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I'm a fan of 1984 dune but I can see how someone would hate it the first 5 times you watch it. Related, if allowed, highly recommend this documentary about the version that almost got made in the 70. It sounds absolutel amazing- HR Geiger, Pink Floyd, Salvador Dali, Orson Welles. https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1935156/ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jodorowsky%27s_Dune
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Jan 17, 2021 03:45
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falz posted:I'm a fan of 1984 dune but I can see how someone would hate it the first 5 times you watch it. I honestly can't decide if the special effects are really good or some of the worst ever.
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Jan 17, 2021 17:51
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Carlo Rambaldi has got to be the most "right time, right place" dude in Hollywood ever, his absolutely bizarre aesthetic defined a surprising number of films.
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Jan 18, 2021 15:42
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So, how to get physical media. It's not always easy. Last year I watched a movie called "Cooley High," made in 1975 and has been called the Black American Graffiti.  While looking at the filmography of Glynn Turmann, who was one of the leads, I noticed an entry for a movie title "A.W.O.L.", made in 1972. I looked up the description and it's about an American soldier who deserts the Vietnam War, seeks refuge in Sweden, and hooks up with a socialist protest group against the war and American imperialism.  Sounds interesting, but how to get a hold of a copy? It's no where online, and it never got a release on US home video. It did get a release on UK video, but those tapes are incompatible with American VCRs. So, my options were to get an American VCR that could convert from PAL to NTSC or buy a British VCR and run a power converter. The third option was to send it to a company in the US and get it converted. I ordered a VHS from the UK, sent it to https://www.truetvmovies.net/, and after a couple week wait, got a link to a download site and a burned DVD of my movie. The film itself is OK. Filmed on location in Stockholm, our protagonist looks like Ron Howard, initially gets involved in the porno industry before falling in love with a young Swedish woman who is a member of a socialist protest group. Eventually he becomes disenchanted with the movement, and the movie ends on a downer note like a lot of early 70s movies do. Think Easy Rider here. Turmann a black deserter who is playing at being a black activist but basically just wants to hang out in Sweden and have a good time. The most surreal part is the CIA agent who pops up and tries to get the main character back to the US by kidnapping him and video conferencing with his parents to appeal to his patriotism. This is after the agent takes him to an underground compound in the Swedish countryside. It's not really keeping with the tone of the rest of the movie and feels like something out of Get Smart. Anyway, here's the movie if you want to watch it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmC_V8sNOm8
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Jan 18, 2021 15:43
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Promising Young Woman It's beautifully shot and has a few incredible needle drops, but I think it really struggles to juggle a light-ish tone with a dark subject matter and a pretty broken protagonist. The desire to service all of those elements causes it to stumble pretty badly at the finish line, imo, with an epiolgue that feels like trying to have your cake and eat it too. Would be curious to hear other people's thoughts on it though; part of me wants to make a thread about it, but I fear the discussion could be pretty fraught. 3/5
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Jan 18, 2021 20:17
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/\ /\ /\ I fully support Promising Young Woman receiving it's own thread. After being hyped for this movie for a few months I finally got a chance to watch it last night and for the first time in years- my hype was met and exceeded. This is a movie by grown-ups, for grown-ups and the film's language is heavily steeped in implication and strongly favors showing-not-telling that I absolutely love. I've been on a Paul Schrader kick recently and I was able to identify much of his work's DNA in this film. There's a strong 70's vigilante vibe of one person vs a corrupt society, but without the macho touch of a guns or fast cars. Instead we see vengeance from the feminine side- Ms. 45 style. Carey Mulligan carries this entire film like Atlas on her little shoulders, and her performance is complex and nuanced. It is not something that draws a familiar parallel, this film really does offer something new. The final act - which kills off the protagonist non-ceremoniously, actually quite irreverently, was a gut punch but a well calculated one. By showing the repercussions of the unique vengeance the Cassy carries out, by hanging on a good 15 minutes after where most vigilante films end, the film is able to zoom back from Cassy's personal issues and make a cultural statement. That statement is that American culture is macabre meat grinder. Promising youths enter one end and Great American Men exit the other. What's lost in the churn the is innocence, consent and the ambitions of an entire sex as they are made to serve this corrosive patriarchy. The only faux pas that the movie commits is trying to pass Carey Mulligan as 30 when she is clearly in her mid-thirties. Other than that, this is a once in decade movie and a whale of a debut from the director.
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Jan 19, 2021 23:33
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TheOmegaWalrus posted:/\ /\ /\ What do you make of the epilogue where it turns out she had the whole contingency plan that exposes her killers, gives the video to the lawyer, etc.? It's framed as a triumphant (or at least bittersweet) moment, but believing that it will result in any meaningful semblance of justice requires a lot of faith in the legal system and power structures that have let her and her friend down so badly for the rest of the film. Her death really brings you down to earth, so once her killer is arrested, the natural thought that went through my head was "well, he's going to successfully claim self-defense and walk from this with no more than a slap on the wrist." Perhaps I'm reading the tone of that ending wrong, but it kind of feels like "well, she spiraled with grief and rage for a decade and ultimately lost her life, but at least she managed to ruin that guy's wedding."
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Jan 20, 2021 00:00
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PeterCat posted:<post> This rules, thank you for the write-up and the link to the movie.
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Jan 20, 2021 08:23
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Almost Blue posted:This rules, thank you for the write-up and the link to the movie. There are so many movies I haven't watched that are easily available, but when it's hard to get I find myself more motivated to see it.
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Jan 20, 2021 16:05
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Had a great time with “one night in Miami.“ It has the marks of a great play, with natural entrances and exits while everyone stays at the central location. It’s not really a movie about boxing or singing, but does sequences work really well. It’s a movie about four days talking to each other, and if you don’t like that this phone will do little for you. I had to watch it in chunks due to the way my day worked, but it was great. Wish they could’ve done more with Lance Reddick, he’s a big name for all that’s basically door opener #1.
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Jan 21, 2021 09:52
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I just watched The New Mutants and liked it. It's probably best if you don't think about other X-Men movies much while watching it because, while I guess it's technically connected, it feels pretty different in both tone, content, and the film's smaller scope. Kind of a Breakfast Club with powers, with a slight horror vibe. All of the actors were good, but Anya Taylor-Joy's character was especially cool. I'm not sure why the film was delayed so much. Did it just not fit in with Marvel's larger plans? 7/10
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Jan 24, 2021 04:15
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General Dog posted:Promising Young Woman Carey Mulligan is so great in this but other then her I kinda hated it.
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Jan 25, 2021 07:45
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Beating a dead horse but I watched Day of the Dead again and the opening is no less loving terrifying: "Forget it, Billy boy... it's a dead place. Listen; you can hear it over the engine." Jesus Christ you can hear the zombies yourself when that line is delivered. Zombie movies don't scare me in the usual sense but that scene loving chills me for multiple reasons. It's still a 9/10 movie.
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Jan 30, 2021 07:00
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The Little Things — Rami Malek brings such a weird energy to every role he plays but not in a way I’ve ever liked
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Feb 3, 2021 02:45
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Me and Earl and the Dying Girl: what could have been insufferably twee is actually pretty decent. It's genuinely funny and touching throughout, and the consistent use of experimental cinematography and claymation/stop motion stuff ends up being engaging and actually having a really strong emotional impact in the films climax.
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Feb 3, 2021 07:54
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morestuff posted:The Little Things — Rami Malek brings such a weird energy to every role he plays but not in a way I’ve ever liked A movie so boring and inert that when Jared Leto showed up and started doing goofy Jared Leto stuff, I was like, "well, at least I'm feeling something and remember I'm alive now." 2/5
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Feb 3, 2021 19:59
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General Dog posted:A movie so boring and inert that when Jared Leto showed up and started doing goofy Jared Leto stuff, I was like, "well, at least I'm feeling something and remember I'm alive now." 2/5 Yeah, it really sucks. Feels like a movie cobbled together out of deleted scenes cut for being too boring and redundant
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Feb 3, 2021 20:14
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Small Axe revue Mangrove (2020): 85 Lovers Rock (2020): 80 Red, White, and Blue (2020): 80 Alex Wheatle (2020) 75 Education (2020): 80 2021 So Far Rio Bravo (1959): 85 (rewatch, was 85) Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984): 90 Tenet (2020): 70 Macon County Line (1974): 30 The Insider (1999): 85 (rewatch, was 80) Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020): 80 Tiger (2021): 40 Todos a la cárcel [Eng. Everyone Off to Jail] (1993): 75 Ocean Waves (1993): 65 Heat (1995): 100 (rewatch, was 100) Oblivion (1994): 20 Pure Country (1992): 25 Ongoing Jean Renoir Retrospective La Chienne (1931): 75 Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932): 70 Toni (1935): 80 A Day in the Country (1936): 85 The Lower Depths (1936): 65
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Feb 8, 2021 17:54
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After meaning to watch it for many years, The Parallax View. I was expecting something more serious so surprised it was quite silly in places. Enjoyable though, and stuck the ending I thought. 3.5/5
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Feb 24, 2021 21:43
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Willy's Wonderland You know when Dennis decribe his vision for Mac and Charlies Dolf Lundgren movie in the Always Sunny Episode Mac and Charlie write a movie? Yeah it's basically that only replace "full on penetration" and "crime" with "Cleans a room and fights an animatronic" and "plays pinball" 7/10 Pretty much what you'd expect and want from this kind of movie.
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Feb 25, 2021 01:23
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Palm Springs - I learned about this movie from the Golden Globes and watched the trailer and thought I would really like it. I was right. It's funny, but also about loneliness and the search for meaning. There's some really gorgeous shots and a killer soundtrack. Samberg and Milioti have good chemistry and are easy to root for. It's been a long time since I enjoyed a movie this much. 9/10
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Mar 3, 2021 03:29
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Come and See was really good, duh. I wasnt expecting to be so surreal and there to be so many shots of the characters staring at the camera but it worked every time
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Mar 8, 2021 01:57
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Bonnie and Clyde - 1967 - 8/10 This movie reminded me of a less cheesy version of Point Break (I love Point Break, of course). It creates a romantic image of a life of crime and freedom, and then tears it down in violence and fear and desperation. It's easy to see why it made such a splash in 1967. It's stylish, energetic, and amoral in a way that has a strong impact even today. I knew it was going to be transgressive by the standards of its day, but I still found the first death shocking. The characters are colorful and memorable. Beatty is charismatic and fun. Dunaway does a great job in the most complex role, the most enthusiastic member of the gang at one moment, and the one most deeply wracked with regret in the next. Most of the other characters feel more like caricatures rather than attempts to depict real people. Even Beatty's Clyde is something of a caricature, although a very enjoyable one. Clyde's sister-in-law, Blanche, is a drag on the film, shrieking moronically in every scene. Blanche Barrow was one of two surviving members of the gang when the film came out, and she complained, "That film made me look like a screaming horse's rear end!” Gotta agree with her there. Supposedly it's not super historically accurate, but for a story like this, where its mythic power was always the main thing people cared about, that doesn't really bother me.
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Mar 14, 2021 06:44
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A United Kingdom (2016) - Based on the true-life romance between Seretse Khama, heir to the throne of Bechuanaland (later Botswana, of which he was president), and his wife Ruth Williams Khama. David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike portray Seretse and Ruth, respectively. A fascinating story told in the most sterile way possible. In its rush to get through the story, the film fails to give its protagonists any character or chemistry whatsoever; the script is clunky, unimaginative and direct throughout, with a whole lot of telling and not a lot of showing. The London-based scenes look very fake and theatrical (unintentionally, I think), and the scenes in Bechuanaland restrict themselves to basically just one village and tribe, so we can only get a sense that it's the fate of an entire nation at stake because the characters repeatedly tell us so. Like Amma Asante's other work, everything about this film is workman-like at best. She is obviously good at finding excellent and important stories, but for now lacks the chops to create movies which match the significance of the source material.
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Mar 15, 2021 11:11
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Exterminate All The Brutes - Like most of Peck's work it's extremely good at coming to terms with an emotional account of political history, exploitation, and subjugation. I'm impressed that HBO put this out and everyone should watch it. Great filmmaking.
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Apr 22, 2021 06:51
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Coherence (2013) - Totally bonkers, loved it. Go in as blind as possible, plot synopsis max, don't even watch trailer. Synopsis: "Strange things begin to happen when a group of friends gather for a dinner party on an evening when a comet is passing overhead." Very low budget ($50k) if that matters, but it's just people at a dinner party, basically.
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Apr 22, 2021 20:40
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I fuckin’ love that movie
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Apr 23, 2021 17:47
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Definite recommendation for Coherence.
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Apr 24, 2021 06:16
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Haven't seen all of the picture of the year nominees but I'd say this is my ranking Minari Sound of Metal Judas and the Black Messiah Nomadland
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Apr 24, 2021 06:27
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I have seen all the best picture noms this year. My ranking, withs cores out of 100: Nomadland (88) Judas and the Black Messiah (87) The Father (87) Sound of Metal (86) Minari (80) Promising Young Woman (76) Mank (72) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (70) I'm also catching up on some other 2020 stuff. Some miscellaneous scores: Never Rarely Sometimes Always (88) I'm Thinking of Ending Things (88) Emma. (88) Shirley (88) The Nest (87) The Climb (87) Possessor (87) First Cow (86) Let Them All Talk (86) The Invisible Man (82) The Kid Detective (80) Some pretty good stuff in there! And there's still some more I want to catch up on. Some people have said 2020 was a terrible year for film but I dunno if it was all that bad, especially considering the circumstances.
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Apr 25, 2021 03:45
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Primer (2004) Low budget time travel story, which I had to watch 3 times. I 'think' I understood it with the exception of one plot hole/paradox that I cant piece together. Worth the watch
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May 21, 2021 00:22
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TommyGun85 posted:Primer (2004) detailed timeline if you want to see it all laid out 
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May 21, 2021 00:36
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saint Maud owned.
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May 21, 2021 05:48
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Yeah I just watched Saint Maud too, funnily enough I watched Bug (2006) right before
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May 22, 2021 04:16
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A Quiet Place 2 3.5/5. Not quite as good as the first but still really solid. Broke some rules the first established and was a more action driven but done in a way that kept the tension and general quality high.
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Jun 8, 2021 04:35
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I stumbled across the movie Dreamscapes on HBO Max. It's a 1984 horror(ish) movie staring a young Dennis Quaid. It's about people who can enter other people's dreams. It's a bit corny in an 80s way, but I enjoyed myself. The plot moves along at a decent pace and the dream sequences add a nice variety. I'm still left with some questions (for example, were the president's nightmares just a coincidence?), but I was entertained. Recommended if you like 80s movies. 7/10
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Jun 8, 2021 05:04
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Un-aired TV pilot written and directed by Sam Fuller. Follows the exploits of Soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division, the Big Red One, in North Africa. The plot of the episode is a German Shepherd is being used as a spotter for German artillery. The dog sniffs out US troops, runs to the top of a hill an points at them, then the Germans fire artillery where the dog is pointing. It's a very Fuller story, a very tabloid, click baitey story hook to get you to watch a story that is full of the usual Sam Fuller WWII anecdotes and some of what was almost his stock company in the 1950s and feels almost like a dry run for movie The Big Red One, which, given the episodic nature of the movie, would have made a great mini-series. I had to do a bit of digging to track this down, and AFAIK, this is the only place it's uploaded on the Internet for view. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CANh9GpozLg PeterCat fucked around with this message at 16:48 on Jun 9, 2021 |
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Jun 8, 2021 21:00
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Anyone want to watch a movie filmed in Australia about a lawman in the post-apocalypse directed by George Miller and featuring Hugh Keays-Byrne? Well, Badlands 2005 is that movie, but it's not that George Miller, it's the George Miller who directed the Man from Snowy River and the movie is a failed TV pilot for ABC. If you thought that the introduction was somewhat cliched and had been done before, you're in luck, this is how the show was as well. It's not terrible, the setting western deserts of the United States have been depopulated due to a severe drought. Now that the technology has caught up to create water in the desert, modern day settlers are moving out to the desert to start a new life, battle the elements, and do all the things that settlers in Old West Movies do. Lewis Smith is a marshal who plays by his own rules, flirts with and has a somewhat antagonistic relationship with his boss, Sharon Stone, and talks down to his android partner played by Miguel Ferrer. Ferrer's character is somewhat like Data, the Terminator, C3-PO, and innumerable other naive androids of the 1980s of the future and is stronger and more intelligent than his human partner, but is also treated like chattel and not really viewed as an equal to the humans. I dig these Old West in the future settings, and this show could have been alright, but it probably would have ended up like Max Headroom, The Highwayman, Firefly, and however many others and canceled after a short first season. The writing never quite lives up to the setting, it's like they have a lot of talented people to make the set dressing and play the parts, but keep recycling the same cliches. People keep going back to this well though, even if there generally isn't a good excuse why everyone starts talking like an old timey prospector. Did I mention the marshal likes to watch old westerns and models himself after his heroes of the silver screen? In the best case you have a series like Justified, which benefited from Elmore Lenard inspiring the show and helping to write several of the episodes. As it is, this felt like something that 100 other movies and shows already tried one way or the other and didn't offer anything too inspiring, though it wasn't horrible, it just wasn't that captivating either. Anyway 2 Stars, check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndGkKlBa3bw
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Jun 9, 2021 17:02
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DorianGravy posted:I stumbled across the movie Dreamscapes on HBO Max. It's a 1984 horror(ish) movie staring a young Dennis Quaid. It's about people who can enter other people's dreams. It's a bit corny in an 80s way, but I enjoyed myself. The plot moves along at a decent pace and the dream sequences add a nice variety. I'm still left with some questions (for example, were the president's nightmares just a coincidence?), but I was entertained. Recommended if you like 80s movies. 7/10 I remember very little about the film other than when he enters the guy's nightmare about his wife cheating on him - "You too, Fukota?" Given the choice I'd watch it over Inception, mind.
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Jun 9, 2021 22:23
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I've watched it several times before, but I decided to watch Tron again tonight. I have a soft spot for this movie, but I think I enjoy the brief parts of real-world corporate intrigue more than the in-computer stuff, which is a little dull. While watching it this time, I was trying to figure out what sort of visual techniques they were using. Some parts are obviously filmed, while other stuff is early CG, but other elements are less clear. For example, a lot of scenes when the characters are on foot have stationary backgrounds. Are those some sort of matte paintings or digital art? Anyway, I like this movie, even if it's a bit boring in parts. 7/10
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Jun 10, 2021 06:43
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