Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Best in Show (2000)

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[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

Mexican apocalyptic horror with explicit sex, cannibalism, incest, and some gross stuff. Stylishly filmed, it's worth a watch for fans of extreme film.

Is that a female?

Mae Martin is a woman. She identified as non-binary and now identifies as trans. She has had her breasts removed and is bisexual. I think she is sort of promoted because she is more palatable to the normies because she is a very cute person. I have seen lesbian and straight women comics who are much funnier and are not getting the opportunities she is getting. I have seen other trans comics but they are not cute.

I watched Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields (2023), the new documentary on Disney+ (Hulu in some countries). This was a really interesting and insightful look at Brooke's life and career. There is a lot of substance here and I suspect different viewers will get different things out of it. Definitely worth watching. My rating is .

By http://www.impawards.com/2022/firestarter.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70230680

Firestarter - (2022)

There's nothing offensively wrong with this 2022 edition of Firestarter, but it is a film devoid of a soul - the only time it did anything to rouse any kind of feeling from me was when Charlie McGee (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) roasted a poor cat, and we had to wait an interminable amount of time for her to put the poor thing out of it's misery - and she does this by roasting it again, causing it more pain. Actually - strike my first statement - there was that one thing offensively wrong about the film. Other than that, it just went through the motions. I read Stephen King's Firestarter in 1987 - too long ago to remember what's missing here - but this bare bones, tired adaptation is what happens when people methodically make a film they don't care all that much about. It was the wrong film to direct for the promising Keith Thomas - but for some reason he was thinking that this would lead to some kind of Firestarter franchise - so he at least envisioned this being better. It's not the worst film ever made - it's just not good. Another pointless remake. John Carpenter's score was nice though.

4/10


By Sony Pictures, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69435980

Morbius - (2022)

How can I even begin to judge this film's worth after all the memes and such? If I'd sat down expecting a really good film I would have been disappointed - but instead I was kind of curious about what kind of mess it was. It's just another origin story - a concept so worn out by now that I'm not up to seeing another unless I absolutely have to for some reason. It had moments where some very nice creepy visuals crept into the film, making it interesting - but other than that it didn't do much for me. I didn't hate any of it, except the very awkward credits-sequence tie-in to the Spider-Man franchise, which was awful. Other than that it hovered around Firestarter level as far as being neither entertaining nor bad enough to be fun. Unlike Firestarter though, it didn't have a good score, or interesting original story.

3.5/10

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The Godfather (1972)

I watched this movie for the 3rd time. First two times I watched when I was a teenager so, being older and more lived experience now, I had an improved understanding of the characters motivations and actions.

It is certainly among the best executed movies ever made. While I am not a big fan of the gangster genre, this singular movie stands head and shoulders above other gangster movies. It is like Breaking Bad in the sense that BB transcends crime TV shows, The Godfather transcends the gangster movie genre and functions as a truly unique work of narrative art. It is also a great example of Italian American culture; being partly Italian myself, I appreciated such a sense of cultural familiarity.

Rating: 10/10, while watching it, there was nothing wrong with this movie; everything is executed smoothly and elegantly.

Waiting for Guffman (1996)

That's how one of the main characters of Everything Everywhere All at Once (or rather her "evil" counterpart) describes this "tortured" multiverse reality they're living, but it could also be used to describe the plot of the film. I mean, a Chinese-American immigrant (Michelle Yeoh) is being audited by the IRS when she discovers her connection with multiple universes, including one where people have hot-dog fingers; a connection she has to use to save these universes from being destroyed by her alternate father and daughter, and a floating bagel. Whoosh!

I commend the Daniels for staying true to their quirky ideas, but to be honest, I think that the emotional weight of the film was sometimes drowned by all the things that they throw at the audience screaming for our attention. Now that they won every single Oscar, I suppose they'll swing even harder, but I think a bit of restraint wouldn't have been a bad thing here. Even though I was never fully there, I cherished those specks of time where something, anything, made any sense for me.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

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Very well put! I agree 10%.

Part 1 is a devastating film that focuses on the immediate effects of the bombing of Hiroshima. This is a worthy sequel that picks up 3 years later. It's not as powerful but it definitely has it's moments.

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

Technically, this Edward Berger film is fine. Outside of its discordant score (which could work better in a space film or thriller), the film looks and sounds wonderful as it dives into the brutality (and futility) of war. The acting is fine and we get some moments such as the German soldiers breaking into French farms to steal eggs and chickens.

But something about this one kept me from fully embracing it. Perhaps the anti-war genre is all tapped out? Maybe it tries to have it both ways as they have the soldiers fight around in the muck while trying to make them look as dirtily good looking as possible? Or maybe none of the war scenes stand out as unique or breathtaking and outside of Felix Kammerer as the lead character Paul and Albrecht Schuch as a seen it all veteran still on the frontlines, nobody really stood out?

Although it's a decent war film, All Quiet could have been better had it given more depth to Paul's friends or even Matthias (Daniel Bruhl) who plays a German official trying to find the best possible armistice to end World War 1. Or if it toned down the glamour and focused on the brutality of the war. This is my third Best Picture nominee that I've seen and only one of them I'd categorize as pretty good.

I knew there was a sequel...but hadn't been able to find it anywhere. Part one shocked me as a teen when I saw it.

I have thoughts on this one.

What's the point of hiring a diverse cast if you're not going to give them anything to do?

Why pick Zac Efron who works best as an ordinary guy and cast him as an average tough guy (cracks neck)?

Why is the plot reminding me so much of Frozen?

I'd probably give it a 1/10, the worst film from this past year.

Set in 1933, Ship of Fools follows a group of passengers on a ship headed to pre-World War II Germany. The passengers include a "flirty" divorced woman, a young couple that can't stop fighting and making up, a disgraced former baseball player, an opiate addict, a troupe of flamenco musicians and dancers, a dwarf, Nazi sympathizers, Jewish people, and hundreds of poor Spanish workers sent back to their country. Through their interactions, the film addresses themes like classism, racism, xenophobia, regrets, love, infatuation, happiness, and the lack of it.

The film boasts an impressive ensemble cast that includes Vivien Leigh, Oskar Werner, Simone Signoret, Lee Marvin, José Ferrer, and George Segal, among many others. Most of the performances are solid, with Werner probably being my favorite. His role as the ship's medical officer, Dr. Schumann, is the closest that comes to a protagonist and his complex relationship with La Condesa (Signoret) provides a lot of the emotional baggage of the film.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot and the HOF30.

Youtube

It was a good way to make a very middling 1980s film actually look great in comparison. I get a sneaking suspicion those franchise plans have been put on permanent hold.

By CJENM, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70513420

Broker - (2022)

Familiar themes here with Hirokazu Kore-eda returning to the idea of the ad-hoc, adoptive family - and like in Shoplifters, this one involves some criminality. When mother Moon So-young (Lee Ji-eun) leaves her baby near an 'abandoned baby' box by a church it's picked up and stolen by Ha Sang-hyeon (Song Kang-ho) and Dong-soo (Gang Dong-won) to sell on the black market. So-Young eventually tracks them down, and the three embark on an adventure, trying to find a home for little Woo-sung. After passing by an orphanage Dong-soo was once a part of, one of the children (Hae-jin, played by Im Seung-soo) stows away in their van. The five suddenly find their unit gels in such a profound and enjoyable way that they feel an urge to stick together as a family unit - but they're being followed by two detectives eager to take them down - not only for trafficking the child but for a crime Moon So-young has committed. The film is full of heartfelt moments, and Hirokazu Kore-eda really knows how to explore the inner yearnings and torment of his characters. There's the pain of abandonment, and the joy of finding a place where everything feels 'right' - and Broker also has it's share of comedy, something Song Kang-ho is particularly adept with. A very warm and satisfying film that explores what family really means, aside from being related by blood.

7.5/10


By http://www.impawards.com/2022/hallel...ey_a_song.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71258067

Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song - (2022)

"How the hell is this documentary going to be about one single song, yet last nearly two hours?" is what I thought to myself before starting this. Well, it also serves as a decent biography for Leonard Cohen himself, at least from the mid-60s onwards. Most people were introduced to the song "Hallelujah" when it was covered by another artist, because the album it was originally on was rejected by Columbia Records. Yes - the album, 'Various Positions' never came out in the United States when finished by Cohen - Walter Yetnikoff (President of Columbia Records at the time) turned it down. A fringe label released it later on, and over time artists like Bob Dylan and John Cale covered the song 'Hallelujah' from it, and it really picked up steam after Jeff Buckley did his version. Turns out it really does have quite a history - as does Cohen. Makes for a fascinating documentary.

7/10

Only making $15 million on a budget of $12 million will do that to you.