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

[Puck]

Forgot to mention another much overlooked film in 2023 outside Quebec is Testament by Denys Arcand. I really enjoyed that one.

Testament (2023) ⭐ 7.0 | Drama

1h 55m

www.imdb.com

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Forgot to mention another much overlooked film in 2023 outside Quebec is Testament by Denys Arcand. I really enjoyed that one.

Testament (2023) ⭐ 7.0 | Drama

1h 55m

www.imdb.com

Wouldn't have thought he was still active. Nice tip.

 

[Puck]

Wouldn't have thought he was still active. Nice tip.

I don't know his personal politics but he does seem to have gotten more conservative and cranky in his old age. The film takes a few pot shots at woke liberals but it is light-hearted and done in jest.

 

[CTTribe73]

Aronovsky’s Requiem for a Dream

10/10

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Scarface. Been a while since I rewatched this one. Something that really jumped out to me this time was this ... WHY did Tony Montana become such an aspirational figure? I get that it's a bootstrapping story and he's ruthless and he's quotable and he gets all those nice things (cars, house, giant bubble bath, even bigger pile of cocaine) ... but he's kinda miserable in every frame of this movie. He never seems to enjoy anything. He's paranoid to the point of self destruction and to top it all off he's an obsessive creep who obviously wants to have sex with his sister. I suppose the first group of points outweigh the second?

I'm not doing a "people misunderstand the movie" scolding thing. But when you think of objectionable movie protagonists who've been embraced as cool or aspirational ... characters from Bonnie & Clyde, The Godfather, Goodfellas, The Wolf of Wall Street, Wall Street, Boiler Room, The Sopranos, etc. ... those characters all seem to enjoy their lives at least for a period of time. I get how you can watch those and think "that looks cool and fun." I watch Scarface and come away thinking, "this guy's a miserable sister f***er."

He dies a badass, but did he ever truly live?

Still, WILDLY entertaining movie.

 

[PK Cronin]

Scarface. Been a while since I rewatched this one. Something that really jumped out to me this time was this ... WHY did Tony Montana become such an aspirational figure? I get that it's a bootstrapping story and he's ruthless and he's quotable and he gets all those nice things (cars, house, giant bubble bath, even bigger pile of cocaine) ... but he's kinda miserable in every frame of this movie. He never seems to enjoy anything. He's paranoid to the point of self destruction and to top it all off he's an obsessive creep who obviously wants to have sex with his sister. I suppose the first group of points outweigh the second?

I'm not doing a "people misunderstand the movie" scolding thing. But when you think of objectionable movie protagonists who've been embraced as cool or aspirational ... characters from Bonnie & Clyde, The Godfather, Goodfellas, The Wolf of Wall Street, Wall Street, Boiler Room, The Sopranos, etc. ... those characters all seem to enjoy their lives at least for a period of time. I get how you can watch those and think "that looks cool and fun." I watch Scarface and come away thinking, "this guy's a miserable sister f***er."

He dies a badass, but did he ever truly live?

Still, WILDLY entertaining movie.

I think you're right that the former outweighs the latter. People who have Tony Montana as an aspirational figure are probably pretty shallow overall. It's a good movie but I find it to be very overrated by my generation.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Night Visitor (1989)

A Zack Morris type discovers that his history teacher is a Satanic killer. Then spends the rest of the movie trying to prove what he's witnessed.
Problem is that he's known as a pathological embellisher..
Co-starring Elliott Gould as a Cowardly Lion adult ally.. and who knows how Gould was conscripted in to this movie. He had a pretty solid career by this point. I appreciated the nostalgic aesthetic, it is so 1989, it hurts.

Streamed it on Prime.. not great, or terrible. I gave it a thumbs-up vote.

 

[kihei]

The Monk and the Gun (2023) Directed by Paywo Choining Dorji 6A

Bhutan, perhaps the sole country in the world to not only have a happiness index for its citizens but to take it seriously as well, finally achieved democracy in 2006 when its king abdicated his leadership responsibilities voluntarily because he thought that his country had shunned modernity too long. For example, it was the last country to admit the internet and television within its borders. Shortly after the king's noble declaration, the government ran a mock election to help people learn how to vote as they hadn't a clue--all this stuff was brand new to them. Things didn't go exactly as planned, and The Monk and the Gun takes a playful look at why things went the way they did. The overriding question in the film is why does a monk want a gun in the first place, especially in a country where any gun is a rarity? But this question is tied into larger political and social issues about how maybe modernity is not all its cracked up to be and possibly in some instances democracy isn't worth the political turmoil that comes with it. Though the story is presented in a lightly comic way, director Paywo Choyning Dorji (A Yak in the Classroom) gives his Western audience a lot to consider. If the movie has a shortcoming it is that no real tension or urgency builds up as the plot progresses, so the action goes by at a bit slower pace than is necessary. One critic posited that if there was something akin to a whimsical Jia Zhangke film, The Monk and the Gun would be it. That's a pretty apt description.

subtitles

 

[kihei]

I’ve seen 23 of the 84 films submitted for consideration in the international film category for the Academy Awards. This is how I rank them (the five nominated films are in bold). 6 or higher represents a thumbs up.

The Taste of Things (France)--8
Perfect Days (Japan)
The Zone of Interest (UK)

The Promised Land (Denmark)--7
Io Capitano (Italy)
Mami Wata (Nigeria)
The Settlers (Chile)
Society of the Snow (Spain)
Four Daughters (Tunisia)
I Have Electric Dreams (Costa Rica)
Rojek (documentary) (Canada)

Totem (Mexico)—6
The Monk and the Gun (Bhutan)
Concrete Utopia (South Korea)
Fallen Leaves (Finland)
Tiger Stripes (Malaysia)
The Delinquents (Argentina)

About Dry Grasses (Turkey)--5
Godland (Iceland)

The Teachers’ Lounge (Germany)--4
The Peasants (Poland)

The Wandering Earth II (China)--3

20 Days in Mariupol (documentary) Ukraine (chose not to rank but recommend highly)

 

[Osprey]

Continuing my airplane movie binge, though these two may be the last two...



Airspeed (1999) - 5/10

After lightning strikes a private plane, a businessman's 13-year-old daughter (Elisha Cuthbert) is the only one on board still conscious and able to communicate with the ground. Eventually, a rescue plan is developed to attempt a risky mid-air passenger transfer with another plane. After Airplane!, this low-budget, straight-to-video movie is probably the most unrealistic airplane disaster movie that I've ever seen. It's also melodramatic and predictable and has bad dialogue, questionable acting, cheap sets and effects (but at least no CGI) and almost cheesy sentimentality. That said, I found it legitimately suspenseful, and that goes a long way in this sort of movie. I suppose that the director deserves credit for that. The fact that I was actually engaged helped me to look past the lack of realism at every turn and a 13 year old repeatedly playing the hero. I also took it for a family movie with respectable themes about overcoming fears and appreciating loved ones, so I can't be too hard on it. Apparently, I'm in the minority on that, though, as it has a 3.7/10 on IMDb and 17% audience score on RT. It's probably a terrible movie, but I can't help that I was somewhat entertained, anyways.

---

Air Force One Down (2024) - 5/10

A rookie Secret Service agent (Katherine McNamara) must protect the President (Ian Bohen) when his plane is hijacked by Eastern European terrorists intent on stopping an energy deal. The first half is a lot like Wolfgang Petersen's Air Force One, obviously, except that the hero is a Secret Service agent, not the President. The second half, however, takes place entirely on the ground and is more like, say, Extraction. That disappointed me (because I'm binging movies on planes, darn it), but I eventually did appreciate the amount of action in that second half, as well as the little bit of character development. The action is fairly well choreographed and the body count really racks up near the end, when the agent goes full one woman army. Of course, you have to suspend disbelief when someone who's 5'5" and 120lbs is physically defeating much larger men repeatedly, but I signed up for that when I started the movie and McNamara looks good doing it. Also, I had already given up on expecting realism with how quickly she was assigned to Air Force One and how easily it was hijacked. Overall, it's a very unrealistic and forgettable movie, but it passed the time and scratched an action itch.

 

[Bruins4Lifer]

I’ve seen exactly a quarter (21) of the 84 films submitted for consideration in the international film category for the Academy Awards. This is how I rank them (the five nominated films are in bold). 6 or higher represents a thumbs up.

The Taste of Things (France)--8
Perfect Days (Japan)
The Zone of Interest (UK)

The Promised Land (Denmark)--7
Io Capitano (Italy)
Mami Wata (Nigeria)
Society of the Snow (Spain)
I Have Electric Dreams (Costa Rica)
Rojek (documentary) (Canada)

Totem (Mexico)—6
The Monk and the Gun (Bhutan)
Concrete Utopia (South Korea)
Fallen Leaves (Finland)
Tiger Stripes (Malaysia)
The Delinquents (Argentina)

About Dry Grasses (Turkey)--5
Godland (Iceland)

The Teachers’ Lounge (Germany)--4
The Peasants (Poland)

The Wandering Earth II (China)--3

20 Days in Mariupol (documentary) Ukraine (chose not to rank but recommend highly)

I've been looking forward to seeing About Dry Grasses, maybe a little less now though. I don't recall seeing you post your review/thoughts on it. What didn't you like about it?

 

[I am not exposed]

52 Pick-Up (1986) - 6/10

A successful industrialist (Roy Scheider) is blackmailed after he's caught cheating on his wife (Ann-Margaret). Unable to go to the police, he cooperates as he tries to learn who's responsible and turn the tables on them. It's a John Frankenheimer thriller on a smaller scale than he's known for, but a lot trashier, with strippers and sleazy videos playing prominent roles in the plot. Scheider's character is not all that likable, since he had the gall to cheat on the lovely Ann-Margaret with a girl half her age (even if it was Kelly Preston) and seems more worried about himself than his marriage, but the three low lifes doing the blackmailing--a cocky pretty boy, an aggressive pimp and a sniveling crybaby--are even more reprehensible. At first, I thought that they were the main weakness of the film because it was hard to take them seriously as villains. Eventually, I realized that they made the film because it was infuriating that a disorganized trio of degenerates was getting away with blackmail. I hated them more than I was turned off by Scheider's character and enjoyed him getting his revenge, so the film ultimately worked. Frankenheimer also puts his stamp on it with a lot of interesting tracking and crane shots that help give it more style than most other low budget Cannon flicks.

Turbulence (1997) - 7/10

While being transported on a commercial flight, a charming convict (Ray Liotta) escapes custody, causes chaos and terrorizes a flight attendant (Lauren Holly). Released the same year as Con Air, it has the same initial premise (convicts on a plane) and is just as unbelievable, but goes in a different direction. Liotta is totally and delightfully unhinged in this. I'm not sure that he's ever been crazier, and that's saying something, considering his other roles, like in Goodfellas and Unlawful Entry. He's definitely the highlight of the movie. Not so much is the stereotypical Texas accent that Brendan Gleeson adopts for his role as another one of the convicts. It's bad, but funny. Speaking of Gleeson, the man looked the same in the mid 90s as he does now. I enjoyed the pacing of the movie, the action sequences, the atmosphere and the Christmas Eve setting (even the plane is decorated). It gets a little silly near the end, but I still found the whole thing quite entertaining... more than most people, apparently, since it has a 19% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. What can I say? I'm a sucker for movies on planes and 90s action movies, and this is both.

Would you consider Turbulence a Christmas movie....

 

[kihei]

I've been looking forward to seeing About Dry Grasses, maybe a little less now though. I don't recall seeing you post your review/thoughts on it. What didn't you like about it?

I actually had About Dry Grasses as a 6 initially before dropping it to 5 some time later when I couldn't remember much about it. Here's the money paragraph from my review:

"About Dried Grasses can't be faulted technically. It is a brilliant piece of direction and cinematography, Ceylan's trademark wintry landscapes contrasting this time with summer in all its glory. The movie, which is dialogue heavy in the extreme, seems to me like a very well written but not fully satisfying short story. There is much to enjoy and admire, but the payoff isn't worth spending all this time with this particular woeful character for whom self-absorption and self-delusion go hand in hand."

I certainly wouldn't want to discourage you from seeing it as your reaction could be quite different than mine.

 

[Osprey]

Would you consider Turbulence a Christmas movie....

No, but I'm one of those that doesn't think of Die Hard as a Christmas movie, either, and Turbulence is arguably more Christmas-y than that.

I actually had About Dry Grasses as a 6 initially before dropping it to 5 some time later when I couldn't remember much about it. Here's the money paragraph from my review:

You also indicated that you were changing your score for The Promised Land from a 7 to an 8. It doesn't matter, but I was surprised to see it still as a 7 above.

 

[Bruins4Lifer]

I actually had About Dry Grasses as a 6 initially before dropping it to 5 some time later when I couldn't remember much about it. Here's the money paragraph from my review:

"About Dried Grasses can't be faulted technically. It is a brilliant piece of direction and cinematography, Ceylan's trademark wintry landscapes contrasting this time with summer in all its glory. The movie, which is dialogue heavy in the extreme, seems to me like a very well written but not fully satisfying short story. There is much to enjoy and admire, but the payoff isn't worth spending all this time with this particular woeful character for whom self-absorption and self-delusion go hand in hand."

I certainly wouldn't want to discourage you from seeing it as your reaction could be quite different than mine.

Thanks. I credit you for getting me into Ceylan ever since you reviewed/recommended Once Upon a Time in Anatolia way back when, and I've really enjoyed all his films since then so I will still check out About Dry Grasses when I get the chance.

 

[I am not exposed]

No, but I'm one of those that doesn't think of Die Hard a Christmas movie, and Turbulence is arguably more Christmas-y than that, since It's a Wonderful Life is referenced repeatedly.

You also indicated that you were changing your score for The Promised Land from a 7 to an 8. It doesn't matter, but I was surprised to see it still as a 7 above.

You seem like a sensible chap with good taste so of course you don't consider Die Hard a Christmas movie, Because it isn't.

 

[Nakatomi]

Ferrari (2023) - 5/10

Why is everyone doing a terrible Italian accent lol. It was ridiculous especially Adam Driver's and it made most of the acting seem ridiculous. Just do a normal accent or have Italian actors speak in Italian. Anyways it's a bit sad watching this because it was surprisingly made by Michael Mann but you wouldn't know it from how generically biographical it was going through the motions, didn't feel unique at all or stylish in the way he used to make films. And resultingly, it managed to be quite boring too for a movie with racing.

I caught this on a late flight the other day, and agree with your review entirely. The accents were so odd. While there are the makings of a really interesting story here, I was left thinking I'd have been more satisfied just reading the book it is based on. It also felt like the least Mann-like film he has ever made.

 

[The Macho King]

Movie night at the Macho Kings residence.

Whole family watched Detective Pikachu.

Cute movie. Probably more intense than i expected for my 6 year old but shes a huge pokemon fan so it went okay. Some good chuckles in spots, really like the main performance. Im sure ill end up having to watch this 150 more times. 6/10

After bedtime watches Sunshine (2007).

So I'm not the biggest Danny Boyle fan but this may be my favorite movie of his. I'm a sucker for space work movies. Can definitely see the Alien inspiration but that is completely unavoidable if you're working in this genre.the first 2 acts I'm thinking 9/10 or better - really loved it. The third act was fine, but the tonal shift kind of kept it out of classic territory for me. Still a very solid 8/10. I'd have to rewatch Trainspotting and 28 Days Later to see where this lines up against those.

Also, what a bonkers cast. Really some big stars right before they popped. Also the movie looks amazing, especially considering its relatively small budget for a Sci fi film. Ship design is top notch as well. One minor quibble is I didn't have a good feeling for the space, where I feel like the geography of the ship could have been clearer and added more to the tension.

 

[kihei]

You also indicated that you were changing your score for The Promised Land from a 7 to an 8. It doesn't matter, but I was surprised to see it still as a 7 above.

I thought about it, but when I looked at the 8s, I decided to go back to a 7. What can I say, it is an imperfect system.

 

[kihei]

You seem like a sensible chap with good taste so of course you don't consider Die Hard a Christmas movie, Because it isn't.

I might agree with this if not for the annoying fact that I seem to only watch this movie at Christmas time.

 

[Osprey]

I thought about it, but when I looked at the 8s, I decided to go back to a 7. What can I say, it is an imperfect system.

It seems like a 7.5 is what we'd both give it and you decided to round down while I was in a generous mood and rounded up.

I might agree with this if not for the annoying fact that I seem to only watch this movie at Christmas time.

That'll do it. Similarly, there really isn't much Christmas in It's a Wonderful Life, but it's the only time that I and most people watch it, so it feels like a Christmas movie by association as much as anything.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Dune 2. Big ol' Hollywood spectacle. Looks great. Sounds fantastic. Cast of thousands. Movie stars. It would probably kill Cecile B. DeMille dead in his vibrating leather theater seat.

 

[kihei]

Dune 2 (2024) Directed by Denis Villleneuve 7A

Superficially the Dune narrative resembles a Luke Skywalker Star Wars story: Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) is our young hero who must take revenge on the death of his father, lead the resistance and fight an evil empire in the process. But there the comparison ends. Dune 2 is more a Messiah story or a political allegory, and it takes itself quite seriously. The level of gravitas throughout is sometimes weighty. If it is a popcorn movie at all, it is one minus the butter and the salt. However, unlike the gorgeous but inert Dune I, this one has a heart. Chalamet and Zendaya click in a way that they didn't in the first movie, and Chalamet's Paul acquires real depth and complexity along the way. In fact, this story is told much better in film than it was as literature because Frank Herbert's writing was often a ponderous slog to get through (in my teens, I gave up about a third of the way through--not, I believe, an uncommon occurrence). In the movie, I looked forward to each new scene with something approaching glee because the images were so enthralling and the cinematography so David Lean-like (I thought of Lawrence of Arabia more than once).

On the good guys side, the acting is a little spotty. As a John, the Baptist figure, Javier Bardem channels Anthony Quinn and fails. As a mentor figure, Josh Brolin gives exactly the same performance that he has already given approximately a thousand times. He has the range of a crippled amoeba. Chalamet and Zendaya are just fine, but the movie is almost stolen by Austin Butler playing the creepiest, youngest villain. A lot of it has to do with his look, but what he does with that look is extraordinary. I found the action sequences just wonderful, visually imaginative and thrilling. Could have used a couple more of them, actually. Dune 2 also establishes what we already know, that Denis Villeneuve is among the most gifted director of images now working in movies. Despite Villeneuve using a deliberately limited colour palette, Dune II is spectacularly beautiful and should be seen on as huge a screen as possible. Pay the bucks; for once, it's worth it.

 

[kihei]

Spaceman (2024) Directed by Johan Renck 3A

What a morose movie. Jakub (Adam Sandler) is a solo astronaut on a mission to Jupiter to investigate a change in the atmosphere around the planet. He spends virtually all his time (and our time) obsessing about the looming failure of his marriage to Lenka (Carey Mulligan) back on earth. Here's the twist: he is counselled by a large intergalactic spider (voiced by Paul Dano) who hops on board to get a closer look at the human species. The giant talking, rather comforting spider happens to be damn good at psychological counselling. As a result, Jakub promises desperately to mend his ways and save his marriage. His strategy is to convince Laika that now that he sees what an unfeeling lout he has been in the past, he will never, never hurt her again. What a middle-aged male fantasy of a resolution: "Honey, I know I have been an asshole our entire life together, but it will be different next time. I really, really mean it." Where in human history has this approach worked.

So, the talking spider is a nice touch. The rest of the movie is sheer tedium. Sandler gives one of his "serious" performances, but really the role requires nothing except a doleful demeanor and a hangdog expression. Carey Mulligan is wasted, but Paul Dano is a surprisingly apt choice for the voice of the spider. I usually find Dano annoying as hell, but I readily admit he might have a future playing insects. Okay, make that arachnids. Spacemen is yet another thoroughly underwhelming Netflix project. Deep down when it comes to movie making, I don't think that company gives a f***.

 

[Nakatomi]

Miller's Girl - 3/10 This is substantially lacking in both the "eroticism" and "thriller" parts to work as an "erotic thriller." Jenna Ortega does well enough as the too smart for her small southern town high schooler, but meh. Not worth the time.

The Year of Living Dangerously - 7/10

An early 80's Peter Weir movie starring Mel Gibson just prior to his becoming a bona-fide movie star. It's set in Indonesia in the 1960's against backdrop of revolutionary fervor and political intrigue as Mel plays a journalist trying to make sense of it all.