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

[kihei]

Tenet : 7.8/10 Pretty good. First time back to the cinema for me since february. Mostly well done but like Inception there is some part harder to understand. I think that's the 1st good movie involving Pattinson. Cosmopolis, the lighthouse and Good time were dreadful.

I thought Pattinson was excellent in Good Time, one of the better performances that I saw last year, and very good in the other two. Not a big fan of Cosmopolis, but I liked the other two movies very much, as well. I guess this is what makes horse races.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

I think The Lighthouse was a great triumph and has one of the greatest comic touches I have seen in American cinema. Few movies have amused me as much as Dafoe and Pattinson's nightmarish and deranged ramblings being met each time by the other character replying with the 19th century equivalent of posting 'lol ok' as soon as they were finished. It's almost Nabokovian in its cruel comic sensibilities. Such a great f***ing film.

Due to only using Netflix as of late (the only non-work computer that we have at home is a dingy macbook that makes other streaming sites almost impossible to use), I watched Gone Baby Gone tonight. Will post my thoughts tommorow. But man, Netflix has piss poor offerings.

 

[Osprey]

The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933) - 8/10 (Loved it)

King Henry VIII of England gets married... and married... and married... and married again. I'm not sure which figure Charles Laughton was better born to play: Captain Bligh in Mutiny on the Bounty or Henry VIII in this. He's the spitting image of the man (or, at least, the most famous portrait of him) and the role made him a star and won him the Academy Award for Best Actor. The first hour is hilarious, starting with the intro card about Henry's first wife ("She was a respectable woman. So Henry divorced her") and peaking with a memorable scene of Henry ranting while devouring a bird (at 29:10 below), and the remaining half hour is relatively serious and touching. It's got great character development with Henry starting off as a comical figure (which you would expect) and slowly becoming a sympathetic one (which you might not expect). It's just an enjoyable film, especially if you like British comedy and/or British history, and is one my favorites from the 1930s.

Full movie:

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

But man, Netflix has piss poor offerings.

I'm half way through the 3 seasons of Lethal Weapon... so, yeah.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933) - 8/10 (Loved it)

King Henry VIII of England gets married... and married... and married... and married again. I'm not sure which figure Charles Laughton was better born to play, Captain Bligh in Mutiny on the Bounty or Henry VIII in this. He's the spitting image of the king's famous portrait and the role made him a star and won him the Academy Award for Best Actor. I forgot how hilarious the first hour is (starting with a couple of executioners arguing over who deserves the honor of chopping off Anne Boleyn's head) and how serious it gets in the remaining half hour. It's got great character development with Henry starting off as a comical figure and slowly becoming a sympathetic one. It's just a highly enjoyable film, especially if you like British comedy, and one my favorites from the 1930s.

Full movie:

Here's a treat I found on youtube: the Ten Minute History series. It's great. Funny and informative.

 

[kihei]

Divines (2016) Directed by Houda Benyamina 6A

Dounia (Oulaya Amamra), a French girl of Middle Eastern descent, tries to find a place for herself in the grungier parts of Paris that tourists never see. She is young enough to still be in secondary school, but she is not interested. Though she is gentle and playful around her best friend Mamouna, who is about twice her size, the diminutive Dounia is hard as nails and willing to take risks, a girl who punches well above her weight. Eventually Dounia convinces an intimidating female drug dealer that she has the right stuff to succeed on the streets. About the same time, in a curious kind of counterpoint, she meets a modern dancer and he falls for her. Feisty and game though she is, her constricted world gets complicated in ways she could never have foreseen. I felt like I had seen versions of this coming-of-age movie several times before. Still, there was enough that was fresh to hold my attention. Divines is director Houda Benyamina’s debut and she crowds a lot of material into her first film, as first time directors tend to do.. However, her smartest move is casting her much younger sister in the feature role. Oulaya Amamra, in her debut, too, is perfect, full of high spirits and energy, keeping me interested every moment she is on the screen. Amamra is not the only reason to see Divines, but she is the principle one.

subtitles

Netflix

 

[Chili]

The Third Man-1949

A mystery that held my interest throughout. The Vienna scenes add to the story. Interesting that the sewer system there apparently ran ~3,000 km through the city, lots of places to hide. Great cast including Joseph Cotten in a part that was at one point slated for Cary Grant. Nice use of shadow imagery. Memorable music theme. Classic.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

First Cow. Really wished I would have been able to see this in the theater — not necessarily for visual purposes (though it is great to look at) but for attention purposes. I actually did ok with watching it from my couch, but it's definitely a film that demands attention. Don't check your phone or nod off. This is might be an odd comparison, but if you squint it's almost a low key (VERY low key) Butch and Sundance, but with milk instead of banks. An affable pair or outsiders with dreams trying to make a life out on the frontier. There's even a cliff jump ... Gentle, almost even sweet. Kelly Reichardt has such a knack for well-drawn characters. This one's going to stick with me a while.

Bacurau. A great version of a very comforting stew. You've had stew before. You like stew. You're familiar with all the ingredients, though there's a least a little spice in this one to give it a touch of the new, a bit of extra. It hasn't tasted quite like this. I'd say go in as blind as to what it's about as you can. If you don't know it, let's just call it a sci-fi/action/thriller. Definitely not actually about stew.

Barbarella. Man, I like kitsch. I like camp. I like some cheap-o sci-fi. I really did not like this.

Bill and Ted Face the Music. About as good as a 29-year-old sequel that really has no business to exist can be. Big-hearted, fun enough, true to its roots. I'm sure there are detractors, but I'm not interested in grumpy gus takedowns of this genial oversized candy bar of a movie.

Gallipoli. One of the great (and underrated) war movies. An absolutely gutting experience with an ending that's seared into my brain. Beautifully shot. Peter Weir remains an underrated great director with outstanding work over decades.

Starstruck. 1980s Aussie rock comedy about an aspiring singer. It seems every country has its version of this movie? I found a couple of the (New Wavey) songs and the quirky spastic choreography to be pretty winning.

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. I swear I watched this a bunch as a kid but man I did not remember anything beyond the Master-Blaster fight (which is about the first 40 minutes of the movie). The second half is a proto-Hook and not nearly as memorable as the first half (which honestly isn't that great anyway). **Puts on Gene Shalit mask**
Kudos for shifting gears after the first two entries, but this movie is stuck in cruise control. **Removes Gene Shalit mask**

 

[Osprey]

Here's a treat I found on youtube: the Ten Minute History series. It's great. Funny and informative.

Thanks. That was great. I love British history, especially from around that era.

 

[nameless1]

Anyone doing TIFF this year? Just curious.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. I swear I watched this a bunch as a kid but man I did not remember anything beyond the Master-Blaster fight (which is about the first 40 minutes of the movie). The second half is a proto-Hook and not nearly as memorable as the first half (which honestly isn't that great anyway). **Puts on Gene Shalit mask**
Kudos for shifting gears after the first two entries, but this movie is stuck in cruise control. **Removes Gene Shalit mask**

Nobody ever remembers the rest of Thunderdome once Max beats MasterBlaster.

Growing up, the Mad Max movies were legendary among my particular click. They were like the James Bond movies or original Star Wars trilogy; there were movies, and then there were *those* movies, which existed in their own special end of revered cinema, lording over everything else. They weren't movies, they were occasions. Rituals. The Mad Max series, especially if you were a car guy, which of course me and my friends all were. But in the third movie...somehow it just stops. Max goes to Bartertown, has verbal reparte with Tina Turner in her giant metal dress, we get Thunderdome, and then...hey, what happens? Dunno...

To this day I have to look up the plot on wikipedia to make sure. And I've seen Thunderdome more than once.

Also, everyone go buy the Mad Max game on Steam. It's based on the latest Fury Road movie, but it's basically GTA: Mad Max universe. Hella great fun.

 

[kihei]

La Bete Humaine (1938) Direct4ed by Jean Renoir 7A

Based on an Emile Zola novel about a locomotive engineer (Jean Gabin) tragically in love with a married woman who cannot escape from her jealous husband, La Bete Humaine is probably the great French director Jean Renoir’s darkest movie. However, true to form, the film is wonderfully directed with a few memorable lyrical touches. The railway setting full of smoke and massive engines moving back and forth is a surprisingly sympathetic allusion to powerful forces just barely in control. At first it seems that the central characters are trapped by a malevolent destiny that they can do nothing about. However, in reality it is their individual choices consciously made that damn all three eventually. Renoir’s approach is more lyrical and sympathetic than hard-boiled or judgemental. For instance, there is a lovely “last dance” sequence near the end of the movie that feels like a moment of grace in an unforgiving world. For Renoir, people’s tendency to embrace their own folly is an inescapable part of the human condition.

subtitles

Criterion Channel

 

[NyQuil]

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. I swear I watched this a bunch as a kid but man I did not remember anything beyond the Master-Blaster fight (which is about the first 40 minutes of the movie). The second half is a proto-Hook and not nearly as memorable as the first half (which honestly isn't that great anyway). **Puts on Gene Shalit mask**
Kudos for shifting gears after the first two entries, but this movie is stuck in cruise control. **Removes Gene Shalit mask**

I despise when they take what is essentially a Rated R franchise, realize that it's popular with kids, and then try to re-craft it as a PG or PG-13 children-oriented yarn.

 

[Langdon Alger]

Anyone doing TIFF this year? Just curious.

Are they still having it?

 

[kihei]

Anyone doing TIFF this year? Just curious.

Not me. It is a reduced line up, and the only two movies I want to see will undoubtedly be available soon enough.

 

[Chili]

The Iron Mask-1929

As well:

The Man in the Iron Mask-1939 & 1998

Wanted to compare the three versions, each one has it's own story from the same premise. Enjoyed the performance of Louis Hayward in the duel role of the twin brothers in the '39 version, though the story itself seemed the least believable. Good sets & costumes. Found the '98 version is well presented (great cast) and maybe the most plausible/realistic story but seemed too long. My favorite of the three was the 1929 version, lots of humour and best captured the spirit of 'one for all and all for one'. I understand now why Douglas Fairbanks was so popular in his day, what athleticism!

 

[Osprey]

I despise when they take what is essentially a Rated R franchise, realize that it's popular with kids, and then try to re-craft it as a PG or PG-13 children-oriented yarn.

The poster child for that is probably Conan the Destroyer. Let's take an R-rated action movie about a brute who slays enemies, punches camels and sleeps with beautiful women and follow it up with a PG-rated comedy in which our hero babysits a 14-year-old girl.

 

[Osprey]

The Iron Mask-1929

As well:

The Man in the Iron Mask-1939 & 1998

Wanted to compare the three versions, each one has it's own story from the same premise. Enjoyed the performance of Louis Hayward in the duel role of the twin brothers in the '39 version, though the story itself seemed the least believable. Good sets & costumes. Found the '98 version is well presented (great cast) and maybe the most plausible/realistic story but seemed too long. My favorite of the three was the 1929 version, lots of humour and best captured the spirit of 'one for all and all for one'. I understand now why Douglas Fairbanks was so popular in his day, what athleticism!

I like to do this, myself. I'll watch different adaptations or related movies consecutively in order to compare them, as well as to just keep the theme going and check them off of my list. In fact, after watching The Private Life of Henry VIII the other night, I learned of another film made 20 years later, Young Bess, in which Charles Laughton reprises his role as Henry VIII in a story about the young life of Queen Elizabeth, so I'm watching that right now. Having a point of reference, whether it be an earlier adaptation, a common character or something else, gives extra incentive and enjoyment to watching a film, I find.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Gone Baby Gone (2007) - It handles the nuances of its morality with some skill and I think Ben Affleck is a somewhat underrated director/performer (or at least, I never understood why folks sometimes ridicule him over others. There's much worse.) and he gets good performances out of his actors but I think that a first solid hour is cratered by a denouement that turns into howling, contrived melodrama with the aesthetics of a police procedural or one of those really cheap TV documentaries that investigate trailer park, domestic murders. Some of the editing is a bit weak too (there's a particularly egregious bit where Ed Harris swiftly moves from shot to shot into Amy Ryan's face like he's batman. It was cringy.) but the movie kept my attention throughout, although my damnation would probably be a condemnation to listen to Hollywood Boston accents for eternity. Also, the Haitian character didn't sound Haitian at all, which made him come across as more cartoonish than he already was. Some of the little details like that were a little too silly for my liking. For example, how Casey Affleck would just rewind every interaction to remind thugs not to disrespect his wife (how his scrawny ass didn't end up catching hands is Hollywood nonsense at his best) but it was funny all the same. Not a bad flick, better than most of its genre when produced by Hollywood, but that's not quite complimentary either. I think Affleck may have been a bit out of his depth with the material, or perhaps too faithful (I haven't read the novel), but he showed promise that I'm not sure he ever delivered on.

 

[Chili]

I like to do this, myself. I'll watch different adaptations or related movies consecutively in order to compare them, as well as to just keep the theme going and check them off of my list. In fact, after watching The Private Life of Henry VIII the other night, I learned of another film made 20 years later, in which Charles Laughton reprises his role as Henry VIII in a story about the young life of Queen Elizabeth, so I'm watching that right now. Having a point of reference, whether it be an earlier adaptation, a common character or something else, gives extra incentive and enjoyment to watching a film, I find.

I have seen The Private Life of Henry VIII not long ago, got a kick out of Charles Laughton's eating habits. He had fun in that role. Haven't seen Young Bess. Probably will do some more of these comparisons, looking at The Last of The Mohicans 3 versions as well as Robin Hood ?? versions.

 

[nameless1]

Are they still having it?

Not me. It is a reduced line up, and the only two movies I want to see will undoubtedly be available soon enough.

I thought it will be an online version. VIFF will go online this year, but it is only available for B.C. residents.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Pale Flower (1964) - 6.5/10

I'm not a big fan of the disenchanted gangster classic Japanese film genre. They're all quite monotone. You get some strange pacing and rhythm with some weird acting and some nice black and white shots in widescreen with a few good moments spread throughout.

 

[nameless1]

Pale Flower (1964) - 6.5/10

I'm not a big fan of the disenchanted gangster classic Japanese film genre. They're all quite monotone. You get some strange pacing and rhythm with some weird acting and some nice black and white shots in widescreen with a few good moments spread throughout.

I actually quite like the Japanese gangster genre from the 50s and 60s. It is likely that I grew up with Hong Kong gangster films, so there is a sense of familiarity there.

Mariko Kaga is so beautiful though. I remember that I was enchanted by her in this one.

 

[kihei]

Suburra (2015) Directed by Stefano Sollima 6A

Scumbags galore in this big, slick gangster movie set in Rome filled with criminals killing each other in occasionally imaginative ways. Director Stefano Sollima creates a Scorsese-size canvas with three separate story lines well integrated into one another. The various mafioso types are sharply drawn in a few strokes, violence is an ever-present threat, and the damn thing keeps moving right along at a rapid pace. The plot involves a huge waterfront project that will turn part of Rome into Las Vegas, a project dear to the hearts of a collection of dangerous crime families. However, an ambitious politician, a punky gangster, and a pit bull stone-cold killer from a competing gypsy crime family all want to get their share of the spoils. There is a godfather type who tries to keep a lid on the various sociopaths. He doesn’t have much luck. Oh, yeah, and the Pope manages unintentionally to complicate the proceedings. Mafia movies aren’t really my thing unless they are Gommorah or something similar, but Suburra at least keeps coming at you with the cheap thrills in the manner of a good television serial like Queen of the South. Anyone who likes glossy mafioso movies will probably enjoy this one.

Sidenote: In a move that makes perfectly good sense, Suburra (now entitled Suburra: Blood of Rome) has indeed become a popular Italian series, now available on Netflix, too.

subtitles

Netflix

 

[nameless1]

VIFF lineup is out, and honestly, it is a bit disappointing. There are 98 films, and the only thing that really interests me is There is No Evil.

Even though it is online, there is still an allotment, for some reason, so a movie can still sell out. We will see how that goes.


There are a lot of movies from Canada though. This might be a good chance to see Canadian production.