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

[hangman005]

The Death of Stalin (2017)

I found it a thoroughly enjoyable movie though if your a stickler for historical accuracy this one aint for you. The cast is excellent, Steve Buscemi, Michael Palin, Jeffery Tambor, and one of my favorite actors Jason Issacs. It's suspenseful to keep you engaged, and to my mind walks that satirical line between pointing out the absurdities of things, while trying to keep in a "realistic" context.

I'd recommend giving it a watch.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Joe (1970)

This movie is wild as Hell..
It's basically The Boys Next Door with two middle-aged, Greatest Generationers.
A Greatest Generation odd couple become fed up with early 70s drug use & hippies, etc. And for different reasons become killers.
Dark, and strong, movie.. that is very cemented to the culture of its era.. but also feels kind of ahead of its time because of its nihilistic presentation?

The patriarch from Everybody Loves Raymond plays the blue-collar, Archie Bunker-on-steroids vigilante in the odd couple.
I streamed it on Tubi.
Anyone else seen this?.. it seems like it may have a cult status, but was new to me.

 

[Bounces R Way]

The Blob(1988) - 12/10

A local cinema had this playing so I saw this with some friends. It was f***ing amazing. Cheesy 80s horror but of the absolute highest quality.

The film begins on a football game in a small picturesque mountain town, home team in the process of completing the comeback. Paul (male lead football player #1) and the cheerleader make sexy eyes and agree to go on a date that night. Brian (male lead rebel without a clause #2) is in the sticks trying to jump a bridge on his motorcycle, and briefly meets an old hobo. Later on that night a meteor lands in the outskirts of the town near the hobo's camp. Hobo investigates and gets a blobby substance stuck to his arm. After a short altercation with Brian he runs into the street and is struck by Paul and Meg's car. All three characters take him to a hospital where the 1 doctor is busy. Some minutes later when Paul goes to check on the hobo in the back room he finds him half dissolved.

Blobby stuff occurs for a while after. The Blob gets bigger and stronger with each new victim it consumes. Secret government agency shows up soon after and puts the town in quarantine. Russia is of course central to the plot. People are getting blobbed left and right, lots of great gore and SFX that held up really quite well. I appreciate a well timed one liner and this had tons of them. Both setup and delivered well. The payoff punchlines in the dialogue and in the subtext all landed. Motorcycle chases, creepy sewer shots, widespread panic catastrophe scenes. Scored and shot expertly. Directed by a guy named Chuck Russell who I have to admit wasn't overly familiar with. Starred Kevin Dillon(that guy from Entourage) as Brian the wise cracking troubled youth with a heart of gold and Shawnee Smith as Meg the cheerleader who turns out to be the bravest woman alive. Only a 6.7 on IMDB but I thought that low, if you can effectively build tension while simultaneously not taking yourself too seriously AND manage to be horrifying you are doing well.

 

[The Great Mighty Poo]

View attachment 897480
The Blob(1988) - 12/10

A local cinema had this playing so I saw this with some friends. It was f***ing amazing. Cheesy 80s horror but of the absolute highest quality.

The film begins on a football game in a small picturesque mountain town, home team in the process of completing the comeback. Paul (male lead football player #1) and the cheerleader make sexy eyes and agree to go on a date that night. Brian (male lead rebel without a clause #2) is in the sticks trying to jump a bridge on his motorcycle, and briefly meets an old hobo. Later on that night a meteor lands in the outskirts of the town near the hobo's camp. Hobo investigates and gets a blobby substance stuck to his arm. After a short altercation with Brian he runs into the street and is struck by Paul and Meg's car. They take him to a hospital when Paul goes to check on the hobo after some minutes he finds him half dissolved.

Blobby stuff occurs for a while after. The Blob gets bigger and stronger with each new victim it consumes. Secret government agency shows up soon after and puts the town in quarantine. Russia is of course central to the plot. People are getting blobbed left and right, lots of great gore and SFX that held up really quite well. I appreciate a well timed one liner and this had tons of them. Both setup and delivered well. The payoff punchlines in the dialogue and in the subtext all landed. Motorcycle chases, creepy sewer shots, widespread panic catastrophe scenes. Scored and shot expertly. Directed by a guy named Chuck Russell who I have to admit wasn't overly familiar with. Starred Kevin Dillon(that guy from Entourage) as Brian the wise cracking troubled youth with a heart of gold and Shawnee Smith as Meg the cheerleader who turns out to be the bravest woman alive. Only a 6.7 on IMDB but I thought that low, if you can effectively build tension while simultaneously not taking yourself too seriously AND manage to be horrifying you are doing well.

Love the '88 Blob always pair it with the Jeff Goldblum Fly, because Jeff Goldblum is a goddamn national treasure ....and a Pittsburgh boy.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Twister. Summer of 96 was a big movie time for me. It was that post high school, pre-college summer. Freedom and transition. I went to the movies a lot that summer. A lot of great personal memories tied to moviegoing and that period. I certainly have a heavy dose of nostalgia when I go back to these, but I do also feel it was a really good crop of movies (Twister, Mission:Impossible, The Rock, Independence Day even to a lesser tier The Cable Guy, The Frighteners, Courage Under Fire, The Island of Dr. Moreau ...)

Twister is the one I'd revisited the least. Saw it opening weekend and definitely caught it on cable a few times since but honestly probably not since the late 1990s. Fond memories, but it was by no means beloved. With the brand back in the news, I decided to rewatch it.

My memory was that it was dumb fun and my recent experience I'd revise that to say it is simple fun. Not simple in a bad way at all. I hate falling into "they don't make 'em like this anymore" old man speak, but that's the feeling I felt while watching. Very basic story. It is a times a little silly if you're being nice or stupid if you're being mean, but it's really more of a just-go-with-it pace than something I stumbled on. It doesn't overthink it and you shouldn't either. That feels old school. Feel like movies are too overthought and overexplained these days (often to their detriment). Something comforting about taking a handful of simple characters, dropping into a situation and just going ... go.

One of the things I really enjoyed though is how efficiently it sets up everyone. Great meeting-the-team scene where the combination of clothing, mannerisms and a line of dialogue or two and you get the basic gist of every character's job and personality. Motivations and conflicts are set-up clearly. As silly as the bad guy Jonas is and as funny as the "he's in it for the money, not the science" line is, that is so simple and so effective. His team of course drives sleek black, identical SUVs while our rag-tag heroes have a motley assortment of vehicles (each it's own distinct color for easy identification).

This is all just basic stuff but this movie does the basic stuff really well and in a way I feel like a lot of movies don't do anymore. And the SFX hold up pretty good.

Fun time.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

The Blob(1988) - 12/10

A local cinema had this playing so I saw this with some friends. It was f***ing amazing. Cheesy 80s horror but of the absolute highest quality.

I liked the original 1958 blob, but I Love the '88 Blob. Excellent movie, perfect amount of cheese. And as @The Great Mighty Poo said, Goldblum is a legend and a good ol' Pittsburgh guy.

 

[The Great Mighty Poo]

I liked the original 1958 blob, but I Love the '88 Blob. Excellent movie, perfect amount of cheese. And as @The Great Mighty Poo said, Goldblum is a legend and a good ol' Pittsburgh guy.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006) - 8/10 (Based on the novel Kneller's Happy Campers by Etgar Keret)

Excellent cult film that my brother showed me about 2 weeks ago. Wristcutters takes place almost exclusively within an afterlife world where all of the inhabitants have committed suicide. The story follows Zia (Patrick Fugit) as he makes his way through this destitute new world he's arrived in. The afterlife here is the same as normal life, but everything is just slightly worse in just about every way. The residents here mainly waste their time drinking, gambling, and goofing around. Zia soon meets Eugene (Shea Whigham) and his family, who have all committed suicide, and learns more about some of the other folks who live there.

Eventually Zia learns that his recent ex-girlfriend Desiree (Leslie Bibb) committed suicide as well and that she is somewhere in that world. Depressing afterlife hijinks ensue as Zia and Eugene make their way throughout the world looking for Desiree. The pair meets a young lady named Mikal (Shannyn Sossamon), who is looking for the People in Charge of this afterlife to appeal, as she claims to be there by mistake. They eventually find a commune led by Kneller (Tom Waits) and begin to find their way. Some great cameos from some folks early on in their careers, but I won't spoil who.


All in all, I think the concept of this film is done incredibly. They really nail the "slightly worse than real life" vibe of the film in almost every way. The story, of course is a bit cliche... Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy sets out on a trek with his friend to find girl, gains new perspective on life... But it's done in a rather charming way. The film really lightens the depressing tone with a lot of comedy and over the top situations. The music is mostly by the punk rock band Gogol Bordello, who I've really taken a shine to since seeing the movie.

Overall it's a very fun watch with some great finer details within the apocalyptic feeling of the universe it's set in.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

Dinner for Schmucks, the 2010 American version

Tim (Paul Rudd) is a financial analyst trying to earn a promotion to account manager at a well-to-do Wall Street financial firm. After impressing his boss he is invited to a monthly dinnerparty, where each invitee will bring one idiot, so all the Wall Street bros can surreptitiously mock them, with the guy who brings the biggest idiot being crowned the winner. Enter Barry (Steve Carrell), an amateur taxidermist, IRS drone and complete moron.

To put it bluntly: Barry, through sheer stupidity, completely ruins Tim's life. And Tim, played by charming, loveable Paul Rudd, is not nearly enough of a piece of shit to deserve that. DfS is based off a French film, Le Diner de Cons, and in that film (or based what I read on the WIkipedia article), the commensurate Tim, Pierre, is a tax cheating philanderer who regularly attends these dinners not because he's desperate to get ahead, but because he's a pos who enjoys humiliating his supposed lessers. These are smoothed out in the American remake because why? I don't know. It just makes this movie a cringefest as Barry ruins this handsome everyman's life. In the original I imagine part of the point is a cheating businessman's hubris in thinking it was a good idea to try and humiliate a member of the government bureau that polices men like him. Pierre has lost sight that the fool is both a tornado of destruction who brings nothing but ruin, but also someone who holds real, legitimate power over him: in the American remake this is invested in Zach Galifanakis' character (the best part of the movie) and its payoff is him shouting that he'll audit everyone as he leaves the eponymous dinner- and the movie altogether- embarrassed. The irony that Wall Street financial execs have made an enemy of a vindictive IRS drone is instead "and then their house burned down."

Anyway the movie is painfully unfunny and possibly a remnant of a time when all you had to do to get an audience to hate someone was to show they were a competent Wall Street bro, the film came out in 2010 after all. Unfunny and cringe. Do not recommend.

 

[CDJ]

Trap

Was definitely an M Night movie. His daughter is pretty talented. Josh Hartnett was great in it. Movie itself was only fine despite its interesting premise. Requires you to overlook some stuff. Certainly not his worst film, certainly not his best film…but an entertaining enough watch all the same. Some pretty funny moments sprinkled in. I forgot I had to take a piss for the last half of the movie so that’s a credit to it. It’s hard to do a PG13 movie about a serial killer.

6.1/10

 

[Babe Ruth]

Body Bags (1993)

This is a John Carpenter TV movie, that reminded me of "Cat's Eye". A horror anthology, with Carpenter as a Cryptkeeper-like host, between stories.

I had seen it years ago, but completely forgotten it, so it felt like a new watch. Good cast, including Debbie Harry as a sexy, middle-aged nurse, and Luke Skywalker stars in the third tale. Fun horror movie.
On Tubi..

 

[The Macho King]

Re-watched The Raid: Redemption.

IDK what to say. Perfect movie. The best fight choreography I've ever seen (along with the sequel). No fat on the plot. Mad Dog was a revelation.

10/10

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Love Lies Bleeding. In the span of two movies — Saint Maud and now this — writer-director Rose Glass has vaulted to must watch status. She takes some big, bold swings and while they may not hit for everyone, man did they hit for me. The former is a claustrophobic possession (?) chamber piece whose last shot still haunts me. This is a grimy neo-noir romance. Bad people doing bad things. Bad people desperately trying to hang on to their last bit of goodness. Everyone looks like they smell just like stale sweat. It's broad. The bad guys are real bad. Our protagonists aren't the best people but even they seem to be shocked that maybe they're finding love in an otherwise hopeless place. In it's way it's actually sweet, despite the occasional viscera.

The most shocking thing about this movie though is that unlike so many other movies our lovers here meet every possible misunderstanding with ... talk. The typical screenplay will have Character A do something. Character B will find out, get mad and likely stomp off in a huff. 10, 20, 30 minutes of needless, manufactured separation or tension occurs when the problem could be easily resolved with a discussion. There's 3-4 moments in this movie where that setup occurs and then the characters simply explain themselves and there's understanding and resolution. And it works. It doesn't undercut the movie or the tension at all. There's plenty going on for them to be on edge about. Glass understands they don't need to add nonsensical miscommunication on top that. Not to mention, it furthers the love story. Real A+ stuff.

Kristen Stewart might be my favorite actress working today. She has interesting taste in projects and delivers a near impeccable performance every time.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Hard Target. Last week I rewatched Twister for the first time since the late 1990s and said it was "big dumb fun." Today I rewatched Hard Target for the first time since the mid-1990s and I hearby declare it bigger, dumber, funner.

I was very much in the peak JCVD, Steven Segal movie demographic. Excited for every new release from that 1989-1995 eras. I remember my friends and I renting Hard Target and coming away feeling like it was kinda dumb. Silly. It IS kinda dumb and it is most definitely silly but holy crap is it entertaining. Not sure what I was feeling so snobby about way back when. This is John Woo's first American movie and most definitely the first John Woo movie I saw so perhaps I just wasn't desensitized to his slow-mo and doves? I accurately remembered Wilford Brimely's insane performance as JCVD's cajun uncle though I see it now for the fun that it is. Lance Henrickson and Arnold Vosloo are wonderful villains. Woo is just better at action than about 95% of the directors that do it. Absurd, sure. But balletic too. JCVD and Woo are a magical fit. Their careers were at different trajectories here, JCVD heading down, Woo headed up. Shame they didn't work together more. This is tons of fun.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Movie Madness (1982)

An anthology movie, of National Lampoon's movie-genre satires..
Surprisingly unfunny for a National Lampoon flick.
I thought the third & final segment, about cynical LAPD cops, had a couple laughs, but.. you have to endure the first boring 60 minutes to get to it.

Good cast, including Christopher Lloyd and a young Marge Simpson (Kavner).
After streaming it, I checked its backstory and apparently it was commercial & critical failure.. but 40 years later, (I think) does have some nostalgic value.

 

[Chili]

L'Avventura-1960 (subtitles)

'Islands...I don't get them...Surrounded by nothing but water...poor things.'

A group of friends' pleasure boating cruise to an island turns into a mystery when one of ladies disappears. The search to find her will take the story down different paths. Directors have said it's important to grab the viewers' attention in the first few minutes or risk them tuning out. As soon as I saw the camera filming from the back seat of a convertible with two lovely ladies on board, it had my interest. So many beautiful images in the film, like Monica Vitti above gazing at the sea into a John Fordesque type of vista. Loved this film, found it quite original.

That'll Be The Day-1973

A restless young man (David 'Rock On' Essex) leaves school and heads out on the road in late 1950's Britain. He ends up working in a carnival where he becomes friends with Mike (Ringo Starr) who mentors him on the carny life, including attracting the 'burds'. Lots of 1950's popular tunes throughout. Keith Moon makes a brief appearance and performs a drum solo. Really enjoyed Ringo here with his natural wit and charm. The ending set up the sequel Stardust, which I have yet to see. Good nostalgic film of the era.

Ran-1985 (subtitles)

A 16th century Japanese warlord decides it's time to pass down the torch to his eldest son and divide his kingdom. This creates instant animosity in his other two sons which will lead to several battles and tragic results. The sins of the father, passed down. This may be as good as it gets in the use of colour in a film that I've seen, especially the yellow, red and blue which distinguishes the three sons as well as the lush green hills of several scenes. There is wisdom throughout the script, poignant, thought-provoking ending. Another great film from the Sensei, Akira Kurosawa. I love several of his films, this one is right up there, close to or maybe the best, a stunning work.

 

[Spawn]

An American Werewolf in London - 1981

7/10

All I really have to say is that the iconic transformation scene still holds up pretty damn well and is still some bonafide nightmare fuel. Otherwise more of a comedy than I recall when I watched it when I was young. Overall a good watch though. Was trying to look for the sequel but I can't seem to find it available anywhere in Canada. Might have to check the high seas. Although honestly probably worth just skipping altogether lol.

 

[Nakatomi]

An American Werewolf in London - 1981

7/10

All I really have to say is that the iconic transformation scene still holds up pretty damn well and is still some bonafide nightmare fuel. Otherwise more of a comedy than I recall when I watched it when I was young. Overall a good watch though. Was trying to look for the sequel but I can't seem to find it available anywhere in Canada. Might have to check the high seas. Although honestly probably worth just skipping altogether lol.

I felt almost the exact same about his. A pretty solid film all around that I was glad held up and I will have no problem coming back to sometime.

 

[Unholy Diver]

Deadpool & Wolverine - 9/10 - lots of inside jokes, cameos, easter eggs, cursing, and violence, a recipe for a good time


Harold and the Purple Crayon - 7.5/10 - cute little movie, wife and daughter loved it, Zach Levi has found his calling as the immature goof character, Jemaine Clement is a great villain, and Lil Rel Howery is good as the off brand Kevin Hart

 

[kihei]

Deadpool & Wolverine - 9/10 - lots of inside jokes, cameos, easter eggs, cursing, and violence, a recipe for a good time

The trailers make it look like Ryan Reynolds is trying to imitate Bugs Bunny. I'd be okay with that, actually.

 

[Unholy Diver]

The trailers make it look like Ryan Reynolds is trying to imitate Bugs Bunny. I'd be okay with that, actually.

Unfortunately he didn't pull out the placards with a giant Screw and Baseball on it, but maybe in the directors cut dvd release

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Unfortunately he didn't pull out the placards with a giant Screw and Baseball on it, but maybe in the directors cut dvd release

Don't give him any ideas!

 

[Bounces R Way]

Step Up 3D(2010) - 5.5/10

Girlfriend loves these 2000s era young adult melodramas. Save the Last Dance, Stomp the Yard, Bring it On, Jawbreaker, Julia Styles, etc she is all about them. It was her turn to pick a movie and I got to say I actually enjoyed the 3rd installment of the Step Up dance movie franchise a lot more than I thought it would. The choreography, the cinematography, the costumes were all really strong. As an actual sensical plot there's not very much. Centers on the leader of an urban dance gang(?)'s romance with a young brunette that turns out to be the sister of the much more affluent suburban dance gang, who happen to be urban dance gang "The Pirates" chief rival.

There's also the freshman dance protege who has to make the hard decisions on whether he wants to dance or be an electrical engineer. His neglect of his BFF for his new dance gang's attention strains their relationship, but not beyond repair. Really for me the star of the show. Mostly some seriously impressive dancing and a solid soundtrack made it happen for me but a great film to turn on if you really don't feel like paying close attention. Excellent background noise.



The Mighty Ducks(1992) - 8.5/10

I gotta be honest I didn't remember how much of a masterpiece Disney movie this really was. Don't think I had watched it in 10-15 years. Got home last weekend on some drunken BS and threw it on for whatever reason. Nostalgia neurons took over almost immediately when that stuffy lawyer drives that limo out onto the ice. "Now here's the long and the short of it I don't like hockey and I don't like kids."

The ragtag team of misfits coming together you can't help but root for. Emilio Estevez quacking at the governing partner of his law firm. Cradling the eggs to receive a pass. Fulton Reed's blazing howitzer. Goldberg's comic relief. Gordon Bombay and community servicing the single moms. I know Charlie scores the state final GWG but Banks carried the Ducks in that playoff run, if there was a Conn Smythe it's still going to him. This movie really has no business being as good as it is.

Coach Riley was a killer tho, stone cold winning machine
GOATed kids sports movie villain

 

[Hippasus]

The Mighty Ducks(1992) - 8.5/10

I gotta be honest I didn't remember how much of a masterpiece Disney movie this really was. Don't think I had watched it in 10-15 years. Got home last weekend on some drunken BS and threw it on for whatever reason. Nostalgia neurons took over almost immediately when that stuffy lawyer drives that limo out onto the ice. "Now here's the long and the short of it I don't like hockey and I don't like kids."

The ragtag team of misfits coming together you can't help but root for. Emilio Estevez quacking at the governing partner of his law firm. Cradling the eggs to receive a pass. Fulton Reed's blazing howitzer. Goldberg's comic relief. Gordon Bombay and community servicing the single moms. I know Charlie scores the state final GWG but Banks carried the Ducks in that playoff run, if there was a Conn Smythe it's still going to him. This movie really has no business being as good as it is.

Coach Riley was a killer tho, stone cold winning machine
GOATed kids sports movie villain

There is this good 30 for 30 documentary (ESPN+) that covers the origins of the Ducks, including the story of the writer of the script of the movie you just reviewed. About 45 minutes.

EDIT: It's called Once Upon a Time in Anaheim.

 

[LeafGrief]

The Three Amigos - 1986

Needed something to watch while riding the exercise bike, and I remember seeing part of this when I was a kid.

Set in 1916, the titular three amigos, played by Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short, are silent film stars who play glamorous cowboys on the screen. Due to hijinks, they are hired by a tiny Mexican town to save them from murderous banditos. After being humiliated and the woman who hired them carried off by the bandits, the actors must find their courage and fight for the justice their characters stand for.

Fun costumes and each of these three guys doing their thing. I love Steve Martin, the other two are fine. Some laugh out loud moments, they definitely don't make screwball comedies like this any more, but also very predictable and much of the schtick was old by the end of the first act. There was a musical scene where they were bedding down for the night in the desert and they animated mouths onto the horses for the "ba-dum-de-dum", which was really quite funny, but by that point I was done with my ride and I haven't felt compelled to watch the rest on a subsequent ride. 5/10, watch it if you like Only Murderers in the Building.