Last Movie You Watched and Rate It | Spring 2021 Edition

[Osprey]

Woman out there in the world mostly alone it's really easy to imagine the story making a much more dramatic turn toward something like that in the hands of other writer/directors. I like that it doesn't do that. Nor does it have any big fights or confrontations or sudden revelations. I get why some folks may want that and/or expect that and lacking that, they see this as bland.

I didn't necessarily want any of that, either. It's not like I was sitting there thinking "I hope that something bad happens to her." You want nothing to happen to her, but, still, at the end of the day, if nothing happens to her, the story can feel bland. It's hard to explain.

I think Nomadland has plenty to say about loss and grief and capitalism and a few other topics but it does it fairly quietly, often just with images. It's a small movie about big things.

I actually don't think that the film says much. I think that it lets audiences fill in the blanks to take the meaning out of it that they put into it. For example, depending on your personal experiences and views, you can interpret it as embracing the past, present or future or as a criticism or celebration of America. I think that that was by design and if everyone praises it for their own reasons, then the filmmakers' mission has been accomplished. That's not a bad thing, IMO. Make the film open to interpretation so that everyone thinks that it's speaking for them. It's clever and I'd probably do the same thing.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Harvey (1950) - 8/10

Has to be one of the best 'put a smile on your face' films of all time. Really good mix of screwball and touching Hollywood upbeat drama. Also I've seen 10 films from 1950 now so my ranking from that year so far. Very strong year, no bad films from it which I've seen yet.

1. Harvey
2. Girl With Hyacinths
3. All About Eve
4. Night and The City
5. Los Olvidados
6. Seven Days To Noon
7. Orpehus
8. Rashomon
9. Sunset Blvd.
10. In A Lonely Place

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

I didn't necessarily want any of that, either. It's not like I was sitting there thinking "I hope that something bad happens to her." You want nothing to happen to her, but, still, at the end of the day, if nothing happens to her, the story can feel bland. It's hard to explain.


I actually don't think that the film says much. I think that it lets audiences fill in the blanks to take the meaning out of it that they put into it. For example, depending on your personal experiences and views, you can interpret it as embracing the past, present or future or as a criticism or celebration of America. I think that that was by design and if everyone praises it for their own reasons, then the filmmakers' mission has been accomplished. That's not a bad thing, IMO. Make the film open to interpretation so that everyone thinks that it's speaking for them. It's clever and I'd probably do the same thing.

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply you want something bad to happen. The bad example was fresh in my mind because that was what my wife was anticipating (not because she wanted that either, but I think she was expecting that because of how movies often tell stories about women). There could have been big, good things that happen too. But I get your point about wanting SOMETHING to happen. Because not much does.

I agree that it can be a blank canvas as well. I have certain thoughts and beliefs and I'm absolutely filling in the gaps as I see fit. Others may see something else. But again, I like that.

I like movies and discussions like this because I think we're seeing and reacting to a lot of the same things ... just reacting a little different.

 

[Pink Mist]

Finian’s Rainbow (1968) directed by Francis Ford Coppola

A musical in which an Irish man (Fred Astaire), his daughter (Petula Clark), and a leprechaun (Tommy Steele) leave Ireland to go to the American state of Missitucky (yeah…) and solves racism in America by making a racist senator wear blackface for a day (yeah you read that right). Stupid premise and a very bad film, and probably one of the strangest musicals you will ever see, but four years later this Coppola guy would go on to direct a nice stretch of films: The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather II, Apocalypse Now.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

3 From Hell (Zombie, 2019) - I like Rob Zombie as a horror filmmaker - he has a clear and strong signature - but you have to wonder if his obsession with everything white trash is of "artistic" nature or just a gimmick. He certainly doesn't bring much to the subject in terms of content, and I think it is most often a waste of his visual and aesthetic gifts. I held off before watching this third entry in the Rejects storyline, and I was right. The first two had a little je-ne-sais-quoi, this one is useless, no shock, no scare, no fun. 3.5/10

The Lords of Salem (Zombie, 2012) - I'm sure Zombie has a great horror film in him, and a lot of people were saying this was it. For some reason, I didn't really think it would be and I held off of this one too. It has interesting elements, and some good moments in the first half, but it tries too hard afterwards - surreal images, theatrical witches gathering, and the grandiose church of Satan were all a little too much. It also feels at times like a videoclip for a hippie-metal powertrio (of three aging ladies, see screenshot) - in other words, feels a little ridiculous. 4/10

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

The Lords of Salem (Zombie, 2012) - I'm sure Zombie has a great horror film in him, and a lot of people were saying this was it. For some reason, I didn't really think it would be and I held off of this one too. It has interesting elements, and some good moments in the first half, but it tries too hard afterwards - surreal images, theatrical witches gathering, and the grandiose church of Satan were all a little too much. It also feels at times like a videoclip for a hippie-metal powertrio (of three aging ladies, see screenshot) - in other words, feels a little ridiculous. 4/10

Weirdly I was thinking about this movie yesterday. Was in a Velvet Underground mood and Venus in Furs is my favorite song of theirs. Used in this movie, of course.

I too like Zombie's movies for the most part — almost against my own will. He definitely has skill and a certain style. I would be among those that would vote The Lords of Salem as his best (at least as my favorite). I'm also partial to House of 1,000 Corpses and 31. I'm a little cooler on The Devil's Rejects than the general populace. Don't care for his Halloween movies.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Weirdly I was thinking about this movie yesterday. Was in a Velvet Underground mood and Venus in Furs is my favorite song of theirs. Used in this movie, of course.

I too like Zombie's movies for the most part — almost against my own will. He definitely has skill and a certain style. I would be among those that would vote The Lords of Salem as his best (at least as my favorite). I'm also partial to House of 1,000 Corpses and 31. I'm a little cooler on The Devil's Rejects than the general populace. Don't care for his Halloween movies.

Well I like Zombie's style, but I don't really like his films up 'til now - except for (and I know I'm all alone on this) his Halloween II, which I think is, if you take out all of the white horses crap, one of the best slashers ever. I'd probably go:

H2
-
1000 Corpses
Lords of Salem
H
-
DR
-
3 FH

as his watchable films, in order - I think 31 is pure crap though.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Yojimbo (1961 - Akira Kurosawa) 9/10

This was my second Kurosawa film, the first being Seven Samurai. I thought it was quite an excellent movie. As with Seven Samurai I was pleasantly surprised by how well the movie has aged. The acting was excellent and the main character is like-able, even somewhat relatable. I think Throne of Blood is my next Kurosawa film I’ll be watching.

 

[Osprey]

Yojimbo (1961 - Akira Kurosawa) 9/10

This was my second Kurosawa film, the first being Seven Samurai. I thought it was quite an excellent movie. As with Seven Samurai I was pleasantly surprised by how well the movie has aged. The acting was excellent and the main character is like-able, even somewhat relatable. I think Throne of Blood is my next Kurosawa film I’ll be watching.

Kurosawa made a sequel to Yojimbo named Sanjuro the following year, if you didn't know and care to watch that next.

King Solomon's Mines -1937

A treasure map, a dangerous journey through the desert & angry natives face Alan Quartermain and friends in the quest to find a diamond mine. Much of the movie filmed on location. Paul Robeson, great voice, sings several songs. Interesting adventure tale.

I'm watching this now and liking it, particularly the location filming. It seems that I can't go wrong with your recommendations. It's like you're an algorithm programmed to suggest movies that I might also like.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Kurosawa made a sequel to Yojimbo named Sanjuro the following year, if you didn't know and care to watch that

Thanks. I Was actually looking back at your old replies from when I posted after watching Seven Samurai for reference on what to watch next. I think either Throne of Blood or Rashomon will be next.

Due to some issues with my hand I have to take a break from gaming for a while, so I’m trying to catch up on some movies I’ve been meaning to watch.

 

[Pink Mist]

Thanks. I Was actually looking back at your old replies from when I posted after watching Seven Samurai for reference on what to watch next. I think either Throne of Blood or Rashomon will be next.

Due to some issues with my hand I have to take a break from gaming for a while, so I’m trying to catch up on some movies I’ve been meaning to watch.

Then you'll have to watch A Fistful of Dollars and For A Few Dollars More to see the spaghetti western versions of Yojimbo and Sanjuro

Other Kurosawa films I would recommend are Ran which is Kurosawa's samurai take of King Lear (in colour!) and Ikiru which is one of his non-samurai films

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Cocktail (Donaldson, 1988) - Proposed the new Star content to the gf and she wanted to watch this again. It's not better with time, but it doesn't deserve the bad rep it has either (with all the Razzies, ahah). I had it at 3 and I'm leaving it there. 3/10

Now I can start with the (sometimes) good stuff, the whole Alien/Predator saga, next on Star.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Then you'll have to watch A Fistful of Dollars and For A Few Dollars More to see the spaghetti western versions of Yojimbo and Sanjuro

Other Kurosawa films I would recommend are Ran which is Kurosawa's samurai take of King Lear (in colour!) and Ikiru which is one of his non-samurai films

My plan is to watch A Fistful of Dollars, and then jump back to Sanjuro, and then back to For a Few Dollars More.
Thought that might be a fun way to watch these four flicks.

 

[Chili]

I'm watching this now and liking it, particularly the location filming. It seems that I can't go wrong with your recommendations. It's like you're an algorithm programmed to suggest movies that I might also like.

Cool. I enjoy this thread and just try to add films that may interest others (past or present).

 

[heatnikki]

The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion

Korean movie. 9/10

Very enjoyable watch for me ​

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Nomandland (2020) - 7.5/10

-First half is much stronger than the second I think, second loses the audience connection a bit and gets repetitive
-There are a lack of major films on the ongoing recession since 2008 imo and its fallout on communities in America
-This is really sad 'modern life is rubbish' stuff but does a fairly good job of not being completely bleak about it by getting through that message of humans > money yet still showing how much of a limiting factor is to the working class and how vulnerable people are in much of the US
-I don't think best picture when I see this but 2020 is a weak year in the top end let's be honest so it'd be fine if it won

 

[Anthrax442]

I care a Lot



I liked it. Was worth my time

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Finian’s Rainbow (1968) directed by Francis Ford Coppola

A musical in which an Irish man (Fred Astaire), his daughter (Petula Clark), and a leprechaun (Tommy Steele) leave Ireland to go to the American state of Missitucky (yeah…) and solves racism in America by making a racist senator wear blackface for a day (yeah you read that right). Stupid premise and a very bad film, and probably one of the strangest musicals you will ever see, but four years later this Coppola guy would go on to direct a nice stretch of films: The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather II, Apocalypse Now.

Good lord!

 

[kihei]

The Father (2020) Directed by Florian Zeller 8A

Anthony (Anthony Hopkins), suffering from an ever advancing dementia, is cared for by his middle-aged daughter Anne (Olivia Colman) with whom he lives. Having developed a new relationship, she will be moving to Paris and leaving Anthony behind. Anthony tries to absorb this information as best he can. The Father moves forward from there in a seemingly linear progression but not really. There have been some fine films on the subject of dementia (Away from Her; Still Alice; Iris), but all of those films view dementia from the outside. Usually we view the victim from the perspective of the people who love him/her. What makes The Father such an achievement is that this time we view reality from the victim's point of view. With director Florian Zeller adapting his own French play, the movie is carefully structured in such a way that the audience sees things from Anthony's perspective.This is accomplished through shifting set design, shifting characters and actors, and shifting situations that make us question what is happening for real and what isn't, just like Anthony is doing. Rather than a hard-to-follow muddle, the movie treats confusion with great clarity, a difficult trick, that. The aim isn't to create a story that is hard to follow, which The Father most certainly isn't. The aim is to put the audience in Anthony's shoes and to experience reallity the way that a victim of demential might. Olivia Colman is a perfec Anne, who cares, worries, protects, but must ultimately decide whether she is to abandon. Hopkins is monumental, the best performance in a distinguished career in my book. The whole ensemble cast couldn't be better. A genuinely emotional experience, The Father is must-see cinema.


Revised 2020 Best of Year List

1) Nomadland, Zhao, US
2) First Cow, Reichardt, US
3) 3) Small Axe: Lovers Rock, McQueen, UK
4) Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Hittman, US
5) The Father, Zeller, UK
6) Collective, Nanau, Romania
7) Beginning, Kulumbegashvili, Georgia
8) Promising Young Woman, Fennell, US/UK
9) The Two of Us, Meneghetti, France
10) Babyteeth, Murphy, Australia

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Weirdsville

with Scott Speedman, Wes Bentley, and various other people with time on their hands.

Dexter and Royce (Speedman and Bentley) are two stoners in Weedsville, northern Ontario. They don't do much beyond get stoned with Royce's girlfriend Mattie, and one day discover her dead from an OD. Uh-oh. They try to do the right thing and bury her in an abandoned drive-in theatre (...) when they happen upon an old classmate sacrificing someone to the devil. As one would. Uh-uh-oh. Hijinks ensure, and Mattie wakes up. But uh-uh-uh-oh, the dealers who fronted Dex and Roy the drugs still have to get paid, and furiously beat the pair with curling equipment to motivate them. They hatch a plan to steal a safe from a rich guy's house, the Satanists run afoul of armoured midgets brandishing medieval weaponry, and Matt Frewer sees God.

I think.

Low budget Canadian weirdness with a modern sheen. Good for a chuckle here and there, particularly the road-raging band of midgets trashing the Satanists' car. Yeah, that's a thing that happens. Don't f*** with midgets.

"We're going on an adventure!"

 

[Rodgerwilco]

A Fistful of Dollars (1964 directed by Sergio Leone)

I watched this directly after watching its predecessor Yojimbo. It was hard for me to separate the two in my own mind, but it seems like quite a great movie in its own regard, despite knowing that it was ripped off from Kurosawa.

I thought it was interesting to draw the parallels between each film and see what aspects Sergio Leone changed and made into his own, while still keeping the framework of the original. I am not very familiar with old Westerns and had no idea how big of an impact Kurosawa and Eastern cinema in general, had on the American movie industry in the 50s and 60s.

Next up is Sanjuro and then For a Few Dollars More.

 

[Osprey]

A Fistful of Dollars (1964 directed by Sergio Leone)

I watched this directly after watching its predecessor Yojimbo. It was hard for me to separate the two in my own mind, but it seems like quite a great movie in its own regard, despite knowing that it was ripped off from Kurosawa.

I thought it was interesting to draw the parallels between each film and see what aspects Sergio Leone changed and made into his own, while still keeping the framework of the original. I am not very familiar with old Westerns and had no idea how big of an impact Kurosawa and Eastern cinema in general, had on the American movie industry in the 50s and 60s.

Next up is Sanjuro and then For a Few Dollars More.

After that, you may care to watch The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which concludes the "Dollars Trilogy" with an original story. After that, if you haven't seen it yet, you may care to watch the 1960 version of The Magnificent Seven, the Western remake of Seven Samurai.

Finally, if you have any interest in seeing the East-West exchange in reverse, there was a good Japanese Samurai version of Unforgiven made in 2013. The neat thing about that is that Clint Eastwood gave permission for the remake because he recognized that his movie career was thanks to Leone ripping off Kurosawa.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) - 6/10

What a stupid f***ing film (bar a few equally dumb but semi-exciting scenes like the truck chase). Of course Australians would love this, probably an overlap of Aussies that liked this and big hair metal bands from the 80s. Really makes you appreciate the 2015 version more, this presents a really weird choppy rhythm and cartoonist dumb villains. Mel Gibson's character is the only likable thing in the whole film tbh, even the set designs are cheesy.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

What a stupid f***ing film [ = 6/10 ]

Won't disagree about the comment, but what's a 2/10?

 

[Fiji Water]

Mulholland Drive

This was my first Lynch film and I was blown away. It was fun watching the last 20 minutes of the film and then using it as a guide to make sense of the two hour dream sequence that begins the film. A great movie about the dream vs the reality of Hollywood. Definitely looking forward to going through the rest of Lynch's work.