Movies: Last Movie You Watched and Rate It | Cinema at the End of the World Edition

[Pink Mist]

Woodstock (1970) directed by Michael Wadleigh

Ok, so being someone who was born 20 years after it happened, I never truly understood what made Woodstock such a watershed event. In fact, I always found a lot of boomers’ reverence for the festival something which bordered on cringy and embarrassing. What’s the big deal? It was just a big festival where the biggest names in music played, just substitute all the 1960s acid for MDMA and how’s it any different than Coachella today? But I’ve always been curious about the event because of how people considered it such a cultural landmark. Thank God for documentaries. Normally I’m not into concert documentaries and am hesitant about watching a nearly four-hour concert film, but this really was special. The documentary is a really immersive experience as it sprawls from the logistics of setting up the concert, to the concert goers taking over the town, to the performances, and the mud and the debris of the end of the festival. I really loved how quickly the organizers went from “tickets are $18 and hopefully we’ll be able to make a profit” to “f*** it free concert screw our financial backers” once it was clear the fences weren’t going to hold people back from the festival. Lot of drugs, lot of nudity ensues. One complaint I do have has to do with the nudity. Now, I’m not a prude, and there was a socio-political motivation for why a lot of concert attendees were nude (being hippies and all) and that if you’re in public you can’t really have an expectation of privacy and are allowed to be filmed, but at times the cameramen clearly have a penchant for filming nude and semi-nude female breasts that borders on voyeuristic. But the worst is when a cameraman decides to use his telegraphic lens to film a couple get nude and have sex privately in a bush away from everyone. That especially felt creepy and voyeuristic.

The film is brilliantly edited and organized well as it has a great flow to the film. It employs a lot of split screens to juxtapose interviews with life at the festival and split shots of performances. The film credited seven different editors for the film (it’s said there was up to 120 miles of footage shot from the 3 day festival to go through and edit) but most notably a young Martin Scorsese is credited as an editor (you may of heard of his other work) as well as Scorsese’s frequent collaborator and three time academy award winning editor, Thelma Schoonmaker. Woodstock is not only interesting as a cultural artifact of the era but it also makes for a damn fine film. Though perhaps this is sacrilegious but I did not leave impressed by Jimi Hendrix’s performance – I thought it was mindlessly self-indulgent and completely lacked any energy; which to be fair is how I’m sure a lot of the festival goers personally felt after dropping acid and sitting in mud for three days straight.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Malignant. Really, really disliked this. A dull, predictable, derivative horror film eventually gives way to an equally dull action flick centered around a goofy-ass killer that (at least to me) wasn't nearly as cool as the the movie thinks it is. And for the love of god, Where is My Mind is a great song, but can we retire it from use in movies/TV where a character may be crazy? Lazy.

 

[Pink Mist]

13 Assassins [十三人の刺客] (2010) directed by Takashi Miike

In a time of peace near the end of Japan’s feudal period, a ragtag group of samurai are recruited to kill a sadistic feudal lord. Outnumbered 200 to 13, the samurai accept this suicide mission to prevent the lord from joining the Shogunate Council. Like all ensemble samurai movies which came after 1954, it’s hard for Seven Samurai not to come to mind while watching this film. It for the most part matches all the beats of the genre and Kurosawa’s film, but once the flaming bulls charge through the gates and cut through some of the enemies the film unmistakably turns into a Takashi Miike film - though perhaps a little more restrained from his usual shock and gore. 13 Assassins takes a little bit of time to get going, the eponymous assassins are more or less just sketches of characters and hard to differentiate from each other since Miike rushes through their recruitment to the suicide squad, but it all builds up to a glorious 45-minute-long fight sequence which is worth the price of admission. Not the best samurai film, but a solid entry into the genre.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Anaconda (1997)

I'm ashamed to admit, I paid to see this in the theaters years ago. And decided to rewatch for nostalgic value.
Rewatching now, my strongest takeaway, is how could so many stars be in such a terrible movie. And I recognize, it wasn't aspiring to be Citizen Kane.. but Jon Voight, Jennifer Lopez, Eric Stoltz, Ice Cube.. these are well respected/known actors and entertainers in essentially a B (monster) movie.
A group from diverse backgrounds go out to film, then end up being led/at the mercy (by a clichéd, deranged expedition guide) in to a life & death struggle to capture a CGI snake..
The good news, J-Lo and Kari Wuhrer both looked good.. And the movie is derivative, nostalgic fun.

 

[Osprey]

I've been on a noir binge these last few days, thanks to Chili...

Double Indemnity (1944) - 8/10

An insurance salesman (Fred MacMurray) falls for a bored housewife (Barbara Stanwyck) and, together, they kill her husband, but he doesn't end up with the girl or the insurance money. That's not giving anything away because all of that is in the salesman's confession in the opening minutes, before the flashback begins. Director Billy Wilder apparently had this crazy idea that, if you give away the ending, the audience will pay more attention to the rest of the film... and he was right. Instead of wondering how it would end, I was looking for how it all went wrong, not just with the crime but between the two schemers, and trying to figure out who was seducing whom. On the case is the salesman's employer and friend, played superbly by Edward G. Robinson, who is the biggest threat to figuring out and proving their attempt at fraud. It was pretty interesting to me how Robinson, known for seedy characters, played against type as the "good" character in this film, and MacMurray, known for happy-go-lucky characters, played against type as the cold killer. In fact, the relationship between the two friends might've been even more intriguing to me than the relationship between the two lovers. The film has a great noir look, really snappy dialogue and terrific direction. It received 7 Academy Award nominations (including for Best Picture and Best Director), but didn't win any, partly thanks to being up against Going My Way. I wish that I could've experienced it in 1944, when its unorthodox structure and subject matter were even more unheard of. We're so used to films about people having affairs and killing spouses that it's hard to imagine that this film was daring and almost wasn't even made because of Motion Picture Production Code restrictions that enforced morality in Hollywood films.

Act of Violence (1948) - 7/10

A civil engineer (Van Heflin) has his American Dream threatened when a man that he's been running from (Robert Ryan) tracks him down to settle a score. This really grabbed me from the beginning with its mystery and suspense and then had me thinking about ethics and redemption in the second half. I liked the juxtaposition of suburban peacetime bliss and the topic of the horrors of war and how our perception of the two characters changes a little as we learn more information. Heflin (looking a bit like Orson Welles) is terrific as the petrified husband and father and Ryan is creepy as the stalker, though partly thanks to a severe limp. There's something unnerving about a mobility limited stalker who can be easily outrun, but will catch up to you if you stop moving. I guess that that's where the appeal of zombies comes from. Anyways, I really liked the suspense and use of shadows. It's a fine little noir with a few similarities to director Fred Zinnemann's eventual Western classic High Noon. Thanks to Chili for recommending it (and leading me down this noir rabbit hole). If anyone else is interested, it can be found at dailymotion.com.

The Prowler (1951) - 6/10

After responding to a call about a domestic prowler, a cop (Van Heflin, still looking like Orson Welles) falls for a housewife and schemes to kill her husband. A reviewer called this a knockoff of Double Indemnity and she wasn't kidding. The first half is very similar (just with a cop instead of a salesman) and also reminded me a lot of 1992's Unlawful Entry (in which Ray Liotta plays a similar cop who responds to a house call). The second half is a lot different than both, though, and takes place on the run. It's a little light on suspense and mystery (ironic how Double Indemnity had more of both despite giving away much of the ending in the opening minutes), but it's interesting enough and the climax is exciting. It can be found on YouTube.

Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) - 6/10

After helping to convict a man who may be innocent, an unsympathetic reporter (John McGuire) learns what it feels like when he becomes the prime suspect in another murder. Peter Lorre is the title character and has no lines until the final 10 minutes, but the wait is worth it. He makes such a perfect movie creep that it got me thinking that he'd actually be a terrible criminal in real life because he stands out in every possible way and would get himself picked up in no time. Besides him, I also checked out the film because it's been called the first Hollywood film noir, though it felt noir-like to me only in certain scenes, like the German expressionism-inspired dream sequences. It's certainly no classic and is the definition of a B movie, as in the kind that was made cheaply to play as the second half of a double feature, but it's pretty watchable and only 63 minutes.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Rewatched For The Zillionth Time:

8/10

 

[Pink Mist]

The Farewell (2019) directed by Lulu Wang

Billi (Awkwafina, really needs to drop the stage name, her real name Nora Lum is a much better film name), a Chinese-American from NYC who has a close relationship with her Chinese based grandmother (Zhao Shu-zhen), travels back to China with her family to attend her cousin’s wedding. Except it’s not a real wedding. Billi’s grandmother has terminal lung cancer, but the family decided not to inform the grandmother that she has cancer, so the wedding is an excuse to get the whole family together to one last time with their matriarch. Based on a true story from Lulu Wang’s life, The Farewell has a great film concept concerning cultural differences over the emotional burden of dying and the 2nd generation immigrant experience of straddling two cultures, and it received overwhelmingly positive reviews when it was released. However, I think it’s a fairly average film. Good, not great. The main issue is that the main character is just so dull. I am not convinced by Awkwafina as an actress, her acting is fairly one note and awkward. I have no idea how she was awarded a Golden Globe for this performance, especially when she wasn’t even the best actress in this movie (Zhao Shu-zhen, who is excellent as the grandmother), let alone for that year.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Nobody (2021) - 7/10

It's...fun. It has some good violence, some cheesy acting, and solid pacing. But at the same time, this is 100% the type of movie which will become overrated and have reddit posts about two years from now from young guys in their 20s.

It is better than the John Wick sequels though.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

As I can't consider Footprints on the Moon a real giallo, this would be #28-29-30. The first three gialli by Lucio Fulci, who would go on and direct a few more, one that I haven't seen yet. I personnally don't think he's a good fit with the genre, but these films, the last two at least, are quite unique.

One on Top of the Other aka Perversion Story (Una sull'altra, Fulci, 1969) – Apart from being the first giallo by Fulci, this one is of no great interest. It's not a complete waste, it's often visually creative (split screens, split focus, sex filmed through the bed, etc.), and it does have a lot of elements common to the giallo, but it's also a very poor attempt at doing something clever à-la Vertigo. The first half is sleazy enough to hold on, but the whole resolution of the intrigue is way too chatty and boring, and the conclusion of the story told through a News bulletin feels like they just didn't care to shoot it anymore. The jazzy score is pretty good on itself, but plastered all over, it pretty much never fits the tone. 2.5/10

A Lizard in a Woman's Skin (Una lucertola con la pelle di donna, Fulci, 1971) – This one is hard to rate. It's a very uneven film, that goes from very cheesy sleaze (you know I don't mind sleaze, but no cheese with my sleaze, please) to some great, quasi-surreal horrorific bits. In fact, it's a pretty poor giallo (honestly, nobody cares about most of what's going on), with a few very good horror instincts (the chase scene, with the organ and the bats, is prescient of things Fulci would do years later). I watched a DVD copy a friend gave me years ago that I never popped in and I was really disappointed to find out that the dogs scene was cut from it (!) - really, there's no point of watching this film without it, so make sure you don't have the version cut down to 95 minutes if you ever venture in that direction. The dogs are a very surprising gory touch in an early giallo, one that got Fulci a trial for animal cruelty (the makeup artist had to present his work in court to save Fulci from a prison sentence). The hand-held camera (sometimes really amateurish) and subjective POV only work in the horror-oriented moments, and though there's some really nice shot composition, this one mostly looks like crap. It doesn't help that Morricone's score is one of his weakest, nor that Jean Sorel is, well, in the movie (what a terrible actor – the scenario doesn't do anything for him either, the non-reaction to his daughter's death is hilarious). 4/10

Don't Torture a Duckling (Non si sevizia un paperino, Fulci, 1972) – This is the most respected of Fulci's gialli. It's not a very good film, but it's grim and dark enough to be somewhat interesting. It's a lot more coherent as a whole than the two previous ones too. Sleaze is at a minimum compared to his first two gialli, and the film moves away from the hippie free love crowd and theme. There's one very peculiar shot at the middle of the film where Florinda Bolkan leaves suspiciously the church, it's a high-angle shot, with a little pan and a little zoom following her – nothing out of the ordinary, except that it's presented a second time right away, with the policemen watching it on screen as if it was what? An automated surveillance film camera in a tiny Italian town in early 70s? A filmmaker that happened to be there at the right moment and had the gut feeling he should offer the reels to the police? Or a police film crew spying on something they didn't know would be of interest? It makes no sense, it is not addressed, but it creates an amazing distanciatory shock (nothing Fulci would use afterwards though). There's also a very nice and quasi-discreet use of parallel editing to create a false reading by the spectator (think of the police getting in to save Clarice Sterling from the hands of the killer... not at the right house), but that's the only subtle red herring, everything else is borderline ridiculous. Just not as ridiculous as the dummy falling down the cliff, that thing is almost enough to warrant the film a sobig so-bad-it's-good rating – amazing stuff! 3.5/10

 

[Chili]

The Prowler (1951) - 6/10

After responding to a call about a domestic prowler, a cop (Van Heflin, still looking like Orson Welles) falls for a housewife and schemes to kill her husband. A reviewer called this a knockoff of Double Indemnity and she wasn't kidding. The first half is very similar (just with a cop instead of a salesman) and also reminded me a lot of 1992's Unlawful Entry (in which Ray Liotta plays a similar cop who responds to a house call). The second half is a lot different than both, though, and takes place on the run. It's a little light on suspense and mystery (ironic how Double Indemnity had more of both despite giving away much of the ending in the opening minutes), but it's interesting enough and the climax is exciting. It can be found on YouTube.

Thanks for mentioning The Prowler it's a film I have wanted to checkout for awhile. Just finished it, good morality play, strong performances from the leads, interesting right to the climax. With a ghost town to boot!

On the production code, one example from Fred Zinnemann's autobiography... he mentions the censorship on From Here To Eternity. There's a famous love scene on a beach between Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster. Four seconds was removed and some stills prohibited because of...the water splashing on them in the scene. Can you imagine.

 

[Osprey]

Malignant (2021) - 3/10 (Really disliked it)

A traumatized woman (Annabelle Wallis) sees visions of a shadowy killer and learns secrets from her past. This appears to be a divisive movie because it's campier than James Wan's other horror films (Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring). Wan has described it as a giallo film (and, with that, we have Pranzo's attention). It seems like he may've been trying to make an 80s-style horror movie (specifically one that's part slasher and part body horror), complete with an absurd plot, poor dialogue and some bad acting. Some viewers will "get" that, excuse those things for being deliberate and really like the movie. Others won't and will hate the movie. Even though I think that I see what Wan for going for, it didn't work for me and I couldn't bring myself to excuse it. For one, when an 80s horror movie is cheesy, it has the excuses that it's old and was cheaply made, but this is new and awfully expensive for a horror movie ($40M). Second, it goes for both serious and campy, making it hard to tell when it's being stupid deliberately and when it's not. Third, I had other issues with it: the story wasn't engaging, the characters weren't interesting, the big twist was quite predictable, the last third was mindless action and the ending was really weak. I did have a little fun watching the movie, but I was laughing at things that I don't think were meant to be funny and saying "this is so stupid" a lot, but not because I was enjoying that about it.

It almost feels to me like Wan is playing a bit of a joke on those who expect this to be another of his serious horrors, especially since that expectation is reinforced in a first half that deals with some pretty heavy subjects (domestic abuse and miscarriages). About halfway through, it leaves the seriousness behind and slowly gets cornier until it shocks you with its absurdity. Some people will love that it turns into something that they didn't expect, but others will hate it. It didn't work at all for me, but if you know going in that it's a bit campy and absurd, you may enjoy it more. It's in theaters and on HBO Max.

Random thoughts and observations...

Spoiler

Wouldn't it have been easier to just kill the husband in his sleep instead of waking him up with the blender and playing hide and seek?

I liked how Madison just casually sprung on her sister that she was adopted. Had they never talked before or did she not know, herself, until being knocked on the head? If it was the latter, shouldn't she have been more eager to share the life-altering secret that she just learned?

How did Madison know that she was adopted, but didn't remember anything else about Gabriel, whom she used to talk do after being adopted? I'm confused about how she conveniently forgot and remembered some things and not others.

You'd think that the detectives would've arrested Madison as soon as she told them where the mutilated body was.

I liked how the aged photo of the young girl looked just like Madison and the detective concluded immediately that it was her. That's an example of something so stupid that it had to be deliberate, right, but even so, it wasn't funny, so what was the point?

Was it fairly obvious to anyone else early on, based on build and movement, that "Gabriel" was actually a woman? It was just one of many clues that made the twist predictable and less surprising.

You'd think that the detectives or the sister would've heard the woman in the attic, especially while she was cutting herself loose.

I liked how the sister very casually parked one foot from a sheer cliff in the dark and then found her sister's file in seemingly the first box that she checked.

I liked how there was always a radio or VCR around when the plot called for one, even though it's 2021 (or 2019, if you want to get technical about when it was filmed).

I liked how, after the 19th-century carriage almost hits him, the first thing that the detective does is open the door and check inside, as if it's a car and he's looking for the driver. Someone pushed it into you and is behind it, not inside it, you imbecile. Some detective...

 

[OzzyFan]

Promare (2019)
3.25 out of 4stars

"During a calamity known as the Great World Blaze, fires from mass spontaneous human combustions killed half the world's population. Certain humans developed pyrokinetic abilities during and subsequent to the event, and became known as the Burnish. 30 years later, firefighting groups respond to incidents involving Mad Burnish, a group of radical Burnish accused of being terrorists and government involvement with all 'Burnish' grows to unimaginable lengths."
See it on the biggest screen possible. Anime action visuals in the most non-stop creatively hyperkinetic limit pushing way possible. Mind-blowingly for me, seeing it in a movie theater. Didn't know what to expect going in, and was very happy leaving. It also has some commentary on "different groups" we'll say and their treatment by society and governments that is hit and miss alongside some relationship 'issues', but you come for the action. It's hard to describe the narrative in a short clean way, so the above wiki copy and paste is as best as it's gonna get, but the imagination and results are off the charts. Anyone know of any anime movies with similar visual pushing ADHD boundaries as this? I've never seen anything like it. Just to amp anyone up more (not that I want to possibly overhype something or hype something that may not be everyone's cup of tea or have the same effect on a TV set), here's some professional and amateur quotes of reviews on this movie:

"Miraculously, the sensory overload high consistently lasts its almost two-hour runtime."
"Promare is composed as a series of climaxes, each one larger, faster, and more colorful than the last, until the audience is lost in the insanity and euphoria of it."
"Wowza, Promare is some marvelous eye candy. Fast-paced, intense, crazy, frenetic and mind-meltingly colorful. It's a rousing marathon of fiery mecha action that really gets the adrenaline pumping."
"The film is nearly two hours long and passes in what feels like 45 seconds. It is wildly entertaining and blaringly ridiculous, and I want to watch it every night for a week."
"Hold on to your seats, this movie has insane animation that makes Spiderman: Into The Spider Verse look like a joke. "
"Promare has some of the best animation I've ever seen. The colors, spacial definition and overall production design of everything on screen is top notch."
"If you are looking for a film unlike anything you've ever seen before, this is it."

 

[Osprey]

Cry Macho (2021) - 7/10 (Really liked it)

A former rodeo star (Clint Eastwood) is hired to drive to Mexico to find and bring back his friend's estranged 13-year-old son. Most of the story takes place on the journey back and makes it somewhat of a "road trip" movie, though maybe the only one that you'll ever see that includes a rooster. I must say that the film was a pleasant surprise. I feared that it'd be sad (based on the title) or feature a lot of conflict between Clint and the boy, but it's actually heartwarming and more of a bonding picture, with Clint temporarily acting as a father (or grandfather... OK, great grandfather) figure that the boy desperately needs and the boy giving him something in return. There's a little external conflict as the two of them dodge the authorities and a bodyguard trying to get the boy back, but it's mild and exists more to keep the story moving than to provide excitement or suspense. There's even a scene in which the cops search their car for drugs and Clint's indignation at the idea that he'd be a drug trafficker almost makes it more amusing as a reference to his previous movie than tense. Speaking of him, he really shows his age (90!) in front of the camera and I kept thinking that he was much too old for the role (interestingly, he turned it down in 1988 because he felt that he was too young at the time), but, fortunately, he doesn't show his age behind the camera. The film strikes a tone that's sweet without being overly so and is engaging despite a very simple, safe and predictable story. It might be too simple, safe and predictable for some people, but I didn't mind. I thought that it was refreshingly old fashioned and it made me smile, which is what I needed and wanted, especially since it could be the last time that we get to see Clint. If it is, then it's a pleasant note to end on. It's now out in theaters and on HBO Max.

 

[Hockeyfrilla]

Godzilla vs Kong - 6/10

The Report - 7/10

Kate - 5/10

 

[Puck]

The Obscure Life of the Grand Duke of Corsica, Directed by Daniel Graham, 6.0

The film is art-house kitsch. I can't help but think that the 'religious scenes' were added to make the viewer think there is something more profound and serious going on here. But basically an architect is hired to build a rich but fake Duke an innovative mausoleum, to make him immortal in time. He accepts the contract and stays in Malta to build this architectural masterpiece, even during a malaria epidemic. The architect is an a-hole, but during his time in Malta, he becomes a good friend to the Duke, and slowly transforms into a more affable, personable crank.

Spoiler

The mausoleum he creates will architecturally allow the Duke's dead body to decay to fertilize a living peach tree planted nearby so he can do something useful in death; I'm not making this up.

Does the cranky architect finally escape the malaria-infested island? You will have to watch the movie to find out but like me, in the end you might not really care one way or the other. The film is average art-house fare, what makes it more watchable and interesting are the rather eccentric characters depicted in it. Definitely not a film for the MCU crowd.

The Obscure Life of the Grand Duke of Corsica review – Tim Spall as oddball architect

 

[Puck]

‘Belfast’ Wins TIFF 2021 People’s Choice Award

 

[ProstheticConscience]

No Sudden Move

with lots and lots of people

Period gangster piece set in the early 50's. Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro and Kieran Culkin are three low level gangsters sent by Brendan Fraser (who I really hope was wearing a huge fat suit, because otherwise he's really let himself go) to watch over a family during the day while dad retrieves a valuable document from work. But uh-oh, it's not there. Bodies drop, cops are called, and lots of people (Ray Liotta, Matt Damon, David Harbour, John Hamm, etc) jockey for screen time as the various crosses and double-crosses start to add up. Everyone wants this paper, which turns out to be plans for a new kind of car exhaust. How far will people go to get it? And who's more ruthless, gangsters or automotive executives? Watch and pretend to be surprised.

Not a bad effort all around, but some of the many plot twists don't add up. If you've got all this money lying around to bribe gangsters, cops and various other people, why not just bribe the guy who made the plans? You wouldn't need to involve half the people in the movie at all...but then of course there'd be no movie.

Directed by Steven Soderburgh, who imho got away from himself here.

On HBO Max/Crave.

"Look, we went and got our masks! Now let us into Safeway!!"

 

[nameless1]

Long time no see.

Anyone did TIFF this year?

I will do VIFF again, but because I have to work during the festival, I cannot do a full slate. VIFF will have both in-person and online viewing, with fewer selections for the online portion, and since I will only do online, I will miss out on a couple of interesting movies that I wanted to check out.

Again, I will post a list of what I watched, and if anyone is interested in a longer review, just let me know.

 

[nameless1]

Extra point given for daring to use the word 'pretentious' in the text.

To be fair, I think the OP changed his mind after he watched the movie. He likely did not realize that it was adapted from a book.

 

[nameless1]

2046. I feel like Chungking Express is undergrad level Wong Kar Wai and In the Mood for Love is grad school, which makes this doctoral level. Really feels like a culmination of a lot of his interests and styles and characters, but a meaningful one, not a mere exercise. Opens up more the more I watch it. An all-time crowd-pleaser of a kiss.

During the summer, I actually watched the loose trilogy, with Days of Being Wild, In the Mood for Love, and 2046, in chronological order. I have to agree that 2046 is the doctoral thesis statement, and it is easily my favourite of the bunch.

Personally, Days of Being Wild is a bit messy, and it still had a little too much commercial flair to it, but one can tell that Wong has just begun to get a sense of his own style, and all his subsequent films pretty much evolved from it.

I watched In the Mood for Love when I was 15 or 16, and I was pretty bored by it. I am actually glad I decided to watch it again, because this time, I actually understood the atmosphere and vibe Wong manages to create. That said, I probably only enjoyed about half of it, because that music accompanied by the slowed-down speed really annoyed me when it was done for the fifth time.

2046 was much maligned before its release, mainly because everyone complained how long the filming was, but it was by far his best work. I like how he manages to seamlessly mix in different genres, and the story is by far the most coherent out of all of it. Honestly, I think this is his magnum opus, and the perfect conclusion on Wong's vision of the 60s.

If anyone has time, I highly recommend people give this trilogy a try. It actually a neat experience to see how Wong evolved.

 

[Puck]

To be fair, I think the OP changed his mind after he watched the movie. He likely did not realize that it was adapted from a book.

Does not really matter. Point was awarded just for using the term either way. It's a good word. I have grown more fond of it (when used in film reviews) for some strange reason. The Guardian also gets an extra point for using 'pretention' in the Duke of Corsica review (link above). Use the term in any context (whether accurate or not) and you get extra points.

 

[Pink Mist]

The Apostle (1997) directed by Robert Duvall

When an eccentric evangelical preacher finds out his wife is cheating on him and murders her partner, he goes on the run and ends up in a small town in Louisiana. While in Louisiana he becomes a radio preacher and forms a congregation in a decrepit church in town. Directed by, written by, and starring Robert Duvall, The Apostle is a one of those actor passion projects that put actors into the directors chair every now and then. Despite the description of the plot sounding like it could be a plot for a thriller movie (similar to something like The Night of the Hunter), instead it is a straight drama and a character study on a flawed human. And unfortunately, it’s also a flawed film. It runs for far to long with many unnecessary and nonsensical scenes (I didn’t know cops in Louisiana were so God fearing that they wouldn’t interrupt a church service to arrest a murderer on the run). But my biggest problem is Duvall the actor. Duvall received an Oscar nomination for his performance in this film, which makes sense because its one of the loud meaty roles played by an old Hollywood star that the Academy loves to recognize, but his character is nothing more than a caricature. If I were to sketch a caricature of a Southern evangelical radio/tv preacher it would look and sound something like the one portrayed by Duvall in this film. His role and acting are just so over the top that it you can’t really take his character seriously because he doesn’t seem like a real person. The film is really a self-indulgent project for Duvall to give a big showy performance in the twilight of his career and not worth watching.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

It's a good word. I have grown more fond of it (when used in film reviews) for some strange reason.

[self-censored]

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Just watched "License to Kill" for the first time in a long time. Dalton made a very good Bond in my opinion and this one plays it straight for the most part which I appreciate. Just a touch of humor and just a touch of the excess. Maybe a bit more brutal than most. I also thought it was well acted overall. 8.5/10 for me.

 

[OzzyFan]

Night of the Living Dead (1968)
3.75 out of 4stars

"A ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls that are ravaging the East Coast of the United States."
I had a hard time rating this movie on a scale quality because of it's historical significance, 'it's' present day all encompassing circumstances, and comparatively to it's post Romero zombie trio films. Historically, it created the stage for zombie films visually and tactically/characteristically, had revolutionary and controversial elements from it's 'gore'/special-effects to it's 'casting' to it's ''events'' so to speak, is supposedly "the" first huge grossing low budget b-movie, and of course it's socio-political messages can't be undermined either/including it's bold choice(s) and statements/messages on African-Americans/war in the US at that time. All that said, it's still a great horror film in and of itself. There is a true sense of dread from start to finish, honest human conflicts/struggles, shocking horror visuals, and a realistic sequences of events on a small and grand scale with excellent and essential use of the media for it's story building. It's not only a must see for horror enthusiasts, but a must see for all cinephiles.


Dawn of the Dead (1978)
3.40 out of 4stars

"Following an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia S.W.A.T. team members, a traffic reporter, and his television executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall."
This was my favorite of the trio. While Night introduced the world to zombies, Dawn took the next step in the most logical way, with people scrambling for permanent shelter and unwittingly finding a mall as a possibility. Again, there is a lot of socio-political commentary from hints to bold messages on the topics of minority treatment/views, consumerism, the media, the police/military, the government, and even women/women's rights and place in society. It also expands on the zombie mythos in a satisfying way, albeit more in the visual and gore aspects(with the help of color film now) than in the background information way I'd say. And the use of action/visuals/gore in the movie was so fun and a huge step forward from Night, and the concept/tone of fun balanced with the horror here made this movie more enjoyable and a fun emotional roller coaster to me. The main characters being more likeable too helped. Romero's use of the mall's vaster setting and availabilities were perfect. It's many a child and adult's dream to have a whole mall cost free at one's disposal, and it's brought to life here fairly well while never feeling out of place. And every event forward in the mall for that matter was done so in a pretty smart way. I will try not to ruin any evolutionary or unforeseen things in this film, but adding another step of the human threat to this zombie apocalypse world was done well.

Day of the Dead (1985)
3.25 out of 4stars

"As the world is overrun by zombies, a small group of scientists and military personnel dwelling in an underground bunker in Florida must determine whether they should educate, eliminate or escape the undead horde."
While not as good as first 2 movies, it is still a great film imo. "Again" it takes another logical step/view from Dawn of the Dead, with scientists and military peoples debating and acting out the best way to deal with this zombie apocalypse on long term and short term timetables. It does everything the previous films do with building on socio-political issues, zombie visuals, zombie characteristics in and out, and brings an intriguing story to the table, but first and foremost here shows that humans are real threat and more powerful enemy in this zombie apocalypse, especially after sustainable shelter has been found. This 3rd movie was far and away the most intellectually engaging and satisfying for me. Bringing in the scientific and military mindsets and motives into this was perfect. There are reasonable arguments on both sides of this spectrum in these circumstances, and, without ruining things, to see the real differences in and out on how they operate/would operate with and without hierarchies(military chain of command), masculinity, survival instincts, treatment of their dead friends/military family, emotional tolls/reactions, bonding ways, time management, experimentation, investigation, conditioning, I would suggest even a nature vs nurture aspect also/or barbaric vs civilized style, etc. And not just from the human aspect either, development of the zombies themselves here is thoroughly brought about. Exploring directly in the movie and externally the never ending differences of how the world should operate and balance from a militaristic/forceful and scientific/civilized, even internally on a person by person basis, is something that will exist from the beginning to the end of time as history has already shown us on a global and personal scale. Not to mention, this movie has my favorite ending of all of the trilogy movies and might have my favorite beginning scene also.


I have a feeling I have just witnessed the greatest horror trilogy of all-time, possibly even one of the greatest movie trilogies across all genres. Romero's trilogy successfully connects and satisfies on an emotional and intellectual level while being inventive and giving relevant socio-political commentary. It was definitely above and beyond worthy of my time investment.