Movies: Last Movie You Watched and Rate It: Part XXIX

[ProstheticConscience]

T2: Trainspotting 2

with various Scottish and English people

by Danny Boyle (who is incapable of making a bad movie)

Choose life. Choose a career. Choose a big ****ing television. Choose to revisit the characters from Trainspotting twenty years later. Choose midlife malaise. Choose to realize you didn't know **** when you were a kid. Choose to come back home two decades after you ****ed over your three best friends in the world on a dodgy heroin deal because you've got nobody else. Choose to walk into your childhood bedroom that's still covered in train wallpaper after the first time you've seen your dad in two decades and you weren't there for your mother's funeral. Choose to see the two best friends you ever had and deal with all the resentment you left behind after you ****ed them over, and choose to **** your pants in terror as the one guy you're most scared of in the entire world breaks out of the prison you put him in and hears you're back in town.

I loved the **** out of this movie. Maybe it's because I'm roughly the same age as Mark, Spud (Daniel? Really?) and Simon (he's going by Sick Boy anymore) and maybe it's because Danny Boyle doesn't go in for the usual tropes of trying to get us all caught up, but...wow. That's how life really does work. Suddenly, boom. It's twenty years later. This one chick you met at a club one night and ****ed spontaneously on a couch in her parents' place? She's a lawyer now. Your greatest childhood friend? He's a dealer, bartender, pot grower, blackmailer...none of which pay much. Your childhood dreams? Well, they were just dreams. Life went and did its thing and here you are. My one big problem with the movie was how nobody seemed to care that Begbie broke out of prison. Like...nobody. Shouldn't there at least be a cop car on patrol near his apartment?

Choose life. Choose to coast through school on your intelligence rather than hard work. Choose to ignore social ties, join a band, and then join a gang. Choose drug addiction, alcoholism, petty crime and stupidity. Choose to live in Vancouver in the 90's and hope it could be lumped in with the Seattle grunge sound that shook the music business. Choose to stumble out of Club Soda on Richards street one night after watching Nickleback open up for Noize Therapy, and choose to stare blankly at the wall for an hour after listening to a message on the answering machine telling you how your best friend died of a heroin overdose that night. Choose to wake up in an apartment in Burnaby twenty years later and realize that life just keeps on going with or without you.

Great movie.

 

[Puck]

Regarding The Dark Tower, a lot of King fans have been waiting to see this one and will be disappointed if the negative reviews mount. I find kihei as a cinephile tends to love more movies than I do, so if he isn't impressed by this one, it's not a good sign. This film was set to launch both a follow-up TV series and a series of sequels. It's supposedly just the beginning of the saga. They brought Nicolaj Arcel over from Denmark to do this one, he might have flubbed his very first Hollywood project if he wasn't strong enough to over-ride Hollywood screenplay decisions 'by committee'. We'll see if King fans flock to see it anyway; box office money decides what sagas continue more than anything else. Follow the money trail. Personally I've found many King projects translated to the Big Screen (or small screen) disappointing (not all).

I enjoyed Chinese Take-Out mentioned above. I finally found it using the Spanish title name. My opinion of Ricardo Darin continues to increase.

I watched Don McKellar's 'Last Night' on CBC's The Filmmakers last night. I love hearing the interviews before the film to get a perspective. I liked the film but kept thinking if Woody Allen had contributed to writing this screenplay, it would have made it better.

 

[aufheben]

Lost Highway (1997) by David Lynch 8/10

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

Love me some Lost Highway. Makes little to no sense but it doesn't matter.

 

[Diddy]

Warrior starring Tom Hardy and Joel edgerton.

Just finished it and for the most part I thought it was a bit ~goofy. I didn't like a lot of it. I'm no mma expert but the amount of haymaker one punch KOs was a bit Hollywood in a movie that seemed pretty serious. I didn't like any of the actors from the school save the actual fighter. I thought Tom's character was just a bit much when it came to "me against the world" but I've not been in his family situation so I can't comment much on that. Kurt angle as the ultimate badass Russian was dumb to me just cause he's such a famous American I wish they'd have gotten a smaller name to play that guy or a bigger name from Russia or Europe.
I really really liked the ending though. It was touching and it really made the movie for me. I'd say the good outweighs the bad in the movie though I only focused on the bad for most of the review I liked it.
Edit; thinking more about the final fight and the performances from the main three (Tom Joel & Nick nolte) makes me wanna bump up the score a bit. Was a
7/10, now 7.7/10

 

[Takeo]

Zodiac 7.5/10

 

[kihei]

Francofonia (2017) Directed by Alexandr Sokurov (mostly documentarty) 5C

After the masterful shot-in-one-take Russian Ark, a tour through both history and the show rooms of St. Petersburg's Hermitage Museum, Francofonia is a significant disappointment. Unlike in his previous homage to a great museum, director Alexandr Sokurov doesn't seem to know what he wants to do with his film essay about the Louvre. He creates a hybrid documentary that bounces around all over the place, finding the odd beautiful image or insightful thought along the way but not often enough to be successful. Among other aspects, many of them superfluous, Sokurov focuses on the German Occupation that started in 1940. The best part of the movie examines in shorthand form the relationship between the Louvre curator Jujard and the German General responsible for looking after art Metternich who actually became a French hero for helping to hide away in the provinces most of France's hundreds of great art treasures. Like all the other tangents, though, this particular point of interest gets little more than cursory development. Overall the film is rambling and indulgent with way too much narration by Sokurov. Francofonia is of no real interest to anyone but art buffs

Sidenote: An "extra" on the DVD copy of the film is a real documentary that focuses on specifically the German Occupation and the relationship between Jaujard and Metternich. Narrated by Mathieu Almaric (with English subtitles), the hour long film makes for more satisfying and informative viewing than Francofonia itself does).

subtitles

 

[Led Zappa]

Prisoners 7.5 (2013)

Pretty good movie / story. I really liked Gyllenhaal as usual. Something about Jackman always seems to bug me and this movie was no different.

The "how far would you go" under this situation was provocative in a realistic way. Waiting for things you knew were gonna happen took too long in many instances, the closing scene being a prime example. But overall I really liked it.

 

[ThePhoenixx]

Guardians of the Galaxy 2

First movie was excellent. This sequel sucked.

4/10

...and the 4 is being kind.

 

[Arizonan God]

Prisoners 7.5 (2013)

Pretty good movie / story. I really liked Gyllenhaal as usual. Something about Jackman always seems to bug me and this movie was no different.

The "how far would you go" under this situation was provocative in a realistic way. Waiting for things you knew were gonna happen took too long in many instances, the closing scene being a prime example. But overall I really liked it.

Really loved the cinematography in it as well. Dreary, but beautiful. One of my favourite Gylenhaal performances

Ranking Villeneuve (haven't seen Malestrom):

Arrival
Incendies
Prisoners
Enemy
Sicario
Polytechnique

 

[kihei]

Really loved the cinematography in it as well. Dreary, but beautiful. One of my favourite Gylenhaal performances

Ranking Villeneuve (haven't seen Malestrom):

Arrival
Incendies
Prisoners
Enemy
Sicario
Polytechnique

I guess this is what makes horse races"

Polytechnique
Incendies
Sicario/Enemy (too close to call)

Arrival
Prisoners

 

[Fugazy]

Shutter Island - 8/10

 

[member 51464]

Francofonia (2017) Directed by Alexandr Sokurov (mostly documentarty) 5C

After the masterful shot-in-one-take (supposedly) Hermitage, a tour through both history and the show rooms of St. Petersburg's Hermitage Museum, Francofonia is a significant disappointment. Unlike in his previous homage to a great museum, director Alexandr Sokurov doesn't seem to know what he wants to do with his film essay about the Louvre. He creates a hybrid documentary that bounces around all over the place, finding the odd beautiful image or insightful thought along the way but not often enough to be successful. Among other aspects, many of them superfluous, Sokurov focuses on the German Occupation that started in 1940. The best part of the movie examines in shorthand form the relationship between the Louvre curator Jujard and the German General responsible for looking after art Metternich who actually became a French hero for helping to hide away in the provinces most of France's hundreds of great art treasures. Like all the other tangents, though, this particular point of interest gets little more than cursory development. Overall the film is rambling and indulgent with way too much narration by Sokurov. Francofonia is of no real interest to anyone but art buffs

Sidenote: An "extra" on the DVD copy of the film is a real documentary that focuses on specifically the German Occupation and the relationship between Jaujard and Metternich. Narrated by Mathieu Almaric (with English subtitles), the hour long film makes for more satisfying and informative viewing than Francofonia itself does).

subtitles

Why the "supposedly" about the hermitage? you think it was just movie magic about the one-take?

 

[kihei]

Why the "supposedly" about the hermitage? you think it was just movie magic about the one-take?

I thought for some reason that when Russian Ark (not Hermitage, my error) was first released whether it was shot in one take was a bone of contention with some writers, but apparently I was wrong. Just now having looked up current commentary on the film, I can find no one who believes it is anything but what it seems, a 96-minute movie shot in a single uninterrupted take. I will eliminate the "supposedly" from my review.

 

[Arizonan God]

I guess this is what makes horse races"

Polytechnique
Incendies
Sicario/Enemy (too close to call)

Arrival
Prisoners

Polytechnique is beautiful, but I would be lying if I said it didn't bug me.

 

[kihei]

Polytechnique is beautiful, but I would be lying if I said it didn't bug me.

Bug you how?

 

[End of Line]

Going Clear (2015): 10/10

That might be the best documentary I've ever seen

 

[Baby Punisher]

Mr. Right. 7/10
What a wackadoo flick.

Arrival 6/10

Better than I thought it would be

Passengers
6/10
Much better than I thought it was going to be. Especially after all the negative things I heard about it.

Steve Jobs
5/10
Forgettable movie.

 

[Diddy]

Mad Max Fury Road: 8.4/10
Didn't think I'd like it as much as I did. All the acting was good and the action was great.

Locke: 8.2/10
A touching little story. Tom Hardy was fantastic in it and I thought it was real good for what it was. Which is a movie that follows/takes place in a BMW with only one seen actor.

 

[OzzyFan]

Girls Trip
2.35 out of 4stars

The story and the characters are written better than your average comedy movie for sure, they have excellent chemistry, the latter half is infectiously fun a lot of the time, and it's themes of friendship and self-realization and fun are well-developed and delivered. But the laughs are scattershot, it starts slow, and some of it's expected over the top raunchiness and jokes miss. Not being discriminatory at all here, but if I was a woman I think I would have enjoyed it more and given it a higher rating, and if I was an African descended woman, it would have probably gotten been a classic to me. Not profiling at all, that was the target audience for the movie. I was not the target audience and I still found it pretty enjoyable.

 

[Lou is God]

Annabelle: The Creation 7.5/10

If you can get past that it has wholes in the plot like Swiss cheese and the usual over the top Hollywood special effects, it will deliver on the scares. Very well done in that aspect.

 

[Arizonan God]

Bug you how?

It felt kind of wrong. I just don't understand why the film had to be made. Idk, it felt slightly exploitative to me. I'm sure that wasn't it's intention, but I couldn't help but get that impression.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Ghost in the Shell

with mostly white people in Japan

Big budget remake of the (of course) better original Japanese anime. Scarlet Johansson is the titular ghost (human brain) implanted in the shell (cybernetic body) in the near-future Japan to smite evil terrorists, cyborgs and geisha spiderbots. The Big Bad guy she chases for the first part of the movie has a secret, however. Suddenly, the past she can't remember looms large, and the company that made her turns out to have some ethical lapses in its recent past. Vengeance and CGI ensue.

Actually better than I thought it was going to be. Not great, but decentish entertainment if you've got a couple of hours to kill.

 

[End of Line]

13th (2016): 9/10

Disturbing and fantastic at the same time

 

[kihei]

It felt kind of wrong. I just don't understand why the film had to be made. Idk, it felt slightly exploitative to me. I'm sure that wasn't it's intention, but I couldn't help but get that impression.

I think a fair number of people probably feel the way you do. For sure, the movie was greeted with controversy at the time of its release. I do have a different take, though. Like Gus Van Sant's Elephant, which was about the Columbine massacre, Polytechnique, at least on one level, bears witness to a tragedy that occurred in our society. Both movies are noteworthy for their calm, matter-of-fact, non-exploitative approach to what took place and both movies allowed me to come to my own conclusions about the nature of the evil that I was watching. Given the right artists, and Van Sant and Villeneuve are the right artists, immersing myself imaginatively into both the victims and the perpetrators experience forces me to confront something that is all too common in my society, in the place where I live. I think we need to particularize such events and think long and hard about their causes. I believe that there is value in that.