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

[ItsFineImFine]

Palm Springs (2020) - 8/10

Apparently Hulu is doing movies now? This is getting out of hand. But it's got a timeloop thing going mixed with comedy like Groundhog Day (minus the 90s charm), a really good leading duo with Samberg and the mother from How I Met Your Mother, and it's exactly what you want in a fun 90 minute film.

 

[ORRFForever]

What I meant is that, according to IMDB, my favorite comedies would be Rien sur Robert, Mon oncle d'Amérique, and Trans-Europ Express. None of them I'd have thought of as a "comedy", well maybe Rien sur Robert, for the sodomy story in the café.

Fair enough.

 

[kihei]

What is everyone’s favourite movie of all time?

Children of Paradise, Michel Carne
Pather Panchali, Satyajit Ray
Jules and Jim, Francois Truffaut
The Double Life of Veronique, Krzysztof Kieslowski
Last Year at Marienbad, Alain Resnais
The Mirror, Andrei Tarkovsky
Blow Up, Michelangelo Antonioni
I Don't Want to Sleep Alone, Tsai Ming-liang
After Life, Hirokazu Kore-eda
Still Life, Jia Zhangke

 

[ORRFForever]

The Tall Man (2012) :

There are actors I hate - Seth Rogen, Drew Barrymore, Adam Sandler. Then there are stars who I'll watch in any old piece of junk - the beautiful Jessica Biel is one of those actresses (can you believe Justin Timberlake cheated on her?) and The Tall Man is one of those pieces of junk.

I'd explain The Tall Man but NONE of it makes sense. And, to make matters worse, pretty little Ms. Biel's face is covered in scars and blood for a good chunk of the film. Together it made for a long 100 minutes.

On the plus side, the movie is Canadian.

3/10

 

[kihei]

Once There Was Brasilia (2017) Directed by Adirley Queiros 4D

In Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, an alien from another planet is sent to assassinate an important politician. Brasilia is in the midst of a dystopian civil war at the time, and the situation is very unstable. Now stop right there. This is not a normal movie. For starters, the director, who describes his work as "futurist ethnography," isn’t very concerned with the story. Our would-be alien arrives in the funkiest space ship ever, something that looks like it was constructed with scrap iron and odd parts from a Brazilian junk yard. Our alien looks for all the world like an everyday out-of-shape Brazilian, and he spends a lot of time in his spacecraft smoking and eventually there is a long sequence of him firing up his little barbecue unit and frying up a steak that he proceeds to eat. Never saw a barbecue unit on a spaceship before. First time for everything. After landing with a resounding thud in Brasilia, he never tries to assassinate anybody. Mostly he just stands around and watches a car explode that burns for so long I began to wonder where all the accelerant was coming from. There is also a mother of four who killed a man with a pool cue for grabbing her ass, a guy in a wheelchair with a welder’s mask on, and a revolutionary type who never does much but prowl around menacingly. There is no story here—all the action, all the plot, such as it is, is off-camera. Mostly we hang out on a subway overpass with various characters. The gritty production design is awesome, but the movie is deliberately and fully anti-narrative. The only possible message from the movie is that Brazil is historically a mess politically. Not many will want to sit through Once There Was Brasilia, but I have to give the director some credit. “Future ethnography” is the film’s best defense.

subtitles

MUBI

 

[Jugitsu]

Rambo: Last Blood (2019) 3/10

I don't really know what to say about this one. As a movie it's hard to find a worse one made in 2019. As a Rambo movie this is totally irrelevant - an installment we didn't need or even want.

The movie was so god awfully boring, poorly paced, acted and directed that I dozed off at least 3 times. I give it a 3 just because Stallone still looks damn good. Otherwise this would've been a 1/10.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

What is everyone’s favourite movie of all time?

Once upon a time, I'd say A Clockwork Orange. Maybe Raiders of the Lost Ark. Haven't tried to seriously put together a list for some time, personally.

 

[Osprey]

Red Planet (2000) - 5/10 (Didn't like or dislike it)

On a mission to investigate colonizing Mars, a handful of scientists (including Val Kilmer and Tom Sizemore) get stranded on the surface. This critical and commercial flop wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting. It definitely has stupid moments (like three guys taking a piss in Mars' low gravity) and some very laughable science, both of which were reminiscent of Armageddon. It also has a weak, predictable plot and lame dialogue and is not very exciting. That said, at least it tries to be scientific and an old-fashioned sci-fi adventure. I can respect that and the effort, even if the execution is bad (speaking of which, who hands an $80M-budget film to a director of TV commercials?). Also, it looks really good, with blockbuster levels of visual effects and a convincing Mars landscape... dated, for sure, but pretty good for being 20 years old. As a sci-fi fan, I somewhat enjoyed the movie's look and spirit, even if I laughed at how stupid it is. It's a bad movie, but at least it wasn't the worst of 2000 (Battlefield Earth).

 

[Langdon Alger]

This is where I leave you - 2014

Good cast. Love Jason Bateman and Tina Fey. A little too long to be honest. Drags along at times. Decent film with a good cast.

6/10

 

[kihei]

Through a Glass Darkly (1961) Directed by Ingmar Bergman 8A

Recently discharged from a mental hospital, Karin convalesces with her father, husband and brother on a small, remote island off the coast of Sweden. Family aloofness threatens to make her situation worse. Her father clinically takes notes on her condition while her husband pessimistically fears that her mental illness is beyond his or anyone’s control. Her younger brother feels cut off from their father, as well--already in despair despite his young years. All this is psychologically searing in a fashion that is part of Bergman’s standard emotional modus operandi. Karin hopes that God can intervene on her behalf; she waits for His will to manifest itself. But when she finally thinks that she experiences God, it is only a spider that appears. The frigid island setting emphasizes the existential isolation of the family. Bergman’s dark themes of uncertainty and the death of hope are embodied in the remarkable performance by Harriet Andersson who is superb as Karin. The title of the film, Through a Glass Darkly, is an allusion to how Bergman believes we see God, if we see him at all. Downbeat though the film is, Through a Glass Darkly is one of the pivotal works in Bergman's search for meaning or its absence. By this time, he's leaning heavily toward the latter.

Sidenote: Is such a movie entertaining to watch? Yup, thoroughly engrossing. And you end up with a lot to think about, too.

subtitles

Criterion Channel

 

[ORRFForever]

Has anyone seen Babadook (2014)?

I started to watch last night but got distracted. I've heard it is great.

Without providing any spoilers, does anyone recommend it?

 

[Trap Jesus]

Has anyone seen Babadook (2014)?

I started to watch last night but got distracted. I've heard it is great.

Without providing any spoilers, does anyone recommend it?

I think it's fantastic. Works on a horror level if you look at it on the surface level as well as metaphorically. Acting really stands out as a positive to me, one of the best child acting performances I've ever seen and the mother is fantastic too.

 

[kihei]

Has anyone seen Babadook (2014)?

I started to watch last night but got distracted. I've heard it is great.

Without providing any spoilers, does anyone recommend it?

yup, it's a good one, and a little off the beaten path.

 

[ORRFForever]

Acting really stands out as a positive to me, one of the best child acting performances I've ever seen...

The kids an annoying BRAT !!!!! (30 minutes in)

 

[Trap Jesus]

The kids an annoying BRAT !!!!! (30 minutes in)

Oh yeah, I think he's so good at it. You really feel the mother's pain/conflict raising him.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Has anyone seen Babadook (2014)?

I started to watch last night but got distracted. I've heard it is great.

Without providing any spoilers, does anyone recommend it?

I think it's fantastic. Works on a horror level if you look at it on the surface level as well as metaphorically. Acting really stands out as a positive to me, one of the best child acting performances I've ever seen and the mother is fantastic too.

yup, it's a good one, and a little off the beaten path.

Me three. One of the better horror films of the decade.



I am the only one who voted for it though!@!!

Best horror film of the 2010s

 

[ORRFForever]

Me three. One of the better horror films of the decade.



I am the only one who voted for it though!@!!

Best horror film of the 2010s

Now I have to decide...

Do I watch from the beginning or from where I left off?
I'm not sure I can sit thru that little BRAT, again.

 

[Chili]

Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte-1964

Interesting thriller with plot twists and great cast. Olivia De Havilland in a different role and looking fabulous. Impressed with how well Bette Davis acted with her eyes in the film. An early role for Bruce Dern.

Interesting footnote: Joan Crawford was originally cast in the Olivia De Havilland role and many scenes were filmed with her. But she became ill and was replaced. Crawford and Davis were not getting along, who knows how much that played into the illness.

Directed by Robert Aldrich, one of my favorites (Dirty Dozen, Emperor of the North, The Longest Yard...).

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Has anyone seen Babadook (2014)?

I started to watch last night but got distracted. I've heard it is great.

Without providing any spoilers, does anyone recommend it?

Yeah, it's pretty good. Definitely one of the better horror movies and premises. The memes aren't bad either.

 

[ORRFForever]

Yeah, it's pretty good. Definitely one of the better horror movies and premises. The memes aren't bad either.

LOL. He's Satan himself.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

LOL. He's Satan himself.

Oh, he's a total freaky demon spawn.

 

[kihei]

Ravenous (2018) Directed by Robin Aubert 7B

Something new under the zombie sun. Ravenous is a minor-chord zombie movie set in the lush Quebec woods that focuses on eight people, grossly outnumbered, trying to survive a massive zombie infestation. Doesn't sound original, but the executiion is. Not much plot: the little group wander through the woods trying to avoid the inevitable. Nobody gets much of a backstory and where the zombies came from and why they happened isn’t of interest to the movie. Rather, this is a post-apocalyptic look at zombies--the battle has already been lost and what caused the cataclysm is irrelevant. A few remaining humans just trying to survive is all that’s going on here. Yet, oddly enough, in its atmospheric way, the movie has a lot of power that the overwhelming majority of zombie movies can’t begin to match. The almost realistic nature of Ravenous and the fine performances by the small cast made the movie seem more deeply personal to me than anything else that I have seen in this genre. The movie has one deliriously inspired touch of gallows humour, not to mention its share of gore and scares, in a surprisingly good script. And its mix of styles really works. One critic, Jordan Mintzer in The Hollywood Reporter, called director Robin Aubert approach an eclectic mix of George Romero, Robert Bresson and Monty Python. Pretty accurate description, that. My guess is that Ravenous will stay in my thoughts for some time.

subtitles

Netflix

 

[Trap Jesus]

Ravenous (2018) Directed by Robin Aubert 7B

Something new under the zombie sun. Ravenous is a minor-chord zombie movie set in the lush Quebec woods that focuses on eight people, grossly outnumbered, trying to survive a massive zombie infestation. Doesn't sound original, but the executiion is. Not much plot: the little group wander through the woods trying to avoid the inevitable. Nobody gets much of a backstory and where the zombies came from and why they happened isn’t of interest to the movie. Rather, this is a post-apocalyptic look at zombies--the battle has already been lost and what caused the cataclysm is irrelevant. A few remaining humans just trying to survive is all that’s going on here. Yet, oddly enough, in its atmospheric way, the movie has a lot of power that the overwhelming majority of zombie movies can’t begin to match. The almost realistic nature of Ravenous and the fine performances by the small cast made the movie seem more deeply personal to me than anything else that I have seen in this genre. The movie has one deliriously inspired touch of gallows humour, not to mention its share of gore and scares, in a surprisingly good script. And its mix of styles really works. One critic, Jordan Mintzer in The Hollywood Reporter, called director Robin Aubert approach an eclectic mix of George Romero, Robert Bresson and Monty Python. Pretty accurate description, that. My guess is that Ravenous will stay in my thoughts for some time.

subtitles

Netflix

Ah yeah I saw this one a while back. I thought it was decent, nothing amazing. Very well made for a lowe budget movie though.

The mound of chairs thing was awesome though, that image has stuck with me since seeing the movie.

 

[Trap Jesus]

I saw Spring. After watching The Endless, I thought this one was going to be a lot weirder and more abstract, but it's actually a pretty straightforward romance movie with sci-fi and horror elements. That being said I still really enjoyed it. I think it was really well written, the chemistry between the leads was great, and it was very well shot and beautiful to look at considering the location. It felt a bit cliche to me near the end and the exposition was really tough to follow for me towards the end, but not enough to detract overall. It had an element where they were trying to use science to explain supernatural elements. I liked it in theory but it was tough to follow in practice. I really liked the sparing use of effects in this.

I also saw Black Mountain Side. I know this one is a bit of a cult favorite for horror fans, but it didn't quite click for me. I was fully on board for the first 2 acts, but it completely lost me in the last act. For the first 2 acts though, they built up the suspense and dread just right. The structure of the story breaks it up into days where they'll randomly skip a few days at a time, and I think that made sense so that it didn't seem like things were just constantly happening. I think the special effects were very well used considering the budget, and when they weren't up to snuff they concealed it with the lighting. I do think it was too dark in a lot of places but I understand why they did it. I also liked that, similar to Spring, they found a way to combine supernatural with science, and I think it worked more in this movie.

That being said, it really went off the rails for me in the last act. There's this sound choice made that's effective the first time they use it, but it wears thin really quickly and is really overused. Everything culminates in this monologue that I can't describe in any other way than goofy.

I think it's worth a watch but definitely didn't stick the landing to me.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

I saw Spring. After watching The Endless, I thought this one was going to be a lot weirder and more abstract, but it's actually a pretty straightforward romance movie with sci-fi and horror elements. That being said I still really enjoyed it. I think it was really well written, the chemistry between the leads was great, and it was very well shot and beautiful to look at considering the location. It felt a bit cliche to me near the end and the exposition was really tough to follow for me towards the end, but not enough to detract overall. It had an element where they were trying to use science to explain supernatural elements. I liked it in theory but it was tough to follow in practice. I really liked the sparing use of effects in this.

I also saw Black Mountain Side. I know this one is a bit of a cult favorite for horror fans, but it didn't quite click for me. I was fully on board for the first 2 acts, but it completely lost me in the last act. For the first 2 acts though, they built up the suspense and dread just right. The structure of the story breaks it up into days where they'll randomly skip a few days at a time, and I think that made sense so that it didn't seem like things were just constantly happening. I think the special effects were very well used considering the budget, and when they weren't up to snuff they concealed it with the lighting. I do think it was too dark in a lot of places but I understand why they did it. I also liked that, similar to Spring, they found a way to combine supernatural with science, and I think it worked more in this movie.

That being said, it really went off the rails for me in the last act. There's this sound choice made that's effective the first time they use it, but it wears thin really quickly and is really overused. Everything culminates in this monologue that I can't describe in any other way than goofy.

I think it's worth a watch but definitely didn't stick the landing to me.

I am a fan of Spring. Like if Richard Linklater and David Cronenberg had a movie baby!