Movies: Last Movie You Watched and Rate It

[Spring in Fialta]

Out of the one's I've seen.

A Serious Man
Fargo
No Country for Old Men
The Big Lebowski
Blood Simple
Miller's Crossing
Inside Llewyn Davis
Raising Arizona
True Grit
Barton Fink
The Ladykillers

Barton Fink and The Ladykillers being the only one's I truly disliked while I absolutely loved the first four.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Oh crap, The Man Who Wasn't There I forgot about. I liked it a whole lot. I'd put it above Miller's Crossing.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Also, @kihei, why do you think the characters are being treated badly in Fargo? I never got a sense of that at all.

 

[kihei]

Also, @kihei, why do you think the characters are being treated badly in Fargo? I never got a sense of that at all.

It's a problem I have had with a few of their scripts. It seems to me that the writer(s) feel superior to their characters--the cool guys making fun of the hayseeds and in the process being too condescending for my taste. In otherwise fine performances, I thought that both McDormand and Macy were sometimes willing to play the rube card too broadly. But I think that is on the Coens, not the actors. I think that they encourage that sort of thing.

 

[kihei]

oops, double post

 

[Shareefruck]

Why would the misconceptions be annoying; why would they be misconceptions at all as opposed to fully deserved reservations? I don't think the brothers have made that many great films. I concede No Country for Old Men. Blood Simple is an audacious debut but I don't think I would call it a great film. And my opinion of Fargo is mitigated by the fact that I think, entertaining though it is, it treats its characters in a condescending fashion. That leaves a couple of good movies and a lot of dreck that should have never seen the light of day.

What I mean is that bad movies are only a factor for me in the sense that people might watch them and think that they're representative of what people like about the director, which gets annoying.

 

[nameless1]

God's Own Country (2017) Directed by Francis Lee 6B

Yorkshire farm boy Johnny is stuck with his lot. With an ailing, stern father and dour grandmother, he has nothing to look forward to except a life of toil and misery. Then Gheorghe, a temporary farmhand from Romania, is hired to provide short-term help, and slowly an attraction blooms between them. God's Own Country is a gritty, grimy, gay romance that provides something of a contemporary take on the British "kitchen-sink" dramas of the late '50s and '60s. The national self-hate evident in the early films is replaced here by a believable portrait of the realistic, wildly unglamourous toil that goes with working on a small country farm. In fact, I found out more about animal husbandry and beasty orifices than I ever really wanted to know. While the drudgery of daily living is somewhat mitigated by the often beautiful English countryside, Johnny is fortunate to have found someone with whom to share what otherwise would be a wretched existence. However, being not especially bright, he takes a long time to smarten up. God's Own Country is a good movie, but writer/director Francis Lee is a tad too obvious with some of his interventions. Gheorghe seems a little too good to be true, and the seemingly happy ending struck me as if not false exactly, then certainly a bit of a stretch. Still, Lee has directed an impressive first feature, and it will be worth waiting to see what he does next.

When I first saw it, I thought it was comparable to Being 17 from last year, which you gave a 7/10. That was what I initially gave this one.

However, I completely agree with your review, and the issues you listed, which I largely missed. Thus, even though I still like it, and think this is one of the better movies from the festival, my final grade will be 6.5/10. It is a very impressive first work, especially the way he made the dreary English weather look beautiful, and I too am curious at what Lee will do next.

 

[kihei]

The Divine Order (2017) Directed Petra Blondina Volpe 5A

The Divine Order, Switzerland's submission this year for consideration in the "Foreign Film" category of the Academy Awards, is a firmly feminist but very user friendly tale about how a small group of women protested in support of the right of women to vote in the 1971 Swiss election in which the issue was finally raised for the first time in nearly twenty years. While elsewhere the world was swarming in social change, this tiny Swiss hamlet remained in the Dark Ages of gender relations thanks to antiquated laws. In 1971, in addition to still not having the right to vote, women were forbidden from owning most property and were not allowed to work outside the home without their husband's permission. Nora, a meek housewife initially, finally gets fed up with too much male-dictated stupidity. Turning into a bit of an activist, she finds few cohorts at first, but that changes as emotions start to get heated on both sides. The more committed she becomes, the better about herself she feels. Every point in the predictable plot is made to be as easy to follow and as clearly defined as possible. As well, lots of humour is provided to make the movie entertaining and endearing which it often is--as well as being overly safe. It's as though Petra Blondina Volpe, the writer and director of the film, having tackled an important social theme decides to put training wheels on it just to be on the safe side in an effort to insure that no one misinterprets the film's intentions. But Nora is a likeable and worthy champion, and I can't fault the film too much for wanting to be accepted by as large an audience as possible.

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[Spring in Fialta]

It's a problem I have had with a few of their scripts. It seems to me that the writer(s) feel superior to their characters--the cool guys making fun of the hayseeds and in the process being too condescending for my taste. In otherwise fine performances, I thought that both McDormand and Macy were sometimes willing to play the rube card too broadly. But I think that is on the Coens, not the actors. I think that they encourage that sort of thing.

I felt that if anyone were to be perceived as rubes during the movie, it was the bit characters and that's somewhere that I can actually relate to your point - the two prostitutes in particular, as well as the dumb cop when Marge first goes to examine the crime scene - but I felt that Macy's character and particularly McDormand's character weren't portrayed as such - Macy is a slimy man who gets in over his head whereas McDormand's character is resourceful and efficient - and I felt the other characters were amusing and charming caricatures of characters we often encounter in stories (the dimunitive and talkative criminal with the large and silent partner, the cheapskate businessman) but perhaps the accent and vernacular might give off the impression of mock, considering it does come across as the simple-minded hick archetype. Personally, I thought it added a lot to the movie.

 

[Nalens Oga]

Three Days of The Condor (1975) - 7.5/10

I love how these 70s thrillers look and feel but this one is very unsatisfying. It starts well but it just has some bad pacing issues, lots of peaks but no real punch. Still, gives off that air of paranoia and tension. Also, one of the most unnecessary sex scenes I've seen in a movie.

Ugetsu (1953) - 6/10

Completely boring and unengaging. Sansho The Bailiff by the same director was much better, I definitely hated sitting through the bits showing older Japanese culture. Its set designs and looks are very convincing for the era it's set in, it's just a really clumsy film.

The Meyerowitz Stories (2017) - 8/10

Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Noah Baumbach....good shit. Kind of like Baumbach's version of The Royal Tenenbaums but better, especially the second half.

 

[BonMorrison]

Thor: Ragnorak - 8/10

Definitely the best of the Thor movies. Great music and comedy throughout.

 

[kihei]

Ittefaq (2017) Directed by Abhay Chopra 3A

Vikram, a guy on the run from one murder that he may have committed, takes a beautiful hostage only to get mixed up in a second murder for which he may or may not be responsible. Maya, the beautiful hostage, sees it one way, while Vikram, the guy on the run, has a totally different tale to tell--plus, there is this little problem about his dead wife that is still unresolved. Dev, a police inspector, is left to figure it all out, but it is no easy task. Ittefaq is a Bollywood noir in The Usual Suspects vein (I'm being generous) that gets the rain and the darkness right but little else thanks to a mechanical, highly improbable plot that depends almost exclusively upon coincidence to achieve its dubious effects. Ittefaq is one of those movies where after the mystery has been conclusively "solved," you just sit back and wait for the inevitable twist to shortly follow. No reason that the premise couldn't have been fun, but the very basic paint-by-numbers approach to storytelling makes it seem as though the director thought of his audience as a collection of dullards who would swallow any revelation, no matter how implausible. No song and dance numbers, though--always pays to be thankful for little favours.

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[Nalens Oga]

The Meyerowitz Stories (2017) - 8/10

Really strong second half imo. Not Baumbach's best but best thing he's done since Frances Ha I think, same for Sandler who hasn't done anything good lately. I don't think it was as funny as the stuff Baumbach has done with Gerwig but I liked the looser style. Anyone else see this and think that the budge Elle Fanning actress' 'art-films' were really bad? Like was the joke that her family thought it was good? It was really weird, I'd be concerned if I was a parent lol.

 

[kihei]

Lady Bird (2017) Directed by Greta Gerwig 7A

Greta Gerwig's debut as a director is every bit as good as critics have been saying. A coming-of-age movie about a 17-year-old girl trying to deal with life in unhip, unglamorous Sacramento, California, circa 2002, Lady Bird has the feel of closely observed, deeply felt experience. The problems with mom, choosing a college, dating for the first time, making, betraying and remaking friends, dealing with life's little curveballs in a Catholic high school, getting out of town, isn't so different from the usual terrain explored in many coming-of-age movies. What makes this one special is that the feelings and memories on display feel so authentic and are so artfully transformed into a convincing reality. Gerwig's efforts as both writer and director are aided immensely by a superb performance by Saoirse Ronan who though in her early twenties plays a very convincing teenager; she exposes a huge great whacking bundle of turbulent emotions yet never overplays a single scene or expresses a false moment. It's one of those performance in which the actress seems totally on the same wavelength as her director. Gerwig shoots the film as through a veil of thin gauze that gives the image a warm, slightly fuzzy look--odd in a way because while the movie is no downer, it is not exactly warm and fuzzy either. Perhaps the visual approach is designed to underscore that we are looking back to 2002, a distant past if you were a teenager at the time but still free of much nostalgia. Whatever the reason, Gerwig's first outing behind the camera is masterful. As often the case with semi-autobiographical first movies, it will be a challenge for her to follow up on Lady Bird with a movie that is even nearly as good.


Top Ten of '17 so far

Loveless, Zyvgintsev, Russia
The Death of Louis XIV, Serra, Spain/France
The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Lanthimos, Ireland/US
Blade Runner 2049, Villeneuve, US
The Third Murder, Kore-eda, Japan
On Body and Soul, Enyedi, Hungary
Faces Places, Varda, France
Lady Bird, Gerwig, US
A Fantastic Woman, Leilo, Chile
The Fortress, Hwang, South Korea

 

[The Kingslayer]

11/08/16

Hilarious.

8/10.

 

[Puck]

Growing Up Smith almost a 4/5

Nice small budget indie movie if you can find it. The style reminded me a bit of Taika Waititi's "Hunt for the Wilderpeople".

IMDb:

In 1979, an Indian family moves to America with hopes of living the American Dream. While their 10-year-old boy Smith falls head-over-heels for the girl next door, his desire to become a "good old boy" propels him further away from his family's ideals than ever before.

 

[Nalens Oga]

Nebraska (2013) - 7.5/10

Sometimes you find really quality video mkv films on Soulseek. This film....I'm kinda mixed about it, on one hand it's very solid but on the other hand, it has such a lifeless and boring and derilict old setting/atmosphere. Almost everyone in this movie outside of the protagonist and Bob Odenwhatever is old and run down. It's obviously trying to show declining midwestern America but still, such an undesirable atmosphere to sit through. It's also in black & white which is nice for movies set in the city but in this case, it doesn't help I think.

 

[Puck]

Nebraska (2013) - 7.5/10

Sometimes you find really quality video mkv films on Soulseek. This film....I'm kinda mixed about it, on one hand it's very solid but on the other hand, it has such a lifeless and boring and derilict old setting/atmosphere. Almost everyone in this movie outside of the protagonist and Bob Odenwhatever is old and run down. It's obviously trying to show declining midwestern America but still, such an undesirable atmosphere to sit through. It's also in black & white which is nice for movies set in the city but in this case, it doesn't help I think.

Although I think I know what you mean, I actually liked Nebraska. I think you sound like me though recently, complaining about an 'atmosphere' in a film that the Director wanted to create intentionally. If you don't buy into the film at the outset though, it's difficult to recover on other aspects of the movie. If I enter into a movie with a certain set of expectations (given reviews or a trailer) and I am offered something different, I have a hard time adjusting during the film sometimes and that will affect the experience.

For instance I knew going in (by reading a kihei review) what to expect from a slow-pace difficult film like The Death of Louis XIV and enjoyed it (I guess it helps that I'm a history buff). However if I misjudge a film before going in, I find it hard to recover from that, watching something completely different. Some times you can adjust, some times you can't. I will get upset if a movie trailer misdirects me with hype, or offers me a book cover that misrepresents the inside content.

With Alexander Payne's Nebraska though, I had already seen some of his previous films and had enjoyed Sideways and The Descendants. I had found About Schmidt a more difficult film to swallow so my expectations were in check. I already knew Payne's style going in so there were no surprises. I liked Nebraska a lot along with Sideways actually.

For some reason I find Payne's style a bit like Zach Braff's for some reason. I can't explain or dissect that intellectually, it's just a thing that has stuck with me. (I like Zach Braff)

I'd suggest watching Nebraska again in a few years to see if your opinion changes on some elements of the film. I'd also suggest Sideways if you have not seen it yet. But from some aspects of Nebraska you don't seem to have liked, I'd suggest staying away from About Schmidt.

 

[John Price]

Lady and the Tramp (1955)

Good film about a dignified Lady cockerspaniel and the Tramp dog as well as their friends and all the wacky adventures they get into. This is a movie I probably should have seen as a child but didn't (along with other Disney classics like Bambi and Snow White and the Seven Dwafves). I thought it was pretty good.

 

[Nalens Oga]

Bad Day At Black Rock (1955) - 8/10

80 minute long tightly paced Western set in 1945 starring a one-armed Spencer Tracy for some reason. Same director who did The Great Escape which is the best WW movie outside of Dunkirk.

 

[OzzyFan]

Daddy's Home 2
2.25 out of 4stars

Definitely funnier than the first movie. Overstuffed with dialogue heavy jokes and gaffes/slapsticks, and even though it has some misses, there are more then enough hits and even a few gut busters that make this family friendly comedy worth the watch. Nothing groundbreaking, but entertaining.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Dennis the Menace (1993)

7.5/10

 

[Nalens Oga]

Good Morning Vietnam (1987) - 6.5/10

This movie has a good rhythm, the music and Robbin Williams but the rest is pretty poor. Outside of the shots of Vietnam, I was surprised at the sheer amount of shots they took of Vietnam and made it look like it was the 70s considering that it wasn't really a film set out on the battlefield like the other Vietnam films. Must've been super expensive to make for a dramedy. The sargeant or whoever and Robin Williams rebelling against him was too cliched to stretch out into a 2 hour story.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

This was disappointing, I won't rate it because it's basically a movie not quite meant for adults but not really kids either. It was too silly to take seriously for me and not in a fun Space Jam sorta way. Also reminded me never to show old cartoons if I ever have kids, holy shit are they violent.

 

[kihei]

My Friend Dahmer (2017) Directed by Marc Meyers 6A

Anyone expecting a gore-invested horror film will be disappointed by My Friend Dahmer, a surprisingly complex, socially responsible portrait of a serial killer as a young man. The focus is on Jeffrey Dalmer's high school years where he is certainly very weird and more than a little creepy much of the time. He likes to dissolve dead animals, and he spontaneously freaks out just to draw attention to himself. Oddly being weird is his way of eventually making friends. Although the friends use him to wreak playful, adolescent havoc on the school, they are presented as bright, likeable kids who are willing to befriend Dahmer and make him a central part of the highjinks that they are planning. Played perfectly by Ross Lynch Dahmer is sometimes a sympathetic character, too. Though definitely "other," Jeffrey is aware of darker impulses, and he tries to drink them into oblivion, However, it only leads to more confusion. Yes, Dahmer is a psychopath, but the movie suggests some of the factors that pushed him along the road to becoming a remorseless killer. My Friend Dahmer doesn't make its subject less of a monster, but it does underscore the fact that he was a human being who became a monster which is perhaps the scariest thing of all: the movie shows in extremis the kind of damage our species is capable of in more ways than one.

 

[Nalens Oga]

Computer Chess (2013) - 7/10

This is a very intriguing movie but the attempt to make it a bit artsy and surreal kinda ruins it. The premise was interesting enough without the need for the other stuff.