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

[Pink Mist]

Way back when, I thought for about fifteen minutes that Christopher Jones was going to be the new James Dean. But he genuinely wasn't the least interested in the gig.

He certainly looked like Dean and had some of the charisma, but geez what a strange career. Six films in the late 60s then nothing until 25 years later when he featured in the box office bomb Mad Dog Time.

I get the impression he was pretty difficult to work with. Apparently he was also offered a role in Pulp Fiction as one of those psycho hillbillies, which he turned down

 

[nameless1]

The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)

Bud Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is an ambitious insurance clerk in NYC who wants to climb the corporate ladder. He devises a scheme to help his climb by lending his apartment to executives at the firm to use as a place to take their side chicks after work. (Note to self: forget climbing the corporate ladder this is a great idea to help make rent in Toronto. Pitching the idea of AirBnB love hotels to Silicon Valley). Closing in on a promotion, things become complicated when an executive brings over a girl (Shirley MacLaine) who Bud had a crush on. A masterly set-up film that hits all the right notes in its balance between comedy and pathos. Did not realize how dark this film got at times but yet I would still describe it as a romantic comedy. Lemmon and MacLaine are both outstanding displaying their loneliness and vulnerability while keeping things light with their wit and comedic charm. Lot to love in this film that has been said a million times in reviews about it, very clear why it is a masterpiece. But holy shit can’t imagine the sexual harassment lawsuits that would occur at that workplace today.

I watched it quite recently, and honestly, I am not too impressed by it. Wilder's movies are never technical masterpieces, because he himself stated that he values a good story over everything, but this one just misses the mark on everything.

As you stated, the story is especially problematic in today's political climate, but even when one ignores it, the story is rather bland and predictable. I do like that Wilder tried to tackle social problems like suicide and alcoholism, but those are used as mere plot devices to further the story.

Furthermore, these types of interpersonal stories need memorable characters, but other than Shirley MacClaine, all of them are caricatures and extremely forgettable. In fact, I give a lot of credit to MacClaine, who richly deserved her Oscar nomination, because I can see the character written as pretty flat in the script, but MacClaine gives her a lot of life and makes her lovable with her acting ability and personal charisma.

Wilder once called Lemmon a ham, who can be great when someone cuts away all the fat. I cannot find a better description for him, because even though he is a very capable actor, he does like to ham it up. Here, Wilder gives him the room to improvise, but he seems to try way too hard, so I often find them to be rather unnatural. That quality is especially obvious when contrasted with MacClaine's more naturalistic acting, which is quite often especially in the last half of the movie, as they are stuck in a room together. As a result, even though they received universal praise for their chemistry, I find them to be just mere believable enough as an on-screen couple, as there are times I find them to be off.

I have it at 6/10. It is fine, and I did not mind that I watched it, but personally, I think this one is just too dated at this point. The plot can no longer work in this day and age, and add to the rather boring cast of characters, who are really stuck to the time they live in, it really cannot be deemed a classic any longer. At best, it is a trip down memory lane, but that will only lose even more of its luster through time.

 

[nameless1]

Just noticed that Riley Keough, won the Camera D'Or for directing War Pony. She was the ditzy blonde in Under the Silver Lake. (also related to Elvis which coincidently also had a bio-movie at Cannes). More than just a pretty face, the girl has smarts.

View attachment 553457

Interesting. I have not stayed up to date with Cannes, but I am glad she won Best First Feature. I really like her filmography too, because she makes a bunch of interesting choices.

I knew her from American Honey, which apparently is where it all started, as she made friend with the two people whose stories became the basis for the movie.

 

[nameless1]

There were 3 Belgian entries at Cannes and they all won an award. Really impressive.

Share of Grand Prix (2nd place) for Close, share of Jury Prize (3rd place) for The Eight Mountains, and 75th Anniversary prize for Tori and Lokita. Well done Belgium.

South Korea did well too. Song Kang-ho won Best Actor, and Park Chan-wook won Best Director. Meanwhile, Hunt by Lee Jung-jae in his directorial debut got a standing ovation.

So far, it looks like a very strong year. There seems to be a lot of good movies.

 

[OzzyFan]

I'm sorry you didn't like The Host more. One of my favorite movies.

Also I wept at the end. What a ride - you feel the entire spectrum of human emotions in that film. Not to discredit your critique - it is a bit all over the place.

That's a good summation of it and I certainly understand one's liking of it more than I did. Don't want to poke holes in the movie either, but that very ending....

Spoiler

How is that snack bar supposed to be profitable in a now desolate and restricted exclusion zone due to agent yellow poisoning dropped there and possibly more involving the creature with no profits or sales in sight? It's touching and nice, but incredibly non-sensical. Maybe I'm looking too deep into that.

[spoiler/]

 

[Chili]

Thieves' Highway-1949

An ex serviceman returns home to find his trucker dad in a wheelchair. After hearing the story of how this happened and how his father was cheated, he sets out for retribution. Exciting, suspenseful tale of greed, deception & betrayal. Believe fans of the Bogart's They Drive by Night would appreciate this one. One scene reminded me of The Wages of Fear. Spot on casting. Vgood noir.

Dunkirk-1958 & 2017

The mass evacuation of soldiers from Dunkirk in 1940. Both films have strong merits, both tried and succeeded in my opinion to portray realism. The original film has more story, including following a small group of men as they try to make their way to the beach. It also has some real footage, the dive bomber scene is scary stuff, as are the beach scenes which have action similar to The Longest Day. The 2017 movie was filmed on the actual beach. It does a nice job to taking the viewer into a scene. Don't believe there was much cgi, was mostly impressive recreations. Both films capture different parts of the same story, both were well done.

The Conqueror-1956

Behold, the tribe with the fur hats and the funny accents approacheth! 3.7/10 rating on imdb. A lot of action, some nice vistas but was the 12th century so silly? How did the Duke get talked into this one? Hard to take seriously. The back story of the illnesses caused by the radiation in the area where it was filmed make it sad. This and Jet Pilot were Howard Hughes' swan song to films.

The Parallax View-1974

Starts off with a political assassination, witnessed by many. A commission later rules that it was the act of a lone gunman. As the witnesses begin to die of possible questionable causes, one witness, an investigative journalist begins to probe deeper. Very little dialogue in the second half of the film, the camera tells the story. Reminded me of other political thrillers of the era (All the President's Men, The Day of the Jackal and also Three Days of the Condor). Intriguing, suspenseful, well done.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

A History of Violence

by David Cronenberg

with Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris, William Hurt (both of whom are criminally underused), and other people.

Tom Stall (Viggo) is a nice guy who runs a nice diner with a nice family living in a nice small town. Bland smiles all around, until one day a pair of criminal psychos try to rob the diner and terrorize the customers. Tom however has the whole Crouching Tiger, Hidden Badass thing going on, and within a few minutes, both robbers are dead. This attracts quite a bit of media attention, as everyone wants to congratulate the nice, small town guy for defending his patch so hardcore. But it's not good news for Tom, as it also attracts some hardcore Philly mobsters who are convinced Tom is really Crazy Joey Kusack, the long-disappeared brother of local boss Ritchie Kusack (Hurt). One-eyed mob lieutenant Fogarty (Harris) starts hanging around town to everyone's consternation, but Mrs. Stall isn't having any of it. The tension rises, teenage son starts acting out, but Tom maintains he's really just a nice small town guy, and the mobsters have the wrong man. But do they?

I know I've reviewed this before, but what the hell. Does the slow burn thing very well; Harris and Hurt both do exceptional work. Hurt very deservedly scored a Best Supporting Actor nomination despite having only about ten minutes of screen time. The film itself garnered a dumpsterful of award nominations, with Mortensen himself saying it was one of the best films he was ever in.

A good companion piece to Eastern Promises, the other Cronenberg/Mortensen collaboration about Russian mobsters in London. Was actually a double-header last night. Both easily hold up after multiple viewings.

Someone's about to become history.

 

[The Macho King]

The Parallax View-1974

But enough about the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals...

 

[kihei]

Men (2022) Directed by Alex Garland 7B

Director Alex Garland (Ex Machina; Annihilation) has cooked up a horror movie that will not be to everybody's taste, but it will make for an utterly jaw-dropping experience for those who do see it. Harper's (Jessie Buckley) husband has recently committed suicide after she has rejected him for good reason. Traumatized but hardly helpless, she escapes to a centuries-old house deep in the English countryside where she can stroll in the woods and hopefully find some peace of mind and regain some equilibrium. However the small village is populated with a number of male characters (all played brilliantly by the same actor, Rory Kinnear--a clever way of making a point) who are, to say the least, unsettling in one way of the other. These include a chummy groundskeeper, a weird vicar, a naked man, a stoic bartender, and a truly strange boy. Each seems to possess a different brand of chauvinism or menace, and they appear to have targeted Harper for abuse. Those bucolic walks in the woods aren't quite what they are cracked up to be either.

Dylan Roth of The Observer describes this movie as "an unsettling drama about the cultural pathology that holds women responsible for the actions of men, focused not so much on how it feels but what it does [to women]." The movie goes well beyond the usual lengths to address its theme. Its conclusion, a sustained sequence of body horror that is, let's say, unique, but is worth the price of admission...that is, if you don't mind visiting a disturbing place and perhaps finding your limits of tolerance for watching body horror sequences. Elsewhere Men is deliciously atmospheric and creepy. While Men makes its point about the brutally destabilizing nature of male violence, physical and psychological, I am not at all sure what the very ending actually means, only that you have to see it to believe it. It is the stuff straight out of the worst nightmares.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Men (2022) Directed by Alex Garland 7B

Director Alex Garland (Ex Machina; Annihilation) has cooked up a horror movie that will not be to everybody's taste, but it will make for an utterly jaw-dropping experience for those who do see it. Harper's (Jessie Buckley) husband has recently committed suicide after she has rejected him for good reason. Traumatized but hardly helpless, she escapes to a centuries-old house deep in the English countryside where she can stroll in the woods and hopefully find some peace of mind and regain some equilibrium. However the small village is populated with a number of male characters (all played brilliantly by the same actor, Rory Kinnear--a clever way of making a point) who are, to say the least, unsettling in one way of the other. These include a chummy groundskeeper, a weird vicar, a naked man, a stoic bartender, and a truly strange boy. Each seems to possess a different brand of chauvinism or menace, and they appear to have targeted Harper for abuse. Those bucolic walks in the woods aren't quite what they are cracked up to be either.

Dylan Roth of The Observer describes this movie as "an unsettling drama about the cultural pathology that holds women responsible for the actions of men, focused not so much on how it feels but what it does [to women]." The movie goes well beyond the usual lengths to address its theme. Its conclusion, a sustained sequence of body horror that is, let's say, unique, but is worth the price of admission...that is, if you don't mind visiting a disturbing place and perhaps finding your limits of tolerance for watching body horror sequences. Elsewhere Men is deliciously atmospheric and creepy. While Men makes its point about the brutally destabilizing nature of male violence, physical and psychological, I am not at all sure what the very ending actually means, only that you have to see it to believe it. It is the stuff straight out of the worst nightmares.

Alex Garland has had one of the most underrated, interesting caree pathr somebody can have since the 90s. Nobody hits 100% but everything he has a hand in is worth indulgence, which is the best you can hope for.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Brewster’s Millons (1985) -

This comedy is straight from the 80s and really hit me unexpectedly.

The plot is based on a novel of the same name, first published in 1902, with a few twists of course.

A minor league pitcher has just inherited a fortune from an unknown relative, but there is a catch - to get his inheritance of $300 million, he has to spend $30 million in 30 days.

Oh, and he can’t tell anyone why he has to spend like a Kardashian on a 30 day bender.

Seeing both Pryor and Candy in their primes, in the same film, reminded me once again why I loved these two as a kid and I still can’t believe they are both gone.

This movie flooded me with childhood memories of mom and pop rental shops, the aroma of stale popcorn filling the air, and the faint hope they would have the one copy of the new release you wanted to watch.

And if I left disappointed with my selections, maybe I wasn’t going to be kind and rewind.

They don’t really make comedies like Brewster’s Million’s anymore either.

That whole 80s genre of comedies that didn’t take themselves too seriously… Back To School, Stir Crazy, Caddyshack, Stripes, The Toy, Weird Science, The Great Outdoors etc.

My taste in films has heavily evolved since I was a little kid, but it was those kinds of 80s oddball comedies that really sparked my love for movies.

 

[shadow1]

Wishmaster (1997) - 5/10

Cheapo horror movie pack film #3. I've been wanting to see this movie forever; I remember the trailer used to be on several VHS movies I owned as a kid.

Unfortunately, Wishmaster couldn't even eke out a 6 from me (6 = average/okay on my scale). Andrew Divoff was great as The Djinn, but the rest of the acting ranged from bland-to-bad. The writing was also bad, and the 90's era CGI was brutal. The crappy plot basically feels like a set up for The Djinn to go around killing people in unentertaining ways. By the time act 3 rolled around, I was bored and it felt like a chore getting through the rest of the movie.

It wasn't all bad though. The practical make-up effects were good, and this movie had upwards of 15 genre actor cameos - including Reggie Banister (Phantasm), George "Buck" Flower (Escape from New York), Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th: Part VII), Joe Pilato (Day of the Dead), Tony Todd (Candy Man), and - blink and you'll miss him - Tom Savini (Dawn of the Dead). Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street) co-stars in this movie, but I'd be surprised if it took longer than 2 days to shoot his scenes.

(Laughably bad death scene below)

Spoiler

 

[ItsFineImFine]

The Valet (2022) - 7/10

Nothing special but better than average when comparing to recent films of this genre. It's funny enough with a good enough premise to keep watching. Light Sunday viewing tbh.

 

[x Tame Impala]

There were too many moments in “Men” where she simply should have left that house and went home. It’s a horror trope I didn’t expect to see from Alex Garland.

Also

Spoiler: Spoil

She let her pregnant friend come to an obviously dangerous place so she could still enjoy her trip? Get real.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Thieves' Highway-1949

An ex serviceman returns home to find his trucker dad in a wheelchair. After hearing the story of how this happened and how his father was cheated, he sets out for retribution. Exciting, suspenseful tale of greed, deception & betrayal. Believe fans of the Bogart's They Drive by Night would appreciate this one. One scene reminded me of The Wages of Fear. Spot on casting. Vgood noir.

Dunkirk-1958 & 2017

The mass evacuation of soldiers from Dunkirk in 1940. Both films have strong merits, both tried and succeeded in my opinion to portray realism. The original film has more story, including following a small group of men as they try to make their way to the beach. It also has some real footage, the dive bomber scene is scary stuff, as are the beach scenes which have action similar to The Longest Day. The 2017 movie was filmed on the actual beach. It does a nice job to taking the viewer into a scene. Don't believe there was much cgi, was mostly impressive recreations. Both films capture different parts of the same story, both were well done.

The Conqueror-1956

Behold, the tribe with the fur hats and the funny accents approacheth! 3.7/10 rating on imdb. A lot of action, some nice vistas but was the 12th century so silly? How did the Duke get talked into this one? Hard to take seriously. The back story of the illnesses caused by the radiation in the area where it was filmed make it sad. This and Jet Pilot were Howard Hughes' swan song to films.

The Parallax View-1974

Starts off with a political assassination, witnessed by many. A commission later rules that it was the act of a lone gunman. As the witnesses begin to die of possible questionable causes, one witness, an investigative journalist begins to probe deeper. Very little dialogue in the second half of the film, the camera tells the story. Reminded me of other political thrillers of the era (All the President's Men, The Day of the Jackal and also Three Days of the Condor). Intriguing, suspenseful, well done.

GET OUT OF MY HEAD.

The Conqueror and The Parallax View both are on my short list of movies I'm about to watch.

 

[Chili]

GET OUT OF MY HEAD.

The Conqueror and The Parallax View both are on my short list of movies I'm about to watch.

Thumbs up here for the Parallax View, didn't realize it was made by the same director as All The President's Men although I can see it now. The Conqueror...what to say. Susan Hayward may never have looked lovelier.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

'
Old (2021) by M. Night Shyamalan - (3/10)
A movie with an interesting premise which is right in Shyamalan's wheelhouse. I usually like his campy style films, but man this one really falls very flat for me. The acting is poor, the dialogue is somehow even worse. The plot holes are very out in the open and the blatant attempts to explain them away are pretty lame. The movie suffers from the feeling that the director thinks viewers are too stupid to figure things out so they over-explain a lot of things.

The movie had two saving graces: The final plot twist, which I actually really enjoyed. I had some intuition that it was going that way, but I didn't really predict exactly what was going on. The other one would be the makeup/actor swapping as the characters got older. I thought this was well done.

Honorable mention... the name of the rapper on the island is pretty hilarious too. I'm not going to spoil it for anyone who wants to watch, because my wife and I actually laughed out loud.

I think this film would have worked MUCH better as an episode of Black Mirror or a similar show around 45m-1hr long. The fact that it was stretched into a full-length film really created the need for a lot of filler content that the movie would have been better without. I haven't read the source material, but from a review I read it seems that the movie has a MUCH better ending, as it seems the novel Sandcastle that the film was based on doesn't actually resolve the story.

 

[Shareefruck]

Everything, Everywhere, All At Once - 3.0 (Very Good)

Just watched this. Didn't expect it to be nearly as good as it was (the trailer and the way the movie itself introduces the premise makes it seem like it's going to be really lame), but the juggling act of what it manages to do and all of the attention to detail is really impressive. It's creatively unhinged and goes all over the place but somehow feels really cohesive and focused when it could have easily turned into a hollow, overbearing, try-hard mess. It also ends up having pretty sharp and critically satisfying artistic (and comedic) sensibilities while simultaneously working well as an easy-to-watch, let-loose-and-have fun popcorn movie. It's not close to my favorite thing or anything, but I do think it's "for everyone" in a good way, and gets better and better as the movie goes. The rock scenes were probably my favorite bits. Small nitpick, I did occasionally find the dialogue/tone/humor a little much, and a little too direct/in your face/off. There's a good amount of subtlety if you look for it as well, though.

One detail I'm a little confused about:

Spoiler

What did Joy do to the other Evelyn's then? Alpha Waymond said that she was killing them, but Joy reveals later that she just wanted to find someone who could understand. Doesn't killing the other Evelyn's hurt that potential? Maybe they're implying that she actually didn't kill them, but then what was she doing? Having the same scenario play out, but the other Evelyns just couldn't handle the bagel or something?

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Rewatched:

4/5

 

[The Macho King]

One detail I'm a little confused about:

Spoiler

What did Joy do to the other Evelyn's then? Alpha Waymond said that she was killing them, but Joy reveals later that she just wanted to find someone who could understand. Doesn't killing the other Evelyn's hurt that potential? Maybe they're implying that she actually didn't kill them, but then what was she doing? Having the same scenario play out, but the other Evelyns just couldn't handle the bagel or something?

I would rate it higher, but I think every point you hit I agree with whole-heartedly.

As for this:

Spoiler

I have a hard time taking the multi-verse concept in this movie literally. I viewed it as more of a woman of a certain age coming to terms with every possible version of her life and accepting the one she chose. And I think this happens with both characters - Joy is looking at the various versions of her life and having issues coming to terms with what she perceives - probably somewhat correctly - a lack of acceptance from her mother. Maybe it's more correct to say that the Evelyn's that died were the ones that were unable to accept the choices they made to end up where they were, or maybe they were the ones that were unable to accept Joy as *she* was. I think it's somewhat interesting that for the most part, most of the Evelyn's alive at the end of the movie (hot dog Evelyn, movie star Evelyn, Ratatoulle Evelyn) were ones that did not marry her husband, and therefore there was no Joy (maybe a bit on the nose there).

At the end of the day, they form a relationship where the generational and cultural differences (Chinese immigrant versus first generation American of Chinese descent) reach a place of mutual understanding and appreciation. But there are many versions of Evelyn that *cannot* reach that place. Admittedly my read on this is half-formed, so I could be way off base, but that's how I interpreted it.

 

[Shareefruck]

Spoiler

I think it's somewhat interesting that for the most part, most of the Evelyn's alive at the end of the movie (hot dog Evelyn, movie star Evelyn, Ratatoulle Evelyn) were ones that did not marry her husband, and therefore there was no Joy (maybe a bit on the nose there).

That makes perfect sense even just treating it logically too, though, since

Spoiler

those would be the universes that it would be physically impossible for Joy to infiltrate. Seems like she needs a body to be able to do anything.

 

[The Macho King]

That makes perfect sense even just treating it logically too, though, since

Spoiler

those would be the universes that it would be physically impossible for Joy to infiltrate. Seems like she needs a body to do anything.

Maybe, but

Spoiler

I'm not sure Joy is "downloading" herself like Eveyln is to touch those memories. My impression is she is physically capable of shifting universes, so presumably she could invade those where she wasn't born. I may be misremembering though - it's been about two months since I've seen it.

Edit: Also diving a little bit more into it's not really a multiverse but rather that's just the allegorical basis, Joy's personas are all *very* extreme, while her character in the "prime" universe is less so. But she's gay in a family where being gay is not easy. To the extent it's accepted it is done so grudgingly. So all of her doubles wear outlandish outfits and do shit like fight with dildos. I think it's probably just as much Joy accepting her identity as Evelyn accepting herself.

 

[Shareefruck]

Maybe, but

Spoiler

I'm not sure Joy is "downloading" herself like Eveyln is to touch those memories. My impression is she is physically capable of shifting universes, so presumably she could invade those where she wasn't born. I may be misremembering though - it's been about two months since I've seen it.

I'd be surprised if that were the case.

Spoiler

The way they described how she became that way is exactly the same as what happens to Evelyn in the movie (and what they warn her of), and afterwards, the movie reinforces that they end up seeing the world under the same conditions multiple times (Joy hoped that Evelyn would come to a different conclusion seeing the same things). If Joy can shift universes, Evelyn should be able to as well, but we don't really see anything like that (and there's no in-world explanation for anything like that).

But now that you mention it, I'm actually not sure I understand why

Spoiler

They gained the ability to swap out inanimate objects.

Seemed to come out of nowhere and have no explanation.

 

[Pink Mist]

After the Wedding / Efter brylluppet (Susanne Bier, 2006)

When a wealthy philanthropist offers to donate a large sum of money to an Indian orphanage, Jacob Pederson (Mads Mikkelsen), a Danish ex-pat who manages the orphanage, must travel to Denmark and attend the philanthropist daughter’s wedding upon where he discovers a long-kept secret. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (losing to The Lives of Others) and remade into a 2019 Hollywood version, this film is melodrama overload in the worst possible way. Super messy with totally contrived coincidence after coincidence and plot twists and a total waste of Mikkelsen’s talents. The film also feels very mid-late 2000s as it has a lot of the trademarks of indie/international films from that period, such as being shot primarily on handhelds – I don’t actually mind that though as I kind of like that aesthetic since this was the era I started to get into international films. Still not sure why this was highly praised when it was released, though I suppose I understand why it got Oscar recognition since if it was in English it would be considered Oscar bait (haven’t seen the English remake but it critically bombed).

 

[member 51464]

Stockholm (2018) 7/10

I saw one trailer for this film years ago and then never heard another reference to it until now, haha.