Rate The Last Movie You Saw

God's Own Country (2017)

Moving film that depicts the love blossoming between a gruff, destructive Landowners son and the Romanian farmhand taken on for lambing season.

Superb performances and wonderful shooting in a story that really involves. A gem.

When I have to focus on work so the world building and atmosphere definitely take a backseat. So I probably miss out on all the tension. And I am not watching these at night alone. At least I need to get a few cats in the house, so that I can watch horror movies past the evening! Without the lockdown probably would have never watched these horror films!

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My Favorite Films

The Thing (1982) - 6.8/10. This was a good watch. The suspense about who is what was nicely done. And the practical effects for the time were awesome. The frozen landscape, the creature, everything was good.

I love Jena Malone and Sam Claflin in this. The game itself had some intense awesome moments, but overall it wasn't a great movie. It was entertaining, and I don't mind it. I saw it in theaters and this was my second time watching it. The whole Hunger Games series had a solid impact the first watch, but a lot of the anticipation and thrill was lost the second time around. Not knowing what would happen, who would live and die, was a big part of the fear of the danger of the deadly survival games. There's a little too much plot armor surrounding the main characters though.

Next up: SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING, ANT-MAN AND THE WASP, DOCTOR STRANGE, THOR RAGNAROK, and AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

No spoilers please!!

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“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!” ~ Rocky Balboa

The Dark Crystal (1982)

As it's leaving the local Netflix tomorrow and I still haven't watched the new series, I decided to refresh my memory on this (I saw it last time as a kid). I ended up liking it considerably more this time. It's little cheesy at times but for the most part, it's a children's fantasy film done right. The puppetry is excellent and the world reminds me of Miyazaki's works.

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Personally I don't consider it a children's movie. It gave me nightmares as a child. The portrayal of evil is so powerful and so demonic that it is truly terrifying. I also think the writing is better than anything Miyazaki has ever worked on. Miyazaki's worldview is too muddled, and he can't accurately convey morality. The Dark Crystal is so powerful morally, giving such a clear and precise picture of pure good and pure evil. The way the power of deception and the power of love are so compelling and so well pitted against each other. I also don't find The Dark Crystal to be cheesy at all, but I can understand why it could come across that way. I guess it's just the use of puppets though. They have a bit of quirky unnatural movement at times, but I think it's charming, not cheesy. The Never Ending Story on the other hand... Anyway, I do consider The Dark Crystal to be a classic in the truest sense, and a masterpiece of cinema. If you watch the series do let us know if it's good or not. I don't want to watch the series unless I hear it's actually a worthy successor. I hate when they cash out on the success of a great movie by putting out a mediocre sequel.

Edit: I also think visually it was ten to fifteen years ahead of it's time. It does not look like a movie made in the 80's, and even surpasses most 90's movies.

Shallow Grave (1994)

SWALLOW
STARTED OFF NICELY HOWEVER went into boring and uneventful territory made it a waste of 90 mins...wasted talent here for hayley..

Oh, and one other thing I wanted to point out about Hunger Games Catching Fire is that in one scene Jennifer Lawrence uses all her arrows shooting monkeys and comes out of the forest with literally a completely empty quiver. Then in the next scene she just magically has more arrows. I noticed that the first time I watched it and it bothered me a lot. This time it didn't really bother me, but I still found it funny that they messed that up. One thing I really did like though, was how confident the experienced survivors were going into the game. It felt authentic, because though they were confident there was still a sense of fear and danger. And more than that, they saw the system for what it really was, and were not sucked into just playing the game. I liked the intelligence of the characters. Perhaps the villains and the portrayal of the hedonistic society were a bit weak. It would have been nice if they were stronger and criticised more effectively. I guess that would be asking for too much though, from a Hollywood blockbuster. When it comes to "entertainment" I don't think it's fair to set expectations very high. I think that's why movies like Bladerunner and Leon the Professional are so good. We so rarely get to have "entertainment" that is also artistically and technically masterful.

Bad Education (2020) - 6.8/10. Excellent movie. A great cast, a good story, told in a nice way. The classical music background score was lovely too. Can't believe this actually happened. Kudos to the kid who got the news out. The final numbers are eye-watering! For a TV movie, at least it was good to see the actors not phoning it in. Recommended watch! A it was good to hear Dido almost after a decade! A perfect choice for the movie.

I watched these back to back like one long movie. It was my second time watching them. I saw them in theaters originally. They weren't as exciting as the first two. I think the biggest thrill from the first two movies came from them ascending from their platforms and the game commencing. The tension right before and right as the games were starting was incredible. These lacked that, and settled for a sort of miniature game in the form of an Indiana Jones trap. They could have been so much better, but it was still a fairly enjoyable experience. There were moments of exhilarating emotion, and there were moments of cliche plot devices that made me cringe a little. Some of the melodrama felt forced, but some of the acting was impressive. So they're a bit of mixed bag. I still found them much more enjoyable than most Hollywood movies. It always makes me laugh when I don't like some particular Hollywood movies, like Avengers or Mad Max: Fury Road, and people respond to me as if they know me and think that I can't enjoy any Hollywood blockbusters. This is proof that they're wrong about me. I can enjoy superficial entertainment as long as it has some substance.

Breaking the Waves (1996)

Hud (1963)

"Nobody gets out of life alive."

Really good film. Western meets 60s 'angry young man' drama. Morality, mortality, family. The scene with the cattle being shot was horribly memorable. Great performances too.

+

American History X - 84/100


It was recommended to me by my dad so we could discuss the racial themes, but it's really no more complex than "obsessing over race will get you nowhere". It's more about the drama than the social commentary, and it's great. Every actor killed it.

Somos lo que hay (2010)
aka We Are What We Are

A Mexican cannibal film (sort of) that follows a family after the death of husband/father. Especially the latter half has a nice, almost surreal atmosphere but the sad fact is that the film never makes any sense. All members of the family seem genuinely retarded and everyone keeps yapping about "the ritual", but nothing is ever explained. Despite the stupidity and being quite boring, I still can't say I hated it.

Yeah, American remake of that is watchable but ain't up to too much either.

Um... context?