|
From my Letterboxd: Old A nice under 2 hour sci-fi horror. It’s not peak Shyamalan, but it’s well directed and shot with a fun concept and creepy body horror. Plus it looks into the horrors of capitalism (big pharma specifically) without ethics. It is funny how much everyone’s job completely defines them (actuary talks future and stats, museum curator talks bones and past, therapist trying to talk it all out, and medical people doing medical things). But in the power of time, none of that matters. None of their careers can change their fate. Only love remains. Only friendships can save them. Time is shown to literally heal all wounds (cuts and arguments). But time also ends everything. The movie needed to end like 10 minutes earlier though
|
#
¿
May 17, 2022 00:48
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 10, 2024 08:12 |
|
|
Spider-Man No Way Home: feels like into the spiderverse is just the better version of this film. No way home is a bit long and takes a while with its convoluted college entry plot just to get all the villains and spidermen there. It’s fun seeing old characters again, but it always best to include a nic cage super hero if given the chance.
|
|
#
¿
May 25, 2022 06:39
|
|
|
Just watched Chunking express. Good stuff, got some songs stuck in my head now. I think the food stand owner might be the best character? All these silly romantics should listen to him. But Faye is too cute. And that ending is perfection.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 25, 2022 07:56
|
|
|
Supermarket Woman by Junzo Itami (1996) was a lot of fun like all of his films I have watched so far. He continues to take little niche subjects, though important to Japanese culture, and make interesting, humorous stories out of them. I truly did not expect this movie that is centered around the tastes and wisdom of housewives in a small supermarket to end with a dramatic car chase involving a truck with some incredible custom lights and a chandelier.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 31, 2022 18:53
|
|
|
Free Guy was pretty fun, but overly long. There’s a cleaner 90 minute version if some jokes and streamers were dropped. Also theres some weird old jokes for a film that embraces an online world and the rise of influencers. For example there’s a joke about a 22 year old still living with their parents, or how gamers are angry virgins. Those felt a bi dated.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 8, 2022 07:11
|
|
|
The Card Counter I didn’t know this was an Iraq war/abu ghraib film along with all the gambling, so that was an interesting surprise. The gambling aspect is there of course, along with the card lessons, but the revenge/atonement plot was naturally stronger. It was all kind of cold, but it kept my attention.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 14, 2022 01:52
|
|
|
Petite Maman. This was short and very cute. It’s a reflection on grief, but the little girls give it such humanity and brightness that it never gets too heavy. Love all the little moments of just eating snacks, playing games, cooking pancakes, etc.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 14, 2022 02:00
|
|
|
Moonfall this is like a bad Independence Day. Follows a similar idea and has the a and B plots also, but none of the charming actors or memorable lines/speeches. Script is much worse and all of the family survival stuff is just boring.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 17, 2022 08:13
|
|
|
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters there’s a lot to think about here, and more background I need I think as I am not familiar with Mishima’s works. So reading up the books for the chapters at least. My initial thought is how the Mishimas obsession with masculinity and conservative values and then an actual private group playing at army before finally attempting coup all parallels the proudboys/oath keepers in u.s. and Jan 6th. Oh and this movie looks ridiculously good with all the colors and beautiful shots. And the score is majestic too. Great movie though and easily my favorite Schrader so far.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 21, 2022 08:30
|
|
|
Breathless My first Goddard, and second or third French new wave. This was fairly interesting, though Michel, the main male, was pretty annoying. But his first line is admitting he’s an rear end in a top hat. So at least it’s honest. The women were all gorgeous and it was neat to see an older Paris like that. Stylistically, the use of long takes worked really well to draw you in. There were so many continuous shots like this with maybe my favorite being at the end where the girl walks in circles contemplating love and guilt. The other aspect was all the jumpy cuts which didn’t really care about continuity which made for a stark contrast with the long takes. As for French new wave films, I still like Hiroshima Mon Amour better.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 29, 2022 20:28
|
|
|
Ah I still need to watch Amadeus.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 2, 2022 01:08
|
|
|
Crawl Given the current Hurricane situations, this did feel fresh and relatable (but hopefully no gator attacks happening). People driving back into a hurricane and not leaving? Definitely happens. So the setup worked. The premise of alligators killing everyone with the leads trapped in a flooding house was fun. And the fact that the alligators appear within the first 30 minutes was nice. But after a while the gator attacks began to feel a little ridiculous (gator up stairs and then through a window). Still it was fun. It’s under 90 minutes but I still feel it could have been shorter. Crawl follows this trend of many modern horror films where it spends a good 15 minutes introducing the leads and their personal drama in an attempt to make you care more about them. But this just feels slow when you want the horror. The Ring understood this decades ago and went for shock first, then background.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 2, 2022 01:15
|
|
|
Licorice Pizza I found this to be a bit too long. It’s a beautiful looking film and the many of the shots are really impressive but the whole film meandered a bit too much for me. The Japanese restaurant stuff feels like it could have been dropped. Also definitely could have aged up characters a couple years and just avoided all the drama. Ending was really good though, and at least helped make the runtime worth it. Overall not bad, but I like other Anderson films better.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 3, 2022 01:26
|
|
|
That’s a good point. It’s definitely a film I’ll have to think and read more about. It was almost alien seeing Gary and his friends run all these businesses as kids. And to your point, one standout moment to me was the other 15/16 year old friends acting as salesman in the waterbed store while Alana stood around in a bikini as an advertisement. Ideally, she should have been the lead for sales.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 3, 2022 03:24
|
|
|
Touch of Evil is indeed great. Great actors and cool to see all of the old cities as a lot is filled on locations. Which version did you watch? I think the kid being guilty works as reinforces the idea that the police don’t need to be corrupt and plant evidence to since crimes. They just have to investigate actually. It’s trusting in the actual process, though that had its own problems of course. Apparently Orson was not actually that fat yet and was in makeup and fat suit. He kills it again as always of course
|
|
#
¿
Oct 9, 2022 22:19
|
|
|
Yeah I could see that read of Quinlan. That must be the Welles notes version where they added and edited the film to his notes after he was fired. That’s the one I watched though I’m curious to see the theatrical cut sometime.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 10, 2022 00:34
|
|
|
Prince of Darkness was really good. It’s such a weird movie that’s part religious horror and part sci fi. There’s a liquid Saran, alien Jesus, super creepy homeless and future people trying to influence the past. Plus returning actors from Big Trouble. The whole thing is a cautionary tale of establishing and following safety protocols in your experiments. What also struck me is that the conjuring universe version of this would have had the priest dramatically shouting Christ and Bible passages at all the possessed. Here the priest is mostly ineffective and hides for like most of the last 30 mins. I can’t think of any other devil movies like this one.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 16, 2022 09:06
|
|
|
New one is also 153 mins? That’s slowing me from checking out remake as that feels long for horror.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 11, 2022 01:01
|
|
|
Wild Strawberries was a surprise for me too. Quite enjoyed it
|
|
#
¿
Nov 21, 2022 17:31
|
|
|
House or Flying Daggers This is a really pretty film with the costumes, opening pleasure house set, and then all forest full of fall yellows and oranges contrasted by the deep greens of bamboo. The love triangle aspect was fine, nothing special, but solid action and lots of flying daggers too.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 29, 2022 17:33
|
|
|
Yeah the brick scene is still fun. 2 is good as it’s the exact same film as the first one, but in New York. It knows you the viewer understands just fastfowards to Kevin have a defense plan and it all set up. The only that is i think the end of 2 is less in the traditional holiday spirit. In the first one, Kevin just gets his family back for Christmas. But now he gets his family and a bunch of free toys (even though they are clearly a very wealthy family). But i guess free toys is more fun for then child viewers.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 26, 2022 03:19
|
|
|
The Fabelmans : Solid Spielberg film that while very on the nose was just well made and enjoyable watch. There’s something about watching kids amateur movies that’s always fun for me. Ending with Lynch is always the best decision. But this one does feel a bit long and probably could have been cut down some (high school stuff, maybe the uncle).
|
|
#
¿
Dec 29, 2022 06:08
|
|
|
Jealous you got to see it on the big screen. It’s such a simple and powerful movie. The whole dynamic of not forgetting our parents, yet the parents must remember that kids will live their own lives and not to their wishes is a timeless one.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 12, 2023 06:20
|
|
|
After Yang I liked this one a lot. It’s a quiet, contemplative sci fi about family and grief without becoming depressing. All the memories and stylish and filled with interesting conversation. That Yang seemed like a cool dude. Also gotta love those opening credits, and really all the music in the film.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 16, 2023 17:05
|
|
|
Clue has to be the best board game film right? Not sure how many of those there are unless you start counting every film involving chess.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 27, 2023 04:42
|
|
|
Wait wasn’t the board game created for the movie. But I’d still take clue over jumanji.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 27, 2023 06:36
|
|
|
Right, I meant a jumanji board game was made after the movie.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 27, 2023 07:48
|
|
|
Trainspotting I think I missed seeing this in the right decade. I’m definitely not as high on it as many. Ewan is great. And Boyle directs the hell of it bringing tons of energy and some wonderful shots. But the story is just kind of dumb for me and not one I connect to. There’s a counter culture aspect with the choose life speeches that doesn’t really seem much bigger than gently caress the system. And the whole thing seems to be Renton is an rear end in a top hat who really suffers no consequences. He steals and does lots of heroin, has sex with an under age girl repeatedly, and screws over his friends, and ends it all with a he’s good to be better speech even though we saw him shoot up in a bus bathroom 15 minutes ago. Tommy is probably the most real depiction as his apartment turns to squalor not the cool party house of the others. Also the baby scene was a bit long but I guess the shock was important at the time. I can see how this has influence on many films like requiem for a dream and fight club. I probably just prefer those to this one.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 8, 2023 01:40
|
|
|
Ha yeah also just watched Heroic Trio. It’s a bit convoluted for a while though it all simplifies out to heroes vs villain by the end. Last 30 minutes was a lot of fun. There’s some crazy stuff like the straight up murder of child soldiers and that poor train driver. The whole thing kind of made me want to watch Big Trouble in Little China again. But cool seeing 3 female action leads kick rear end.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 7, 2023 15:21
|
|
|
Love Chunking. Love that the shop owner is only rational person.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 10, 2023 23:09
|
|
|
Decision to Leave: This film looks so good. There’s so many interesting shots and the camera will move in unexpected ways. The pace is surprisingly quick with fewer instance of dramatic pauses than you might expect. Tang Wei is fantastic and I 100% believe wrecking your career and marriage for her here. Ending is beautiful and brutal and people should stop all these dramatic gestures and talk.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 12, 2023 03:57
|
|
|
toggle posted:Babylon. I really enjoyed this, the first 3/4 (or first 2 hrs) is really great and a fun ride. A full showcase of movie things. Last 1 hour really shits the bed and kinda sours the previous 2 though. Chazelle really went for it, most if it works but I can see the justification for lovely reviews. You gotta like his weird underground la he’ll party with Tobey. Let’s see him do a horror film next
|
|
#
¿
Apr 11, 2023 13:38
|
|
|
Timby posted:The story of Tetris is intensely fascinating and very, very weird (at one point, three different companies had plausible legal claims that they had the rights to the game), but the movie is heavily fictionalized. The KGB stuff is essentially all made up (although Alexey Pajitnov claims that his apartment was bugged at one point, which seems within the realm of possibility), and a lot of other stuff in the movie flat-out never happened. Im going to believe they all really did jam to The Final Countdown. Yeah I kind of wish the film had focused more on legal dealings vs somewhat meaningless action and car chases. It’s also interesting the film focuses on essentially a middle man vs creator.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 11, 2023 13:48
|
|
|
Bound: the first Wachowski film, but last one of theirs that I have finally watched. Great stuff. Love the dark noir setup and mind games. Plus a lot of the camera shots and directing feels like trials for the Matrix. Oh and Joe Pantoliano is so good at being crazy. I can see why they brought him back for Cypher.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 14, 2023 03:22
|
|
|
A Man Called Otto: grumpy hanks is fun, and wisely the filmmakers realized that even angry Tom Hanks can’t be mean to children. Lots of boomer humor in this and it’s a bit too long. Watch it for Hanks on a plane where you don’t have to pay attention to all of it as you know where it’s going anyways. Also this might the first pro HoA I’ve seen.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 30, 2023 01:49
|
|
|
Apocalypse Now Copying from Genchat thread: Finally watched Apocalypse Now and wow it’s awesome. I went with the theatrical version as shorter run time was more appealing at the moment. The whole thing is this crazy dream up the river before a giant Brando reads poems in a castle full of decapitated heads. Guess I’ll need to check out the Final Cut at some point.
|
|
#
¿
May 3, 2023 03:34
|
|
|
Some Buster Keaton: Three Ages is pretty fun. Some of the jokes felt tired at first but then yeah remembered this is from 100 years ago and was probably one of the first. But most of the Roman time stuff, especially chariot race, still felt like gold. Our Hospitality has the nicer restoration, but felt a little too long. Lots of steam engine scenes that feel less interesting for me now. Avoiding the killer brothers was fun though.
|
|
#
¿
May 9, 2023 04:00
|
|
|
Glengary Glen Ross can definitely tell this one comes from a play with all the dialogue and like 3 settings. But it’s got some fantastic dialogue with lots of quotable lines whose source I finally understand. It’s fun watching Pacino, Ed Harris, and Alec Baldwin all yell, especially at Kevin Spacey.
|
|
#
¿
May 13, 2023 05:44
|
|
|
distortion park posted:I found the bumbling criminals surprisingly charming and funny. The bumbling criminals are alright, but probably a bit too much of them vs others. Balance is a little off. There’s just more interesting people in the film.
|
|
#
¿
May 15, 2023 15:46
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 10, 2024 08:12 |
|
|
Joint Security Area the investigator angle is kind of boring and her development is kind of just there, but all north and South Korean border guards bonding over how meaningless they are in the face of a war is great stuff. It starts off kind of rashoman but quickly just shows us all the true friendship stuff. The ending makes sense but is kind of clunky in execution. Oh and there’s a great fart joke.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 23, 2023 22:31
|
|