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The Green Knight - Fantastic and thought-provoking revisionist chivalric fantasy that's actually about capital C climate change who's come a knockin. A true feat of contemporary filmmaking that combines bizarre English folk history, sexual politics, unusual visuals, incredible sound design, and highly provocative and/or unnerving editing decisions. Patel and especially Vikander are absolutely transformed in their roles, but the supporting cast is also amazing, from Sean Harris to the always entertaining Barry Keoghan. As for Lowery, he's one of the most talented writer-directors in the business.
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Aug 5, 2021 04:47
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saw jungle cruise. favorite part was the intro before the main title, "how whimsical" i thought. once they got into the main plot it was pretty whatever. i rarely care about the talent but will make exceptions for the rock and paul giamatti. overall a workmanlike trailer from the boys at mousechwitz for their new ride, opening at a disney park near you. rated double kill.
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Aug 5, 2021 08:29
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Smythe posted:a workmanlike trailer from the boys at mousechwitz for their new ride, coming July 17, 1955 
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Aug 5, 2021 08:40
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Bottom Liner posted:coming July 17, 1955 theyre rehabbing it. i assume this will be a recursive rebrand like how potc was a movie about a ride which became a ride about a movie with the addition of captain jack as the lead of the merry mechanical men swashbuckling around the luxurious blue bayou fine dining establishment
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Aug 6, 2021 04:56
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The refurb is to remove insensitive elements that have been around since the 50s, not to tie in to the movie. Same thing they're doing with Splash Mountain and did to PotC long after the movie came out (removing the woman auction scene).
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Aug 6, 2021 05:25
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Bottom Liner posted:The refurb is to remove insensitive elements that have been around since the 50s, not to tie in to the movie. Same thing they're doing with Splash Mountain and did to PotC long after the movie came out (removing the woman auction scene). The woman auction scene was in Pirates until 2019, where they replaced with with a female pirate. What was previously changed was a scene where pirates chase women around, with the exception of a fat woman who is chasing the pirate to gently caress him. The scene was changed so that all the women were angrily chasing the pirates with brooms.
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Aug 7, 2021 02:44
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finally got around to watching space jam reloaded. movie seemed to be at war with itself, unable to unleash its desires and revel in its own camp. there were moments of nostalgia and hokey callback density which i appreciated but thinned out as the contrived and brutally boring A plot progressed. the fourth quarter of the titular "space jam" itself serves as a microcosm of the broader works failings, as even when the "tunes" are unbridled from the king's strict tutelage they fail to revel in their own celebrated repertoire of pratfalls and rube goldbergian machinations. rated 1 kill, bodyshots, autoshotty.
Smythe fucked around with this message at 07:48 on Aug 7, 2021 |
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Aug 7, 2021 07:43
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i believe there was also a time when the pirates ravenously rapistly pursuing animatronic rear end were replaced by the former but With Food, implying the scallywags were salivating over a roast turkey and not a roasted rump, if the burning buildings in the scene were to serve as their boudoirs, that is. regarding the jungle cruise, i wouldn't be surprised to see our a robotic recreation of our friend Dwayne make an appearance just around the riverbend. yet another theme touched upon in Space Jam, but left to languish, alas.
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Aug 7, 2021 07:54
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They could stick the real Dwayne up there and nobody would know the difference.
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Aug 10, 2021 14:37
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I've been "gearing up" to watch Fast 9, or whatever the most recent installment is, and upon reflection I realized that I lacked the appropriate context, as I hadn't seen all the precursor films. Obviously, as I'm sure we're all aware, there are multitudinous strategies for watching these movies, being so numerous and all. I have chosen to watch them in order of release, as I would as a True Fan. I began my road trip at Fast 4, since that's where I departed the journey as it aired in real time. While pumping the gas to write this review I had assumed that Justin Lin of F&F fame was around our age, but was surprised to learn he's surprisingly old, merging onto the highway of life in 1971, which would make him 27 when the iconic street racing anime initial d debuted, and didn't make it way across the pacific for quite some time. I think I first saw it in 2002 or somewhere around there on a bootleg DivX with my japanese american friend Ben. He's from van nuys. I have very little to say about Fast 4. It's a charming albeit mundane summer blockbuster, what it lacks in panache it makes up in competent cinematography and a sufficiently mindless script that triggers that primal part of your brain that compels you to drink Corona® Beer and eat some cheetos with chopsticks, as the Sexy Asian Car Girls would do during their lunch at arcadia city college. Which brings me to my next point, gently caress this movie, lets talk about Tokyo Drift. For one, it has the best name of them all, and brought us some legendary memes. Some core tenets of Fast are 1) cars 2) asian girls in miniskirts. I dated one of these girl once, miniskirt and all, that was pretty badass so perhaps part of this review is simply nostalgia for when I had all my hair and a bmw with a supercharger; a brand that is strikingly absent from this franchise. perhaps they didn't pay for product placement, unknown to me. Overall this is a series that focuses on the ancient battle between tragic heroes and noble savages, american muscle vs nimble imports. I digress. Tokyo drift spent 120 minutes or whatever building up to the iconic mount fuji descent race scene, and, then, after all this, after all the girls in platform shoes and mishegoss, absolutely fumbles it by not just putting a lovingly re-recorded Eurobeat under the race. I was honestly flabbergasted. Can you imagine it? Not only would have everyone in the theatre (especially millenial black guy anime fans) going absolutely insane, throwing their popcorn, sceaming, jumping for joy at this reveal, but I would have been so elated I would have cummed in my JNCOs immediately. Could you imagine? Furthermore, there were so many tropes Mr. Lin could have exploited during this scene: the white guy in muscle car protagonist passing on the outside, the famous "gutter run", the iconic anime shots where the enemy can't see you in his rears and then he's next to you and you gasp and say "Impossible!!!". So many iconic Initial D tropes that we could have experienced in full HD, 90 dB, bone crunching THX bass. and yet? and yet? Get your poo poo together Justin. We'll circle back to this franchise in a couple weeks when I'm caught up. e: forgot to rate. 1.5 kills, AWP down long. Smythe fucked around with this message at 09:13 on Aug 11, 2021 |
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Aug 11, 2021 08:48
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I think The Fog is the last Carpenter I hadn’t seen and I always got the impression from people that it wasn’t worth tracking down. It absolutely rules though, I’d have watched it sooner if I knew that it was Carpenter’s Jaws but the shark is ghosts. Even when it drags a bit every shot is gorgeous
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Aug 14, 2021 01:32
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Nothing makes me happier than coming across a film that I just missed when I was growing up for whatever reason, and knowing I would’ve absolutely loved it. Today that film is Toy Soldiers (1991). Definitely supersedes Red Dawn for the ‘kids take up arms and fight the evil forces’ thing. Perfect Sunday afternoon watch for sure.
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Aug 15, 2021 18:13
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The only good thing I have to say about Tokyo Drift is that the script at least acknowledged I’d be thinking about Donkey Kong every time they say DK
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Aug 15, 2021 21:16
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Piranha (2010) This one's been on my 'watch while inebriated' list for a long while now, and I can honestly recommend a moderate buzz as the optimal viewing conditions. This film is quintessential exploitative trash. It's a movie about a bunch of spring breakers being assaulted by a school of killer piranha and it knows exactly what it's doing with the premise. It's not quite at the level of being genre-savvy enough to act as a deconstruction of its own genre, but is filmed with enough skill and care that it's saved from being a piss-take film like Sharknado where you're laughing more at the ineptness of the production than anything else. The film knows you're there for two things: tits and bodily harm, and it delivers it in spades, with the most gratuitous nudity in film since the 1980's and an array of actually really impressive practical effects (on the mauled partygoers, the piranhas themselves are 2nd-rate 2010s CG, but you spend less time looking at them and more at the destruction they've wrought anyway.) It also has a remarkably solid cast with some surprising bit-parts. (Ving Rhames? CHRISTOPHER loving LLOYD??) It ain't Shakespeare, but it's a film that definitely exceeded my (admittedly moderate) expectations and had me genuinely enjoying it/laughing with rather than at it. If you're a fan of watching dumb teenagers getting mauled at a lake or just genre trash in general I'd heartily recommend it; there's a bunch of standout moments and it's very adept at making you laugh and say "ew" at the same time.
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Aug 15, 2021 22:48
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morestuff posted:I think The Fog is the last Carpenter I hadn’t seen and I always got the impression from people that it wasn’t worth tracking down. It absolutely rules though, I’d have watched it sooner if I knew that it was Carpenter’s Jaws but the shark is ghosts. Even when it drags a bit every shot is gorgeous I really love The Fog. It might not be the best Carpenter but I absolutely adore the atmosphere and the ghost story framing. And I love the lighthouse above the bay location.
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Aug 18, 2021 12:55
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Speaking of Carpenter, the Blank Check podcast just started a miniseries on him, in case people want to take a deep dive into his filmography. They haven't hit The Fog yet but they're getting there soonish.
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Aug 18, 2021 14:12
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Finally got around to watching The Lord of war. Seems really appropriate given what's happening in Afghanistan right now. Great performance by Nick Cage though it is one of those movies that talks about it important issue but understandably doesn't offer any solutions.
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Aug 23, 2021 05:49
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Watching The Terminal. I like that the comedy moments feel like an 80s/90s Hanks movie and that is a lot of fun. Stanley Tucci's character is so over the top in this, what the gently caress is going on? I like Saldana's character admitting to being a Trekkie and then getting a spot on Star Trek a few years later. IDK. I'll give this like a 7/10. It's a fun movie to watch once on a slow afternoon and get a couple simple laughs with just enough 'drama' dabbed in.
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Aug 23, 2021 15:49
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I was looking forward to Annette quite a bit because Leos Carax is one of my favorite directors. It's definitely a Carax film, which is to say it's quite unconventional and it's interested in some intense emotions. It's also very visually striking. This particular film is a musical and it plays the whole "people sing their feelings very directly" trope quite straight for the most part and that combined with the fact that the music is probably not for everyone means it's a real "love it or hate it" sort of thing. I loved it! (88/100) Also watched in quick succession the four latest Neon Genesis Evangelion movies. The first one (released 2007) is pretty much a shortened remake of part of the TV series. The second (2009) departs somewhat from the series, to the point where the third (2016) is entirely off the rails compared to the original. The latest just came out so I watched all of them. Like Annette, the latest is pretty direct about the emotional stuff, which I think some people dislike because previously the series has been more subtle. But it still has a completely batshit plot and tons of weird poo poo, and at least for me the very direct emotional approach worked tremendously well. I cried like 8 times and it retroactively made the TV series and other movies better (and I already liked those all quite a bit). (89/100 = revised score for everything leading up to the latest movie, 97/100 for the latest movie).
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Aug 24, 2021 07:57
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I'm looking forward to watching Rebuild, I've only seen part 1 and maybe half of 2, but NGE was pretty important to me when I was a teen. Crazy that it took them 20 years to make the new version.
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Aug 24, 2021 08:38
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I enjoyed Annette quite a bit while not enjoying like 90% of the music. I’m not opposed to musicals in general but that kind of tuneless exposition sing-talking is tough for me. The back half of the movie is such a knockout, though, and wouldn’t work without the cumulative effect of all of it. Can’t really stand much anime, either, though I watched and liked NGE when it posted to Netflix a few years ago. I bailed partway through the second movie. The pacing and editing is so choppy it feels like a highlight reel in a bad way. That get better as they start telling their own story?
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Aug 24, 2021 15:03
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morestuff posted:Can’t really stand much anime, either, though I watched and liked NGE when it posted to Netflix a few years ago. I bailed partway through the second movie. The pacing and editing is so choppy it feels like a highlight reel in a bad way. That get better as they start telling their own story?
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Sep 12, 2021 08:36
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I saw The Last Duel in theaters this evening. it's 14th century French Rashomon, and I enjoyed the subtle differences in the writing and performances. There's a lot of social commentary embedded in there that at times is a little on the nose, but I didn't mind. All three leads were very good, and Affleck looked like he was having fun in a movie for the first time in a while. the climax was absolutely harrowing. Overall, 4/5.
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Oct 15, 2021 05:42
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Zurtilik posted:Watching The Terminal. I like that the comedy moments feel like an 80s/90s Hanks movie and that is a lot of fun. Stanley Tucci's character is so over the top in this, what the gently caress is going on? I like Saldana's character admitting to being a Trekkie and then getting a spot on Star Trek a few years later. I loved this movie growing up. It’s an extremely watchable movie IMO, very unremarkable in most regards and saccharine to be sure but it’s pleasant in its own way.
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Oct 15, 2021 17:39
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The Green Knight 1/10 a movie so far up its own rear end it becomes an rear end singularity
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Oct 16, 2021 18:04
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FLIPADELPHIA posted:The Green Knight I have mixed feelings about it, it was hyped up a lot but I found it very muddled. We spent a lot of time discussing exactly what the intention was and why things happened. I had to have the volume cranked as that ginger king was drat near unintelligible, and Alicia Vikandar's weird Manchester/Scouse/Yorkshire accent was quite something, though I understand why she had an accent. I watched Saint Maude, that was perfectly realised and barely a horror movie, just overwhelming sad. Nice to see something set in Scarborough and have a main character call it dump!
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Oct 17, 2021 10:22
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I loved almost everything about The Green Knight. Such an unusual film. Climate Fiction is my jam tho
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Oct 17, 2021 10:24
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Just came back from The Last Duel. Excellent, excellent movie. At first, I was a little concerned about Mat Damon, I don't even think poorly of his abilities generally but suffice to say the first act had me concerned he was miscast as a medieval French lord. Fortunately, the movie is more an ensemble than it might first appear and the movie only gets stronger as it goes on, including even Damon's performance. Speaking of the movie's progress, the run-time flew by and conpletely justifies its length with mounting tension and layered context. The ending had me holding my breath until the final scene, with all the many, many ways it could break bad for the wife convincingly threatened by the film and nothing guaranteed until the epilogue.
Jack B Nimble fucked around with this message at 00:23 on Oct 18, 2021 |
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Oct 18, 2021 00:20
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Saw Last Duel last night and agree with the above poster. Just an incredible period piece and a brilliant homage to Kurosawa. Adam Driver impresses me more and more and holy poo poo does Ridley Scott still have it at 83. The film navigates its sensitive subject matter by confronting it head on and never glancing away. What a brutal, beautiful, austere film about the fragility of the male ego and our collective tendency to paint a picture of events that most flatters ourselves. Scott's best in years.
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Oct 19, 2021 01:32
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that makes me excited. It looked interesting at first glance but I kinda almost wrote it off. Now I keep hearing good things from various sources.
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Oct 19, 2021 04:49
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Just saw The Last Duel and hard agree with the posters above. See this movie if you get the opportunity
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Oct 20, 2021 04:04
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Yeah, I saw it, too. It's one of the better Ridley Scott films. Even if you end up predicting some of the plot the way it comes together is nice and suspenseful filmmaking.
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Oct 20, 2021 04:10
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Dune feels like someone took a season of the best-looking, most expensive TV drama of all time and edited it down to just the plot beats. Then they added some b roll of characters standing dramatically to transition between scenes 3 out of 4
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Oct 22, 2021 06:50
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I've been watching movies again! -- in theater: Azor - 76 Frankenhooker - 89 The Velvet Underground - 83 Titane - 72 Dune - 92 Lamb - 74 Roadrunner - 60 The Last Duel - 87 No Time To Die - 68 The French Dispatch - 77 Pig - 67 The Green Knight - 89 Summer of Soul - 92 on blu ray: Come and See - 95 Che pt. 1&2 - 92 Burning - 95 The Damned - 90 Ivan’s Childhood - 85 Mirror - 88 The Big Boss - 83 Fist of Fury - 90 Enter The Dragon - 86 The Cranes Are Flying - 90 Girlfriends - 84 Bamboozled - 91 Rat Film - 87 Deep Cover - 84 House - 87 Tenet - 88 Haywire - 86 As Tears Go By - 78 Days of Being Wild - 92 Chungking Express - 93 Fallen Angels - 88 Happy Together - 90 2046 - 87 Upstream Color - 88 The Young Karl Marx - 87 Tampopo - 90 The Night of the Hunter - 87 A Brighter Summer Day - 93
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Oct 23, 2021 08:19
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Saw The French Dispatch, of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun last night in a theater. If you love Wes Anderson movies: You're going to be in heaven for the whole run time. If you're just ok with some of his movies, you'll enjoy it, but maybe just parts of it. If you have no real clue about Wes Anderson or think it's going to be a general Comedy: you gonna have a bad time. Or at the very least a confusing one. I loved it. Anderson went hard in playing with ideas and visuals we've seen him develop over the years, switch art style, medium, genre multiple times through the film, even at one point just straint switching to TinTin esque animation, and if you told me that this was his retirement piece, I'd believe it. That said, it also feels like he found a financier who told him "I want to see you artistically disappear up your own rear end in a top hat". Also also: Jeffrey Wright channels James Baldwin in his section of the film and it's so so so good. So if you're into old time, or classical Journalism it's fun too.
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Oct 23, 2021 13:33
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I also saw The French Dispatch. It felt like a minor work that I would have enjoyed more if I knew more about the time, place and profession he was honoring. For comparison, going into Grand Budapest, I had no idea about Middle European grand hotels during the era leading into World War 2, but by the end I understood Anderson’s fascination with the vocation and how it represented a way of life concluding in uncertain times. I never really felt like I was similarly brought in here. The characters and events felt so cold and distant. Looks and sounds great, naturally. 2.5 out of 4
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Oct 24, 2021 18:19
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mysterious frankie posted:I also saw The French Dispatch. It felt like a minor work that I would have enjoyed more if I knew more about the time, place and profession he was honoring. For comparison, going into Grand Budapest, I had no idea about Middle European grand hotels during the era leading into World War 2, but by the end I understood Anderson’s fascination with the vocation and how it represented a way of life concluding in uncertain times. I never really felt like I was similarly brought in here. The characters and events felt so cold and distant. Looks and sounds great, naturally. 2.5 out of 4 Yeah, pretty but empty. Much like the entire culture that comprises The New Yorker.
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Oct 24, 2021 18:22
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BeanpolePeckerwood posted:Yeah, pretty but empty. Much like the entire culture that comprises The New Yorker. I think Anderson movies work best where he’s the invisible character showing us enthusiastically why he’s obsessed with a subject; he’s to NPR-grade culture what Bill Nye is to science . When he’s doing that I’m utterly charmed. In the case of French Dispatch I didn’t get the sense he was present in the film that way. It’s a fantastic collection missing a presentation by its passionate collector, and I think if I was already into the subject I would have liked it a lot more.
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Oct 24, 2021 18:37
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2005's Stealth. Easily the best film ever made about a self-aware stealth fighter jet. With 16 years of hindsight, I like to imagine the plane went rogue as a political statement against post-Cold War American overreach. Also, Japanese shakuhachi music cues any time the location was Asian (which was never Japan). I'd give it a prime number out of 5.
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Oct 30, 2021 18:04
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Some miscellaneous stuff, mostly from this year: Dogville (2003) - 87 Dune (2021) - 88 Lolita (1962) - 85 Hak se wui/Election (2005) - 84 Zola (2021) - 88 Old (2021) - 80 Raw (2017) - 85 Pierrot le fou (1965) - 79 Reminiscence (2021) - 69 The Green Knight (2021) - 87 Val (2021) - 83 Olympus Has Fallen (2013) - 63 London Has Fallen (2016) - 58 Beckett (2021) - 60 L'humanité (1999) - 63 Salesman (1969) - 88 The Suicide Squad (2021) - 81 Cold Water (1994) - 87 Eye of the Needle (1981) - 82 Pig (2021) - 81 American Ultra (2015) - 62
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Oct 31, 2021 03:31
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