Movies: Last Movie You Watched and Rate it | {Insert Appropriate Seasonal Greeting Here}

[Bounces R Way]

Saltburn(2023) - 8/10

My god this movie is uncomfortable. Starts uncomfortable and just gets more and more agonizing. Despite that I thought it was excellent. It is in your face and stylish by being well scripted and shot with purpose. The cast was phenomenal, seriously every single part was played to perfection. Top marks especially for Barry Keoghan the main lead, a committed and fearless performance.

Begins with the story of a young awkward socially inept boy going off to college, Oxford I think. That's fairly familiar and everyone knows what it looks like. He becomes infatuated with a popular handsome head boy or whatever the English equivalent is of the school star QB. He befriends him one day when he lends him his bicycle, and an unlikely bromance begins to flower. Said popular boy invites him to spend the summer at his family's castle, Saltburn, when our outcast tells him his family is in disarray due to the death of his father. Things get very weird from there. No spoilers but let's just say there is no shortage of pseudo sexual(as well as overtly sexual) power dynamics at play. Shock value is only truly worthwhile if it is shocking and I found several scenes to be exactly that.

I like a film that keeps you guessing, invites you into the drama and makes you have to consider semi-seriously the character motivations. Saltburn has three distinct acts and they are each extremely well executed and fit into each other seamlessly. Each has their own individual tones and themes. The 2hrs and 11 minutes holds up to the show don't tell ideal. I've never heard of the director Emerald Fennell before but will definitely be keeping an eye open for other pieces she does. She pulled no punches with this movie and while some of the aggressive symmetrical style I found a little Wes Anderson obnoxious it managed to be not only captivating but invoke a true emotional response. Also included are a seemingly endless array of claustrophobic two-shots. Having said that still for my money the best and blackest black comedy since The Favourite(2018). Fair warning, if creepy homoeroticism is a major ick for you I would suggest you avoid it. Like I said, prepare to be pushed out of your comfort zone.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Recently rewatched the godfather 1 and 2 on a long bus trip. Watching them back to back watching both Bobby d and Al pacing put on a performance for the ages

 

[Hierso]

I re-watched The Deer Hunter and while i still think it's a good movie i still wish they cut some of the fat of the movie, mainly the wedding part. De Niro & Walken makes the movie even if Savage is no slouch either. Could be one of the best vietnam movies (the fall of Saigon is great) if they trimed down the lenght from 3 hours to around 2 hours and 30 minutes.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Walken

Just watched an interesting Christopher Walken movie this morning, The Dogs of War.
Movie dropped in 1980, and Walken's character is basically hired to recon, then help depose a petty African dictator. The movie had some political elements that were relatively fresh/relatable at the time.. people recently affected by the attempted coups of Castro, the transformation of Rhodesia, etc. But seeing it in 2023, kinda feels more like a standard action/commando movie now.

 

[Devilsfan992]

Gran Tarismo - 7/10

May December - 7.5/10

Maestro 6/10. If not for the technical aspects of the movie, it would be sub five.

The Holdovers - 9/10. My favorite movie of the year so far.

 

[Fiji Water]

Rear Window, Hitchcock

I'm still boggled at how Hitchcock could craft such a flawless movie for 118 minutes and then think to himself "Yes, to finish off this masterwork, I shall have Jimmie Stewart overpower his nemesis with flashbulbs!"

 

[Devilsfan992]

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Saltburn(2023) - 8/10

My god this movie is uncomfortable. Starts uncomfortable and just gets more and more agonizing. Despite that I thought it was excellent. It is in your face and stylish by being well scripted and shot with purpose. The cast was phenomenal, seriously every single part was played to perfection. Top marks especially for Barry Keoghan the main lead, a committed and fearless performance.

Begins with the story of a young awkward socially inept boy going off to college, Oxford I think. That's fairly familiar and everyone knows what it looks like. He becomes infatuated with a popular handsome head boy or whatever the English equivalent is of the school star QB. He befriends him one day when he lends him his bicycle, and an unlikely bromance begins to flower. Said popular boy invites him to spend the summer at his family's castle, Saltburn, when our outcast tells him his family is in disarray due to the death of his father. Things get very weird from there. No spoilers but let's just say there is no shortage of pseudo sexual(as well as overtly sexual) power dynamics at play. Shock value is only truly worthwhile if it is shocking and I found several scenes to be exactly that.

I like a film that keeps you guessing, invites you into the drama and makes you have to consider semi-seriously the character motivations. Saltburn has three distinct acts and they are each extremely well executed and fit into each other seamlessly. Each has their own individual tones and themes. The 2hrs and 11 minutes holds up to the show don't tell ideal. I've never heard of the director Emerald Fennell before but will definitely be keeping an eye open for other pieces she does. She pulled no punches with this movie and while some of the aggressive symmetrical style I found a little Wes Anderson obnoxious it managed to be not only captivating but invoke a true emotional response. Also included are a seemingly endless array of claustrophobic two-shots. Having said that still for my money the best and blackest black comedy since The Favourite(2018). Fair warning, if creepy homoeroticism is a major ick for you I would suggest you avoid it. Like I said, prepare to be pushed out of your comfort zone.

I just watched this movie after watching the Holdovers. Two movies which started off similarly, and then veered in the complete opposite direction

 

[Unholy Diver]

All is Bright - 5/10

Paul Giamatti and Paul Rudd in what otherwise seemed like a low budget indie flick, the Pauls are a couple of Canadian criminals from Quebec who try to go straight by selling Xmas trees in NYC but find trouble and a few crazy characters along the way

 

[Nakatomi]

View attachment 791880

Saltburn(2023) - 8/10

My god this movie is uncomfortable. Starts uncomfortable and just gets more and more agonizing. Despite that I thought it was excellent. It is in your face and stylish by being well scripted and shot with purpose. The cast was phenomenal, seriously every single part was played to perfection. Top marks especially for Barry Keoghan the main lead, a committed and fearless performance.

Begins with the story of a young awkward socially inept boy going off to college, Oxford I think. That's fairly familiar and everyone knows what it looks like. He becomes infatuated with a popular handsome head boy or whatever the English equivalent is of the school star QB. He befriends him one day when he lends him his bicycle, and an unlikely bromance begins to flower. Said popular boy invites him to spend the summer at his family's castle, Saltburn, when our outcast tells him his family is in disarray due to the death of his father. Things get very weird from there. No spoilers but let's just say there is no shortage of pseudo sexual(as well as overtly sexual) power dynamics at play. Shock value is only truly worthwhile if it is shocking and I found several scenes to be exactly that.

I like a film that keeps you guessing, invites you into the drama and makes you have to consider semi-seriously the character motivations. Saltburn has three distinct acts and they are each extremely well executed and fit into each other seamlessly. Each has their own individual tones and themes. The 2hrs and 11 minutes holds up to the show don't tell ideal. I've never heard of the director Emerald Fennell before but will definitely be keeping an eye open for other pieces she does. She pulled no punches with this movie and while some of the aggressive symmetrical style I found a little Wes Anderson obnoxious it managed to be not only captivating but invoke a true emotional response. Also included are a seemingly endless array of claustrophobic two-shots. Having said that still for my money the best and blackest black comedy since The Favourite(2018). Fair warning, if creepy homoeroticism is a major ick for you I would suggest you avoid it. Like I said, prepare to be pushed out of your comfort zone.

The cinematography on this is quite striking. There were so many well-framed painting-quality shots here.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

The climax of this movie absolutely murdered me.

I too have trouble "recommending" because Breen's movies are such tedious/earnest/uncomfortable experiences. But they are experiences.

It’s quite the doozy, I was laughing so hard I woke up my wife next to me and she had to experience the ending with me. Thought she was in the twilight zone lol.

I’m trying to get a couple of my local theaters to screen Fateful Findings

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Tokyo Sonata (2008) - 7.5/10

Similar tight narrative structure to Cure but it unwinds into madness which doesn't work as well here as it's more of a gradual fade. This feels to me almost like a Japanese version of The Seventh Continent by Haneke, really solid family drama even if for me, the landing doesn't stick.

Boiling Point (2021) - 5/10

Lmao the protagonist had a thick high-pitched Scouse accent, I just couldn't take him seriously lol what a choice. Hopping on the trend of something like Uncut Gems but set in a restaurant, a bit too one-note high-stakes drama to enjoy for me.

The Bishop's Wife (1947) - 6.5/10

Mediocre Cary Grant film where he isn't given a lot of range and he's far more enjoyable when he's a bit more villanous. I think it leans a bit too much into the implied 'magic of Christmas' etc to cover a bit of a thin plot but it's a comfortable enough watch.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

A couple of horror films...

Ayla (Elias, 2017) - I've always said horror was a great genre for filmmakers to experiment with, so I can't blame this Elias guy (no surname, just Elias) for trying. It's a weird film, with most of it just blatantly amateurish, but here and there elements of the genre that make you wonder if Elias was actually understanding what he was doing. The pace, slowed down with filler shots of mostly nothing, makes it feel vaguely experimental, and I stayed into it until the end, thinking that Elias might have been building up to a big terrifying conclusion, but no. Dee Wallace being in the movie also caught me off guard, but I just hadn't realize that - kind of like Lynn Lowry - she was (ab)using her horror fame to shoot as much crap as she could before calling it a career. 2/10

His House (Weekes, 2020) - Contrarily to Ayla, which is one of many no-budget films Prime fills its catalog with, this one actually has some kind of cinephile-cred, with awards and stuff. It's still a complete miss. I think the intentions were good for the most part, it tries to use the genre to make a social comment on immigration in the UK (which was a great idea), but is ultimately pretty ambiguous on what it's trying to say. As a horror film, I'll give it points for understanding and imaging Abraham and Torok's psychoanalytical explanation of the phantom, but it annihilates all effectiveness by overloading the film with scare attempts as soon as they get to the house, before establishing any atmosphere (and well, having characters who aren't scared of the threat might have been a cool idea in trying to drive a point, but didn't contribute to making any of it almost scary). 3/10

And also these...

We Die Young (Geller, 2019) - Immigrants and gang stuff, and a white man that saves the day, Van Damme none the less. You'd think this would be pure shit, and well... It's obvious and predictable from start to finish, badly acted, but still ok. 3/10

Random Hearts (Pollack, 1999) - Just your most improbable everyday life. Trying to summarize the plot would make the film absolutely ridiculous, better go not knowing, as I did. 3.5/10

 

[The Macho King]

The Holdovers - 7.5/10

I expected something different, and I'm glad I didn't get it. I was waiting for Giamatti's big ACTING scene to justify all of the buzz and I was so happy it never came. It was understated, it was approachable, it was emotional without being overwrought, and it hit me in the feels way more than I expected. I think Best Supporting Actress is absolutely locked up here. It's a very understated, human story and I really enjoyed it.

Also - this is a bit of a side point, but was this shot on film? It kind of felt like it was. And a movie like this is never going to get a cinematography nominations, but it's shot so beautifully and really uses the space and sets well.

 

[Ben Grimm]

Memento 1/10 Directed by Christopher Nolan

If Nolan fans could just stop and think for a minute, if a man had this condition, I don't think it's possible to create a dumber version of what his life would be like.

 

[The Macho King]

Memento 1/10 Directed by Christopher Nolan

If Nolan fans could just stop and think for a minute, if a man had this condition, I don't think it's possible to create a dumber version of what his life would be like.

It's a fairly silly movie, but Joey Pants rules.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

Slotherhouse

This is a joke movie. A slasher set in a sorority house perpetrated by a cute puppet sloth. But it's competently shot. The cinematography is at least industry standard. The scene of the poacher's death is shot dark, dusty, claustrophobic, perfect for the sloth's first kill of an unctuous man. The scene where alpha bitch is declaring her run for sorority president starts with her atop a staircase, speaking down to the peons of the sorority house: it ends with plucky underdog protag climbing the stairs and standing side by side with alpha bitch to announce her own presidential run. This is a silly, stupid movie and it's pretty well shot. It's annoying.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I wish you all a rather kinky new year.

 

[Unholy Diver]

I wish you all a rather kinky new year.

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It has been a while since I saw that one, but I feel like it painted 2024 in an unrealistically positive light as compared to how things have actually turned out

 

[Chili]

Was interested to go through the IMDB Top 250 Movies list. Counted 152/250 that I have seen, a lot of classics on there. Believe this thread has inspired me to watch some of them so thanks!

https://www.imdb.com/chart/top/

 

[The Macho King]

Was interested to go through the IMDB Top 250 Movies list. Counted 152/250 that I have seen, a lot of classics on there. Believe this thread has inspired me to watch some of them so thanks!

https://www.imdb.com/chart/top/

That list is.... wild. Fight Club is barely a top 10 Fincher, much less top 13 movie of all time.

 

[Chili]

That list is.... wild. Fight Club is barely a top 10 Fincher, much less top 13 movie of all time.

Can't argue that. I've watched a bunch of great films that don't have enough votes to be on that list so I take it with a grain of salt, especially the slotting. Still find these type lists interesting, to see what others find entertaining.

 

[2CHAINZ]

That list is.... wild. Fight Club is barely a top 10 Fincher, much less top 13 movie of all time.

Fincher has only directed like 10 films; I'd be curious to see how you'd rank them.

 

[avsfan9]

Halloween kills: 7/10!

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Fincher has only directed like 10 films; I'd be curious to see how you'd rank them.

As much as I agree that the top-250 IMDB is ridiculous, I'm too curious of that ranking. I'm not much of a Fight Club fan, and I still think it's Fincher's best film (haven't seen them all, I'll admit).

 

[2CHAINZ]

As much as I agree that the top-250 IMDB is ridiculous, I'm too curious of that ranking. I'm not much of a Fight Club fan, and I still think it's Fincher's best film (haven't seen them all, I'll admit).

Seven is his best film by far. I'm not a huge fight club fan, but I'd probably rank it somewhere in the middle. I think I'd rank fight club over zodiac. I'm not a huge zodiac fan, but I'd put it behind gone girl, the girl with the dragon tattoo, and the social network. I'm curious how OP would rank his films because he says Fight Club is barely even a Fincher top 10.