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Lolita (1962) I feel like I've done a lot of defending of this film in literature circles as an adaption, but having just watched the book and just read the movie...It's not a great adaption, although still a good movie. One thing I've seen discussed before and I agree with is how much decreased the monstrosity of Humbert is in the film. You don't get the small asides of Dolores sobbing at night, every night. Him bribing her for sexual favors and her trying to navigate his repulsiveness, or his disgusting plan to impregnate her and her daughter. Kubrick tries in a few places to get the message across like in the scene with Frankestein, cut right to Humbert, or her blow up before she eludes his grasp. I think it would be wrong to say Filmbert is sympathetic in anyway, but he feels more pathetic than repulsive and monstrous. The second thing that I don't feel is discussed is the lack of color in the film, and I mean that literally. The novel feels vivacious and full of color in contrast to how dour and repressive Humbert is. When you film the work in Black and White, you lose some of that Vivacity.
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Nov 3, 2022 02:56
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Barbarian : some real great grimy horror, a few really great transitions between comedy and horror and there really is no predicting how it's going to end. "can't have poo poo in Detroit" the movie Don't Worry Darling : A visual feast framing an OK plot, it really works to draw you in and it's effective even though the 3rd act is a bit hack. Florence P sells the whole thing Dr. Yinz Ljubljana fucked around with this message at 14:58 on Nov 3, 2022 |
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Nov 3, 2022 14:24
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Whipsaw Myrna is of course stunning and witty. Although that shines more in her character actions in navigating the situation she's in than in her dialogue. Everyone else including Spencer Tracy are just okay, and the plot is generic and a bit silly at times. Moonage Daydream One of those weird times when being a fan of someone's work almost hurts because you feel the absence of your favorite but less popular songs in the work. Other than that though, it's a very good experience. The visuals are cool enough looking, blending concert footage, interviews, musical visualizations, and clips philosophically linked to the songs. You won't learn a lot about Mr.Jone's life, but you will learn a lot about his philosophy and emotions going through life.
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Nov 4, 2022 08:27
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Guellermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities: Mostly mid anthology series with a few standouts. Even the good stories are 20 minutes too long. Let Panos Cosmata direct a CreepShow. 5/10 Shanghai Express - Marlene Dietrich is amazing to watch， she deserved to end up with a cooler guy than the male lead. Warlord era China is a rich setting and trains always mean a good movie, they should have ditched the tropey passenger b plots and spent more time on the setting. Anna May Wong had little to do, as usual. Real shame, maybe she should have hooked up with Shanghai Lily. 6.5/10 Flash Point Still unsure if this was a rewatch or not. The climax seems real familiar but nothing before it does. Then again, nothing in the first hour is that memorable. After that it goes balls to the wall and has some cool fight scenes. Fast-forward until you see the turkey bomb and watch from there. Donnie Yen is so cool, dude 6.5/10 Sister Street Fight: Hanging By A Thread - Bought the entire collection of these from Arrow Media. First film was a rewatch and it's funny how much that film has blended in my mind with the similar Dragon Princess. Despite being Japanese, Sister Street Fighter is the platonic ideal of a trashy 70s kung Fu. You got a parade of goofy rear end villains, snap zooms, dutch angles that roll over into differently angled dutch angles, a jazzy synth score, guys vocalizing like Bruce Lee when doing moves, the Aladdin Quick Step plays when it cuts to Hong Kong, and so on. I recommend it. 7/10 This first sequel is a step down. The characters are nowhere near as colorful, the fight scenes aren't as good, there's no Sonny Chiba, etc. Just a lesser film overall. This is also one of those movies that you will either find to hate women or to be feminist. The heroine is a badass woman while the villains exploit women's bodies in all the worst ways, using surgery to transport diamonds within the rear end cheeks of prostitutes. Like many exploitation films of the era, it was probably both, meant to titillate while vaguely punching up. Anyways the villain had child porn hanging on his walls, could've blurred that or something, Arrow. 4/10 Barbarian Didn't find this scary but did find it creative and engaging throughout. There are a lot of contemporary horror films that attempt to address current issues, such as (in this film) male predators and female fears. In the woke media thread I complained about similar movies being inartful, just sort of inertly stating their moral through shallow mouthpiece characters. Barbarian bucks the trend and stands out as a solid example of how to weave these issues into characters and situations, you know, like a storyteller should do. Just wish the horror elements were stronger. 7/10 The Outsider Only watched this bc a coworker recommended it to me. Turns out she just thinks Jared Leto is hot 😬. Boring weeaboo fantasy about a white guy in postwar Japan who becomes Yakuza and gets a hot Asian gf. Makes The Last Samurai look amazing. 1/10
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Nov 4, 2022 09:41
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Detour Certainly a different type of Femme Fatale. I choose to believe that our MC was unreliable and trying to avoid the gas chamber, cause accidentally killing two people in a week is so much more depressing. Detour is one of the sweatiest and bleakest movies I've seen.
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Nov 6, 2022 00:44
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Yeah that was my interpretation too.
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Nov 6, 2022 00:48
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Weird : The Al Yankovich Story is pretty close to what he would do with a Walk The Line / Walk Hard style flick and for that I'm thankful. Radcliffe is clearly having a blast, Evan Rachel Wood plays a mean Madonna and the plot goes off the rails in the best way. Funny even if you don't care about his music.
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Nov 6, 2022 03:51
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mutantIke posted:Also just got out of Tár. Incredibly funny movie. One of the best "punchline endings" I've ever seen. Definitely worth seeing in a theater so that you don't fall asleep in the very slow second hour the banshees of inisherin - the war of the roses of bromances. the character arc of colin farrell's eyes & brows probably outdoes 90% of the performances coming out this year
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Nov 6, 2022 04:10
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The Banshees of Inishirin - might need a thread because drat that was good, and I want to talk about it a lot.
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Nov 6, 2022 04:31
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Coaaab posted:The first hour was where I felt it was all methodically paced table setting, then everything just snowballed from there. As for the coda, linda following the path of a sexpat and beginning to rehabilitate her image by ingratiating herself with gamers is so, so perfect The reveal that her name is actually Linda was 10/10. It really made the marketing emails that industry peeps were complaining about that specified that TAR was a name and it needed the accent and to be all caps a lot funnier.
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Nov 6, 2022 04:40
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Terrifier 2 - I watched the first Terrifier years ago and barely remember it but this one seemed quite a bit better? Trashy and mean spirited, but you got to appreciate the commitment to having tons of practical gore effects, all of which look great. And Art the Clown is pretty funny, even if he is like the first idea a person would have for a slasher villain (what if a clown... was evil??). I wish it was less nasty, I can't enjoy the gore effects as much when they're being used to torture a poor woman for ??? reasons but then it wins me back with an amazing visual gag so there you go. 6/10
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Nov 6, 2022 07:26
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The_Doctor posted:The Banshees of Inishirin - might need a thread because drat that was good, and I want to talk about it a lot. I was hoping to read some impressions of it on here too. Personally I loved it.
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Nov 6, 2022 15:08
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Return of Sister Street Fighter - I enjoyed this more than the 2nd one. Largely, these films are interchangeable, but the second film really upped the gross sleaze factor present in a lot of 70s exploitation films and this one downplayed it and so I prefer this one. Etsuko Shihomi just isn't suited for the grittier type of stories, she's no Sonny Chiba or Meiko Kaiji. Here's this young girl who's just into karate or whatever, gets her big break and you stick her in movies with all of these nasty rapes and torture scenes and all that? Just let her make it to the end of one of these without all of her friends and family dying in her arms, drat. 6/10
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Nov 7, 2022 07:50
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Barbarian Super intense movie. Really liked the choices of, and contrast between characters. The leads who are introduced first have a really interesting dynamic. I didn't want to change gears out of romantic drama mode! Then, the tension ramps up like crazy, and it really does become a pretty scary movie. Still, with a hint of comedy and irony woven through. Probably the most realistic police scene ever made.
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Nov 8, 2022 01:01
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Sister Street Fighter: Fifth Level Fist - The last of the series and unrelated to the others, this fourth SSF film (why isn't called Fourth Level Fist?) is shorn of it's director and loses the stylistic flourishes of the previous trilogy and is completely skippable. 4/10 The big thing this week is watching classic Italian Horror films. It's a prominent gap in my film viewing history and a couple of these were on my watchlist anyways so I decided to dive in. Zombie - I honestly expected Lucio Fulci films to be even gorier, based on his reputation, but maybe after you've seen poo poo like Terrifier 2 in the past week poo poo like this doesn't even register. I felt this tropical zombie tale open strong and ended strong but in between was filled with characters I felt nothing for. So many of the deaths in this movie involve characters just standing still while the zombies slowly ambles up and into position to bite them exactly where the special effects crew needs them to. I'm not asking for tactical realism or anything, but it does start to come off as "Dr Evil goon shouting at steam roller" after a while. Like just move, guys. 6/10 The Beyond - The funniest thing about this movie is reading the Reception section on Wikipedia afterwards. You get a quote block about how the people who don't understand this movie are idiots, attributed to Fulci himself, and then a line about Roger Ebert giving it 1/2 star and calling it one of his most hated movies. Why? Even his review doesn't make much sense to me, basically describing a bunch of cool poo poo and being like "this is dumb". This movie contains tarantulas eating a guy's face, which might be the best spider scene in movie history. Who could hate that? 6.5/10 Suspiria - I've seen the Argento style ripped off and homaged so many times that it may have seemed like this would be stale or even a self parody. While it might not be as fresh as when it was released, it's still a good looking movie. The plot is standard gothic horror fare but the vibes are strong. I'm going to check out the remake sometime this weekend, I've heard that it's great. 7.5/10 The Bird With the Crystal Plumage - This early Argento film is the only true Giallo flick I've ever seen, apparently, since I've been using the term wrong all these years. Unlike Suspiria, where I enjoyed how it was told but didn't have more than a surface level connection to the plot and characters, here the film has less lavish production design but I'm left with more to think about. A lot of horror stories ask why we even want to watch this morbid poo poo and this film seems to conclude that we do it as a way of reasserting control over the things that traumatize us. The protagonist and villain mirror each other in the way their obsession develops following a horrific encounter. I half expected the guy to take the painting with him back to America, maybe imply that his own interest will continue blossom darkly, but naw. 7.5/10 I know my ratings might seem low to bigger fans of these movies, but I did enjoy everything on the list so far. I try to make 5 the average when I remember to and so I would say that Lucio Fulci is a slightly above average George Romero knockoff while Dario Argento is a pretty talented genre director. The half points are compromises, I think these could either be rounded up or down over time, depending on how they develop on rewatches or in my memory. E: Forgot to mention, but watching these back to back it's interesting how Fulci and Argento both do the same scene with a dog turning it's master. If you've seen Suspiria, you know what I mean. I actually laughed out loud when it happened in The Beyond.
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Nov 11, 2022 00:06
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Mantis42 posted:
I felt like it wasn't quite as good as the original. They tried some themes that didn't quite land and got a little too cute with stunt casting though there's one shot that kind of made the stunt pay off.
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Nov 11, 2022 00:42
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New one is also 153 mins? That’s slowing me from checking out remake as that feels long for horror.
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Nov 11, 2022 01:01
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I liked the Suspiria remake, but it emulates Żuławski's Possession far more than the Agento original
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Nov 11, 2022 01:08
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Movies today are too drat long. Normalize 70 minute movies!
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Nov 11, 2022 01:09
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All movies should be over 3 hours
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Nov 11, 2022 01:14
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I watched it a while ago and it's not a horror film but it is Italian: Almost Human (1974) was one hell of a disturbing look at a criminal man unraveling. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
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Nov 11, 2022 02:21
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checkplease posted:New one is also 153 mins? That’s slowing me from checking out remake as that feels long for horror. it's very good and you don't feel the length much but it did not need the holocaust plot to be included at all
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Nov 11, 2022 02:44
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Gaius Marius posted:All movies should be over 3 hours Wow, Edward Yang is a goon!
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Nov 11, 2022 03:07
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Famethrowa posted:it's very good and you don't feel the length much but it did not need the holocaust plot to be included at all I disagree, I think it's part of the overall themes- the witches' school is a parallel to leftist organizations like Baader-Meinhof and those firmly believed Germany had not fully rooted out the fascists in their midst, or had a proper reckoning with their past.
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Nov 11, 2022 04:22
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Maxwell Lord posted:I disagree, I think it's part of the overall themes- the witches' school is a parallel to leftist organizations like Baader-Meinhof and those firmly believed Germany had not fully rooted out the fascists in their midst, or had a proper reckoning with their past. I agree, but it was so underdeveloped that it was a distraction. The writers would have done much better to focus on one of those two comparisons rather than try to squeeze them both in.
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Nov 11, 2022 05:17
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Midjack posted:I agree, but it was so underdeveloped that it was a distraction. The writers would have done much better to focus on one of those two comparisons rather than try to squeeze them both in. Exactly. You could obliquely reference a great historical trauma in a movie set in 1970s Germany and I think everyone would understand what you meant. I don't think a character so peripheral to the interesting dance school needed to have his personal resolution be the final scene of the movie.
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Nov 11, 2022 14:51
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La Traviata(2022 Met Production) Nadine Sierra was absolutely phenomanal in this. I don't want to say she carried it as aside from the Male Lead I didn't find any of the others to be lacking in talent, but she stole the show. I felt for her character when Alfredo breaks her heart by throwing the money at her after she's already lost everything she had for such a short time after betting it all on a relationship with him. Wasn't as impressed with the idea of the whole Seasons theme, it felt a little forced. As a bonus the kind of people who go to Opera recordings in theater are really nice. I had a great conversation during the intermission and at the end about Verdi and why modern people are less inclined to the arts in general. Really great experience all around. Perdues dans New York In my on going series of watching shows that people used as video for their Youtube music videos we've got some hits and some big misses. But what we haven't had so far was a weird French movie about two girls traveling through time and playing an inadvertent game of Hide and Seek throughout the city and time. The score and sfx in this movie sucks total rear end, but everything thing else is top notch. It's got this strange ethereal quality while also setting the movie in one of the most grounded locations in Cinema. The movie gives off the same vibes as a Last Year and Marienbad or a Je t'aime Je t'aime but the closest comparison I can think of is Eyes Wide Shut it's a movie about the feel of a location and time rather than what it was actually like. Really cool little movie.
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Nov 12, 2022 04:16
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Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009) it rocks, every decision from the lizard scene to Cages Jimmy Stewart impression is bizarre but completely engrossing
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Nov 12, 2022 05:38
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Sweet Smell of Success (1957) rarely has a film so bleak been so funny. Incredible dialogue. Tony Curtis plays a slimy little worm extremely well, Burt Lancaster is frightening and cool. Glad Noir month on ciriterion channel put it on my radar
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Nov 13, 2022 14:59
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The Banshees Of Inisherin - Platonic War of the Roses from the Irish Cohen brother. Pretty drat close to being my favorite of the year. TAR - The first hour or so is the most high brow poo poo I've ever seen in my life -- The last shot is hilariously lowbrow. Very smart (almost too smart for me). I'll have to ruminate over it a bit more.
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Nov 13, 2022 22:55
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Love & Friendship Amazing film, to nobodies surprise Whit Stillman "Gets" Austen in a way that some more reserved adaptions don't quite. Every character is a goddamn gift, but especially Beckinsale as Lady Vernon who is on some Limitless levels of getting absolutely everything she wants and gently caress you if you doubted her.
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Nov 14, 2022 09:15
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Glass : M Night takes what should have been a slam dunk and just kinda dribbles around for a bit. McAvoy's performance is more subdued than in Split, Jackson's Mister Glass is great but I felt like Bruce Willis just kinda sleepwalked through this one. Sarah Paulson is in the movie, not given much to do. Ana Taylor-Joy has a better arc and less screen time, so the math doesn't work on that one. A mess. Could have been way more interesting but falls short.
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Nov 14, 2022 14:38
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Fallen Angel: I always get the impression from classic Film Noir that in the 40s and 50s it was really easy to just be a drifter. Like some of it has to be dramatic license but you'd just wander in and get caught up in a web of sex and intrigue. Anyway this one's kinda good. They have to make a hard pivot to turn the protagonist from a convincingly amoral idiot to someone who can redeem himself but that may be the subtle religious theme. Was John Carradine ever young?
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Nov 14, 2022 22:40
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People didn't really have a paper trail the way we do now. You can still do it but it's harder, but back in those days you could just...leave and go somewhere else and the only actual proof of identity you'd have is a license maybe and a Social Security card.
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Nov 14, 2022 22:59
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I was really confused because I thought you were talking about the Wong Kar Wai film.
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Nov 14, 2022 23:57
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Just got out of an early release screening of The Fabelmans. Easy to see why everyone talks about the David Lynch cameo, it's easily the most memorable part of the movie. Just a really solid family drama that also happens to be Spielberg's autobiography. Dano was born to play a spineless/chinless dad who gets cucked by Seth Rogen
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Nov 16, 2022 04:12
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The Man Who Fell to Earth I saw Moonage Daydream a week ago and figured I should give Bowie's Movie work a shot. Glad I did, this movie is absolutely gorgeous. And Bowie's inhuman mannerisms and demeanor lead itself really well into the fish out of water alien experience of the ravages of American culture. I don't even hate or dislike the bad guys in here, I just feel pity for everyone. I also love a clever title so the misdirect with you thinking it's Fell as in him Falling to earth physically and instead being him Falling as a state of being is cool Gaius Marius fucked around with this message at 09:54 on Nov 16, 2022 |
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Nov 16, 2022 09:50
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Gaius Marius posted:The Man Who Fell to Earth I saw Moonage Daydream a week ago and figured I should give Bowie's Movie work a shot. Glad I did, this movie is absolutely gorgeous. And Bowie's inhuman mannerisms and demeanor lead itself really well into the fish out of water alien experience of the ravages of American culture. I don't even hate or dislike the bad guys in here, I just feel pity for everyone. The original Walter Tevis novel is pretty good, so as a young fan of that book I didn't like the movie. I guess I should give it another shot.
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Nov 16, 2022 14:03
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The Killing Watching this after I've seen Bob la Flambeur, I kept thinking how funny it would've been if the MC had got distracted and hosed up the whole plan that way. I felt really bad for the side characters this time, the main characters girlfriend hasn't seen the man in five years and he goes and gets himself locked up minutes away from leaving with her and being a millionaire. And that parking attendant who thinks the Horse shooter is a decent man. Mr.Blandings Builds his Dream Home There is zero way to read this movie that doesn't include the lawyer nailing Myrna Loy flagrantly and her gaslighting her husband about it with the house improvements. And the film functions as a hilariously prescient criticism of American Capitalism despite trying to be a light farce. With Grant selling worthless bullshit as an ad executive, being sold worthless goods in bad faith, being nickeled and dimed through the whole process so he can get a house he doesn't even like that much, has his Wife getting railed by his Lawyer while he spends hours on a commute or at work, and then to save his job steals, without credit, an idea from a black woman who receives $10 for saving the mans career. Honestly this is the first movie I didn't love Loy in. She's always the highlight even in movies I don't like, but Grant is the main focus here, and her character is too vapid and uncaring while also being not particularly comical. Her joke about the paint colors is alright, but the rest is pretty ehhh
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Nov 18, 2022 11:12
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Rush Hour: I mean what's to say? It's pretty great, and unlike a lot of similar movies I feel most of the instances of racism are immediately undermined. Think Chris Tucker freaking out about the eel and camel hump, the trying to order it. It's not perfect, and I can't fault anyone for not enjoying the movie, but I think as a buddy cop movie it's awesome.
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Nov 19, 2022 10:56
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