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

[Puck]

Mine would be:

I see you like the foreign fare and arthouse films too. You also seem to love animated films, I do too. I don't know if it would make any top 20 list but my favorites would also include Up, Ratatouille and Inside Out. I haven't seen yet but I've downloaded The Illusionist by Chomet, the creator of Triplets of Belleville. I also have It's a Beautiful Day and Tokyo Godfathers on the queue line.

I'm not very good at drawing lists but just off the top of my head I think I would find room for the Argentinian movie Wild Tales somewhere. It even has Ricardo Darin in it but I liked the wedding segment best. Also liked Pablo Larrain's No. Oh and maybe throw in Jeunet's Amelie. There are so many good ones.

 

[Led Zappa]

The Endless directed by Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead 6.5

View attachment 137151

As adults, two brothers later return to a UFO cult where they were raised as children. Not is all what it seems in Camp Arcadia.

The two Directors are the principal actors in their own movie. It's a small budget film and remarkably well done with few resources. I'd classify it as a smart, slow-pace, art-house type, sci-fi horror movie. There are plot holes in the movie but I suppose they're forgiven because it's all about belief and disbelief. So I guess you put reality on hold for everything because that's what it's all about here.

I enjoyed the movie for the first two-thirds much more, then it flipped to being a more conventional sci-fi horror flick (horror is not my fave genre). It was better as a film about the real relationship between two brothers, when you were trying to figure out what was going on, when things were swinging between reality and the uncanny, a little less towards the end when it went full blown sci-fi, horror fiction. I preferred the exercise of trying to make sense of the strange events, when they were more grounded.

*ending spoiler alert* I would be interested in reading what the Directors were trying to achieve with various scenes. I couldn't find anything after watching the movie. At first I thought it might be a modern day parable about the difficulty of finding truth in the Trump era (politically dystopian), where you don't know what to believe. But then it seems to be just Groundhog Day gone horror flick. The end message seemed to lean more towards the idea that maybe the after-life in eternity could turn out to be an unbearable horror show (so it was not political allegory at all like I thought it could be, I might have Trump on the brain too much).

I liked this movie as well. I think you describe it pretty well. I'll give my 2 cents in spoiler tags.

Spoiler

In AA they call it playing the tape. The stories that repeat in our minds consciously and subconsciously that make us who we are and how those stories can trap us and keep us believing in many things that aren't even true. The events that have happened in our lives that make us believe, for example, our parents don't love us. I''m a fake. I'm a bad person. My sister is an ahole. Or in Drumpfs case "I'm the greatest man ever" (It's a very short tape .

Think of a person you've met that never seemed to change since high school still thinking and acting the same way on one end and then Gandhi on the other. I think we're all trapped in a cult to a certain extent by our stories. Was the camp a cult? Not in the sense of what we usually think of as a cult. They made a point of the fact that there was no central leader even though some personalities led to the appearance of a leader and followers. I think the people that were trapped in the short stories are examples of not getting beyond a certain spiritual level and that was there punishment. The people in the main "cult" were trapped in the idea of that cult and the brothers broke through that base desire for an answer to it all. The brothers decided they didn't want to look to something else, a god, father figure, alien etc... for the answers to life. They broke the tape and were ready to live in an unsure world.

That's the best I can do in words.

 

[Puck]

I liked this movie as well. I think you describe it pretty well. I'll give my 2 cents in spoiler tags.

I appreciate the feedback. I watched it by myself, so I could not get any opinions.

Spoiler: end

Do you have any opinion about the empty gas tank at the end? At first I thought maybe they were insinuating they weren't really back in the real world (if you could run a car on an empty tank). Then I thought the older brother was just letting his brother take responsibility (after taking care of him so long, he was more respecting his independent opinion now i.e. 'ok you figure it out' as in 'you handle it').

 

[Shareefruck]

I see you like the foreign fare and arthouse films too. You also seem to love animated films, I do too. I don't know if it would make any top 20 list but my favorites would also include Up, Ratatouille and Inside Out. I haven't seen yet but I've downloaded The Illusionist by Chomet, the creator of Triplets of Belleville. I also have It's a Beautiful Day and Tokyo Godfathers on the queue line.

I'm not very good at drawing lists but just off the top of my head I think I would find room for the Argentinian movie Wild Tales somewhere. It even has Ricardo Darin in it but I liked the wedding segment best. Also liked Pablo Larrain's No. Oh and maybe throw in Jeunet's Amelie. There are so many good ones.

Yeah, animation's probably the thing I find most instant appeal in. I loved to draw a lot as a kid/teenager, so it feels like it's really in my DNA. Even when it comes to videogames I have that attitude with sprites (which I love) vs. 3D models (which I have an immediate distaste for).

I like Pixar, but they've always felt more like admirable, enjoyable, moderately clever solid movies with their hearts in the right place and that don't insult your intelligence rather than anything that actually takes my breath away or that feels brilliant/magical (like I think Studio Ghibli does pretty consistently), and I prefer hand drawn animation over CGI by a lot. The Illusionist is really good, just in that it's beautifully animated, charming, and has a great aesthetic (Amelie's kind of the same way for me, so I think you'll like it) but Triplets of Belleville floored me. I enjoyed Wild Tales, but more just on an entertainment level than anything else.

I don't know what to think of It's a Beautiful Day. It's pretty batsh*t overload. I find it equally bold and unique (just as a confessional movie-making exercise on the creator's part) as I find it obnoxious and overbearing to an unbearable extreme. One of his later projects, World of Tomorrow, is simpler, shorter, and worked a lot better for me. It packs so many clever sci-fi ideas into 17 minutes that could each have been their own feature length movie.

 

[Led Zappa]

I appreciate the feedback. I watched it by myself, so I could not get any opinions.

Spoiler: end

Do you have any opinion about the empty gas tank at the end? At first I thought maybe they were insinuating they weren't really back in the real world (if you could run a car on an empty tank). Then I thought the older brother was just letting his brother take responsibility (after taking care of him so long, he was more respecting his independent opinion now i.e. 'ok you figure it out' as in 'you handle it').

I, too, watched it alone. I appreciate your thoughts as well. It was one weird movie.

Spoiler

What if they were actually the same person and the story was the battle for freedom/growth in that persons mind? There are so many takes. I mean, there were so many things that couldn't have happened lol.

I like to think of it as a song I knew the lyrics to and what they meant only to have the writer come out years later and tell us what they really meant. I still like both versions

 

[Puck]

I watched it alone as well. I appreciate your thoughts as well. It was one weird movie.
[/spoiler]

Spoiler: ending

Well your last take (version) is good too. Hadn't thought of that. My first impression was just that the older brother figured out (before his younger sibling) that they had made it out of the Camp but they might not have made it totally to the real world. They might end up driving endlessly on that road, (even on an empty tank). When they were reaching the boundary, it looked like they were heading for a collision with a car, which might have been the one involved in the parent's accident when they were young. But then I thought I was reading too much into it. I like your take too. So it isn't totally my imagination running wild that the Directors have let the ending open for interpretation. I was tired when I watched it, so I wasn't sure I got it all right. Thanks Led.

 

[OzzyFan]

Searching (2018)
2.85 out of 4stars

The creative fun format works, the story is intriguing with solid twists and even a touch of comedy, Cho delivers a great emotion filled performance without being over the top, and altogether it's great food for thought about technology/social media playing a huge part in our lives, how we leave footnotes on most events in our life through it, and how we only share the parts of ourselves we want others to see and with people we allow to see(direct family included) aka "secret lives"/"projectible lives"...which sounds lifetime-ish but is honestly a scary reality today. Honestly, when given all this "backdrop" on technology and the modern life, it's surprising that every half preemptive crime case isn't solved much more easily in today's day and age(or at least that's what the movie is convincing me of), given how traceable our life is "online" now. All that said about the movie, still imperfect imo: the ending/last 15-20mins or so is truly unbelievable/unrealistic, which hurts even moreso given how the rest of movie felt true to life. I am not going to spoil anything, but I see how the dots connected to make that conclusion possible, but I still think they should have gone a more believable route.

 

[kihei]

I, too, watched it alone. I appreciate your thoughts as well. It was one weird movie.

Spoiler

What if they were actually the same person and the story was the battle for freedom/growth in that persons mind? There are so many takes. I mean, there were so many things that couldn't have happened lol.

I like to think of it as a song I knew the lyrics to and what they meant only to have the writer come out years later and tell us what they really meant. I still like both versions

I thought Spring was a real sleeper of a movie. Now I really want to see this.

 

[OzzyFan]

All this talk convinced me to give it a try and your interpretations are pretty interesting on it.

The Endless
2.5 out of 4stars

One of those movies where I liked the ideas and concepts and philosophical stuff brought up more than I did the actual execution. I'll put the rest of the review/interpretation in spoiler tags as to not ruin anything for those curious.

Spoiler

To continue on that, the ideas and philosophy stuff brought and interpreted to me are what took the cake. The dialogue, when it wasn't trying to make you think, was very made for tv movie-esque, as was the acting. Acting you might say is "realistic", if realistic means everyone's enthusiasm for receipting lines is barely above passive, enough if the subject matter was what it was. To end the biggest things I had a problem with for the film talk, beginning AND ENDING. Beginning I'll give, it's giving backdrop for the story, even if it's bland, direct, and tedious. But subpar horror endings kills the vibes they had. Yes it could have been worse, but so much was left unexplained, the brothers future is left open to interpretation, the who and the how was left open, and I'm incredibly curious as to how they came of the knowledge that they were living in a time loop? What directly happens to the cult during the ascension (with their ritual also)? Are they actually worshipping the deity or are just passing the time now as their future seems set in stone irregardless? What the hell was the point of the angry woman stuck in the time loop and not a participant of the cult? So much build up and then so much left open aside from the brothers "future relationship terms".

On to the interpretation. Who doesn't like movies that make them think philosophically? What I got from the movie was a real "religion"/"heaven"/"hell" vibe from it all. Each of the brothers played an important role in the discussion, 1 skeptic and 1 believer. If religion can explain the unexplained without direct line of reasoning/connection for A to B, should we not entertain it for peace of mind alone? If religion can bring connectedness, joy, freedoms, friendship, and a "better life" for the downtrodden/"God's least", isn't it worth it for it's human mortal life changes alone(irregardless of afterlife "possibilities")? If eternal life is an obtainable gift from "deity" worship, why would you turn it down? Don't most people live similar/"the same" days/weeks/routines over and over again, so eternal life being in a similar fashion, except without illness or "death", wouldn't it be worth it?

Then there's the other side. Why "use faith and god(s)" as the reason to explain the unexplainable when the answers can be just things we can't fathom yet or ever? Randomness and unexpectedness are parts of life that make things interesting and give us the ups and downs that make life have value/interest, why would you want to stop that (opportunity vs reliability, gambling vs safety, etc)? One man's heaven is another man's hell, "endless" worship/control from a deity and reliving days and weeks eternally sounds more like a prison sentence than a gift no?

I'll stop ranting now. Ha. You get the gist. But honestly, so many other metaphors work for this (as stated by previous users).

Conclusively, this movie for me is a great vehicle on the discussion and argument of "any" religions pros and cons, and the pros and cons of any afterlife's existence: good, bad, or neutral.

All in all I think this movie is great for discussion and interpretation. A should watch for any sci-fi fan or philosophy junkie. I enjoyed it, but moreso for the seeds it planted in my head that what my eyes were watching/the story it was telling.

 

[Trap Jesus]

The Endless and Spring are the two movies I want to see more than anything but I can't find them anywhere.

 

[Led Zappa]

The Endless and Spring are the two movies I want to see more than anything but I can't find them anywhere.

You must not be in the States.

I thought Spring was a real sleeper of a movie. Now I really want to see this.

Vudu has Spring and I watched the trailer, so it looks like I have something queued for tonight.

 

[kihei]

Picked up The Endless tonight and enjoyed it. Like Puck, I was disappointed in the ending which seemed to me, for the only time in the movie, to lack imagination. I'm not crazy about so many loose ends--the movie seems like a cinematic Rorschach test with an endless number of interpretations depending on who is watching it. Ultimately I don't think the explanations would be very important anyway (what's it going to tell us? The meaning of existence?). What I did enjoy about the movie was how it created an atmosphere in which I really didn't know what to expect or what was going on, but the story grabbed and kept my attention anyway--up until the last ten or fifteen minutes or so anyway. I prefer Spring to The Endless, but I certainly like these guys' approach in general, an approach that relies far more heavily on intelligence and imagination than on special effects and cheap scares.

 

[Puck]

'cinematic Rorschach test'. what a great thought line.

 

[Trap Jesus]

You must not be in the States.

Nope, in Canada. Heard it's on American Netflix. I've checked more or less every platform I have and haven't found it yet. If any Canadian posters know where I can find them, please let me know.

Low budget Sci-Fi is so difficult to pull off IMO, so when you see movies like this getting rave reviews, you know they'll be good, or at the very least interesting.

 

[Puck]

Nope, in Canada. Heard it's on American Netflix. I've checked more or less every platform I have and haven't found it yet. If any Canadian posters know where I can find them, please let me know.

Low budget Sci-Fi is so difficult to pull off IMO, so when you see movies like this getting rave reviews, you know they'll be good, or at the very least interesting.

sent you a PM

 

[silkyjohnson50]

Baby Driver. It was good for what it was. Not to be taken serious, not something I'll probably rewatch, but pretty damn fun for a couple of hours.

Also, that Mike Myers joke was hilarious.

 

[Nalens Oga]

On Body and Soul (2017) - 7.5/10

These Europeans and their f***ed up endings

Ocean's 8 (2018) - 7/10

The most average but good movie I'll see this year. In this, I confuse Sandra Bullock for Julia Roberts despite it being 2018, Sandra Bullock casually pulls out a German accent, Cate Blanchett is a badass, Anne Hathaway puts in a great performance, James Corden comes out of nowhere with a terrible casting choice, and Mindy Kaling speaks Hindi as if she's an American phonetically reading it off a paper rather than actually speaking it.

Girl Interrupted (1999) - 7.5/10

Starts well, kinda stutters, Angelina Jolie's bitch of a character ruins the film for me a bit

 

[kihei]

Western (2017) Directed by Valesca Grisebach 6B

A mixed-bag of German workers are helping provide infrastructure for wells in rural Bulgaria. They, by necessity, have to interact with the local villagers, but no one seems too happy about this. The Bulgarian folk are suspicious of strangers and, though it is decades since World War II, they make clear that they don't especially like Germans. Taciturn Meinhart seems to have the most interactions with the villagers, and makes friends with some of them. But even as the two groups of primarily men get to know one another better, an underlying suspicion of the other is still a palpable presence throughout the movie. This is the kind of film where one waits for something to go wrong. Almost every scene has an undercurrent of tension. It's a slow-burn sort of a movie, ultimately a character study about one German, Meinhart, and how he interacts with people who don't fully trust him. The film is very well observed: Director Valesca Grisebach does a fine job employing a minimum number of brush strokes to delineate her very believable and very specific characters. Whether many people will find enough here to hold their interest is certainly a question. Also, I'm not sure why it is called Western--while it's about men in the wide open spaces, it's only resemblance to Westerns comes in its treatment of certain traditional themes, like manhood, conflict, being where you don't belong, and doing the right thing--oh...and it has a very pretty white horse. For something so seemingly slight, Western has more to say the longer that you think about it.

subtitles

 

[NyQuil]

Also, I'm not sure why it is called Western--while it's about men in the wide open spaces, it's only resemblance to Westerns comes in its treatment of certain traditional themes, like manhood, conflict, being where you don't belong, and doing the right thing--oh...and it has a very pretty white horse. For something so seemingly slight, Western has more to say the longer that you think about it.

It's not about the Eastern Europe - Western Europe dynamic?

 

[kihei]

It's not about the Eastern Europe - Western Europe dynamic?

Nope. I just read one critic who suggested that it had a "colonized/colonizer" dynamic but I don't really see that either. On reflection, I would say that Grisebach is playing around with Western themes in a setting that vaguely suggests an Old West dynamic--transforming some overused Western tropes into contemporary, relevant ones in the process. I could see this movie slide up to a "7" on my scale at the rate its growing on me.

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

The Killing of a Sacred Deer - 7.5/10

Still wrestling with this one. Not an enjoyable watch by any means, and the behavior of the characters (by design I'm sure) was quite bizarre and didn't seem to fit with what was happening. Not only that, but it's one of many movies I've seen lately that seemed unsure as to how to end. That said, it does a great job of maintaining a creepy, tense, ominous tone throughout and I look forward to watching Lanthimos's other works.

 

[kihei]

Hannah (2018) Directed by Andrea Pallaoro 6C

My partner and I started watching this movie last night and gave up the ghost after 45 minutes. Hannah was slow even by my liberal standards, excruciatingly so by hers (methinks I won't be picking movies for awhile). But I re-watched it in its entirely this morning and was much more impressed by it than I was last night. It is very slow--the first 45 minutes especially so because the film only gradually ekes out information about why we are watching this desolate woman (Charlotte Rampling, in French) going about her mundane day. As we begin to get information, the reason for her despair becomes clearer. Her husband is jailed for being a pedophile whose victim was their son. Director Andrea Pallaoro has taken this premise and reduced it to one very particular focal point: Hannah coping with this realization and trying to get on with her life, not very successfully, though. While there are scenes with other actors, basically Hannah is a one-woman movie, one woman without the use of much dialogue, I should add. Rampling gives an absolutely prodigious performance inhabiting a woman whose every conscious moment is a living hell. Wisely (and cunningly), Pallaoro doesn't give the audience sufficient background information about her for us to gauge to what extent, if any, she was complicit in the crime--whether she deliberately chose not to know what was going on or what her initial reaction was to the discovery of her husband's depravity. We just see her coping some time after the fact. Thus, for (deliberate) lack of information, we are not allowed to judge her, one way or the other, but only to examine this portrait of a woman's grief on the most basic of human terms. Pallaoro includes some artsy cinematic touches that can be a bit distracting--not including the actor's head in some shots, for instance. What's with that? But if you can handle the slow, elegiac pace, Rampling alone is worth the price of admission. I can't imagine this performance not being among the very best of the year.

subtitles

 

[Nalens Oga]

Ali: Fear Eats The Soul (1974) - 8/10
Short length but a tonne happens in terms of story, some nice shots, and some terribly stiff acting. The racism is a bit on the nose but relevant and sad to see nonetheless.

Source Code (2011) - 7/10
Only 90 minutes long so worth watching for a decent puzzle/sci-fi. A better director with a slightly less Hollywood script could've turned this into something special though. Gets too hamfisted at the end as well but it's enjoyable.

Clerks II (2006) - 4/10

The first third to a half is a 7/10, the rest is trite. Highlighted by an unnecessary musical number and a raunchy but unfunny scene involving bestiality. Just feels like a bad attempt at making a raunchy comedy rather than having the 90s nostalgic and more amateur but fun and quirky feel of the first Clerks film.

 

[Kshahdoo]

One cowboy, two cowboy 10/10

 

[Nalens Oga]

Our Little Sister (2015) - 8/10

I wanna play some f***ing soccer, have tampura, and big sisters

Death At A Funeral (2007) - 6.5/10

There's an actor in this that looks just like Alan Trudyk but British....then I realized it was Alan Trudyk in a British film doing an accent. Anyways, amusing enough film but a bit too forgettable and TV-ish with no gags that are that good. Classic ensemble comedy where things go wrong and everyone is super self-absorbed.