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

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Trap Jesus said:
I saw Parasite. There was a lot I liked and admired about this, but it didn't fully connect for me. Still a really good movie though. I think this is kind of like The Favourite for me from last year. Director I really admire, on paper I should love it and I do admire it on a number of different levels, but ended up walking away slightly disappointed. I think a lot of that is just the nature of hype though.

I loved the first half of this. I thought it was working tremendously on a comedic level, but still introduced a lot of different things that kept you engaged in the story and the character dynamics. It was already a bit of a blend of different genres, but it was mostly just mixing comedy and drama at this point, with kind of a heist movie feel. It reaches a point about halfway through where it kind of shifts directions. I expected the shifts because I knew it was that type of movie, but I feel after this point it was more kind of scenes that I found myself enjoying rather than the movie as a whole. It's not like I hated the direction it went, but I don't know, just didn't fully connect for me.

For the above I'm referring to the whole basement plot. I think when the family was gathered around drinking when the rich family was away camping that scene went on for too long, but then when the old housekeeper showed up all of that was gold until they revealed what was down there. In my mind I was like "Are they going to go full-blown horror here?" I was kind of hoping for it. Just the image of the possibly jaded housekeeper coming back looking as eerie as hell on the porch camera, the bizarre way she disappeared into the basement, and then the image of her trying to pry open the shelf was all so gripping. Then I think it got a bit silly with them falling down the stairs and them being held hostage. But then the next part of them having to get ready for the family coming home was great again.

I don't know, I guess I'm just trying to say it was a bit hit or miss from that point on.
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I got a Lanthimos vibe, too, but at that point Bong was mixing and matching so many different genres and references that it seemed like just another seasoning in the stew. What I enjoyed most about the movie, though, was the social statement aspect of the film.
Starting with the very apt title, Parasite. Which group are the parasites? The Kim family who have to scrounge and scrape and manipulate the rich to survive or the Park family who have all the privileges and think they alone deserve them while the others suffer. I think that there is a whole thing going on with basements in this movie, a social hierarchy with the Parks at the top, the Kims, living in a semi-basement apartment, in the middle so to speak, but it ain't what it used to be, and the former maid and her husband relegated to a virtual dungeon, the lowest of the low, who have been exploited by both the Kims and the Parks. Among many other ways, I think Bong is playing around with the expectations of each family, from the very big expectations of the future of the Parks to very limited expectations of the maid and her husband. The Kims, again caught in the dismal middle, have expectations like the Parks for a successful future but are in reality stuck like the cellar dwellers in a social situation in which those expectations are almost certainly going to be squelched. The possibility of being better off is out there on paper, but the reality is that it is not going to happen. I thought the movie made these points brilliantly but subtly. I loved the ending which was just about the perfect way to close the movie as far as I was concerned.
So I really liked the movie, but I was most impressed by what it was saying and the questions that it was raising and how cleverly and gracefully it did so. I also like this perspective from Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune: "Parasite expresses consequential ideas that matter to the filmmaker about the way we live today, and the prejudice and malice we create for ourselves and others." It's a movie with a lot of meat on the bone.
 
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Only Lovers Left Alive - wanted to see this for a long while, and following our discussion about the best vampire films, I finally bit. Jarmusch is a strange beast for me, there's a few of his films that I liked a lot, but everytime there's this sour taste... It's as if he was the exact reason someone at some point came up with the terms artsy-fartsy. I mean, it's just too much. The void literary, musical references, while his film is pretty much a rehash of Anne Rice's material (nothing wrong with Anne Rice, but don't point to Byron and Twain if you're giving me Rice). It's not that bad, the score is great, the cast is great, and it's angle - blasé vampires doing nothing - is interesting, but I'm not sure his take on prosperity/anonymity/longevity in arts has enough meat to dress this skeleton of a movie. Certainly not in my top-10 vampire films! 5/10
 
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Violenza Domestica said:
Only Lovers Left Alive - wanted to see this for a long while, and following our discussion about the best vampire films, I finally bit. Jarmusch is a strange beast for me, there's a few of his films that I liked a lot, but everytime there's this sour taste... It's as if he was the exact reason someone at some point came up with the terms artsy-fartsy. I mean, it's just too much. The void literary, musical references, while his film is pretty much a rehash of Anne Rice's material (nothing wrong with Anne Rice, but don't point to Byron and Twain if you're giving me Rice). It's not that bad, the score is great, the cast is great, and it's angle - blasé vampires doing nothing - is interesting, but I'm not sure his take on prosperity/anonymity/longevity in arts has enough meat to dress this skeleton of a movie. Certainly not in my top-10 vampire films! 5/10
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A movie about vampire ennui, I thought that was pretty cool. Thumbs way up for me.
 
kihei said:
A movie about vampire ennui, I thought that was pretty cool. Thumbs way up for me.
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I suggest you have a look at Rice's series of vampire novels. There's a lot of that in there (clinical depression by both Lestat and Louis), and some existantial considerations on the boredom of immortality. There was nothing really new in Jarmush's take. Even the vampire rock star is from Rice.
 
Puck said:
Regarding The Irishman. I believe it is on Netflix as of November 27. It's appearing at select theatres to qualify for the Academy Awards.
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I've been looking for a bootleg copy on line with no luck. I wish it was playing near where I live but... no such luck.
 
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Motherless Brooklyn (2019) Directed by Edward Norton 3A

Is it possible for a movie to lumber? This one lumbers. Motherless Brooklyn seems to be a vanity project of actor, writer, director Edward Norton about whom we haven't heard much lately. His movie is basically a bad take on Roman Polanski's Chinatown, only set later, the early '50s with all the fun cars from that era on display, and reaching its denoument in Brooklyn rather than in LA's Chinatown. Same basic premise: private detective (Norton) snoops around after his partner is killed and finds something shady going on at City Hall and a bunch of family secrets that people are trying to hush up. Sounds pretty familiar, eh? Anyway screenwriter Norton gives the big fat lead role to himself and then director Norton allows himself to wallow in it, all nearly two and a half hours of it. Norton gives his character Tourette's Syndrome and for good measure functional autism, and spends the entire movie twitching unexpectedly and saying inappropriate things. In a movie that is this long his approach gets more than a trifle grating. Another curious aspect of this film is that nobody has any discernible personality. Despite its length, Norton is too busy worrying about his close-ups to provide character development. Plus I couldn't figure out whether the script is more confusing than it is inconsequential or more inconsequential than it is confusing. Just a real bad movie (with neat cars).
 
kihei said:
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Motherless Brooklyn (2019) Directed by Edward Norton 3A

Is it possible for a movie to lumber? This one lumbers. Motherless Brooklyn seems to be a vanity project of actor, writer, director Edward Norton about whom we haven't heard much lately. His movie is basically a bad take on Roman Polanski's Chinatown, only set later, the early '50s with all the fun cars from that era on display, and reaching its denoument in Brooklyn rather than in LA's Chinatown. Same basic premise: private detective (Norton) snoops around after his partner is killed and finds something shady going on at City Hall and a bunch of family secrets that people are trying to hush up. Sounds pretty familiar, eh? Anyway screenwriter Norton gives the big fat lead role to himself and then director Norton allows himself to wallow in it, all nearly two and a half hours of it. Norton gives his character Tourette's Syndrome and for good measure functional autism, and spends the entire movie twitching unexpectedly and saying inappropriate things. In a movie that is this long his approach gets more than a trifle grating. Another curious aspect of this film is that nobody has any discernible personality. Despite its length, Norton is too busy worrying about his close-ups to provide character development. Plus I couldn't figure out whether the script is more confusing than it is inconsequential or more inconsequential than it is confusing. Just a real bad movie (with neat cars).
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Minus 25th Hour, I've NEVER been a Norton fan. You just confirmed I will NOT be seeing this.
 
Luz [2019] :

An experimental super natural German film that comes across more as a play than a movie.

Not scary and a waste of time.

3/10

Spoken languages are German and Spanish.

Movie Trailer :
 
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kihei said:
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Motherless Brooklyn (2019) Directed by Edward Norton 3A

Is it possible for a movie to lumber? This one lumbers. Motherless Brooklyn seems to be a vanity project of actor, writer, director Edward Norton about whom we haven't heard much lately. His movie is basically a bad take on Roman Polanski's Chinatown, only set later, the early '50s with all the fun cars from that era on display, and reaching its denoument in Brooklyn rather than in LA's Chinatown. Same basic premise: private detective (Norton) snoops around after his partner is killed and finds something shady going on at City Hall and a bunch of family secrets that people are trying to hush up. Sounds pretty familiar, eh? Anyway screenwriter Norton gives the big fat lead role to himself and then director Norton allows himself to wallow in it, all nearly two and a half hours of it. Norton gives his character Tourette's Syndrome and for good measure functional autism, and spends the entire movie twitching unexpectedly and saying inappropriate things. In a movie that is this long his approach gets more than a trifle grating. Another curious aspect of this film is that nobody has any discernible personality. Despite its length, Norton is too busy worrying about his close-ups to provide character development. Plus I couldn't figure out whether the script is more confusing than it is inconsequential or more inconsequential than it is confusing. Just a real bad movie (with neat cars).
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When I talked to other people about this movie, more than one person mentioned the word vanity to me.
:laugh:

Even though I did enjoy it, as I see it as a nice homage to Chinatown, I actually can see where you come from, and I do not disagree with you on any points. Perhaps I just needed a change of pace, because the films at the festival are rather slow and heavy, so it is possible that this one looks a lot better to me than it actually is.
 
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The King (2019) - 7.5/10 (Really liked it)

Young King Henry V (Timothée Chalamet) has hardly been on the English throne for long before he's faced with the prospect of war with France and its Dauphin (Robert Pattinson). He wrestles with not wanting to go to war and, yet, not wanting to appear weak. The film, which is a little bit character drama and a little bit epic, is beautiful all around, with good direction, terrific cinematography, an engaging score and solid acting. It's carried by the strong performance of Chalamet. I was unfamiliar with him and a bit apprehensive when he was cast as Paul Atreides in the upcoming Dune, but I'm a lot less worried now. This film feels like his coming out party as an actor. Pattinson is not so good, but I think that it's more due to the comical French accent and the shallowness of the character. He's in only a handful of scenes, though, so his mark on the film is minimal. It's Joel Edgerton as Falstaff, Henry's close friend and adviser, that complements Chalamet's character.

The film looks and feels realistic, from the town and castle interiors to the battle scenes. Seeing hundreds of men fighting in full plate armor in the mud is quite a sight. It's highlighted by a several-minutes-long simulated single take of melee combat that gives a better feeling for the battle than you get when there are lots of cuts and angles. The tone isn't dark, but it is quite serious and practically devoid of any levity. That might lead other films to drag, but I was quite engaged throughout and never bored. Being a history buff may've helped. The film does take quite a few liberties with historical accuracy, which is little disappointing, but so did Braveheart. You just need to be the sort of person who can accept some creative license and take and enjoy a film as a film and not as historical truth.

Anyways, I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it if you like realistic (loosely) historical films, especially ones featuring medieval warfare. It's a Netflix original film that's available now. BTW, it's the best Netflix original film that I've seen... definitely theatrical quality. It's a shame that movies such as this are too expensive and ticket buyer interest is too low for them to be profitable in theaters these days, but at least some can still be made.
 
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Concrete Kids (2018)

Slice of life story about a pair of young kids who skate (overnight) from Venice to Staples Center. Bcuz it is slice of life, it's boring at times. But all things considered, I think it's a good tale. I lived in LA city limits for many years, & this movie is very fair/authentic representation of LA night life (in all it's griminess). If you're interested in LA culture, beyond the stereotypical, polar depictions of extreme Beverly Hills wealth, or South Central.. this a lot of everyday LA.

I give it a 6 (on 10 pt scale).
 
kihei said:
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Motherless Brooklyn (2019) Directed by Edward Norton 3A

Is it possible for a movie to lumber? This one lumbers. Motherless Brooklyn seems to be a vanity project of actor, writer, director Edward Norton about whom we haven't heard much lately. His movie is basically a bad take on Roman Polanski's Chinatown, only set later, the early '50s with all the fun cars from that era on display, and reaching its denoument in Brooklyn rather than in LA's Chinatown. Same basic premise: private detective (Norton) snoops around after his partner is killed and finds something shady going on at City Hall and a bunch of family secrets that people are trying to hush up. Sounds pretty familiar, eh? Anyway screenwriter Norton gives the big fat lead role to himself and then director Norton allows himself to wallow in it, all nearly two and a half hours of it. Norton gives his character Tourette's Syndrome and for good measure functional autism, and spends the entire movie twitching unexpectedly and saying inappropriate things. In a movie that is this long his approach gets more than a trifle grating. Another curious aspect of this film is that nobody has any discernible personality. Despite its length, Norton is too busy worrying about his close-ups to provide character development. Plus I couldn't figure out whether the script is more confusing than it is inconsequential or more inconsequential than it is confusing. Just a real bad movie (with neat cars).
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This movie screamed "vanity project" from the moment I first heard about it (like 10 years ago). I love Norton as an actor but he's obviously got a gigantic ego. The key is finding a director who can hone that energy, as opposed to just letting him run wild.
 
Violenza Domestica said:
I suggest you have a look at Rice's series of vampire novels. There's a lot of that in there (clinical depression by both Lestat and Louis), and some existantial considerations on the boredom of immortality. There was nothing really new in Jarmush's take. Even the vampire rock star is from Rice.
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nihil sub sole novum

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Terminator: Dark Fate - 7.5/10

I enjoyed the movie for what it was. I put it in the same category as Hobbs & Shaw - a movie I came to see the action, knowing the plot would be rather thin. And that's exactly what I got. I actually enjoyed it more than Hobbs & Shaw. I found some of the fight scenes and Terminator scenes rather enjoyable. Nothing I'm going to go around recommending, but I am glad I checked it out.
 
I like Norton a lot because he's very talented but I do think he lets his ego get the best of him. It's a shame, because I haven't seen a move of his in a while that I've really enjoyed. Back in the late 90s with Primal Fear, Fight Club, American History X, Rounders and into the early 2000s with 25th Hour, loved all those performances. Can't name one in recent memory that I've enjoyed sadly.
 
The Girl On The Third Floor [2019]:

The house Don's wife just bought has him by the balls... literally.

Don is an ex lawyer with a nasty past. He and his wife are looking to start over by renovating a home that use to be a whorehouse 100 years ago. Enter Sarah Yates. A drop dead beauty who seduces Don. Something he will regret.

The Girl On The Third Floor is far from perfect. The movie throws everything at the wall, including an ending that is off beat (to put it mildly), and not all of it sticks. Still, it scared me but good.

7.5/10

Movie Trailer :
 
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