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Saturday night movie with the kids. A good movie, but far from what you would expect from Pixar. And there's lots, lots of Star Wars references.
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Thirteen Lives
my rating - 3/5



When the Cat Comes -


This is an odd, whimsical, and charming Czech movie about a travelling circus that visits a small town, their main draw being a cat wearing sunglasses. When the glasses come off, the cat reveals a person's true colors - literally - such as red for lovers, yellow for the unfaithful, etc. The circus angers the town's fascistic school director, who is eager to add the cat to the school's famed stuffed animal collection. The movie has similar appeals to Something Wicked This Way Comes, except that this time, the circus is a force of good, specifically of the anti-fascist variety. It helps that Jiří Sovák makes the school director out to be one loathsome guy. The main appeal of this movie, though, is in the scenes when the glasses come off, which feature vibrant music, dancing and of course colors with visual effects that seem ahead of their time. The movie is not perfect: it drags to the point of listlessness for a long while after the first scene like this. The ending, which is impossible not to smile at, mostly makes up for it, as do the facts that it’s unlike any movie I've seen and that it kindled my interest in the Czech New Wave.

You can watch it on this YouTube channel.




Watch the Trailer


I was hoping to dislike everything about this film, seemed so pretentious to begin with, just like Nomadland. I thought this was going to be Fern selling the van and buying a remote cabin in some mountain, which is kind of the story of this movie. They should all learn from Debra Granik, her movies are simply showing something, never pitching an idea or lifestyle.

This is about a woman struck by a personal tragedy trying to find solace in an off grid self-reliant lifestyle, she can't handle people, they demand, and she doesn't fell like delivering, so she chooses isolation. We're starting to live in an epidemic of people that believe isolation in nature will bring growth of some kind, either spiritual or mental, people are so gullible, full of false hopes of psychologic progress, and, self-improvement always depending on this or that to become that something, this circumstance, or this environment.

"The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there."




Watch the Trailer


I was hoping to dislike everything about this film, seemed so pretentious to begin with, just like Nomadland. I thought this was going to be Fern selling the van and buying a remote cabin in some mountain, which is kind of the story of this movie. They should all learn from Debra Granik, her movies are simply showing something, never pitching an idea or lifestyle.

This is about a woman struck by a personal tragedy trying to find solace in an off grid self-reliant lifestyle, she can't handle people, they demand, and she doesn't fell like delivering, so she chooses isolation. We're starting to live in an epidemic of people that believe isolation in nature will bring growth of some kind, either spiritual or mental, people are so gullible, full of false hopes of psychologic progress, and, self-improvement always depending on this or that to become that something, this circumstance, or this environment.

"The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there."
Good movie.
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The acting was fine, really, not bad, one of the dramatic scenes made me almost cry, when she told him. The movie lacks dept though, that's why they needed those scenes, otherwise the plot, the ambience itself would be enough, on some other hands this could be memorable, the movie is supposed to have the nature aspect, although I feel it needed so much more. You want to know how you film nature? These guys are amateurs, and they do a good job, and actually it has a lot to do with the film. Check this channel.



Victim of The Night

By Roger Ebert, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57044561

Paris, Texas - (1984)

Paris, Texas is hard to just briefly summarize - another one from Wim Wenders (king of the road movies) and another look at the United States from a European filmmaker who had yet to assimilate culturally. It's very metaphorically rich, with Travis Henderson (Harry Dean Stanton) emerging from the desert, near death - a very literal way of looking at how this character has fallen, only to reemerge and slowly pick up the pieces of a life that spectacularly fell apart 4 years previously. He slowly transforms from being catatonic with no memories to reengaging with his brother and son - which leads to a quest to find his wife, and an emotional revelation for us in a great scene that Stanton and Nastassja Kinski share. I think quite a few of us have periods in our lives where we find ourselves in that desert, until we reemerge and pick up the pieces again, one by one. It's what makes this film so easy to engage with, and Travis so easy to empathize with to a certain extent. A classic that a lot of people still love today.

8.5/10
Currently, I consider this to be the best movie I've ever seen not named The Rocky Horror Picture Show.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

Shark Side of the Moon (Glenn Campbell & Tammy Klein, 2022)
5/10
Code Name: Emperor (Jorge Coira, 2022)
6/10
Dead Zone (Hank Braxtan, 2022)
5/10
The Abyss (James Cameron, 1989)
7+/10

There's something down in the abyss, something not human... but beautiful.
Wayward (Kurt Yochum, 2022)
5/10
Albatross (Myles Yaksich, 2022)
+ 4.5/10
Gone in the Night (Eli Horowitz, 2022)
5/10
Airplane! (ZAZ, 1980)
7/10

Dr. Leslie Nielsen tries to assure the passengers on the doomed flight that they'll be OK, but somehow they're not buying it.
No Way Out (Azi Rahman, 2022)
5/10
Between Two Dawns (Selman Nacar, 2021)
6/10
Dangerously Close (Albert Pyun, 1986)
5/10
Stranger Than Paradise (Jim Jarmusch, 1984)
6/10

Slacker John Lurie, his younger cousin Eszter Balint and his best friend Richard Edson go to the movies with a popcorn-eating guy they meet.
The Moderator (Zhor Fassi-Fihri, 2022)
5/10
Cycling the Frame (Cynthia Beatt, 1988)
6/10
Fuzz (Richard A. Colla, 1972)
5/10
Nighthawks (Bruce Malmuth, 1981)
6.5/10

Undercover cop Sylvester Stallone confronts superterrorist Rutger Hauer in various NYC locations with suspenseful results.
Snipers (Mo & Zhang Yimou, 2022)
6/10
Eradication (Daniel Byers, 2022)
5/10
Easter Eggs (Nicolas Keppens, 2020)
6/10
The Wheel (Steve Pink, 2021)
- 6.5/10

A couple (Amber Midthunder & Taylor Gray) who don't even seem to like each other end up on the [ferris] wheel where they have a chance to resolve their problems.
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JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION
(2022, Trevorrow)



"Bigger. WHY do they always have to go bigger?"

Set four years after Fallen Kingdom, Jurassic World Dominion follows Owen Grady and Claire Dearing (Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard) as they try to rescue their "adoptive" daughter, Maisie (Isabella Sermon), who has been kidnapped by operatives from Biosyn Genetics. Meanwhile, Ellie Sattler and Alan Grant (Laura Dern and Sam Neill) are trying to uncover a conspiracy to control the world food supply from Biosyn as well, with the help of Malcolm, who now works there.

If you noticed that the above synopsis doesn't mention dinosaurs *at all*, then you've noticed the main issue with this film. In their efforts to go bigger, Trevorrow and the studio have turned dinosaurs, what is supposed to be the main draw of this film, into an afterthought on a much more convoluted story. Granted, there are plenty of dinosaurs, but they just seem to be getting in the way of this story of clones, international espionage, and... crop-eating locusts?

Grade:



Full review on my Movie Loot
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Carter (2022)

A Korean action film that resembles a video game as it tries (poorly) to maintain an illusion of one-shot cinematography. Despite some clunky CGI and obvious cuts, the action is rather imaginative and brutal. Stupid but surprisingly entertaining.

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Mother Joan of the Angels (1961)

Kind of like a sequel to Russell's The Devils but made ten years earlier and in Poland. In other words, it's based on the same historical case of "Loudun possessions" but follows its aftermath. Not as bonkers as The Devils but pretty nice mystery-drama nonetheless.

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Roh (2019)
aka Soul

A Malaysian folk horror that, despite completely different folklore, has quite a bit in common with The VVitch. A bit slow but an atmospheric film, that has some amazing scenes.

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Fist of Fury (1972)

Weaker than Lee's starring debut from the year before. At times the fights look more like bodybuilding contests than martial arts, and I hate those weird noises Bruce started to do here.

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Gun Woman (2014)

A Japanese gonzo-gore-action with lots of violence and nudity. I guess there was potential to be better, but I found the script terribly lacking. I have to give thumbs up for Asami, though -- not an easy role to do.

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The Way of the Dragon (1972)

Even slightly weaker than the previous Lee. Too much comedy, poor pacing, and fights are far less brutal than before. I didn't remember that these Bruce Lee films were so much like Steven Seagal's -- both are always so much tougher than anyone else and they just steamroll through everyone.

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The Nest of the Cuckoo Bird (1965)

Yet another weird B-horror from the 60s (or 70s, there's plenty from both). I wanted to like this more but it was just too boring at times. I think there's a good idea here but it would need to be refined by someone a bit more skilled.

--
The Barcelona Vampiress (2020)

A little artsy historical drama-mystery-horror about child trafficking (and murder) in early 20th century Barcelona. It's based on a true story and follows one interpretation quite faithfully (though I would have preferred if it had gone with the more contemporary "black legend"). It mixes many styles quite seamlessly. For those into TTRPGs, it really felt like something I could imagine running in something like Call of Cthulhu Berlin setting.
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Russian Ark, 2002

Shot from the first-person perspective, a man awakens to find himself wandering through the sprawling Winter Palace of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. As he traverses the enormous building, he encounters another such traveler he calls the European (Sergey Dreyden), and the two move through different rooms and different time periods.

There was a lot of to-do when this film first came out due to the fact that it was shot in a single take. This fact certainly adds a bit of "whoa!" factor to a film that is already impressively large in scale.

Even without having been shot in a single go, the technical merit on display here is really extraordinary and noteworthy. Sweeping sequences in ballrooms with what looks like hundreds of lushly-costumed 18th century guests transition to quiet scenes in a modern art gallery and vice versa.

When it comes to the way that the film was shot, I was surprised on the impact that it had on me as a viewer. What struck me was not the length of each sequence or even an awareness that it was a single take. Instead I started to feel the absence of cuts or more traditional transitions. Different scenes have different energies or pace, so it's not overly samey, but at the same time the sense that you are constantly being pulled forward is an interesting one.

I do think that I would have gotten more out of this film if I had a better grasp on Russian history. Aside from the sequence around Tsar Nicholas and his children, there was little that I was familiar. I wouldn't say that it's essential, because you can still grasp the emotional heft of the scenes without knowing the full context, but I imagine it would add another layer of enjoyment for those more in the know.

A really lovely film that is much more than a gimmick, and an example of how something that seems like a gimmick actually ends up in service of the film and its story.






Russian Ark, 2002

Shot from the first-person perspective, a man awakens to find himself wandering through the sprawling Winter Palace of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. As he traverses the enormous building, he encounters another such traveler he calls the European (Sergey Dreyden), and the two move through different rooms and different time periods.

There was a lot of to-do when this film first came out due to the fact that it was shot in a single take. This fact certainly adds a bit of "whoa!" factor to a film that is already impressively large in scale.

Even without having been shot in a single go, the technical merit on display here is really extraordinary and noteworthy. Sweeping sequences in ballrooms with what looks like hundreds of lushly-costumed 18th century guests transition to quiet scenes in a modern art gallery and vice versa.

When it comes to the way that the film was shot, I was surprised on the impact that it had on me as a viewer. What struck me was not the length of each sequence or even an awareness that it was a single take. Instead I started to feel the absence of cuts or more traditional transitions. Different scenes have different energies or pace, so it's not overly samey, but at the same time the sense that you are constantly being pulled forward is an interesting one.

I do think that I would have gotten more out of this film if I had a better grasp on Russian history. Aside from the sequence around Tsar Nicholas and his children, there was little that I was familiar. I wouldn't say that it's essential, because you can still grasp the emotional heft of the scenes without knowing the full context, but I imagine it would add another layer of enjoyment for those more in the know.

A really lovely film that is much more than a gimmick, and an example of how something that seems like a gimmick actually ends up in service of the film and its story.

That's one of the first foreign films I fell in love with when I began growing interested in film. I should revisit it someday to see how well it holds up for me.
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Watch the Trailer


I was hoping to dislike everything about this film, seemed so pretentious to begin with, just like Nomadland. I thought this was going to be Fern selling the van and buying a remote cabin in some mountain, which is kind of the story of this movie. They should all learn from Debra Granik, her movies are simply showing something, never pitching an idea or lifestyle.
...

Starring a female, and with a female director, it's surprising that it didn't garner an Oscar nomination!!...





2001: A Space Odyssey

Only just got around to watching it. It blows my mind that it was made in the 60s and it still holds up today. I can only imagine what people thought seeing it in the cinemas.

9/10





2001: A Space Odyssey

Only just got around to watching it. It blows my mind that it was made in the 60s and it still holds up today. I can only imagine what people thought seeing it in the cinemas.

9/10
gosh been soo long that i havent watched this



I forgot the opening line.

By Village Roadshow - http://www.joblo.com/movie-posters/gallipoli, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39195833

Gallipoli - (1981)

There are keys on your keyboard that will wipe out your entire review if you're unlucky enough to hit them - and I'm particularly clumsy. So there goes my well-worded bit about Gallipoli - and here's my "can't be buggered" second version. The history behind the film focuses not only on my fellow countrymen, but West Australians - my lot. It was a military defeat, with Australian and New Zealanders mowed down by the Turks while British officers drank tea on the beaches. The good thing about Gallipoli is that it takes in the whole view of how those young men got into that situation - why they joined up, even in some cases disliking the British - under whose Empire they were fighting for. Mel Gibson and Mark Lee play two young athletes, one of whom dreams of overseas adventure, and the other who joins his mates despite being unsupportive of the war. In the end what it amounts to is senseless slaughter - Peter Weir taking some of his inspiration from Paths of Glory and All Quiet on the Western Front.

8/10


By https://cartelesmix.es/cartelesdecine/?p=1762, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7454163

Charade - (1963)

Charade was an interesting new experience, although watching an old Cary Grant smooch with a young Audrey Hepburn made me a little uncomfortable. It has a good sense of what's fun, and a Hitchcock feel at times - where you know you won't know what's going on until the credits roll. I suspected Hepburn's character was in the know and behind everything - because that would have been the most surprising twist. I got it wrong. But in any event, I never knew George Kennedy, Walter Matthau and James Coburn were in it - and I enjoyed the mix of light-hearted skullduggery, romance and mystery. Seems a lot of movies were using Nazi gold in their plots during this time period. I didn't think it was a cinematic great - but all the same, a very good 60s movie.

7/10
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I really enjoyed this, it's lightyears ahead of pretty much every sequel to the original.

Edit: Just to be clear, I like Predator 2, even thou it aged quite a bit