Rate The Last Movie You Saw

1st Rewatch...This slightly raunchy and over the top comedy stars Seth Rogen as a police academy reject who now works as a mall security guard who has become obsessed with capturing a flasher who has been trolling the mall parking lot, while trying to romance a self-absorbed cosmetics girl (Anna Faris) who doesn't know he's alive while ignoring a pretty barista (Collette Wolfe) who seems to be crazy about him. It's a little silly and doesn't really succeed in its attempt to titillate, but Rogen effectively fights the screenplay's mission to make his character look like a psycho. There are some fun supporting performances from Michael Pena as a fellow security guard, Aziz Ansari as Faris' BFF, and the late Ray Liotta as the police detective trying to take Rogen's case from him.

1st Rewatch...From the Judd Apatow rep comedy comes this sweet-natured rom-com about a composer named Peter Brenner (Jason Segel) who is living with the title character (Kristen Bell), the star of a top rated television show. Sarah dumps Peter when it's revealed that she's been having an affair with a self-absorbed rock star named Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) and to say that Peter takes the dumping badly is a masterpiece of understatement. Peter decides a vacation might help and flies to Hawaii and discovers that Sarah and Aldous are staying in the same hotel, but Peter does find some sympathy from the pretty front desk clerk (Mila Kunis). Segel also wrote the screenplay that dumps a lot on the character he plays and makes us wait a really long time for the happy ending, a staple of Segel's writing. Segel is charming in the starring role and though I've never been much of a Russell Brand fan,I have never enjoyed him onscreen as much as I did here. Also loved Bill Hader as Peter's stepbrother and Paul Rudd as a perpetually stoned surfer. Also loved Peter's Dracula variation on Avenue Q.

Sundays and Cybčle (1962)

__________________

[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

A movie that feels like a discarded SNL skit that has been expanded to over an hour and a half, Problemista is the feature acting/directing debut of Julio Torres, a former SNL writer from El Salvador. There is a hint of promise here, but one has to wonder if A24 has, at least this time, backed the wrong horse.

As Variety put it, not so delicately: an "overly kooky and all-too-quixotic debut — another attention-deficit comedy from the studio that made “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” except that Torres lacks the technical experience to pull off even a fraction of the ideas to which he aspires."

Don't get me wrong, with a little more experience behind the camera, Torres could yet become a fairly good indie writer-director, but that will definitely require for him to grow as both professionally a lot more than his character does in this movie.

Tilda Swinton is sadly wasted in her leading role here, playing perhaps the most insufferable and annoying character in her entire filmography; I think Swinton and Torres seem fairly likable as human beings and I definitely look forward to watching them in whatever they do next.

But this is a movie I definitely will not be revisiting.

SF = Z


[Snooze Factor Ratings]:
Z = didn't nod off at all
Zz = nearly nodded off but managed to stay alert
Zzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed
Zzzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed but nodded off again at the same point and therefore needed to go back a number of times before I got through it...
Zzzzz = nodded off and missed some or the rest of the film but was not interested enough to go back over it

Woman in the Dunes (1964)

By The poster art can or could be obtained from the distributor., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55168888

The Greatest Showman - (2017)

I finally got around to seeing this. What can I say? The first 30 seconds or so had me pumped, but it didn't waste too much time dampening that enthusiasm with bubblegum pop music and very broad characterizations of all the real-life characters who inhabit the film. The colours somehow pop out of the screen - there's great design, probably greatly enhanced with CGI, but beyond it's themes of empowerment and diversity I didn't get much from the historical narrative of P. T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman) and business partner Phillip Carlyle (Zac Efron). It doesn't help that I'm not a huge Hugh Jackman fan I guess, but there's definitely an element of the poison eating away at mainstream movies these days - the whole commercial package overwhelming all sense of complex storytelling, conflict and the essential qualities of each and every person we come across. I've heard of this film being compared to a Pepsi commercial - and it indeed does come off like that. People have worked hard to perfect it's technical qualities - but where are all the great storytellers and writers these days? To all producers out there : the audience isn't as dumb as you think, and people are becoming less eager to go to the movies because when they walk out they're feeling "eh" instead of "wow".

5/10


Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24750842

Once Upon a Time in China II - (1992)

It didn't take too long for another one of these to get made. This time the renowned Wong Fei-hung (Jet Li) isn't up against so many enemy organisations - firstly there's the White Lotus Sect, which is an interesting cult with it's leader professing to have god-like powers. They want to destroy any and all Western influence, and are willing to kill anyone wearing European attire or using technology. Secondly, Wong has to fight that damned militia again - this time to protect friend Lu Haodong (David Chiang) who, like Wong, is a real-life historical figure. Surprisingly, the Westerners (at least the British) are Wong's friend, and help to protect a group of children threatened by the White Lotus Sect by allowing them in the British consulate. The film has the same funny vibe as the first, but seems a little leaner and more focused directly on Wong Fei-hung. His battle against the entire White Lotus Sect is a real highlight, and it's backed up by a subsequent one against soldier Nap-lan Yun-seut (Donnie Yen) - destroying an entire warehouse in the process. Meticulously choreographed.

7/10


Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8847028

Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple - (2006)

Chilling documentary which gives insight into Jim Jones and his destructive madness using testimony from various survivors and people who knew him. Review here, on my watchlist thread.

8/10

__________________

This Is Where I Leave You (2014)

Currently watching the Christopher Reeve remake of Rear Window.

Obviously it's impossible for a TV-made remake of a Hitchcock masterpiece to be even on par with the original, but this movie is worth watching for Reeve's performance alone... but it's still actually not a half bad movie overall.

Apparently it was the first time Christopher Reeve was able to speak without use of a machine as well, and Reeve actually pushed hard to make sure he could speak during the movie.

RIP my Superman.

__________________

The Family Fang (2015)

Avengement (2019)

No laughing at the back. Watched this last night when ran out of options on Netflix. Meek, somewhat dim man get's "fitted up" and sent to jail where he goes through many harrowing experiences. The story is about his revenge told in cut scenes. The story is trite and the dialogue limps along but it's not a bad film (for its budget).

Christine (2016)

Rebecca Hall does a great job here of characterising Christine Chubbock (from friends reports). The local News Journalist that felt so professionally and emotionally stymied she topped herself live on TV. It's hard to know if this was pre-planned but carrying a gun onto a studio set and then acting your most human for ages to get the "lead" story suggests it was. Good film if rather a downer but the date touches are done well, music, clothes etc and it is a good insight into a very complex person.

3rd Rewatch...Bradley Cooper hit a bullseye with this third remake of the classic show biz/romance story. In addition to directing and co-writing the screenplay, Cooper plays Jackson Maine, an alcoholic rock star who meets a struggling singer/songwriter named Ally (Lady GaGa) falls in love with her, gives her a career a jump start, and then begins to derail both of their careers because he can't stop partying. Cooper puts his own stamp on this remake with some deft contemporary touches to make it appear fresh, but what I like the best about this movie is that it concentrates on the love story, not the show business stuff. The film was nominated for 8 Oscars, including Best Picture, winning the Oscar for Best Song, "Shallow". Cooper nails the whole burnt out rock star thing in one of his best performances and Lady GaGa's explosive film debut earned her a Best Actress nomination. Sam Elliott's performance as Jackson's brother/manager also earned him a Supporting Actor nomination. Also LOVED Andrew Dice Clay as Ally's father. Just about everything works here.

1st Rewatch....Julianne Moore finally won the Oscar she had been chasing for 20 years with her gut-wrenching performance in this heartbreaker. Moore pays Dr. Alice Howland, a brilliant linguistics professor who, at the age of 50, is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers. Angry with a diagnosis that she saw coming, Alice decides to get ahead of the disease by documenting everything that is happening to her, including leaving herself instructions on what to do when she thinks she is totally incapacitated. It's not just watching Alice deal with this disease, but watching how it drives her husband (Alec Baldwin) away but begins to heal her estranged relationship with her youngest daughter (Kristen Stewart). But what I really love about this movie is the care and attention Moore put into the little moments like when she's making that speech and drops her papers or when she goes in the house to go to the bathroom and can't remember where it is. This one really sticks with the viewer and though I think Moore has done better work, the Academy got this one right.

2nd Rewatch...David Spade plays a former child actor who was the star of a sitcom called The Glimmer Gang when he was five years old, but hasn't worked since the show was cancelled. He now has a shot at a role in Rob Reiner's latest movie if he can learn how to live the childhood that he missed so he gives a family $30,000 if they will let him move into their house and treat him as one of their children. The first 15 minutes of this movie are really funny and so are the last 15 minutes, but everything in between is really stupid. Spade works very hard doing a lot of Jerry Lewis-calibre physical comedy but to no avail. What happens at the closing credits is the best thing in the movie.

I agree this was an astonishing effort by Cooper, his acting was uncompromising too and I'm not ashamed to say it moved me even though it's a very "un-me" type of film. Fantastic.

"Not at all keen on seeing homosexuals having sex." Probably a "think it rather than broadcast it" type of deal there.

For some reason, this came immediately to mind:

Bottoms (2023)

Unhinged.

Dune: Part Two (2024)

Epic.

Ricky Stanicky (2024)

Shallow Grave (1994)