Last Movie You Watched and Rate It | Part#: Some High Number +5

[kihei]

Forgotten (2017) Directed by Zhang Hang-jun 4A

Forgotten is proof positive that every South Korean genre piece isn’t a good movie. The many twists to the story begin when the younger brother of a family of four begins to suspect that the rest of his family are impostors trying to do him harm. He is on medication and has bad dreams, so we don’t know how reliable his assertions are. Eventually there is an explanation, and then a few more twists on top of that. On a superficial level Forgotten pushes the right buttons, but the narrative is so ridiculous that the lucidity of the story telling can’t make up for the stupidity of the plot. Another problem with the movie is that director Zhang Hang-jun is so set on making the twists coherent that the movie lacks the character development and grace notes that add power and empathy to better South Korean films. There is some morsel of craftsmanship here, but you have to turn off your brain completely to appreciate it.

subtitles

Netflix

 

[Puck]

I found this article fascinating.

Fraud, One Second at a Time

Matthew Stewart has spent years logging every Oscar-nominated performance—and seeing which ones may have been cited in the wrong category.

Meet the Guy Obsessively Tracking Oscars Category Fraud, One Second at a Time

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020) Directed by Charlie Kaufman 5B

The latest navel-gazer from Charlie Kauffman is a movie almost slavishly in search of interpretation, an exercise for advanced film students to ponder with wrinkled brows. The movie consists of six long scenes. On a very snowy day and snowier night, a young woman drives with her somewhat strange boyfriend to meet his parents, who live on a farm, for the first time. They have a rather perplexing, surreal dinner because they are rather perplexing, surreal people. At the girl's insistence, they drive home. On the way they make a couple of weird pit stops that add to the self-conscious strangeness of the movie. Then there is a coda that annexes more layers of bullshit to the narrative. I'm Thinking of Ending Things has some sizeable attributes. Kaufman has become a confident film director. The movie has a neat atmosphere somewhere between creepy and melancholy, And the four principal actors--Jesse Plemons, Jessie Buckley, Toni Collette, and David Thewlis--are terrific. But the overall effect, stylish though it is, is like being stuck at a party with a drunk philosophy student intent on playing sleight of hand with the meaninglessness of life. Most of this movie is talk and more talk, the young woman nattering on about her feelings or lack of them regarding the relationship, the young man somewhat defensively trying to hold his ground, the parents just being weird as everything subtly shifts around about their reality. There is much musing of a literary, philosophical, and psychological nature. Wordsworth, Foucault, Freud, Bette Davis, David Foster Wallace, and Paulene Kael all have their names dropped. To quote the King in Amadeus referring to a Mozart opera, there are just too many notes. It is not that I'm Thinking of Ending Things is a conventional bad movie. But it is long-winded, rambling and rather taken by itself in a manner that nullifies its assets.

Netflix

Wrestling with this one. It’s the type of movie that feels like it needs multiple supporting texts (books, films, etc.) to fully grasp. On one hand I don’t mind a challenge and am not asking to be talked down to. On the other there’s got to be something there for the unwashed masses to seize upon right? (I know this isn’t a mass play type movie. Being a little flippant).

I liked the challenge and I liked the mystery and it doesn’t FEEL like it’s full of shit as some other high-minded films might. But am I giving Kaufman too much credit? I might be!

There’s something about his obsession with depression and aging and mental failing resonates with me though I have to say I think I prefer his writing filtered through another director rather than fully controlled by him. It’s a check against maybe his more aggressive impulses.

But even saying that I sorta regret because there are moments in this that are beautifully directed.

Won’t pretend to understand it. Feeling favorable about it for the moment but can see myself turning on it down the road.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Game of Death. Bruce Lee’s “last” movie. He famously died during production and some of the completed footage was revived and Frankensteined into a movie a few years later. The results are just as hacky and haphazard as that sounds. The obvious body doubling, the use of shadow and disguises and helmets would be comical if the circumstances that created the need weren’t so sad. It’s all the more striking when you get to the legit enjoyable final 20 minutes or so when you get the real deal Lee footage in all its charming, humorous, athletically gifted glory. An irreplaceable talent and all the proof is in this 100 minutes.

Get Duked. Eh fine. I laughed enough. Three wayward British youths and a lonely overachiever are forced into a weekend survival challenge. Turns out they’re actually the prey. A familiar setup in a lot of ways, this version punctuated with a lot of comical jackassery. Nothing amazing but a funny enough 90 minutes.

The Burning. Pretty standard 80s summer camp slasher probably most notable for having young Holly Hunter and Jason Alexander in the cast. A couple of gnarly kills, but mostly forgettable. Scratches that classic slasher itch if you’re looking for something you perhaps haven’t seen before, but of course you really have seen everything in this before.

 

[Savi]

If anyone wants to see something unique, check out the Indonesian movie Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts (2017). It is referred to as the first Satay Western, and it may be the only movie in that sub-genre.

I vaguely remember this! I saw it at a film festival but I only remember bits and pieces of it.

 

[nameless1]

I vaguely remember this! I saw it at a film festival but I only remember bits and pieces of it.

I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.


Honestly, it is not perfect, but I do appreciate the director's willingness to try something different. Who would have thought a Western would actually work in Indonesia?

 

[kihei]

I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.


Honestly, it is not perfect, but I do appreciate the director's willingness to try something different. Who would have thought a Western would actually work in Indonesia?

I saw it last year. I really liked it. Thought it was fresh and original and had fun with some the Western's more macho conventions.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

The Burning. Pretty standard 80s summer camp slasher probably most notable for having young Holly Hunter and Jason Alexander in the cast. A couple of gnarly kills, but mostly forgettable. Scratches that classic slasher itch if you’re looking for something you perhaps haven’t seen before, but of course you really have seen everything in this before.

Not a great film by any means, but still very efficient in manoeuvring through summer camp tropes established by films like Meatballs and Little Darlings that came out just before it. I think it remains top-5 in non-franchise slasher films for me, with The Prowler and Happy Birthday to Me somewhere in the mix too. Black Christmas has to be #1. Terror Train had a very special vibe to it, but I'm not sure it's a positive thing in that case, I should watch them all again!

 

[kihei]

Juliet of the Spirit (1965) Directed by Federico Fellini 6A

Juliet of the Spirit is the "female" follow up to 8 1/2, Fellini's movie about a director (Marcello Mastroiani standing in for Fellini) not being able to make a movie. Juliet of the Spirit is supposedly a gift from the director to his wife, Giulietta Masina, who plays Juliet in the movie. This movie is from her perspective (sort of) as she fears she is losing her husband to a younger, more beautiful woman. Some gift, eh? Fellini seems to suggest that the solution to her dilemma is to be sexier and younger. The movie is made up of a series of sequences that depict Juliet's attempts to cope with the situation and display her inner feelings about her husband's likely philandering. It is in Juliet's inner world, ripe with fantasy and imagination, where the movie shines most spectacularly. Juliet of the Spirit is one of the most extravagant pieces of eye candy in the history of movies, Every aspect of the mise-en-scene contributes to the movie's visual spendor; the sets, costumes and staging are a whirl of beautiful colours and design, all of which have been enhanced by MUBI's excellent restoration of the movie's original print. Fellini gives full license to his sense of playfulness, his love of the grotesque, and his willingness to put spectacle ahead of story. In the end the movie is totally about his ego, not his wife's feelings. Indeed, as Roger Ebert suggested, Juliet of the Spirit may well mark the beginning of the decline of the great director. But there is no denying in that making his first colour movie of his career, Fellini knocked the ball out of the park.

subtitles

MUBI

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

Anyone in the mood for some midnight movie madness style entertainment, check out Turbo Kid. It's The Road Warrior meets RAD and it takes place in post-apocalyptic 1997 but it was made in 2014. So, you're either on board or you're not after reading that

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Not a great film by any means, but still very efficient in manoeuvring through summer camp tropes established by films like Meatballs and Little Darlings that came out just before it. I think it remains top-5 in non-franchise slasher films for me, with The Prowler and Happy Birthday to Me somewhere in the mix too. Black Christmas has to be #1. Terror Train had a very special vibe to it, but I'm not sure it's a positive thing in that case, I should watch them all again!

Maybe I was just grumpy while I was watching it, but it didn't do much for me. Why does Cropsey sleep next to a gas can? Seems a tad foolish in retrospect.

I do, however, enthusiastically share your support for The Prowler and Black Christmas. I have not seen Happy Birthday to Me (though I can absolutely picture the VHS cover). Terror Train is fine. I would cast votes for My Bloody Valentine and April Fool's Day.

 

[Osprey]

Not a great film by any means, but still very efficient in manoeuvring through summer camp tropes established by films like Meatballs and Little Darlings that came out just before it. I think it remains top-5 in non-franchise slasher films for me, with The Prowler and Happy Birthday to Me somewhere in the mix too. Black Christmas has to be #1. Terror Train had a very special vibe to it, but I'm not sure it's a positive thing in that case, I should watch them all again!

I watched only the first half of The Burning last month and still haven't gotten around to finishing it, but I was very pleasantly surprised. It seemed like a cut above the run-of-the-mill 80s slasher. It helped that I've been watching quite a few bad-to-average ones lately, though, so it was refreshing in a way. If you're wondering why I haven't finished it if I liked it, it's simply that other movies keep grabbing my attention and I'm saving it for when I'm in the mood to really enjoy the last half. I know; I'm weird. I should probably finish it now that you've both mentioned it.

 

[ORRFForever]

I can't hardly wait !!!!!!!



I've got my tickets !!!!

If any of my fellow movie lovers want to go, tickets are on me !!!!!!

It still brings a tear to my eyes...

I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'Cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again

Oh yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong
(Strong)
I am invincible
(Invincible)
I am woman

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

7.5/10

Another quality Zombie film from South Korea

Its storyline is similar to the Japanese apartment story from World War Z novel and reminded me of the french film "The Night Eats the World"

It doesn't rise to level of Train to Busan but it certainly was an entertaining effort

 

[kihei]

I can't hardly wait !!!!!!!



I've got my tickets !!!!

If any of my fellow movie lovers want to go, tickets are on me !!!!!!

It still brings a tear to my eyes...

I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'Cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again

Oh yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong
(Strong)
I am invincible
(Invincible)
I am woman

 

[ORRFForever]

I'm expecting BIG ticket numbers and I'm willing to spend my OWN money to make it happen...

I am woman watch me grow
See me standing toe to toe
As I spread my lovin' arms across the land
But I'm still an embryo
With a long, long way to go
Until I make my brother understand

Oh yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can face anything
I am strong
(Strong)
I am invincible
(Invincible)
I am woman

 

[nameless1]

7.5/10

Another quality Zombie film from South Korea

Its storyline is similar to the Japanese apartment story from World War Z novel and reminded me of the french film "The Night Eats the World"

It doesn't rise to level of Train to Busan but it certainly was an entertaining effort

I am not too impressed with this one. After the introduction into this movie's cinematic world, the pace really drops off. I know it is more of a character study, and the atmosphere is supposed to feel claustrophobic, but as the main character tries to get through his days of being trapped in his apartment, I too feel the boredom of his mundane daily routine. It improves after the introduction of a secondary character, but unfortunately, the ending is rather uninspired, and feels rather forced.

I have it a 5.75/10. It is not terrible, and there are worst things to watch out there, but I certainly would not go and seek it out.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Maybe I was just grumpy while I was watching it, but it didn't do much for me. Why does Cropsey sleep next to a gas can? Seems a tad foolish in retrospect.

I do, however, enthusiastically share your support for The Prowler and Black Christmas. I have not seen Happy Birthday to Me (though I can absolutely picture the VHS cover). Terror Train is fine. I would cast votes for My Bloody Valentine and April Fool's Day.

It's probably more than a tad foolish!

Yeah, My Bloody Valentine was ok, a notch below the others. April Fool's Day, if I remember correctly, was a bit second-degree, it was a pretty good one, but didn't take itself really seriously as a slasher, no? Again, I might be way off, it's been a long time.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

This Is Spinal Tap (1984) - 7/10

It's chuckleworthy but not fully funny and I had to forward through the music scenes. I think the issue with every 80s/90s mockumentary I've seen is that they make you smile but the surge of TV comedies in the 00s/10s makes them feel a bit dated.

Night And The City (1950) - 7.5/10

Fairly good looking European noir by the director of Rififi featuring an anti-hero as the star and an interesting cast with a few different storylines going but eventually falls short of the better noirs which do actual suspense quite a bit better.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

It's probably more than a tad foolish!

Yeah, My Bloody Valentine was ok, a notch below the others. April Fool's Day, if I remember correctly, was a bit second-degree, it was a pretty good one, but didn't take itself really seriously as a slasher, no? Again, I might be way off, it's been a long time.

Been a while since I've seen April Fool's Day but I think I hold it fondly because of the twist, though that may not hold up now that I'm a more discerning viewer. But it still stands out from my youthful horror watching so I give it props. Should make my way back around to it.

I've been trying to think of other non-franchise/series examples but damn if they don't churn sequels out of just about anything. If we disqualified things that have been remade as well we'd be left with just about nothing.

 

[kihei]

The Third Generation (1973), Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder 8A

The Third Generation is German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s acidly disapproving, sometimes almost slapstick comic film about a group of well-off bourgeoisie who dabble in revolution like it is some kind of chic party game. When their attempts at undermining the state goes awry, they run into cold, hard reality in a big way. The Baader-Meinhof gang (the second generation of German revolutionaries) they ain’t. The movie owes more than a little to Jean Luc Godard’s La Chinoise. But while Godard offers a degree of sympathy along with thoughtful skepticism toward his young student revolutionaries in his film, the equally leftist Fassbinder, who was actually childhood friends with Andreas Baader, shows only derision for his bumbling lot of middle-class revolutionary poseurs, an unexpectedly critical approach that must have greatly surprised many of his friends and admirers. The joke goes that Fassbinder was the only great director in movie history with a life-time batting average of .167, but be that as it may The Third Generation is one of his best films. It is certainly my favourite among his works.

subtitles

Criterion Channel
.

 

[TD Charlie]

Looper (2012):

Looper is a time travel movie that doesn’t make sense once you’ve thought it through… or does it? I really didn't care because I was, for the most part, entertained – minus the endless plot holes and Bruce Willis' acting - or lack thereof.

I'm still curious why young Joe always had a "Les Nessman" band aid on his ear but I guess I'll have to go to my grave NOT knowing.

5/10

You go from giving Frozen a 7.5 to Looper a 5 and Tenet even lower.

Check that credibility at the front door my man. Sweet merciful crap. Frozen was atrocious. Start to finish. I watched it just to see how they could possibly explain kids getting stuck on a chair lift for a weekend, and stayed for the hilarity that ensued.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

They're screening 2001 at Cinema du Parc in Montreal for the rest of the week. Will definitely be hitting that up. I haven't been to the movies since the start of COVID and this seems a great reason to go. Might also try and catch Tenet tommorow even if I'm not too big on Nolan.

 

[ORRFForever]

You go from giving Frozen a 7.5 to Looper a 5 and Tenet even lower.

Check that credibility at the front door my man. Sweet merciful crap. Frozen was atrocious. Start to finish. I watched it just to see how they could possibly explain kids getting stuck on a chair lift for a weekend, and stayed for the hilarity that ensued.

LOL.

I'm sorry I disappointed you.

 

[TD Charlie]

LOL.

I'm sorry I disappointed you.

my opinions are generally scoffed at. We are still best friends.