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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem: An extremely cute, very energetic film! But also "What's Up" transitioning into HEEEYAYAYAY may be the most insane violent reaction to a needle drop I've had in a movie theater since Nightcall in Drive back when I was the only person who listened to Kavinsky. I'm very glad I have a partner who was wearing a Skeletor shirt and was reacting the same way and the theater was almost empty otherwise because that could have been utterly humiliating. I was FLAILING. It's a shame it doesn't seem to be making its money back. I think the Turtles themselves were adorable and there's a lot of cool action and the art style is great. Story is fine but it's all so heartfelt and full of good-hearted energy and solid jokes you can't help but like it. I want to see more!
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Aug 20, 2023 18:58
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null_pointer posted:I'm sorry? Can you summarize this because I thought Cruise's marriages were always doomed from the beginning, due to Cruise being Cruise. It’s not like Tom or Nicole will admit this, but I’m sure Kubrick banning Tom from the set when his wife was filming sex scenes while Kubrick makes everyone do 100 takes didn’t help their relationship lol. The only thing Tom Cruise will say of making the film was playing Bill was very ‘unpleasant’. Gaius Marius posted:It's tabloid bs That’s all we have confirming it was Scientology pushing Kidman out because she only had one foot in, but yeah that probably had more to do with it. But the year long shooting schedule of Tom thinking about his wife getting gangbanged while loving it may have also affected his psyche 
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Aug 20, 2023 21:03
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Spare Parts (2015) This is the movie about the high school group that beat MIT in the robotics competition, not the grindhouse 2020 movie. It's a really touching movie, and hits hard because of my own background and I teach a similar demographic. The actors playing the students really nail it, especially José Julián as Lorenzo. George Lopez and Marisa Tomei are good in it, although the romance between them feels a bit ham-fisted. I would have preferred swapping that out to focus more on the students of the club, since this is really their story. We get background about Oscar and Lorenzo, but Luis and Cristian really get the short end of the stick. Beyond the message, it's a great science and engineering film as well. I watched it because I was hoping it would be a good film to show on days when I have to be out of school (give the sub something easy to do, and students something interesting to watch). It went above and beyond there. Seeing them look for supplies, go through build-test-refine cycles, and find solutions when problems happen is pretty great. There is a big push in getting students to build or make things in science, so hopefully this will give me some ideas and inspire some of my own kiddos to try designing their own robots.
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Aug 21, 2023 00:49
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Thirst (2009) this is a solid and sexy Cinderella and vampire mashup from Park Chan-Wook. The priest, who accidentally becomes a vamp after a blood transfusion, tries to maintain he desire to help others by assuming the role of a Prince Charming of sorts for Tae-ju, the trapped step daughter and stepsister of old acquaintances. There’s some great imagery here where the priest lifts her up and places her bare feet in his shoes. Being a vampire forces the priest to face his base human desires and soon begins an intense, and hot, affair with Tae-ju. And though he resists it, murder soon follows, which he finds ways to justify. Cool drowned ghost imagery here and shows how it ruins their affair as the murder literally comes between them in bed. Tae-Ju as a vampire becomes well a Cinderella with all the power and anger. She’s childlike (reborn) in simply taking all the pleasures she wants (mostly drinking blood). The priest continues to live in his fairy tale and tries to control her for a happily ever after before realizing that can never happen with the monsters they are. Still the final moment is sweet as she wears his shoes again and stares into his eyes once more (like their early passionate sex ) as the sun burns them up.
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Aug 21, 2023 02:14
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I just watched The Apartment on Criterion. I’ve always had a hard time convincing myself to get into classic movies, and this one surprised me. The story is original, the pacing is quick, and the comedy is dark. I did not realize those last two things were possible in old black and white films.
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Aug 21, 2023 07:47
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you ought to watch sunset boulevard and ace in the hole
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Aug 21, 2023 13:12
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I recently watched Sunset Boulevard and it's fantastic stuff. Double Indemnity is one of my favorites. The Hustler is also awesome. And Some Like It Hot I think is also on Criterion and it's hilarious and very fun.
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Aug 21, 2023 13:42
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bking posted:I just watched The Apartment on Criterion. I’ve always had a hard time convincing myself to get into classic movies, and this one surprised me. Man wait till you get around to Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
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Aug 21, 2023 18:58
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A Field in England (Ben Wheatley, 2013) Really enjoyed this. THAT tent scene though, the look on Reece Shearsmith's face plus the use of Blanck Mass' Chernobyl was perfection (also the first of two films using that track and with Michael Smiley and Richard Glover, the other being Censor). It felt like a Ben Wheatley film - I can see the similarities between this and Wheatley's In The Earth, eg mushroom trips and strobic effects. The Blu-ray extras were really good and thorough as well, which isn't usual these days. The Meg 2: The Trench (Ben Wheatley, 2023) This however, did not feel like a Ben Wheatley film. I'd hoped he might put more of his personal touch on it, but I guess he wasn't allowed to put the gore it really deserved into a 12A/PG-13 movie. There were some interesting shots, like the practical POV shot from a shark's mouth as it swam towards swimmers but otherwise it took a bit too long to get to the fun part. The Chinese businessman character felt a bit forced and every time he appeared on screen I remembered he was probably only in the script because the film was partially funded by a Chinese film company - but at least he and his niece do actually talk Mandarin to each other.
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Aug 21, 2023 19:41
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Carpet posted:A Field in England (Ben Wheatley, 2013) I can't speak much to the sequel, but from your description it's pretty close to the first one in being somewhat muted and toothless. Saw the first Meg directly after seeing 2010's Piranha, and Piranha nailed every bit of what a movie of this type should be (a camp, gleefully gory b-movie) and was a better movie on every level. Also it has Christopher Lloyd in it and whose entire instruction from the director must have been "just do Doc Brown", and the best last stand ever with Ving Rhames.
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Aug 21, 2023 22:02
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Chungking Express Christopher Doyle is a genius, I absolutely loved the way this was shot, just constant "wow" moments. My parents lived in HK 1989-91 and I've never felt more jealous of them than after watching this with my dad who knew most of the locations. Didn't quite hit my the way In The Mood For Love did, the acting felt a touch off at moments, especially the first guy, but definitely an enjoyable watch. These films are really quite soppy but WKW's complete sincerity and the creative storytelling lets you know that it's OK to go along with it and to take this aspect of the human experience seriously.
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Aug 22, 2023 09:40
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Beau is Afraid : Hard to talk in-depth about this movie without major spoilers, so I will say that Ari Aster has his magnum opus - the kind of giant film about Serious Themes that every navel-gazing director dreams of. But you can't just write this off as grandiosity for its own sake because A) Joaquin Phoenix slays the role(s) he's given B) It does Have A Point about stuff, just it goes about it the way Lynch goes about it, which is to say very Dreamlike and Symbolic. The whole movie is a vibe and that vibe is what it's like to have an anxiety problem. Every scene designed from the ground up to make you (and by extension Beau) anxious to the point of panic. Even during what should be an amazing moment of him getting what he wants it becomes a nightmare. There's so many background details, references, shots packed with concepts and themes that you can miss whole subplots if you're on your phone (which happened to my wife, throughout). The 3 hour runtime feels like a chore at times, but it's well worth it
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Aug 22, 2023 13:43
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Molly's Game I didn't like this. She should have taken the money at the end, gently caress all those dudes e: maybe one of Michael Cera's best performances though?
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Aug 23, 2023 19:52
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distortion park posted:Molly's Game I didn't like this. She should have taken the money at the end, gently caress all those dudes As a "movie" it was meh, as an "excuse to shoot Jessica Chastain in one cocktail dress after another" it was an epochal artistic triumph
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Aug 23, 2023 20:22
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Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 I watched this on an 8 hour flight back home from Europe so keep in mind jet lag might have affected me at some point watching it. I liked it, probably the best of the trilogy in terms of story and emotion. High Evolutionary was easily the cruelest and darkest Marvel villain yet and for a series that gets so much flak for their villains when they nail it they just don't get enough credit. Another thing I wanted to mention is they REALLY pushed the PG-13 rating to an extreme here like when High Revolutionary's stretched-on face gets ripped off at the end and you see missing eyelids and mouth corners...it's way more graphic than the rating suggests (no complaint here). James Gunn clearly wanted to end his Marvel tenure on a high note and he succeeded here showing he's capable of grounding a concept as absurd as it was in 2014 and known for it's humor. Justin Godscock fucked around with this message at 16:13 on Aug 24, 2023 |
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Aug 23, 2023 21:38
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Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday This is 80% of a solid kinda-fun Friday flick until the last 20% kicks in and it becomes an absolutely bizarre Evil Dead tie-in (?!?) and Jason gets abducted or something. I’m still not quite sure how a magic dagger became part of the Jason lore but uhhhh Jason X oh my god it looks like an even lower budget 90s Outer Limits episode what the hell is this poo poo The Flight of The Phoenix (1965) I’d seen the Dennis Quaid remake when I was a teen and enjoyed it, but I’d never seen the original. Really solid all around, especially if you like Jimmy Stewart, really makes me wish I’d watched this with my grandpa back in the day. That man adored Jimmy Stewart.
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Aug 24, 2023 06:51
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Did the video store mix up the third tape?
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Aug 24, 2023 09:16
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Pope Corky the IX posted:Did the video store mix up the third tape? I had that happen to me with a Hellraiser DVD I rented at Blockbuster, lol
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Aug 24, 2023 09:36
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When I worked at blockbusters a mum rented Dreamer for her daughter and friends. A U rated film about a girl who saves a horse. I accidentally put 'The Dreamers ' in the box. An 18 rated film about teenagers exploring their sexuality in Paris. Mega Comrade fucked around with this message at 09:57 on Aug 24, 2023 |
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Aug 24, 2023 09:55
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Mega Comrade posted:When I worked at blockbusters a mum rented Dreamer for her daughter and friends. A U rated film about a girl who saves a horse. Lol
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Aug 24, 2023 10:12
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Venom: Let There Be Carnage - My gawd this film is an absolute hoot, not good but funny. Loses points for not having a Venommm rap at the end though.
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Aug 24, 2023 11:58
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Pope Corky the IX posted:Did the video store mix up the third tape? I’ve got a very broad movie collection 
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Aug 24, 2023 13:29
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distortion park posted:Molly's Game I didn't like this. She should have taken the money at the end, gently caress all those dudes Movie is 1000 times better when you learn he is playing Tobey Maguire.
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Aug 24, 2023 16:37
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Oldboy-
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Aug 24, 2023 17:08
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The Furnace (2020) - You're in a desert, walking along in the sand, when all of a sudden you look down and see a white man. The white man lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to reach its gold, but it can't. Not without your help. But you're not helping. Why is that? You did help? Why would you do that!? You're not supposed to help it, you idiot!
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Aug 24, 2023 17:08
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robot roll call posted:Oldboy- Ahhhh congrats. Its one of those films I wish I could see fresh again. Its still a great film on repeat watchings but nothing beats your first time. Wait....you are talking about the original right? Not the spike Lee one
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Aug 24, 2023 17:21
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Mega Comrade posted:When I worked at blockbusters a mum rented Dreamer for her daughter and friends. A U rated film about a girl who saves a horse. lol did you ever hear the results of her discovery?
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Aug 24, 2023 21:03
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Yeah she came in the next day and gave one of my co-workers an earful. Wrong discs in boxes happened all the time but that was the funniest occurrence for me. We also had it the other way around with customers returning their own films by mistake. There was this one guy who used to return his porn collection to us all the time by mistake. The weirdest and slightly related occorance was someone trading in a PS3 with a beastiality film in it. We ended up with the cops round and we had to set up a TV in the back so they could confirm, it was weird.
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Aug 24, 2023 22:12
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The Whale (2022) Some fantastic acting but not all that much else. For Aronofsky it felt tame.
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Aug 24, 2023 22:34
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Puss and boots the last wish fun but probably a little long. There’s a wholesome lesson and a cool animation style (tho could have been used more). Love all the new characters. Knock at the Cabin I find I usually can’t go wrong with some Shyamalan. And this worked again for me here. I thought it was well made with great performances, and it kept me interested. The end felt a bit too direct for me, and I would have preferred some mystery. But hey guess god is kind of a jerk in this film. Probably mid tier Shyamalan for me. Missed chance for an after credit scene where it’s revealed this was all caused by the trees and there’s now a Happening Extended universe. checkplease fucked around with this message at 01:07 on Aug 25, 2023 |
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Aug 25, 2023 00:58
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Oldboy I've been holding on to my rewatch of this for a minute until I could see it in theatres. Worth the wait once for seeing it on the large screen, and once again for seeing the virgin watchers reactions post screening. For the movie itself I will stand by my previous assessment that it's not the top of the pops for Wook. The biggest issue is that the third part is sloppy as hell. All the pieces are there, they all work, but not together. The climax and denouement is too long, Woo-jin going on the warpath instead of moving in with the Natchez is fine as a motivation. Perfect mix of ridiculously petty and semi sympathetic (emphasis on semi), but cutting between him, Monster, Mido, and all the flashbacks in between the violence and all just draaaaaaaags. it's worth a watch, but it's novelty is more impactful than the film itself. Handmaiden remains the GOAT. Petite Maman Essential cozy core. Surmounting grief through radical empathy with your family. There's very little to criticize here except that the razor noises when the father is shaving is ridiculous and the translation renders crêpes as pancakes which is nonsense. Gaius Marius fucked around with this message at 01:19 on Aug 26, 2023 |
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Aug 25, 2023 04:02
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Oldboy (2003) saw this finally, glad I got to see it on the big screen. Unfortunately I knew about the big reveal but I can imagine how affecting it must be. Very fun movie all around, has that signature Korean wry humor and emotional whiplash. And of course Park Chan-Wook is a master of visuals, although the cgi has aged poorly. It’s very funny in the interview he does with Nicholas Winding Refn he says he doesn’t like filming action scenes when this has one of the iconic action scenes of the 21st century.
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Aug 26, 2023 06:38
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The Lost City of Z I think I might be overrating Gray's work because I underrate him as a director, I don't think of him as a man with any cachet but then every time I watch one of his films I'm if not blown away then pretty drat near. There's no other director I've seen with such a finger on the pulse of that desperate human need to find out what's beyond that mountain, over that hill, or passed that desert. That burning desire that there is something else out there, all of society and civilization is trying to stop it, but that yearning burns so bright that you need to chase it. This and Ad Astra are a perfect complement to each other, to see what it is to be the yearner and the one left behind. Highly recommended if you want an interesting, classically framed story about a mans discontent with the topographical status quo and the desire to break free from the rigidity of overly hierarchical society.
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Aug 27, 2023 03:14
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lost city of z has one of the greatest final shots ever, yet it is somehow bested by the immigrant's final shot I have not heard anyone on here talk about armageddon time
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Aug 27, 2023 03:20
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Enemy Mine — I had no idea this movie existed I'm still not sure this movie existed
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Aug 27, 2023 03:51
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Coaaab posted:lost city of z has one of the greatest final shots ever, yet it is somehow bested by the immigrant's final shot It was a better movie than I would've thought given how terrible the trailers looked. It helps that it released at around the same time Fabelmens did but Grey has a much less nostalgic and more clear eyed vision of his youth and wasn't as interested in trying to lionize himself like Spielberg was. It's pretty grim but very honest.
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Aug 27, 2023 04:05
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The Town The lazy review is to say this is diet Heat, the correct review is to say it's Heat Zero Sugar. The thing is unless you're a diehard Bostonophile there is literally nothing The Town does better than Heat. It's a movie that is far too self conscious and desperate to make you feel for the main character. What Heat does is make you simultaneously care for every character, even though they are all pieces of poo poo, and at totally opposing goals. You want De Niro to escape with the cash and Eady while also wanting him to get revenge on Waingro and for Pacino to catch him. De Niro's character is not out to cause havoc, but he makes zero apologies for putting down anyone in his way, you don't like him because he's actually got a heart of gold and just wants a ticket out. You like him because he's very good at what he does, knows it's the only thing he can do, and know that he is just as oppressed on the outside by time and his lack of options as he was in prison by the walls and fences. And you know that he isn't going to make it, this is his one shot and he isn't going to make it. Affleck meanwhile goes to every opportunity to tell us what a nice dude his character is. He kicked the drugs, looks out for his not daughter, wants to get out, never killed nobody. And at the end he doesn't get the girl, but he does get away scot free despite getting a good half dozen people killed. It's so flaccid. Yeah the action is cool, Mad Man is compelling as a scumbag FBI despite being less than pacino, even the whole vibe is alright but the films refusal to make the hard choices means the whole thing ends up feeling popcorny instead of all timer. Straight up I'd rather rewatch The Accountant. Renner was actually decent in this, turns out making him a total piece of poo poo psycho works out better than trying to pretend he's a star. Lively is fun doing her Adriana LaBoston impression. Just a whole nothing movie, it's already fleeing from my brain matter.
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Aug 30, 2023 00:16
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Gaius Marius posted:The Town ... Nice review thanks. That lines up with Renner's performance in The Hurt Locker too.
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Aug 30, 2023 19:31
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Onibaba (1964) is a very slow burn of a movie, and even though it's classed as a Horror movie, it's definitely more of a drama or thriller. Overall it's a very good movie about two women trying to get by in feudal Japan during the tail end of a civil war. I can't think of many movies that focus exclusively on the peasents and completely ignore the war, but it works in this movie.
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Aug 30, 2023 19:52
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Randalor posted:Onibaba (1964) is a very slow burn of a movie, and even though it's classed as a Horror movie, it's definitely more of a drama or thriller. Overall it's a very good movie about two women trying to get by in feudal Japan during the tail end of a civil war. I can't think of many movies that focus exclusively on the peasents and completely ignore the war, but it works in this movie. The shots of the waving grass are absolutely beautiful.
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Aug 30, 2023 20:05
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