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I've seen Hail, Caesar! three times now and still don't really know what to make of it. Maybe the Coens' shaggiest movie? I'd be fine if it was just an excuse to do a few classic Hollywood setpieces but even those feel a little half-assed.
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May 18, 2020 21:31
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morestuff posted:I've seen Hail, Caesar! three times now and still don't really know what to make of it. Maybe the Coens' shaggiest movie? I'd be fine if it was just an excuse to do a few classic Hollywood setpieces but even those feel a little half-assed. why have you seen 3 times? I habe pretty much the same opinion of it.
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May 18, 2020 23:52
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I'm an optimist
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May 18, 2020 23:57
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NO DAMES
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May 19, 2020 04:48
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Egbert Souse posted:NO DAMES It’s the best gag in the movie and even it feels better on paper
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May 19, 2020 04:59
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that dance scene doe
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May 19, 2020 05:29
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morestuff posted:It’s the best gag in the movie and even it feels better on paper While it's a pastiche, it's mainly a homage/parody of the "Shanghai Lil" scene from Footlight Parade, except under the lens of 1950s Hollywood which exchanges eroticism for unwitting homoeroticism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUyREZ_Hcr4
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May 19, 2020 13:25
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Hail Caesar is fantastic. "DIVINE PRESENCE TO BE SHOT" El crimen de la calle Bordadores (The Crime on Bordadores Street) (1946): 60 La torre de los siete jorobados (The Tower of the Seven Hunchbacks) (1944): 70 Pahokee (2019): 75 The Wrestler (2008): 85 (rewatch, was 95) Locura de amor (Madness from Love) (1948): 75 The Ballad of Little Jo (1993): 45 El santuario no se rinde (The Sanctuary Does Not Surrender) (1949): 50 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018): 95 (rewatch, was 95) La gata (The Cat) (1956): 70 Meek's Cutoff (2010): 85 (rewatch, was 70) Honeysuckle Rose (1980): 60 Esa pareja feliz (That Happy Couple) (1953): 75 Bull (2019): 75 Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957): 85 (rewatch, was 90) Finally working my way out of the mostly forgettable ultra-fascist era of Spanish film and into the good stuff.
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May 19, 2020 14:27
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Egbert Souse posted:While it's a pastiche, it's mainly a homage/parody of the "Shanghai Lil" scene from Footlight Parade, except under the lens of 1950s Hollywood which exchanges eroticism for unwitting homoeroticism Oh, I didn't know that, that's even better. I love the No Dames song because it's one of those jokes that just somehow gets funnier as it goes on and on and you keep thinking it's going to end.
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May 19, 2020 14:42
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TommyGun85 posted:why have you seen 3 times? I habe pretty much the same opinion of it. "The Bible, of course, is terrific, but for millions of people PICTURES will be their reference point for the story!"
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May 19, 2020 15:30
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It sort of makes sense they went the anthology route for Buster Scruggs right afterward — Caesar feels like they had a lot of stray ideas they wanted to work in but couldn't really tie the whole thing together. A lot (most?) of their movies are overstuffed but they usually find a throughline that works a lot better.
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May 19, 2020 15:33
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Speaking of the Coens A Serious Man - 4/5 This might be their funniest movie. The ending is the perfect cherry on top of the bleak unraveling of his life. Both this movie and Michael Stuhlbarg are severely underappreciated.
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May 19, 2020 16:03
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It's probably in large part because I'm Jewish but I think A Serious Man is their ultimate masterpiece. You're right that Stuhlbarg is just so good. He's great at being exactly as nonplussed as the scene needs him to be.
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May 19, 2020 16:38
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Hail Caesar has its issues but the presentation of 1951 Hollywood is so good and I am such a mark for that poo poo. And it has some amazing individual bits (Clooney's scene relating all he learned from the Commies is hysterical.)
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May 20, 2020 23:51
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DOGS (1976): 3/10 What the gently caress. Absolute nonsense with a cast of the worst of of dumbfuck characters. Dreck. Edit: Ouija 4 (2015): 5/10 Somewhere in this is a half-decent (if uncreative) Chinese ghost story trying to get out but there's a bunch of weird scene-padding guff and of course, once again the curse of unlikeable characters prevents any real investment; they get bumped off and you just go "oh, right" instead of really giving even half a poo poo about them. Oh well, better luck next time. ZogrimAteMyHamster fucked around with this message at 19:55 on May 25, 2020 |
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May 25, 2020 19:50
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Yes, really. The Way Back (2020) 3/5, This remake is wack. The Way Back (2010) 3/5
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May 26, 2020 15:52
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Dumbo (1941) [Blu-ray - nth rewatch) - 5/5 Juggernaut (1974, Richard Lester) [Blu-ray] - 4/5 Finders Keepers (1984, Richard Lester) [Blu-ray] - 2/5 Melvin and Howard (1980, Jonathan Demme) [Blu-ray] - 3/5 Foxy Brown (1974, Jack Hill) [Blu-ray] - 3/5 Assault on Precinct 13 (1976, John Carpenter) [Blu-ray] - 4.5/5 Bloody Mama (1970, Roger Corman) [Blu-ray] - 3/5 Lifeforce (1985, Tobe Hooper) [Blu-ray - director's cut] - 4.5/5 Wolfen (1981, Michael Wadleigh) [Blu-ray] - 3.5/5 Hickey & Boggs (1972, Robert Culp) [Blu-ray] - 3.5/5 Tomboy (2011, Céline Sciamma) [Criterion Channel] - 4.5/5 All About My Mother (1999, Pedro Almodovar) [Blu-ray] - 4.5/5 Uncut Gems (2019, Josh & Benny Safdie) [Blu-ray] - 4.5/5 Ravenous (1999, Antonia Bird) [Blu-ray] - 4/5 The Pawnbroker (1964, Sidney Lumet) [Blu-ray] - 4/5
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May 26, 2020 17:52
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The Vast of Night makes interesting choices throughout but doesn’t have quite enough meat or style to add up to something really impressive. The hep-cat dialogue gets kind of exhausting in the first 15 minutes but they fortunately crank it down a notch after that. Good debut but a little overhyped
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Jun 2, 2020 06:34
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Egbert Souse posted:Dumbo (1941) [Blu-ray - nth rewatch) - 5/5 Interested in your thoughts on ravenous and lifeforce
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Jun 2, 2020 16:33
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DeimosRising posted:Interested in your thoughts on ravenous and lifeforce Seconded. I've always assumed that would be my kind of trash but I've never gotten around to seeing it.
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Jun 2, 2020 19:07
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Egbert Souse posted:Dumbo (1941) [Blu-ray - nth rewatch) - 5/5 Hey would you mind posting about Lifeforce? Love a good flick about female sexuality causing global meltdown of patriarchal society.
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Jun 2, 2020 19:18
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Lifeforce is one of those rare movies with a completely batshit crazy premise and just runs with it all the way to the end. I tried describing the plot to a friend and was met with silence. It's even more impressive that for all the epic scale, this really has a lot of great character moments. That same sort of feeling with films like The Thing and Body Snatchers. Here, we not only have the space themes, but plenty of body horror and an overall throwback to old fashioned vampire stories. There's a lot of crazy sexual subtext to the film and I'm here for it. The film is anchored with terrific lead performances by Mathilde May (who while buck naked, never stops looking seductively creepy) and Steve Railsback, plus great turns by Peter Firth, Frank Finlay, Aubrey Morris, and Patrick Stewart. There's a great scene where they have "infected" people locked away to keep others safe while their bodies explode from not getting their lifeforce fix. Morris keeps this look on his face that matched my reaction to enjoying how weird this got. All of this keeps escalating until there's a full out panic in London. There's also some fantastic Panavision photography (lots of great uses of wide angle and distortion lenses) and Henry Mancini's score is one of his best. I watched the 4K remaster of the UK cut and I can't believe the US prints took out the wonderful opening titles sequence with Mancini's thunderous opening theme behind them since it perfectly establishes the mood right there. It's a pity this isn't as regarded like The Thing, but holy poo poo, I love it when movies like this are unashamedly weird. Ravenous is a flawed film (from reading the Wikipedia history, seemed to be doomed from the start), but again, it has such an offbeat, unique sort of tone that it's too much fun. The commentary on eating meat and westward expansion are about as subtle as an axe to the head, but it's all in good fun. Guy Pierce seems to be sleepwalking through the film, but maybe that's actually more accurate since his character is obviously still traumatized from battle. Robert Carlyle and Jeffrey Jones are wonderful in this, too. I wish I could say more about the look of the film, but the only Blu-ray has an absolutely dogshit transfer (at least competently upscaled from SD) and I'd love to see what it's like without that haze over it. Oh, Fox, well uh...
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Jun 2, 2020 19:35
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I've been on an old-movie kick recently with MUBI. Carnival of Souls (1952): C+ - For a movie that's not my genre, this is a pretty high grade. - I liked the lead actress, the lighting, and some of the shots. - Organs are also cool. - The other lodger, John, is the slimiest-looking person I've ever seen. - I don't really see the David Lynch connection that people have claimed. I do definitely see the Twilight Zone episode comparisons. The Blue Angel (1930): B+ - Given how old the movie was, I did not expect it to be a talkie and I'm glad it was. - I have never seen such obvious foreshadowing as that mopey loving clown frowning at the professor for the first hour, but goddamn, I appreciated it. - I don't know if it's intentional that Marlene Dietrich is the only attractive woman in the entire movie or if I just don't like the aesthetic of that time period, but it really heightens her screen presence and helps sell the character. - Emil Jannings is great, and thanks to Wikipedia, I now have fun party trivia in my backpocket that he was the first Oscar "Best Actor" award winner ever. - This movie has a real commitment to comedic smash cuts, and I have to imagine that it was one of the first movies to do it given that it's an early talkie and you need the "I'll never do THAT!" dialogue to sell the *oh look the character is doing THAT after all!* scene following the cut. On The Blue Angel, I feel like MUBI has a movie with something approximating this plotline every six or so months. I got big The Servant (1963) and Venus in Fur (2013) vibes from it. EDIT: Also, you cannot tell me that the ending of the modern classic "Porkin' Across America with Jim Haggerty" didn't come from the final performance in The Blue Angel. surf rock fucked around with this message at 02:35 on Jun 3, 2020 |
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Jun 3, 2020 02:23
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The Killing of a Sacred Deer 2.5/5 - The last movie I hadn't seen from Yorgos Lanthimos, and the one that made me firmly decide that he's a better director than writer. Reminded me of The Lighthouse in parts and approach but not nearly as enjoyable. Performances were good and there were some moments that were genuinely creepy or hilarious, but this was overall a let down. The Favourite was one of my top movies from the past few years and I like Dogtooth, but this was probably his weakest. I've been watching a lot of things that I felt would be better in short film format and this is one of them.
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Jun 3, 2020 19:36
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The Autopsy of Jane Doe - 3/5 This was a lot of fun mainly because I went in thinking it was inspired by a true crime story??. Third act was kind of weak but overall a good time.
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Jun 4, 2020 01:59
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Mister America (2019, Hulu) - this was the most restrained & subtle I've ever seen Tim Heidecker and I thought it was a solid documentary with some really funny bits. It felt very apt considering what's going on right now between the presidency and the protests without being too on-the-nose
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Jun 4, 2020 03:29
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August 32nd on Earth by Denis Villeneuve (his debut) Too much quebecois, not enough je ne sais quoi - 6/10
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Jun 4, 2020 13:02
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For the hell of it, here's every movie I watched in May and so far in June, I basically watch one every day when I finish work, thanks WFH! Dunno how I'd rate them all so I just bolded the ones I liked the most MAY Home on the Range Man of Steel Insidious: Chapter 3 The Garden of Words Snowpiercer Bad Taste The Man Who Knew Too Much The Quick and the Dead Jackie Brown Interstellar Chicken Little The Walk Monty Python's The Meaning of Life Rocky Balboa G.I. Jane The Conjuring 2 Live Free or Die Hard Rock-a-Doodle The Big Lebowski The Game Mean Streets Mary Poppins Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Meet the Robinsons Saving Mr. Banks Alien Resurrection Manhunter Rocketman Kill Bill: Volume 1 Titanic JUNE The Fate of the Furious The Vast of Night Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey August 32nd on Earth
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Jun 4, 2020 13:46
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Hedrigall posted:For the hell of it, here's every movie I watched in May and so far in June, I basically watch one every day when I finish work, thanks WFH! Dunno how I'd rate them all so I just bolded the ones I liked the most you didnt bold Mean Streets? What did you think of it?
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Jun 4, 2020 14:46
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TommyGun85 posted:you didn't like Mean Streets?!?!?! I didn’t say that
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Jun 4, 2020 14:47
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Mean Streets was fine, I found the plot a bit wandering but I sure liked the dynamic between Harvey Keitel and bobby deniro, also the fight in the pool hall was great fun It felt like Who’s that knocking on my door 2: now even knockier
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Jun 4, 2020 14:48
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The best moment of all the above films combined was The Dude finding out what Jackie Treehorn scrawled on his notepad in The Big Lebowski
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Jun 4, 2020 14:54
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Hedrigall posted:The best moment of all the above films combined was The Dude finding out what Jackie Treehorn scrawled on his notepad in The Big Lebowski
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Jun 4, 2020 19:03
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fenix down posted:Agree! The Dude is truly the worst film noir detective, but at least in that moment he was trying. He just stole that move from North by Northwest, anyway
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Jun 4, 2020 19:04
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Hedrigall posted:The best moment of all the above films combined was The Dude finding out what Jackie Treehorn scrawled on his notepad in The Big Lebowski Def. Have you seen north by northwest? Efb lol left tab open too long The dude is mostly a lazy dick, its great
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Jun 4, 2020 22:30
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Fast Five Having only seen the first two of this series (I remember liking the first one and the second one being godawful) I thought I'd see what Fast and the Furious was like once the series really found its footing. I was assuming that the 2010s run of F&F movies was a bit like Mission Impossible, with fast cars, CIA, and heist missions. And it is, but way goofier than I imagined. And the tone is sort of self aware...I guess? At least it's not overly self serious like so many of the worst "grimdark" action movies of this era. Either way, I laughed out loud at much of the dialogue, both for the writing and delivery. Most of the acting is almost Asylum-level bad. The Rock is the best actor in the movie. I actually have a better respect for him than I did - he knew exactly the right amount of ham for this material. Not bad for a goofy action movie, but I'm not in a hurry to see the rest. 3/5
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Jun 6, 2020 17:36
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Sinister 2/5 - Continuing through a bunch of "disturbing" or horror stuff, this was a mixed bag. Ethan Hawke was good, the found footage bits were good, but the overall premise goes nowhere and the ending was flat for me.
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Jun 7, 2020 02:26
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Robocop or Paul Verhoeven's best in general Should not work but it does and the world is better off for it.
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Jun 7, 2020 03:31
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In the top 5 best satires ever.
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Jun 7, 2020 09:51
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Lawrence of Arabia 5/5 First time I ever watched this. Its a masterpiece.
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Jun 7, 2020 19:05
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