Movies: Last Movie You Watched and Rate It

[kihei]

Zoology (2017) Directed by Ivan Tverdovsky 6B

50-ish Natasha (Natalya Pavlenkova) is mired in a life that gives her little satisfaction and even less meaning. She is the Food Procurement Officer for a small zoo in a provincial town way off the beaten path. Her life suddenly becomes more interesting but also far more perplexing when she discovers that she has grown a rather large tail. Director Ivan Tverdovsky drops this premise on us and then just lets it play out. The end result is an oxymoron--serious whimsy. Natasha finds her tail both personally liberating--she begins to look after her appearance more and she starts a relationship with a doctor who knows all about the tail--but also isolating and scary. Her mother as well as the Church provide no comfort only censure and rejection. The townspeople react like 19th century Russian peasants full of dread and superstition. It all borders on being too much for Natasha. There are lots of themes here about body image, being different, self-acceptance, and change. However, what exactly the film is saying, if anything, is hard to determine. Nonetheless, there are some marvelous moments, such as when Natasha finds more comfort among the zoo animals than she does from being around her fellow humans; the sad but respectful disposal of the family's dead cat is also a lovely moment and oddly moving. In the end, Pavlenkova is worth the price of admission alone. She is given a very complex role and she absolutely nails it.

subtitles

 

[nameless1]

You're right, most of the dialogue was in English. I was referring specifically to the French and Italian lines. About 75% of those were not translated at my screening.

Honestly, I think maybe 90% was not translated for my screening. I really do not remember that I had to read too much.

 

[Mario Lemieux fan 66]

Au revoir là-haut (The Great Swindle): 7.5/10 pretty good movie

The Breadwinner : 7.5/10

Les affamés (The Ravenous): 7.3/10 A decent zombie movie made in Quebec.

la jeune fille sans main (The girl without hands ): 7/10

The Death of Stalin: 6.5/10

 

[kihei]

Annihilation (2018) Directed by Alex Garland 7B

Mourning still her supposedly dead husband, Lena (Natalie Portman) is shocked when he seems to return. But is it really him? When he suddenly becomes seriously ill, Lena calls for an ambulance and thus begins her own adventure. Eventually she finds herself one of five female scientists and technicians venturing into the "shimmer," a quarantined area in the woodlands that seems to be getting bigger and where strange things are occurring. My first impression coming out of the theatre was that in terms of creep factor, Annihilation couldn't hold a candle to, say, Under the Skin. While true, the movie is every bit as original and thought-provoking as that earlier film, however. Director Alex Garland (Ex Machina) does a good job of realizing the potential of the narrative, but not a great job. It's not his fault either--I just don't think he has the technical and intellectual chops to do complete justice to the material. I kept thinking what the movie really needed was a Tarkovsky- or a Kubrick-level talent in the director's chair because there is something haunting, beautiful and profound about Annihilation's underlying themes that only a director with that kind of vision could have brought out. This is a movie that will be loved or hated in about equal measure, I suspect, and, as well, the ending might come in for its share of debate, too. I thought the conclusion was perfect, but I doubt that will be a popular verdict. Incidentally, Portman gives her best performance since Black Swan. If you like your science fiction fresh and stimulating, Annihilation will do nicely.

Days later: Bumped the movie up to a "7" because I think my reason for giving it a "6"--it's not as good as it could have been--is a pissy reason, plus I haven't stopped thinking about the bloody thing since I walked out of the theatre.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Searching for Sugarman

Once upon a time, a record came out that captured a rebellious zeitgeist and mobilized the masses. An entire country sang along and took notice to a very special artist: Sixto Rodriguez. His two albums released in the early 70's enthralled...South Africa. And were totally overlooked elsewhere on the planet. SA was of course a very cloistered society during the 70's and 80's, thanks to its horrible government and police force, and while everyone in the country knew and loved Rodriguez' two albums, nobody knew anything about the man himself. Rumors had it he had killed himself onstage via a variety of methods, but nobody was sure. After the fall of apartheid, a couple of his biggest fans try to learn his story. Who is he? Where did he come from? How did he die? The answers lie within.

Oscar winner for best documentary in 2012, it's really quite interesting and compelling. Sixto Rodriguez (spoiler alert: he's still alive) himself remains remarkably down to earth and humble, if weird. And his kids would clearly prefer it if he were a teensy weensy bit more interested in finding out just where all the money he should have made went.

 

[Puck]

The Death of Stalin 6.9/10

The film writing wasn't as funny as Iannucci's In the Loop in my opinion but that might have been done on purpose. If it was too much of a farce, it wouldn't be biting enough. In the era of modern bully leaders I think the Director was aiming at a wider political spectrum than just the Soviet Union. The American actors spoke in their accents, the British in theirs , the alphabet wasn't Russian. So the message was intended more broadly. I saw somewhere that ex-British PM Cameron said the film reminded him of politics in London. I don't know how historically accurate it was. People nit-pick about accuracy in historical flicks (Churchill movies this year). But I also read somewhere that there's a difference between the role of a historian bound by facts and that of a filmmaker exercising his powers of imagination. The purpose of art is to go to places that history avoids. I enjoyed this but don't expect as many laughs as his In the Loop.

 

[guinness]

Ingrid Bergman - In Her Own Words (2015) - 7/10

I went on a shopping spree at the Criterion collection a couple weeks ago, as they had their movies half off, so more Ingrid it was. Bought this, and the remastered Blurays of the Rossellini-Bergman films, but so far, I've only watched this. (TBH, the Rossellini films aren't that great, but I figured they're better quality sources than the DVDs I have.)

I liked the format for the most part, I've seen most of Ingrid's movies, but it was interesting to see some home movies, interviews with family, and more background about her dedication to the art. The in her own words portion, was the reading of her letters and diaries.
What did surprise me, were things that I thought they would spend more time on, they didn't, and things I didn't, they did.

 

[kihei]

The Untamed (2017) Directed by Amat Escalante 6C

Here's a strange one--a realistic Mexican film about troubled relationships combined with a space squid who gives out epic amounts of sexual pleasure right up until the time it doesn't....and, then, trouble. I think the movie is saying something about repressed desire and its potential explosiveness as a force, but that is simply my best guess. Not much is explained in this movie, including the space squid who seems to have arrived via an asteroid. As sex objects go, it isn't exactly a fetching one--yet people become addicted to its seeming pleasures to the point of death. However, until near the end of the film, the creature is more like a recurring motif in the movie; the main focus of concern are the characters in the various relationships who have in one way or another made a hash of their lives. The film itself has very little forward thrust--it is exactly the kind of work that people just getting used to international films should probably avoid like the plague. Not much happens except a vague sense of unhappiness and dissatisfaction is established and even that takes its sweet time developing. Yet partly because its elements seem so wildly incongruous, The Untamed has a kind of diabolical fascination. This is the work of either a very misguided director or a very talented one, and I suspect the latter.

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[kihei]

The Voice of the Moon (1990) Directed by Federico Fellini 5C

The fact that the great Italian director's last film was never picked up for distribution on these shores has always struck me as practically sacrilegious. Now that the film has finally been released in NA on DVD, it's easier to understand why distributors stayed away from it. The Voice of the Moon is about the fanciful meanderings of a recently released mental patient (Roberto Benigni) who wanders about a rural landscape bumping into various people and groups. The film takes forever to find traction, but when it does a genuine Fellini movie eventually emerges with no shortage of creative ideas and arresting images. However, it is doubtful that anyone other than hard core Fellini fans will have the patience to sit through the first half to get to the (relatively) good stuff.

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[shello]

Call me By your name solid 4/10/

Darkest Hour 7.5-8/10

The Post 8/10

Get out 7.5/10

 

[nameless1]

Annihilation is certainly interesting. It takes elements from a heist movie, and set it in a sci-fi world, so it becomes very unique. That said, even though I can follow the plot just fine, because it is quite straight forward, and the motives of the characters are actually logical, I really do not understand it at all. What is the point of the movie? That completely flies over my head.

Regardless, the movie is full of imaginative mise-en-scenes, accentuated by the beautiful and colourful camerawork, and it has a cast of very good actors, who all carry their weight. Most importantly, it is very provocative, and leaves a lasting impression long after the credits roll, which is the hallmark of a great sci-fi movie. Thus, even though I do not fully comprehend what I watched, I will still recommend it, because it is one of the mroe intelligent movies I have watched in a little while, and I am certain it is more than meets the eyes.

 

[kihei]

Annihilation is certainly interesting. It takes elements from a heist movie, and set it in a sci-fi world, so it becomes very unique. That said, even though I can follow the plot just fine, because it is quite straight forward, and the motives of the characters are actually logical, I really do not understand it at all. What is the point of the movie? That completely flies over my head.

Regardless, the movie is full of imaginative mise-en-scenes, accentuated by the beautiful and colourful camerawork, and it has a cast of very good actors, who all carry their weight. Most importantly, it is very provocative, and leaves a lasting impression long after the credits roll, which is the hallmark of a great sci-fi movie. Thus, even though I do not fully comprehend what I watched, I will still watch it, because I am certain it is more than meets the eyes.

I have a theory:

Spoiler

After thinking about it a lot, I think it is a new Adam and Eve story. Nature takes revenge, though obviously not consciously

 

[nameless1]

I have a theory:

Spoiler

After thinking about it a lot, I think it is a new Adam and Eve story. Nature takes revenge, though obviously not consciously

Hmm, that is a good one.

Spoiler

Do you feel like this is The Usual Suspects meets The Invasion of the Body Snatchers? I feel that Portman's character is not the most reliable narrator, so that is why I hesitate to come to a definite conclusion.

 

[Jussi]

Justice League 7-/10 Much better than BvS but many things seemed off. The honest trailer said it well in that it takes a lot of stuff from The Avengers, even the 16:9 aspect ratio, but not all the good stuff, like the villain. Very CGI heavy and far too noticible as well. Though his mouth did look weird at times, at least this Superman felt more like the Supes I know. Some action scenes but nothing memorable. Oh yeah, the most annoying part was the Flash's running. For f***'s sake, even the tv Flash makes it look like he's running but the movie version looked like he was jogging or stumbling.

 

[kihei]

Hmm, that is a good one.

Spoiler

Do you feel like this is The Usual Suspects meets The Invasion of the Body Snatchers? I feel that Portman's character is not the most reliable narrator, so that is why I hesitate to come to a definite conclusion.

Close.

Spoiler

Not bad, but I would say more like Videodrome meets The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Kaiser is in control of his identity; Max Renn and Lena aren't]. I would put it this way: because Lena is not a stable entity, she can't be expected to be a totally reliable narrator. I think that she does the best she can, but she probably doesn't realize the full implications until that very final scene where she still can't quite bring herself to say "I don't think so" in answer to Kane's question "Are you Lena?" But Kane understands, thus the heartfelt hug. Absolutely loved that ending, by the way.

Think I'm bumping the movie up to a "7." I haven't stopped thinking about since I saw it.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

The Ritual on Netflix.

Look, i'm all for a B horror movie, fully expecting it to be a bit silly, but this was f***ing god awful.

2/10

 

[nameless1]

Close.

Spoiler

Not bad, but I would say more like Videodrome meets The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Kaiser is in control of his identity; Max Renn and Lena aren't]. I would put it this way: because Lena is not a stable entity, she can't be expected to be a totally reliable narrator. I think that she does the best she can, but she probably doesn't realize the full implications until that very final scene where she still can't quite bring herself to say "I don't think so" in answer to Kane's question "Are you Lena?" But Kane understands, thus the heartfelt hug. Absolutely loved that ending, by the way.

Think I'm bumping the movie up to a "7." I haven't stopped thinking about since I saw it.

Spoiler

It may be a composite of all three movies then, since the narrative is closer to The Usual Suspects.

That said, I still do not get the point of the duplicates though.

Regardless of my continued confusion, this movie continues to come back to me too, and I actually want to watch it again. I can only hope that for the next screening, people actually turn their phone off, and there will not be a commotion that caused people to be kicked out of the cinema.

 

[kihei]

Polina (2017) Directed by Valerie Muller and Angelin Preljocaj 6A

Polina is a coming-of-age movie about a young dancer (Anastasia Shevtsova) who though trained at the Bolshoi longs for another kind of dance. Trouble is, she doesn't yet know what form of dance that is. Though she looks frail, Polina is very strong-willed, willing to disappoint her parents, a boyfriend, and even a wide variety of several top-notch dance instructors along the way. Willowy, graceful Polina may seem rudderless, but she is uncompromising in all the things that really matter to her. This is not your basic schlock "love to dance" movie. Granted, sometimes this film seems a bit on the melodramatic side, sometimes a little cliche--but somehow Shevtsova plows right through all that. Although her range is limited, Shevtsova's sense of commitment to this role is palpable. It helps immensely that she is a talented ballerina in her own right because there is no way even the best actor could fake the kind of movement seen here, relying as it does on technique that takes years and years to acquire. One of the pluses of the movie is that it shows just how arduous that journey is. The final dance sequence is indeed a culmination of everything that the movie is about. While it has its shortcomings, Polina is easily the best movie I have seen about dance since Wim Wenders' documentary Pina.

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[Mr Jiggyfly]

The Ritual on Netflix.

Look, i'm all for a B horror movie, fully expecting it to be a bit silly, but this was ****ing god awful.

2/10

It started off so well then just went off the deep end...

 

[kihei]

Red Sparrows (2018) Directed by Francis Lawrence 3A

Dominika (Jennifer Lawrence) is tricked by her evil uncle (Matthias Schoenaerts, god knows why) into becoming a Red Sparrow, a Russian secret agent designed to extract information by any means necessary (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). Dominika is none too happy with the situation but what is a girl to do? You have not seen Russian spies like this since Ian Fleming's heyday in the early sixties. In fact, Charlotte Rampling has the hapless task of playing this movie's version of Rosa Klebb from From Russia with Love--same outfit, same humourless attitude, everything but the dagger in the sole of her boot. The whole movie is like that--an almost comic reenactment of Cold War stereotypes. If this were played for fun, it might have had some chance at being entertaining. But it is clear the movie wants to be taken seriously. Why any of the fine cast would choose of their own free will to participate in this debackle is beyond me--the incoherence of Red Sparrows is only exceeded by its inconsequence.

The next day: closer to a 3B as there are a few undeniably ugly bits in the movie that could prove more than some people want to handle in this kind of movie.

 

[Nalens Oga]

JFK (1991) - 7/10

Bit too long for what it is but worth it for two seasons, the Donald Sutherland speech and the Costner speech at the end. Oh yeah and there was definitely a conspiracy by someone when it comes to JFK.

Black Panther (2018) - 7.5/10

Michael B. Jordan was overrated in this. One of the better Marvel films but a bit annoying with how much was packed in which was distracting, especially all the pageantry early on. The fight scene at the end was also poorly directed, too many jumps.

 

[aleshemsky83]

Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai

Going to have to spoil this movie to properly explain why I don't like it.

I've seen a lot of the love for Miike online and this movie did not help me understand that sentiment. This movies finale was an absolute flop. I actually had to research the meaning of the red armor, the cutting of the topknots, and who the man at the end was because its not explained. I assumed this was just a cultural reference that all japanese people knew but no, ITS EXPLAINED IN THE ORIGINAL. Somehow the remake completely ignores that people don't understand the significance of these things and just leaves them unexplained, something the 1962 original does understand. To be clear, I haven't fully seen the original. The synopsis as well as short clips of it showed that the explanations were present in the original but not in the remake.

Spoilers for those curious:

Spoiler

The red armor represents the honor and status of the clan, the head of the clan explains to the protagonist that none of his samurai fear death, when the protagonist shows them his missing samurais topknot he proves that his samurai are hiding and do in fact fear death, why? Because as goes unexplained in the remake, any samurai that loses his topknot must commit seppuku (commit suicide by cutting open their belly) theyre hiding because theyre waiting for it to grow back. The protagonist goes on to humiliate the entire clan by taking them all on and smashes the red armor. At the end when the shogun marvels at the beautifully polished armor this is supposed to create an ironic moment, unfortunately, this fails pretty badly in the remake due to some badly needed but missing exposition.

Will watch the criterion remaster of the original, which I really should have watched first, I have higher hopes for it.

 

[aleshemsky83]

Searching for Sugarman

Once upon a time, a record came out that captured a rebellious zeitgeist and mobilized the masses. An entire country sang along and took notice to a very special artist: Sixto Rodriguez. His two albums released in the early 70's enthralled...South Africa. And were totally overlooked elsewhere on the planet. SA was of course a very cloistered society during the 70's and 80's, thanks to its horrible government and police force, and while everyone in the country knew and loved Rodriguez' two albums, nobody knew anything about the man himself. Rumors had it he had killed himself onstage via a variety of methods, but nobody was sure. After the fall of apartheid, a couple of his biggest fans try to learn his story. Who is he? Where did he come from? How did he die? The answers lie within.

Oscar winner for best documentary in 2012, it's really quite interesting and compelling. Sixto Rodriguez (spoiler alert: he's still alive) himself remains remarkably down to earth and humble, if weird. And his kids would clearly prefer it if he were a teensy weensy bit more interested in finding out just where all the money he should have made went.

I mentioned this the last time someone reviewed this movie but apparently he was actually pretty successful in Australia during his touring days, there's also talk that the filmmakers did know he was alive and were dishonest about it.

Still that's a film I need to get around to seeing, have heard good things.

 

[Savi]

I was looking forward to Red Sparrow and then Kihei drops a 3A

 

[Led Zappa]

I was looking forward to Red Sparrow and then Kihei drops a 3A

I can't wait to see it now and see how good a pulse he has on my tastes. I know he detests some movies I love, but he's had a few years now to get a feel for what I like.