Movies: Last Movie You Watched and Rate It | Part#: Some High Number +2

[ProstheticConscience]

What, am I the official thread keeper now?

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Motley Crue: The Dirt

with people who sometimes look like who they're supposed to be IRL Hilariously has some guy from Game of Thrones as Mick Mars.

Netflix adaptation of the autobiographical account of massive 80's LA hair metal icons as they snort, smoke and sleaze their way to the top of the heap as only 80's hair metal icons can. It's a nostalgic slice of music and social history from a dystopian but still fondly remembered past for those of us lucky enough to live through and survive its excesses. Where the Queen biopic touched your heart and funny bone, this pic touches other places. Like your dick. And the overflowing ashtray beside your bed that you could've sworn you emptied yesterday...but then you chugged a case of beer and threw up all over the dresser and left it for the maid...where is she? Didn't I give her my number...? Oh...right. That was the motel we were in last week in Frenso. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Well, shouldn't someone be refreshing my coke supply right now? Where the f*** is Doc? Oh, we're on now? Okay, hold on...why is Ozzy Osbourne running naked through the pool area of the Holiday Inn snorting ants? Wait...ants? Isn't he supposed to headline tonight?

Hey, when did it become 2015?

You had to have been there to really enjoy it.

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Last thread here: Movies: - Last Movie You Watched and Rate It | Part#: Some High Number +1

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[sr edler]

Blue Velvet (1986) by David Lynch – 5/10

Not a fan of this film. Thought it was cartoonish. Some aspects of the film was okay (or even good), like some of the acting et cetera, but the bad things took over. I liked when the strange looking guy lip synched In Dreams though, I didn't even get it was a lip synch first, I just thought he was supposed to have that deep voice for cinematographic reasons. He reminded me of the villains from the Pelle Svanslös movies, where everyone is dressed up to look like a cat.

 

[OzzyFan]

The Lion King (2019)
2.50 out of 4stars

Going to be bluntly honest about this one. It was satisfying but at times too dry and too dull. Blame Favreau on that maybe? Some of the acting choices I thought were bad enough to be considered mistakes. Now I know Nathan Lane was/is a homosexual person, but I never felt Timon come off as a homosexual character, at most I got a zany Billy Crystal vibe, this new actor and new version of The Lion King portrayed Timon as over the top gay and it just felt out of place to me. I'm not anti-LGBTQ or any sort of prejudice towards those people, but the actor choice or portrayal decision just felt very off/awkward/distracting to me. 2nd, I love almost everything Donald Glover does, but Simba was just wrong. The whole time he was playing adults Simba, "robotic Chris Evans" was the thought that just kept repeating through my head. It's weird, because I thought almost all the other acting choices/turns were spot on for matching the already star studded fun emotional rollercoaster original: especially Jones coming back, Ejiofor, Oliver, Kani, the child acted Simba and Nala, etc. Lastly, I thought half the songs just didn't have the charm or charisma or performance quality of the original, they just felt a little underwhelming to me.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Blue Velvet (1986) by David Lynch – 5/10

Not a fan of this film. Thought it was cartoonish. Some aspects of the film was okay (or even good), like some of the acting et cetera, but the bad things took over. I liked when the strange looking guy lip synched In Dreams though, I didn't even get it was a lip synch first, I just thought he was supposed to have that deep voice for cinematographic reasons. He reminded me of the villains from the Pelle Svanslös movies, where everyone is dressed up to look like a cat.

That's the strangest review I've ever read.

 

[hoglund]

The Lion King (2019)
2.50 out of 4stars

Going to be bluntly honest about this one. It was satisfying but at times too dry and too dull. Blame Favreau on that maybe? Some of the acting choices I thought were bad enough to be considered mistakes. Now I know Nathan Lane was/is a homosexual person, but I never felt Timon come off as a homosexual character, at most I got a zany Billy Crystal vibe, this new actor and new version of The Lion King portrayed Timon as over the top gay and it just felt out of place to me. I'm not anti-LGBTQ or any sort of prejudice towards those people, but the actor choice or portrayal decision just felt very off/awkward/distracting to me. 2nd, I love almost everything Donald Glover does, but Simba was just wrong. The whole time he was playing adults Simba, "robotic Chris Evans" was the thought that just kept repeating through my head. It's weird, because I thought almost all the other acting choices/turns were spot on for matching the already star studded fun emotional rollercoaster original: especially Jones coming back, Ejiofor, Oliver, Kani, the child acted Simba and Nala, etc. Lastly, I thought half the songs just didn't have the charm or charisma or performance quality of the original, they just felt a little underwhelming to me.

The movie was good, but like most remakes, the original was better. This movie isn't animated and is too realistic, which loses something. I think kids will enjoy this and people who haven't seen the original. It's still worth seeing.

 

[Jevo]

The movie was good, but like most remakes, the original was better. This movie isn't animated and is too realistic, which loses something. I think kids will enjoy this and people who haven't seen the original. It's still worth seeing.

How is a movie that is 100% CGI not animated?

 

[hoglund]

How is a movie that is 100% CGI not animated?

The movie doesn't look animated, the animals are so realistic that you want to pet them. The movie looks great, but loses the innocence of the original because of this. I would still recommend this movie and people who haven't seen the original will love it.

 

[Trap Jesus]

Just saw Overlord. I thought this worked quite well up until the end, where it went full-blown silly action movie. I get that's the appeal to a lot of people, but I appreciated it more when it felt a little bit more contained and was mixing in a lot of horror elements. There was still a lot of action beforehand, but it felt a lot more atmospheric when they were just kind of hiding out in that village, spying on the Nazis.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Dead in a Week (or your money back)

with Tom Wilkinson and some guy who's obviously a less expensive version of Elijah Wood.

William (Frodo lookalike) is an unpublished author mired in suicidal depression. He wants to shuffle off this mortal coil...but he sucks at killing himself. Everything he tries is thwarted. He jumps off a bridge and lands on a party barge. He tries to hang himself and the chandelier breaks. He gulps booze and pills then bazooka-barfs. He walks out into traffic and gets hit by an ambulance which immediately disgorges paramedics. He's at the end of his rope when along comes Leslie (Wilkinson) when he's hanging off the edge of a bridge. Leslie curiously inquires as to how serious William wants to die because lo and behold, Leslie is actually a hitman needing one more kill to meet his monthly quota at the Assassin's Guild. No, really. After the ER patches up his wounds from crashing through the party barge's dance floor, William calls the number on Leslie's business card and the two meet up at a diner to look through brochures and sign the contract to end William's life. It's all very dry, British and businesslike. But then a publisher takes a shine to his book and William suddenly has something to live for. Couldn't we move that contract back a few days...? Nope. Bureaucracy stops for no man.

The gimmick of the movie is the British branch of the John Wick universe has a bland office culture like any other business where they check out guns and have their totals on a dry erase board. William's unexpected courtship with the publisher's assistant and life looking up shares equal time with Leslie's home life. Leslie is the once-unstoppable Angel of Death, but now he's an old, tired shadow of his former self and everyone wants him to retire. His wife spends her time doing competitive needlepoint and longingly booking round-the-world cruises, but Les isn't ready to retire. Not even when he mistakenly shoots a waiter and a traffic warden who had the temerity to give his illegally parked BMW a ticket. But the boss gave him a nice clock as a retirement present! Nope. Still going to kill people.

Meh. It's okay...some dry British laughs and dry British acting. Not really all that memorable but there's worse ways to kill and hour and a half.

On Netflix now.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Shazam

4/10

grew up watching the original--

it tried to to hard to be a PG13 deadpool at some points in time

most likely it is just me--but it had the structure to be so much better

 

[Mimsy]

True Grit (2010)

I won't rehash the plot or try to write a proper review. Random thoughts...

The 2010 film is based on the book as opposed to being a remake of the John Wayne original.

On my watch list since its debut, I only managed to see it a couple of days ago. If I had known this was a Coen brothers' film at the time of original release, then I'd long since forgotten. "True Grit" is not a typical film of theirs in that it's mostly a straight western. I watched "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" when it first aired on Netflix and really enjoyed it. The humor there trends much darker than it does here. With either film, the Coen brothers' love of the western is obvious.

The dialogue plays more like a classic film. It's almost poetic. I found some of Jeff Bridges' lines a little difficult to understand, largely because he's portraying a grizzled drunken bastard and doing so with a harsh cadence. He's great as always.

Matt Damon is effective in a supporting role. I'm ambivalent about some of his movies and wasn't sure I wanted to see him in this one. He brings both levity and heart to the film.

This is Hailee Steinfeld's film. She was deservedly nominated for an Oscar. She anchors the movie from start to finish. After watching, I searched online to see if anyone else found her performance reminiscent of Megan Follows in the original "Anne of Green Gables". A number of people noted similarities.

Worth an additional viewing.

9/10

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

A double feature of first films...

Permanent Vacation. Jim Jarmusch’s first full feature. An aimless New Yorker drifts around the city in the late 1970s. Pretty standard young man first movie fodder, especially one with such a clear affinity for European films. It’s a noble enough, but ultimately dull venture here. A fine imitation, but an imitation nonetheless. That said, you see the seeds of the filmmaker to come. Great eye and ear. You see the appeal fo the grime of NYC at the time. He’d grow to be much better ... by his next film.

Fear and Desire. Stanley Kubrick’s first film. It’s a positively scant 61 minutes. He pretty much disowned it (as far as I can tell), feeling embarrassed about his earliest effort. I get it. But he really shouldn’t be. The bad is that the acting is all pretty rough. The entire thing is ADR’d and the dialogue all sounds like it’s in a studio, not in the actual environment. That said, a lot of his visual flair is evident from the start. It’s rough, but it’s a interesting hour or so if you’re a fan.

Not a first film, but close ....

The Elephant Man. David Lynch’s second feature. I was in Toronto for a long weekend and though I feel a little bad about dipping into a theater when I can be out exploring a city, it was wicked hot and I just so happen to be on a David Lynch kick anyway and a film print just happened to be showing. Sometimes the universe aligns ... Saw it as a kid, but never since. I was taken by a few aspects. Lynch so accurately evokes classic horror with his cinematography, editing, style in general, Browning’s Freaks most obviously, but classic Universal schlock too. This isn’t that type of story, but that style fits. But I was moved by how gentle and humane it is. Lynch has a heart, but rarely is it so obvious. It’s often buried beneath a lot of grime and depravity (if it exists at all). Might be read as a bit maudlin here, but I disagree. He sometimes comes across a bit as a softie in interviews. A weirdo, but a soft one. This is a rare time that softness is evident.

This isn’t a full studio paycheck job. Coming off Eraserhead you see some of that influence as well. The dreamy opening. Bits of that cacophonous soundscape pop up here. What an amazing combination of director, material and timing here.

I said a few pages ago that I believe Blue Velvet was Lynch’s best. I still believe that, but part of that is because that is so of a piece with the bulk of his filmography. The Elephant Man is a departure, though not a radical one when you stop to think about it. It’s also among his best, though perhaps not the most representative.

 

[Arizonan God]

I watched Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing for the second time in my life. I first watched it a few years ago, and enjoyed it. Watching it again however, I now see it as one of the greatest American films ever. Lee is able to evoke such a broad range of emotions. From humour, to joy, to anger and finally to despair. It's just executed so perfectly. The visual language of the film is also top notch, from the warm colours that help convey the feeling of the hottest day of the summer, to some superb, visceral camerawork that gets (sometimes uncomfortably) close to the subjects when it needs to. Aside from the artistry on display here, Spike Lee also touches on many social issues that America (and other parts of the world) still grapple with today. The racial tensions and police brutality against African-Americans are obviously what Do The Right Thing are known for portraying, but I was also struck by one scene in which one of the older, unemployed men on the corner mentions that the ice caps will start to melt in the near future. The other men proceed to laugh at him and call him a fool.

It was great to be able to watch a newly struck 35mm print at the TIFF Lightbox. It was absolutely beautiful.

10. This film is essential, and I think any film fan who hasn't seen this is doing themselves a disservice. Go see it!

 

[Hockeyfrilla]

Captain Marvel

5/10

 

[Eye of Ra]

ondskan/evil. 10/10. probaly the best swedish movie.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

I watched Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing for the second time in my life. I first watched it a few years ago, and enjoyed it. Watching it again however, I now see it as one of the greatest American films ever. Lee is able to evoke such a broad range of emotions. From humour, to joy, to anger and finally to despair. It's just executed so perfectly. The visual language of the film is also top notch, from the warm colours that help convey the feeling of the hottest day of the summer, to some superb, visceral camerawork that gets (sometimes uncomfortably) close to the subjects when it needs to. Aside from the artistry on display here, Spike Lee also touches on many social issues that America (and other parts of the world) still grapple with today. The racial tensions and police brutality against African-Americans are obviously what Do The Right Thing are known for portraying, but I was also struck by one scene in which one of the older, unemployed men on the corner mentions that the ice caps will start to melt in the near future. The other men proceed to laugh at him and call him a fool.

It was great to be able to watch a newly struck 35mm print at the TIFF Lightbox. It was absolutely beautiful.

10. This film is essential, and I think any film fan who hasn't seen this is doing themselves a disservice. Go see it!

It's a shame Spike Lee has never come remotely close to making something as good as Do the Right Thing. He's done some okay stuff since, but DTRT truly is a wonderful movie, both in its visuals and story-telling. It's almost like Spike Lee gets a little too cocky and priggish after that initial success. I thought Clockers was cool though.

 

[OhCaptainMyCaptain]

The Lion King (2019)
2.50 out of 4stars

Going to be bluntly honest about this one. It was satisfying but at times too dry and too dull. Blame Favreau on that maybe? Some of the acting choices I thought were bad enough to be considered mistakes. Now I know Nathan Lane was/is a homosexual person, but I never felt Timon come off as a homosexual character, at most I got a zany Billy Crystal vibe, this new actor and new version of The Lion King portrayed Timon as over the top gay and it just felt out of place to me. I'm not anti-LGBTQ or any sort of prejudice towards those people, but the actor choice or portrayal decision just felt very off/awkward/distracting to me. 2nd, I love almost everything Donald Glover does, but Simba was just wrong. The whole time he was playing adults Simba, "robotic Chris Evans" was the thought that just kept repeating through my head. It's weird, because I thought almost all the other acting choices/turns were spot on for matching the already star studded fun emotional rollercoaster original: especially Jones coming back, Ejiofor, Oliver, Kani, the child acted Simba and Nala, etc. Lastly, I thought half the songs just didn't have the charm or charisma or performance quality of the original, they just felt a little underwhelming to me.

Timon & Pumbaa were my favorite parts of the movie. Thought they were fantastic. Agreed on Glover, though. Just didn't seem to do it right.

 

[sr edler]

Earth Girls Are Easy (1988) by Julien Temple – 7.5/10

This film was pretty cool and low key funny. I'm not a fan of Jim Carrey, but here he hardly speaks at all which works for him. The musical numbers in this film sucks though, but it's almost a positive as they kinda functions as well needed pauses for new oxygen/contemplation. The late 80s Valley girl parody by Geena Davis was pretty neat, with tons of 80s props everywhere.

Apparently the guy who did this film was a music video director, which makes for some MTV references.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Earth Girls Are Easy (1988) by Julien Temple – 7.5/10

This film was pretty cool and low key funny. I'm not a fan of Jim Carrey, but here he hardly speaks at all which works for him. The musical numbers in this film sucks though, but it's almost a positive as they kinda functions as well needed pauses for new oxygen/contemplation. The late 80s Valley girl parody by Geena Davis was pretty neat, with tons of 80s props everywhere.

Apparently the guy who did this film was a music video director, which makes for some MTV references.

He's actually got a pretty interesting and deep list of pretty well known videos. Your post piqued my curiosity ...
Julien Temple - Wikipedia

 

[Osprey]

The Dirt (2019) - 5/10 (Didn't like or dislike it)

I've long been curious about what made Motley Crue so infamous away from the studio/stage, so it was interesting in that respect. The music is also good, of course. Everything else was kind of "meh." I didn't find it particularly funny, shocking, engaging or anything else. The narration is rather cringey most of the time and the acting is only passable. It was slightly distracting to see Ramsay Bolton from Game of Thrones as Mick Mars, though also sort of amusing. In the end, it's an OK but completely unremarkable biopic that will appeal only to fans of Motley Crue's music or younger generations who are curious to see all of the mayhem that rock stars from a past generation got into. As one of the former, I found it worthy of watching and interesting enough, but that's about it.

Happy Death Day 2 U (2018) - 6/10 (Liked it)

This sequel is a lot like the original, yet also not really a rehash. In that sense, it reminded me of Back to the Future Part II (which it even references). There are even several scenes that are re-staged as closely as possible as to how they were in the original film in order to have the main character re-experience them. That was kind of neat. It's a bit more of a sci-fi film than the slasher/mystery that the original was, as well as more of an ensemble film. I liked that it explores some different themes, specifically by bringing back characters that died or were dead in the original and having the main character deal with that. I didn't find the humor to be as funny as it was intended to be, so that aspect fell a bit flat, but I didn't find it cringey. Unfortunately, the ending is pretty weak, as well as abrupt. There isn't as strong of a twist/reveal as the original and it just kind of ends as you'd expect it to. If you stick through the credits for a few minutes, though, there's a long-ish extra scene that sets up and teases a third movie (that sounds like it's not a certainty at the moment). Overall, it's a decent sequel if you liked the original. Do not watch it first, however, because it recaps and spoils the original.

Earth Girls Are Easy (1988) by Julien Temple – 7.5/10

There's an 80s movie that I've known about for 30 years but don't think that I've ever seen (or maybe I have and have forgotten). I should check it out.

 

[kihei]

It's a shame Spike Lee has never come remotely close to making something as good as Do the Right Thing. He's done some okay stuff since, but DTRT truly is a wonderful movie, both in its visuals and story-telling. It's almost like Spike Lee gets a little too cocky and priggish after that initial success. I thought Clockers was cool though.

What about Malcolm X?

 

[Spring in Fialta]

What about Malcolm X?

We had a discussion about that one in the weekly movie thread (that reminds me, I've got to watch last week's film! ) but I thought it did some things well, had some good visceral moments, but was ultimately uneven with some spotty writing. Denzel Washington's great though. He carries that film.

 

[sr edler]

The Body Snatcher (1945) by Robert Wise – 8/10

This film is set in 1800s Edinburgh, Scotland and is based on a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson (more famous for Treasure Island and the gothic novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde). It stars both Boris "Frankenstein's Monster" Karloff and Bela "Dracula" Lugosi, in their last film together (apparently they appeared in three films together). One of them has a bigger role in the film than the other though, so it's not a dueling set up.

The film offers references to a real 1800s criminal case that perhaps could be best described as morbid. Let's just say it focuses around medicine (the case) and spinal cord medicine (the film).

I liked this film quite a bit. Acting was good, settings very good looking, especially in the eyes of a 19th century (self described) history nerd. Pace was good, finale perhaps a little cheap and fast tracked, but not enough to spoil anything.

The guy who directed this film also directed both West Side Story and The Sound of Music in the 1960s, by the way.

 

[td_ice]

Spider Man: Into the Spider Verse. 9.5/10

(On Netflix) What an entertaining romp. Stunning visuals. Great writing. Funny, had heart. Super ambitious in scope, but pulled it off magnificently.

 

[Live in the Now]

The Art of Self-Defense

I'm at a bit of a loss after watching this one. Rarely do satirical films work for me on any level. There's always something wrong with them. Either the premise falters entirely, or one of the subplots is focused on for too long, or it's poorly filmed and framed, or the score is poorly placed upon the events. There's always something. This film does have a subplot I found tasteless, it was focused on for about two minutes and didn't disrupt my feelings about the story. Mileage may vary on all of this, and some of the scenes could be perceived as taking jabs at low hanging fruit, but I found the dark comedy here quite amusing. The end result is something that feels almost original and rather ambitious. When this was announced, I was hoping for something like Best of the Best, but this wasn't that and was much better.

I could not possibly succinctly summarize the film, so I won't. There are some great touches here and two very memorable characters.

I'd go with a 7.5 or 8/10, leaning toward the latter.

What, am I the official thread keeper now?

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Motley Crue: The Dirt

with people who sometimes look like who they're supposed to be IRL Hilariously has some guy from Game of Thrones as Mick Mars.

Netflix adaptation of the autobiographical account of massive 80's LA hair metal icons as they snort, smoke and sleaze their way to the top of the heap as only 80's hair metal icons can. It's a nostalgic slice of music and social history from a dystopian but still fondly remembered past for those of us lucky enough to live through and survive its excesses. Where the Queen biopic touched your heart and funny bone, this pic touches other places. Like your dick. And the overflowing ashtray beside your bed that you could've sworn you emptied yesterday...but then you chugged a case of beer and threw up all over the dresser and left it for the maid...where is she? Didn't I give her my number...? Oh...right. That was the motel we were in last week in Frenso. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Well, shouldn't someone be refreshing my coke supply right now? Where the **** is Doc? Oh, we're on now? Okay, hold on...why is Ozzy Osbourne running naked through the pool area of the Holiday Inn snorting ants? Wait...ants? Isn't he supposed to headline tonight?

Hey, when did it become 2015?

You had to have been there to really enjoy it.

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Last thread here: Movies: - Last Movie You Watched and Rate It | Part#: Some High Number +1

I thought the best part was Ozzy, but unfortunately he was in the film for just one scene. I'm fully aware The Dirt was a trash pile of a movie, but it's my kind of trash. At least, that is, until the end of the movie when everything was wrapped up with a nice little bow on top and Motley Crue pushed on to more great things, which definitely never happened.