Last Movie You Watched and Rate It | Spring 2021 Edition

[jasonleaffan]

I like the scene of them meeting in the restaurant. They both brought it.

Bank robbery and shoot out towards the end is one of the best in film.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

The opening sequence is some of the best zombie-related material I've seen. I think it was directed by Danny Boyle.

Indeed it was.

I watched the first one (28 Days later) yesterday, have to say, even though it got better reviews, I thought the 2nd one was much better.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Indeed it was.

I watched the first one (28 Days later) yesterday, have to say, even though it got better reviews, I thought the 2nd one was much better.

28 weeks is a more effective action-horror film (and so much better than something like Train to Busan, which was a non-horror-fans favorite), but IMO 28 days is a better film. I think the structure of 28 days is very interesting if understood as an homage to Romero's original trilogy.

 

[Chili]

Ice Station Zebra-1968

Submarine/espionage film set during the cold war. A sub is sent up north on a rescue mission...or is that the real reason?

Many impressive shots of the sub above and below the water. Goes on too long though. From an Alastair MacLean novel (author of The Guns of Navarone, Where Eagles Dare among others). Nice to see Patrick McGoohan in a movie, he didn't make many.

East of Eden-1955

Powerful family drama of John Steinbeck's novel (his Don Quixote). Directed by JS's good friend Elia Kazan.

James Dean probably drew on his own life (mother passed away when he was nine, grew up with an aunt and uncle estranged from his father). He got the part, his first film, over Paul Newman. Julie Harris is really good as Dean's brother's girlfriend.

Rebel Without a Cause is my favorite Dean film but this one is great too.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Too one sided. It would be the equivalent of watching Canada play Somalia in hockey. Has anyone beat Connecticut in the last twenty years?

Hope you're watching the game!

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Mega jinxed... Baylor were leading by 10 when I posted that.... UConn just went on a 17-0 run.

 

[kihei]

Hope you're watching the game!

I am. Too bad about the missed call at the end, but what a comeback from UConn.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Point Blank (1967) - 7/10

Definitely an interesting one this. It hints at some of the scenery and weird aloof surrealism of upcoming 70s paranoia thrillers but it's more of a simplistic revenge tail with some random overtures added especially at the beginning which cause it to needlessly take longer than it needs to to get going possibly covering for the lack of fleshed out storyline in parts. Fairly simplistic but forgettable dialogue relying more on the tension between characters.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I am. Too bad about the missed call at the end, but what a comeback from UConn.

The missed call and the injury. UConn was beat, and now they have a clear lane to the finale.

 

[Pink Mist]

12 Monkeys (1995) directed by Terry Gilliam

In the year 2035, a man (Bruce Willis) travels back in time to try to stop a global pandemic that wiped out most of the world’s population in 1996. The group who is held responsible for the pandemic, is a mysterious group of environmental radicals led by the manic son (Brad Pitt) of a virologist. I was curious to watch this film after watching La Jetée last week, since 12 Monkeys took the short film and expanded upon it. And have to say, not a fan of this one. Where La Jetée is a showcase in effectively telling a concise and powerful story, 12 Monkeys adapts it into a long muddled mess of a film. Gilliam took the premise from Chris Marker’s story and just twists it into a confused mess. Thematically, La Jetée’s story of love, memory, and obsession is a lot more interesting and compelling too than the well trodden descent into madness and questions of reality that Gilliam sideline’s Marker’s themes for. Also, the Brad Pitt performance’s is ridiculously bad as a manic mental patient. I can’t believe he got an Oscar nomination for this role, it’s so over the top and like a frantic parody of how mental patients act. Call me crazy, but I don’t think this version of the story is very good.

 

[kihei]

Better Days (2020) Directed by Kwok Chung Tsang 6A

Better Days is an important movie about bullying.....no, it's not...it is a less than subtle critique of China's nationwide, pressure-packed college entrance exam system....oh, wait....it's a murder mystery that the police, really sweet guys, can't solve...I tell a lie....it's a coming-of-age romance...oh, I give up. Well, Better Days is a crowd-pleaser, whatever it is. However, I must say, it makes my head ache to think that Better Days got nominated for an Academy Award in the International Film category while Vitalina Varela didn't even make the short list. Something very badly wrong there. Its young star Zhou Dongyu gives a massive performance though I could have done with about three gallons less of tears. If anybody remembers Popeye's cartoon girl freind Olive Oyl, well, when she was sad she used to have faucets for eyes. Kind of the same thing here, metaphorically speaking. But I quibble. Zhou is indeed very good, and the movie is likeable though far more lightweight than it thinks it is.

subtitles

TIFF.net

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Another 48 hrs (Hill, 1990) - I guess fans of the original don't mind it being just more of the same, but it gets quickly tired and out of juice. The dialogue is a little more "acceptable", but still with jewels like: "He's not going to stop and pop his old girlfriend" / "Oh yes he will man, and then share it with his friends, these guys are like Eskimos". 3.5/10

Could get an extra point for the motorcycle going through the theater screen with the skin flick!

 

[Chili]

Island in the Sky-1953

The Duke scared in a film? He is here.

His plane goes off course and is forced to land in an uncharted area in the north. The fight for survival begins in extreme cold temperatures. Rescue planes are sent out but are faced with numerous challenges in a remote area.

Directed by William Wellman, a pilot himself in WWI, shot down several times. He made a bunch of aviation films.

Well done, enjoyed it.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Druk/Another Round (2020) - 6.5/10

Danish movies are fairly uncomfortable for me to watch so throw on another layer of discomfort as a teetotaler watching people not only get drunk but then try to be functionally drunk during the film and it just caused a lot of anxiety lol. I'd say it's a bit mixed for me, I couldn't care too much about the teacher-student angle as it's fairly one-dimensional and tired. The wife/husband angle was not fully formed and skimmed over. The four friends bit was probably the only part of the film that was truly well done but never went as far as it could've because of time spent on the two other angles.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Druk/Another Round (2020) - 6.5/10

Danish movies are fairly uncomfortable for me to watch so throw on another layer of discomfort as a teetotaler watching people not only get drunk but then try to be functionally drunk during the film and it just caused a lot of anxiety lol. I'd say it's a bit mixed for me, I couldn't care too much about the teacher-student angle as it's fairly one-dimensional and tired. The wife/husband angle was not fully formed and skimmed over. The four friends bit was probably the only part of the film that was truly well done but never went as far as it could've because of time spent on the two other angles.

I've never understood the appeal of doing day-to-day activities drunk or buzzed. Either get drunk and relax/socialize or do that stuff sober. Just seems like a waste of a drunk.

 

[Osprey]

Island in the Sky-1953

The Duke scared in a film? He is here.

His plane goes off course and is forced to land in an uncharted area in the north. The fight for survival begins in extreme cold temperatures. Rescue planes are sent out but are faced with numerous challenges in a remote area.

Directed by William Wellman, a pilot himself in WWI, shot down several times. He made a bunch of aviation films.

Well done, enjoyed it.

You callin' The Duke yeller?

I just finished it. It reminded me a little of The Flight of the Phoenix, but in the arctic instead of the desert (though, ironically, it was filmed in Arizona, which probably doesn't stand in for Canada very often), and Alive, but without the, err, distasteful circumstances. I liked that so much was filmed outdoors. It was long, but wasn't boring. William Wellman did a good job with the direction. He even got a baby to cry on cue. Did you recognize "Alfalfa" as one of the co-pilots? Anyways, I enjoyed it. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[Mantis]

Deep Blue Sea 3. Just an absolute masterpiece.

 

[Chili]

You callin' The Duke yeller?

I just finished it. It reminded me a little of The Flight of the Phoenix, but in the arctic instead of the desert (though, ironically, it was filmed in Arizona, which probably doesn't stand in for Canada very often), and Alive, but without the, err, distasteful circumstances. I liked that so much was filmed outdoors. It was long, but wasn't boring. William Wellman did a good job with the direction. He even got a baby to cry on cue. Did you recognize "Alfalfa" as one of the co-pilots? Anyways, I enjoyed it. Thanks for the recommendation.

Thanks for mentioning Alive, I was trying to remember the name of that film. Another similar themed movie I saw years ago was called Ordeal in the Arctic with Richard Chamberlain. Don't recall much and low rating on imdb, just remember that one was also based on a real incident. There are a bunch of familiar faces in Island in the Sky, incl 3 future tv stars James Arness (Gunsmoke), Fess Parker (Daniel Boone) and Touch Ohanian aka Mike Connors (Mannix). It's quite a story of how 'Alfalfa' died, there must be a good book on him somewhere.

 

[Osprey]

Thanks for mentioning Alive, I was trying to remember the name of that film.

This will help you remember the name:

Spoiler

Speaking of similar movies, I haven't seen it, but Wellman and Wayne teamed up for another airplane disaster film the following year, named The High and the Mighty.

 

[kihei]

Speaking of similar movies, I haven't seen it, but Wellman and Wayne teamed up for another airplane disaster film the following year, named The High and the Mighty.

The High and Mighty is not as good as Island in the Sky mostly because a potentially very good suspense premise is messed up by too many soap opera-ish passenger flashbacks. Still it's fun to watch Wayne be Wayne in a different context.

 

[kihei]

Honest Thief (2020) Directed by Mark Williams 3A

Though I know the law of diminishing returns has been in play for some time now, I am predisposed to like just about any Liam Neeson movie. But Honest Thief really is bottom of the barrel material. Neeson plays a thief who has made a hobby out of robbing small banks, but now he has fallen in love and wants to give himself up and return all the money. First the cops don't believe him and then a pair of crooked detectives decide to take the money for themselves. Leeson--surprise, surprise--takes matters into his own hands. That premise is every bit as wretched in execution as it sounds on paper. In fact, there is not a scene and hardly a line of dialogue in the entire movie where you can't look at the screen and holler "bullshit, absolute utter bullshit." The normally ultra-reliable Neeson mails this one in. He's 68 now, and beginning to look it. The physical action is kept to a minimum here for obvious reasons. From whatever way you want to cut it, Honest Thief is just a really bad movie.

Netflix

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Honest Thief really is bottom of the barrel material.

Worst than Cold Pursuit? I normally watch his films too, but couldn't even finish that one.

 

[Osprey]

King Kong vs. Godzilla - 6/10

I don't see what all of the hype was about. It looked really dated and the CGI was awful. The old rubber suits from 60 years ago looked better than this. The plot (something about berries) was silly, some of the actors were so bad that they needed to be dubbed and it employed the most racist Japanese stereotypes. At least it was in modern widescreen, unlike Zack Snyder's Justice League. I see now why it went straight to streaming.

 

[NyQuil]

Worst than Cold Pursuit? I normally watch his films too, but couldn't even finish that one.

I'm starting to get the feeling that a new member of the Expendables is pending.

 

[kihei]

Worst than Cold Pursuit? I normally watch his films too, but couldn't even finish that one.

Yes. By some margin.

At least Cold Pursuit was based on a fun movie, In Order of Disappearance.