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

[Pink Mist]

Beats (2019) directed by Brian Welsh

In 1994, John Major’s Tory government introduced the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, a bill which banned gatherings of 20 or more people where music “wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats” was being played. The bill was a response to the UK’s massive free party scene, which were weekly dance music raves held in the countryside and abandoned buildings in the outskirts of the cities in the UK attended by thousands, and importantly for free of charge. In many ways these parties were a protest against the Uk’s era of Thatcherism, conservatism, and austerity. Naturally, these raves, with their loud noises and prevalent drug use, met the ire of the law and were actively suppressed by the police and UK authorities. By 1994, the days were numbered for this music scene and thousands of ravers prepared for one last hurrah in defiance of the legislation.

Spanner (Lorn Macdonald) and Johnno (Cristian Ortega) two dance music loving teens in Scotland couldn’t be more different. Spanner is a troubled youth, his brother is the leader of a local gang, he acts wildly and outgoing and his hated by Johnno’s mother and step-father who is a local cop. Johnno, on the other, hand is a bit more reserved and quiet and a bit awkward around people other than Johnno. Nonetheless they are best friends, however Johnno is moving away in a couple of weeks. However, they hear about the free party to end all free parties being held locally in protest of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act and see it as a chance to attend their first and last rave together before going their separate ways in life.

Beats is an excellent coming of age film with is in my opinion the most accurate depiction of a rave I have seen in film. Well, though I’m far to young and live in the wrong continent to have experienced the UK’s free party scene in the 1990s, I am fairly well acquainted with the house and techno scene today. Most often when movies and TV shows have club or rave scenes it’s embarrassing with how wrong they get the scene. They get the energy of raves all wrong, the dancers are barely dancing, and then you have stock images of crowds with some strobe lights flashing. Beats however, gets the whole rave experience right. The whole experience is immediately recognizable, from the anticipation of entering the warehouse with your friends, getting immediately separated from them, rejoining with them in bliss, the dancing, consuming and peaking mid rave on uhhh “party enhancing substances”, and the sweaty and pulsating vibes of the party. The most accurate depiction of the experience I have seen.

Considering its subject matter, and how integral colours and lights are to the rave scene, I thought it was a curious choice for Welsh to shoot the film in black and white and for most of the film I thought it was a regrettable idea. However, considering its other subject matter, which is the nostalgia for and recognition that the good old days are ending, by the end of the film it grew on me and I think it is suitable for the film. The film ends a little too tidily, but the friendship between the two protagonists and the story feels authentic, and it does a great job of merging the personal with the political. You do not need to have been a raver to enjoy this film, it does a good job explaining and depicting the scene and getting you into the headspace (for example with a very well done drug sequence), and its coming of age story, and themes about friendship, rebellion, and anti-authoritarianism are universal. The best way to describe the film is that it’s a mix of kitchen sink realism with a bit of Trainspotting and a bit of Y tu mamá también, and a splash of 2001: A Space Odyssey (or as I’ve seen it brilliantly described, 2001: A Rave Odyssey).

While the film is a eulogy to the free party scene it should be noted that the rave scene never died, but it certainly is not the same. Both the mainstream and the so called underground has just become completely commercialized. Mainstream electronic dance music (EDM) is more popular than ever, frequently landing top 40 hits with very active festivals. The “underground” house and techno scene is also very vibrant in most large cities in Europe and North America, but completely commercialized – usually costs at least $20 to attend and its not unheard of for them to be sponsored by brands like Red Bull. But tough luck finding a free party these days, neoliberalism has taken that away from us.

 

[Jussi]

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Die Hard 3 (1995) - 7.5/10

There's a lot of stuff that doesn't work in Die Hard 3 and it isn't the tighter action film that the 1st was but once it finds its groove around 30+ minutes in then it's a pretty great thriller. Having the two protagonists have to just chase around aimlessly detracts away and the real motive of the villains is introduced a bit late. I do think Samuel Jackson is better when he's a cockier man in charge and playing more of an alpha role like in the Marvel films as compared to being more of an average guy from the street.

I think Jeremy Irons is excellent as a villain here, I know Rickman is probably deemed better from the first film but that probably has less to do with the acting and more to do with Rickman's villain being better written and with better dialogue.

 

[End of Line]

The Lie (2018), 5.5/10

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Messiah of Evil (Huyck, 1973) - American film with a distinct European feel that makes it quite unique. It has huge and numerous flaws (editing and sound are often very bad), but it makes up for them with beautiful aesthetics, efficient atmosphere, and interesting narrative structure (even though the voiced narration is overdone). It has touches of the giallo's aesthetics, Lovecraft themes, and could be something like a prequel to I Am Legend or one of the films it inspired (maybe Omega Man more than the others). It is clearly a descendant of Night of the Living Dead, but it also proposes scenes that would later on become central thematic elements of Dawn of the Dead and Demons. Very interesting minor flick. 5.5/10

*Oh, Huyck would end up directing Howard the Duck, 13 years later / also co-wrote American Graffiti and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

 

[Bruins4Lifer]

Taste of Cherry (1997) - 8/10

It's a shame there aren't that many notable pre-9/11 films from Persia/Pakistan in Criterion-HD quality because it's a very lovely setting for cinema. It's got a hyper-realism possibly due to the amount of close-ups, the flow with what feels like no real hard cuts, and the lack of a soundtrack. It's a film that Hollywood can't make but it also means we never get a good satisfying ending with closure for philistines like myself. Will say that the first two thirds of the film are better than the last 20-25 minutes but we do get that nice scenery in the final third.

I watched this as well recently, and really enjoyed it. Couldn't help thinking this one must have been an influence on Nuri Bilge Ceylan and his later films. The slow, panning camera shots where it follows the vehicle along the winding roads felt right out of one of Ceylan's films.

 

[Osprey]

Basic Instinct (1992) - 7/10

A San Francisco detective investigating a murder falls for the main suspect. Because of the film's reputation and that scene being the subject of many jokes, I was afraid that it'd be hard to take seriously, but I was surprised that it held up pretty well. I was able to better appreciate this time around how Hitchcockian it feels (well, if Hitchcock had been into wild sex) and how clever the dialogue is, mostly Stone's as her character needles Douglas' (such as when she offers him "Coke," knowing that he once did cocaine and it would get under his skin). Jerry Goldsmith's score also stood out to me as excellent. I even came away this time with a different sense of who the killer was, which was rather neat. I'm generally not a fan of endings being left open to interpretation, but I think that it works here and it was interesting to interpret things differently than I did 20+ years ago. Anyways, I enjoyed it. It's a little trashy, but entertaining, kind of like all of Paul Verhoeven's films.

The Fourth Man (1983) - 5/10

A bisexual, Catholic author plays a dangerous game with a seductress in order to bed her hunky boyfriend. Verhoeven sure doesn't make movies that many other filmmakers would. He's like a more twisted De Palma. This psychological thriller was his last Dutch film before going Hollywood and bears a few similarities to the erotic thriller that he would make 9 years later (↑). This one is certainly stranger, though, because it includes a lot of weird visions and Catholic imagery (occasionally at the same time, like when the author is in church, imagines that his hunky crush is crucified on the cross in a speedo and proceeds to remove it). It was a little too weird for me, but it was watchable and interesting. Verhoeven certainly doesn't make boring, politically correct films. Note to guys: if you sleep with a woman and dream that she cut off your favorite appendage, that's probably a sign to call it off right there.

 

[Chili]

The Man Who Never Was-1956

True WWII tale of subterfuge on a grand scale which helped change the course of the war. Intriguing to follow the mission as it was planned and unfolded with the attention to detail. Good film for anyone who enjoys a spy story. In a small part, Gloria Grahame stands out. Hard not to add spoilers, I'll just add the 'volunteer' was a hero (nice touch at the end).

Read the book Operation Mincemeat-Ben MacIntyre a few years ago, believe the film does the story justice.

Edit: Notice there is a newer film out on Ben MacIntyre's book called Operation Mincemeat directed by John Madden, don't know if it has been released?

 

[Osprey]

The Man Who Never Was-1956

True WWII tale of subterfuge on a grand scale which helped change the course of the war. Intriguing to follow the mission as it was planned and unfolded with the attention to detail. Good film for anyone who enjoys a spy story. In a small part, Gloria Grahame stands out. Hard not to add spoilers, I'll just add the 'volunteer' was a hero (nice touch at the end).

Read the book Operation Mincemeat-Ben MacIntyre a few years ago, believe the film does the story justice.

Edit: Notice there is a newer film out on Ben MacIntyre's book called Operation Mincemeat directed by John Madden, don't know if it has been released?

That was terrific, very entertaining. Thanks a lot for the recommendation!

Spoiler

The ending did lack a little suspense, though, because it was obvious what would happen to Stephen Boyd's character from practically the moment that he appeared. British intelligence wouldn't have been so clever until that point only to make such a stupid mistake and blow the whole operation at the last minute like that, but I suppose that the writers had to make the ending more exciting somehow. I didn't mind much, though, because the rest was so enjoyable.

Yeah, I noticed the newer film. It's called Operation Mincemeat, stars Colin Firth and finished filming just before the pandemic hit. Netflix acquired North American distribution rights in February, but hasn't announced a release date yet. I did read that Warner Bros. has set a UK release date of Jan 7, 2022, so I imagine that it won't be on Netflix here any earlier than that.

 

[Chili]

That was terrific, very entertaining. Thanks a lot for the recommendation!

Spoiler

The ending did lack a little suspense, though, because it was obvious from practically the moment that Stephen Boyd appeared. There's no way that they would've been so dumb to almost blow the entire operation, but I suppose that the writers had to spice up the ending somehow. I don't mind much, though, because the rest was so enjoyable.

Yeah, I noticed the newer film. It's called Operation Mincemeat, stars Colin Firth and finished filming just before the pandemic hit. Netflix acquired North American distribution rights in February, but hasn't announced a release date yet. I did read that Warner Bros. has set a UK release date of Jan 7, 2022, so I imagine that it won't be on Netflix here any earlier than that.

Glad you enjoyed it, also glad the story will be retold.

Spoiler

It`s been quite a while since I read the book but the Germans made a thorough research of Major Martin from memory, represented by the Stephen Boyd character. My own take but this incident effected how information was interpreted the rest of the war, especially DDay (Calais vs Normandy).

 

[Osprey]

Glad you enjoyed it, also glad the story will be retold.

As am I. There's no word yet on who'll be playing Major Martin, but I can think of a few actors whose range would be a natural fit for the role.

 

[TD Charlie]

Gunpowder Milkshake (2021) - 3/10 (Really disliked it)

A hitwoman (Karen Gillan) joins other hitwomen (Lena Headey, Angela Bassett, Carla Gugino, Michelle Yeoh) to take down an organization of hitmen and save an 8 (and 3 quarters) year-old girl. It's like Kill Bill mixed with Kingsman and John Wick, but not as fun or fresh as any of them. There is a lot of highly stylized action, popular music during fight scenes and dramatic music during so many slow motion shots that you'll wonder if Zack Snyder directed it. It tries really hard to be cool and funny, such as by having the lead carry her guns around in a yellow tote with "I ❤ kittens" written on it and beat up guys with a panda-shaped suitcase. It doesn't try to hide its sexist theme, though, with every hero being female and every enemy being not just male, but comically incompetent, unprofessional and/or sleazy. It gets particularly silly in the second half. Gillan is short on charisma and struggles to carry the film, in my opinion, so it's good that she gets a strong supporting cast, but their talents are wasted and no one stands out, unless you count the strange sight of a 60-year-old Angela Bassett engaging in hand to hand combat with a hammer in each hand. There isn't much of a story and the dialogue is pretty bad, both of which can be excusable for this type of movie if it's fun, regardless, but it wasn't for me. I found it to be, despite its abundance of style, remarkably generic and stale, but others might enjoy its mindless action. It's new on Netflix if you care to take the chance.

Mindless action indeed. I rather enjoyed it, despite the major suspension of disbelief throughout the entire 2 hours

 

[kihei]

The Prostitutes of Lyon Speak (1975) Directed by Carole Roussopoulos (documentary) 7B

The MUBI film service occasionally champions interesting curiosities, and the rough-cut documentary The Prostitutes of Lyon Speak falls into that category. For about an hour we listen to the prostitutes of Lyon speak about their working conditions and their perceived place within French society. This documentary isn’t anything more than bare bones movie making—you or I could have shot this film if we knew no more than how to turn the camera on—but the stories that unfold here are gripping. One prostitute does most of the talking, She is a spokeswoman for a group of Lyon prostitutes, about 200 of them in total, who are engaging in a sit-down protest in a local church. The focus is on the terrible working conditions, the wealth of misinformation about prostitutes (only one in four have pimps, for instance), the bullying of the police, and the general humiliations that these women face as sex workers and, in many instances, as single mothers. The French State fined them every chance it got (to the tune of 1.5 billion francs a year in 1974) and informed on them whenever they sought other employment or schooling. In a way their conditions are a microcosm of what the weak face in a morally inflexible patriarchal society with no end of grotesque double standards coming into play. Certainly, at this time, marriage itself, when one gender had all the money and power, could be seen as “acceptable” prostitution, sex in exchange for legal, church-sanctioned security. People should not be so quick to judge.

To tell the truth, I’ve never seen much of a difference between prostitutes and hockey players or movie stars, to pick two random groups. Both sell physical skills and assets for financial profit. So, what’s the fuss? Why is one considered the lowest of the low while the other two professions are exalted? For that matter, I don’t see myself as significantly different than a prostitute either. We all sell something to get ahead—that’s the nature of a transactional society. I sold intellectual acumen rather than physical resources, but, again, so what? It was mine to sell.

subtitles

MUBI

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Into The Wild (2007) - 7.5/10

It's becomes a very likable film once it gets going and the character starts meeting people. The opening is a grind because we have to spend it with a protagonist who Sean Penn decided to make extremely pretentious even if it was unintentional. Actually, there's something off about the portrayal altogether as in being unhinged but maybe that was a choice. I enjoyed basically every single interaction he had as he met people on his journey and the least interesting parts were usually when he was on his own. It isn't the ideal film to watch though if you're also young and decided to go through life on your own especially with the eventual message pushing of the only thing that matters is sharing moments etc etc etc. I don't know how true that is but I think whenever a road-ish movie is enjoyable with a bunch of different character vignettes then it's a job well done by the director since most of them suck.

 

[Pink Mist]

Shadows (1959) directed by John Cassavetes

While the late 1950s saw the kickstarting of the French New Wave in France which radically changed cinema forever, John Cassavetes had similar ambitions in America. Shadows was his debut film about a family of three African-American siblings who live in New York City, to show the conventional forms of everyday prejudice and micro-aggressions African-Americans were subjected to. Hailed as a landmark film in American independent filmmaking, the film looks and feels kind of similar to the stuff that was being produced by the Cahiers du Cinéma crew in France at the time with its low budget, small scale story, and improvisational style. Funny how two film scenes began to make similar styles of work independently from each other across the Atlantic. Shadows, as a film, is fairly raw in its style and clear that it was a first film for most involved in its production, but despite its at times sloppiness it is still a very engaging film and a good reversal of social conventions and expectations at the time (for example there’s a great line where after a woman has sex for the first time ever she says “I didn’t know it could be so awful” and was disappointed, which was a reversal of portrayals of women losing their virginity in film at the time where it was only seen as a pleasurable experience). Shadows created the blueprint for a lot of American cinema that would follow in later decades, independent and mainstream alike, though it inspired a lot poor of mumblecore films in the 21st century so I don’t know how I feel about that.

 

[kihei]

Shadows (1959) directed by John Cassavetes

While the late 1950s saw the kickstarting of the French New Wave in France which radically changed cinema forever, John Cassavetes had similar ambitions in America. Shadows was his debut film about a family of three African-American siblings who live in New York City, to show the conventional forms of everyday prejudice and micro-aggressions African-Americans were subjected to. Hailed as a landmark film in American independent filmmaking, the film looks and feels kind of similar to the stuff that was being produced by the Cahiers du Cinéma crew in France at the time with its low budget, small scale story, and improvisational style. Funny how two film scenes began to make similar styles of work independently from each other across the Atlantic. Shadows, as a film, is fairly raw in its style and clear that it was a first film for most involved in its production, but despite its at times sloppiness it is still a very engaging film and a good reversal of social conventions and expectations at the time (for example there’s a great line where after a woman has sex for the first time ever she says “I didn’t know it could be so awful” and was disappointed, which was a reversal of portrayals of women losing their virginity in film at the time where it was only seen as a pleasurable experience). Shadows created the blueprint for a lot of American cinema that would follow in later decades, independent and mainstream alike, though it inspired a lot poor of mumblecore films in the 21st century so I don’t know how I feel about that.

My favourite US director...by light years.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Not a movie per so, but watched the pilot episode of Columbo (called Columbo: Prescription: Murder) which had the length of a movie. I'll have to say it was excellent. A slightly more refined Peter Falk and a very good Gene Berry as the villain. Good cat and mouse. 8.5/10.

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

Fear Street: Part Three - 1666 (Janiak, 2021) - The 1666 part is only half the movie and really shows how limited Janiak is as a director. If pretty much anyone can rustle up a decent slasher pastiche, it's a lot harder to end up with a "historical" piece efficient in look, pace and tone. Not only that, but the girl only lives through the events you already know from the first two films and can't change them, so it's not only inefficient, it's very boring. Second part is the continuation from the first film, but it already feels like it lost its cool or drive (or it's just me that got tired of it). All in all, 300 years and 3 pretty bad movies only to enable a "forbidden" teen lesbian relationship, that's very lame - might have been relevant in early 80s or something, but today you're just like "meh?". Worst entry of the trilogy, with the most boring of in-credits "twist" (you see it coming from a mile away so is it really a twist?) suggesting there's going to be sequels. 2/10

Part One: 2.5/10
Part Two: 3/10
Part Three: 2/10

To each his own. I thought these movies were blast and got progressively better.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Farewell My Lovely. I love Robert Mitchum so I REALLY wanted to like this. Alas, I could not. It's deadly serious but oddly plays like parody. The voice over is bad (often literally describing what just happened on screen) and the actual dialog is cliched and poor. More impersonation than something of its own. It's like a cover song where the artist knows all the words and notes but somehow still completely misses the point.

Snake Eyes. An entertaining, underappreciated Brian De Palma jam. I feel like this is every bit as worth championing as some of his other flops that found later fan bases (Body Double, Femme Fatale for example). Feels a bit forgotten which is doubly odd because it's anchored by a classic Nic Cage amped-up freak-out of a performance. Lost in his filmography as well, but equally worthy of appreciation. It's De Palma playing his hits but he's so good at it. The last 20 minutes or so feel a bit like they were making it up on the spot and were like "ooooh, we gotta end this at some point." Fun story (assassination during a heavyweight boxing match), tight timeframe and brisk execution. It's a good time dammit.

The Bonfire of the Vanities. An unentertaining, properly appreciated Brian De Palma jam. A legendary bomb and misfire on many fronts. Poor casting is near the top of its sins. Walking decency Tom Hanks as a philandering slick stock broker? Yikes. Bruce Willis at near peak cool as a loser lush of a reporter? Nope. Melanie Griffith is probably right for her sexpot role, but her accent and acting is garbage. If you squint you see the broad satire that they were aiming for -- there are a handful of funny, cracking lines -- everyone is kinda bad and selfish and greedy regardless of race, color, creed, etc. But man it really doesn't work. De Palma himself feels neutered.

 

[Pink Mist]

12 Angry Men (1957) directed by Sidney Lumet

You all know the story, a jury of 12 men are tasked with deciding the fate of a young man charged with murdering his father, when the initial votes are called in the jury room the results are 11-1 in favour of sending him to the electric chair with one juror (Henry Fonda) opposed. Been a long time since I’ve watched this film and it holds up really well. Great performances by the entire jury, with special mention to Henry Fonda, who has the meaty role of trying to convince his fellow jury to sway the other way. All twelve jurors have fully fleshed characters and motivations for why they think the man is guilty, and the moments and arguments which you can see their opinions individually sway are really well done – in terms of the smaller moments where you can see it change, I think some of the louder moments one of the juror’s racist tantrum or the other juror’s anger over his son were less elegant. Great use of blocking and mise-en-scène by Lumet who makes what could have been a very static film lively with performances and movement in the tiny juror room. Really impressive that this was Lumet’s first feature film that he directed.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Snake Eyes. An entertaining, underappreciated Brian De Palma jam. I feel like this is every bit as worth championing as some of his other flops that found later fan bases (Body Double, Femme Fatale for example). Feels a bit forgotten which is doubly odd because it's anchored by a classic Nic Cage amped-up freak-out of a performance. Lost in his filmography as well, but equally worthy of appreciation. It's De Palma playing his hits but he's so good at it. The last 20 minutes or so feel a bit like they were making it up on the spot and were like "ooooh, we gotta end this at some point." Fun story (assassination during a heavyweight boxing match), tight timeframe and brisk execution. It's a good time dammit.

The Bonfire of the Vanities. An unentertaining, properly appreciated Brian De Palma jam. A legendary bomb and misfire on many fronts. Poor casting is near the top of its sins. Walking decency Tom Hanks as a philandering slick stock broker? Yikes. Bruce Willis at near peak cool as a loser lush of a reporter? Nope. Melanie Griffith is probably right for her sexpot role, but her accent and acting is garbage. If you squint you see the broad satire that they were aiming for -- there are a handful of funny, cracking lines -- everyone is kinda bad and selfish and greedy regardless of race, color, creed, etc. But man it really doesn't work. De Palma himself feels neutered.

Agreed for Snake Eyes, very fun film with some impressive execution - I wouldn't put it anywhere near Body Double, but I thought it was better than Femme Fatale. As for the Bonfire... I didn't even remember it was a De Palma film... I should watch that again, I have very little memory of it (and reading your take, maybe for good reasons).

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Agreed for Snake Eyes, very fun film with some impressive execution - I wouldn't put it anywhere near Body Double, but I thought it was better than Femme Fatale. As for the Bonfire... I didn't even remember it was a De Palma film... I should watch that again, I have very little memory of it (and reading your take, maybe for good reasons).

Yeah Snake Eyes isn't nearly as interesting as Body Double, but it's definitely a good time. As far as an autopilot, play-the-hits type project goes, it comes out pretty well!

Bonfire is interesting, but only in that "What were they thinking sense?" Doesn't even pass as bad-good. It's more a minor bit of movie history. Other than a big showy tracking shot early in the movie, there's very little of De Palma's flourishes in it. Wouldn't blame anyone for forgetting or not noticing it's him. I'd recommend Julia Soloman's book The Devil's Candy instead. Incredibly detailed behind-the-scenes of this trainwreck to be. Best behind the scenes movie book I've ever read not just for gossipy bits but also for a lot of pure movie making insights both artistic and practical.

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

Anyone seen the new Nicholas Cage movie, Pig? As an admitted Cageaholic, I'm very intrigued.

 

[OzzyFan]

[QUOTE="kihei, post: 17

The Prostitutes of Lyon Speak (1975) Directed by Carole Roussopoulos (documentary) 7B

To tell the truth, I’ve never seen much of a difference between prostitutes and hockey players or movie stars, to pick two random groups. Both sell physical skills and assets for financial profit. So, what’s the fuss? Why is one considered the lowest of the low while the other two professions are exalted? For that matter, I don’t see myself as significantly different than a prostitute either. We all sell something to get ahead—that’s the nature of a transactional society. I sold intellectual acumen rather than physical resources, but, again, so what? It was mine to sell.

subtitles

MUBI[/QUOTE]


You know, this is an interesting discussion to be had, not sure that I want to have it, nor do I personally have much care for it. Selling sex is just a whole nother animal you can't directly compare to anything. It's so much more intimate and obviously carnal and generally is and is thought about in a dirty way comparative to purer/more natural "relationship" sex or even 1 night stand sex. How many hockey players or movie stars or teachers get STD's from each other or their students in this circumstance, or exchange reproductive fluids, or penetrate each other on a regular basis, or even getting into the endocrine hormones and mental addiction that can come from the arousal/orgasm high that is comparable to some recreational drugs. It's really a whole different animal and involves things you really can't compare to anything else. All that said, your last sentence is spot on and there is a huge double standard of how prostitutes vs even their own clients are looked upon by society, and I'd even go as far as saying porn starts vs prostitutes are not "that" far apart in job description yet are looked upon in completely different lights.

 

[OzzyFan]

Anyone seen the new Nicholas Cage movie, Pig? As an admitted Cageaholic, I'm very intrigued.

My review from the previous page, definitely recommended if you are a Cage fan, although you are getting a tamer Cage for sure:

"Pig (2021)
3.10 out of 4stars

"A truffle hunter who lives alone in the Oregonian wilderness must return to his past in Portland in search of his beloved foraging pig after she is kidnapped."
A very poetic mystery drama about grief and identity, that includes a masterfully controlled turn from Cage (some posters were previously talking about restrained Cage performances, and here's a great one). Now I won't ruin anything because this is one of those movies that quietly unfolds piece by piece as it adds to it's story and it's commentary evolves as the movie progresses. But like the movie's titular character, a Pig itself, everything is not what it seems to be on the surface. Again, if you truly want to see this, don't read anything about it because it won't be taken in the same knowing what is about to unfold."