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

[HanSolo]

Finally got around to The Shape of Water 9/10

What I find so remarkable about this movie is how strange the concept is on its face...borderline perverse...but Del Toro makes a near masterpiece out of it. To call it less than a masterful work of cinematic art is to do it a disservice, however I do think a few elements keep it out of masterpiece territory.

So I'll address those cons right off the bat. First of all, I appreciate a movie that can deliver social messages. Don't get me wrong. But for all the movie's strengths in conveying themes of loneliness, finding solace in the solidarity between two misunderstood characters, love, and devotion through very subtle and emotive channels...I thought the moments where the movie tried to touch on issues of homophobia, racism, and sexism to be lacking subtlety and felt quite shoehorned. The implementation of these themes just felt so juxtaposed to the way the core themes were handled in a way that kind of makes for a slightly jarring experience where I felt there was true artistry in how the core themes were handled.

Then, I felt...while Micheal Shannon's performance was strong and quite imposing, there were times he felt a bit like a caricature. His motivations and drives were believable but there were some moments that did feel kind of mustache twirling villain for me.

Everything else was phenomenal though. The acting, cinematography, score, soundtrack, story telling. I felt fortunate to have given my time to watch this film and I'm sure I'll be watching it again before its HBO circulation ends.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden World

Well...shit. The wife and I have been watching movies from our child-hood and somehow I never saw this one. While most of the movies we've watched lately were terrible (I'm looking at you "Battle Beyond the Stars") this one actually shines and stands out as a decent waste of 90 minutes.

This gem is now part of my cult favorites from the 80s....it's below "The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across the 8th Diminsion" but on par with "the Last Starfighter."

The story flows and moves along nicely...never gets to bogged down. Molly provides spunk in spades and Peter Strauss plays his character straight. Considering how long ago the movie was made, it stands up pretty well. A couple of cringe-worthy effects aside.

If you have nothing better to do for 90 minutes and enjoy si-fy, this would be recommended.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Hold The Dark (2018) -

This flick started out very much like Wind River, then took a sharp and unexpected turn into the bizarre.

Saulnier is perfect at setting an atmosphere and I instantly became immersed in the harsh conditions and believable isolation he presented on screen.

The plot is initially driven forward by Russel, an expert on wolves, and Medona, who summoned him to find her child after he was apparently stolen by a wolfpack.

One of the most intense scenes in the movie occurs early on when Medona warns Russel about the darkness outside the windows... and as he sleeps in her cabin that very first night, you can hear the wind howling outside in such a menacing way, that it becomes truly unnerving as hell.

Then things start to get a little weird for just a moment... but the next morning we settle back down into a very atmospheric setting again for a spell.

Things don’t get truly bizarre until Medona’s husband returns from the war...

Saulnier puts deep faith in the intellect of his audience, so much of your understanding of the ending depends heavily on subtle clues and past conversations.

Unfortunately, what makes this movie fascinating, realistic acting and dialogue, can also leave you quite bewildered by the end. Because the acting is so realistic, many of the important conversations are spoken true to life, with lower tone inflections at critical times.

Essentially, you need to fully immerse yourself in this movie or you will be extremely confused by the end, and unable to really appreciate what you just watched.

Overall I enjoyed the movie, but I think Saulnier was a little too ambitious with this film and the message he tried to convey wasn’t as powerful as it could have been...

 

[Say Hey Kid]

Mike Mignola had to have given his blessing for The Shape of Water, because the creature is Abe Sapien.

 

[OzzyFan]

A Simple Favor
3.00 out of 4stars

A fun dark comedy/suspense movie with lots of twists. Part of me wants to rate this higher than what it is just because Lively and Kendrick's acting turns were spot on endearing along with the writing/dialogue that it feels like one of those movies that are more enjoyable than the quality of the story itself, and the story is pretty good. Oh why not, 3 out of 4stars.

Children of Men
2.85 out of 4stars

I don't know if "I'm missing something" or if "something is wrong with me", but I don't get the Cuaron love. I've seen 4 of his films (CofM, Gravity, Y Tu MT, +...), and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite movie by him. I mean, I think his directorial style is good, especially his camerawork, but I just don't see this appeal where he's one of the best in the business today and putting out elite movies that show his genius. For me he's tiers below the Villenueve's, Fincher's, and Nolan's of today that I know. What am I missing?

 

[Mario Lemieux fan 66]

the girl who leapt through time: 7.8/10

Mandy: 6.8/10

Garden of Words: 6/10

 

[Spring in Fialta]

I loved the movie poster

I found I Stand Alone fantastic and by far his best movie. Irreversible was very good too. Enter the Void was absolutely terrible and haven't been interested in watching anything else since.

 

[Christopher Flowers]

The last movie I watch is The Nun and its really good horror movie.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Been on a bit of a Stephen King kick lately (it's that time of year). I'll go years without touching one of his books or seeing a movie based on his stuff, then I'll just get in the mood and take down a bunch at a time. Sat down this weekend to take in Gerald's Game and I have to say, it was pretty solid.

It's one of King's simplest premises — a couple, seeking to spice up their marriage go to their secluded house in the woods for the some lively S&M. But poor Gerald's heart can't take it and he has a heart attack, leaving his wife Jessie handcuffed to the bed. Threats real and maybe imagined lurk in the shadows.

I suspect the static setting of the story is one reason it's taken so long for this one to be adapted, but it shouldn't have been. Proved to be a pretty compelling watch, but that's due to both Carla Gugino and Bruce Greenwood who do an admirable job with the heavy lifting. They play both their characters and figments of Jessie's imagination as she copes with traumas from her past while trying to solve her way out of her predicament. More tense than scary though it has one very Lynchian jump scare moment and one pretty gruesome scene of violence. Last 10 minutes were pretty corny/bad and I could have done without. Overall though two good performances carry it.

 

[Hockeyfrilla]

Stronger (2017) 7/10

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016) 5/10

The Predator (2018) 5.5/10

Only the Brave (2017) 7/10

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) 6/10

Hold the Dark (2018) 6/10

 

[Nalens Oga]

Deadpool 2 (2018) - 6.5/10

It was funny but also forgettable and the laughs felt hollow and empty, sort of like a Family Guy episode. The emotional moments didn't hit at all, maybe Ryan Reynolds can't act. It was a bit better than the first though, solid as a sequel.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Jane Fonda in Five Acts
Pretty comprehensive and compelling documentary on a fascinating, complicated and let's just say divisive actress/activist/celebrity. This woman has lived a lot of lives for a lot of different reasons, all of which are on display here. So much so that even at a shade over two hours it feels like there could be another few hours of anecdotes. Henry Fonda fares pretty poorly here, but Jane is admirably self-reflective on her own short comings. An interesting watch, especially if you only know the broad strokes of her life.

 

[kihei]

Ismael's Ghosts (2018) Directed by Arnaud Desplichin 4C

"Autofiction" is all the rage these days in contemporary literature, and respected French director Arnaud Desplichin, perhaps inspired by his countrywoman Agnes Varda who has successfully created her own hybrid memoir/documentary form (The Beaches of Agnes and Faces Places), has now tried his hand at combining the fictional with the non-fictional. Unfortunately in his case, the end result is anything but satisfying. Ismael's Ghost's is about a difficult-to believe menage a trois that involves Ismael (Mathieu Amalric), a famous film director, his present partner Sylvia (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and his former wife Carlotta (Marion Cotillard) who has returned home after an unexplained absence of 21 years. However, there is a parallel movie going on at the same time, one that Ismael is shooting, that deals with a spy story and may be inspired in part by memories of his brother (Ismael's brother? Desplichin's brother? Don't ask). The two movies shift back and forth with a series of abrupt, jarring cuts that make no sense dramatically or emotionally. Other themes and subplots and obsessions apparent in previous Desplichin movies get haphazardly thrown into the mix, too. Plus, the movie jumps around a lot in time with sometimes no clear signal of when the proceedings return to the present. It's like the movie has been edited by a random group of chimpanzees. Add all these elements together and you get a pretentious, self-indulgent mess with a few memorable scenes and some nice touches of humour. Cotillard and Gainsbourg do wonderful work here against strong odds, but Amalric is wildly inconsistent--weak where the script is weak (which is most of the time) but moving and funny in key moments. Although Ismael's Ghost has a few good bits to recommend it, overall, it is a pretty serious failure.

subtitles

 

[Nalens Oga]

Ant-Man and The Wasp (2018) - 7/10

Kinda stupid at first but fairly enjoyable, low-stakes but I didn't watch this within months of Infinity War so it was fine. The jokes aren't as funny as in the first but they're more meaningful than the empty hollow Family Guy-style jokes in Deadpool and the characters are likable at least. There is a decent amount of bad acting that makes this look B-tier compared to the better Marvel films. But the uniqueness of the action because of the shrink/grow aspect makes the action in this film better to watch than most other Marvel films and their quick shaky cam cuts.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Somewhere (2010) - I had watched this one a few weeks back and forgot to review it. I find Coppola to be rather hit-and-miss (and probably with a couple more misses than hits) but I've always felt Somewhere to be by far her strongest movie and the closest work she has to a masterpiece although I don't think it's quite there. I love the delicate atmosphere which lingers consistently throughout the film and she gets a great performance out of essentially every actor in the film. It's also a movie that while I wouldn't call it intellectually deep, is anything but superficial and Coppola navigates the small, often overlooked disadvantages of a sheltered and public life with expertise, and probably better than any modern film I can think of. Whenever a movie attempts to approach the theme of fame and/or isolation, I find there is often a consistent barrier present between the film and his viewer that currently feels hard to pinpoint but which can always be felt, nonetheless. Not so with Somewhere, where I felt completely inside the movie. Great use of contemporary pop music as well.

Mean Streets (1973) - It used to be my favorite film by Scorcese and although I still love it, I think it's become a firm third behind The King of Comedy and Raging Bull. I think it's often overlooked when people speak of Scorcese - who has lost a disheartening amount of steam as a director in past 20 years - and this movie is probably the epitome of how good he could be on a limited budget and how far your can take it with some stylish ideas and strong editing. The story itself doesn't stand out - but the dialogue and performances add a lot of depth to it - and every cut felt like a dazzling dance performance. An example of a movie where style becomes its own substance. I don't think Scorcese meant it that way but this movie screams " Aesthetics before anything else ".

Raging Bull (1980) - A full-blown masterpiece and probably one of the five greatest American movies I've ever watched. The symbiosis between all the different elements of the film - editing, cinematography, acting, writing, music - raises the impact of each aspect. Everything becomes better because of how strong each individual part is. I find that an extremely rare occurence in film. Using sports as an analogy for a moral dilemma is a great trick if executed properly but can also easily become treacherous when in the wrong hands, for it feels very easy to manipulate the viewer, while also being a subject where it is easy to fall into tackyness. Raging Bull succeeds brilliantly, and I have a hard time deciding if Raging Bull or The King of Comedy is De Niro's best work although recency bias makes me want to choose the former right now. One of the greatest movies of all-time, while portraying one of film's biggest losers through some haunting and slickly intense shots and scenes. I love it.

 

[kihei]

The Sisters Brothers (2018) Directed by Jacques Audiard 7B

As Westerns go, The Sisters Brothers is a hard one to pigeonhole. On the face of it, the movie is the tale of Charlie (Joaquin Phoenix) and Eli (John C. Reilly), two brothers who are contract killers on orders to murder a meek prospector (Riz Ahmed) for reasons that initially seem pretty nebulous. But the longer the movie goes on the more it drifts away from the expectations that story line suggests. In fact, the movie is full of little surprises that just kind of sneak up on you. While there are the odd bursts of action, they are relatively scarce. Rather the emphasis is on dialogue as Charllie and Eli thrash over some of the details of their haphazard existence and try to get a grip on what comes next. While they are debating their woes, the search for the prospector takes a mighty unexpected turn with everybody ending up in a situation that no one could have foreseen. While I prefer the novel, which has far more biting humour, I like what French director Jacques Audiard has done here. Typically his movies do not fit under a single genre heading, nor does this one really. Audiard's adapts tone and style while keeping the narrative moving forward, shifting away from the mechanics of the chase to the personalities of the people involved in the chase. With fine performances all around, including a career best performance by Reilly, The Sisters Brothers is a refreshingly different kind of Western, one much less concerned about standard genre archetypes and much more focused on how the past has shaped the present of its characters and may dictate their future if they are not careful. The end result is somehow very emotionally satisfying.

 

[OzzyFan]

Venom
2.50 out of 4stars

Critically, it's a mess: it's storytelling is almost as bad as Suicide Squad and other issues along that regard I'll get to below. As a popcorn flick, it's pretty good mindless entertainment, fun, humor, and action. I completely understand the audience(non-critics) love it's getting. Tom Hardy, even during the first 30 minutes when he's mostly given mediocre "pre-venom" non-sense, is attention demanding and "movie" stealing. Hardy really is a large reason this movie is better than it's paper blueprints show it to be and I can't think of anyone else that could have pulled this role out like he did, worth the watch alone to see an "A" quality actor ooze everything he can out of a not well written "superhero/villain" role (makes you think what Phoenix's Joker could be like also). If you are expecting any sort of storytelling, character development, meaningful dialogue, deep themes, or thought provoking material, stay the heck away, you've been warned. But if you want to see decent mindless entertainment that's well acted, or are a Tom Hardy fan, this one's for you.

 

[Lost Horizons]

Spectral-6.5 out of 10 a good sci-fi flick

 

[Nalens Oga]

Begin Again (2014) - 6/10

I didn't wanna punch Kiera Knightley in this like I did during Pride & Prejudice, she has fairly decent chemistry. BUT surprisingly, the best actor in this film is....James Corden!? Mark Ruffalo's role is ridiculous, he acts fairly pompous throughout and overacts in the worse performance I've ever seen him give. The music in this film is decent and not unbearable generic Virgin Radio pop like in Sing Street outside of the songs sung by the boyfriend who sounds like that dipshit in Maroon 5. Just an average film, made decently well but nothing of significance going on.

 

[kihei]

The Cakemaker (2018) Directed by Ofir Raul Grazier 8B

Working in his Berlin bakery, Thomas starts an affair with Orin, an Israeli businessman who ventures to Germany for a couple of days each month. Their relationship deepens despite the time constraints placed on it so that Thomas is surprised when Orin returns to Jerusalem but doesn't return his many phone calls. Thomas soon finds out that Orin was killed in a car accident. Distraught and wanting to know more about what happened, Thomas journeys to Jeruselem where Orin's widow Anat is opening a coffee shop. He allows himself to become part of her life--and their relationship deepens. A reckoning is coming--when we don't know--but their two separate histories with Orin are bound to eventually collide. As a result, The Cakemaker possesses an unconventional kind of suspense. The movie unfolds almost gently, allowing the audience to know the key circumstances that could unleash a highly-charged emotional combustion, while leaving us far less certain about what these two people are thinking. Instead of words and explanations, we see their unspoken feelings registering on their face and in their actions. Because of a fine script and even better performances, these feelings appear deep, complex and genuine. Both characters are afflicted by a mixture of grief, vulnerability and confusion that is portrayed with utter conviction. Because both characters are likeable and emotionally vulnerable, what happens to each of them carries real emotional weight. While The Cakemaker is a low-key melodrama on one level, there is nothing artificial or trite about the pathos it generates. I ended up feeling great empathy for Orin, Thomas and Anat. I also found The Cakemaker to be among the more satisfying movies of the year.

subtitles (with some English)


Best of ’18 so far

Roma, Cuaron, Mexico
Ash Is the Purest White, Jia, China
The Image Book, Godard, France
On the Beach at Night Alone, Hong, South Korea
The Cakemaker, Grazier, Israel
Burning, Hank, South Korea
Cold War, Pawlikowski, Poland
Donbass, Loznitsa, Ukraine
November, Sarnet, Estonia
1945, Toroc, Hungary

 

[Ainec]

Searching 9/10

very unique film with lots of movie details

 

[Nalens Oga]

Shock Corridor (1963) - 6.5/10
Good premise but hard to take seriously, quite messy and badly acted with poor depictions of mental illness. It's sprinkled with some really good scenes and good scenery though as well as some strangely random colour shots in an old black and white film.

The Fighter (2010) - 7/10
The family bits got cliched and it worse itself out a bit but Christian Bale was good, still felt a bit one-dimensional though. Amy Adams throwing punches was a highlight, never seen her act that crude either. Mark Wahlberg was maybe not the best choice but not the worse either, he's a meh actor.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) - 8.5/10
Yeah it's pretty good.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Anyone knows where I could watch The Killer of Sheep by Charles Burnett? I don't own a blu-ray or DVD player and the movie seems rather expensive anyways. Are there any other channels I could go through. I desperately want to watch it.

 

[kihei]

A Star Is Born (2018) Directed by Bradley Cooper 4A

A Star Is Born recounts the meteoric rise of one singer and the tragic fall of another. A drunken Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) catches a performance of novice singer Ally (Lady Gaga) at a tranny bar that he stumbles into after one of his concerts and is instantly blown away by her talent. He gives a big boost to her start as a singer/songwriter, and their relationship develops into love. However, it is not long before she surpasses him in popularity as his alcoholism gets the better of him. I can hazard a guess why this film is getting good reviews. Lady Gaga is terrific and she and Cooper have an undeniable chemistry that ignites the first third of the movie. But as we settle into the story, the movie becomes increasingly less believable as the situation grows ever more maudlin, ending with abject sentimentality in place or real emotion. Some of Cooper's praiseworthy attempts to make the story more intimate come a cropper thanks to his technical choices. While he is very good with his actors--as Jackson's older brother Bobby, Sam Elliot gives an award-worthy performance as well--he early on falls in love with giant close ups and wide angle lens which work well during the concert footage but seem wildly out of place in living rooms, bedrooms and corridors. Cooper has created a small movie that must fit into a big movie format, and he doesn't have the experience to quite pull it off. As well, he is stuck with a narrative arc that was probably already threadbare when the A Star is Born was first made in 1937 with Janet Gaynor and Frederick March. The result is that after a fine first act, the rest of the movie seems like a prosaic playing out of the already obvious.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

A Star Is Born (2018) Directed by Bradley Cooper 4A

A Star Is Born recounts the meteoric rise of one singer and the tragic fall of another. A drunken Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) catches a performance of novice singer Ally (Lady Gaga) at a tranny bar that he stumbles into after one of his concerts and is instantly blown away by her talent. He gives a big boost to her start as a singer/songwriter, and their relationship develops into love. However, it is not long before she surpasses him in popularity as his alcoholism gets the better of him. I can hazard a guess why this film is getting good reviews. Lady Gaga is terrific and she and Cooper have an undeniable chemistry that ignites the first third of the movie. But as we settle into the story, the movie becomes increasingly less believable as the situation grows ever more maudlin, ending with abject sentimentality in place or real emotion. Some of Cooper's praiseworthy attempts to make the story more intimate come a cropper thanks to his technical choices. While he is very good with his actors--as Jackson's older brother Bobby, Sam Elliot gives an award-worthy performance as well--he early on falls in love with giant close ups and wide angle lens which work well during the concert footage but seem wildly out of place in living rooms, bedrooms and corridors. Cooper has created a small movie that must fit into a big movie format, and he doesn't have the experience to quite pull it off. As well, he is stuck with a narrative arc that was probably already threadbare when the A Star is Born was first made in 1937 with Janet Gaynor and Frederick March. The result is that after a fine first act, the rest of the movie seems like a prosaic playing out of the already obvious.

On another note, while I haven't seen the movie, I absolutely loathe films who make what appear to be wink wink nod nod to the audience by casting Lady Gaga in the lead role. Oh, making a story about a bar singer shooting up to stardom? Let's get Lady Gaga. GET IT? I find it so tired, hacky and distracting. It just feels like a gimmick lacking in creativity. I'm willing to bet there's a couple of obvious and not so obvious nods to Lady Gaga's life and career in the movie.