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Egbert Souse posted:The Long Day Closes is one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen. It's just a series of "memories" but it's almost like some sort of daydream. I'm eager to see more of Davies' filmography, especially Distant Voices, Still Lives.
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Apr 29, 2019 14:19
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Finally got around to watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and beyond Zemeckis finally getting his "fridge nuke" scene from BTTF, it just felt so cartoony as to be ridiculous. Like, I know Indy has always played fast and loose with physics, but this was so far beyond that it no longer resembled observable reality. Felt like a self-indulgent fan film more than a theatrical studio release.
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Apr 29, 2019 15:29
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The Ladykillers (2004): 7/10 The Ladykillers (1955): 6/10 Behind the Curve (2018): 8/10 Two Idiots In Hollywood (1988): 5/10: Stephen Tobolowsky's lone directorial credit Iron Man (2008): 4/10 Us (2019): 8/10
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Apr 29, 2019 15:40
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Where'd you find the Tobolowsky joint?
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Apr 29, 2019 16:06
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HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:Where'd you find the Tobolowsky joint? I don't think it reached any real distribution so owning it is probably out of the question. turns out someone uploaded it to YouTube though https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIryzlSdBUo
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Apr 29, 2019 16:10
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Every time I ask that question I know the answer in my heart.
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Apr 29, 2019 16:11
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piratepilates posted:The Ladykillers (2004): 7/10 I think you might be the first person I've met who prefers The Ladykillers remake to the original.
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Apr 29, 2019 18:50
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Samuel Clemens posted:I think you might be the first person I've met who prefers The Ladykillers remake to the original. to be fair I did watch them both in the same night, and 1955 right after 2004. it was getting quite late so I was quite exhausted going in to it. that said, I did feel like 2004 was the better movie. I feel like going from 2004 -> 1955 you get to see how much more varied the characters in 04 are, and despite all of them feeling a bit off and a little bizarre -- and at times like simple caricatures -- I feel like they had more personality than their 55 counterparts. overall I felt like 04 was more entertaining and left me with more to think over than 55 did. 04 feels like someone took. as much as I think 2004 had its issues, I'm struggling to come up anything I found particularly interesting about 1955. I wouldn't say 1955 was a bad movie by any means, but I don't think I could grow to love it. piratepilates fucked around with this message at 01:54 on Apr 30, 2019 |
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Apr 30, 2019 01:51
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Hereditary 8/10 A very good in an unsettling kind of way. It was predicttable, but the acting is fantastic.
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May 5, 2019 23:48
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Hey all the Rocky movies are on Prime Creed A- Son of Apollo wants to be champ, so seeks out Rocky to train him. Adonis Creed is rich and smart and has no financial need to box. He's had everything in life handed to him and feels he needs to prove himself as his own man. He gets mad at being called 'Baby Creed' and goes by "Donnie" instead of "Adonis". I really liked the relationship between him and Rocky and that Rocky is very much a supporting character, not the star. The film is realistic and down to earth. Donnie's main opponent is a working class scouser awaiting a prison sentence for crimes unspecified. It's very unlike the larger than life cartoonish opponents Rocky sometimes fought. The only thing I wasn't keen on was the superfluousness of the girlfriend character. Enjoyed this one a lot so decided to check out some older outings. I rewatched the original not that long ago and it's wholly deserving of its classic status, but I never saw any sequels except 4, and that one only as a young child. Rocky II B- After Rocky went the distance in the first movie, Apollo feels his victory was hollow and demands a rematch. Rocky has an eye injury so this is a bad idea, but he's also really bad with money and Apollo was rude to him so he accepts in the end. They show pretty much the whole fight from the original as the opening scene, which felt lazy. The fights in the old movies are really unrealistic, just constant face punches and no attempt at defence. Rocky's such a likeable doofus I can't help but root for him and the cheesy training montage with children running after him brought a smile to my face. Rocky III B+ ROCKY FIGHTS HULK HOGAN AND MR T  It's sillier than the second film but the human drama is taken seriously enough. It's full of fun moments like the montage with Clubber Lang training while Rocky's selling out and appearing on the Muppet Show. Apollo becomes best friends with Rocky and they share a romantic frolic in the ocean, it was beautiful. Next up: Rocky vs Communism bitterandtwisted fucked around with this message at 10:43 on May 6, 2019 |
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May 6, 2019 10:36
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I really wish Creed II grabbed and entertained me the way Creed did, I’m not sure why it felt it slid so hard in terms of enjoyment. My favorite scene was where Creed watches the movie Rocky IV on his iPad.
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May 6, 2019 13:24
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Rocky IV C Man I must have really young when I watched this last because I have no memory of Paulie getting a talking robot. This is the stupidest in the franchise so far. Paulie's sexbot aside, the first act with Apollo is really pretty good and Dolf Lundgren is a great, imposing presence. After that it goes downhill and we get what feels like half an hour of montages including one that's just a bunch of unconnected scenes from previous movies. That time in the second movie where Rocky bought a jacket with a tiger on it? Sure throw that in the mix, we need to get this thing up to 90 minutes. The ending redeems the movie by the sheer power of it's kitschness. Rocky defeats Drago, the Russian crowd love America, Rocky gives a little speech and the Cold War is won, beer and bald eagles for everyone.
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May 6, 2019 16:28
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Rocky V C- An unseen accountant loses all of Rocky's money so he returns to his old neighbourhood and trains up a new protege. Tommy's not that interesting as an antagonist. There's a mawkish flashback scene with Burgess Meredith. The relationship between Rocky and his son is... fine as a subplot I guess. Adrien exists. The climactic street brawl was pretty good. It's not terrible, but I just finished watching it and already it's slipping from my mind.
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May 6, 2019 19:19
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EL BROMANCE posted:I really wish Creed II grabbed and entertained me the way Creed did, I’m not sure why it felt it slid so hard in terms of enjoyment. Ryan Coogler directed Black Panther instead of Creed 2. Like, yeah, that worked out pretty well for him, but for my personal tastes I'd 100% have wanted him to do another Creed instead.
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May 7, 2019 03:03
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Caught up these last few weeks... Endgame: Meh. Looper: In keeping with the time travel theme finally gave this one a shot. Pretty let down honestly, I remember hearing nothing but good things but it's hard to overcome the weird bruce willis makeup on JGL and the plot is just..not good. Feels like the concept could have been done better with a better script or something..not sure why this got love..it's a solid C movie at best. Predestination: Probably the lowest budget of the time travel flicks I watched but was the most clever by far. Sure it sort of falls apart if you really think about it too much, but it still has an interesting hook and ethan hawke nails it. It's got rough edges but it reminds me of Dark City in that janky gem sense..you can tell they did the most with what they had and you tend to ignore the messy outlines. Happy Death Day 2 U: Related to the loop theme, and I didn't think the first movie was that bad even if it falls apart on the killer reveal...this was not a great sequel though, they try and get into a whole sci fi thing and it's just a mess of a movie. It underperforming in the theater means we most likely won't see a third Death Day, and I'm totally OK with that. Shazam: Ya know what, I liked it. Yeah it was a bit cringey at times but it had charm. It also gets weirdly hosed up at times for what should be a kid movie, but my screening had 0 kids anyway so I couldn't see how traumatizing it was firsthand. Someone on the internet likened it to gremlins.."family friendly" with a dash of scarring your kids. This movie is literally all Zach Levi..I don't know if I'm in for more of these though..it was a cute power fantasy comedy much like homecoming was for spiderman/marvel but I got the point..would most likely skip Shazam 2-infinity but I'm happy it did well for DC..it's the opposite of the rest of their meh grimdark movies. Us: Peele is getting better with each movie as a director. He still ends up feeling the need to explain whatever the object of suspense is in his movies though which sucks most of the atmosphere out of them for no discernable reason. I liked the concept better then get out's until it's explained to me by a character in the movie (in a classroom no less, how's that for subtle)...I'll still go see whatever his next movie is but hopefully he learns to trust ambiguity because heredity kicked the poo poo out of both get out and us if we're being honest and I think he has that level of direction/writing in him... Pet Sematary: I don't have any attachment to the book..the 80's version is OK, this was equally OK at best, totally average at worst. It is a total waste of John Lithgow which is a shame because he's a good actor ffs! This is an HBO on in the background kind of watch for sure, but since IT made money expect everything stephen king to get mediocre adaptations (I'm offically done if they do a second version of dreamcatcher..fool me once) sooo, the takeaway- shazam is fun but not ground breaking or anything..basically just big with super powers and some better family values and predestination was way better then it should have been considering how garbage the rest of the directors filmography is ("jigsaw" y'all)
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May 7, 2019 08:35
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zer0spunk posted:
Word. I felt the same way about Brick. It actually amazes me that this man was subsequently put in charge of a huge franchise film. So weird.
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May 7, 2019 10:10
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Stroszek: We are all dancing chickens. Or chickens playing piano. Or ducks playing a kick drum. Or bunnies putting out a fire. How cute was that?   Yes, it was very good, better than Fitzcarraldo, which I hated.
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May 7, 2019 12:27
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zer0spunk posted:It is a total waste of John Lithgow which is a shame because he's a good actor ffs! He was outright terrible in Pitch Perfect 3 and it made me so sad, because Lithgow is a national treasure and it must've taken real effort from the filmmakers for him to come across badly.
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May 7, 2019 19:13
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AstroWhale posted:Stroszek: The crazy thing about this scene is that the place is somewhere practically pulled from a place that I frequently dream about. I wonder if I saw the movie as a young child or something because it was so gosh darn surreal.
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May 7, 2019 23:58
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The Fighter Did not really like it. All the characters are cartoonish Irish-New Englander stereotypes (granted I saw footage of the older brother (already completely forgot their names) afterward and he really is crackhead crazy, so Christian Bale actually nailed that role). Maybe its also that the more movies I see, I realize that people just do not actually act or talk like they're written in scripts. Why are all *seven* of the sisters always present together in the same place and doing (and saying) the same thing? They're one character with seven heads. Why would Christian Bale's crackhead friends (a people not exactly known for their stability) all still be at the same house, all still smoking crack together, waiting for him years later after he was released from jail? I guess this looks like nitpicking, but these are examples of a script that didn't make much sense in general. Amy Adams has a great peformance, especially considering the script made no sense in regards to her behavior and motivations. Also the boxing cinematography was kind of meh for the most part. Also too long. Two hours felt like about three. C+
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May 8, 2019 00:30
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AstroWhale posted:
Fitzcarraldo may be hit or miss but Burden of Dreams is simply fuckin excellent
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May 8, 2019 02:20
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Dinner at Eight (1933, George Cukor) [Criterion Channel] - 2.5/5 O Lucky Man! (1973, Lindsay Anderson) [DVD] - 4.5/5 Becky Sharp (1935, Rouben Mamoulian) [Blu-ray] - 3/5 Bound (1996, The Wachowskis) [Blu-ray - Unrated] - 4/5 Babette's Feast (1987, Gabriel Axel) [Blu-ray] - 5/5 Dinner at Eight is one of those ensemble films I've wanted to see for a while, but it sort of falls flat. Best parts, though, are any scene with Jean Harlow and Wallace Beery. Meh. Having only seen Lindsay Anderson's films If.... and The Whales of August (which is fantastic), I wasn't sure of what to make of a 3-hour epic about the ups and downs of capitalism in Britain. It's often hilarious, but touching at times, while full of exciting cinematic technique. Actors play several roles, there's all sorts of clever editing tricks like jump cuts, color and grayscale, aged film, and some songs. Malcolm McDowell is wonderful in this, as is Helen Mirren (who has always looked simply heavenly), but there's also some great turns by Ralph Richardson and even the director himself. Only negatives would be a lengthy scene with a character inexplicably in blackface (what the gently caress?) and it's just a liiiiiittle too long. But it's definitely epic and has a great ending. How the hell is this not on Blu-ray yet? (The DVD does have an excellent feature-length doc on McDowell by Jan Harlan) I had actually seen the first 3-strip Technicolor feature Becky Sharp on TCM years ago, but didn't think much of it. It's not a masterpiece, but I'll always jump for seeing restored Technicolor. That story is almost more interesting than the film. Despite its stature, the original elements were thrown to the wolves. So, most of the film has this incredible vibrant Technicolor look that's almost 3-D... but one reel only survives in 2-color and the last reel had to come from a print. But it's catnip for film restoration geeks like myself. Worth it at least for that. I'm a bit behind on seeing the Wachowski's films, but the idea of their first film being a low-budget neo-noir intrigued me. This isn't exactly Blood Simple amazing, but still an impressive first directorial effort. As others have pointed out about the film, it's neat to see a film that treats a same-sex relationship in a positive way without piling on guilt and tragedy needlessly. And I'd have to say the sex scene in this film (especially in its unrated iteration) is pretty amazing - perhaps not as humanistic as something Kieslowski would shoot, but not scuzzy in the least. I'm going to guess that Ebert gave this a positive rating.  But while Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly are amazing in this, Joe Pantoliano is great too.Babette's Feat is NOT a movie to watch if you're hungry. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it's such an endlessly charming and warm film. This goes onto my all-time favorite films list.
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May 8, 2019 04:45
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BeanpolePeckerwood posted:Fitzcarraldo may be hit or miss but Burden of Dreams is simply fuckin excellent Every review I saw about Fitzcarraldo talks about the difficult shoot and not the movie itself. I have never heard of that documentary only about My best Fiend Last movie: Effi Briest (Subtitle: Viele, die eine Ahnung haben von ihren Möglichkeiten und Bedürfnissen und dennoch das herrschende System in ihrem Kopf akzeptieren durch ihre Taten und es somit festigen und durchaus bestätigen, English: Fontane Effi Briest or Many People Who Are Aware of Their Own Capabilities and Needs Just Acquiesce to the Prevailing System in Their Thoughts and Deeds, Thereby Confirming and Reinforcing It.) by Fassbinder. Based on a book some German schoolkids, not me, have to read, and apparently everyone who does hates it. The movie lacks the Fassbinder melodrama. It is very "technical" and more cerebral. This shows in decisions like: quote:For instance, there is never a single scene depicting the affair between Effi and Crampas, with all of it remaining off-screen.[3] And rather than being shown Annie’s birth, the narrator rather tells us about it, further separating the audience from the action.[3] With such techniques the audience is denied the melodramatic scenes expected from a film about adultery, using this restraint to heighten the theme of repression.[3]  )I did not like it very much, because of that. It is very difficult to relate to anything that is happening on screen.
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May 8, 2019 11:34
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Rocky Balboa B+ Solid outing here. Very melancholy, but not dreary. The central premise strains credibility, but the actual fight is great and the most realistic of the series pre-Creed. The characters feel real and grounded and Paulie in particular is more sympathetic than he's been in any other film. Creed 2 is not included on Prime. I might rent it.
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May 8, 2019 13:43
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bitterandtwisted posted:Rocky Balboa B+ Agreed on Balboa. The acting is great, and the annual tour really feels like something Rocky would do, but the idea that a fight between the current heavy weight boxing champion and a 60+ year old man would be anything other than a complete route is ridiculous. I think my favorite subtle detail in Creed is Adonis finding a copy of Swank magazine in Paulie's old room. It's a perfect little character moment. If you don't know, Swank is like a step below Hustler in the porn magazine world.
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May 8, 2019 15:07
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AstroWhale posted:Something the German article mentions is that, most actors were dubbed, to hinder identification with them (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distancing_effect I like Effi Briest, but even by Fassbinder's standards it is extremely Brechtian, and I can see how that would seem off-putting if you know him primarily from his more 'straightforward' melodramas.
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May 8, 2019 15:51
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I love Rocky generally and if we're discussing Creed, I have to to call out the excellent use of the serie's classsic montage sequence for Rocky's chemo.
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May 8, 2019 17:35
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AstroWhale posted:Every review I saw about Fitzcarraldo talks about the difficult shoot and not the movie itself. I have never heard of that documentary only about My best Fiend My Best Fiend is def a good companion piece because of some special footage included from the shoot and other Kinski/Herzog collabs, but the main draw of Burden of Dreams is that it was one of Les Blank's early long form pet projects (and along with Eleanor Coppola's Hearts of Darkness one of the best docs on troubled production), a bit of a treat since he's pretty much the quintessential short subject documentarian of the last half century. BoD is def overdue fro a criterion blu, but Blank's short subject collection Always For Pleasure, and the recently dug up A Poem Is A Naked Person have both gotten blu releases in the last few years. The dude's a loving master.
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May 8, 2019 21:48
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I jog on a treadmill and watch bad movies to help me forget how much I hate running. Most of these are free off of Amazon Prime and generally come from the horror genre because I enjoy laughing at stupid protagonists, copious gore, and poorly executed body horror. Sometimes I find decent movies (like "The Pact" or "The Void"). This is not one of those movies. Bloodwork (2012): C/C- Bloodwork is a horror film with a great premise and a good setup, but with poor execution. It tells the story of two college bros who sign up for a pharmaceutical drug trial involving an experimental "allergy medicine" in order to make some quick cash ($3150 each and free room and board for 4 weeks). It takes place at an isolated facility in the middle of buttfuck nowhere, and involves a pretty small drug trial group. All of the people involved in the trial have their cellphones taken, are restricted to staying inside, and under constant camera surveillance. It could have been good, and there are good breadcrumbs in the beginning hinting at how the story will turn out, like how one of the studies the bros participated in made them think they were testing out a game instead of seeing how long people would sit in uncomfortable chairs, and showing the effects of a prior drug trial when all but the person who got the placebo ended up with the shakes. However, it can't decide on what it wants to be. This is most obvious in the pacing. It tries to be a slow burn at the beginning, but it ends up choppy. The test subjects start finding bugs in the facility, and worms in their food, and dead animals in the hallway. Each event is meant to show changes in the trial members' personalities, but the changes are jarring rather than gradual. For example, one guy who is a loud-and-proud vegan has no problem pulling a worm out of his mouth from the spaghetti he's been eating. One of the bros who finds out that he's on the placebo and hence the control member of the trial tries to uncover what is happening at the facility, and finds out that the drug is actually based on the liver's ability to regenerate, and some of the animals that broke away are from the animal trial of the drug. The doctor running the trial explains that one of the side effects of the drug is removing the subject's sense of disgust, meaning they'll eat trash and live in filth because their body will regenerate. That becomes an excuse to turn the movie into a fast-paced gorefest at the end involving a poo poo-ton of fridge logic moments (why not use the detox drug to save the girl who dies from her body healing over bullets if it can immediately strip away the healing drug, how does the lone survivor manage to smuggle out the healing drug, and why does he use it after seeing how much it fucks up the test subjects, why are the two buddies dead when they're pumped full of the drug). It's kind of a shame that the movie wastes the drug trial premise. The story is at its best when it highlights how little privacy and freedom the trial members have, from limited access to a payphone (lol) to having to bag each bowel movement and answer a questionnaire involving its size, consistency, ease of passage, etc. There is a good horror movie to be made out of this scenario, but this is not it. Don't watch this movie if you have issues with sexual assault. There's two instances in the movie which are pretty gross and meant to sell how the drug eventually removes the person's humanity. Tricia Helfer deserves better.
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May 8, 2019 23:56
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I watched Tolkien, a story of the young man who would become the author of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion to name a few. Went in with little expectations. I had seen the director's earlier work in Tom of Finland, which was an ok and sympathetic life-story of a famous gay artist. Tolkien was also enjoyable in my opinion, if you like these kinds of movies that explore real life characters and their backgrounds. At the heart of the film is a friendship between a group of British schoolboys who grow up to be young men on the eve of World War I. Influences to Tolkien's fantasy writings and drawings are shown throughout his early life and in his feverish, hallucinatory experiences on the frontline. The movie reinforced the impression I have of the "War to end all wars" as a horrifyingly futile waste of life and human potential. What could the dead have achieved if their lives were not cut short? The film also explores his love of language and mythology (J.R.R. Tolkien was a philology student at the time), and the different social strata of British society and life at the turn of the century. Overall, I found the movie to be an interesting biopic, but I may be biased. I liked Nicholas Hoult in the starring role. Critical response of the film has been harsher and mixed. Critics have called it a slog and lacking in imagination and subtlety. Personal opinion: B
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May 10, 2019 09:20
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Bringing Up Baby is the progenitor of the light-on-plot screwball comedy. See it if you're into that sort of thing, or are an AFI completionist. See Intruder if you want to have an informed position on the raging debate as to which film is better-Intruder or Lakeview Terrace. I think Detective Pikachu is a pretty easy sell for Pokemon fans, but if you're a fan of 90s awkward buddy films like Who's Harry Crumb and Short Circuit 2 , with a little bit of Who Framed Roger Rabbit I think you'll dig this one. Hunger Games was a rewatch, but I still really enjoyed it and I think it's a good watch if you like armed teen angst and lots of people saying "gently caress the government' to a really lovely government. Lastly, I think you're a fan of good-bad movies, I think Lost Demon is something you will enjoy. It has classic good-bad film elements like flashbacks-in-flashbacks, gross sex, weird pregnancies, unlikeable protagonists, poorly-lighted scenes (taking place in both day and night) and sleep-inducing lulls between extremely gory kills.
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May 15, 2019 08:01
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Un Chien Andalou and L' Age D'Or. Such art.  Sorry.
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May 16, 2019 15:29
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Surrealism is not for everyone (esp. w/ such politically charged works)
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May 16, 2019 15:43
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bitterandtwisted posted:Rocky Balboa B+ Watching the others makes Creed feel more "realistic" but I just rewatched the big fight from that and it's also like 1 billion undefended power shots to the head and liver. I want to see a Rocky movie where the opponent is a Rocky style supernaturally good Lomachenko, just teleporting around the ring and gluing his glove to rocky/creed/whoever's face
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May 16, 2019 20:34
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AstroWhale posted:Un Chien Andalou and L' Age D'Or. Bunuel was a late bloomer. He really hit a stride in his late 50s/early 60s.
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May 17, 2019 02:02
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I remember watching and liking "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie", but it's been too long. Also "Los Olvidados" is great, but not surreal. Don't Worry He Won't Get Far On Foot It was fine.
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May 17, 2019 07:30
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Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) - B+ John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum (2019) - A
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May 17, 2019 07:46
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Buñuel is the rare director who went through multiple different phases and received critical acclaim for pretty much all of them. You have the early surrealist phase in Spain. The Mexican work which cribs more heavily from neo-realism, the extremely scathing films he made upon his return to Spain, and the more goofy comedies from his later years in France. If you didn't care for L'Age D'or, maybe Los Olvidados or Viridiana will appeal to you more.
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May 17, 2019 11:46
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Rick posted:Lastly, I think you're a fan of good-bad movies, I think Lost Demon is something you will enjoy. It has classic good-bad film elements like flashbacks-in-flashbacks, gross sex, weird pregnancies, unlikeable protagonists, poorly-lighted scenes (taking place in both day and night) and sleep-inducing lulls between extremely gory kills. Is there another title for this film?
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May 18, 2019 23:18
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Just watched Long Day's Journey Into Night Wouldn't be surprised if it retains a slot in my top 5 for the entire year. Incredible and moving
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May 18, 2019 23:33
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