final third, the deep saturation of neon pink begins to take on an eerie, demented quality. The characters have gone from taking a break from their normal lives to existing in a completely different, alien mindset.

There are also some good laughs to be mined from the self-serious way that the characters talk about themselves and spring break. Fed up with living in their small town, Faith sincerely opines that going on spring break is how the girls can "find themselves", as if drinking games and unhinged groping are a path to enlightenment as opposed to an exhilarating teenage indulgence. And their posturing is matched by that of Alien, who thinks that his DVD collection and Calvin Klein body sprays somehow make him a triumphant figure. (I'm sorry, but is there anything sadder or more off-putting than a man dousing himself in TWO different body scents?).

And even though it's a bit cliche, I did enjoy some of the "who's actually the dangerous one here?" dynamic between Alien and the young women. Alien clearly believes that he's exploiting them, but he doesn't understand just how far they will go for a thrill.

Fundamentally, though, I thought that the film lacked some grounding. Several times I just didn't feel like the way that the movie was shot aligned well with a point of view, especially in the first half. I get why we have so many jiggle shots in the sequences on the beach. But why are we zooming in on crotches when the girls are just hanging out with each other in the dorm hallway? Several times the leering eye of the camera didn't make sense to me.

I was also unsure of what to make of the film's portrayal of Big Arch (Gucci Mane) and his entire organization. On one hand, the film is very comfortable satirizing the extent of Alien's shallow appropriation of Black culture (his cornrows, grill, rap career, use of racial slurs, Kool Aid, etc). But where does that position Archie and his colleagues? Are they the "real thing"? How are we meant to take, then, that they are
WARNING: spoilers below
effortlessly dispatched by two petite blonde college students? It feels trapped between being allegorical and literal in a way that I don't think serves the film very well.
.

There are some really great visual moments--and yes, the Britney Spears "Everytime" montage is really good--and it certainly held my interest from beginning to end. But it loses something when
WARNING: spoilers below
Faith decides to head home
and it never manages to recapture the character dynamics of the beginning of the film.

I felt the same about this one. Some passages in the film are really good but bits are just so laughable that it pulls the rug from under the thoughtful bits. That said I liked it and didn't expect a cosy watch from Korine. Some was just laughable though.



Themroc (1973)

Remember seeing this in UK Channel 4s "red triangle" season (1984 blimmin ell). Basically a banner under which to broadcast so-called transgressive films. This concerns a worker who decides to become and urban caveman who deems to reduce his existence to the lowest common denominator. There are scenes of cannibalism and incest which, while distasteful, fit the narrative perfectly. Not for everyone but a radical film that I liked. I'd put a tenner on the chance that Gaspar Noe watched this before making Seul contre tous.

(but, to be honest, pretty hard to rate).



Close Encounters of the Third Kind (2h 14m cut): 9/10
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Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker and... Denzel Whitaker. Pretty cool!
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Hidden Figures, 2016

This based-on-a-true-story historical drama follows three Black NASA workers, Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) as they jockey and fight for their positions within the government organization. Katherine's work in particular becomes important as she is added to a team calculating orbital paths for the first American manned flights into space.

I had put off watching this film for years because I really loved what I read of the book (long boring story: read half of the book but ran out of renewals and just need to reborrow the dang thing!) and was worried at how Hollywood the story would become in a film version. While there were some places that you can see the hand of big-screen storytelling, I thought that overall it captured a lot of the experiences of the women.

Henson, Spencer, and Monae all do a great job of portraying people who are very intelligent and who must constantly toe the line of being deferential to the white authority figures who surround them while still managing to advocate for themselves. Johnson's story in particular is so inspiring to me (I was an enthusiastic math major, but never had that natural talent that some mathematicians have): she graduated high school at the age of 14, and graduated college at the age of 18. And as someone who routinely watches families play games so that their children can attend certain schools for sports reasons, it warms my heart that Johnson's parents made it work to split their time between two towns so that their daughter could complete her education.

Something that I think the film does really well is show the way that what you might call "passive racism" (or really any passive prejudice) can make life so difficult for a person. There are no scenes of anyone getting in Johnson's face, calling her slurs, vandalizing her car, pulling cruel pranks, or anything of that nature. But at the same time, the men in her division don't want to share a coffee pot with her. One of the wings only has a white bathroom forcing Johnson to make a long walk just to use the bathroom. (In reality this happened to Jackson, not Johnson.) There are so many baked-in elements of status quo that the women must push through just to be on equal footing. When Jackson wants to apply for an engineering position, she's told she needs extra course work. The problem? The only two places to take the courses are white only schools. Jackson has to go to court just for the chance to take her classes.

And just as the film shows the damage of passive racism, it shows the benefits and limitations of passive allyship. There are people who show respect and kindness toward the main characters. The head of the space task group, Al Harrison (Kevin Costner), recognizes Johnson's abilities and cultivates her work under his leadership. John Glenn (Glen Powell) also shows respect for Johnson's skills, preferring that she rerun the numbers before his space launch. (This is based in fact but given a more thrilling spin in the film by showing the recalculations happening right before the launch as opposed to in the days leading to the launch). But something that kind of sits there in the film is that none of these people do anything really active to help. There's a scene of Harrison heroically tearing down a "Colored Bathroom" sign, which is totally made up. Those who give the women chances do so largely out of necessity. Would Al Harrison care that Black women are being forced to walk long distances to a bathroom if those long walks weren't interfering with his work? I don't think so.

With the one exception of the bathroom sign scene, the film admirably resists any white savior tropes. John Glenn comes off as incredibly accepting of the women, and when I revisit the book I'll be interested to note what it actually says about the nature of their interactions.

As with any "true story" movie, I get a bit antsy about events being changed to make them more cinematic. And while I realize that books and movies are different things, there are elements from the book that I wish had been in the film. Something that's stuck with me from the book all these years is the account of one of the female mathematicians who had a mental breakdown, covering her entire office in scribbles about "finding infinity." That said, based on what I know about the real events I didn't feel that any extreme liberties were taken. The movie resists making anyone a Mary Sue, and neither does it excessively villainize anyone. What's nice about that is that it really lets you focus on the amazing achievements of these women and the role they played in the space race. There are two fights in the film: the women fighting for equality and NASA fighting to get their astronaut home safely. I thought that the integration of these two dynamics was well done.

There are also some solid supporting performances, including Mahershala Ali as a man who woos Johnson, Olek Krupa as a Polish engineer who encourages Jackson to go for the position, and Kirsten Dunst as a supervisor who engages in petty power struggles with the women and especially with Vaughan.

Very pleasantly surprised by this one, and it makes me want to dig back into the book.




1941 (1979): 7/10

Considered one of Spielberg's worst films (from what I've seen). I was entertained by it, though I wouldn't say it's top tier comedy. Interesting to see legends like John Candy and Christopher Lee in here.

And yes, if you've been following me, I've been on a Spielbergathon. There are some I've seen that I won't rewatch in this marathon, but you'll see my ranking somewhere in due time.