Movies: Last Movie You Watched and Rate It | Part#: Some High Number +4

[ProstheticConscience]

1922

with Thomas Jane and other people.

1922 Bumpkinsville, Nebraska is where Wilf (Jane), his wife Arnette and their 14 year old son Henry (played by a guy who looks about 30) hang their hats. Wilf and Arnette aren't happy. He likes being a leathery farmer...she, not so much. Her dad left her 100 acres of farmland, and she's itching to sell the land and move to Omaha. Yes, Omaha. Wilf's not happy about the idea and their kid just wants to fiddle around with the cute neighbour chick. Things are coming to a head, either with divorce or...dead wife. Uh-oh. Well, it's not like the CSI: 1922 Omaha crew is going to bust through the door to a vintage Who song, are they. But all isn't well after the fact. Tension, foul weather, lots of rats and the constant strains of a chamber quartet haunt Wilf and Hank thereafter. What will happen with the cute blond girlfriend and her snobby blond father? Will Hank overcome puberty by 31? Will Tom Jane ever manage to unclench his jaw before talking? Try to maintain interest if you dare.

Give Tom Jane credit, he really tries as an actor. He's been a South African police captain in the apartheid days who became a famous bank robber, the Punisher, a high school teacher in Detroit who became a big-dicked male prostitute and kept it interesting...but here...yeah. Not so much. Stephen King is so hit and miss for source material; here it's a miss for me. Boring and predictable the whole way through. Kinda hints at supernatural stuff, but can just as easily be guilt and PTSD. zzzzzzzzzzzzsnorezzzzzzzzzz.

On Netflix. With other non-cat-related movies.

But how do you *really* know they don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee...?!

 

[nameless1]

Been wanting to watch this for a while, but I'm not gunna lie, the run time and slow pace intimidate me. I'll just have to take the dive one of these days.

It is definitely a challenge, but I find it incredibly rewarding. I really like the storytelling in this one, which is quite innovative, and the audience can deeply feel the breakdown in what seems to be real time.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Inside Man was so annoying. Hated that movie. Spike Lee's a mixed bag for me, and Inside Man pissed me off badly. Caught the twist halfway through.

 

[nameless1]

I finally got through some of the movies on the free cineplex rentals, and I have to say, Blindspotting and Pariah really impressed me.

Storywise, Pariah is pretty straight forward about a young girl who comes to terms with her sexuality, but it simply helps to highlight the emotional impact. The actors are great, and I really wish the director had gotten more chances to tell more stories. She is definitely talented, but she is mainly regulated to television duties now.

Meanwhile, I really like the fresh look on racism that Blindspotting presented. While the story still focuses on the inherit racism leveled against African Americans, it also examines how the Caucasian fits into a predominantly African American neighborhood, and how differently he is perceived even when he displays all the mannerism that is associated with African American gangs. While I feel the final confrontation scene is forced, it asks a lot of good questions. I missed it back in 2018, but it is definitely one of the better films from that year.

 

[nameless1]

Inside Man was so annoying. Hated that movie. Spike Lee's a mixed bag for me, and Inside Man pissed me off badly. Caught the twist halfway through.

Fair enough. Lee is not my favourite director either, and he has directed absolute duds, but he is an important voice in the African American society. I appreciate that he seems to have free reign to how he expresses himself, because not a lot of people can do that.

I also love his battles with Reggie Miller. Now that is a great side story in the early to mid-90s, and it made the NBA playoffs that much more fun.

 

[Osprey]

The Vast of Night (2019) - 4/10 (Disliked it)

I appreciate and am impressed that this very low budget ($700K) film was self-financed by the writer and director, but, ignoring that and judging it as a movie, it was a miss for me. I found it slow, boring and cliched. It's extremely dialogue-centered, which isn't a problem for me, but much of the dialogue is mostly one-sided, with one side telling a story and the other listening, so there's the occasional feeling of being read a bedtime story. Watch this late at night and it might put you to sleep. It felt like the movie takes UFOs very seriously, which made it a little hard for me to take the movie seriously. I also wasn't a fan of the rapid-fire dialogue that sounded unnatural or the grainy, washed-out look of the film. I'm not sure if the latter was intentional to evoke the period or if the budget simply didn't allow for cameras or film that were better suited to night filming (and the entire film takes place at night). Finally, the ending was weak and reminiscent of other more famous movies. I don't enjoy picking such a super low budget film apart, since, again, I respect the effort, but I didn't really find this to be enjoyable, though I can see why others might be more forgiving and get more out of it.

 

[kihei]

My 20th Century (1989) Directed by Ildiko Enyedi 9C

This fascinating and original film has been trying to find an audience for 31 years, so much so that Rotten Tomatoes lists it erroneously as a 2019 release. Where to begin? This is a movie about two identical twin girls whose lives are played out amidst an elaborate backdrop of late 19th century and early 20 century upheaval. Edison is inventing is epoch changing light bulb, Freudian types are constructing deeply anti-feminist psychologies, and revolution is in the air. In other words it is a time of great social disruption. Enter Dora and Lili two identical twin girls whose mother dies early in their lives leaving them orphans selling matches on the streets of Budapest in the middle of a very snowy winter. Two gentlemen of means discover them one night, flip a coin, and each adopts one of them. Though played brilliantly by the same actress Dorota Segda, they grow up into very different people. Lili becomes an anarchist bent of blowing up a politician while Dora becomes a seductress and opportunist. Z, a handsome stranger, meets Lili in a library and tries to seduce her but she demurs; he later meets Dora on a train, thinking she is Lili, and this time his seduction, or is it hers, is more successful. At the end of the very sexy seduction scene, Dora steals some of his money and skedatttles. These three lives will intermingle again in the not too distant future. A dog, a mule and a monkey (with tales to tell of his own but he can't speak) all play minor roles in the story here and there. My 20th Century is a great mishmash of ideas, mostly which have to do with change and personal liberation, but any attempt to limit the movie to a neat reading of its subject matter and themes does it a serious injustice. To top it off, director Ilkiko Enyedi is obviously a protege of countrymen Bela Tarr with the most obvious comparison being the phantasmagorical structure of the story and the gorgeous black and white cinematography. My 20th Century is one of the great undiscovered gems of world cinema.

subtitles

available on Criterion Channel

 

[Puck]

Wow, that Criterion Channel has quite the collection.

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

My Neighbor Totoro....I think the voice acting (I watched the film in English) brought it down, as the intonation of the voices was often pandering and somewhat annoying

Watching it in English does a HUGE disservice to this movie, IMO-- enough to borderline ruin the whole thing for me, personally-- it's one of my favorites otherwise (the banality sets the mood perfectly, the way an Ozu movie does, IMO). The Japanese child voice actors broke my heart, whereas the English voice actors just sounded like annoying little sh**s, to my ears.

I have to emphatically echo this point. While the voice acting varies in quality among Ghibli films, for me, the greatest crimes of the English dubs is they actually modify dialogue to make it more "Americanized." Sometimes this doesn't have a huge effect, but other times it absolutely does.

An example from Totoro actually: In the dubbed version, when the younger girl realizes the bucket she's using has a giant hole in the bottom, she says to it, "stupid bucket!" It's a moment of indignant anger, as she feels the bucket owes her something that it has not provided her. The same scene in the original version, she says to it, "got no bottom." It is a purer moment of realization/discovery. It may not seem like a big deal, but when so much of a movie hinges on a general tone (especially Totoro) little subtleties like that can make all the difference in the world, even unbeknownst to the viewer.

In short, always watch the films with subtitles, because if nothing else, you're at least getting the dialogue as it was originally written and intended to be consumed as.

 

[kihei]

Watched Fever Pitch tonight to continue my theme of baseball movies. Decent movie, enjoyable enough. Jimmy Fallon can’t act. I can see why his movie career never really went anywhere. I can relate to his whole die hard fan thing in that movie though.

6/10

You got the wrong Fever Pitch, mate. The original British film from 1997 is based much more closely on Nick Hornby's wonderful novel/memoir about being a fan of Arsenal, starring Colin Firth:



Not exactly a great movie by any means, but less cloying than the remake.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

I have to emphatically echo this point. While the voice acting varies in quality among Ghibli films, for me, the greatest crimes of the English dubs is they actually modify dialogue to make it more "Americanized." Sometimes this doesn't have a huge effect, but other times it absolutely does.

An example from Totoro actually: In the dubbed version, when the younger girl realizes the bucket she's using has a giant hole in the bottom, she says to it, "stupid bucket!" It's a moment of indignant anger, as she feels the bucket owes her something that it has not provided her. The same scene in the original version, she says to it, "got no bottom." It is a purer moment of realization/discovery. It may not seem like a big deal, but when so much of a movie hinges on a general tone (especially Totoro) little subtleties like that can make all the difference in the world, even unbeknownst to the viewer.

In short, always watch the films with subtitles, because if nothing else, you're at least getting the dialogue as it was originally written and intended to be consumed as.

Oh, absolutely. I usually watch all foreign films in their original language with subtitles (and even in English, I tend to still put them on) but I was with my wife (not that I think she would have minded but still) and since it was animation, I had the bad reflex of thinking it would be more palatable. Big mistake. I'll watch it again in Japanese sometime soon - I'm just sorry I wasted a good opportunity aware that I should have known better, as intonations and delivery tend to be very important to me in my enjoyment of a movie.

 

[ORRFForever]

The Vast of Night (2019) - 4/10 (Disliked it)

I appreciate and am impressed that this very low budget ($700K) film was self-financed by the writer and director, but, ignoring that and judging it as a movie, it was a miss for me. I found it slow, boring and cliched. It's extremely dialogue-centered, which isn't a problem for me, but much of the dialogue is mostly one-sided, with one side telling a story and the other listening, so there's the occasional feeling of being read a bedtime story. Watch this late and night and it might put you to sleep. This movie takes UFOs very seriously, so, if you don't believe in them, it can be hard to take the movie seriously. I also wasn't a fan of the rapid-fire dialogue that sounded unnatural or the grainy, washed-out look of the film. I'm not sure if the latter was intentional to evoke the period or if the budget simply didn't allow for cameras or film that were better suited to night filming (and the entire film takes place at night). Finally, the ending was weak and reminiscent of other more famous movies. I don't enjoy picking such a super low budget film apart, since, again, I respect the effort, but I didn't really find this to be enjoyable, though I can see why others might be more forgiving and get more out of it.

I liked it more than you did (IIRC) but all of your criticisms are valid.

I enjoyed the camera work, the young female character, and the simplicity of it all - it is definitely a "less is more" kinda movie.

 

[Langdon Alger]

You got the wrong Fever Pitch, mate. The original British film from 1997 is based much more closely on Nick Hornby's wonderful novel/memoir about being a fan of Arsenal, starring Colin Firth:



Not exactly a great movie by any means, but less cloying than the remake.

Never knew this movie existed. Nick Hornby also wrote High Fidelity, which I enjoyed very much.

 

[Osprey]

I have to emphatically echo this point. While the voice acting varies in quality among Ghibli films, for me, the greatest crimes of the English dubs is they actually modify dialogue to make it more "Americanized." Sometimes this doesn't have a huge effect, but other times it absolutely does.

An example from Totoro actually: In the dubbed version, when the younger girl realizes the bucket she's using has a giant hole in the bottom, she says to it, "stupid bucket!" It's a moment of indignant anger, as she feels the bucket owes her something that it has not provided her.

Are you suggesting that we Americans are indignant and angry? I'm offended. What a stupid suggestion!



I like how they changed it even though she's clearly not upset, but, rather, smiling and amused.

 

[Arizonan God]

Wow, that Criterion Channel has quite the collection.

It's pretty great. I've been subscribed since it launched and I feel like I've hardly scratched the surface.

 

[ORRFForever]

The Last Picture Show (1971) :

Charlene : "Now don't go tellin' all the boys how hot I was."

Sonny : (sadly / quietly) "You wasn't that hot."

**

Lois : "Just remember, beautiful, everything gets old if you do it often enough."

**

An ex boss (he was also a friend) once asked me, "How come, when I was young, I was NEVER invited to any swimming parties like they had in the movie 'The Last Picture Show'?".

I sadly replied, "Yeah... I was never invited either".

**

I love The Last Picture Show and I've seen it many times. A true classic. So many insightful lines/quotes/characters. I definitely learned more about sex and relationships from this movie than from all the "sex ed" classes I sat through as a kid.

9/10

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Society (Yuzna, 1989): I wanted to go on a Yuzna frenzy, but I was cut short by some availability glitch on Tubi... well I could still go on and watch The Dentist I & II, but I'm not sure I'm that motivated... And anyway, if one thing is clear about Yuzna is that he was a great guy to have around a low-budget set, but he wasn't himself a filmmaker. Still, he started real good with this first feature. But looking at his career as a director, it's obvious he was riding Stuart Gordon's momentum*. Society was only made because he agreed to produce a sequel to The Re-Animator - he thus signed a two features deal, and put himself in the director's chair. These two first films are great, but they both strongly feel as they were made on a "What would Gordon do?" kinda rythm - and Yuzna never got back to anything close to that level afterwards. Society has that no-shit-given Gordon attitude, it's light and fun and still achieves some kind of laudability in its very original take on the "elite feeding on the poorer classes" trope (and we're here somehow closer to Eyes Wide Shut than to The Platform - and before someone blows a fuse, I'm not suggesting Society is remotely close to EWS in overall value or quality!!). Some of the production decisions turned out so well they look like genius calls: hiring that weirdo Screaming Mad George who only had worked behind Kevin Yagher on two Nightmare On Elm Street films, telling him to not use any blood to avoid censors' cuts... Result, the film has a quite unique look and feel - not suitable for anybody with a poker up their ass. 7.5/10

*Edit: I make it sound like Yuzna would be nothing without Gordon, but truth is they kind of made each other (Gordon had some recognition in the artsy-theater realms, but Yuzna is the one who made him a film cult figure).

The Unnamable (Ouellette, 1988): Because I couldn't go on with watching the Brian Yuzna films, I dried my tears watching this (less than) famous Lovecraft adaptation. Like most of them, it goes real far away from the original material (only the first 7 minutes after the prologue kind of follow the short story), mostly into a very repetitive and un-atmospheric exploration of a creepy abandonned house (or a poor set trying to look like one). The creature's pretty cool, but you'd wish the film was directed by an intellectual - the characters kind of name the unnamable creature "The Unnamable", but this fun aporia is never given a thought. I am confident I've never seen the sequel, by the same Ouellette (only other film he ever directed starred Bruce Ly! - but he was a second unit director on The Terminator and his Wiki page says he worked or studied under Russ Meyer and Orson Welles - that's one heck of a resume). 3/10


and some other stuff...

Through My Father's Eyes - The Ronda Rousey Story (Stretch, 2019): When you know nobody will make a feature documentary about you, make one about a prime figure of women sports, and try and make it as much as possible about yourself. This Stretch guy tries real hard to be an important part of Rousey's story, the numerous and useless countershots to his face are absolutely ridiculous (he made himself real pretty for the camera too), but that's still not enough, he also had to write a song for the credits. Rousey is interesting enough on her own to make it bearable. 2.5/10

Days of Thunder (Scott, 1990): Don't ask me... Typical "it is what it is" kind of film, no ambition, no interest. 3/10

Gemini Man (Lee, 2019): Wasn't Ang Lee supposed to be a credible director? I guess that it is what it is, with very unpleasant CGI. 3/10

Bang Gang (une histoire d'amour moderne) (Husson, 2015): Could have been interesting, but lacks character/signature. The intro screams I wish I had directed that (amazing) Gaspar Noé videoclip for Placebo's French version of Protect Me From What I Want! and the rest of the film screams I wish I had directed Kids!! ... with lame voiceover and extra efforts to underline the final desired "lack of a moral" (which fails). 4/10

 

[ORRFForever]

Bang Gang (une histoire d'amour moderne) (Husson, 2015): Could have been interesting, but lacks character/signature. The intro screams I wish I had directed that (amazing) Gaspar Noé videoclip for Placebo's French version of Protect Me From What I Want! and the rest of the film screams I wish I had directed Kids!! ... with lame voiceover and extra efforts to underline the final desired "lack of a moral" (which fails). 4/10

I liked it more than you did. My review from 2018...

Bang Gang : A Modern Love Story (2015) :

A bunch of spoiled, bored, over stimulated students start an orgy club. They have lots of sex, get jealous, fight, get pregnant, catch diseases, regret their indulgences, and realize there is more to life.

6.5/10

Spoken Language is French.

 

[ORRFForever]

Jeffrey Epstein / Filthy Rich (2020)
(Netflix) :

4 part documentary about the perverted recluse and his beautiful girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell - who needs to be found and charged. While no one can deny Epstein's charisma, he was an evil man and hearing about him leaves you feeling dirty - especially when the ladies talk about what they went through when they were young.

One of the most interesting parts of the story, where Epstein got his fortune, is barely addressed. That's unfortunate because that's where my interest lies.

As for the documentary as a whole : It's well made and well paced, but there's nothing new other than sexual assault details that you'd rather NOT know.

6.5/10

The beautiful (I LOVE her looks) girlfriend / "pimpette" of Jeffrey Epstein was arrested today.

Expect an extension to this Netflix series.

Let's just hope she doesn't "kill herself".

 

[kihei]

Godzilla (1954) Directed Ishiro Honda 8A

I was always under the impression that the first Godzilla movie that I saw, the one released in 1956 with Canadian actor Raymond Burr as a reporter, was the first Godzilla movie ever made, but it turns out that I was wrong. That version is a truncated adaption of the original film released in Japan in 1954. The Raymond Burr version, which adds about 15 minutes worth of Burr and takes out an additional 15 minutes of the original to boot, was produced to take advantage of the US market. The original version, tighter and more focused, is a very pleasant surprise to discover. Godzilla is a 165 foot beast created by H-Bomb testing, and he is not the cuddly Sesame Street-type monster that he will become in the early '60s and beyond. He is a fearsome beast and he really looks the part, a much better version of himself than many of his subsequent rubber-toy looking counterparts. The scenes where he lays waste to Tokyo are wonders to behold. The fact that these scenes are shot in the dead of night adds immensely to their ability to create the illusion that Godzilla is a monster like no other. Even granting the limitations of early '50s special effects, his destructive power is immense and he moves much better than many of his later more kid-friendly versions will. Even given the models constructed of buildings and vehicles are not totally realistic, the overall effect is still awesome. In fact, not since King Kong in 1933 had there been anything quite like this movie. No wonder the movie had the impact that it did, and no wonder the Big Lizard and his cautionary tale about the dangers of nuclear weapons has had such a huge impact of Japanese pop-culture. They really got it right the first time. The original Godzilla is among the best monster movies every made and fun to this day.

subtitles

available of Criterion Channel

 

[Chili]

Rembrandt-1936

This film interested me because I knew little of one of the more famous people of his age. The print I watched was poor but well worth the time. Enjoyed Charles Laughton's subtle performance again teamed with his wife Elsa Lanchester. Reminded of his ability to recite long passages. Like a lot of artists, Rembrant's work was his ultimate passion. It is a sad story but has me interested in finding a good Rembrandt biography.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Kill the Irishman

with Ray Stevenson, and a whole bunch of people of greater prominence from various other mob movies or tv shows.

Crime drama biopic of Danny Greene, Irish union boss, gangster and nemesis of the Italian mob in Cleveland in the early 70's. From his early days as an orphaned street hoodlum and later longshoreman, bagpipes skirl in the distance while his wavy red mop flaps valiantly in the breeze. He develops into a union boss after easily shoving aside Bob Gunton and his flared nostrils, and he and his sideburned Irish henchmen ooze charisma all over the block. But it's not long before he's out of the union and partnered up with Jack Nardi (a slovenly Vincent D'Onofrio) to take over mob business in Ohio. Many manly fistfights and pints of Guinness later, much shit has indeed hit the fan. Danny loves nothing more than thumbing his nose at the Italians...but then come the bombs. Car bombs, house bombs, bombs they throw at you and drive away...all the bombs. Val Kilmer (man, has he ever let himself go...) is a cop who sometimes dispenses narration and indifference, but the writing is clearly on the wall for Danny. When will he see it? Watch and not care.

Crime movies are sometimes guilty of romanticizing their subjects, and wow does this one ever do just that. It bends over backwards to make Danny Greene come off as a sympathetic figure but in reality he was a much meaner, nastier and more corrupt figure than you'd ever know from watching this. Just because he was Irish doesn't make him a nice guy. Trust me. I lived in Ireland. Chris Walken, Paulie Sorvino, Vinnie Jones, Robert Davi show up and say hi...great cast that had a cup of coffee and then left. There must have been some massive malfunction in the production of this thing. So many great possibilities that were left by the wayside.

Several cuts below forgettable.

On Prime.

Chris Walken, Paul Sorvino, Val Kilmer...and they gave ME top billing! Cha-ching!!

 

[kihei]

Family Romance, LLC (2020) Directed by Werner Herzog 7B

Family Romance, LLC is a company in Tokyo which provides surrogate family members and friends for people to rent who, for one reason or another, require substitutes for the real thing. Whether it be divorce, illness, death or, in one instance, alcoholism, Family Romance, LLC, a real company, provides an actor to substitute for the absent loved one or friend, an actor who will play his particular role for as long as the client continues to employ him. The idea of surrogate loved ones is definitely the kind of notion that would appeal to a mind like Werner Herzog's, and the result is a fascination movie which feels like a documentary but isn't. In real life, the company is owned by Uichi Ishii (who seems like a remarkably empathetic person) who also takes on roles for some of his company's clients. Herzog uses Ishii, playing himself, as his lead actor, and surrounds him with real actors playing his clients. While the movie is partially scripted, Ishii and the actors are encouraged to improvise most of their dialogue. The result of this clever artifice feels like remarkably believable relationships. The key interaction in the film concerns a 12-year-old girl named Mahiro played by Mahiro Tanimoto. Ishii becomes her surrogate father, helps to bring her out of her shell, and then complication arise. This being a Herzog film, while the focus is on the surrogate relationships that the company offers to various types of needy or lonely people, there's lots of room for side trips to amusement parks, funeral parlors, hedgehog farms, and robot-operated hotels (complete with robot tropical fish). The difference between what is genuine and what is fake is at the heart of this film. Can emotional fakery sometimes be a force for healing and what are the pitfalls? are two big questions that the Family Romance, LLC poses. Those are not easy questions to answer, and they lead to contemplation about human need and about the great solitude that aggrieves many, a condition which is increasing as world populations grow older. Herzog is drawn to humanity's nooks and crannies, and, as usual, gives a viewer a great deal to think about.

Sidenote: Just like at a film festival, Herzog introduces the film and then after the film is over, he engages in a short question and answer session with a MUBI curator.. Given the pandemic, this may be the way of the future for TIFF and other film festivals.

subtitles

available on MUBI

 

[saluki]

Mission Imposible: Ghost Protocol 8/10

This evidently just came on Hulu so I decided to watch it again. MI:GP is the flick that jumpstarted the second chapter of MI movies and it's still my favorite of the recent ones.

Great supporting cast (including an eminently watchable Paula Patton), fun action (the set piece in the Kremlin is right up there with the disc heist in the first MI for me), the right amount of humor, and just an engaging, easy flow.

imo A great action movie. The scenes in Dubai are absolutely breathtaking.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

(including an eminently watchable Paula Patton)

I see your Patton, and I raise you a Grier.

The Arena (Carver, 1974) - Some kind of sister act to the women-in-prison genre (the poster tagline reads "Black slave, white slave" and the film stars both the actresses from Black Mama, White Mama, a prison film I hope Tubi will suggest to me very quickly), this is pure misogynistic trash, I mean fun, I mean trash... Nothing to report, except that the film was offered to Martin Scorsese (now, that would have been something), and that the infamous Joe D'Amato is supposed to have directed a good chunk of it himself. 2.5/10

The Initiation (Stewart, 1984) - Formulaic slasher, with the traumatic childhood prologue and some attempts at misdirections. Big bonus for the absurd final twist straight out of the best soap operas.

Spoiler

It was her evil twin!!

It starts ok, and isn't complete and utter trash, but its psychoanalytical ambitions are paper thin and sewn with white thread. 3/10