Rate The Last Movie You Saw

The Gauntlet (1977)

Interesting movie. Wouldn't say it's a classic at any stretch but it isn't particularly bad either. I would rather see this than many of the movies I've seen. The story is a good one but some of the things like the shootouts are... not believable. Why this hasn't been remade is a wonder because they'd have a hayday and go to town on this plot.

6/10

It was all good for 93% of the movie, nice mix of humor and suspense. Smooth performance by James Mason. Then it somehow turned into a nonsensical goofy Cannonball Run flick. Definitely won't break into my top hundred all time Heist films list.

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Almost done Thief - 1981, and it's like geez, this ain't gonna end well, but it's fascinating to see John Belushi in a serious role. 3/5

Harry and Tonto (1974)



@matt72582's all-time favorite is a great, adorable film. But the last third in Vegas brings it down. Still a lovely movie as a whole. I wonder if Yamada had seen it before writing the much superior Yellow Handkerchief. You know, Mazursky walked so that Yamada could run.

PS: Harry is basically how I imagine Matt in 20 years.

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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.

The Little Things, 2021

Deke Deacon (Denzel Washington) is sent to LA to pick up evidence related to a case, and ends up accompanying a recently promoted hotshot detective named Baxter (Rami Malek) to a crime scene that bears some striking similarities to a case Deacon worked years earlier. As the two men begin working together--with a major focus on creepy weirdo Albert (Jared Leto)--Deacon must confront some demons from his own past.

Despite a strong cast, this one can’t escape the sense of “should have been better.”



Full review

Whoa, I guess it's not the only movie about soldiers in the desert with homoerotic undertones. It's time I've seen a Jarman as well.

Also, thanks @ScarletLion. It's my first Denis film and I'm eager to see more. 35 Shots of Rum looks like a good place to continue. As for Lavant, looks like his work and Carax is a good place to continue.

I, a negro - Moi, un noir (Jean Rouch, 1958)





First time watching a Jean Rouch film, the immediate thought is that this is really a sign of new times of social and political awareness in the cinema that was made by First World authors. Contrarily to the merely touristic view of previous ethnographic cinema, Rouch's work immediately puts itself in a position of political activism through the characters. The movie is a stance against cultural colonialism, lack of prospects for immigrants and war veterans and has some strong and resonating antiauthoritarian themes. It displays local cultural manifestations with an amount of respect beyond the condescending and degrading approach that was common before.

But it's not without its issues; particularly the ethnofictional approach, while certainly very innovative and in the end one of the main inspirations behind not only the French New Wave movement but an entire shift in the way film as a whole could be conceived and approached, also tends to manipulate the images to fit a preestablished narrative, set by Rouch himself. Which could be considered an instrumentalization of the character and society it depicts, with good intent in mind, no doubt, but also ultimately compromising the sincerity of the images.

Anyway, it was a great watch and it really makes you think about the implications of viewing film and specifically ethnography through the film lens. It is also a very important and influential work that predates and explains a lot of the later avant-garde film movements.

Well, in Sebastiane there's nothing under about the tones, but there are a lot of interesting parallels between the films. And as far as Jarman's movies go, I think it's probably one of his most accessible when it comes to being a coherent narrative with dialogue and stuff.

Double Jeopardy, 1999

Libby (Ashley Judd) is married to the charming Nick (Bruce Greenwood), living a life of luxury along with their son Matty (Benjamin Weir). But that all changes when a boat trip ends with Libby awakening covered in her husband’s blood and Nick nowhere to be found. Libby is convicted of Nick’s murder, but comes to suspect that he is still alive and has run off with the family friend to whom Libby entrusted Matty’s care. Advised by a fellow inmate that thanks to double jeopardy laws, Libby can take Nick out with no consequences, Libby decides to jump bail and track down her husband. Standing in her way is Libby’s parole agent, not-so-recovered alcoholic Travis (Tommy Lee Jones).

On the whole, this is a fun and thrilling film, and I find it incredibly rewatchable.



Full review

The Tenant (1976)

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[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

To sell it you'd have to explain it as The Raid meets Speed.

Paterson, 2016

Paterson (Adam Driver) is a bus driver living and working in Paterson, New Jersey. Paterson is a poet, keeping an old notebook full of poems he writes before his shift and during his breaks. The film follows several days in the life of Paterson and his wife, Laura (Golshifteh Farahani), and their dog Marvin. We watch Paterson observe and interact with various members of his community.

This simple and sweet slice-of-life film embodies the gentle optimism of its protagonist.



Full review

Well, I think the deal with the line of cops at the end was sort of a parody of Star Wars with the storm troopers, so it was a case of sacrificing the integrity of the story to visually double up on another movie being released almost simultaneously. Maybe its what they call a tribute an homage or recognition?

Or better yet, both Star Wars and The Gauntlet got this same idea from something else that we are unaware of.

But it was completely unrealistic, that would never happen like that.

I see what you say but The Gauntlet was realistic except for the the shootouts, so maybe it was an artistic statement. Why only get nutty on the shootouts but then do everything else normally? Ah, whatever. It was an okay movie but couldve been better.

Mr nobody.... 6 and a half out of 10

I'm just s**t-posting, so don't mind my comment too much.



If I were posturing at seriousness here, however, we might note that a uncertain "unreality" can be earned so long as you play by the rulesof realism in other respects. Tolkien commented that he had his characters walk around Middle Earth and ride horses, because he was already asking quite a bit of the reader with all of the magic. Or consider the end of JAWS. The film is reasonable and then Brody shoots an air tank which makes a shark explode fifty feet into the air. Someone on set reportedly commented that this was entirely unrealistic to which Spielberg commented something to the effect that "if they have followed me this far, they will commit to the end." And he was right.

By May be found at the following website: https://www.cinematerial.com/movies/...062/p/xglo1osh, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63469770

Hell is for Heroes - (1962)

Hell is for Heroes blew my expectations sky high - I was expecting your average war film from the period. Up to a point, the film was giving me exactly what I expected. It was blurring the lines between war, action and comedy. Hell, it introduces Bob Newhart to feature films, and he even gets to do a few of his comedy bits (I love Bob Newhart.) Then, late in the film, it takes a Spielberg Omaha Beach turn, and characters who I thought would certainly be there at the end start getting blown to bits. My whole take on this glorifying war, and even making it look fun, needed some adjustment - and I was glad because I could accept the fun parts of the film much more readily now. Steve McQueen is good in this, as a battle-hardened soldier who is a human being beyond repair. A young James Coburn also shows up. It's really well directed by Don Siegel, and strikes hard at a lean 90 minutes - for it's day a classic World War 2 film.

8/10


By Impawards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20372711

28 Weeks Later - (2007)

For the most part, I enjoyed this sequel to 28 Days Later more than the original. There was only one aspect that really turned me off - and that's during the action sequences where the filmmakers insisted on using shaky-cam and quick-cutting to emphasise chaos. It confuses my eyes and brain, and when I can't tell what's happening I just start to switch off entirely. I don't like my movies to be completely confusing. Otherwise this was a very straightforward and interesting take on the genre - because unlike the apocalyptic scenario I was expecting, this film starts with the zombie plague over and humans starting to resettle England. Do things go wrong? Of course they do - in a very unexpected fashion. Robert Carlyle, Jeremy Renner, Rose Byrne and Idris Elba add star power to what's usually a much more low-budget genre. This one is a lot of fun.

6/10

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