Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Tools    







Chinatown
(Roman Polanski, 1974)

Overall a good movie with an intriguing story, but I found myself feeling a sort of disconnect with its characters. As a result I didn't enjoy this nearly as much as I had hoped to, but liked it well enough.

-



''American Hustle by David O.Russell''



Nice movie ! the casting is incredible and the story is very nice . It's a little bit long per moment but the average of the movie is good and Jennifer Lawrence is so f*ck damn sexy

7.5/10
__________________
''Haters are my favourite. I've built an empire with the bricks they've thrown at me... Keep On Hating''
- CM Punk
http://threemanbooth.files.wordpress...unkshrug02.gif



Meek's Cutoff
Probably a film I appreciate more than I actually liked, but nevertheless a bleak and meditative western that is as slow-burn as it gets with a very minimal narrative as well. There's some really beautiful cinematography (despite the fact that I was not the biggest fan of the 4:3 aspect ratio) and a pace that works perfectly for this film, making the settlers' trip across the Oregon Trail all the more exhausting, tense, and atmospheric. It feels as authentic as possible, maybe even a little too authentic because I did get a little bored of the never-ending silences and having just seen the film, I am currently a little indifferent towards the ending. But with further reflection and maybe a re-watch (not exactly sure if I would really want to), I can see myself enjoying this one a lot more in the long run.
3.5/5



Big Night (1996)



Okay, going with one that's somewhat newer than the last few I've posted. Starring Stanley Tucci and Tony Shaloub as brothers in the 1950's who have immigrated from Italy to somewhere on the east coast of the U.S. (where exactly, we aren't told but it was filmed in both Keyport, N.J. and Chelsea Pier, Manhattan, New York City, N.Y.) and opened a restaurant. The place is not doing well because of a few factors: the two leading being that Primo (the chef, played by Shaloub) sees cooking as an art passed down from generation to generation and will not give the patrons exactly what they want, much to the chagrin of his brother, Secondo (Tucci). Secondo is the "face" of the restaurant, personally checking on the diners, hearing their complaints, trying to keep it afloat financially. The second main factor is that the restaurant of Pascal (Ian Holm), which is very close to their location, is doing so well. Their ultimate success depends on the "big night" of the title, in which someone promises that popular singer of the time, Louis Prima, will be there with his band.

Very good film that is primarily about the relationship between the two brothers, but there are very interesting supporting characters played by Minnie Driver, Isabella Rossellini, Marc Anthony, and the aforementioned Ian Holm. No explosions, car chases, giant monsters, robots or superheroes, all of which I love by the way. Just great acting and awesome-looking food all throughout. Do not, by any means, see this movie before a meal or you will be buying the menu if you go out to eat. I know that's been said about movies before but it's true here. An easy-going movie that goes down good.

__________________
"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."






An enjoyable and funny movie, with some dramatic moments.


__________________
“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!” ~ Rocky Balboa







Tess
(Roman Polanski, 1979)



I find that movies that take place during the Victorian period are often a bit too stuffy, refined, and, well, English, for my tastes. But since I'm a big fan of Polanski's work, I felt obligated to watch this film in preparation for the 70's countdown. Even though the movie won't come close to making my list, I'm glad I watched it. Despite its three-hour run-time and its languid pace, I was never bored. The cinematography is gorgeous, and the movie is quite depressing and bleak, like many of Polanski's films. I'm unfamiliar with the novel, but at times it felt like Polanski was trying to cram too much into the movie. The progression of time also felt a bit out of whack. It's a good movie, however, despite its flaws, but its not one that I will probably revisit. I was surprised to learn afterwards that the lead actress is the daughter of Klaus Kinski. The thought crossed my mind during the opening credits, but I disregarded the notion once I saw how attractive she is. I mean, how does someone as beautiful as this:



come from someone who looks like this:

?



Yesterday I watched "Die Welle" (The Wave) (Dennis Gansel, 2008, Germany) I really liked it, but I'd like a more serious approach in some subjects. Anyway, it was awesome and my jaw hurt me when the movie finished due to the tension. I reccomend it. 8/10



The Last Stand


Complete nonsense but plenty of fun. It has a very good supporting cast which always elevates a movie like this. It started to fizzle out a bit at the end for me, but I'd say it's a must see for Arnold fans.



Finished here. It's been fun.

The Trial


An odd nightmare which you just cant quite wake up from. The director of Citizen Kane gives us a strange,surreal tale of a man convicted for a crime, and he doesn't even know what for. A labyrinth of oddities ensue, and just like the protagonist you aren't quite sure whats going on.

The film feels real, yet there's this odd darkness lying underneath. Everythings normal but at the same time its not. There's a plethora of questions, and very little answers. It all culminates in a climax which makes you laugh riotously. Not because its funny, but because it makes no sense at all.

Is the film an allegory? A clever satire? I'm not quite sure, but its got me thinking.



Cricket, thanks for the comment on The Last Stand as I've heard next to nothing about it from my usual reliable sources (especially an action film buddy). So I'll probably watch as soon as I can.

Captain Spaulding, funny about the comparison/contrast between Kinski and his daughter. She is absolutely beautiful. I wonder, have you ever seen The Cat People with Nastassja Kinski? She is all kinds of beautiful and sexy in this one. The movie is somewhat cheesy in parts but I loved it anyway.

Lucas, thanks for the comments about The Trial. I'm ashamed to admit I'd never even heard of this Welles film. Sounds intriguing.

Love hearing about films I had no clue about. Thanks to all!



The Bib-iest of Nickels

It is no secret that I enjoy the work of Leonardo DiCaprio. Whenever I was younger, I never really respected him, always shamelessly interlinking him with that artsy movie about the boat that sinks, it's an indie movie, no shame if you doesn't ring any bells. As the years rolled by, I realized that there was more to the pretty-boy that wooed audiences. What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Inception, Django Unchained, The Aviator, Catch Me If You Can, The Departed, and many others that I haven't even discovered yet, Leonardo DiCaprio has acting chops that can't be denied, at least in my book, which is the only book worth reading, ... at least in my book. And so, explain to me why there are so many other movies of his that I will put off for months at a time, such as the one that I am watching today? I can actually explain this one, this one I didn't want to watch because it looks like a war-film, and well, that's not where the party's at.

Blood Diamond is a 2006 American-German political war thriller film directed by Edward Zwick, who I know for directing Love & Other Drugs, as well as helping to produce Shakespeare in Love, which made him one of the recipients of the Academy Award for Best Picture of that year. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, as well as Djimon Hounsou. Connelly perhaps known most for her award-winning performance in A Beautiful Mind, while Djimon Hounsou received Academy Award nomination for his performance in this movie, as well as his performance in ... In America. The film takes place during the Sierra Leone Civil War sometime in the late-nineties or early 2000s as many atrocities and misfortunes befall many of the citizens in West Africa. The movie derives its name from the diamonds that were mined and sold for financial profit by warlords and diamond companies across the world.

While it's debatable whether or not there was a certain amount of glossy-finished added to the scenery, the film certainly captures feelings of desolation and terror, emphasizing a lot of the dangerous and troubles being faced. They also spread the blame for the travesties by saying that, for every diamond that is found through forced labor, there are citizens from other countries, like the United States, ready and willing to reap the benefits. The scenery and ideology are certainly applied with enough precision to feel powerful in the message that they are trying to portray. Thankfully, the movie itself doesn't come across as a two-hour film meant to make diamond-buyer feel guilty, and there is actually a quality narrative to behold. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the role of an ******* that happily manipulates the problems to his benefit, Jennifer Connelly plays a reporter that wants to make it better for everyone, and Djimon Hounsou plays somebody that is basically the product of everything that is happening. He loves his family, and is merely doing what he believes is necessary to survive.

Everybody plays their roles particularly well, Djimon Hounsou carrying a lot of believable emotion with his character, Connelly seeming bitter with not being able to do more, and DiCaprio seeming like an opportunist with an inner goodness. The movie isn't filled with impeccable twists or strong psychological complexity. You can practically see where the story is going from a mile away. It doesn't shy away from a lot, but it doesn't introduce very much that we haven't already seen. There's a certain predictability that I think a lot of viewers probably experienced, but at the same time, I was entertained for the entire two-hour experience. There are moments that are meant to be more powerful than what they feel, and I believe a lot of that can be explained by the storytelling itself, however, the performances themselves are worthwhile and very good. The final thirty minutes of the movie are the moments whenever I believe the movie begins to carry a certain form of sentimentality behind the logic that feels disproportionate to some of what came before.

Therefore, the movie itself doesn't always really achieve greatness when it comes to giving a hollowing look at something very dark, but the moments when they are being chased or fleeing, and the moments when it evolves more around upbeat action are where this movie finds its best moments in my opinion. I am not trying to suggest that there the moments of emotion don't have the heart in them, but rather to say that the storytelling itself lessened those moments and they could have been appreciated more than they were. In an effort to keep it simple, I will say that the movie had strong performances from its three main protagonists, as well as riveting action-scenes and a decent. The atmosphere was captured superbly, and I was entertained from the beginning to the end. Unfortunately, somewhere in the predictability and structuring, the movie fell short of amazing. I will say that at its best moments, it is very, very good.



2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ
There is surely great scenes and great acting in Blood Diamond. But there were parts that lagged and some parts were a bore. I still think it is a 7/10 film though, which is a pretty good rating for me.



The Bib-iest of Nickels
I gave it a 7.7, or something around that in my review page. I was never bored, but there were times where I felt I didn't feel what they wanted me to feel, and parts I thought that could have been done better.



The Trial


Is the film an allegory? A clever satire? I'm not quite sure, but its got me thinking.
It's Franz Kafka!

P.S. I also really like the film.
__________________
Cobpyth's Movie Log ~ 2019



Finished here. It's been fun.
Blood Diamond doesn't even know what it is. It tries to send a powerful message, but it has the mentality of a Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster.



The Bib-iest of Nickels
I suppose I can understand that perspective, it certainly does have harrowing sentimentality at times that is contrasted by action, however, I enjoyed it, and thought it had moments of brilliance. A mistake in identity is probably the biggest criticism that I can find for the movie, but I think it gets enough right to prosper.



Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Great movie about high school kids. It's kind of an old movie so it's way different from how things are going on around here now but it's still an entertaining movie about fear. Fear of the future. Friendship. Don't really have a lot to say about it, I think (almost) everyone can enjoy that movie.

American Beauty
15 years later and it's still my favorite movie. What an amazing movie.. I hear critics talking from everywhere about how it isn't thát good but in my opinion it is. I love existential movies. I love characters that evolve throughout the movie. I love Angela Hayes; she's my favorite between Jane and Angela since Jane doesn't necessarily evolve throughout the movie. She just stays the daughter from an unhappy family trying to figure out life, isolating herself from the rest and not wanting to be ordinary. Whereas Angela has a fear of being ordinary so she tries to hide her true self by making up those stories about her confidence. But when it comes down to it, she's a vulnerable girl wanting to be discovered. Wanted to be seen for her true beauty. It just reflects what society expects of you nowadays.
Carolyn and Lester are typical suburban parents who seem perfect from the outside but from the inside they're rotten. Their garden keeps those beautiful roses but even roses die. They both escape to something outside their marriage. Carolyn to that real estate guy; Lester to Angela because they can't satisfy each other, but above all; they can't satisfy themselves.

Love it or hate it, I'll always love it.
__________________
Check out my movie blog



The Bib-iest of Nickels
I am just going to post 'em up as a watch them, some will get full-length reviews, others will not..



I decided not to write a review for Frozen. This isn't because I didn't enjoy the movie, but because I can't really think of anything that would dignified a full-review. The movie disappointed me to a certain degree, if only because my expectations were inflated by all the positive reviews. I expected some on-par with The Lego Movie that I saw earlier this year, but really, it was a well-animated fairytale story with well-voiced characters. Some of the characters came off as very likeable, but the depth of the story didn't really go in any direction that I haven't seen before.

I enjoyed a lot about it, but it didn't blow me away the same way as Toy Story, Lego Movie, Lion King, or others, which is unfair to say, but I had a lot of hope in this movie. Still a good one... maybe even very good.


Hollow Man is a 2000 American science fiction horror film directed by Paul Verhoeven, known for directing the original RoboCop, Total Recall, and highly coveted, Showgirls. The film stars Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Shue, and Josh Brolin. The story is about a scientist that makes a breakthrough in his experimentation on animals, successfully finding a way to make them invisible, and also change them back. Once this happens, he volunteers himself to be the first human to be experimented on, and the story works from there. In the opening minutes of this movie, I immediately found myself making comparisons to a movie called Darkman, directed by Sam Raimi. They both carry adult-themes and happenings, but find way to make it feel light-heart, for better or for worse, and for the first half, I believe that it's for the better with Hollow Man. Kevin Bacon seems to have found his niche in this movie, playing a narcissistic douche, and he easily carries the film, while all the other performances are decent at best.

However, I think that it is unanimously agreed upon that the special-effects are easily the most delectable part of this balanced breakfast, I went into this movie with disheartened emotions, but I was thoroughly impressed whenever I saw what they did with the transformation. If for no other reason, it legitimately looked kind-of cool. The first half of the movie was actually very well done, they briefly explained some of the logic behind what they were doing, whilst at the same not trying to make sense out of the spectacle itself, and so, we were handed the premise and allowed to behold the aftermath. The movie started off carrying so much more potential than the average horror-movie, and we had a concept put before us that we always thought about. If you were invisible, what would you do?

A lot of critics actually beheld the character's answer to that question as misogynistic, which I find to be peculiar considering what the mere audacity of the situation. Sebastian, the scientist played by Kevin Bacon, has a God-complex and seems so self-absorbed and hateful, he was given the power of anonymity, and the message being sent is the idea of corruption. He's sexist, but in-retrospect, that is one of the more minor things that he did throughout the movie. He's the idea of what a manipulative human-being would do with such a gift, and for that, I think it succeeded with a whimper. The reason that I say it's a whimper is because it only touched the basis for what he could have done with such an ability. This is something that everybody always fantasizes about, I would have liked to see him trying to haunt somebody, or at least take a little bit more of a creative approach to everything that he did.

Even still, for the first hour or so, Hollow Man was actually entertaining. I merely believe that they could have done much more than what they did with the opportunity put before them. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the proceeding half-hour or so as it gradually becomes your standard horror. The very second that Sebastian became transparent, there was a transformation in the character was blatant and poorly executed, however, the transformation excelled to such excess by the end. The idea itself made sense, but they didn't take their time with it, and as a result, the transition didn't seem organic at all whatsoever, rather, it seemed like they got into a hurry to end the movie and decided that they wanted it to be a slasher movie. The movie went way over-the-top and it was almost detrimental to the entire experience, throwing logic out the window, and throwing away this allegedly intelligent character in-exchange for someone you'd expect to see flailing a chainsaw.

In an effort to keep it simple, I'll summarize with a final verdict, the movie has entertainment value propelled by halfway decent performances and stellar special-effects, however, it'll leave a bitter taste in your mouth once it, ahem, loses sight of itself and seeks restitution in all the wrong places.