Rate The Last Movie You Saw

I just like enjoying watching movies.

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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.

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There has been an awekening.... have you felt it?

Dungeons and Dragons (2023)


I heard this was worth seeing even for those who have never played the game itself, and it was pretty delightful. Easygoing and charming, with jokes that land but are rarely laugh out loud.

Ludo, 2014

In an isolated house by the seaside, a girl (Lea Blaaberg) lives with her father (Hjalmar Dam) and mother (Hildigunn Eyofinsdottir). The mother seems to suffer from some sort of mental illness, and the girl and her father try to keep up a cheery front despite her highly changeable moods.

Outside of the distinction of being from the Faroe Islands, this one doesn’t amount to being more than a very average psychological horror movie.



Full review

Took your suggestion and watched this last night. It's a clever, well thought out sci-fi drama with first rate acting. I especially liked the old man at the end.

It's really not my type of film, but I enjoyed it. It's one of those no stars, micro budget stand out movies.

Rafiki, 2018

Kena (Samantha Mugatsia) forms a friendship that quickly turns into something more serious with the lovely Ziki (Sheila Munyiva), the daughter of her father’s political rival. In addition to facing broader cultural backlash to being in a queer relationship, Kena must deal with her father’s disappointment that she’s spending time with “the enemy”.

This colorful, but at times intense, drama-romance is a simple but effective story of forbidden love.



Full review

I thought of changing my rating scale so that only the top 6-7 films in my favorites list stay at a 10/10, the remaining films on there get bumped down to a 9/10, and then every other film would go down by one point (I'd also find a way to combine the films I have at 2/10 - 4/10 into two ratings). However, I decided against doing this. There are a few obscure films in there which I'd feel really bad about bumping down. Of course, I'm just one person, but I want to help them out as much as I can.

I'd feel bad about bumping down half of my ratings.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921)

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[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

By https://filmsdulosange.com/film/un-beau-matin/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71824568

One Fine Morning - (2022)

Late last year I watched Mia Hansen-Løve's Father of My Children and found it had a lot to say that was fairly unique and interesting, while still holding on tight to the human drama that would otherwise have made it too abstract. I really enjoyed it, and I've yet to see any of her other films, including the acclaimed Bergman Island - apart from One Fine Morning, which I watched today. This one gets closer to the emotional core of how helpless we all really are, both when it comes to our own needs, and the whims or fortunes of those we love. Sandra Kienzler (Léa Seydoux) has a father who was once a Philosophy professor, but now finds it hard to open doors or remember where he is - he has a neurodegenerative disease called Benson's syndrome, and since nobody is available to look after him 24/7 he has to go into a home. The family don't have much money, so the places he ends up in tend to rob him of his dignity, and throughout One Fine Morning intrusive people with dementia simply wander into his room during private moments. Sandra, while having to deal with this, has also started an intense love affair with Clément (Melvil Poupaud) who really tests her emotions by constantly fluctuating when it comes to choosing her or his wife and son. Her daughter Linn (Camille Leban Martins) really centers and anchors her. It's Sandra's rawness and vulnerability though - created by her new circumstances - that comes through quite well thanks to the talented Seydoux, who I thought was quite excellent in this. But I can't mention her and not single out Pascal Greggory, who is brilliant also as Sandra's father - he was completely convincing. Mia Hansen-Løve seems to be building a really solid body of work - I recommend both this and Father of my Children.

7.5/10


By "Copyright 1947 - By Twentieth Century–Fox Film Corp." - Scan via Heritage Auctions. Cropped from the original image and retouched by uploader; see upload history for unretouched original., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/inde...curid=89276138

Gentleman's Agreement - (1947)

Kind of strange to see this 1940s film on racism, and how differently it was tackled back then in this Best Picture Oscar-winning film featuring Gregory Peck. It's about anti-Semitism, and can at times feel terribly awkward - for example when writer Schuyler Green (Peck) just decides to be Jewish for 8 weeks to see what it's like. I guess I'm phrasing it in a way that makes it seem worse, but I was still kind of taken aback by his pretense. Because he's not used to it, Green reacts with rage whenever he's excluded or judged because of his supposed race - and he comes to realise that good non-racist people who say nothing or do nothing when they see racist attitudes or practices are nearly as bad as those with the chips on their shoulders. Nobody is mad at him when they learn he's not Jewish after all, especially the new friends he's made. I doubt he'd get away with that today. The film makes some good points once it's got going, but the setting up of the premise seems a little bonkers - and in the end Green writes a magazine article so powerful that it cures his mother of heart disease by making her "want to see how this new century pans out." If you ask me, I think it was the pain medication that made her feel that good - Schuyler Green doesn't strike me as that insightful or inspiring. He's the kind of guy that needs things explained 10 different ways until he gets it.

6/10

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Fast X (2023)

Nothing to see here.


Master Gardener (2022)

I was a killer once, now I'm a trashman.
I was a killer once, now I'm a cutter.
I was a killer once, now I'm a [just fill].
This one: I was a killer once, now I'm a gardener.


Ted K (2021)

Inserts the daily-life, how he couldn't escape the system.
People cannot escape this world, and that's a fact, you carry it to the place you escape to.
Interestingly, I started watching the film around the time the first news about Ted Kaczynki's death came out, spooky.


Creed III (2023)

Even Stallone didn't join the party.

Crown Vic (2019)

How it's like to be a cop on the graveyard shift.
No other film will show it, accuratibly, how it is, like this will.


Marty (1955)

They don't make them like this no more, pure story, pure heart.
Loneliness, the guys, the girls, the mothers, the grandmothers.

Latest watches:
Billy The Kid Versus Dracula 1966
Fires On The Plain 1959
Exit Wounds 2001
Punisher: War Zone 2008
Wake Of The Red Witch 1948
The Disappearance 1977 +
On The Road To Berlin 2015 +
Hannie Caulder 1971
At The Earth's Core 1976
End Of The World 2018 +
Quarries 2016 +
Victoria & Abdul 2017 +
The Sorcerers 1967 +
Feral 2017
Island Of Terror 1966 +
Westfront 1918 1930 +
Daddy's Home 2015
Knuckleball 2018
The Swordsman 2020 +
Lava Storm 2008
Swallow 2019

[rating]3.5[/Ratiing]

The Long Walk, 2019

An older man (Yannawoutthi Chanthalungsy) is followed by the silent ghost of a young woman (Noutnapha Soydara) who he found dying in his childhood. When the man is hired by a young woman to contact the spirit of her dead mother, we follow his interactions with her as well as seeing flashbacks to the man’s experiences as a child (Por Silatsa).

With plenty of atmosphere and an appealing, time-bending mystery, this supernatural thriller is well worth a watch.



Full review

The Vast of Night (2019)

This was my 2nd re-watch. I liked it even more than I did the first time, especially having learned of director Andrew Patterson's shoe string budget techniques, along with having heard him interviewed by the great Roger Deakins (available free online). My appreciation of the phenomenal portrayal of the main character, Fay, by Sierra McCormick, has also increased.

What has puzzled me for the past 4 years is why hasn't Patterson been snapped up by a studio or production company, after such a deeply impressive debut? Well, turns out he has been. The Rivals of Amziah King, a crime thriller written by Patterson, is in pre-production with Matthew McConaughey starring. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/mo...ng-1235482024/

Here is my commentary from a few years ago:

The Vast of Night (2019)

Caught this delightful picture last night, which had been bought by Amazon and put up on its site yesterday (5/29/20). It's a sci-fi mystery by new director Andrew Patterson, starring Sierra McCormick and Jake Horowitz. Producer, director, writers, and some of the actors are freshman in the industry. The excellent cinematography is by veteran M.I. Litten-Menz.

Everything clicked on this picture. It's set in the 1950s, framed as a story on a Twilight Zone copy, Paradox Theater. Slow to build, it carefully sets the background, then gradually quickens the pace to intense thriller levels as the story unfolds. They've adroitly captured the intense but innocent feel of the 1950s sci-fi monster flicks, such as The Blob, and others. The production design was impressive on what must have been a low budget.

The acting is first rate, especially from Miss McCormick and the old pro Gail Cronauer; but it is the fresh and exciting cinematography by Litten-Menz that provides such captivating and engaging photography. The 90 minute film goes by quickly, although it leads to a somewhat anticlimactic finish.

You can be sure that director Andrew Patterson will be offered lots of work for much bigger money as the result of this first time feature. Will look forward to any future productions he helms.

Doc's rating: 8/10

Approaching the Unknown (2016)

A scifi movie that seems made by people who dont make scifi. A hardcore fan of scifi would probably criticise this to no end and pick it apart. Difficult getting through this one but I got to the credits.

3/10

By Concept Arts - Impawards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13573433

Martian Child - (2007)

Those of us who were a little different as children often found ourselves bullied or ostracised, and as a result had to find various coping strategies to get by - David (John Cusack) in this Menno Meyjes-directed drama did, but fortunately his imagination resulted in his becoming a successful science-fiction writer. When David, a widow still mourning the loss of his wife, decides he wants to adopt, he happens upon Dennis (Bobby Coleman) - a kid who takes eccentricity to a whole other level. Dennis insists that he's from Mars, and has been sent to Earth to study humanity and this blue planet - and David feels it best to play along a little instead of forcing normality on him. Their unusual relationship takes many twists and turns as they both learn more about each other, with David pushing himself to the brink in his quest to love and parent a really difficult child. The film has it's good points and bad points, and often tries to introduce uncertainty as to whether there is something preternatural and unearthly about Dennis. When it focuses on the persistence of behavioral issues, and the long-term effects of childhood trauma - really getting into the grist of the human issues involved - we're on much more solid ground. John Cusack is good in this, and it's a decent movie - probably good family fare. Joan Cusack also features - and I'm not sure if John and Joan have acted together in many other things, but featuring as fictional brother and sister was neat.

6/10


By http://www.middlemiss.org/matilda/film-adaptations/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28492683

Cosi - (1996)

Cosi is an Australian film that gets by on it's performances - I don't think there's much original imagination spent on it's story, but the talent on display is impressive. Ben Mendelsohn, Toni Collette, Jacki Weaver, Rachel Griffiths, Barry Otto, David Wenham, Pamela Rabe, Colin Friels - they all show the boundless acting ability they have, and it's impressive, but I didn't walk away from the film thinking I'd seen something great. Director Lewis Riley (Mendelsohn), unemployed and desperate for work, takes on the job of heading a drama class at a mental asylum. Inmate Roy (Otto) insists on the Mozart opera Così fan tutte, and although it's obviously a bit of a reach, Lewis takes the challenge. The themes of the opera are also explored in the film's story itself. It's a pleasure watching all of these performers, and it's a bit of a shame that there wasn't as much talent behind the camera as there was in front. I liked the movie for the reasons stated though - it's a good representation of a certain generation of acting talent, with so many of these performers gathered in the one film.

6/10

La Terra Trema (1948) -

La Terra Trema is a sobering reminder about the inescapable nature of capitalism. Though you can hope to break free from the oppressive restraints of the system, you'll likely find something new to be worried about due to the lack of alternative options. Antonio and his family tried to find freedom but were punished for it. Visconti matches these themes very well with a highly oppressive atmosphere which hangs over the film. Virtually the entire film takes place inside the fishing village and there's hardly a scene where we get to venture outside of it. Of course, the outskirts of the village are referred to with the prison and bank scenes, but the camera stays locked in place. Even the fishing scenes themselves are often shown from the perspectives of the shorelines overlooking the ocean rather than the boats themselves (admittedly, I would've liked to see the storm sequence up close, but thematically speaking, I understand why it was shot the way it was). As a result, this rigid formalism frequently feels like it's suffocating the characters and infusing the village with a subtle undercurrent of claustrophobia. There's a certain kind of sadness which looms throughout the film, both thematically and stylistically, and we hardly get a break from it. In spite of these themes though, Visconti also observes the fishermen with a level of sensuality. This is far from his only film which does this as a handful of male actors Visconti worked with throughout his career, like Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, Farley Granger, and Jean Marais, were iconic for their looks. Antonio Arcidiacono is, of course, far less well-known than all of them, but the same could be said for him in this film. Piloting boats in the sun, hauling in loads of fish, returning to the shore covered in sweat - Visconti doesn't forget to find elegance in such an oppressive environment. The depiction of men doesn't boil down to them being sexualized though. Rather, you get the sense that he has an innate understanding of their physicality - as well as the emotional/situational characteristics thereof - which is able to move you in a certain way which most other director's aren't quite able to capture. In 1962, Sight & Sound ranked this as the 9th best film ever made, but from a modern standpoint, it's slowly becoming a forgotten classic. Here's hoping it someday sees a resurgance though as, while it isn't quite my faorite Visconti, I would definitely consider it as a close second pick.

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IMDb
Letterboxd

Bosch & Rockit (2022) in Australia
and Ocean Boy in the USA

Good mild father/son drama with a lot of great ocean and beach cinematography. Nothing below standard or under-quality about this movie. Not a lot of action, not a chick flick.

6/10