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

[nameless1]

Gloria (1980) Directed by John Cassavetes 7A

John Cassavetes, my favourite US director, directed ten movies, but it is the eight that he wrote and directed that best represent his career. Of that number, Gloria is easily the most readily accessible, a fairy tale gangster movie about Gloria, a really tough broad (the magnificent Gena Rowlands), and a six-year-old Puerto Rican kid who falls in her lap after his entire family is killed by Mafioso types....Mafioso types who happen to be friends of hers. For starters, she hates kids. But against her better judgement she decides to keep little Phil as safe as she can. Cue lots of tough/cutesy dialogue between Gloria and the kid, but keep in mind that Cassavetes isn't too concerned about what would really happen in this circumstance, he's just having fun with his wife (Rowlands). As long as you don't take the proceedings too seriously Gloria is a delightful romp and a terrific showcase for Rowland's superb talents. With Cassavetes' other written and directed films one would struggle to summarize a plot. Certainly among North American directors, his loosey-goosey style is unique. Cassavetes movies are about edgy, often dissatisfied, often marginalized people who can communicate their pain but just can't do much about it. The approach often feels like improvisation, though Cassavetes claimed his movies are tightly scripted, though at some point the actors don't have to worry about that too much. Spontaneity and passion, being in-the-moment for good or ill, are the emotions that Cassavetes values most, and he will follow them where they lead, even at expense of story. The camera work can be dazzling, probing, a force to itself. In short, his movies are showcases for actors and for discovery in which story is considered secondary to the power of the moment. His films are an acquired taste, but when they work, and almost all of them do, they take you places other movies don't venture into. You have to keep on your toes because you never know for sure where the ride is taking you. In a way Cassavetes' best work is comparable to good jazz. Starting out with the straightforward Gloria may not be a bad way of wading into the water. I don't think that I can possibly mix more metaphors.

Cassavetes is also one of my favourite directors too. His partnership with Rowlands is also one of the best in film history. It is rare for a couple to work so well together. At the moment, the only other example I can think of is Jia Zhangke and Zhao Tao.

Personally, I feel there is a clear cutoff of his works after The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. After that one, I feel that in his attempt to break into the mainstream, he lost that unique vision he has, and his characters no longer resonate as much.

 

[nameless1]

You’re more generous than I am. I wouldn’t give it that high a score. It’s fun to watch any baseball movie, since I love the sport, but this movie was ok at best for me. I do like how Fallon’s character was so obsessed with baseball and Barrymore’s character has to learn to deal with it. I’m guessing a lot of women can relate.

I hated that movie myself, but it has everything to do with Jimmy Fallon. He is basically that time period's Pete Davidson, and I have no idea how he was considered to be leading man material at one point in time. His poor acting makes every one of his character look like an idiot, and it really wears one down over the course of the runtime. He goes from relatable, to downright annoying in every single movie.

Now, the movie is not great by any stretch of imagination, but anyone else in the leading role would have made it a lot more watchable. The plot, at the very least, has some potential, and sport lovers can really relate to it.

 

[Langdon Alger]

I hated that movie myself, but it has everything to do with Jimmy Fallon. He is basically the modern day Pete Davidson, and I have no idea how he was considered to be leading man material at one point in time. His poor acting styles makes every one of his character look like and idiot, and it really wears one down over the course of the runtime. He goes from relatable, to downright annoying in every single movie.

Now, the movie is not great by any stretch of imagination, but anyone else in the leading role would have made it a lot more watchable. The plot, at the very least, has some potential, and sport lovers can really relate to it.

I was trying to think of who would have been a better choice in that role. Keep in mind it should be someone around his age. I think he was born in 1974, so he was about 31 when it came out. Any ideas as to who should have played the role instead?

 

[nameless1]

Less interesting stuff I've watched:

Queen & Slim (Matsoukas, 2019) - Ok road movie - can't blame it for not being relevant, even though I wasn't always sure what it wanted to say, pretty good actors too. 4.5/10

The Story of Us (Reiner, 1999) - I wasn't aware this existed, kind of a thematic sequel to When Harry Met Sally, not as good. 4/10

The War of the Roses (DeVito, 1989) - I was impressed by DeVito's directing (a lot less by his acting), especially the last part where he pastiches a lot of horror processes. Didn't remember how good that was. 5.5/10

Hustlers (Scafaria, 2019) - Prime, why are you doing this to me? 3/10

WarGames (Badham, 1983) - I understand this has some kind of historic importance or whatever... it would have been an ok film if not for the facility of the dénouement. 3.5/10

Robocop (Padilha, 2014) - I understand this will never have any importance whatsoever. Ok commercial remake I guess, but it lost everything that made the original, too soft all the way through. 3.5/10

I liked Queen & Slim and Hustlers myself.


Hustlers is a fairly faithful adaptation of the article it was based on, and I thought it captured the essence of our time quite accurately. Meanwhile, Queen & Slim is also a reflection of our time, especially in regards to the overall treatment of African Americans, and the two leads are likeable enough for the audience to care.

Honestly, I was only motivated to write this comment because you mentioned When Harry Met Sally, and it had nothing to do with the movie either. Rather, it is a cautionary tale to not lend people anything.


Years ago, I lend my copy of the DVD to a relative, and when she returned it, it is all scratched up and unreadable. Unfortunately, I discovered it years later, and by that time, I cannot find it at my local store anymore, so that really pissed me off. To this day, I get triggered every time the movie is mentioned.

 

[Osprey]

Not sure about the ... ? I like Hardware a lot.

Oh. Wait. You were serious.



Kidding. I've always been a bit fond of it, myself, at least because of nostalgia, but it is a rather trashy film. There's nothing wrong with liking a trashy film, though.

 

[nameless1]

I was trying to think of who would have been a better choice in that role. Keep in mind it should be someone around his age. I think he was born in 1974, so he was about 31 when it came out. Any ideas as to who should have played the role instead?

There are a lot of good options. Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck all would have worked. Honestly, the movie could have even cast Colin Firth too, just for fun. Heck, even if he kept his own accent, it would still have been better.

 

[Langdon Alger]

There are a lot of good options. Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck all would have worked. Honestly, the movie could have even cast Colin Firth too, just for fun. Heck, even if he kept his own accent, it would still have been better.

I was actually thinking either Affleck or Damon actually. Could have been fun since they are actually die hard Red Sox fans in real life. I’m going to guess Fallon wasn’t the first choice, but who knows.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I liked Queen & Slim and Hustlers myself.


Hustlers is a fairly faithful adaptation of the article it was based on, and I thought it captured the essence of our time quite accurately. Meanwhile, Queen & Slim is also a reflection of our time, especially in regards to the overall treatment of African Americans, and the two leads are likeable enough for the audience to care.

Honestly, I was only motivated to write this comment because you mentioned When Harry Met Sally, and it had nothing to do with the movie either. Rather, it is a warning to never lend people anything.


Years ago, I lend my copy of the DVD to a relative, and when she returned it, it is all scratched up and unreadable. Unfortunately, I discovered it years later, and by that time, I cannot find it at my local store anymore, so that really pissed me off. To this day, I get triggered every time the movie is mentioned.

I haven't read the original article, but I'm sure it's no great literature - Hustlers is pretty bad and absolutely forgettable. As for Queen & Slim, you're absolutely right, it's relevant and everybody's likable, to me it just could have been more, could have been a cultural icone - this won't be Do the Right Thing. And well, 4.5/10 is a fair grade for me. At 5, it's a film I'd recommend watching, and at 6 I consider it's a good film.

Oh. Wait. You were serious.



Kidding. I've always been a bit fond of it, myself, at least because of nostalgia, but it is a rather trashy film. There's nothing wrong with liking a trashy film, though.

Trashy? You mean gritty. You mean uncompromising. I know they're not films for everybody, but to me, Hardware is to early 90s sci-fi what Xtro was to early 80s sci-fi. Something like what the original Hellraiser or Near Dark were to 80s horror, maybe even grittier, but with the same uniqueness (and that says a lot, because Hardware's overall story has nothing really original - but all of these films are signed).

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Well.... it's on YouTube in very decent quality, I had to watch...

Xtro (Bromley Davenport, 1982) - Regular family drama, with the father leaving without a goodbye, but coming back a few years later to get closer to his son, creating new forms of tension in the reconstructed family dynamics. Add to it alien abduction, light triangles coming from outer space and perverse body horror and you've got yourself a movie. This thing has no breaks and it just won't stop - and goes right into pure delirium. "Oh make it weird, put a dwarf in it!"* - I'll admit that when I posted the previous comment, I had in mind that Xtro's science fiction components were a lot more grounded, and that the body horror stuff was just a bonus, but it's really closer to a horror film than anything else (even though the whole second part loses its grip on both horror and sci-fi, but we go back there for an amazing finale that makes up for everything that was a little too much in between). Alien, Shivers, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, everything is in here, just make it darker. I love this film. You will hate this film. 8.5/10

The Roger Ebert comment (one star out of ?) is thought to be a negative one, but is mostly right on the money: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/xtro-1983

*That's a joke from Living In Oblivion, very nice little film that too.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Terminator: Dark Fate

with all our old favourites and some new folks.

The latest Terminator movie starts off by immediately throwing T3, Salvation and Genisys in the garbage can and killing Edward Furlong.

Okay, so far so good. I'm on board and willing to give it a shot.

This time, a terminator and the human(ish) protector manifest in Mexico City. The terminator in this case is kind of T1000ish, but it can split off into two terminators; one an endoskeleton, and the other an Hispanic dude. They target a random Mexican chick named Dani, and in barrels Grace, the blond future cyborg soldier sent to protect her, and also a leathery Sarah Connor, who apparently spent the last twenty-five years sunning herself in a desert. Many car chases and gunfights later, we meet up with the original Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 himself, Ahhhnold. He's now a greying, subtle family man and drapery salesman named Carl. Yes, really. The lore is now: Sarah Connor killed the Skynet future, but another AI called Legion took over instead and the AI versus human war happened anyway, and that's the one that sent back the new terminator (model Rev-9) back in time. As one would.

So...it's actually not all that bad. Definitely better than T3, light-years better than Genisys...honestly I didn't mind the Christian Bale one that much. I thought that one was actually good at showing us what the robot versus human war might actually have been like. I'd put Dark Fate around there. It's a toss-up as to which the third-best Terminator movie is; this one or Salvation. Not that either are much good, but still. Refreshingly few callbacks to the old series, and hey, the superhero cyborg chick was from Vancouver. Yay!

Elevated the Terminator series back into "meh" territory, but didn't make much money so it looks like it'll probably be the last one. Finally.

On Prime.

I lived through the years Jim Benning managed the Canucks. I can take anything.

 

[kihei]

Cassavetes is also one of my favourite directors too. His partnership with Rowlands is also one of the best in film history. It is rare for a couple to work so well together. At the moment, the only other example I can think of is Jia Zhangke and Zhao Tao.

Personally, I feel there is a clear cutoff of his works after The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. After that one, I feel that in his attempt to break into the mainstream, he lost that unique vision he has, and his characters no longer resonate as much.

I think you have a case with Opening Night, Gloria and certainly Big Trouble (where he was basically the relief pitcher for another director), but Love Streams seems like a solid Cassavetes movie to me. And Rowlands pretty much saves his bacon in Gloria which does have a peculiar charm.

 

[kihei]

Kinetta (2005) Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos 3C

It is a wonder to me that Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth; The Killing of a Sacred Deer; The Favourite) survived his first solo effort Kinetta, which is currently being re-released. Though the movie is a calling card for Lanthimos' risky, unique style of movie making, I doubt very many people could have watched this film and concluded that Lanthimos will become one of Europe's most important directors one day . We have three characters, a detective, a photo store employee, and a chambermaid. They are all dull, seldom even bothering to talk. They interact. The chambermaid is made to strip twice, once by each male character. A murder may or may not take place or its a photo shoot or some movie-making game. The men get in fights. The fights are staged awkwardly and slowly like the actors are still in early rehearsals. The movie is shot with an especially annoying hand-held camera, the seeming intent being to appear amateurish Lest any of this stuff sounds interesting, it is presented in as boring a fashion as can be imagined. The only possible conclusion I can draw is that Lanthimos has made his first movie for the express purpose of frustrating his audience's every expectation. Lanthimos' intentionally maddening approach can occasionally be clever as when that shaky camera doesn't allow us to see key information in a scene or when the fuzzy back of a head obscures our view of a pretty Greek seascape. But most of the time this movie is a royal pain in the ass to sit through. At 12%, Kinetta has the lowest audience approval rating that I have ever seen on Rotten Tomatoes. Maybe, I don't think so, but maybe Lanthimos is in part making a statement about the subjugation of women. Fine. Kinetta is still a lousy movie.

subtitles

available on Criterion Channel

 

[Osprey]

Color Out of Space (2019) - 5/10 (Didn't like or dislike it)

A meteor lands outside of a farmhouse and (if a family that's headed by Nicolas Cage, includes a Wiccan daughter and raises alpacas for no good reason isn't unstable enough) things slowly start to get weird(er). I almost sort of liked it for the first 2/3rds, which have a bit of a 'Close Encounters' feel and aren't too crazy or trippy. I liked the tone, which isn't too serious, but not too comedic. I laughed several times. Cage is his usual strange self, and while I'm not a big fan of him, I liked him more in this than in most of his roles. The last 1/3rd of the film is really something else, though. It's bonkers, trippy and horrifying, and all in a slightly confusing way. I admire it's not afraid to do some bold and shocking things with the characters, but, on the other hand, some of it felt shocking for the sake of shock value. A lot of people will love the last 1/3rd, but it was a little too bizarre for me and I'm not really a Lovecraft fan to begin with. Overall, I don't really have an opinion of the film either way. I'm glad that I watched it, but I'm not sure if it's something that I'll watch again. It's worth checking out if you like sci-fi horror, especially Lovecraftian horror, but won't be for everyone.

@Violenza Domestica Is this a bad time to mention that I didn't like Xtro?

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Color Out of Space (2019) - 5/10 (Didn't like or dislike it)

A meteor lands outside of a farmhouse and (if a family that's headed by Nicolas Cage, includes a Wiccan daughter and raises alpacas for no good reason isn't unstable enough) things slowly start to get weird(er). I almost sort of liked it for the first 2/3rds, which has a bit of a 'Close Encounters' feel and isn't too crazy or trippy. I liked the tone, which isn't too serious, but not too comedic. I laughed several times. Cage is his usual strange self, and while I'm not a big fan of him, I liked him more in this than in most of his roles. The last 1/3rd is really something else, though. It's bonkers, trippy and horrifying, and all in a slightly confusing way. A lot of people will absolutely love it, but it was a little too bizarre for me. Overall, I don't really have an opinion either way. It's OK and I'm glad that I watched it, but it's probably not something that I'll watch again. It's worth watching if you like sci-fi horror, but won't be for everyone.

@Violenza Domestica Is this a bad time to mention that I didn't like Xtro?

I gave Color 5/10 too - which to me normally is a better grade than to other people - means I liked it, but that it's not necessarily a good movie. I don't think a lot of people like Xtro, so no worry.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Elvis Meets Nixon (1997)

This was a cool movie. The reenacted story of Elvis's solo trek to meet Richard Nixon in the early 7os, and be deputized as a (freelance) US Marshall. I guess part fact & part speculation. An interesting episode, told with humor and some satire.

 

[kihei]

Elvis Meets Nixon (1997)

This was a cool movie. The reenacted story of Elvis's solo trek to meet Richard Nixon in the early 7os, and be deputized as a (freelance) US Marshall. I guess part fact & part speculation. An interesting episode, told with humor and some satire.

Oddly there is another version of this meeting, one that sounds very similar, called Elvis & Nixon (2016) with Michael Shannon as Elvis and Kevin Spacey as Nixon (in retrospect, great casting, ha, ha). I vaguely remember the movie but didn't praise it.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Oddly there is another version of this meeting, one that sounds very similar, called Elvis & Nixon (2016) with Michael Shannon as Elvis and Kevin Spacey as Nixon (in retrospect, great casting, ha, ha). I vaguely remember the movie but didn't praise it.

interesting.. I looked up the Spacey version online, it does (at least superficially) look like a rip-off of 'Elvis Meets Nixon'. 'Elvis Meets Nixon' was a pretty obscure movie (I think straight to video), so it was probably easy prey for a producer to eventually bite off.. who knows.
I watched it for free on Vudu, & was surprisingly entertained. Their depiction of Elvis is funny, but not really mean spirited or demeaning.. I wouldn't enjoy outright disrespect of the King ~

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

with people and zombies.

Reimagining of Jane Austen by inserting elements of a zombie apocalypse movie into the venerable bane of everyone's grade 11 English class. The Bennets are this time badass zombie hunter chicks, Mr Darcy is a Colonel in the anti-zombie militia, and people stiffly make embarrassed English noises before chopping off some zombie heads.

There was a a fad a while ago about this; Something, something and sea monsters was another one. I think I gave one to my mom as a gag gift somewhere along the line. It's basically a one-liner joke that somehow became a movie.

On Prime. If you have absolutely nothing better to do.

Warning: objects in post may be less funny than they appear.

 

[kihei]

The Hedonists (2016) Directed by Jia Zhangke 7A

When three workers are fired, they go in search for another job. This short film (25 minutes) is a blast. Though the movie continues Jia's career-long exploration of massive social change and its effects on ordinary people, he decides to go for a darkly comic turn here. On top of which the cinematography is just absolutely gorgeous. Sometimes good things come in small packages.

subtitles

MUBI

 

[ORRFForever]

The Last Dance (2020):

5 episodes in...

I am not a Michael Jordan fan. Nor am I a basketball fan. The documentary is fine. I'm hoping the second half of the series takes off.

7/10

 

[kihei]

I'm both a Jordan fan and and a basketball fan but I would say the rest of the episodes are just more of the same. I'd give it a 7, as well.

 

[nameless1]

Hong Kong cinema is always a paradox. While there is a golden age from the mid-80s to 1997 that saw massive financial windfalls and a lot of talented filmmakers and actors became intentionally renowned, that very success also led to its downfall. Every time there was a box office hit, within a very short time, sometimes as soon as three months, at least 5, and maybe even 10, knockoffs will be released. Even though those often made money, they were often of very inferior quality, due to a minimal budget, and a short time frame to push the products to market. By 1997, the entire industry was basically all B-movie level of either comedies or the gangster variety, and combined with the uncertainties of the imminent Handover of Hong Kong back to China, the movie industry was pretty much doomed. Investors pulled out, and the talents also left for greener pastures. It was no coincidence that famous names like John Woo, Chow Yat-fat, Jet Li, Jackie Chan, and even top behind-the-scene talents Yuen Woo-ping all started to migrate to Hollywood around that time, because that was just how dire the situation was back then.

Johnnie To came into the forefront at that very time, and very soon, his movies, either ones he directed, or ones he produced, became synonymous with the Hong Kong movie industry. To be blunt, his movies are made to satisfy market conditions, so they are often comedies, and, as he is more known for, gangster movies that does not require a big budget. Yet, somehow, he puts his unique spin onto the product, and as a result, even though the plot and characters are often cliche and B-movie-esque, they still feel fresh, often more than meet the eye, and most importantly, entertaining.

The first instance of To's unique style came in March 1997, in the second feature his company produced, Too Many Ways To Be No. 1. While he only produced the movie, the director is Wai Ka-fei, who eventually becomes his long-time collaborator, and with hindsight of his filmography, it is safe to say that this movie falls very much in line with To's vision. Frankly, this movie is hard to gauge. The plot makes very little sense, as the main character, a low level thug, is given two choices, and the consequences for both choices are shown, only for the movie to go back to the beginning. The audience is not given a clue as to whether the sequences are real or not, and because a lot of the details in both sequences are the same too, that only adds to the ludicrousness. In fact, I actually laughed throughout the movie, because it feels like either a bad joke, or an inside joke that no one understands.

That is on the surface level though. One has to remember that the movie is released in 1997, on the precipice of the Handover of Hong Kong to China. Thus, the movie is actually an allegory of the angst of the Hong Kong people, and the choices given to the main character are also the choices that the people themselves have to make. If one looks at the movie from that perspective, it is actually quite smart, and definitely a fresh use of a tired genre. That said, I find the message to be too easily decipherable, and that is often the biggest issue in To, and especially Wai's overall works. Both are commercial filmmakers at heart, and despite their attempts to inject depth to their projects, they never go too deep, in fear of the alienation of their audience. Their works, hence, often become too transparent, and they often feel smarter that they actually are as a result. In a way, there is a pretentiousness to their works. The camerawork also does not help, because while the angles and techniques are certainly different, it is way too messy and often feels sloppy. That only adds to the B-movie feel to the movie.

While I do not regret that I watched Too Many Ways To Be No. 1, and I actually do appreciate the effort to try to spice up an overused genre, I am not sure I like the overall package. I will give it a 6/10, but I do recommend it. It is certainly different from many movies from that era.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Johnnie To came into the forefront at that very time, and very soon, his movies, either ones he directed, or ones he produced, became synonymous with the Hong Kong movie industry.

I met To somewhere late 90s, had a brief chat with him regarding a few films he was presenting in Montreal. Fun guy, very conscious of the limits of what he was doing at the time. I was supposed to write something about The Longuest Nite but ultimately decided to trash it for something else.

 

[nameless1]

I met To somewhere late 90s, had a brief chat with him regarding a few films he was presenting in Montreal. Fun guy, very conscious of the limits of what he was doing at the time. I was supposed to write something about The Longuest Nite but ultimately decided to trash it for something else.

Yeah, I was impressed by that movie the first time I watched it. Unfortunately, To does not have staying power. I saw through the plotholes with it the second time, and it became style over substances in the end. At least Sean Lau and Tony Leung are great as usual, and I do think their presence makes the movie worthwhile.

Still, this is an important movie in To's career, because the very next year, he perfected the style with The Mission. That is one of the flashiest movies I have ever seen, and it still ranks high on my list. I highly recommend that one.

 

[ORRFForever]

The Last Dance (2020):

5 episodes in...

I am not a Michael Jordan fan. Nor am I a basketball fan. The documentary is fine. I'm hoping the second half of the series takes off.

7/10

The Last Dance (2020):

The Last Dance gets better as it goes on. I really enjoyed the series and I'm not someone who likes basketball.

7.5/10