Rate The Last Movie You Saw

One of my favorite scenes in any horror movie.

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Exit Through the Gift Shop chronicles the evolution and rise of Thierry Guetta from French immigrant and small businessman to street art sensation. Directed by mysterious street artist Banksy, you can see Guetta bounce and stumble from "passion" to "obsession", and viceversa. From his obsession with carrying a camera and filming everything and his subsequent venture into the world of street art, to his obsession with meeting Banksy and his eventual desire to become a street artist himself.

This is a captivating documentary that captures the essence of what could be a madman or a genius, or both. Banksy presents both sides to Guetta's personality, starting with the way he earned the respect of street artists around the world by joining them in nocturnal escapades and daring stunts. But halfway through, he shifts to show a more worrying side of Guetta, a side that's probably more obsessed with an endgame, whatever that is, than with the craft itself.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot and the PR HOF4.

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I also really, really enjoy that one. I really like The Leopard Man.

I'm not disagreeing at all. I'm saying that his casting may have been influenced by concerns about audience buy-in to a non-white lead actor.

I think that it's tricky because there can be artistic reasons for casting/writing a part a certain way and financial reasons. Maybe that's not how it should be, but it's how it is.

Just finished watching A virgin Among the Living Dead (1973) on Kino Cult. I really enjoyed it. Stylishly directed by Jess Franco, the film is atmospheric and erotic. Definitely worth checking out. My rating is a

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance





Gorgeous film, with a well told story and beautiful symbolism throughout. Sadly, I didn’t get to see the version that is partially in black and white.

Have you seen the others in the trilogy? Lady Vengeance was probably my favorite of the three, but I liked all of them.

I just saw Mr Vengeance in roulette 2 and I saw Oldboy years ago. Definitely due for a rewatch. I don’t have a streaming service to watch it atm though.

Mr. Vengeance is my favorite for the twists and I liked the tragedy crime thriller feel.

By https://posteritati.com/poster/31561...nese-b2-poster, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9822288

Woman in the Dunes - (1964) - Japan

I watched this last night and enjoyed it immensely. The meaning of freedom through acceptance - the metaphor of going nowhere, of work feeling like a trap - the questions of why we even strive to survive. Above all of that, the engaging plot and wonderful cinematography and performances. I'm enjoying working my way through the foreign language countdown films, from Solaris to Persona, Andrei Rublev and this. All great films - I haven't been let down by any of them. This one is going to be a personal favourite - I was daunted by it's 147 minute run-time, but it flew by and left me wanting more. Incredible film. And yeah - surprisingly erotic.

9/10

Foreign language countdown films seen : 43/101


By The poster art can or could be obtained from IMP Awards., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32854683

My Week With Marilyn - (2011)

Explores the psychology of Marilyn Monroe through a young guy who befriended her during the production of The Prince and the Showgirl. I didn't enjoy it as much the second time around, but I'd already seen it recently and enjoyed it. I mainly watched it in preparation for the next film on my list...

7/10


By Bill Gold - [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/inde...curid=25948653

The Prince and the Showgirl - (1957)

I thought this was dull and Laurence Olivier's character a little too absurd - though it is occasionally funny, and Marilyn charms as always. I think the production troubles shine through, Olivier, at some stage, had stopped caring about this film in which we was producer, director and actor. He started to refer to Monroe as "that bitch" - which might help a bit during scenes where his character thinks likewise, but not when he's supposed to fall in love with her. A very middling effort.

5/10

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Another Round, 2020

Middle-aged high school teacher Martin (Mads Mikkelsen) is years into a slump, both in his professional life and his personal life. Several of his friends, also teachers at the school, are in a similar place. After one of them jokingly references a theory that the human body is perpetually 0.05% in an alcohol deficit, the men decide to undertake a "scientific experiment" to see what life is like perpetually tipsy. They reverse the usual rules of drinking, maintaining a buzz through the day but not at night or on the weekends. The men see good results, but can they last?

I've loved every film I've seen from Vinterberg, and this one was no exception. He has a way of balancing the personal, intimate space of his characters and capturing the broader space around them that I just adore. Anchored by a stunning performance by Mikkelsen, and this film is an easy winner.

In a bit of interesting timing, I watched Open Hearts just a little while ago--another film in which Mikkelsen plays a man reacting to stagnancy in his life. In that film, the outlet and energizer is a sexual affair with a married woman. Here, it is alcohol. I remember a poster here praising the film for daring to be "politically incorrect," but I'm not sure I get that angle. While on the surface the film might seem to say that functional alcoholism is an a-okay way of life, I think it's pretty apparent that it's a temporary balm for people whose lives are complicated by more than their too-low blood alcohol content. If nothing else, we see that the men are unable to maintain their "ideal" level of tipsiness, drinking more and more and overshooting the 0.05% many times over.

My read on the film, and honestly this is partly informed by the fact that teaching is my profession, is that engagement with the world and people around you takes work. These men have long since ceased wanting to do that work in their professional lives, and apparently are just about done when it comes to their personal lives. I saw the story as fundamentally tragic. You don't have to be buzzed to write an engaging history lesson, but the men in the story come to rely on an external source of sensation--their drinking--instead of trying to find that joy and creativity inside themselves.

I also appreciated that the film showed the impact of the men's drinking on their families. One of the men leaves his wife at home with three very young children, returns home totally hammered, and wets the bed. Another man passes out on his street, injuring himself, only to be found by neighbors who summon the man's son to get him. I'm not saying that functional substance use is impossible, but it's a very tricky balance to strike and often has effects on those who live with and/or care about the individual.

But what the film balances so nicely is what we can see as an outsider (the self-destructive nature of it all, the inevitable loss of control and moderation) and what the men feel. And what do the men feel? Elated. Inspired. They connect with their students. They reconnect with the content they teach. They feel sexy. Youthful. This will kill them, we think, and yet there's no doubt that this is probably the happiest they've been in years.

And while I absolutely do not want to describe it in any way, this film has a closing sequence that is unexpected and stunning and incredibly powerful.

Highly recommended.

TITANE

*insert Al Pacino from Once Upon A Time In Hollywood saying “what a picture.”*

Nice, didn't know Jason Bateman was doing Chilean movies now.

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Man Up (2015)

I was interested in this but couldn't get a feel for it, do you have anything to say that could help me decide?

Re-watch of the Pusher Trilogy. One of the best trilogies I have ever seen. Hugely entertaining.

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How To Train Your Dragon 2 +++ (INITIAL RATING) What could have been an easily achieved potential of a 4 popcorn for everything it has going for it and my enthusiasm for the first of this series, for reasons I cannot zero in on. Or perhaps ones I feel do not genuinely need to be expounded on, this came close, but not entirely quite. Though enough that a second rewatch may change that --

***EDIT*** In the midst of writing this review, I've talked myself into a (FINAL RATING) of

It has been a while, but I thoroughly enjoyed the first film. When the surge of following films came pouring out, I was concerned that they were capitalizing on the cash flow and not necessarily the story's advancement and, thereby, the characters themselves - creating a storyline worth not only following but genuinely enjoying.
Thus was my mindset, and perhaps my Achilles Heel when kicking back to this film.
I loved the first film. Everything about it. The awkward, tinkering, not-so-successful craftsman son (Hiccup) of a nearly iconic father/Viking chieftain (Stoick, ideally voiced by Gerard Butler) and the entire residents of their village on a cliff by the sea, Berk. Adding to that, Hiccup's growing friendship with the village's enemies, dragons. Specifically, a rare breed of a dragon, nicknamed Toothless by Hiccup as the two become close friends, as Hiccup attempts to convince his village that hunts and kill them that they are actually intelligent, loyal, and kind.

There was a delightful quirkiness to the first one that seemed to be missing in the second. There were attempts, but they felt almost forced, in my biased first watch, as if a new group of writers was attempting to build upon and move forward, which was done successfully in a more serious tone. The advancement of the village that now is home to the dragons they once feared and fought, particularly the awkward Hiccup, is now a more confident young man. His daring experiments in intense flying patterns with Toothless express this. Expounded by the discovery of the "missing piece" of who exactly, Hiccup is to himself is discovered here when he finds his mother who lives in a hidden Dragon Sanctuary - voiced by Cate Blanchett.



Hmm, so it seems I may be checking this little series out after talking it over with myself via this review. lol

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I watched Au Pair Girls (1972) on the new Kino Cult streaming service. Also known as The Young Playmates and Mother's Helpers, this British sex comedy, is about sexy young foreign girls who come to England to work as au pairs. I liked the opening credits theme song. The story isn't great, but there is some saucy fun to be had. Also, several beautiful women have some nice nude scenes, for those who enjoy that sort of thing (like me). Worth a peek. My rating is a .

The writing is not that strong, and I feel like a few of the exchanges didn't feel quite right. But overall the performances are fun and there are several funny parts and I generally liked it. Passable fluff, and enjoyable if you're a fan of one or both leads.

The New York Times unfavorably reviewed it today.

It’s in the same vein as Lynch, Cronenberg and Noé. It also won the Palm d’or. Polarizing comes with the territory.