Rate The Last Movie You Saw

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The Rick and Morty episode Morty's Mind Blowers. Full of intertextual goodness. I was laughing my head off at this line:

WARNING: spoilers below
"Moon or not, that dude likes 'em young"

8/10



avengers: infinity war - 2018



avengers: endgame - 2019



overall i find it difficult to like this kind of movies.
on the other hand the dark knight is one of my favorites movies of all time,
maybe because of legendary heath ledger, and the director focus on a possible reality.

when i saw the first movie i thought: oh my god, this is terrifying.
than i saw the second one and i got a little better.

what terrifies me is how they made me empathize with the villain, with his ideas.
and if they made me, they probably made to the possibly billions of peoples that saw both movies.
a villain that is noble in a way, wants to do what he sees is important for everyone,
getting rid of the hunger and difficulty in the universe, prosperity for everyone after,
his not trying to piss the audience, he makes it all sound like a business, not personal,
he isn't a dictator, a authoritarian leader, he doesn't want to rule everyone and submit to his will,
he knows his end goal destroys him, "took everything from me" and saves the universe in a long run
all the other characters, obviously, can't even consider this perspective, his idea, but the audience did.

i saw a joe rogan podcast with ed calderon, a specialist in the mexican cartels, a survivor,
he said, sicario movie is not real in terms of action, in terms of politics was something not yet real,
he said, movies sometimes are for "feeling the ground" and give society, communities a heads up,
well, this audience was massive, and i might be just overthinking the situation, or not.
a tiny reserved number of individuals have enough weapons capabilities to destroy everyone,
and that's the only reason this system we have holds. they know, we know they do what they want.



You mean me? Kei's cousin?

My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

So I just got back from seeing this theatrically as part of GhibliFest 2019 and what an experience. It was great hearing the kids (of whom there surprisingly weren't very many) in the auditorium react to seeing and falling in love with it for the first time. Also, in the almost 21 years I've been alive, this is only the third time Dad and I have gone to see a movie, just the two of us so that was a plus, too. We went in and had a blast, enjoying the movie and munching on popcorn until we made ourselves sick. I did notice a couple of odd things with this screening, which I noticed immediately from having watched the film on Blu-ray several times. One is that the film's 1.85:1 aspect ratio was cropped to 2.00. The second is that this was a subbed print, complete with subtitles to translate the Japanese dialogue and credits, which ended up getting cut off because of the strange decision to crop it, with the dub merely laid on top of it. Don't ask me why, but that was how this screening was. It wouldn't surprise me if it was just GKIDS being lazy, considering they couldn't be bothered to give my AMC the dubbed print of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind back in May, which understandably ticked me off to no end since Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is my favorite Miyazaki film and I'd been looking forward to seeing it theatrically for a while. Aside from that, though, everything was fine. Same great transfer from the Blu-ray, both video and audio, same great dub, same great movie. It's not up there with Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky, and Spirited Away but it's still a great one, unsurprising since he's never made a bad film. Some claim everyone who's directed more than once has made at least one piece of crap - not so with Hayao Miyazaki, though I'll admit I'm biased since he's one of my favorite directors. Sure, Satsuki and Mei don't face the seemingly insurmountable odds Nausicaä, Pazu and Sheeta in Castle in the Sky, or Chihiro Ogino in Spirited Away face or go on this huge adventure like they do, but My Neighbor Totoro isn't that kind of film. Even then, Miyazaki still gives it everything he's got. The animation is stunning, a given with Miyazaki. Joe Hisaishi gives another fine musical score; just a side note, I can't help hearing shades of Discouraged Pazu from Castle in the Sky in the latter half when Satsuki is looking for Mei. Also, I think it's pretty cool that the soot sprites in this film are the same soot balls later seen carrying coal in Yubaba's bathhouse. It's a film about family and the ties that bind, a simple and somewhat quiet film that suggests life is an adventure in and of itself. I can find things here to relate to also, even having been born some four decades after its setting and a decade after its release. My very first memory is of moving when I was three years old, just a little younger than Mei so I always remember that when I watch the opening minutes of this movie. I'm reminded of how much energy I had when I was much younger and the playfulness and imagination that only childhood has. I can also relate to how Satsuki and Mei worry for their mother in the latter half. I remember something that happened when I was seven years old. I remember how Mom collapsed in the shower that night and I remember being scared half to death at the sight of blood flowing out from under the bathroom door, how Dad rushed her to the hospital, and I'll never forget worrying over the next few days about what would happen to her when she'd had to go into surgery. Even so, Miyazaki chooses not to take it down a dark and depressing road and sticks with optimism through to the final frame. You can tell just as much love and care went into making it as those three films I've mentioned. All in all, even if not one of Miyazaki's very best, My Neighbor Totoro is a sweet, charming, and uplifting little film that I think someone would have to be very coldhearted to dislike. Disney's dub is still a great one, too. Yes, I know, there are some so in love with the old Streamline dub that they want to put Disney's in the ground, but I can't imagine it being any better than this one, from the voice acting itself to Sonya Isaacs's takes on Hey, Let's Go and Totoro. I actually read once where someone claimed Isaacs's version of Hey, Let's Go "[felt] like being kicked out into oncoming traffic" as opposed to the version from the Streamline dub, but I disagree. As many have pointed out, it was meant to be a happy song, which Isaacs handles with aplomb, and for my money, she's not very far removed from how Azumi Inoue sings the song in Japanese in terms of tone. The version in the Streamline dub just doesn't have as much enthusiasm behind it. So moving on to the actual voice acting. Dakota and Elle Fanning, 11 and seven at the time, are, for all intents and purposes, excellent as Satsuki and Mei Kusakabe. How they actually voice the characters is just perfect and because they are actually sisters, they're able to use that and inform their characters with a good deal of depth and how they play off of each other really works very well, and for my money, Disney couldn't have cast anyone better for the job. Tim Daly (who many will remember as the voice of Superman in the '90s cartoon) and Lea Salonga are also rock-solid as Tatsuo and Yasuko, the girls' parents, limited as their time onscreen may be. Pat Carroll is also a perfect match for Granny. Everyone else is also great in their respective roles and as you'd expect from Cindy Davis Hewitt and Donald H. Hewitt who wrote the dubs for Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Spirited Away, and Howl's Moving Castle, the dub script is completely natural. So, yeah, My Neighbor Totoro is still great, I really enjoyed seeing it in the theater and later, guys.



Light of my life (2019)

Liked this alot. Acting was better than the story (which was OK). Casey is going to be a good director.



Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)

This was a touching movie with good pace, but it didn't quite live up to what I was hoping. Acting was good on all fronts, but the themes weren't explored as much as I'd hoped they would be. I'd still recommend it.




The Lost City of Z 2016 Directed by James Gray

Slow paced and dramatic film about human nature, adventurism and exploration.
Visually a beautiful mixture of Around the World in 80 days, Acquire the Wrath of God, Paths of Glory and Apocalypse Now. Starring Sons of Anarchy’s Jax Teller, our friendly neighborhood Spider-man, Robert Pattinson, and the very beautiful Sienna Miller.
-
76/100

Aladdin 2019




Greed (Erich von Stroheim, 1924)
+
Never before were the words "he", "fingers" and "wife" less romantic in a scene of a screenplay



Weekend re-watches:



It's no coincidence that this was the first musical to win the Best Picture Oscar since 1969...everything works in this dark and dazzling film version of the 1975 Broadway musical.
Catherine Zeta-Jones' Oscar-winning Velma Kelly is mesmerizing and John C. Reilly steals every scene he's in as Amos Hart, but the real success of this film goes to Rob Marshall, whose focused direction and brilliant choreography make this film sparkle.





1st Re-watch...I don't know why this movie doesn't get the love it deserves because I find this film to be riveting entertainment. Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) guides Jake Gyllenhaal through one of his best performances as a boxing champion whose life and career methodically fall apart after a personal tragedy. Gyllenhaal is ferocious and sensitive...watch him in that first courtroom scene where he loses custody of daughter...absolutely heartbreaking...speaking of which, a special shout out to Oona Lawrence in a star-making performance as Gyllenhall's daughter.





Quite simply, the best action comedy ever made...Eddie still makes me laugh out loud every time I watch this and everyone always talks about what a scene stealer Bronson Pinchot is as Serge, but for my money, the real scene stealing performance in this movie comes from Judge Reinhold as Billy Rosewood...one of cinema's most underrated performances...there's some real acting going on there.



Shadows: An Optical Illusion (TV, 1975) – 7/10

Again, similar themes to the last four episodes in the series and I'm interested to see when there'll be a definite break from these. That being said, this is the first episode that actually had a scary moment, and I thought the episode was very well directed too.



Bully (2001)

Good piece by Clark and intense performances by all the cast. The juxtaposition of the entitlement of the youths and carnality is portrayed with a fine balance. The viewer is annoyed by them but can also identify.





Excellent movie. Did not like the original at all, but Julianne Moore made this version so special.



Re-watch. Brave rôle for Anne Reid. Very good movie.



Excellent movie. And the polar bear is real!
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Re-watch. Brave rôle for Anne Reid. Very good movie.
It's really good isn't it? Another reason it stands out to me in retrospect is that it was the first time I'd seen Daniel Craig using his own voice, and I was also thinking: he could play Bond. Sure enough, they approached him – the only time I've predicted a casting decision correctly .





Excellent movie. Did not like the original at all, but Julianne Moore made this version so special.



Re-watch. Brave rôle for Anne Reid. Very good movie.



Excellent movie. And the polar bear is real!
I bloody love Julianne Moore.



It's really good isn't it? Another reason it stands out to me in retrospect is that it was the first time I'd seen Daniel Craig using his own voice, and I was also thinking: he could play Bond. Sure enough, they approached him – the only time I've predicted a casting decision correctly .
Right. He was very charismatic in this rôle.