Superb Scenes With Seanc

Director: Martin Scorsese

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie

Scorsese has created the film with the most debauchery in it that I have ever liked and possibly even love. A solid seventy percent of this film is nothing but men living in filth. It becomes too much and is overwhelming but if that is not the point than I don't know what the point is. It is certainly the feeling I came away with and the reason I think this movie is really good. That does not mean however that it is not relentless. Which has had me contemplating two issues. How re-watchable is this film? Where would I trim the fat? The first question matters to nobody but me. The second is more important in my opinion because there were moments in this movie when I was irritated and a couple when I was rolling my eyes. My most irritating scene involves Quaaludes and a Lamborghini. I have heard many pointing to this as one of the highlights,. I will give DiCaprio credit for the physicality of the scene. Beyond that though I found the scene immensely irritating mostly because it felt so implausible. My biggest eye roll involved the main players and discussion surrounding midgets. These were not the only two instances in the film but for me were the most egregious and took me out of the film the most.


On to the good of which there is an immense amount. Everyone in this movie is great, even the unknowns of which there are a few. DiCaprio shines brighter than the rest though. Maybe because he is given the helm but quite possibly because he is one of the best actors working today. He is non stop energy and mouth as the Wolf, and that is fun to watch. There are a slew of scenes that are standouts but one in particular would be my choice for the best scene I have watched in any movie this year. It involves Kyle Chandler, DiCaprio, and a yacht. At first you are not one hundred percent sure where the scene is going or how it will play out for the characters. It is masterfully constructed and as the tension in the scene builds I felt myself both shifting and smiling at the same time. Fantastic stuff and there are plenty more of that. McConaughey is great in the couple of scenes we get to spend with him. Hill also stands out as the best friend and business partner.


The Wolf Of Wall Street is very memorable film about the dangers of excess and the "American Dream". In fact it is a very good movie about those things but falls just short of being great. In fact I feel I watched a superior movie about those things by David O'Russell just a couple of weeks ago. Many have been comparing American Hustle to a Scorsese film. In my opinion O'Russell out-scorsesed Scorsese this year, even if it was just by a little bit.

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Letterboxd

Glad you liked it! As for rewatch ability, I have seen it twice in the theater and I walked away with the same felling every time and I laughed at the same points! Great flick!

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Fear and Loathing in MoFo... The Gunslinger 45's Top 50 Favorite Films

In the 10 Ring: Gunslinger45's reviews

I hope you weren't referring to Margot Robbie when you said the "unknowns" as she's the main reason I'll see it.

Only kidding. Anyone's who's not a Neighbours fan probably has no idea of who she is unless they watched, the short lived, Pan-Am. Which I also mainly watched for her.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

She was an unknown to me. But know she is someone I am watching with intent. Girl did a hell of a job acting in that movie!

Robbie is very good in this movie and she is matched up against some heavyweights. Also she is decent looking.

Cast: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage

Oh Smaug, you are so powerful. You were well worth the wait but why in the world did it take us so long to get to you. I felt like the last Jackson apologist left in the movie world. I have loved the way he has built Middle Earth, so my vote was to let him keep playing until he doesn't want to anymore. I am finally beginning to see what all the complaining is about however. I still did enjoy myself for most of this movie. Smaug and Bilbo together was especially great together. In fact I knew I loved Freeman's Bilbo in the first film but after this one I think he may be the glue keeping me attached to the franchise.


Holy cow did I feel the length of this film. Most of the characters just don't click this time around so I didn't enjoy my time with them. The elves could not have been more useless. A new character named Bard is introduced and is intriguing, but the time spent with him is wasted. I still am not sure of his motivation and whether I am supposed to be rooting for him or not. I am sure of what his role in the next movie will be however. That is bad character development and a waste of what could have been a cool addition to the universe. To be honest I think I am even growing weary of Gandalf's shtick. The guy knows absolutely everything except for when he will be in imminent danger. I have bought it in the past but it was a bridge to far in this one.


My biggest surprise watching this film is that even the effects left much to be desired at times. Many will probably disagree but I never remember feeling the CGI in the previous films. Or at least they never made me think about them while I was watching. There were three or four instances when it was very noticeable this time around. One extended sequence in particular was difficult for me to watch because of it. There are still plenty of visuals to love. As much as I disliked the characters, the Elvin kingdom is beautiful to look at. The Lake-town of Esgaroth is also stunning. Smaug himself is incredibly well conceived, his scenes being by far the best in the film for me.


At the end of the day I still love this world and will happily take the last ride with Jackson. This time around I loved Bilbo and Smaug. I was simply feeling the length. Still a three star movie for me but that is a long way from the five stars that I was giving to the original trilogy.

Cast: Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr.

I have been dying to see this movie since all the critical hype started a few months ago. I love an engaging and effecting drama, Short Term 12 had all the makings of one. The film had it's moments and is not a bad watch. At the end of the day I was not willing to take some of the journeys that the protagonist takes. The central relationship is solid. The two characters feel right together, they are well acted, and the conflict in their relationship is the most engaging aspect of the film. When they are together I truly cared what was happening and was invested in where the story was going.


The second most important relationship in the film is where most of my issues lie. The main character befriends a new young girl that has come to the group home. She fears she is being abused and sees so much of herself in the girl that she begins to regress into her former self. Some of the actions that result from this regression were just a bridge too far for me. Her behavior simply does not seem organic to the character's arc in light of the strong, no nonsense, women that is set up at the start of the film. A lot of what transpires with these two characters seems to just be there to fabricate stakes. The relationship is not useless, it would have just been better served if it would have been more subtle in my opinion. There are quite a few characters who are given lesser time who I would have liked to get to know better. Some of the more emotional scenes would have had more impact if we would have gotten to know them better.


Short Term 12 is not a bad film. It is a film that does not live up to its potential. It has interesting characters and capable actors. For me that was enough to make it average, but not to elevate it.

Director: Joel and Ethan Coen

Cast: Osacr Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman

"If it was never new and never gets old, it's folk music."

I loved my time spent with Llewyn Davis. Which is no surprise considering the directors. Time and again great directors prove to me that it is not the complexity of the narrative that makes a film great. It is the characters that you fill your narrative with. Llewyn Davis is going to go down as one of my most memorable Coen brothers characters, and that is saying something because there have been tons.


There is not a lot to say in a review of Inside Llewyn Davis. Llewyn is a homeless folk singer who is lost and wandering, wondering not only if he will ever make it big but where he is going to sleep from night to night. He has people in his life who care for him. Llewyn seems to burn those bridges as often as he utilizes them however. Everything in Llewyn's life is a mess, except for his music which it must be said is great. You either enjoy going on the journey with our protagonist or you don't. If you do you will enjoy this film as much as you will enjoy any film this year, which I did. If you don't then you are in for a long couple hours.


If I have a complaint about Inside Llewyn Davis it would be that I would have made a longer film and fleshed out the peripheral characters more. There are many of them and they are all great. There is a key one who we don't even get to meet that I would have really liked to get to know. It would have made this a much different movie however and I need to trust that the Coen brothers have a better handle on storytelling than I do.


As it is there is a lot of mystery to the film that not only makes it interesting in the moment but will keep you thinking about it long after it is over. Inside Llewyn Davis is already one of my top five Coen brothers films and is sure to grow upon further viewings. It is the type of film that is going to be fun to talk about and recommend to others. Definitely one my favorite films of the year.

Director: Spike Jonze

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams

I was so sure Her was going to be one of my few favorite films of the year. I love Adaptation and Malkovich. Phoenix never disappoints me outside of the idiotic I'm Still Here. The subject matter is relevant and intriguing. I did enjoy Her but something kept me from engaging fully and falling in love. After thinking about it for a few days I think my main issue is that the central relationship is so far removed from my reality that I could not engage fully. The relationship is well written and well acted but I never once felt invested in where it was going.


I was drawn to this film in many ways. The world that Jonze created feels other worldly while at the same time feeling like a natural progression of where we are headed in our culture. The aesthetic is great. Jonze use of color and style is great. Much has been made of clothing but I feel it gave Her a more realistic feel of the future. Clothing trends run in cycles which I think is what Jonze was going for as opposed to trying to create a completely unique style which usually comes off as cartoonish in other futuristic films. The writing is really good and I don't think what kept me from engaging at all. I thought Adams and Phoenix were great together. It would have been nice to see a little more of them together even if I am glad that they didn't go with a romantic angle here.


If there had been more characters who had reacted the way Mara's character did to the relationship I may have been more on board with Her. As it is we get a lot of people thinking there is nothing noteworthy going on. Even worse acting shocked when it turns out that computers are not looking for the same things in relationships that we are. It was a little too much for me to heap the accolades upon it that other have. It is a good movie however, and well worth a watch.

It sounds like another viewing will tell you a lot more about how you feel about the film, Sean.

I hope I get more out of a second viewing. It would not be the first time.

Have you seen it yet?

No, I've not seen it. I'm not particularly interested, tbh, not that I think I'll dislike it or anything. It just doesn't excite me. I'm most interested in how much alike it is/isn't to the Black Mirror episode, Be Right Back.

Ill have to check and see if that one is on the DVR. We are just getting that show over here.

Do. I'm not a big fan of it, but I am a fan of Charlie Brooker. I quite like it and the premise of each episode is usually quite interesting. Did you see Dead Set? It's the same writer as that.

So far I have only watched one. Don't know the name. Everyone's life is recorded through implant and can be rewound, watched, and deleted at will. I quite enjoyed it. Just have not been in a hurry to watch all of them since they stand alone. I am going to see if I have access to Be Right Back.

That TV series looks interesting. I added it to my watchlist. Thanks for mentioning it!

And Seanc: Great reviews as always.

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Cobpyth's Movie Log ~ 2019

Interesting episode, I can see why you would be wondering how similar they are. I suppose the arc of the theme could be considered pretty similar but after that they feel much different. Be Right Back had a much creepier feel than Her. It is also more of a tragedy I think. Her feels more like an organic relationship, which seems weird to say, but I think if you watched it you would understand. The writing in Her also blows this episode away which is to be expected but still makes a difference when you are comparing them. Be Right Back probably made me appreciate Her a bit more.

Thanks for that.

I didn't know how similar they were, obviously given how dark Be Right Back is I wasn't thinking they'd be too close, but I was interested to see how they compared. I'm pleased (and find it interesting) to hear that watching it helped you appreciate Her more, too. You may not want to answer here in this thread, but how so?

Made me appreciate the world Jonze created a lot more, it felt so organic. That is mainly what I think people are responding to so strongly. This is a hard subject to make feel real, and Her does. I realized how good the script and performances in Her were, but watching Be Right Back with an eye towards comparing the two really made it stick out. Also while Her felt dour. It did so in the way that real life and relationships do, while Be Right Back simply felt tragic.