Movies: Last Movie You Watched and Rate It | Part#: Some High Number +2

[Jevo]

So safe to say there's no diamonds for Lucy in the Sky?

 

[Trap Jesus]

Just watched Under the Silver Lake. This one had been on my radar forever for a number of reasons, mainly it being the director of It Follows, and it having such a bizarre release. I was always hesitant to check it out though due to a number of people whose opinion I respect saying it was self-indulgent, bloated and just downright bad. Like, divisiveness usually draws me in further to a movie because it probably means it's interesting, but this one slanted more towards the side of it turning off people who usually like movies that are more on the "interesting" side.

I watched it and can understand why it turned so many people off, but all I can say is that I absolutely loved it, easily one of my favorite 2018 movies. Outside of the general weirdness that turned people off, I think people who view movies a bit more artistically thought it was maybe a bit heavy handed or on the nose with its symbolism in parts but I didn't mind that because it was so unbelievably densely packed, that there's just so much to grasp on to. I never got frustrated and trying to keep track of what was going on or what it meant though.

If I were to try to describe this movie from other influences, it feels like a mix of a David Lynch movie, a Terry Gilliam movie, and the Shane Black movie The Nice Guys. I saw a movie review which said "David Lynch called and wants his ideas back" but I did not see it that way at all. It's interesting for the director to go from It Follows to this. I really liked It Follows, but when I think of it I'm really just thinking of the score and how overall it was just a really well executed horror movie. This one is just completely different and has so much more of everything going on. Hopefully the negative to mixed response this movie got doesn't perturb the director.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Just watched Under the Silver Lake. This one had been on my radar forever for a number of reasons, mainly it being the director of It Follows, and it having such a bizarre release. I was always hesitant to check it out though due to a number of people whose opinion I respect saying it was self-indulgent, bloated and just downright bad.

Exactly how I felt too. Now I'll have a look.

 

[Trap Jesus]

Exactly how I felt too. Now I'll have a look.

It's 100% one of those impossible to recommend movies. I think you just have to see it for yourself.

 

[OzzyFan]

Hustlers
2.75 out of 4stars

Entertaining, fun, clever, well acted, and visually appealing in more ways than one. With that said, very predictable storypath, and I felt near zero sympathy to the "victims" and "criminals" on both/all sides of this story. Altogether an above average crime drama. The sexual allure wore off almost entirely after the 1st half hour, for those curious.

Brittany Runs a Marathon
2.80 out of 4stars

Jillian Bell elevates this with great acting and excellent comedic touches throughout. Imperfect rollercoaster ride about getting one's life together, accepting oneself and others around them because all are imperfect beings and they will forever be such, and finding and surrounding oneself with positive influences and people that you love around you (not the opposite).

 

[The Burdened]

Finally saw It Follows

Boy, does this movie stink. It's The Ring, except this time it's with STDs and the movie does a bad job following their own rules. Ending fell flat; swing and a miss.
10/10 score, tho; loved the music.

Movie had style but no substance.

 

[ORRFForever]

Bill Burr : Paper Tiger [2019] :

Stand up concert provides a bunch of smiles, a few laughs, and the occasional insightful comment.

As a fan of Bill Burr, I was disappointed.

4/10

Movie Trailer :

 

[kihei]

Hope (2019) Directed by Maria Sodahl 8B

Anja (Andrea Braen Hovig) has lung cancer that now has metastasized to her brain. Tomas (Stellen Skarsgard, her older partner, and their six children, the three eldest by Tomas's first marriage, all have to cope with this daunting reality. Anja and Tomas are not as close as they once were, but now they have to redefine their relationship and cope with enormously difficult feelings. Hope is no tear jerker. The emotion it generates is honest to a fault. Thanks to a brilliant script, obvious even in translation, Hope is an absolute powerhouse, the best character study of a relationship in crisis that I have seen in ages. Skarsgard is excellent, but Hovig is a complete revelation, She gives one of the strongest performances of the century. Despite the movie's length, I was never bored for a second. It might be difficult to get your head around attending a movie with such a somber theme. However, story telling doesn't get more powerful than this.

subtitles


Best of '19 so far

1) Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Sciamma, France
2) An Elephant Sitting Still, Hu, China
3) Hope, Sodahl, Norway
4) Vitalina Varela, Costa, Portugal
5) Ema, Larrain, Chile
6) The Two Popes, Mirelles, Brazil/UK
7) Les Miserables, Ly, France
8) High Life, Denis, France/US
9) Atlantics, Diop, France/Senegal

 

[kihei]

About Endlessness (2019) Directed by Roy Andersson 6B

Director Paul Andersson has a style all his own. His movies are about people who inhabit a slightly malevolent universe, one that is sort of out to get them. His mise en scene is unique with the action taking place on neutral coloured sets where people move as though they were stuck in aspic and where even mundane activity can be full of dread and meaning. His humour is dry and offbeat; one chuckles at his movies ruefully, different members of the audience finding different things funny. About Endlessness is his latest installment and, well, it is about endlessness, an existential voyage headed straight to the void. If you remember that commercial about a woman who goes into a butcher shop and buys a Voldswagen hanging on the wall like a side of beef--that's the kind of humour that I'm talking about. About Endlessness is less funny and more bleak than his earlier works, but still it is a wonder to behold.

subtitles

 

[kihei]

It Must Be Heaven (2019) Directed by Elia Suleiman 8A

Hard to believe but Palestinian director Elia Suleiman specializes in gentle comedies, ones that nonetheless make points. In It Must Be Heaven, Suleiman plays a slightly different version of himself in a series of witty vignettes about life in general and being Palestinian in particular. His character's journey starts in Palestine but then hops around to other countries, finding things that delight as well as perplex him. He is an amazingly versatile writer and his gentle humour seems almost a miracle, given some of his life experiences. The fictional Suleiman is almost like a silent-film character. He doesn't say much until he gets to New York. But his humour is universal, finding comedy in some of the oddest places. It Must Be Heaven is grinding no axes, and though he will make political points, he is always subtle about it. His sense of wonder covers just about all of the human condition. On top of everything else, the film is gorgeously structured; in fact, this is probably the most elegant film making that I have seen this year. It Must Be Heaven is a total delight and not to be missed.

subtitles


Best of '19 so far

1) Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Sciamma, France
2) An Elephant Sitting Still, Hu, China
3) Hope, Sodahl, Norway
4) It Must Be Heaven, Suleiman, Palestine
5) Vitalina Varela, Costa, Portugal
6) Ema, Larrain, Chile
7) The Two Popes, Mirelles, Brazil/UK
8) Les Miserables, Ly, France
9) High Life, Denis, France/US
10) Atlantics, Diop, France/Senegal

 

[ORRFForever]

Hustlers [2019] :

The last time I went to a strip club was many years ago. A friend from out of town wanted to go and we sat in a well lighted area by the pool table, and watched as the dancers walked by. The women looked "hard" - their painted faces and fake boobs/butts were grotesque in the harsh light.

The movie Hustlers was only slightly less depressing than that night.
​

**

A handful of strippers drug and rob men in the clubs. The only time this movie has any juice is when Jennifer Lopez is on the screen.

If you're hoping Hustlers will be sexy / erotic, you're going to be disappointed.

6/10

Movie Trailer

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Im late to the party on it....

Tucker and Dale vs Evil - 9/10

As a horror fan this movie was damn near perfect.

The characters were horror tropes while having impressive depth for a horror comedy. The situations were so well written and hilarious without falling into the trap of being so corny that they take you out of the movie. The concept of looking at a horror movie from the view of the rednecks instead of the college kids was so much fun. I havent laughed this hard at a movie in a while.

This is right up there with Cabin in the Woods as a well done and loving parody of the horror genre.

Also its on Netflix, so you have no excuse to skip it...how many chances do you get to see Alan Tudyk play a redneck?

 

[Trap Jesus]

Im late to the party on it....

Tucker and Dale vs Evil - 9/10

As a horror fan this movie was damn near perfect.

The characters were horror tropes while having impressive depth for a horror comedy. The situations were so well written and hilarious without falling into the trap of being so corny that they take you out of the movie. The concept of looking at a horror movie from the view of the rednecks instead of the college kids was so much fun. I havent laughed this hard at a movie in a while.

This is right up there with Cabin in the Woods as a well done and loving parody of the horror genre.

Also its on Netflix, so you have no excuse to skip it...how many chances do you get to see Alan Tudyk play a redneck?

Yeah, this is definitely one of the best horror movie satires. It definitely leans more on the end of being a straight up comedy rather than being a horror/comedy hybrid like a lot of similar movies though. On the other end of the spectrum, I really liked You're Next. It's a lot more subtle in its deconstruction of horror tropes, but still excellent. I don't think anything will beat The Cabin in the Woods though. I like Scream, but I think it gets overrated.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

The last time I went to a strip club was many years ago.

Me too, but my experience was the opposite of you: absolutely magical (and for other reasons than the girls' physique, which I really can't remember).

Got on a plane to Arizona with a friend because I was doing a conference at the University of New Mexico. On the plane, I started to watch In the Valley of Elah but didn't have time to finish it. Got to Phoenix, traveled around, it was my first time in the South, and at some point between Phoenix and Albuquerque (couldn't say where, maybe it was in one of those cities too - we made the round trip through the Grand Canyon), anyway, at some point, we saw a strip club and I asked if he wanted to stop. I was really surprised that he agreed to that, wasn't his style at all to hang out in that type of joints. Don't remember much about the place, but I think it was ok. So go do my conference in front of a underwhelming crowd, go back to Phoenix with stops in El Paso and going down through Mexico (yeah, that was dumb), and hop back on the plane. In the plane, I go back to watching my film, and later in the film, they go to the very same strip club we went!! What an amazing coincidence, it still amazes me today.

 

[ORRFForever]

Me too, but my experience was the opposite of you: absolutely magical (and for other reasons than the girls' physique, which I really can't remember).

Got on a plane to Arizona with a friend because I was doing a conference at the University of New Mexico. On the plane, I started to watch In the Valley of Elah but didn't have time to finish it. Got to Phoenix, traveled around, it was my first time in the South, and at some point between Phoenix and Albuquerque (couldn't say where, maybe it was in one of those cities too - we made the round trip through the Grand Canyon), anyway, at some point, we saw a strip club and I asked if he wanted to stop. I was really surprised that he agreed to that, wasn't his style at all to hang out in that type of joints. Don't remember much about the place, but I think it was ok. So go do my conference in front of a underwhelming crowd, go back to Phoenix with stops in El Paso and going down through Mexico (yeah, that was dumb), and hop back on the plane. In the plane, I go back to watching my film, and later in the film, they go to the very same strip club we went!! What an amazing coincidence, it still amazes me today.

Guys can't help but be enticed by it - the forbidden fruit behind all those neon lights. But, as I said in my review, there's a reason those places are so dimly lit.

As for me, living in the Niagara region, I'd been going to strip clubs since I was 16 (in high school we use to call it "going down the Sunny Road") and they long ago lost their ability to excite.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

The Mummy (2017)

One of the most pedestrian films I have ever watched, only with worse than average editing to boot. Forget the classic Mummy films with the likes of Boris Karloff: this movie can't ever hold a candle to the Brendan Fraser films.

Why did I even bother?

1/10

 

[ORRFForever]

The Mummy (2017)

One of the most pedestrian films I have ever watched, only with worse than average editing to boot. Forget the classic Mummy films with the likes of Boris Karloff: this movie can't ever hold a candle to the Brendan Fraser films.

Why did I even bother?

1/10

That's 2 hours you won't be getting back.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

That's 2 hours you won't be getting back.

I know man. I'm always fascinated by films with bad reps, but most of them are either terrible or "so bad it's good."

This one was more akin being within the general vicinity of a dumpster full of McDonald's. It constantly stinks, not harshly, but just enough to make you never want to eat McDonald's again.

 

[ORRFForever]

I know man. I'm always fascinated by films with bad reps, but most of them are either terrible or "so bad it's good."

This one was more akin being within the general vicinity of a dumpster full of McDonald's. It constantly stinks, not harshly, but just enough to make you never want to eat McDonald's again.

LOL.

Watching movies like that can be depressing because you realize you're burning 2 hours of your life... but also because there wasn't a better alternative.

 

[kihei]

The Lokoroshi (2019) Directed by Abba Makama (no score given)

Little known fact, Nigeria makes more movies per year than any country except India, way ahead of the US by a 997 to 660 score most recently. Almost all of these films never get released to theatres but are direct to video efforts meant for local consumption. The Lost Lokoroshi is an example of a movie that will make much more sense to a homegrown audience than it will to an international audience. It deals with a labourer who is transformed one night into a Lokoroshi, a comic figure from ancient African folklore (he looks sort of like the Cookie Monster in purple). The Lokoroshi is a light-hearted comic film that deals with the tension between the traditional and the modern. That's my guess, though I don't really have a clue what I am talking about. Much of the humour and all of the cultural references were beyond my grasp, though the film, made on half a shoestring budget, had a nice, easy-going vibe. It is the only film that I have seen at TIFF that has attracted a mostly black audience and they seemed to have a good time. I was glad to be exposed to this work, and I hope that TIFF continues with more such explorations.

subtitles and a surprising amount of English

 

[ItsFineImFine]

I saw some movies, they were all fine I guess.

Love & Friendship (2016) - 7/10
Bullit (1968) - 7.5/10
Hobson's Choice (1954) - 7/10
Dead Man (1995) - 7/10

And one rewatch (Frances Ha (2012) - 9/10).

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[kihei]

La Llorona (2019) Directed by Jayro Bustamante 7B

La Llorona from Guatemala mixes together some very diverse elements. the movie is about the dictator who was responsible for engaging in genocide against the country's indigenous Indian population, and very successful at it, eliminating a third of the native population. It also incorporates folk lore ("La Llorona" refers to "weeping woman," a folkloric character who plays an important role in this film, if only symbolically. As well the film incorporates horror movie tropes into this expose of a general whose depravity knows no bounds. Mostly we observe his family, including a loyal wife, a knowing daughter and a younger girl whose parents have been likely slaughtered at the dictator's command. With elements of horror weaved into the story, we watch as his exposure excites demonstrations and attempts at retaliation. La Llorona is a way of acknowledging "the missing" of Guatemala, a group that covers thousands of people. I found the movie more impressive intellectually than I did emotionally. But no question it is a powerful work.

subtitles

 

[kihei]

Saint Maud (2019) Directed by Rose Glass 7A

Maud is a young nurse who become fixated on saving the soul of a worldly patient for whom she comes to take unwanted responsibility. When her good intentions veer into religious fanaticism, she is fired and, from that point on, spirals downward in increasingly dramatic fashion. Saint Maud is an early Roman Polanski-type horror movie (Repulsion is its inspiration) that focuses on a young woman getting crazier and more cut off from reason by the minute. Director Rose Glass has a much different perspective than Polanski, though, something especially evident in the climax. However, the director poses the right questions: does religious zealotry drive people crazy or are crazy people attracted to religious zealotry? The movie has two stars: the lighting, which places just about everything in dark, gloomy shadows, and Morfydd Clark, a young Irish actress whom I have not seen previously, who provides the second best performance of the year (see Andrea Braen Hovig in Hope) as a well-intentioned soul who quickly drifts into madness and beyond. Saint Maud is a work that is so effective it transcends its genre, easily the best and most impactful horror film of the year so far.


Best of '19 so far

1) Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Sciamma, France
2) An Elephant Sitting Still, Hu, China
3) Hope, Sodahl, Norway
4) It Must Be Heaven, Suleiman, Palestine
5) Vitalina Varela, Costa, Portugal
6) Ema, Larrain, Chile
7) The Two Popes, Mirelles, Brazil/UK
8) Les Miserables, Ly, France
9) High Life, Denis, France/US
10) Saint Maud, Glass, UK

 

[kihei]

Final TIFF Scorecard


9 stars

Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Hope

8 stars

It Must Be Heaven
Vitalina Varela
Ema
The Two Popes

7 stars

Saint Maude
Les Miserable
Atlantics
La Llorona

6 stars

About Endlessness
The Whistlers
Liberte
Sea Fever

5 stars

La Belle Epoque
The Vast of Night
The Truth
Chicuatores

4 stars

Hope Gap

3 stars

Lucy in the Sky

Not Ranked

The Last Lokoroshi

 

[ORRFForever]

Memory : The Origins of Alien [2019]:

Alien fanatics will love it!

I really liked it because they somehow made this documentary creepy.

7.5/10

Movie Trailer