Movies: Last Movie You Watched and Rate It | Part#: Some High Number +3

[kihei]

I just saw 1917. I liked it - but I thought it was missing something..not sure what.

What did you guys think of it?

I liked it a lot, but the illusion of a single-take throughout the movie probably takes a serious toll on emotional impact and eliminates a lot of story-telling options.. The movie dazzles technically, but it doesn't seem to have a lot of heart.

 

[nameless1]

Leave No Trace (2018) - 9/10 (Really Loved it)

An Iraq War veteran and single father (Ben Foster) living homeless in the woods with this teenage daughter (Thomasin McKenzie) faces pressure to give up their nomadic lifestyle and integrate with society or risk losing her. I was watching this and thinking of how the only other film that I could recall that felt anything like this was Winter's Bone. It turns out that it's from the same writer and director, Debra Granik, and is her only film since (quality over quantity, I suppose).

This is an intimate, character-driven film that is very slow and uneventful, so don't expect action or even excitement from it. At times, it even feels more like a documentary about homelessness that follows a two-person family from place to place than it does a movie. Though not a whole lot happens, I was hooked because I empathized with the characters. It's also a perpetually sad and heartbreaking film, not because bad things happen, but because it's obvious that the father's PTSD holds him and, especially, his daughter back. Most other films might grapple with PTSD or homelessness, but this one manages to do both and do it in a way that doesn't feel like too much and doesn't judge the characters or beat the viewer over the head with messages. Foster does a good job as the semi-vacant father, but it's really McKenzie (who more recently played Elsa in Jojo Rabbit) who's the star of the film and for whose character my heart slowly broke. I'm starting to think that she's one of the best young actresses today and has a great future ahead of her. Granik must have an eye for talent because she gave Jennifer Lawrence her big break, as well.

Anyways, it's been a long time since I was last moved like this and I lost it at the end. I haven't yet given a rating above 8/10 here, but I think that I have to for this one, since it just really worked for me and felt like such a pure, distilled example of filmmaking. Rather than take my word that it's worth watching, though, have a look at the 100% score at RT from 224 critic reviews: Leave No Trace (take that, Parasite, with your measly 99%!) Just heed my warning that, as I said, it's a very slow, uneventful and melancholy film, so don't watch it if you're not ready for that or are easily bored.

To be honest, for the subject matter and the director's intention, the speed is just right. Yes, it is on the slow side, but I never felt it because I became enthralled by the family, and I really want to get to know and understand the two characters. I do agree with your review though, and it is definitely one of my favourite from 2018.

 

[nameless1]

I liked it a lot, but the illusion of a single-take throughout the movie probably takes a serious toll on emotional impact and eliminates a lot of story-telling options.. The movie dazzles technically, but it doesn't seem to have a lot of heart.

Yeah, 1917 feels especially empty. The movie is definitely difficult to make due to all the moving parts, but the supposedly one shot technique is nothing more than a gimmick. It adds absolutely nothing to the story, because even if it is shot in a conventional way, the audience can still see the horrors of war. Frankly, all the bells and whistles are just used to hide a weak script. When the action wanes, my attention goes too.

I want to give it a 6/10, but because the technical side is impressive enough, I will bump it to a 7/10. I did not like the movie all that much, but it is worth a watch.

 

[Osprey]

To be honest, for the subject matter and the director's intention, the speed is just right. Yes, it is on the slow side, but I never felt it because I became enthralled by the family, and I really want to get to know and understand the two characters. I do agree with your review though, and it is definitely one of my favourite ones from 2018.

Yes, to be clear, when I said that it's slow, uneventful and melancholy, I didn't mean that it's too slow, too uneventful or too melancholy. It was all fine for me, but may not be for everyone or what everyone is in the mood for (I'm not always in the mood for such a film, either). 20% of RT users (not critics) didn't like it and felt that it's boring, so it made sense to me to mention likely why they felt that and let readers judge for themselves if they're interested (and not blame me if they watch it and don't like it for those reasons ).

 

[nameless1]

Yes, to be clear, when I said that it's slow, uneventful and melancholy, I didn't mean that it's too slow, too uneventful or too melancholy. It was all fine for me, but may not be for everyone or what everyone is in the mood for (I'm not always in the mood for such a film, either). 20% of RT users (not critics) didn't like it and felt that it's boring, so it made sense to me to mention likely why they felt that and let readers judge for themselves if they're interested (and not blame me if they watch it and don't like it for those reasons ).

You emphasized the speed twice, so I assumed you were bothered by it.


You are just being considerate. I got you now.

 

[Thucydides]

I liked it a lot, but the illusion of a single-take throughout the movie probably takes a serious toll on emotional impact and eliminates a lot of story-telling options.. The movie dazzles technically, but it doesn't seem to have a lot of heart.

yeah, I think that’s what I was looking to say, not a lot of heart .

I’ll check Parasite out tonight .

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Uncut Gems (Safdie & Safdie, 2019) - enjoyable little flick that I will quickly forget about - 5/10

 

[Pay Carl]

just watched “Good Time”

Probably the most stressful thing I’ve ever watched start to finish. Uncut Gems was stressful but in a good way, this one was just pure chaos and almost like too stressful

I’ll give it a 6/10

 

[nameless1]

just watched “Good Time”

Probably the most stressful thing I’ve ever watched start to finish. Uncut Gems was stressful but in a good way, this one was just pure chaos and almost like too stressful

I’ll give it a 6/10

I have never understood the love for this one. Everything about it is messy, and I really do not see a message. It is tense, but it never explains the purpose.

I will check out Uncut Gems when I have the time, but I am not the biggest fan of the directors.

 

[Pay Carl]

I have never understood the love for this one. Everything about it is messy, and I really do not see a message. It is tense, but it never explains the purpose.

I will check out Uncut Gems when I have the time, but I am not the biggest fan of the directors.

I liked Uncut Gems, it was a manageable amount of chaos

this movie literally was the most chaotic/tense movie I’ve ever seen. Like i was invested in it but it was so tense

 

[kihei]

I have never understood the love for this one. Everything about it is messy, and I really do not see a message. It is tense, but it never explains the purpose.

I really liked Good Tims a lot. I took it as a character study about a guy attempting to achieve one thing, getting his brother out of jail, but who is inadvertently chaos incarnate, damaging those around him in his desperation to release his brother. That was one hell of a downward spiral to witness in my book with a fine performance by Pattinson. Good Time made the nether regions of my Top Twenty for 2017.

 

[nameless1]

I really liked Good Tims a lot. I took it as a character study about a guy attempting to achieve one thing, getting his brother out of jail, but who is inadvertently chaos incarnate, damaging those around him in his desperation to release his brother. That was one hell of a downward spiral to witness in my book with a fine performance by Pattinson. Good Time made the nether regions of my Top Twenty for 2017.

Yeah, I can see that. Unfortunately, it just does not do anything for me. I continue to question everything, and I just do not care about the main character. It is just what it is.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

White Girl
Dir. Elizabeth Wood

Seems like the kind of movie Vice would slobber over.

Score: 2/10

 

[Newsworthy]

Sonic the Hedgehog's target audience is obviously aimed at today's youth.
Kids will like it more than adults so I give it a 6/10 overall.

 

[Osprey]

The Vanishing (2018) - 7/10 (Really liked it)

In 1900, three Scottish lighthouse keepers (Gerard Butler, Peter Mullan, Connor Swindells) discover a boat and cargo washed ashore and soon wish that they didn't. It's inspired by a nearly 120-year-old mystery about three lighthouse keepers who disappeared from their island without a trace. It's the same event that inspired Roger Eggers' The Lighthouse, and the two films share similarities like good performances and psychological elements, but they're also very different. Whereas Eggers' film is experimental, artsy, surreal and a little light on story, this is shot like a modern film, wholly realistic and has a more traditional story structure. Basically, most of the features that make The Lighthouse exceptional are missing here, but so are some of the things that make it not for everyone. This is more of a straight-forward thriller with an aesthetic and pace that reminded me of Shutter Island. It has a few flaws, like an underwhelming ending, but I was wondering what a similar story and setting as The Lighthouse would look like if it were filmed more traditionally and this perfectly satisfied that curiosity.

 

[Osprey]

There's no relation between these next two films and the one that I just reviewed. I just happened to discover them because they were named the same. It is kind of funny that I watched three films with exactly the same title in the last 24 hours, though.

The Vanishing (1988) - 7/10 (Really Liked it)

A man's girlfriend disappears while they're on vacation, making him determined to find her or find out what happened to her. I was made aware of this Dutch thriller when I was reading reviews of Breakdown (the 1997 Kurt Russell thriller that I've always liked), since it has a similar premise. The structure is a bit different, though. In this one, we know who the kidnapper is from the beginning, we see him practicing and failing to lure victims and we also learn about his home life, his backstory and why he did it. We see and learn more about him than we do the good guy, which works, I suppose, because a psycho is a more interesting character than the ordinary dude who lost his girlfriend. Anyways, the film does a good job of making you want to know what happened to the girlfriend as badly as the boyfriend does and maintains that mystery all of the way up to the final, unforgettable scene. It's definitely worth watching if you like "disappearance" thrillers and/or surprise endings. Subtitles.

The Vanishing (1993) - 4/10 (Disliked it)

This American remake from the same director as the original stars Kiefer Sutherland as the boyfriend, Sandra Bullock as the girlfriend and Jeff Bridges as the kidnapper. It's pretty similar in story and structure until the ending, which is very different and very Hollywood-ized. It's definitely not as good, but it's hard for me to tell how much worse because I watched them back to back and this one was so familiar that I was bored. Perhaps it'd be somewhat enjoyable if you were to watch it first, but I wouldn't recommend that anyone do that unless you have no interest in watching the original. That one is still the classic and has the better, more memorable ending. About the only thing going for this one and making it watchable is the star power, especially getting to see Jeff Bridges as a psycho. Funny tidbit: when I saw who was starring, I assumed that Jeff Bridges was the boyfriend and Kiefer Sutherland was the psycho. That thought that the film could've easily been cast the other way around entertained me a bit while I was watching.

 

[kihei]

Note: There's no relation between these next two films and the one that I just reviewed. I just happened to discover them because they were named the same. It is kind of funny that I watched three films with exactly the same title in the last 24 hours, though.

The Vanishing (1988) - 7/10 (Really Liked it)

A man's girlfriend disappears while they're on vacation, making him determined to find her or find out what happened to her. I was made aware of this Dutch thriller when I was reading reviews of Breakdown (the 1997 Kurt Russell thriller that I've always liked), since it has a similar premise. The structure is a bit different, though. In this one, we know who the kidnapper is from the beginning, we see him practicing and failing to lure victims and we also learn about his home life, his backstory and why he did it (because having a reason makes you less of a psycho). We see and learn more about him than we do the good guy, to the point that we almost root for him. It's a little strange, but I guess that it works because he is the more interesting character than the ordinary guy who lost his girlfriend. Anyways, the film does a good job of making you want to know what happened to the girlfriend as badly as the boyfriend does and maintains that mystery all of the way up to the final, unforgettable scene. It's definitely worth watching if you like "disappearance" thrillers and/or surprise endings. Subtitles.

The Vanishing (1993) - 4/10 (Disliked it)

This American remake from the same director as the original stars Kiefer Sutherland as the boyfriend, Sandra Bullock as the girlfriend and Jeff Bridges as the kidnapper. It's pretty similar in story and structure until you get to the ending, which is very different and very Hollywood-ized. I didn't like that major change, but it's difficult to compare the rest of the film because I watched the two back to back and everything was so familiar and, consequently, a little boring. It might've been a bit better if I hadn't already seen the original, but I wouldn't recommend that anyone actually watch this first or instead unless foreign films just really aren't your thing. The original is the classic and has the better ending, IMO. About the only thing going for this one and making it watchable is the star power, especially getting to see Jeff Bridges as a psycho. Funny tidbit: when I saw who was starring, I assumed that Jeff Bridges was the boyfriend and Kiefer Sutherland was the psycho. That thought that the film could've easily been cast the other way around entertained me a bit while I was watching.

I thought the original was a masterpiece, on the short list of best horror films ever made, and the US re-make was an absolute abomination. I'd go 8A for the original and 2A for the remake. Here's the kicker, though: they were both directed by the same director: George Sluizer. Talk about peeing on your own canvas. Moral to the story: when Hollywood beckons, make sure you retain script approval.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Red Eye (Craven, 2005) - Except for a few TV movies and his porn flick, I think I've seen pretty much everything Wes Craven did, but I kept away from that one until yesterday. I was right, even though Craven is far from a great director*, this was still one of his weakest films. I guess he tried to play on different genre tropes, but it fails completely and is actually pretty much just a predictable and drab boring flick. 3/10

*Last House on the Left and A Nightmare on Elm Street were very effective atmospheric films, but other than than, there's a lot of meh in his filmography (even if I like the intention from his return to the Nightmare series for part 7, and appreciate quite a few of his lesser films for their fun factor - mainly Shocker, People Under the Stairs... The Serpent and the Rainbow was somewhat of a good effort too).

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Ford vs Ferrari

with Matt Damon, Christian Bale, their fake accents, and every once in a while a car shows up.

In the early 1960's one of the epic battles of motorsport history was raging; Ford tried to buy Ferrari, got rebuffed, then Henry Ford II got his nose out of joint and became determined to beat Ferrari on the highest level of racing on the planet: Le Mans. It had everything. Tension, thrills, suspense, balls to the wall racing of psycho vintage racing cars....

...and this movie tells not much of that. It really says something when Mr Bawwston Matt Damon is mincing his way through a Texas accent and it's more convincing than Christian Bale's fake cockney accent...and you know Christian Bale is f***ing BRITISH. Like, really. And that's 90% of the movie, those two arguing as Ken Miles and Carroll Shelby. Artificial tension is created by some guy at Ford being the bad guy by being the conniving corporate suit trying to take over the racing team...but you won't care about that. I sure as hell didn't.

I really wanted to like this movie. I'm a huge car guy but it manages to not be a car movie. How the hell do you make a movie about the battle for Le Mans in the late 60's, call it Ford vs Ferrari, and have it not be a car movie? Somehow these people managed it. It's all Christian Bale hamming it up for his wife and kid, Matt Damon wearing a stetson, and lots of shots of changing gears. Precious little actual cars though.

Really, really disappointing, especially for a car guy. Even Christian Bale's racing evoked James May on the track. "Aww, you pillock!"

 

[aufheben]

I really liked Good Tims a lot. I took it as a character study about a guy attempting to achieve one thing, getting his brother out of jail, but who is inadvertently chaos incarnate, damaging those around him in his desperation to release his brother. That was one hell of a downward spiral to witness in my book with a fine performance by Pattinson. Good Time made the nether regions of my Top Twenty for 2017.

Stylistically, the Safdie films are as good as it gets IMO. I watched Heaven Knows What last week...excellent stuff. The soundtracks are unbelievable. I've also noticed they slip in these cosmic undertones that add an entire other layer to the chaos and struggles of the characters. It sort of brings an existential absurdity to situations that are already absurd. For instance, during Heaven Knows What, there is a scene where one of the characters had been watching Carl Sagan's Cosmos and is talking about it and all the pale blue dot stuff. It's subtle, not the focus of the scene, but it's clearly present and intended. Those sort of things really elevated the entire films from "good" to "great" for me.

I don't know if I've seen any of his other performances, but Pattinson in Good Time and The Lighthouse really impressed me.

 

[OzzyFan]

Sonic the Hedgehog's target audience is obviously aimed at today's youth.
Kids will like it more than adults so I give it a 6/10 overall.

Yep, kids at my screening ate it up, but there's just enough adult humor and fun to go with it's speedy pacing to make it enjoyable for adults. Not to mention, Carrey returning to his most loved form and arguably the only one he should be playing still...a whacky over the top slapstick character. 2.25 out of 4stars.

 

[nameless1]

I don't know if I've seen any of his other performances, but Pattinson in Good Time and The Lighthouse really impressed me.

At this point, it is possible I have a bias against Robert Pattinson, because I thought nothing of either performances. He did his job, but that is about it.

Funny thing is, my opinion is not tainted by the Twilight movies, because I have never seen any of them. I may just not like him as a actor.

 

[aufheben]

At this point, it is possible I have a bias against Robert Pattinson, because I thought nothing of either performances. He did his job, but that is about it.

Funny thing is, my opinion is not tainted by the Twilight movies, because I have never seen any of them. I may just not like him as a actor.

I think he's great, it's like he has this burning drive to not be known as
the Twilight guy".

That said, I've only seen 2 of his movies.

 

[kihei]

Pattinson is excellent in The Rover; Life; High Life; and has a really fun cameo in the otherwise listless ,The King. I think he is one of the best actors in the business right now. I love watching him act.

 

[nameless1]

I think you guys may have to take my opinion of any Robert Pattinson movie with a grain of salt. It is possible that he just rubs me the wrong way.


To be fair, I think he is okay, but nothing about him draws me in. I have seen 5 to 7 of his movies, and I am never impressed. He is very forgettable to me.