Movies: Last Movie You Watched and Rate It (Part XXVI)

[silverfish]

Time Lapse: 6.5/10

Once you get over the pornography level production value and acting in some instances, it's a fun movie. A story that isn't very original, group of friends find a camera that takes pictures of the future, use it to make money, get into trouble. Slight twist at the end.

Good bit of fun if you need a quick mind-bender.

 

[nameless1]

But that's what makes horse races, right? All any reviewer can do is make the best case possible and let it rest. That being said, I've got Closet Monster currently as my #17 seed for 2016. That's a hell of a movie by my standards with maybe the second best performance of the year by Connor Jessup (behind Casey Affleck). Normally that film would stand a good chance of being in my top ten right now. So to me, it is a very deep year, though with no unarguably great movie at the top of the list (and, yes, I would put The Assassin is that category. Easily).

I understand where you come from, but overall, I am still not that impressed with the quality of movies from this year. While there are entertaining ones, there are very few that I would even use the word "film" to describe them, and wholeheartedly recommend.

The difference between 2013 and 2016 might be that few of this year's movies (only The Red Turtle and Moonlight come to mind) do anything especially interesting with the medium. They are all just really terrific movies, just not envelope pushers. I'd say there were at least a half dozen movies in 2013 that used the medium in really creative ways and that contributed to its being such a vintage year.

I agree. To be fair, the cinematography is still beautiful, but like you said before, we really are in the golden age of cinematography at the moment, so I think we are just being really spoiled right now.

 

[nameless1]

By the way, kihei, what is your top 20 list? Perhaps that would give me more perspective.

 

[Nalens Oga]

Children of Men (2006) - 7.5
Good camerawork and some decent suspense but never was all that fond or cared for the characters that are mostly weak. Beginning has a bit too much of world-building establishing with a constant "hey look everything's gone to **** and is grey." It's also a bit scary to watch this film now than in 2006.

Don't Think Twice (2016) - 6/10
Disappointing despite having a funny cast. Plays like a long episode of an awkward cable sadcom. Running length squeezes in a quick-fix ending that feels unrealstic. Characters make improve seem more annoying than it is and aren't well-written. Not enough of the actual group dynamic focused on which was the one strength. At least it had Britta. Skip

Pierrot le fou (1965) - 7/10
Great colours and a good strong start/finish but the middle gets a bit tedious. Tries to be too silly and becomes repetitive without much of a script here, fully deserves to be called pretentious for that part. Conversations between the two leads are a lot weaker than in Godard's Breathless.

8½ (1963) - 8.5/10
One to rewatch again and again. Has a hundred layers with rich content and does a great job of scene transitions between dreams/reality. The musical numbers were a bit tedious but the rest of this film is like a maze of people moving around, masterclass in directing.

Clerks (1994) - 8/10
Like seeing a 90s time-capsule, very charming even when it's trying to be repulsive. The colourful characters are all fun in their own way and the retail setting works well. Not much to say here outside of a fun film if you enjoy seeing inane dialogue done well. Clerks 2 is good too, just not as good of a setting and with weaker customer interactions or the 90s charm.

The Princess Bride (1987) - 7/10
It's likable but this is overrated because it was shown to today's adults when they were kids who didn't care about things like production quality. Reminded me of Shrek in a way but not as funny though a bit more charming. The sword-fight scene is the main highlight of the film.

Dazed and Confused (1993) - 7.5/10
If your expectation is nothing more than to see a bunch of actors play high-school stereotypes to a tee and wanna enjoy the ride without the ending then this is your film. Matthew MacConoughey's character was hilarious, some of the other scenes are hits and misses but it works as a good collage of different characters as a whole.

Three Colors: Blue (1993) - 8/10
Far better than The Double Life of Veronique. Great acting that shows a nervous tension running throughout but also very peaceful and serene from how it's shot and very European. It flows beautifully like syrup, only complaint is that it didn't have enough blue.

 

[kihei]

By the way, kihei, what is your top 20 list? Perhaps that would give me more perspective.

Up to date right at the moment, but bounces around a little:

Best of '16 so far

1. Things to Come, Hansen-Love, France 9B
2. Moonlight, Jenkins, US, 9A
3. The Red Turtle, de Wit, Japan/The Netherlands, 9A
4. Paterson, Jarmusch, US, 9B
5. Manchester by the Sea, Lonergan, US, 9A
6. Elle, Verhoeven, France, 9B
7. Toni Erdmann, Ade, Germany, 8B
8. Hell or High Water, Mackenzie, US, 8A
9. Under the Shadow, Anvari, Iran, 8A
10. The Handmaiden, Park, South Korea, 8A

11. It’s Only the End of the World, Dolan, Canada, 8C
12. Fire at Sea, Rosi, Italy, 8B
13. Being 17, Techine, France 7A
14. Ixcanul, Bustamante, Guatemala, 7B
15. Little Men, Sachs, US, 7A
16. The Wailing, Na, South Korea, 7B
17. Closet Monster, Dunn, Canada, 7A
18. The Age of Shadows, Kim, South Korea, 7A
19. Two Lovers and a Bear, Nguyen, Canada, 7B
20. Certain Women, Reichardt, US 7C

 

[nameless1]

Thanks kihei.

Other than Being 17, and parts of The Wailing, I have not seen any on the second half of your list, so perhaps I have spoken too soon. However, from the 100 plus movies that I have seen this year, I am just not that impressed so far.

 

[nameless1]

Children of Men (2006) - 7.5
Good camerawork and some decent suspense but never was all that fond or cared for the characters that are mostly weak. Beginning has a bit too much of world-building establishing with a constant "hey look everything's gone to **** and is grey." It's also a bit scary to watch this film now than in 2006.

Don't Think Twice (2016) - 6/10
Disappointing despite having a funny cast. Plays like a long episode of an awkward cable sadcom. Running length squeezes in a quick-fix ending that feels unrealstic. Characters make improve seem more annoying than it is and aren't well-written. Not enough of the actual group dynamic focused on which was the one strength. At least it had Britta. Skip

Pierrot le fou (1965) - 7/10
Great colours and a good strong start/finish but the middle gets a bit tedious. Tries to be too silly and becomes repetitive without much of a script here, fully deserves to be called pretentious for that part. Conversations between the two leads are a lot weaker than in Godard's Breathless.

8½ (1963) - 8.5/10
One to rewatch again and again. Has a hundred layers with rich content and does a great job of scene transitions between dreams/reality. The musical numbers were a bit tedious but the rest of this film is like a maze of people moving around, masterclass in directing.

Clerks (1994) - 8/10
Like seeing a 90s time-capsule, very charming even when it's trying to be repulsive. The colourful characters are all fun in their own way and the retail setting works well. Not much to say here outside of a fun film if you enjoy seeing inane dialogue done well. Clerks 2 is good too, just not as good of a setting and with weaker customer interactions or the 90s charm.

The Princess Bride (1987) - 7/10
It's likable but this is overrated because it was shown to today's adults when they were kids who didn't care about things like production quality. Reminded me of Shrek in a way but not as funny though a bit more charming. The sword-fight scene is the main highlight of the film.

Dazed and Confused (1993) - 7.5/10
If your expectation is nothing more than to see a bunch of actors play high-school stereotypes to a tee and wanna enjoy the ride without the ending then this is your film. Matthew MacConoughey's character was hilarious, some of the other scenes are hits and misses but it works as a good collage of different characters as a whole.

Three Colors: Blue (1993) - 8/10
Far better than The Double Life of Veronique. Great acting that shows a nervous tension running throughout but also very peaceful and serene from how it's shot and very European. It flows beautifully like syrup, only complaint is that it didn't have enough blue.

Is this your top movie list, or are these the films that you have seen recently? This is a quality list.


I graded Pierrot le fou lower myself, but I completely agree with your assessment.

I hope that you get to Three Colors: White and Red. Personally, I think this is one of the best trilogies of all time, and they are best to be viewed as a whole.

 

[aufheben]

Lake Placid (1999) - 1/5

Unabashedly atrocious, and just a lot of...weird dialogue. Although if you're looking for a movie that is enjoyable in it's awfulness, it's a solid pick. Or if you just want to hear Betty White say **********.

 

[Shareefruck]

A Touch of Zen - 4.5, maybe 5.0 (Brilliant, maybe Masterpiece)
Tried to give this a shot a few times in the past, but the poor picture quality kept pushing me away. This time I watched the Criterion Blu Ray, which looks incredible.

My favorite martials arts movie by a country mile. Such beautifully framed images, gorgeous cinematography, dynamic movement/mood, flawless economical choreography, and controlled execution of everything. Only thing that caught me off guard and felt weird in terms of passage of time was how quickly that baby popped out.

Favorite Movies:
1. Tokyo Story
2. La Dolce Vita
3. A Brighter Summer's Day
4. Children of Paradise
5. My Neighbor Totoro
6. Charulata
7. Dr. Strangelove
8. In The Mood For Love
9-11. Three Colors Trilogy
12. Uncle Boonmee Recalls His Past Lives
13. No Country For Old Men
14. Breathless
15. Late Spring
16. 2001: A Space Oddyssey
17. Ponyo
18. Jules and Jim
19. Yojimbo
20. 8 1/2
21. Manhattan
22. Days of Being Wild
23. Triplets of Belleville
24. Chungking Express
25. Ran
26. A Touch of Zen
27. Seven Samurai
28. Double Life of Veronique
30. Casablanca

 

[Jevo]

A Touch of Zen - 4.5 (Brilliant)
Tried to give this a shot a few times in the past, but the poor picture quality kept pushing me away. This time I watched the Criterion Blu Ray, which looks incredible.

My favorite martials arts movie by a country mile. Such beautifully framed images, gorgeous cinematography, dynamic movement/mood, flawless economical choreography, and controlled execution of everything. Only thing that caught me off guard and felt weird in terms of passage of time was how quickly that baby popped out.

Criterion has made a blu-ray of A Touch of Zen? I'll have to move it to the top of my to watch list then. I've been wanting to watch it for a long time, but like you I was hoping for a good quality copy to appear.

 

[Nalens Oga]

The Wages of Fear (1953) - 9/10
From the director of Les Diabolique, I had to watch this one in multiple days because the suspense was so high that I couldn't take so much butt clenching at once. It makes There Will Be Blood seem boring in comparison though the first hour is a slower drama with some pretty colourful characters. Shows the comradery between down-on-their-luck bums as good as any film. More has been written about it here in the past because it was a movie of the week here but I don't think much needs to be said, it's a simple film that executes perfectly, just watch it.

Is this your top movie list, or are these the films that you have seen recently? This is a quality list.


I graded Pierrot le fou lower myself, but I completely agree with your assessment.

I hope that you get to Three Colors: White and Red. Personally, I think this is one of the best trilogies of all time, and they are best to be viewed as a whole.

No just the last ones I saw, I wouldn't call any my favourites though Three Colours Blue is probably a top 50-60 now and I don't re-watch films but Clerks seem like it'd be a fun re-watch. Yeah I have the other Three Colours films on my watchlist I'll get around to them, mainly interested in Red.

 

[Shareefruck]

Criterion has made a blu-ray of A Touch of Zen? I'll have to move it to the top of my to watch list then. I've been wanting to watch it for a long time, but like you I was hoping for a good quality copy to appear.

Yeah, it was released in July. I felt that the picture quality wasn't quite as sharp/defined as their other remasters and had issues with murkiness/balance (apparently the source was damaged), but it's still beautiful to look at.


https://www.criterion.com/films/28791-a-touch-of-zen
https://www.amazon.com/Touch-Zen-Criterion-Collection-Blu-ray/dp/B01EIGOFUW

 

[Mario Lemieux fan 66]

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 7.8/10

 

[Franck]

I saw Adaptation for the first time last night. Had it down as a solid 4/5 before the final act brought it into masterpiece territory, just an absolutely wonderful feat of screenwriting.

It got me curious though, are there any other films that employ the same kind of stream of conciousness narration?

 

[Shareefruck]

Lady Snowblood - 2.5 (Good)

Man, oh man. When you follow Tarantino's filmography, you start out just sort of assuming that he's making his own unique movies with loving homages to the types of films that he grew up passionate about and putting his own spin on it, but with every passing influence of his that I watch, I realize more and more that he's often just an outright ripoff artist. Reservoir Dogs is City on Fire and Kill Bill is Lady Snowblood. And in this case, this movie deploys all of the tricks that Tarantino used to better effect.

Pretty campy, but alot of stylish fun and surprising attention to framing.

 

[ProspectsSTC]

Lady Snowblood - 2.0 (Positive)

Man, oh man. When you follow Tarantino's filmography, you start out just sort of assuming that he's making his own unique movies with loving homages to the types of films that he grew up passionate about and putting his own spin on it, but with every passing influence of his that I watch, I realize more and more that he's often just an outright ripoff artist. Reservoir Dogs is City of God and Kill Bill is Lady Snowblood. And in this case, this movie deploys all of the tricks that Tarantino used to better effect.

Pretty campy, but alot of stylish fun and surprising attention to framing.

I think you meant City of Fire

 

[Shareefruck]

Whoops! Yep.

But seriously, Lady Snowblood even has that Anime/Manga interlude for Christ sakes.

 

[McGhostbuster]

Hacksaw Ridge-Front half was standard Oscar Bait, last half was one of the better war sequences in film history and with a touch more oscar bait. 7.5/10

The Thin Red Line-I was in the mood for some more WWII and viewed the Criterion version of this. Top 3 war film for me of all time and should have won Best Picture over Saving Private Ryan. 9.5/10

 

[Unaffiliated]

Arrival (2016)
dir. Denis Villeneuve

7/10

Amy Adams is a linguist enlisted to act as translator for the US in our first contact with extraterrestrial life.

Aesthetic/cinematography, sound, and general concept are the highlights here. Amy Adams is good enough, and all other characters are fairly bland.

I quite liked the limited depiction of humanity's reaction to both the first contact and later parts, which rang fairly true to me.

I unfortunately guessed an important plot point here earlier than I was supposed to, which I think stole some of the movie's effect away from me. Friends I went to see the movie with were blown away.

The first steps in the right direction towards successful communication were euphoric.

While fairly cerebral and intelligent, I think the movie was missing something. I liked the slow pacing, but I think I wanted something else. Maybe the creeping unease of Villeneuve's Enemy, or the deafening silence of 2001, or maybe something I can't think of quite yet, but something was not quite complete for me.

This slips in for me on an equal level with Prisoners, although the two are quite apart on Villeneuve's movie spectrum (cerebral vs raw and visceral and dumb). Polytechnique, Incendies, Enemy, and Sicario are all better films, I think.

I'm also well aware that I came in to this movie with extremely high expectations, and that part of my rating is the result of slight disappointment.

 

[nameless1]

I think you meant City of Fire

Whoops! Yep.

But seriously, Lady Snowblood even has that Anime/Manga interlude for Christ sakes.

It is still off. The movie is called City on Fire. The other two in the trilogy is Prison on Fire, and School on Fire.

 

[kihei]

Allied (2016) Directed by Robert Zemeckis 4A

After Max (Brad Pitt), an intelligence officer from Quebec working with the British during World War II, and Marianne (Marion Cotillard), a Parisian resistance leader of high reputation, pull off a dangerous attack on Nazi leadership, they discover that they are falling in love. However, their chances of living happily ever after are severely jeopardized when Max is informed that Marianne may not be at all that she seems to be. Allied is a hack work by a hack director, but that's not necessarily all bad. Proficient hack directors deliver competent, polished products which Zemeckis does here. The problem is nothing in the movie is worth caring about. Allied never works as a romance because surprisingly Pitt and Cotillard have zero chemistry, even in the sexy scenes. and because neither character is fleshed out enough for the audience to feel any genuine sympathy for their plight. Cotillard does the best she can disguising the fact that there is not much depth to her character, but Pitt is not up to the task. His role calls for an actor who can communicate internal turmoil, not exactly Brad's strong suit. In fact, on the several occasions when he tries to show his feelings of concern, he just looks like a man who has stepped on a cow patty. That's the only expression in his playbook for that kind of emotion, and it doesn't stretch very far. Equally frustrating, Allied doesn't work as a suspense movie either because none of the scenes have any. Then there are all the plot twists that made my jaw drop in disbelief or that seemed just plain silly. Allied deserves to sink quietly into oblivion.

 

[Know Your Enemy]

Brad Park was a hockey player

 

[kihei]

Brad Park was a hockey player

And a fine one, too. Thanks for the tip. Fixed it.

 

[Shareefruck]

It is still off. The movie is called City on Fire. The other two in the trilogy is Prison on Fire, and School on Fire.

Whoops!

 

[Mario Lemieux fan 66]

The red turtle 7.4/10

Karl et Max 7.6/10

L'imposteur saison 1 7.5/10