Rate The Last Movie You Saw

The Bunny Game (2010)

Kinda experimental low-budget "shock" cinema. Bunny is a drug-addled prostitute that is abducted by a homicidal truck driver. He then starts the "Bunny Games" an elongated torture exercise. It has good things going for it in that the arty production values are decent and the nihilism well portrayed. With that comes the fact that it is very repetitive and soon becomes a bit of a chore to sit through. Not one to watch with your gran. Compared to e.g Melancholie der Engel (similar shock cinema) this was pretty dull.

The Perfect Family (2011)

So a complete change of tack on my week on leave. This is a bit of a melodrama about a woman (played by Kathleen Turner) who's Catholic faith brings her into direct conflict with her gay daughter, dissolute son and recovering alcoholic husband. Turner is excellent in a role that suits her age (at the time) and acting talent. It's not a weighty film at all but enjoyable as we see her piousness erode trying to save her family. Enjoyable watch. Nice little cameo from Richard Chamberlain too.

Wicked Little Letters is a delight from start to finish. With a top-notch cast headed by Jessie Buckley and Olivia Colman, it's everything a good old-fashioned British comedy should be, and it delivers in spades.
Reportedly based on actual events, it tells the story of a young Irish woman being persecuted in the UK over harassing letters she's allegedly written to her next-door neighbor and other locals. But it really couldn't be that simple, could it?
Even though you may see the "twist" coming well before it's revealed midway through the film, it's still going to remain tremendously entertaining.

3rd Rewatch...After my 4th viewing of this film, I have decided that Whip Whitaker is the most unlikable character Denzel Washington has ever played, and that includes Alonzo Harris in Training Day. Alonzo may have been a dirty cop, but he was at ;least up front about who he was and what he was doing. Whip Whitaker knows what he did was wrong and spent the rest of the movie lying to anyone and everyone who would listen. I find myself completely checking out with the character during the scene where he asks the head stewardess (Tamara Tunie) to lie for him during her questioning during the investigation into the crash and I can't even look at him when he visits the co-pilot in the hospital, the co-pilot who might never walk again because of the crash.

Yes, Whip is a despicable character. The quality of the film is trying to countenance that with the fact that had it not been for his actions many more would have died. I don't even think the character is egotistical, just a ruined soul.

Both thumbs WAY up for this one! Michael Caine and Max Von Sydow in the same great movie-- what's not to like??

Passages (2023)

The Holdovers (2023)

I thought it was very good too. It's a horror film. People wated a biopic true to life. It's not in anyway.

Twilight (1990)
Dir.: György Fehér

Stunning but bleak film directed by Bela Tarr’s friend and mentor György Fehér (who also produced Tarr’s Satantango). A lot of the film throws atmosphere in your face with shots of foggy woods and dense forests and rolling hills filling the screen in black and white. I could have watched it for hours. The almost-synth like piece that accompanies these shots is brooding and creepy, as is the tone – as we follow a detective hell bent on solving a child murder case in provincial Hungary. For fans of Bela Tarr, this film is essential.

Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (2023)
Dir.: Phạm Thiên Ân

Slow cinema piece from Vietnam. How writer/director Phạm Thiên Ân has 1) the world experience and 2) the film-making nous to achieve this is remarkable. It’s a 3 hour dive into a man’s journey to find his long lost brother who’s wife has died. Along the way we are treated to very long takes, impeccable neo-realistic performances and shots that are clear homage to directors like Tarkovsky and Bi Gan. The message is one of searching for enlightenment and whether our daily grind really is compatible with some of our belief systems. Although I tried not to think to much about that and just let the amazing images wash over me.

If you’re after a beginning, middle end or some action, this film is not for you. If you’ve enjoyed any Tsai Ming-liang or Apichatpong Weerasethakul, then this might be right up your street.

I wonder if they got the title from the great Elton John song (Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding).


So glad you saw "Fat City".. Such a great movie by John Huston, who is a rare director to have directed at least one great movie in 4 decades... I think Stacy Keach delivers one of the best performances. He seemed like a real guy, and there's a bit of ambivalence, which I like.. He genuinely wants to help Bridges, but he never lays it on too thick. Besides seeing himself (maybe) in him, wanting to make a few bucks, I think he wants companionship, which is probably why he got him the job picking fruit. A horrible job isn't so bad if you have someone to talk with while you work. My only criticism is not being a fan of the lead actress' character. All I remember from her is whining, crying, being drunk, and that annoying voice.

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I can't speak for all "people", but I didn't want a "biopic true to life", just a good movie, which this definitely isn't.

It is. It's a really good film.

But there's no point in doing this forever. Tastes differ.

Well, that's your opinion and I respect that, but it is objectively true that it is not widely considered a good film if we look at the critical response. It would be, at best, a divisive film:



I would agree wholeheartedly that her performance was very good - but also that the movie is exploitative, sexist and dehumanizing.

I'm not really sure why other people's opinions should sway your or my opinion of a film. Critics also loved Oppenheimer and American Fiction. I didnt. Or are you basically saying that people on this website should only like films that critics say are good ones. And anything with a critical rating of lower than 7 out of 10 shouldn't be considered good, because critics don't?? That's a bit FilmNazi isn't it?

As for films being sexist and dehumanizing - films have been those things for years. And whilst I again don't agree Blonde was either of those things, even if it was, it should not be a reason to claim the film is poorer solely as a result of them.

Please tell me what are some films that are about real people that were considered sexist and dehumanizing by a fair amount of reviewers? Offhand, I can't think of any.

And sorry, but yes, that is definitely a very valid reason to find a movie deeply offensive and insensitive. That doesn't mean everyone who watches it will, but there's way too many people who came to this conclusion about Blonde to think it's just a fluke.

First one that pops in to my mind is Kielsowski's 'A Short film about Killing'. Originally part of his Dekalog set. The dehumanizing is seen on both sides of the coin, both undertaken by the protagonist and then against them. The end 20 minutes of the film is so shocking in it's raw dehuimanization of the main character that it is said to have led, at least in part to the end of capital punishment in Poland.

Full Metal Jacket completely dehumanizes the cast of marines. Many war films do. It is absolutely key to getting the entire message across!!!

There are alot like this, mosty involving acts of violence. Fat Girl is another that springs to mind. The War Zone, The Golden Glove. All very good films.

Sexism in film is a bit harder to define because of it's subjectivity. But films like Last Tango in Paris and Once Upon a Time in America show it. The lead characters basically rape women, yet we're still supposed to get on board with their arcs.

But why are you bothered about what a load of other people think about this film? Or any film? What has that got to do with your opinion of it?

I asked that you name films about real people, actual human beings whom the audience already knew before going into the movie. I don't think any of the films you've mentioned fit that criteria. If they do, please provide the details.

As for mentioning the critical consensus on the movie, it is just something that would have to be mentioned in explaining why it is not widely considered to be a good movie.

Sure, not everybody hated it. But those who did find it objectionable for a number of reasons do have a very strong reason to hold it apart as a morally reprehensible and exploitative film, made with a very questionable motive.

Erm OK. The Passion of Joan of Arc? Spencer? City of Life and Death? The Last Days of Sophie Scholl?

OK. I find that extremely odd. I can't think of any other medium or cosumable that you'd do that with. If I said I didn't like Big Macs would you argue with me that they're nice because most people seem to like them?

For a point of debate about whether something is good or bad, other people's opinions are irrelevant. Most people seem to like Taylor Swift and Coldplay. I find them insipid. I guess I am wrong there too?

What is the questionable motive?