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He Knows You're Alone: Christ on a bike, what the gently caress was going on in this one? Utterly, utterly terrible attempt at being Halloween but with none of the execution, topped off by an ending so loving stupid it meant everything beforehand was completely pointless. The whole movie leads up to a total waste of time. Star of the show:  This guy! Also has Tom Hanks in it for about 20 minutes or something. Score: 2/10
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Dec 30, 2021 17:09
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PeterCat posted:Does anyone have a rundown of what they see in actually was? I haven't seen the movie I've just seen people argue about something racist in it. It's a scene of a white Japanese Restaurant owner who refers to himself as japanese and imports several japanese wives but he doesn't speak japanese at all so he affects a sort of hyper-'engrish' when he talks over them. His restaurant also employs white girls from the San Fernando valley that dress up as geisha when they serve.
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Dec 30, 2021 22:17
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BeanpolePeckerwood posted:It's a scene of a white Japanese Restaurant owner who refers to himself as japanese and imports several japanese wives but he doesn't speak japanese at all so he affects a sort of hyper-'engrish' when he talks over them. His restaurant also employs white girls from the San Fernando valley that dress up as geisha when they serve. Was this based on an actual restaurant that existed in 1973? I mean, if it was a real place I could see being offended by it, but I wouldn't criticize the movie for it.
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Dec 30, 2021 23:06
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PeterCat posted:Was this based on an actual restaurant that existed in 1973? I mean, if it was a real place I could see being offended by it, but I wouldn't criticize the movie for it. Most of the film seems based directly on PTA's memories of where he grew up, however enhanced by the passage of time they may be, like for example some of the actual politicians and movie stars of that moment.
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Dec 30, 2021 23:28
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It can't be overstated how out of place and awkward the bit is, which is why it's caused so much outrage. It really serves no purpose or adds anything other than shock value or cheap laughs for lovely people that think its funny. https://twitter.com/davechensky/status/1461565715173969923?s=20 https://twitter.com/MilesKlee/status/1470797105937596422 https://twitter.com/karen__maine/status/1462837923796107268 his defense was weak and literally the "i have a black friend" defense quote:Anderson responded: “I think it would be a mistake to tell a period film through the eyes of 2021. You can’t have a crystal ball, you have to be honest to that time. Not that it wouldn’t happen right now, by the way. My mother-in-law’s Japanese and my father-in-law is white, so seeing people speak English to her with a Japanese accent is something that happens all the time. I don’t think they even know they’re doing it.” it loving sucks.
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Dec 30, 2021 23:43
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even my 12 year old japanese niece understood what the scene was trying to do 
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Dec 30, 2021 23:52
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That doesn’t mean it succeeds. It’s not funny, but it’s played as a joke, so your continued defense of it is bullshit too. And you don’t think she would be uncomfortable at people laughing at that instead of being grossed out by it? That is the problem. Even without that problem, the movie is not worth this much discussion or thought though cause it was a mess either way. Bottom Liner fucked around with this message at 00:29 on Dec 31, 2021 |
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Dec 31, 2021 00:24
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She was uncomfortable and I was uncomfortable and we both somehow recognized that as the point. This sort of twitter outrage-by-proxy is tedious as hell, and as you likely have a dozen more incensed replies queued up I'm bowing out of this one. I liked the movie, I thought it was one of the better things I watched in this rather sparse year. Cheers!
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Dec 31, 2021 00:39
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Using others’ accounts as backup for my own experience is not twitter outrage-by-proxy. Someone asked what the scene was all about and you gave a charitable to the point of being inaccurate description. People can see for themselves and you remain the only person I’ve seen defending the scene. There’s nothing more to say, I agree
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Dec 31, 2021 00:51
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Saw Licorice Pizza today and the laughs def felt to me like "look at how dumb this idiot racist is" rather than "lol japanese people do talk funny, I agree". That's just my perception though, sucks if it made different people feel targeted. Also, enjoyed the movie overall. Really good soundtrack, even better acting. The wildly over the top cameos from Penn and Cooper were so dumb and amazing. 3.5 /5 stars FLIPADELPHIA fucked around with this message at 01:22 on Dec 31, 2021 |
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Dec 31, 2021 01:17
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Drive My Car is the best movie I've seen in a good long while. Long at three hours but nearly every scene is electric. Intricately structured, beautiful performances, and some really gorgeous photography. Felt like sitting down with a really satisfying novel. Only bum note is a few plot elements that get introduced and dealt with a little too quickly, but that's a pretty minor complaint.
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Dec 31, 2021 07:12
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Don't Look Up did indeed suck despite some good performances. It was trying to be The Big Short and Idiocracy at the same time and it just didn't work.
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Jan 1, 2022 04:42
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Matrix Resurrections - 2.5/5 Stale to the point of being sterile. Tried to capture the aesthetic of the original but with none of the style, especially in the action scenes. There's a better ending for the original trilogy in this story, but it spends way too much time rehashing the worst parts of the sequels instead of moving on. Ends up being immediately forgettable.
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Jan 2, 2022 06:08
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Thirst (Park Chan-Wook, 2009) - I don't feel like it touches my favourite film of his, Lady Vengeance, on pathos or cinematography, but it has a very natural unfurling into the absurd that many Korean directors and screenwriters seem to do so well. It's an almost slice-of-life vampire flick that Parasite fans will love. 3.5/5 edify fucked around with this message at 16:57 on Jan 2, 2022 |
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Jan 2, 2022 16:54
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Spencer was.... Alright. Had some really nice cinematography, but Diana's character just felt a bit over the top. Maybe I'm wrong, but I didnt buy into her acting like that. Kristen Stewart was fine, seemed more like a script thing. 6/10
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Jan 2, 2022 17:32
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Grease (1978): B/B+. Dorky in some places (I doubt many Hollywood writers have ever attended a real American high school), but overall surprisingly entertaining. Zuko felt like a squeaky clean version of Tony Manero. Shelley's character resolution is problematic (I know it's fairly controversial). The Honkers (1972 or 3): B+. Little-known James Coburn movie with a lot of complexity to it. I started the movie rolling my eyes at the 'tough guy' rodeo persona and ended it pleasantly satisfied with how things turned out.
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Jan 7, 2022 22:08
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Badlands 8/10: Good film, almost wanted to give it 9/10. We have quite a few of these films, but it did it really well and probably one of the earlier ones to do it. Beautiful shots. Saint Maud 6/10: Having watched First Reformed recently it was just... Not that impressive. There Will Be Blood 8/10: Good film and enjoyable performances from all the actors. Loved the look of the film. Phantom thread: 7/10: Another good Daniel Day-Lewis performance, but the story itself just didn't do all that much to me. A Brighter Summer Day: 9/10: How can a four hours long film not even feel bloated?! I dont know, but it didnt. Some stunning cinematography Oslo, august 31st: 3/10: So ok, I know people really like this. But it felt like the same social realist boring rear end film I've seen 100 times before. Boring script, pretty good acting. Woodenlung fucked around with this message at 23:21 on Jan 8, 2022 |
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Jan 8, 2022 20:32
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Took a break from movies for a lot of the second half of 2021, but still managed to watch 193 features over the year. Highlights from July-December: Fellini first-time watches: Il Bidone - 4/5 Juliet of the Spirits - 3/5 Fellini Satyricon - 4/5 I Clowns - 2.5/5 Roma - 3.5/5 Casanova - 3.5/5 Orchestra Rehearsal - 3.5/5 New watches: Merrily We Go to Hell (1932, Dorothy Arzner) - 4/5 Bitter Lake (2011, Shay) - 3/5 The Raven (1935, Lew Landers) - 3/5 The Invisible Ray (1936, Lambert Hillyer) - 3/5 Black Friday (1940, Arthur Lubin) - 3/5 X: The Man with X-Ray Eyes (1963, Roger Corman) - 3/5 Muppets Haunted Mansion (2021, Kirk Thatcher) - 3/5 Pickup on South Street (1953, Samuel Fuller) - 4/5 This Gun for Hire (1942, Frank Tuttle) - 3/5 Criss Cross (1949, Robert Siodmak) - 3.5/5 Cloverfield (2008, Matt Reeves) - 4.5/5 The Beatles: Get Back (2021, Peter Jackson) - 4.5/5 Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021, Jason Reitman) - 2.5/5 Elf (2003, Jon Favreau) - 4.5/5 Encanto (2021, Byron Howard/Jared Bush) - 4.5/5 Rewatches: Putney Swope (1969, Robert Downey (a prince)) - 4.5/5 The Black Cat (1934, Edgar G. Ulmer) - 4/5 Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922, F.W. Murnau) - 4/5 [First silent feature my gf has seen, loved it] Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984, Hayao Miyazaki) - 5/5 Top Secret! (1984, ZAZ) - 4.5/5 Moonwalker (1988, various) - 2.5/5 Duck Soup (1933, Leo McCarey) - 5/5
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Jan 9, 2022 15:36
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My Best Friend's Wedding (4/5): Actually pretty rad. The main character is psychotic, the love rival is intelligent and has a lot of personality and agency, the man they're fighting over is fully committed to his fiancee and has his own darkness, and ultimately the most intelligent and reasonable character is the stereotypical wacky gay best friend, a role crushed by Rupert Everitt. It's an intelligent deconstruction of the standard RomCom tropes and earns the laughs it gets, and goddamn it all to hell, Julia Roberts is great in it. Duets (2/5): Boring as all hell. Terribly written with unforgivably boring characters spouting awkward dialogue, not helped by horrible acting performances; Huey Lewis would rather be absolutely anywhere else, Gwyneth Paltrow plays her character as if she has severe brain damage, Maria Bello can't sing but the movie expects us to believe she can, Scott Speedman could be replaced by a bucket with a smiley face drawn on it and it would make no difference. The movie is saved by the subplot involving Paul Giamatti and Andre Braugher. Both actors are exactly as good as you'd expect them to be, their storyline has an energy and pace to it that the others just don't, their chemistry is amazing and they run away with the best scenes. Push comes to shove, I'd say just about worth seeing for the two of them but fast-forward literally any scene neither of them is in.
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Jan 11, 2022 16:31
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Red Rocket - terrific performances by everyone especially the Mikey and Lexie characters. I wish the film had tighter pacing the way I felt Florida Project did but still legitimately really enjoyed the movie. probably one of my favorite movies of 2021 now
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Jan 13, 2022 05:24
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Police Story 1 - incredible film, I love the humor and the pace and direction and that everyone is deceiving each other except poor Jackie who keeps failing at it. it also goes hard at the end when they all get bloodied by being thrown through glass Policy Story 2 - pretty disappointing after the first one besides a few fun scenes, I'm not sure why they thought it should be more of a procedural Police Story 3 (Supercop) - better than 2 because he goes to the mainland and Malaysia which is a good premise and I like the sequence of the entire village set up to fool the bad guy, plus you get to see Michelle Yeoh beat up a bunch of guys
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Jan 16, 2022 16:43
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Police Story 3 is one of my favorite Jackie Chan movies. The stunts are amazing. I watched the Garbage Pail Kids movie and it hits that sweet spot of strange decisions leading to a bad movie that's crazy to watch. There's so many amazingly weird things in the movie such as how strange the romance is and the main character pretty much using the garbage Pail Kids as sweatshop labor to seduce his love interest. It's a bad movie but if you're looking for that I highly recommend it.
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Jan 16, 2022 17:02
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New Matrix was a mixed bag. It was entertaining and well acted but the story was a bit convoluted and the whole thing didn't seem to add a whole lot to the existing story.
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Jan 16, 2022 17:34
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Got drunk with some online friends for a few of these middle ones and I was still sobering up when I wrote the first reviews, so this might be a little fractured. Ju-On: The Grudge Asian horror hits a nerve that few other horror does. With more western horror, there tends to be certain rules to survive. Ways to outsmart the ghosts and monsters. In stuff like The Grudge? There's no escape. There's no rules. All of Japan becomes a wasteland. You just get hosed over and that's that. 10/10. Cronos please stop giving my grandpa blood!!! you are making him too strong. he broke out of the morgue and the cops cant get him. he's too powerful. Utterly wonderfully chilling horrific film about life, death, and how people who don't even want immortality might get consumed by the desire for it. Total delight of a watch that made me sick to my stomach. Dave Made a Maze Dave builds a maze in the living room. His girlfriend Annie, enters the maze to pull him out. Its a much bigger maze than she thought. One of my new favorite films. Its completely creative, surreal, and unlike anything I've ever seen. It doesn't waste its premise for a single second and always finds a new way to subvert your expectations. Its like a feature-length Community episode and all the better for it. Bratz: Fashion Pixiez Cannot explain the genuine fear that gripped my heart as a 25 year old when two Bratz heroines were brainwashed into being evil pixies. The power of friendship never turns them back to normal. When the other heroes try to use the power of friendship, the pixie!Bratz just toy with their feelings and manipulate them. I guess moral of the story is, don't trust like that. Jammin in Jamaica bro, what the gently caress is wrong with Barbie in this movie. I'm sorry your boyfriend has a hobby? and that his love of that hobby taking priority for a week means you have to dump him? grow up. spontaneous combustion is a bop though. Barbie as The Princess and the Pauper great movie to laugh with friends during Encanto One of the first Disney movies I've actively enjoyed in years. Excellent character work, great music and direction, wonderful story of intergenerational trauma. A delight of a time. Hilda and the Mountain King There's nothing that quite captures the same vibe and aesthetic as Hilda. I've spent twenty minutes trying to explain the strengths of this movie but nothing does justice. Any speech I have about its incredible direction, stunning character work, immaculate vibes, and message of empathy just pales in comparison to how the show and film execute these ideas. Some of the best animation in cinema history. The Suicide Squad Superhero movie that's actively fun! Quickly won me over and made me actively care about characters like Polka Dot Man or Ratcatcher. John Cena and Idris Elba nail every emotional beat and show off their skill as actors easily. Peter Capaldi and Viola Davis glide through this film as great supporting cast. And its just great to see my man Starro getting his due. An easy, fun film.
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Jan 17, 2022 03:46
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Supercop rules
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Jan 17, 2022 07:38
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Belle 3/5 - Gorgeous animation and some really breathtaking sequences (visually, musically, and emotionally), but it doesn't all come together like it should and feels undercooked despite being 2 hours. There's a 5/5 story in here somewhere, but even with the flaws it has a lot of heart. I think it's officially a 2021 release and as such, probably a top 5 of the year film (and easily the best animated film I saw).
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Jan 17, 2022 07:56
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Mortal Kombat (2021) 2/5: Just a dullard with almost universal bad acting, not to mention most likely incomprehensible to anyone who hasn't played the games ("Earthrealm has lost 9/10 tournaments to Outworld"? What does any of that mean??). Peppered with a very good performance from the actor playing Kano, an admirably culturally-accurate cast and some pretty cool fight sequences, otherwise little to recommend unless you're curious having played the games.
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Jan 18, 2022 09:51
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Drive my car 4.5/5: Just a fantastic film all around. One of the better ones of 2021 for me for sure. Debating giving it 5/5, might just end up on that on a rewatch. The Tragedy of Macbeth: 2.5/5: It's very possible I am just too dumb for this film, but I certainly felt like I didnt quite get it all. A few really good performances however, especially from the witch. Also looked amazing at times... and then really cheap at other times. Red Rocket: 4.5/5: Surprised at how much I liked this, Simon Rex is packing! and he can actually act?! Maybe I just missed him being in more serious stuff before, but first time Ive seen him be legit good. Waves: 2.5/5. I liked the second half a lot more than the first. Tries to a big to deep for its own good, and doesnt quite hit it. Was alright though. Days of Heaven: 4/5. I think I preferred Badlands slightly to this. But I liked it quite a bit. Beautiful. Pleasure: 1.5/5. Unlike Red Rocket, most of the people in this film can not act. Could have been a good film on the porn industry, but ends up just feeling a bit meh. Some of it is straight up pornographic, I dont mind that, but fair warning to anyone. What I do mind is the plot and everything just kind of going nowhere. Platoon: 3.5/5 . Never watched this, and never realized how many films and so on parodied a certain death scene lmao. Pretty good film, some horrific stuff shown, but also a bit loving silly at times.
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Jan 18, 2022 10:36
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The Wiz (1978): A. Well done, refreshing "new" take on the Wizard of Oz. I especially liked the music and dance numbers for green, red and gold, respectively. I still prefer the 1939 movie, but The Wiz was a fun watch.
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Jan 19, 2022 20:38
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Some 2021 stuff (scores out of 100): No Time to Die - 86 Casino Royale is one of my favorite movies. Quantum of Solace is not as bad as everyone says but it's still not great. Skyfall and Spectre are both tolerable but whatever. They get worse very time I watch them. So it's impressive that No Time to Die triples down on the whole "all of these movies are in a series and they all matter" thing and manages to suck me in. Tone management is always tough in these films - unless you do basically 100% serious like Casino Royale it can make everything feel cheap. I think this movie handled all of that pretty well and I liked the action. The villain is a huge wet fart but hey, it didn't bother me. Venom: Let There Be Carnage - 74 Kind of fun. The Matrix Resurrections - 92 Every criticism everyone makes of this movie is completely on point but so help me god the whole thing is just super duper my jam. Neo + Trinity forever. Titane - 80 I think either you go nuts for the dancing scenes and your brain is colonized by the ~~~vibes~~~ or this leaves you a little colder than you'd like. I prefer the director's first movie, Raw, which was more focused I think. Last Night in Soho - 80 Honestly not very good but it's fun to look at and I honestly find it hilarious how much the boyfriend supporting character has to be understood as the horniest motherfucker in the entire world for any of his actions to make sense. Dude is so desperate to get laid that he's racking up terrible decisions faster than a toddler throwing a tantrum. Free Guy - 58 Sucks. Not funny at all. No interesting action. Barely has anything to say. Redeemed a bit by Channing Tatum and (to a lesser extent) Taika Waititi being kind of funny, and not being overtly evil or offensive at any point. The Last Duel - 85 Dope as hell. I think I'll like it more when I rewatch it. Mass - 84 Heavy poo poo. The Humans - 83 This would have a higher score if it wasn't scary. There's no reason this needs to be a horror movie. Maybe that makes it better for some people, so I'm not saying it was a bad choice, but it was optional and I don't like scary stuff! Eternals - 68 I definitely suck down the Marvel slop as much as anyone else and this is the first movie misfire for me in a while. Allergic to doing anything interesting with the many ideas it puts on the table, the evil monsters are boring as gently caress, the movie has too many people and can't do anything with any of them, the threat is the world getting blown up again or whatever, etc. The French Dispatch - 91 Maybe my favorite Wes Anderson, although I have to rewatch my previous favorite, The Life Aquatic. Masterful performances from a ton of people and the last story, which seems thin for a while, has such a great ending. The Power of the Dog - 86 Yeah whatever it's fine. Jesse Plemons is great in this but he disappears for half the movie. Bonus points for casting Thomasin McKenzie as what is effectively a background character. The Velvet Underground - 86 A good documentary but I wanted it to do something documentaries often do when they have nothing interesting to say, which is just get a bunch of famous people to ramble on the topic. In this case I think it would've been really good. My favorite part is the guy who founded the Modern Lovers talking about the impact the band had on him and I want that for 20 different bands. Spencer - 86 Grew on me a bit after I sat with it. Its main weakness in my eyes is that it's very trite but as time goes on the impact of that fades and all the good stuff bubbles to the top. The Beta Test - 82 Fun but never quite stabs at the heart of the topics it talks about. A nice acting showpiece for the writer/director/star but then again so was his earlier Thunder Road so I'm not sure we needed another. The Lost Daughter - 88 Great! Olivia Colman is unimpeachable. Don't think we needed the opening scene that makes the rest of the movie a flashback. The Worst Person in the World - 86 #straightpeopleproblems
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Jan 22, 2022 15:11
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Last Night in Soho. Good production value, great performances, but I kinda wish it has just been Eloise goes to art school. I do appreciate that everyone in the 60s scenes smoked. 
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Jan 25, 2022 00:49
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Zardoz not my first time watching it but after taking some high powered edibles I think I get it: Immortality is borning, embrace mortality. Reject Society, return to monke. 7/10
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Jan 25, 2022 20:25
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Ad Astra (2019) 2/5 Brad Pitt is a sad astronaut living in the shadow of his dad Tommy Lee Jones who is the greatest astronaut of all time and possibly responsible for the end of the world, maybe. The plot is vague and weightless (  ) but takes itself very seriously. Clunky script with some infuriating narration where Brad monotonously spells out what would otherwise be interesting subtext. Every character except Sad Brad and Sad Dad is completely 2D, Liv Tyler does nothing except look sad in soft focus, Donald Sutherland does his best. Production design and visuals are great though, especially the little details of capitalist hell world encroaching on the isolation of space. Gets an extra half point each for the moon buggy chase and the killer baboon.
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Jan 26, 2022 18:29
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Gato posted:Ad Astra (2019) Absolutely on the mark with this one.
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Jan 26, 2022 22:57
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I’d be willing to give Ad Astra another shot if they made a narration-free cut (al la Blade Runner). It wouldn’t fix everything; but it would help.
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Jan 27, 2022 03:13
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Cut the narration and the action sequences (which were added and filmed by a whole second and separate director/crew for blockbuster appeal) and it'd be a 4/5.
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Jan 27, 2022 03:16
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i dont have an issue with the action sequences but the narration is dreadful to the point of completely recontextualizing the plot in a lovely and almost nonsensical way another victim of the disney merger
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Jan 27, 2022 03:19
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I genuinely feel sorry for anyone watching Ad Astra in 2022.
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Jan 27, 2022 07:30
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EL BROMANCE posted:I genuinely feel sorry for anyone watching Ad Astra in 2022. I remembered it getting decent-to-good press back in 2019 (83% on RT when I just checked) and it had a cool trailer 
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Jan 27, 2022 09:16
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I think a film that's viciously cynical about space exploration, the bodies that both exploit & are exploited in the name of it & God, a future of still rampant corporatization as capitalism continues being elevated to the sacrosanct, and the primal fear of no one being out there to answer our calls for loneliness has worth, it's just that Ad Astra ends up only just remaining on this side of the threshold of "good"
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Jan 27, 2022 17:17
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