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

[Osprey]

I'm watching Women Talking and while the film itself is fine, it's really distracting because of the low colour saturation. They should've either made it black & white or had normal colours but this looks like when you're adjusting your TV/monitor settings and turn the colour saturation down to near 0 and then up slightly. Looks awful to the point of distraction like watching an HDR encoded blu-ray rip on a non-HDR monitor. Some director or cinematographer probably thought it was real clever the choice they were making.

It looks like this but it's worse when the picture is proper HD quality and the colours are muted.

I really hate that. I could be wrong, but I think that it caught on with Saving Private Ryan. Since then, it's seemingly been in vogue to use those low saturation filters for period films (especially early 20th century ones, as if the time period looked like that) and films with heavy subjects. I imagine that directors choose to use them when they don't want to romanticize the subject, but it feels to me like a lazy way to do it and, as you said, it's distracting. Along the same lines, I also find day-as-night shots distracting because they have a distinct look and I just start thinking about how sunny it was when they were filming. Don't be so lazy and just shoot the scene at night.

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

65

6/10

Would it have killed ya to bump it up a half point?

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Wonder what happened to Domnhall Gleeson, man was on a tear of good films from 2014-16 but has since done really not much of note at all especially since the last Star Wars film. Maybe just enjoying his money, it's what I'd do anyways.

In those three years he was in Ex-Machina, About Time, The Revanant, The First Star Wars film that was actually good, Calvary, Brooklyn, and Frank.

 

[Pink Mist]

Wonder what happened to Domnhall Gleeson, man was on a tear of good films from 2014-16 but has since done really not much of note at all especially since the last Star Wars film. Maybe just enjoying his money, it's what I'd do anyways.

In those three years he was in Ex-Machina, About Time, The Revanant, The First Star Wars film that was actually good, Calvary, Brooklyn, and Frank.

Been doing TV miniseries. He won a golden globe earlier this year for The Patient

 

[Nemesis Prime]

Would it have killed ya to bump it up a half point?

It would have been a 6.5 if not for the ending

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Triangle of Sadness (2022) - 7/10

I don't get wtf the obsession is with showing rich people going on vacations in film lately. Maybe the overlords in charge of Hollywood are pushing it on the plebs the same way rich people were constantly shows in post-1932 films in Hollywood but it's become a bit boring and every portrayal being a sort of political satire is also boring. Maybe Ostlund thinks he's subtle, he isn't really but he does capture a handful of relatively funny scenes. He does overprolong a lot of jokes unfortunately and does the same with the length of the film probably being 20 minutes longer than it needs to be similar to Force Majeure. A director whose film feels more snobbish the more he tries to show how the people he's portraying are snobs imo.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

The Daytrippers (1996) - 7.5/10

I'll be honest I watched this because Parker Posey was in it and it was set in the 90s so....

Anyways, a nice family drama slice of life chaotic 90s fun from the director of Superbad & Adventureland. Its biggest strength though is probably staying grounded while having a bit of that 90s indie drama surreal style because the ending of this film never sinks into the cliched emotionally heavy-handed themes you'd get in a more modern film which has to go bigger from the music to the budget to the emotional turmoil.

 

[kihei]

Would it have killed ya to bump it up a half point?

It took a split second and then I just about rolled on the floor. My partner asked me, "What's so funny? Are you okay?"

 

[Unholy Diver]

Cocaine Bear - 7/10 - Fictionalized tale of a bear that ingested a bunch of cocaine, some fun, some humor, some gore, an enjoyable 90 minutes, and the wife went with me and nearly jumped out of her seat a few times, so that was a bonus


Champions - 8.5/10 - Woody Harrelson as a minor league basketball coach with anger issues as well as drunk driving/wrecking into cop car issues, is sentenced to coach a local team of mentally challenged players. Kaitlin Olson plays the sister of one of the players who Woody initially is using as a hookup and eventually falls for, while it was very predictable, it had a lot of heart, and the actors playing the basketball team stole the show


Shazam Fury of the Gods - 7.5 / 10

The first Shazam was one of the rare DC movies that I enjoyed, and I felt this one fit into the same category, there was some humor, some sillyness, and a fair bit of action with villains and monsters, I know it is getting beat up by a lot of people and it has underperformed in the box office, but I enjoyed it, I think if you liked the first one, you will probably like the 2nd

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Party Girl (1995) - 7/10

Weird weird movie but I could listen to Parker Posey order a falafel with hot sauce, a side order of baba ganoush, and seltzer for hours. In fact,

 

[kihei]

Party Girl (1995) - 7/10

Weird weird movie but I could listen to Parker Posey order a falafel with hot sauce, a side order of baba ganoush, and seltzer for hours. In fact,

Wasn't Baba Ganoush a Beatles' Guru?

 

[Osprey]

Cocaine Bear (2023) - 5/10

A black bear does the white stuff and spills the red stuff. If you've seen one coked-up killer bear movie, you've seen 'em all, but at least this one is a bit absurd, funny, dark and gory. There's only the bare (bear?) minimum of story to explain how over a dozen characters all end up in the same spot in the woods. It maybe could've used fewer characters that were fleshed out better. I also could've used a little more comedy and excitement, but it was still somewhat amusing and entertaining. I appreciated that it was rated R for gore, moms swearing and 10-year-olds trying cocaine. In M3GAN, the 10-year-old girl never did cocaine and it was only PG-13. Pity. The fact that this movie was made by the two guys who were fired from Solo: A Star Wars Story for trying to turn it into a comedy had me imagining what they were trying to do with Chewbacca if this was their answer. Anyways, I found it decent enough and rather... watchable (you expected me to say "bearable," didn't you?). It could've been better. It could've been a lot worse. Speaking of which...

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023) - 3/10

Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood, a willy nilly silly old bear chases honeys. It starts OK, with a storybook narration that explains that Christopher Robin abandoned his playmates to go to university, which led to Pooh and Piglet killing and eating Eeyore ("Thanks for noticin' me"), giving up talking and developing a hatred for humanity (but not for wearing their clothes, apparently). From there, it just descends into a generic Friday the 13th-style slasher with them killing random girls one by one. This should've been a fun concept with dark humor (ala Cocaine Bear), but it's played out as a straight and serious horror without any laughs or cleverness. It could've used some Pooh one liners, like "Tut tut, it looks like brain." It isn't even scary. The writing is bad, with clichés and characters whose names I never learned. The funny thing is that A.A. Milne got a writing credit. Well, it probably wouldn't be funny to him. If there's anything slightly impressive, it's that the whole thing was shot on a budget of only $100,000. I would've guessed that they wasted at least a million on this literary abomination, but that's faint praise. It's as bad as you imagine. It won't ruin your childhood, but it might ruin your adulthood. Don't bother.

 

[John Price]

Tar (2022) is a powerful drama of a talented conductor who was embroiled in scandal. At first I was like, this person has got to be real. There must be a Lydia Tar. This is a biopic is it not. Even though I had never heard of her. And by the time I finished the film I realized...this story never happened in reality. It was all fiction. Lydia Tar...does not exist. And that is how realistic the movie was, as someone who likes classical music. It had me fooled.

9/10

 

[OzzyFan]

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) (silent)
3.35 out of 4stars

“In 1431, Joan of Arc is placed on trial on charges of heresy. The church court officials attempt to force Joan to recant her claims of holy visions or face the penalty of being burned at the stake.”
An excellent historical drama that contains what many consider the greatest silent acting performance of all-time from Maria Falconetti in the powerful lead role. Thanks in part to the use of close-up shots, Falconetti’s face earnestly bleeds emotion, expressing a spectrum of suffering along with bouts of faith and doubt. One has to be soulless to not feel sympathy for her. While her trial was commenced for political reasons, I think the film is a prime example of religious persecution and the hypocrisy of the Catholic church. Religious persecution’s many masks are seen here with attempts of mockery, criticize, trickery, discreditation, persuasion, conversion, isolation, threat, torture, and extinction. And the Catholic church’s hypocrisy is seen here as acting polar opposite of Jesus’s teachings of accepting, not judging, not lying, being merciful, showing love to your enemies, avoiding other sinful acts exhibited here, etc. “To make me suffer the Devil has sent you”. There are parallels here to Jesus’s trial before his crucifixion, although this is supposedly historically accurate so I don’t know if that’s pure coincidence. The film is also known for some of Dreyer’s advanced directing/filming techniques used within. Irregardless if one is religious, anti-religion, agnostic, or believes in the flying spaghetti monster, it’s worth a watch for Falconetti’s performance.

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) (subtitles)
3.20 out of 4stars

“After spending time in a mental hospital, a girl returns home and is reunited with her sister, father, and step mother, only to see some truly strange events start to happen.”
A great psychological horror drama with a tense and eerie atmosphere to go along with a few big twists. I’d describe it as a clever mix of haunted house meets escalating family drama with under the surface implications. This is another film where you should know as little as possible going in to enjoy it fully. That said, I really enjoyed how the film played out, the twists, and their deeper meanings. I’ve read it to be called a confusing movie, but I don’t really see that unless you consider not being spoon-fed and leaving some things unanswered (nothing critical) as confusing. I think it’s always nice when a film treats you like an adult and doesn’t spoon feed you, and lets your brain work on putting some pieces together and guessing on others.

Tombstone (1993)
3.10 out of 4stars

“Wyatt Earp and his brothers have left their gunslinger ways behind them to settle down and start a business in the town of Tombstone, Ariz. While they aren't looking to find trouble, trouble soon finds them when they become targets of the ruthless Cowboy gang. Now, together with Wyatt's best friend, Doc Holliday, the brothers pick up their guns once more to restore order to a lawless land.”
A great western that is stylish, highly entertaining, and has a memorable (arguably iconic) Val Kilmer turn. Kilmer’s Doc Holiday is cool, calm, collected, tough, witty, wise, quotable, and convincing. Kurt Russell’s a great lead as usual, but Kilmer steals the show. Has a great cast, good dialogue, and a lot of action, but not much deeper going on although it tries to get into a little of Earp’s life and relationships, but I’m not sure how accurately. Just good old gunslinging action and peace/settled-down-life being hard to find for those types and towns when vengeance is always on the menu.

Even the Wind is Afraid (1968) (subtitles)
2.75 out of 4stars

“At an all-girl boarding school, students begin to investigate a local tower and a hanging girl that has figured prominently in disturbing and recurring dreams one of the girls are having, while forced to stay in school through Spring Break.”
A great supernatural horror drama with a good spooky atmosphere and sexual awakening subtext (and I might argue a major metaphor on it also). The film slowly builds and is heavily focused on the girls' relationships with each other and their teachers, one good cop and one bad cop. This storytelling approach helps make some of the twists and events hit more impactfully. The haunting tone is built very well through endless wind/storm sounds, a score that heavily emphasizes strings and piano, darkness/lighting, and a few turns. Themes are “light” sexual awakening/repression (as stated) and the haunting of one’s past.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Confess, Fletch ( 2022) - 7/10

A dumb murder is committed with a bunch of dumb characters going in and out of every scene while Jon Hamm does Jon Hamm things. And it's all actually quite fun. More cohesive than Inherent Vice and not as serious as The Kid Detetcive. The actual murder mystery almost feels like a background at times and the plot is convuluted for the sake of it in films like this with a second and third crime added on top but if you just give up on the actual crime aspect itself and see it as a more light-hearted fare where Jon Hamm's character will eventually come out on top then it's fine.

 

[Chili]

High and Low-1963 (subtitles)

A child's kidnapping from a shoe company exec (Toshiro Mifune)'s home leads to a police manhunt. The kidnapper(s) make an exorbitant ransom demand. Some great detective work as the police meticuously sift through all of the clues. Love the way Akira Kurosawa uses the chime of a clock to create tension as the family and police wait for news. Top notch detective story.

The Mask of Dimitrios-1944

A body washes up on a Turkish beach. The local police identify him as a notorious con man/criminal named Dimitrios Makropoulos. The police chief attends a party and meets a mystery novelist (Peter Lorre) who is intrigued by the story and sees the potential for a book. The author then begins a journey across Europe to retrace Dimitrios' steps. Based on an Eric Ambler novel, almost sounds semi autobiographical as he would have researched one of his mystery novels. Nice twists and turns as Lorre meets intriguing characters who had the misfortune of crossing paths with Dimitrios (Zachary Scott who is a convincing nasty villain), including Mr. Peters (Sydney Greenstreet). Lorre and Greenstreet made a bunch of films together, they make an interesting pair. Folks that enjoyed The Maltese Falcon may appreciate this one if they haven't seen it. Very good mystery thriller.

Sweet Smell of Success-1957

Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) is a press agent who will seemingly stoop to any level for his job, including for his columnist 'friend' JJ Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster). Hunsecker has a sister who lives with him and he is concerned about her relationship with a musician and pressures Falco to help him with the problem. Beautifully filmed, loved the shots of the streets with all the neon signs. Did they create their own expressions for the film? Alot of new ones for me. Corruption, jealousy, mendacity. Great score, powerful drama.

 

[Osprey]

A Man Called Otto (2022) - 7/10

Tired of always hearing from the peanut gallery that he takes only nice guy roles, Tom Hanks plays a grumpy old man who hates people, kids and cats and tries to kill himself. Take that, critics. I watched the Swedish original, A Man Called Ove, last month and loved it (8/10). I liked this remake almost as much, which perhaps isn't surprising because it was produced by the same guy, is nearly a scene by scene clone and has the same tone and emotional beats. Some might argue that that makes it unnecessary, but a lot more people will watch a version with Hanks in English than a Swedish film with subtitles, so I think that there's value in it. At least it used the same producer, credits the original film in the opening and doesn't try to improve or Hollywood-ize the story any. I thought that most aspects of it were as good as the original. One exception is that Hanks wasn't quite as convincing in the lead role as Lassgård, though. Maybe it's not his fault, but it was just a little harder to buy Hanks as a grumpy man because I've only ever see him play happy, positive characters. I did enjoy seeing him in a different kind of role, though. It was also neat that his son Truman plays the younger version of Otto in flashbacks, though his inexperience as an actor was obvious. Overall, I'd say that it's a pretty good remake that may not be worth watching if you've seen the original, but may be if you haven't.

The Fabelmans (2022) - 6/10

A Jewish kid in the 1960s loves filmmaking and dreams of Hollywood in this totally non-autobiographical coming of age film from Steven Spielberg. Though very slickly directed, the first half turned me off just a little because it felt self indulgent and idealized, as if Spielberg was interested in showing only the best parts of his childhood. Fortunately, around the middle of the film, it started to feel less like a perfect memory and more like a proper autobiography, warts and less flattering moments included. I found myself more interested in the story and the Sammy Fabelman (i.e. Spielberg) character as it went along. Also, Michelle Williams' performance as his mother increasingly impressed me and I really liked the ending. Overall, it did just enough to win me over. It's sentimental, but sincere, and I could tell that Spielberg poured himself into it. I read that he had been thinking of making it for 20 years, but was afraid of how his parents would take his depiction of them and so waited until they passed away to finally do it. I got the sense that making it was therapeutic for him. It may not be one of his best films and certainly is one of his least financially successful, but he seemingly made it for himself. On that note, I mentioned that it originally felt a bit self indulgent, but it eventually occurred to me while watching that celebrities often write autobiographies later in life and this really isn't that different. It's just that he used his creative talents to make his autobiography a movie instead of a book. That realization helped me to warm up to it and appreciate it more.

 

[kihei]

John Wick 4 (2023) Directed by Chad Stahelski 7B

John Wick 4 is the movie that proves that it is never possible to get too much of a good thing. The plot.....forget the plot. It's just a coat hanger on which to drape massive sequences of choreographed violence. It involves a powerful new bad guy, Marquis Vincent de Gramont played by Bill Skarsgard with an accent that doesn't sound French, doesn't sound like it is from anywhere on the planet actually. Before he can be dispatched about 500 or more extras (conservative estimate) have to be shot or stabbed by our hero. There is scene after scene of outrageously choreographed, highly photogenic violence, enough to more than satisfy anyone about five times over as the movie is almost three hours long. Keanu Reeves has almost nothing to do but fight in balletic action sequences (or watch his stunt double do the same). Much of the time he is standing out in the open and shot at point blank range, though, of course, the bullets never seem to hit him. Even by Hollywood action movie standards, verisimilitude is out the window. And who cares? The fun is in the mayhem and in Keanu being cool in greasy long hair and well-tailored clothes. In John Wick 4, you get exactly what you pay for. The fillm feels more like a business transaction than it does a movie. Can't say I minded.

 

[shadow1]

John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) - 9/10

Hitman John Wick wages war with The High Table to get his bounty removed.

Keanu Reeves returns as John Wick, who has been in hiding since the events of the previous movie. With a bounty of $18M on his head, Wick sets out on a globetrotting quest for revenge on the underworld. Meanwhile, Marquis Vincent de Gramont (Bill Skarsgard) - a prominent member of The High Table - is going scorched earth to hunt Wick down. De Gramont hires Caine (Donnie Yen) - a blind, former friend of Wick - to hunt him down, along with taking other actions that permanently alter the landscape of the assassin underworld.

John Wick: Chapter 4 was written by John Wick: Chapter 3 writers Michael Finch and Shay Hatten, with Chad Stahelski returning to direct for the fourth time. The film had a series high $100M budget, and was initially 225 minutes long before being cut down to its 169 minute theatrical length. Clearly aiming to be the most epic entry in the series, does this nearly 3 hour action film achieve its goal?

Hell yes. John Wick: Chapter 4 contains all of the best parts of the previous entries, while avoiding many of those film's rougher edges. Plot wise, this film is essentially an extension of John Wick: Chapter 3, with Wick still on the run and having few friends left to turn to. However, unlike Chapter 3's story - which at times had this reviewer plugging their nose - the plot in John Wick: Chapter 4 is more straightforward, while still complying to information established in previous films. The story obviously takes some creative liberties - like Donnie Yen's blind assassin character - but those instances come off as stylish and cool, as opposed to creative choices in Chapter 3 (like the desert sequence) that felt painfully cheesy.

Chapter 4 also has somber undertones and an emotional weight to it, which we haven't seen since the original 2014 film. These tones are only amplified by the sudden real-life passing of Lance Reddick, who plays Charone in all four films and whom the film is dedicated to. John Wick: Chapter 4 has a strong ensemble, with Lawrence Fishburne and Ian McShane returning in prominent roles, and newcomers Shamier Anderson and Hiroyuki Sanada giving memorable performances. I also want to mention the strong soundtrack in this film by Tyler Bates and Joel J. Richard, with "Wick in Osaka" as a standout track.

With all of that having been said, the main attraction of this John Wick entry is once again the action. Personally, I've always enjoyed the action of John Wick: Chapter 2 - specifically the catacombs scene - the most. However, John Wick 4 blows that sequence and every other in the series out of the water. Set to awesome visual backdrops, John Wick: Chapter 4 has the best action and gunplay sequences you could possibly imagine. Chapter 3's coup de grace featured Wick fighting a series of fully armored assassins; in Chapter 4, those enemies are just the warm up. Keanu Reeves, Chad Stahelski, and the rest of the filmmakers went all out in this film.

Overall, John Wick: Chapter 4 is an instant action classic, and in my opinion the best overall film in the series. Though the original John Wick introduced the "Gun Fu" that the series has become popular for, Chapter 4 feels like the perfection of that style and the culmination of what the other films in the series have been building towards, cementing John Wick as the Baba Yaga. John Wick: Chapter 4 is a must watch for fans of the action genre.

(Side note: this was the first movie I had watched in a long time that didn't star You Know Who; I am seriously burnt out on that person's films but I have to complete my quest. Good thing I chose a completely different genre for my first break from JC...)

 

[OzzyFan]

John Wick 4 (2023) Directed by Chad Stahelski 7B

John Wick 4 is the movie that proves that it is never possible to get too much of a good thing. The plot.....forget the plot. It's just a coat hanger on which to drape massive sequences of choreographed violence. It involves a powerful new bad guy, Marquis Vincent de Gramont played by Bill Skarsgard with an accent that doesn't sound French, doesn't sound like it is from anywhere on the planet actually. Before he can be dispatched about 500 or more extras (conservative estimate) have to be shot or stabbed by our hero. There is scene after scene of outrageously choreographed, highly photogenic violence, enough to more than satisfy anyone about five times over as the movie is almost three hours long. Keanu Reeves has almost nothing to do but fight in balletic action sequences (or watch his stunt double do the same). Much of the time he is standing out in the open and shot at point blank range, though, of course, the bullets never seem to hit him. Even by Hollywood action movie standards, verisimilitude is out the window. And who cares? The fun is in the mayhem and in Keanu being cool in greasy long hair and well-tailored clothes. In John Wick 4, you get exactly what you pay for. The fillm feels more like a business transaction than it does a movie. Can't say I minded.

John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) - 9/10

Hitman John Wick wages war with The High Table to get his bounty removed.

Keanu Reeves returns as John Wick, who has been in hiding since the events of the previous movie. With a bounty of $18M on his head, Wick sets out on a globetrotting quest for revenge on the underworld. Meanwhile, Marquis Vincent de Gramont (Bill Skarsgard) - a prominent member of The High Table - is going scorched earth to hunt Wick down. De Gramont hires Caine (Donnie Yen) - a blind, former friend of Wick - to hunt him down, along with taking other actions that permanently alter the landscape of the assassin underworld.

John Wick: Chapter 4 was written by John Wick: Chapter 3 writers Michael Finch and Shay Hatten, with Chad Stahelski returning to direct for the fourth time. The film had a series high $100M budget, and was initially 225 minutes long before being cut down to its 169 minute theatrical length. Clearly aiming to be the most epic entry in the series, does this nearly 3 hour action film achieve its goal?

Hell yes. John Wick: Chapter 4 contains all of the best parts of the previous entries, while avoiding many of those film's rougher edges. Plot wise, this film is essentially an extension of John Wick: Chapter 3, with Wick still on the run and having few friends left to turn to. However, unlike Chapter 3's story - which at times had this reviewer plugging their nose - the plot in John Wick: Chapter 4 is more straightforward, while still complying to information established in previous films. The story obviously takes some creative liberties - like Donnie Yen's blind assassin character - but those instances come off as stylish and cool, as opposed to creative choices in Chapter 3 (like the desert sequence) that felt painfully cheesy.

Chapter 4 also has somber undertones and an emotional weight to it, which we haven't seen since the original 2014 film. These tones are only amplified by the sudden real-life passing of Lance Reddick, who plays Charone in all four films and whom the film is dedicated to. John Wick: Chapter 4 has a strong ensemble, with Lawrence Fishburne and Ian McShane returning in prominent roles, and newcomers Shamier Anderson and Hiroyuki Sanada giving memorable performances. I also want to mention the strong soundtrack in this film by Tyler Bates and Joel J. Richard, with "Wick in Osaka" as a standout track.

With all of that having been said, the main attraction of this John Wick entry is once again the action. Personally, I've always enjoyed the action of John Wick: Chapter 2 - specifically the catacombs scene - the most. However, John Wick 4 blows that sequence and every other in the series out of the water. Set to awesome visual backdrops, John Wick: Chapter 4 has the best action and gunplay sequences you could possibly imagine. Chapter 3's coup de grace featured Wick fighting a series of fully armored assassins; in Chapter 4, those enemies are just the warm up. Keanu Reeves, Chad Stahelski, and the rest of the filmmakers went all out in this film.

Overall, John Wick: Chapter 4 is an instant action classic, and in my opinion the best overall film in the series. Though the original John Wick introduced the "Gun Fu" that the series has become popular for, Chapter 4 feels like the perfection of that style and the culmination of what the other films in the series have been building towards, cementing John Wick as the Baba Yaga. John Wick: Chapter 4 is a must watch for fans of the action genre.

(Side note: this was the first movie I had watched in a long time that didn't star You Know Who; I am seriously burnt out on that person's films but I have to complete my quest. Good thing I chose a completely different genre for my first break from JC...)

Yeah, definitely my favorite and best of the series. Another endless black hole of creative, excellently choreographed, excellently directed, and stylish action in a highly endearing underworld with an emphatic soundtrack. Everything they did was really well, especially all the new characters they added and how they moved the story along on a large and small scale. That's funny about Skarsgard's accent. I'm very curious of what that 225minutes cut looks like.

 

[kingsfan28]

Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

I've loved this movie since I first saw it. One of my all time favorites.

"This is important, it means something"-Roy Neary

 

[kingsfan28]

Cocaine Bear (2023) - 5/10

A black bear does the white stuff and spills the red stuff. If you've seen one coked-up killer bear movie, you've seen 'em all, but at least this one is a bit absurd, funny, dark and gory. There's only the bare (bear?) minimum of story to explain how over a dozen characters all end up in the same spot in the woods. It maybe could've used fewer characters that were fleshed out better. I also could've used a little more comedy and excitement, but it was still somewhat amusing and entertaining. I appreciated that it was rated R for gore, moms swearing and 10-year-olds trying cocaine. In M3GAN, the 10-year-old girl never did cocaine and it was only PG-13. Pity. The fact that this movie was made by the two guys who were fired from Solo: A Star Wars Story for trying to turn it into a comedy had me imagining what they were trying to do with Chewbacca if this was their answer. Anyways, I found it decent enough and rather... watchable (you expected me to say "bearable," didn't you?). It could've been better. It could've been a lot worse. Speaking of which...

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023) - 3/10

Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood, a willy nilly silly old bear chases honeys. It starts OK, with a storybook narration that explains that Christopher Robin abandoned his playmates to go to university, which led to Pooh and Piglet killing and eating Eeyore ("Thanks for noticin' me"), giving up talking and developing a hatred for humanity (but not for wearing their clothes, apparently). From there, it just descends into a generic Friday the 13th-style slasher with them killing random girls one by one. This should've been a fun concept with dark humor (ala Cocaine Bear), but it's played out as a straight and serious horror without any laughs or cleverness. It could've used some Pooh one liners, like "Tut tut, it looks like brain." It isn't even scary. The writing is bad, with clichés and characters whose names I never learned. The funny thing is that A.A. Milne got a writing credit. Well, it probably wouldn't be funny to him. If there's anything slightly impressive, it's that the whole thing was shot on a budget of only $100,000. I would've guessed that they wasted at least a million on this literary abomination, but that's faint praise. It's as bad as you imagine. It won't ruin your childhood, but it might ruin your adulthood. Don't bother.

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey

How did you even stumble upon this wreck?

In the words of Chris Rock "Somebodies gonna get sued!"

 

[Osprey]

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey

How did you even stumble upon this wreck?

In the words of Chris Rock "Somebodies gonna get sued!"

When you put it like that, you make me feel like I wasted an hour and a half of my life.

It sounds like you weren't familiar with it until just now. It made quite a bit of news last year:

Movies: - Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey (......This is not a joke)

https://comicbook.com/horror/news/winnie-the-pooh-horror-movie-revealed/#7 ...What the f***

forums.hfboards.com

 

[Rodgerwilco]

The Menu (2022) - 7.8/10
A satirical horror film which picks on many elements of "high culture" and American culture in general. Mysterious and elite Chef Slowik (played perfectly by Ralph Fiennes) invites guests to his highly exclusive island restaurant, the Hawthorn, to feast on a multi-course meal of ultra high-end food (and sometimes not food). Each group of guests are there for their own reasons whether it's admiration of Chef Slowik, elitism, or just 'something to do', you really don't get to know much about many of the guests in general. Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy) throws a wrench in to things, as she is not figured into the meticulous plans of the Hawthorn. The mood quickly shifts as Chef Slowik's demonstrations become more and more sinister.

Between each course the Chef gives a very descriptive monologue of the inspiration and intention of the meal, which I thought does an excellent job of documenting the descent into madness of the entire situation.

I found The Menu to be absolutely hilarious. It's a great blend of one-liners, some gore, satirical representation of human emotions like gluttony, greed, obsession, selfishness, and passion. The film does a great job of personifying the cult-like status of 'fine dining'. It seemed a bit disjointed at times, but I prefer that compared to movies that drag on with filler.

Some would argue that "The Mess" scene is over the top and too visually jarring. I could see the argument, but I think it was necessary to achieve the level of mood-shift that they required for the film.

Whiplash 6/10
Watched this on my flight from Pittsburgh -> Atlanta and between taxiing and de-planing I wasn't able to finish it until we got to baggage claim lol.

Following the story of an enthusiastic and aspiring Jazz drummer Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller) playing at the most prestigious conservatory in the country, the fictional Shaffer Conservatory under the direction of abusive director Terence Fletcher (JK Simmons). Fletcher stumbles upon Andrew playing a drum kit and begins his emotional manipulation almost immediately, mind-bending Andrew into humiliation and inspiring him to push his skill to the next level.

Throughout the film Fletcher becomes more and more degrading and abusive to his students, often using excessive cursing, homophobic slurs, and deep personal insults to cut them as deeply as possible, even physically assaulting and emotionally humiliating Andrew in front of the entire band. While at first attempting to maintain some semblance of a normal life, acquiring a girlfriend and spending time with family, Andrew quickly abandons this in pursuit of his musical ambitions.

The battle between Fletcher and Andrew rages on through the entirety of the film up to the final scene, which shows that Fletcher's over-the-top antics have truly transformed Andrew from a great drummer to a truly astounding musical talent.

The pacing of this movie was hard to follow, I couldn't tell if it was rushing or dragging, thank god JK Simmons wasn't around when I was watching... The movie doesn't really try to be more than it is, as with the first film I rated in this post they don't try to extend the film with filler (my biggest pet peeve in a movie). The story was told succinctly and I'm sure that it accurately depicts the world of the ultra-competitive band scene, albeit somewhat over the top of course. Overall, I thought it was pretty good, but was a bit too disjointed at times. Outside of Fletcher and Neiman none of the characters had any level of depth to them, but ultimately they were cursory to the story anyway.

 

[NyQuil]

The battle between Fletcher and Andrew rages on through the entirety of the film up to the final scene, which shows that Fletcher's over-the-top antics have truly transformed Andrew from a great drummer to a truly astounding musical talent.

There's a bit of foreshadowing in terms of Fletcher's last protege taking his own life.

In an interview with director Damian Chazelle:

Q: Where do you think these two go after this movie ends? They had a moment at the end of the film, but I feel these two will always hate each other.

"I think so. I think it's definitely a fleeting thing. I think there's a certain amount of damage that will always have been done. Fletcher will always think he won and Andrew will be a sad, empty shell of a person and will die in his 30s of a drug overdose. I have a very dark view of where it goes."

Q: That should have been a postscript at the end of the movie, "And at 30, he dies of a drug overdose."

"That would be great, right before the credits, "Oh, by the way." It's a post credit thing, like the Marvel movies. It's his funeral."

Q: And Fletcher is there. He gives the eulogy.

"That ungrateful f***ing brat."

'Whiplash' Director Damien Chazelle Reveals What Might Have Happened After That Ending - SlashFilm

Damien Chazelle discusses the Whiplash ending -- or rather, what he thinks happened afterward to Andrew (Miles Teller) and Fletcher (JK Simmons).

www.slashfilm.com