Last Movie You Watched and Rate It | Spring 2021 Edition

[kihei]

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) Directed by Sydney Lumet 6A

Two brothers decide to burglar a mom and pop jewelry store, THEIR mom and pop's jewelry store. Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the older and theoretically smarter brother, gets the idea and then talks his weaker and dumber brother Hank (Ethan Hawke) into it. Hank gets nervous and brings in a tough-guy accomplice, and then, in an instant, everything goes horribly wrong, complete with an unexpected victim. Their father (Albert Finney) won't stop digging until he finds the truth. To complicate matters further, the Feds are closing in on Andy on fraud charges; his wife is having an affair with the dumb brother; and he needs to come up with ten grand to pay off a would-be blackmailer in 24 hours. In his final movie, Sydney Lumet plays Before the Devil Knows You're Dead absolutely straight, and it is a reasonably entertaining version of somebody's worst week ever. But, man, I would have played this material for laughs--there is a better dark comedy available here than the straight melodrama that we get. Plus, Lumet really isn't at the top of his game. He indulges in too many flashbacks and some silly editing gimics that only distract from the flow of the narrative. And he never gives us a reason to care for either of his central screw-ups. Observing Lumet in action here, it's a little like watching Roger Federer struggle recently against the #42 ranked player in the world when you know he has seen far, far better days.

Sidenote: For you poor bastards who haven't the blessing of being Irish, the full saying goes "May your glass be ever full. May the roof over your head be always strong. And may you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead."

 

[Puck]

Hotel Artemis

with Jodie Foster, Dave Bautista (who is everywhere these days), Zach Quinto, and not enough Jeff Goldblum.
...
On Netflix.

"I'm...huh. Uhhm...I'm...uh...here for my...uh...five minutes of screen time...! And first billing...!"

For some strange unkown reason, I really like the neo-noir fantasy genre. I suppose you could throw in the more recent Bad Times at the El Royale and the John Wick franchise in here. As well as Under the Silver Lake (which seemingly went over like a lead ballon here, but not with me lol).


I might have had a bit of trouble watching Holy Motors but I still took it in. You might put Boss Level in this category, that one was entertaining as well as Spielberg's Ready Player One. The last two might also be classified as First Person Shooter gamer flicks along with Edge of Tomorrow (perhaps add John Wick here too on genre categorization overlaps I suppose). It's all good.

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

For some strange unkown reason, I really like the neo-noir fantasy genre. I suppose you could throw in the more recent Bad Times at the El Royale and the John Wick franchise in here. As well as Under the Silver Lake (which seemingly went over like a lead ballon here, but not with me lol).


I might have had a bit of trouble watching Holy Motors but I still took it in. You might put Boss Level in this category, that one was entertaining as well as Spielberg's Ready Player One. The last two might also be classified as First Person Shooter gamer flicks along with Edge of Tomorrow (perhaps add John Wick here too on genre categorization overlaps I suppose). It's all good.

Same. I'll have to give Under the Silver Lake and Boss Level a shot, based on the fact that we appear to have similar tastes .

And I don't know if the Dredd remake qualifies, but I immediately thought of it while reading your post. One of my favorite action films of the past 20 years or so.

 

[Osprey]

Cosmic Sin (2021) - 2/10 (Hated it)

It's only March and I can already tell that this movie is going to win a lot of awards this year... all Razzies. It's a sci-fi action movie about mankind making first contact with a race of alien vampires in the 26th century and sending a strange assortment of soldiers and scientists, led by a very old Bruce Willis, to exterminate it. I think that the title refers to genocide, but it could also refer to the fact that this movie was made. It makes Armageddon (another movie about Willis leading a team into space) look like a masterpiece. First of all, the acting is really bad. Willis looks bored and mails in his performance. Frank Grillo is decent, but also barely in the movie. The other actors are either just bad or seem so because the dialogue is so awful. I actually felt bad for them. Many lines are cringeworthy. There's one scene in which a well-liked character dies and, seconds later, a guy comes walking into the room, sees that no one is talking or looking up and jokes "who died?" There are other awkward moments like that where you're not sure if they're supposed to be funny, sad or what. I started out laughing at a lot of it, but eventually realized that it wasn't worth even that. The writing, in general, is just awful. Even though the story is incredibly simple and shallow, it still managed to be confusing and I couldn't understand why some scenes existed or what the characters were sometimes talking about. I think that it even tried to raise the question about whether it's right to exterminate another species, even though the movie's answer ultimately was "Why yes, yes it is." The characters look ridiculous in oversized space suits and the CGI occasionally looks 1990s quality. There isn't as much action as you'd expect (lots of standing around talking, though) and what there is isn't exciting. Don't be fooled by the 96% audience score at RT. That has to be from fraudulent ratings and will come down fast. Trust the 5% critic score, instead. "So, you're saying that there's a chance that I'll like it?" I hear you say. Yes, but I would take that 5% chance only if you can't find a better sci-fi to watch, like Battlefield Earth.

In case anyone was wondering if I was being too hard on this film...
Cosmic Sin Review: Frank Grillo and Bruce Willis Commit Cosmic Sin in SciFi Dumpster Fire

I might have had a bit of trouble watching Holy Motors but I still took it in. You might put Boss Level in this category, that one was entertaining as well as Spielberg's Ready Player One. The last two might also be classified as First Person Shooter gamer flicks along with Edge of Tomorrow (perhaps add John Wick here too on genre categorization overlaps I suppose). It's all good.

If you like "gamer flicks," you might check out Guns Akimbo, which is silly kind of like Boss Level. Also, there's Hardcore Henry, which takes "first person shooter" literally.

 

[Puck]

If you like "gamer flicks," you might check out Guns Akimbo, which is silly kind of like Boss Level. Also, there's Hardcore Henry, which takes "first person shooter" literally.

Seen it. Could have added more in my post I suppose.

 

[Uberpecker]

Gaslight (1944)
9/10

Prime Ingrid Bergman in a Hitchcock movie, not much else to say here.

Plus a great performance by a young Angela Lansbury playing the slutty maid as the cherry on top.

Especially for those who wonder where the expression "gaslighting" comes from, I'd suggest you go see this movie!

It's, however, not among Hitchcock's absolute best, so that explains the 9.

 

[Puck]

Same. I'll have to give Under the Silver Lake and Boss Level a shot, based on the fact that we appear to have similar tastes .

And I don't know if the Dredd remake qualifies, but I immediately thought of it while reading your post. One of my favorite action films of the past 20 years or so.

You'll love Boss Level but Silver Lake is a tough one to understand. I can see where it loses people (neo noir fantasy not in the FPS mold though). I went to Reddit to get help to figure it out. It's too crazy and off the wall for most people but I still enjoyed it.

I can agree for Dredd. I suppose the latest Batman/Joker movies are neo-noir fantasy too. Definitely the new Chris Helmsworth flick Extraction (On Netflix), rates as FPShooter I believe. I bundled up neo-noir fantasy with FPS but they are not all both.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

For some strange unkown reason, I really like the neo-noir fantasy genre. I suppose you could throw in the more recent Bad Times at the El Royale and the John Wick franchise in here. As well as Under the Silver Lake (which seemingly went over like a lead ballon here, but not with me lol).


I might have had a bit of trouble watching Holy Motors but I still took it in. You might put Boss Level in this category, that one was entertaining as well as Spielberg's Ready Player One. The last two might also be classified as First Person Shooter gamer flicks along with Edge of Tomorrow (perhaps add John Wick here too on genre categorization overlaps I suppose). It's all good.

I liked Under the Silver Lake and Holy Motors, but I fail to see how you connect these films - not only together, but with stuff like Ready Player One (yuck), and Edge of Tomorrow. Neo-noir feels like a huge umbrella term here.

 

[Chili]

Rumble Fish-1983

'Somebody otta put the fish in the river.'

Kind of like if the Fonz was in Rebel Without a Cause (if James Dean had an older brother in the film). Tough kid who idolizes his older brother and tries to emulate him which leads to trouble.

What a cast (Dillon, Rourke, Spano, Fishburne, Cage, Diane Lane, Chris Penn, Hopper, Tom Waits). Based on a novel by the same author as The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton). And a very different movie soundtrack by Stewart Copeland.

Francis Ford Coppola dedicated this black & white film to his older brother August. Nicholas Cage wore his father August's jacket in the film.

Interesting film, well off the beaten path.

 

[Puck]

I liked Under the Silver Lake and Holy Motors, but I fail to see how you connect these films - not only together, but with stuff like Ready Player One (yuck), and Edge of Tomorrow. Neo-noir feels like a huge umbrella term here.

Yes I agree I bundled up neo-noir and the FPS gamer genre very quickly there without much clarification. I admitted that above. It was a quick post and wasn't being picky clear.

Neo-Noir and Shooter gaming genre together might apply to John Wick but not to Edge of Tomorrow which might be more just sci-fi fantasy in the shooter gamer genre. The Shooter gamer genre applies more to a highly choreographed shooter film where the hero or anti-hero seems to have a long life while on an extended shooting spree. You see that in films like Crank, Crank High Voltage, or Edge of Tomorrow. Edge of Tomorrow even reboots like a gamer can. So does Boss Level. Ready Player One is more an homage to gamer culture, not just FPS. Maybe that is more Cyberpunk Dystopian (if you want to be a purist looking for genre terms); hmm, technically that might apply to Hotel Artemis too.

Under the Silver Lake is considered neo-noir, as is Bad Times at El Royale, Dark Night, John Wick, Hotel Artemis etc...

Holy Motors, not sure if it applies to neo-noir fantasy, I just threw it in there under the big umbrella without thinking. Weird and dark fantasy crime drama? I dunno. Maybe just noir without the neo?

Anyway....( a list of neo-noir including the neo-noir fantasy sub-group)
List of neo-noir films

 

[sdf]

Last movie you not watched and rate it

 

[kihei]

Last movie you not watched and rate it

Too zen for me.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Gaslight (1944)
9/10

Prime Ingrid Bergman in a Hitchcock movie, not much else to say here.

Plus a great performance by a young Angela Lansbury playing the slutty maid as the cherry on top.

Especially for those who wonder where the expression "gaslighting" comes from, I'd suggest you go see this movie!

It comes from a play, there was also a 1940 British film made first.

I'd say 9/10 is too generous though cos Hitchcock really drags this out and Bergman's character is a bit too one-dimensionally helpless.

 

[Puck]

I did not know about gaslighting or what it meant until I heard it in a Dixie Chicks song and had to look it up. I've heard it a lot since then (the term not the song). I don't know if it was used much 10-15 years ago or it just went over my head, but I am more aware of it today.

 

[nameless1]

I did not know about gaslighting or what it meant until I heard it in a Dixie Chicks song and had to look it up. I've heard it a lot since then (the term not the song). I don't know if it was used much 10-15 years ago or it just went over my head, but I am more aware of it today.

Yeah, I noticed that too. I was in a similar scenario, only I heard it for the first time on Trevor Noah a couple of years back, which I too had to google, and then it just snowballed from there. This is no coincidence, and strangely, truth only gets murkier with more access to information.

 

[Puck]

Yeah, I noticed that too. I heard it for the first time on Trevor Noah a couple of years back, back when I had to google it, and then it just snowballed from there. This is no coincidence.

I've heard the term used more recently to describe the antics of a certain US political figure with a narcissistic personality. (won't get into it in detail, they frown on politics here). But yeah, the term seems to have picked up in common usage. Might have something to do with greater #MeToo awareness also.

 

[nameless1]

I've heard the term used more recently to describe the antics of a certain US political figure with a narcissistic personality. (won't get into it in detail, they frown on politics here). But yeah, the term seems to have picked up in common usage. Might have something to do with greater #MeToo awareness also.

There seems to be less correlation with the latter movement though, but I am no expert, so you could be right.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Well English ain't my first language and I've known and used gaslighting (the term, I didn't actually gaslight anyone) since the 90s. What do I win?

 

[nameless1]

Well English ain't my first language and I've known and used gaslighting (the term, I didn't actually gaslight anyone) since the 90s. What do I win?

 

[silkyjohnson50]

How many of you have had the misfortune of watching “The Tree of Life?”

I think I have a new leader in my “worst movies I’ve ever seen” club.

 

[Puck]

How many of you have had the misfortune of watching “The Tree of Life?”

I think I have a new leader in my “worst movies I’ve ever seen” club.

I liked it.

Rented it as a DVD for a movie night party at the end of the DVD rental era. People thought it was going to be a garden variety Brad Pitt flick (action/adventure drama) but everyone started complaning part-way through the film. We had to stop it and put something else on. I took the DVD home and watched the end myself and enjoyed it. But I do realise a lot of people dislike it from that experience.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

My wife and I often gaslight each other into mutual confusion.

 

[Puck]

Another term I find seldom used prior to 2000s but used commonly today is schadenfreude. You'd get a blank stare using it prior to 2000s (except P.O. prolly) but now everyone uses it.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Another term I find seldom used prior to 2000s but used commonly today is schadenfreude. You'd get a blank stare using it prior to 2000s (except P.O. prolly) but now everyone uses it.

2021, I have no idea what that means.

And I like The Tree of Life too.

 

[Osprey]

SAS: Red Notice (2021) - 4/10 (Disliked it)

An SAS soldier (Sam Heughan) has a trip to France with his girlfriend interrupted when a terrorist (Ruby Rose) and her team hijack his train in the middle of the Channel Tunnel. It's kind of like a low budget, British Mission Impossible crossed with The Taking of Pelham One Two Three in that a highly trained hero must stop a terrorist and rescue hostages aboard a train deep within a tunnel. Andy Serkis has a role as a slimy character (figuratively slimy this time) and, surprisingly, is the best actor of the lot. The rest are not very good. Their acting is sometimes decent, but sometimes flat or even cringy. Heughan basically acts the same as in the show Outlander, just without the Scottish accent, which was disappointing. He's not very convincing as a soldier and Rose is even less convincing as a terrorist (and even as an actor). The writing is no better. It's full of clichés and a lot of things make no sense. For one, after failing to catch the terrorist early in the film, our hero decides that it's a good time to go on vacation with his girlfriend, and they coincidentally take the train that the terrorist hijacks. Also, he seriously endangers his girlfriend in order to free a young hostage that the terrorists wouldn't have harmed, anyways. If even I could think "this is a really bad idea," a trained Special Forces soldier should, as well. There's a somewhat interesting subplot about how his girlfriend, a doctor trained to save lives, doesn't understand how he can take lives, but the writers have it lead to a dumb and unrealistic conclusion. I'm being rather hard on the film, but it was never boring or unwatchable and it looks nice enough. I even started out liking it. It's just that it became harder to excuse the issues as they added up. You could do worse with your money (ex. Cosmic Sin), but I still wouldn't really recommend renting it unless you or your partner just likes Sam Heughan.