Movies: Last Movie You Watched and Rate It | Mid-Spring Edition. Happy Beltane!

[x Tame Impala]

I didn’t even know there was a Spanish original. AND Penelope Cruz is in it also?

 

[Osprey]

Pranzo do you enjoy watching bad films or just aren't aware of Flickmetrix, IMDB, Metacritic, Letterboxd, Criticker, RT, the internet, etc?

I've thought about asking ProstheticConscience the same thing because he doesn't seem to like anything that he reviews.

I didn’t even know there was a Spanish original. AND Penelope Cruz is in it also?

If you were Tom Cruise, would you have let them re-cast her? They did end up dating for 3 years afterward.

 

[heatnikki]

Fast 9 - 7/10

Same old over the top ridiculous action, brain off and watch, as long as they keep making them, I'll keep watching. I don't even care

 

[Pink Mist]

Avengers: End Game (2019) directed by Anthony and Joe Russo

Picking up after half of the beings of the universe were killed/vanished by Thanos, the remaining Avengers mourn their failure and then spark a plan to go back in time to bring back the deceased. I was expecting to not to like this one – I did not enjoy Avengers: Infinity War and I was expecting more of the same bloat and endless action. So, I was surprised to find that I actually enjoyed this one – albeit with some reservations. The first half of the movie is really strong, the shift to superheroes depressed or mourning is not new (though new to the MCU) but I think it was handled well and in a believable way. The middle section also turns into a sort of galactic time travel heist which is among the best hours or so of the entire MCU. If it stuck to that tone I think it would have been a top entry into the series. However, my reservations has to do with the back half of the film. Since it is the finale of the Avengers saga, it has to bring back every single character who has ever appeared in a Marvel film for the great boss fight. It just turns into a bloated fight where each actor is fighting amongst each other to get their mandated minute of screen time in the battle. And the battle itself just feels like all the other fights that occurred in the previous films – I don’t think the Russo brothers are particularly great at shooting action scenes. The strength of the film is in the quieter moments where the characters are hanging out or plotting plans and bantering not when the film is not turned up to 11 in an epic battle. But still, it is hard not to applaud the feat 22 films in the making. I expected not to like it, but I think it is a good conclusion to the series.

And with that, I am caught up to and am done reviewing the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I know there is still Spiderman: Far From Home, but I actually saw it in theatres – one of the three that I saw in theatres, the others being Iron Man and Black Panther – the film is fine, not great, I like it better than the first Spiderman, but I don’t really care to rewatch it and I think End Game is a better finale to the series and the Far From Home feels more like the start to the so called Phase Four. Now the question is will I continue watching the Marvel films: Probably, I’m invested a bit with the characters now – probably won’t watch them in theatres unless they look visually impressive, but I’ll watch them on streaming. Do I like what these films have done to the film industry? No, I think this idea of a cinematic universe has been toxic to the film industry and I’m tired of the constant release of superhero movies in theatres. But it is still not hard to marvel that against all odds Disney and Marvel were able to pull off this feat in filmmaking.



The Marvel Moment: My Rankings of the Marvel Movies
1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
2. Guardians of the Galaxy
3. Thor: Ragnarok
4. Captain America: The First Avenger
5. Iron Man
6. Avengers: End Game
7. Doctor Strange
8. Thor
9. Spider-man: Far From Home
10. Spider-man: Homecoming
11. Ant-Man
12. Ant-Man and the Wasp
13. Captain Marvel
14. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
15. The Avengers
16. Avengers: Age of Ultron
17. Iron Man 3
18. Black Panther
19. Thor: The Dark World
20. Captain America: Civil War
21. The Avengers: Infinity War
22. Iron Man 2
23. The Incredible Hulk

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

Avengers: End Game (2019) directed by Anthony and Joe Russo

Picking up after half of the beings of the universe were killed/vanished by Thanos, the remaining Avengers mourn their failure and then spark a plan to go back in time to bring back the deceased. I was expecting to not to like this one – I did not enjoy Avengers: Infinity War and I was expecting more of the same bloat and endless action. So, I was surprised to find that I actually enjoyed this one – albeit with some reservations. The first half of the movie is really strong, the shift to superheroes depressed or mourning is not new (though new to the MCU) but I think it was handled well and in a believable way. The middle section also turns into a sort of galactic time travel heist which is among the best hours or so of the entire MCU. If it stuck to that tone I think it would have been a top entry into the series. However, my reservations has to do with the back half of the film. Since it is the finale of the Avengers saga, it has to bring back every single character who has ever appeared in a Marvel film for the great boss fight. It just turns into a bloated fight where each actor is fighting amongst each other to get their mandated minute of screen time in the battle. And the battle itself just feels like all the other fights that occurred in the previous films – I don’t think the Russo brothers are particularly great at shooting action scenes. The strength of the film is in the quieter moments where the characters are hanging out or plotting plans and bantering not when the film is not turned up to 11 in an epic battle. But still, it is hard not to applaud the feat 22 films in the making. I expected not to like it, but I think it is a good conclusion to the series.

And with that, I am caught up to and am done reviewing the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I know there is still Spiderman: Far From Home, but I actually saw it in theatres – one of the three that I saw in theatres, the others being Iron Man and Black Panther – the film is fine, not great, I like it better than the first Spiderman, but I don’t really care to rewatch it and I think End Game is a better finale to the series and the Far From Home feels more like the start to the so called Phase Four. Now the question is will I continue watching the Marvel films: Probably, I’m invested a bit with the characters now – probably won’t watch them in theatres unless they look visually impressive, but I’ll watch them on streaming. Do I like what these films have done to the film industry? No, I think this idea of a cinematic universe has been toxic to the film industry and I’m tired of the constant release of superhero movies in theatres. But it is still not hard to marvel that against all odds Disney and Marvel were able to pull off this feat in filmmaking.



The Marvel Moment: My Ongoing Rankings of the Marvel Movies
1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
2. Guardians of the Galaxy
3. Thor: Ragnarok
4. Captain America: The First Avenger
5. Iron Man
6. Avengers: End Game
7. Doctor Strange
8. Thor
9. Spider-man: Far From Home
10. Spider-man: Homecoming
11. Ant-Man
12. Ant-Man and the Wasp
13. Captain Marvel
14. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
15. The Avengers
16. Avengers: Age of Ultron
17. Iron Man 3
18. Black Panther
19. Thor: The Dark World
20. Captain America: Civil War
21. The Avengers: Infinity War
22. Iron Man 2
23. The Incredible Hulk

Guardians 2 at the top, and right ahead of Guardians 1. Interesting.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

From Dusk till Dawn (1996) - 6.5/10

I'd seen this flick a handful of times before, but was looking forward to showing it to my fiancee for the first time. The movie has all of the charm of a mid-90's film and Clooney does a great job as the gruff, but charismatic main character Seth Gecko.

Spoiler: Plot twist spoilers

My fiancee was having a hard time through the opening scenes of the movie before they arrive at the bar, as she isn't really one for violent films. Once the bar patrons started turning into vampires she was immediately hooked on the film and said it actually made her more comfortable. The movie essentially turns into a B-list horror film at that point. I always find it interesting to watching different people's reactions to the plot twist in this film. My mom actually got up and walked out on the movie at that point, lol.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Bubba Ho-Tep (Coscarelli, 2002) - First half is original/crazy enough to be a lot of fun, and Campbell manages to make funny material that could have been completely flat. Second half is kind of boring. Coscarelli is a weird bird, but not an uninteresting one. I just read that Campbell turned down a sequel and it was probably the right call, considering how Coscarelli milked Phantasm dry. 5.5/10

 

[Pink Mist]

Guardians 2 at the top, and right ahead of Guardians 1. Interesting.

I would say they're more or less tied and I could easily go either way. But slight edge to the 2nd one since I think it clicks a bit better and there's more chemistry

 

[Osprey]

Bubba Ho-Tep (Coscarelli, 2002) - First half is original/crazy enough to be a lot of fun, and Campbell manages to make funny material that could have been completely flat. Second half is kind of boring. Coscarelli is a weird bird, but not an uninteresting one. I just read that Campbell turned down a sequel and it was probably the right call, considering how Coscarelli milked Phantasm dry. 5.5/10

Bruce Campbell might've turned down a sequel because Ossie Davis died a few years after the original. He was the real star of the movie, IMO. It's not like you could get another actor to play JFK. Ossie Davis was JFK.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

The Amusement Park. A curio unearthed from George Romero's past. It's a PSA so in that light, it's a pretty creative and wild PSA about aging and elder care, but as a "lost" project, perhaps it would have been best to leave it lost. I kinda wanted to beat the crap out of the main character too.

Lord of the Rings. The 1970s, Ralph Bakshi animated version. I thought this was pretty compelling. The rotoscoping on the Orcs and other assorted bad guys was rad. Spooky and menacing. Probably would've given me nightmares if I saw it as a kid. Only half the story since part two was never made (it ends after the victory at Helm's Deep so it's 1.5 books worth of story), but I thought this was pretty cool. You see its influence on the Peter Jackson movies.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

The Amusement Park. A curio unearthed from George Romero's past. It's a PSA so in that light, it's a pretty creative and wild PSA about aging and elder care, but as a "lost" project, perhaps it would have been best to leave it lost. I kinda wanted to beat the crap out of the main character too.

I wanted to see it last week but couldn't find it! (I just did). Where did you see it?

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

I would say they're more or less tied and I could easily go either way. But slight edge to the 2nd one since I think it clicks a bit better and there's more chemistry

It didn't quite capture the magic of the first one for me, and I think part of that had to do with the novelty wearing off a bit. The villain is a hell of a lot better in 2 though, that's for sure.

 

[Osprey]

Lord of the Rings. The 1970s, Ralph Bakshi animated version. I thought this was pretty compelling. The rotoscoping on the Orcs and other assorted bad guys was rad. Spooky and menacing. Probably would've given me nightmares if I saw it as a kid. Only half the story since part two was never made (it ends after the victory at Helm's Deep so it's 1.5 books worth of story), but I thought this was pretty cool. You see its influence on the Peter Jackson movies.

Are you aware of the 1980 The Return of the King? It's not by Bakshi, but Rankin/Bass, who made The Hobbit in 1977. Though it wasn't designed to complement the Bakshi movie, it works as one and a conclusion to the story, anyways. Apparently, all three movies are even sold as a boxed trilogy, despite being from two different studios. Just don't expect the rad rotoscoping (but you do get groovy folk ballads).

 

[ItsFineImFine]

One of you watch Infinite and let me know if it's any good. I like the premise but it looks like another shitty Mark Wahlberg movie and the fact it has no reviews but is being released tomorrow is not a good sign.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

I wanted to see it last week but couldn't find it! (I just did). Where did you see it?

I watched it on Shudder. Only like 50 minutes so not a big commitment if you're able to track it down.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Are you aware of the 1980 The Return of the King? It's not by Bakshi, but Rankin/Bass, who made The Hobbit in 1977. Though it wasn't designed to complement the Bakshi movie, it works as one and a conclusion to the story, anyways. Apparently, all three movies are even sold as a boxed trilogy, despite being from two different studios. Just don't expect the rad rotoscoping (but you do get groovy folk ballads).

Interesting. I knew Rankin/Bass did a version of the Hobbit. I remember that from my youth. Somehow missed this one though.

 

[Pink Mist]

Les Misérables (2019) directed by Ladj Ly

In the Parisian banlieue of Montfermeil where Victor Hugo once looked out his window and wrote Les Misérables, three police officers – a racist captain, an officer local to the community, and an officer on his first patrol of the neighbourhood - patrol the neighbourhood which is now an impoverished housing block filled with immigrant families. When a lion is stolen from the local zoo tensions flair and are set to erupt when the perpetrator is brutally shot in the head with a flash-ball round. A twenty teens update of police and community tensions in the inner city in the same vein of Do The Right Thing and La Haine, which it clearly draws inspiration from (although in this case from the police’s perspective), which documents how anger and violence due to the poverty and the method of policing in the neighbourhood in which police routinely harass its inhabitants. However, the film is effective in showing how no one in the film is completely innocent or completely guilty, but rather are products of a social environment which fuels anger and abuse. I think the story has been more effectively told in the aforementioned films and the film is a little raw and messy at time, but the film is a good critique of France’s national motto of “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité” in the 21st century in which people are left with few options other than anarchy in the face of impoverishment and racial harassment.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Les Misérables (2019) directed by Ladj Ly

In the Parisian banlieue of Montfermeil where Victor Hugo once looked out his window and wrote Les Misérables, three police officers – a racist captain, an officer local to the community, and an officer on his first patrol of the neighbourhood - patrol the neighbourhood which is now an impoverished housing block filled with immigrant families. When a lion is stolen from the local zoo tensions flair and are set to erupt when the perpetrator is brutally shot in the head with a flash-ball round. A twenty teens update of police and community tensions in the inner city in the same vein of Do The Right Thing and La Haine, which it clearly draws inspiration from (although in this case from the police’s perspective), which documents how anger and violence due to the poverty and the method of policing in the neighbourhood in which police routinely harass its inhabitants. However, the film is effective in showing how no one in the film is completely innocent or completely guilty, but rather are products of a social environment which fuels anger and abuse. I think the story has been more effectively told in the aforementioned films and the film is a little raw and messy at time, but the film is a good critique of France’s national motto of “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité” in the 21st century in which people are left with few options other than anarchy in the face of impoverishment and racial harassment.

I know non-francophones appreciate La Haine a lot but part of me wonders how much more it would have blown up on the non-French scene if the film's humor wasn't so niche/unaccessible unless you're intimately conscious of that world/culture. It's easily got some of the best comic one-liners/back and forths I've ever seen in a movie but they're essentially impossible to grasp for a vast majority of people, including if dubbed or subtitled.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I watched it on Shudder. Only like 50 minutes so not a big commitment if you're able to track it down.

Damn, it wasn't there last week! Anyway, I'll probably be happy to have it somewhere.

 

[Pink Mist]

I know non-francophones appreciate La Haine a lot but part of me wonders how much more it would have blown up on the non-French scene if the film's humor wasn't so niche/unaccessible unless you're intimately conscious of that world/culture. It's easily got some of the best comic one-liners/back and forths I've ever seen in a movie but they're essentially impossible to grasp for a vast majority of people, including if dubbed or subtitled.

My French is passable in that I can survive without subtitles but I very much prefer having them on. But with La Haine I definitely needed them on just because of the amount of slang I hadn't really encounted before. I agree, probably a film that loses a lot in translation but I do think a lot of the rich dialogue and one lines still shine through the subtitles. Also strongly agree that it is underappreciated, it's one of my favourite films

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Damn, it wasn't there last week! Anyway, I'll probably be happy to have it somewhere.

It was right at the top of page so I think they literally just added it in the last couple days.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Much Ado About Nothing. Always struggled with the title. What transpires is far from nothing (deceit! heartbreak! fake death!). One might argue they're not making ENOUGH ado about what actually is going on.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Dersu Uzala (1975) - 7.5/10

The best Russian film I've seen is by....Japanese director Kurosawa? Really feel good film despite a tragic ending but it stays peaceful throughout. Not too much conflict, the tense moments aren't really tense, and it is overlong in parts but two good protagonists keep it an easy watch. Probably one of the more sentimental and human Kurosawa films and without any of the bad overacting that some of his other stuff like Ikiru was.

Also this scene, hadamn.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

My French is passable in that I can survive without subtitles but I very much prefer having them on. But with La Haine I definitely needed them on just because of the amount of slang I hadn't really encounted before. I agree, probably a film that loses a lot in translation but I do think a lot of the rich dialogue and one lines still shine through the subtitles. Also strongly agree that it is underappreciated, it's one of my favourite films

I'll never miss to laugh at the silly pun that is 'Nique sa mere le maire! Fils de pute!' from that little kid as the mayor is walking in the street. And that's just one of many great, funny lines in that movie. That artsy soiree scene is so ridiculous.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

The Amusement Park (Romero, 1973/2019) - The introduction, presented as an address to the spectator, is great and lead me to believe this would be a throwback to the early relevant Romero films. Not quite. It was commissionned as an "educational film about elder abuse and ageism", and it does parallel Romero's most important work just fine as horror as "social comment", but it's quickly too much (and way too predictable). It feels like a high concept student film - you recognize Romero's signature here and there, but it's overall a pretty weak film on every level. I'm still happy I could see it, and it almost convinced me to go back to Season of the Witch and Martin, we'll see. 4/10