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

[ORRFForever]

Why is that?

It just doesn't interest me. TBH, I would not have watched it before the backlash so... if anything, the backlash has reinforced me not seeing it.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

It just doesn't interest me. TBH, I would not have watched it before the backlash so... if anything, the backlash has reinforced me not seeing it.

Funny what wider distribution can do. Nominated as the best film at the Berlin film festival, winner of the best director at Sundance, this was supposed to be one of those films the general public don't see much but that keeps an overall positive reputation. Now it got in the hands of prude people not used to more sensible or confrontational art and shit hit the fan.

 

[nameless1]

Fallen Angels is a superb film and might be my favorite Wong Kar-Wai. See it ASAP.

I am not too impressed with Fallen Angels myself. It is supposed to be the third story arc in Chungking Express, but Wong decided to give that arc its own film treatment. That is why the tone is very similar to Chungking Express, but I feel it does not have enough content for its own movie. The plot feels really stretched, to be frank.

 

[Shareefruck]

I like Fallen Angels but not nearly as much as some other Wong Kar Wai movies.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Funny what wider distribution can do. Nominated as the best film at the Berlin film festival, winner of the best director at Sundance, this was supposed to be one of those films the general public don't see much but that keeps an overall positive reputation. Now it got in the hands of prude people not used to more sensible or confrontational art and shit hit the fan.

I guess I really shouldn't be surprised by the utter hypocrisy of certain folks down south in a certain country, but surely I can't be the only person who remembers all the recent moaning about the "Left's Cancel Culture".

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

Mignonnes (2020)
Dir. Maimouna Doucoure

I decided to watch Cuties purely off of the controversy, and I just don't get it. This feels more like a movie for:

a) People who aren't really aware of the sexualization of youngsters as produced by a culture where the only thing that matters is consent
b) Pedophiles who only needed pics to get off in the first place

The only thing I was interested in was the quality of film and whether the controversy was worthy of the commotion. I was disappointed in equal measures on both counts, though the controversy doesn't really matter on an objective level. It's not an unworthy topic by any means, I just don't get the high critical appraisal of it. More like a typical Sundance entry than a standout achievement.

I will, however, agree that the poster Netflix presented in marketing was bad, and if someone's first impression was that the film was pro-pedophilia then I wouldn't blame them. Can't decide whether it was gross or genius in retrospect, but I'm sure Van Wagensen would have approved.

Score: 4/10

 

[Unholy Diver]

Tenet - No score/unsure

Ugh, I guess I am starting to get old and I now understand how my dad couldn't follow Pulp Fiction or Inception, the reverse or inverted time had me asking what the heck was that as I exited the theater

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Fallen Angels (1995) - 7/10

I think it's another film too obsessed with being cool. And it does look and sound mostly cool, the 90s setting always works for this, but the story is a bit too loose to reach it's full potential. I think that In The Mood For Love by the same director worked so much better because of how tightly focused it was. This movie feels like the college project of the director before the real thing. I'd say somewhat the same thing about Chungking Express but the mystery worked better there.

 

[Devilsfan992]

The Way Back - 7/10

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Man, I think the second half of Chungking Express is the best piece between both but while I've warmed up to the first story, it lacks behind the consistent strength of Fallen Angels. As full pieces, I'm probably torn between Days of Being Wild and Fallen Angels with In the Mood for Love ever so slightly behind.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Fallen Angels (1995) - 7/10

I think it's another film too obsessed with being cool. And it does look and sound mostly cool, the 90s setting always works for this, but the story is a bit too loose to reach it's full potential. I think that In The Mood For Love by the same director worked so much better because of how tightly focused it was. This movie feels like the college project of the director before the real thing. I'd say somewhat the same thing about Chungking Express but the mystery worked better there.

Totally respect that and can understand your point about being obsessed with looking cool and the effect it can have on the piece and I'm almost ready to agree but I think the final product is still so great that I don't hold it against it, even if perhaps I should. The effort is certainly more obvious there, I suppose.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Man, I think the second half of Chungking Express is the best piece between both but while I've warmed up to the first story, it lacks behind the consistent strength of Fallen Angels. As full pieces, I'm probably torn between Days of Being Wild and Fallen Angels with In the Mood for Love ever so slightly behind.

Personal favorites are In the Mood for Love and Happy Together, but I'm not sure in what order.

 

[kihei]

Mignonnes (Cuties - Doucouré, 2020) - I wanted to see what the fuss was about with the cancel-Netflix bullshit and, no surprise, people are stupid. This is a great film that hits a lot of bullseyes about a young girl struggling between a tradition that is too rigid and a host culture that is too permissive, and who ends up going too far. I've worked with that young girl many times, one was even named Aminata and was from Senegal. The film lacks in subtelty at parts, loses some steam in the end, and is still a little too moralizing, but struck me right on the chin a few times. It curently sits at 1.9/10 on IMDB, people are useless. 8.5/10

I'm more in the 7B range, but I agree entirely with this review. I think you put your finger on the dilemma that she faces perfectly. There are so many issues to unpack in this movie, cultural, religious, sexual, social. The key question for me is why does even a small group of 11-year old girls view female sexuality in this manner? Why do they think this is cool and get reinforced for thinking so? Why are there even "dance" contests that would support these kids distortions and encourage them? A lot of the answers are right there in popular culture and social media but few directors have made such an implicit link between behavior and what it references.. The questions could go on and on, and I think the movie does an excellent job of raising a whole bunch of different issues. Maybe too many. My only reservation about Cuties is that it is a little too didactic, a little too worked out. It is one of those movies that should start intelligent conversations, not hysterical ones. Why the US Congress seems to want to get involved is just more evidence of how crazy the world is right now. I think Cuties is a very good movie, and a socially responsible one.

 

[ORRFForever]

Class Action Park (2020):

The first hour of Class Action Park is laugh out loud funny - I've never seen a documentary quite like it. The last 30 minutes is sobering and sad. The two combine for a heck of a ride.

8/10

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

STOP all this Wong Kar Wai talk. I've been in the mood to go back to his movies but have been holding off because Criterion is supposed to release a sweet boxed set of his work. So please pause all discussion of his movies for at least the next three months (still doesn't have a release date). Thank you.

Now, adventures in less classy film ...

Cherry 2000. One of those movies that was on cable A TON when I was a kid so I have some nostalgia for it. I do still dig its western future aesthetic. Always happy to see an old warhorse like Ben Johnson pop up, even in something like this. Story is more than a little goofy. Melanie Griffith is sleepwalking. But 80s stalwart Tim Thomerson is a nice slice of ham of a villain. By no means good, but I still have a soft spot for it.

Highlander. I do not have a soft spot for this. I know it's a series beloved by some and on paper I'd agree its a fun, cool idea. But man this movie is (mostly) neither. Lambert is the real killer here. He's awful. He can't deliver any of the weak attempts at humor. The flashbacks are corny as hell. On the positive side I will never say a bad word about Clancy Brown and director Russell Mulcahey is at his best when he's in "I'm making a rock and roll video!!!" mode. The fights are alright.
(Edit: And how I can forget to note that despite being partially set in Scotland it casts the most famous Scottish actor ever as a Egyptian by way of Spain, though in fairness Sean Connery is always Sean Connery so I suppose the fictional origins don't really matter).

Mad Max. More boring than you remember. The opening 20-30 minutes are rad though, as are the closing 15 or so. The stuff in the middle is necessary I suppose, but I'm glad George Miller would subsequently decide to do away with expected plot/story beats in later movies in favor of propulsive action. The camera work and stunts still rock and no one names characters as memorably as Miller.

The Road Warrior. An unassailable, swaggering, leather-clad, gasoline-soaked action classic. Mythic man comes to town on his horsepower. Miller turned to classic archetypes and made the action the plot and man it works. Funny to see how many little scenes and moments in this he took and amplified decades later in Fury Road when he had more budget. (Mad Max had someone pole vault onto a tanker truck for that matter too). But this one is a classic in its own right. The production design has been and will continue to be aped by lesser movies. A propulsive, adrenalized masterpiece.

Color Out of Space. I am genuinely not sure if Nic Cage made this movie better or worse. Despite my affinity for a good unhinged Cage performance, I think it might have made this worse, if by a few degrees. Movie was fine. Captured Lovecraft alright. Some memorably creepy images. I perhaps foolishly wanted a little more from it.

 

[NyQuil]

Highlander. I do not have a soft spot for this. I know it's a series beloved by some and on paper I'd agree its a fun, cool idea. But man this movie is (mostly) neither. Lambert is the real killer here. He's awful. He can't deliver any of the weak attempts at humor. The flashbacks are corny as hell. On the positive side I will never say a bad word about Clancy Brown and director Russell Mulcahey is at his best when he's in "I'm making a rock and roll video!!!" mode. The fights are alright.
(Edit: And how I can forget to note that despite being partially set in Scotland it casts the most famous Scottish actor ever as a Egyptian by way of Spain, though in fairness Sean Connery is always Sean Connery so I suppose the fictional origins don't really matter).

Christopher Lambert is the most successful terrible actor in history.

 

[kihei]

The Structure of Crystal (1969) Directed by Krzysztof Zanussi 8A

Jan and Marek are old friends who studied physics together and both excelled. Several years have passed, and Marek has become a world-renowned physicist while Jan has taken a job in the countryside monitoring weather for a local airport. When Marek comes to visit his old friend, it is clear that he has an agenda: to convince Jan that he is wasting his gifts and must return to the world of academia and research. Jan is married to a local school teacher who has a lot of kid still left in her herself. Though she and Jan are a decidedly odd couple, they seem blissfully happy and in love with a life of simple pleasures. The Structure of Crystal is a variation of the city mouse/country mouse theme, only in this case the country mouse steadfastly refuses to be swayed by the city mouse. The movie mainly consists of conversations and activities that take place in the snowy countryside—a minimalist work, but not slow cinema. The Structure of Crystal feels like a gentle parable about what is really important in life and how foolhardy it is to judge another’s happiness. It’s a lovely, little film, modest to a fault, but in its own way profound.

subtitles

MUBI

 

[The don godfather]

Jaws can't be beat. Robert shaw simply the best here and academy where is his oscar ?

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Cherry 2000. One of those movies that was on cable A TON when I was a kid so I have some nostalgia for it. I do still dig its western future aesthetic. Always happy to see an old warhorse like Ben Johnson pop up, even in something like this. Story is more than a little goofy. Melanie Griffith is sleepwalking. But 80s stalwart Tim Thomerson is a nice slice of ham of a villain. By no means good, but I still have a soft spot for it.

Highlander. I do not have a soft spot for this. I know it's a series beloved by some and on paper I'd agree its a fun, cool idea. But man this movie is (mostly) neither. Lambert is the real killer here. He's awful. He can't deliver any of the weak attempts at humor. The flashbacks are corny as hell. On the positive side I will never say a bad word about Clancy Brown and director Russell Mulcahey is at his best when he's in "I'm making a rock and roll video!!!" mode. The fights are alright.
(Edit: And how I can forget to note that despite being partially set in Scotland it casts the most famous Scottish actor ever as a Egyptian by way of Spain, though in fairness Sean Connery is always Sean Connery so I suppose the fictional origins don't really matter).

Yes on both count! Where did you catch Cherry 2000? Now I want to watch it!

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I'm more in the 7B range, but I agree entirely with this review. I think you put your finger on the dilemma that she faces perfectly. There are so many issues to unpack in this movie, cultural, religious, sexual, social. The key question for me is why does even a small group of 11-year old girls view female sexuality in this manner? Why do they think this is cool and get reinforced for thinking so? Why are there even "dance" contests that would support these kids distortions and encourage them? A lot of the answers are right there in popular culture and social media but few directors have made such an implicit link between behavior and what it references.. The questions could go on and on, and I think the movie does an excellent job of raising a whole bunch of different issues. Maybe too many. My only reservation about Cuties is that it is a little too didactic, a little too worked out. It is one of those movies that should start intelligent conversations, not hysterical ones. Why the US Congress seems to want to get involved is just more evidence of how crazy the world is right now. I think Cuties is a very good movie, and a socially responsible one.

I'm still not sure what the B stands for, but 7 is a fair assessment and I would probably have gone that way if not for emotional bias - this one just hit real close to home, and it worked. I wasn't aware of the bit about the US Congress, I guess we shouldn't be surprised now. You have to wonder if there's a rock bottom with these clowns.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Yes on both count! Where did you catch Cherry 2000? Now I want to watch it!

It is streaming free through Amazon Prime if that's an option for you. It's the type of movie that might make for a fun remake in the right hands, though I'm not sure how a hero who wants to revive his souped-up sexbot will play today.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

It is streaming free through Amazon Prime if that's an option for you. It's the type of movie that might make for a fun remake in the right hands, though I'm not sure how a hero who wants to revive his souped-up sexbot will play today.

It doesn't seem to be on Prime Canada......

 

[kihei]

Mignonnes (2020)
Dir. Maimouna Doucoure

I decided to watch Cuties purely off of the controversy, and I just don't get it. This feels more like a movie for:

a) People who aren't really aware of the sexualization of youngsters as produced by a culture where the only thing that matters is consent
b) Pedophiles who only needed pics to get off in the first place

The only thing I was interested in was the quality of film and whether the controversy was worthy of the commotion. I was disappointed in equal measures on both counts, though the controversy doesn't really matter on an objective level. It's not an unworthy topic by any means, I just don't get the high critical appraisal of it. More like a typical Sundance entry than a standout achievement.

I will, however, agree that the poster Netflix presented in marketing was bad, and if someone's first impression was that the film was pro-pedophilia then I wouldn't blame them. Can't decide whether it was gross or genius in retrospect, but I'm sure Van Wagensen would have approved.

Score: 4/10

Think you have a good point concerning A) but I think B) is a bit off base. Might this movie appeal to pedophiles? Sure, Is the movie pandering to pedophiles? No way. I think the movie is intended to shock people--that's the way Cuties gets our attention. The movie confronts us with images, but clearly the aim is not titillation but thought. Doucoure poses a whole lot of questions that need a cold, hard look: What are the roles that social media, fundamentalist religion, advertising, overly permissive adults, pop culture, the pressures to conform, etc,. play in creating a world in which little girls think acting like adult male fantasy hookers is a cool thing. I think people are stopping at the "shock" element, and not going beyond that. And, by doing so, I think they are missing the real point of the movie: how did our notion of childhood come to this? Not by accident.

 

[kihei]

I'm still not sure what the B stands for, but 7 is a fair assessment and I would probably have gone that way if not for emotional bias - this one just hit real close to home, and it worked. I wasn't aware of the bit about the US Congress, I guess we shouldn't be surprised now. You have to wonder if there's a rock bottom with these clowns.

Here's my grading scale:

10=a masterpiece: one of the best movies ever
9=one of the best movies of the decade
8=one of the best movies of the year
7=very good
6=good
5=run of the mill
4=below average
3=bad
2=really, really bad
1=worst among the worst


A=accessible
B=mildly challenging in one way or another
C=difficult
D=extremely difficult

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Think you have a good point concerning A) but I think B) is a bit off base. Might this movie appeal to pedophiles? Sure, Is the movie pandering to pedophiles? No way. I think the movie is intended to shock people--that's the way Cuties gets our attention. The movie confronts us with images, but clearly the aim is not titillation but thought. Doucoure poses a whole lot of questions that need a cold, hard look: What are the roles that social media, fundamentalist religion, advertising, overly permissive adults, pop culture, the pressures to conform, etc,. play in creating a world in which little girls think acting like adult male fantasy hookers is a cool thing. I think people are stopping at the "shock" element, and not going beyond that. And, by doing so, I think they are missing the real point of the movie: how did our notion of childhood come to this? Not by accident.

I'm really not sure A) is valid either. People who have their heads buried so far in the sand (or up their asses) to be aware that the sexualization of young girls is something to be concerned about will not appreciate this film and will probably ask for Netflix to be cancelled. I think it's a film for C) people on both sides of the spectrum who tend to blame the other one, as a slap in the face or wake up call regarding their own participation to the problem. I thought the shot with the two outfits laying on the bed side by side (the traditional dress for the wedding and the slutty dance costum) lacked a little in subtelty, but it's really to the point: they are both part of the problem making Aminata isolated between realities that keep her from having a childhood. The last shot, where she goes back to being a child, is beautiful, but another slap in the face: it might just be fantasy (she's flying off).