Movies: Last Movie You Watched and Rate It

[ProstheticConscience]

1=Why do peoples have children/what are the main reasons people have children?
2=Why-do/Do people really not comprehend the depth or realities of life and the major changes that occur ALL around when starting and raising children/a family?

1) Sometimes it just happens and the reason is: Oh, shit. That happens when you have sex sometimes, doesn't it. Oh yeah...
2) See #1.

 

[kihei]

Especially with the first child, people can give you all the advice they want; you can read all the books on the subject available; you can take early childhood rearing classes, it makes no difference. Even with the best teamwork between parents possible, there is no way of determining "the depth of the realities" or "the major changes that occur" as a result of caring for an infant. In this case, the gulf between theory and practice is as immense as an ocean.

When my partner was into her ninth month of pregnancy with our first born, we were crossing a street in downtown Toronto and a wee, small old lady, dressed completely in black, crossed our path and said in a thick accent "Get all the sleep you can get now, dearies," and then continued walking off in the opposite direction from us. Neither of us knew what the hell she was talking about (it hadn't come up in any of our research/classes), that is, until after the baby was born at which time sleep deprivation would shortly hit us both like a sledgehammer. You can think it through and prepare as much as you want, but until you deal with a baby in reality, you really don't know how consuming and life-altering the task is. And it it is life altering for the male, it is triply that for the female. Thankfully, the equally unforeseeable rewards, immediate and long term, will overwhelm or, at least, mitigate the stress eventually, but it can seem like a very near thing some time.

Get through the first two years and it gets a lot easier, though. Once they stop and think before throwing the pudding on the wall, you know you got 'em.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Being a parent is a paradigm shift that you can't begin to imagine until it happens. Try explaining to a blind guy what green is.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

And anyway, getting back to the thread topic:

The Bad Batch

with people who clearly had nothing better to do with their day

Imagine a movie where Jason Momoa is a bodybuilding cannibal, Keanu Reeves is a polygamous cult leader in a Pablo Escobar wig and mustache, desert raves happen, and Jim Carrey is a mute hermit carrying people around the desert in a shopping cart. You'd think it'd be interesting, right?

You'd be wrong. Very, very wrong. It manages to make post apocalyptic cannibalism and cults boring as shit. Massive fail. And for my weekend selections on Netflix movies (this and Infinity Chamber), I'm a big 0 for 2 this week. Eesh.

 

[OzzyFan]

Being a parent is a paradigm shift that you can't begin to imagine until it happens. Try explaining to a blind guy what green is.

Especially with the first child, people can give you all the advice they want; you can read all the books on the subject available; you can take early childhood rearing classes, it makes no difference. Even with the best teamwork between parents possible, there is no way of determining "the depth of the realities" or "the major changes that occur" as a result of caring for an infant. In this case, the gulf between theory and practice is as immense as an ocean.

When my partner was into her ninth month of pregnancy with our first born, we were crossing a street in downtown Toronto and a wee, small old lady, dressed completely in black, crossed our path and said in a thick accent "Get all the sleep you can get now, dearies," and then continued walking off in the opposite direction from us. Neither of us knew what the hell she was talking about (it hadn't come up in any of our research/classes), that is, until after the baby was born at which time sleep deprivation would shortly hit us both like a sledgehammer. You can think it through and prepare as much as you want, but until you deal with a baby in reality, you really don't know how consuming and life-altering the task is. And it it is life altering for the male, it is triply that for the female. Thankfully, the equally unforeseeable rewards, immediate and long term, will overwhelm or, at least, mitigate the stress eventually, but it can seem like a very near thing some time.

Get through the first two years and it gets a lot easier, though. Once they stop and think before throwing the pudding on the wall, you know you got 'em.

That's kind of what I mean, not knowing the experience itself obviously no matter the preparation (say like getting into a fight or going off to war, training for vs living are completely different things) is exactly what happens, but comprehending the round the clock time consumption-needs/sleep loss/etc seems to hit people like a wall. Obviously there are rewards, but postpartum depression for both sexes seems to hit people hard in equal terms physically as it does psychologically. Although it could be because ProstheticConscience hints at, sometimes baby just happens, and people don't truly understand the impact babies/infants/multiple children have on one's personal life. Almost every self-indulgent aspect of one's life becomes diminished, which is a complete 180 from everything in life before that for most people (with the exception as being one of the main persons that have to care for a very ill/disabled family member or being an extremely self-less/benevolent personality). Free time? Personal time? Friends time? Regular nights out? Spending money you used to use toward hobbies/interests? All vastly minimized unless you have family members with a lot of free time (or nannies) willing to step in repeatedly to take major parts of the burden off you. This doesn't even get into the futuristic mood swings/emotional warfare/rebellion/"trouble blips" that incur throughout the raising of a child prior to (and sadly sometimes into) adulthood. I know everyone is selfish to different degrees and need personal time to an extent, but do people not realize how self-sacrificing/controlling having a baby is? It's honestly one of the biggest decisions one makes/can-make in life (probably alongside marriage/long-long-term-relationships and buying a house off the top of my head), and I don't think "most" people fathom that before hand. End rant.

 

[Puck]

Speaking about Japanese Director Hirokazu Koreeda here, his new film might be released at Cannes.

Shoplifters (2018) - IMDb

http://www.vulture.com/2018/05/the-most-anticipated-movies-at-cannes-2018.html

 

[aufheben]

I would nod to my old mentor Dwight Macdonald (Esquire Magazine, 1960-66) and claim there are such things as good bad movies, and they are fun to watch and fun to write about (as are bad good movies, but that's another story). In a more general sense, I don't think a reviewer/critic should exclude himself/herself by fiat from any movie. All movies are to some extent cultural artifacts, and the Hollywood ones reveal a lot about cultural phenomena, audience manipulation, and social values. Why should pop culture movies be excluded from serious criticism? Also I don't why a reviewer/critic should "respect the opinion of the regular superhero fan." Fans ain't go nuthin' to do with nuthin' when it comes to legitimate criticism. A critic's responsibility is to be open to any film and honest in his/her opinion--not take somebody else's feelings into account.

This superhero crowd bugs me, and it has nothing to do, per se, with the quality, or lack thereof, of any given superhero movie. But many fans of such movies do seem to take the position of "oh, no, you are not a believer, therefore you cannot say anything bad about our pet genre. You mean." Grow a pair. If a superhero movie is released to the general public, it is fair game for anyone who wants to buy a ticket. No movie gets a free pass, let along a genre that says many, many things about mass taste.

Yep. People are acting like I was devastated and this movie ruined my life. All I said was I didn’t think it was good.

There are a ton of movies I didn't think I'd like but ended up loving. Do people really just avoid everything they don't think they'll like? It was a $10 and a couple hours of my time, not a big deal.

And yes there are absolutely good-bad movies.

 

[kihei]

Lowlife (2018) Directed by Ryan Prows 6B

Our heroes include a mother who sold her baby for drugs, a Mexican wrestler too small to live up to his family's ring tradition, and a recently released ex-con who has a huge swastika tattooed across his face. So if these are the good guys, you can just imagine how evil and slimy the bad guys are. Lowlife is sort of an ultra-low budget Tarantino-style flick, blessedly minus the self-satisfied in-jokes and the esoteric movie references. The film sets up a rather simple premise involving among other things a prospective kidney transplant, some missing money, the exploitation of kidnapped prostitutes, and assorted violent acts. Then first-time director Ryan Prows convolutes the simplicity with some fancy cutting to shift perspectives around, an extravagance that seems superfluous, though hardly a deal breaker. Basically Lowlife just wants to be an entertaining movie with lots of gore about a colourful collection of nauseating scumbags and bottom-of-the-barrel misfits. On that level, the movie succeeds with distance to spare. The gore is occasionally excessive, which in reality no doubt will function as one of the film's calling cards, but the movie chugs right along, more fun than it has any right to be. With its unfussy balance among straight-ahead plot development, action and black humour. Lowlife is an oddly likeable movie--the kind that has oodles of Midnight Madness potential.

 

[dukeofjive]

Sorry cant figure out how to add a picture.

 

[Nalens Oga]

Los Olvidados (1950) - 7.5/10

Very unsmooth but still quite good, early Brunel, doesn't have the weird stuff. Like a tamer City of God.

Captain America Winter Soldier (2013ish) - 8/10

Rewatched this because Infinity War got me excited. Infinity War is definitely better or more expansive but I forgot how good this movie was, it's just that they've come a long way. The scene where Captain America and Romanoff go down the elevator in the abandoned barracks is the creepiest thing Marvel's done lately.

 

[Mario Lemieux fan 66]

Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King: 7.3/10

Lean on Pete : 7.3/10

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

Escape from New York (rewatch) - 8/10

Some of it is a little dated, but overall this movie is still a freakin blast.

 

[Puck]

Menashe (2017) 6.6

Storyline from IMDB

Menashe, a widower, lives and works within the Hasidic community of Borough Park, Brooklyn. Since his wife passed away a year before, he has been trying hard to regain custody of his nine-year-old son, Rieven. But the rabbi (and all the community behind him) will not hear of it unless he re-marries, which Menashe does not want, his first marriage having been very unhappy. Father and son get on well together, but can Menashe take care of Rieven properly? Not really for all his goodwill as he holds down a low-paid job as a grocery clerk that consumes too much of his efforts and energy. Always late, always in a hurry, he endeavors to improve himself though. But will his efforts be enough to convince the rabbi that he can be a good father without a wife at home?

It's a low-budget art-house film, slow paced. I was very much drawn into the peculiar experience of watching conservative New York Hasidic culture. There was a somewhat harsh fatalistic side to this film, but also a heart-warming human side. Both parent and son seem to genuinely like each other.But there are difficult decisions ahead.

The film is loosely based on Menashe Lustig's (principal actor) real life story. The child actor playing the son is really good (not his son in real life).

Menashe (2017) - IMDb

 

[Nalens Oga]

Speaking of comedy specials, I saw the new Johny Mulaney one and it was good. He's probably past his best material already but he has a very watchable safe style.

I liked his bit on colleges requesting more money down the line from alumni lol, repeatable.

 

[nameless1]

Usually, I am not a fan of Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody. Their collaborations yielded a fair share of critical or commercial successes, but I find their movies have a very short shelf-life. Often, what initially seems to be profound can turn into conceited upon further examination, and they get to be very annoying. Tully, on the other hand, is rather understated by their standards, and I enjoy this departure.

A look at modern day motherhood, it is a very realistic portrayal. Everything, down to the dialogue that Cody is known for, is rather bare-bone and straightforward, so the focus is sorely on the ups-and-downs of motherhood, and as a result, I am able to understand, and even sympathize, even as a single person. It took a while, and it took the director, Jason Reitman, a couple of tries, but he finally found the right pace and balance to tell an intimate story like this one.

Charlize Theron, however, deserves all the credit in the world. She puts it all out there, and without her honest and vulnerable representation of an overworked mother, the movie would not have worked. She demonstrated, once again, that she is one of the better actresses in the last 20 years, and this is another notch on her belt. Mackenzie Davis is also good in a supporting role, but the star of the show is truly Theron.

Despite my praises for it, I dislike the flashback during the "reveal". It is unnecessary, and the movie would have been the same even without it. In fact, it may have been better, as it leaves something for the audience to think about. It is very minor though, and it does not diminish the overall quality of the picture, but it exemplifies the way modern directors and studio lost faith in the intelligence of the audience. As a result, in a lot of movies, everything is very blatant and fully spelled out, and that leaves no room for ambiguity, which leaves the audience engaged and impassioned. That is unfortunate, but it is the modern movie trend.

This is probably one of the better movies I have seen so far this year, and I do recommend it. I have it at a 6.75/10.

 

[Ralph Spoilsport]

^^^^^^^^

does this movie have a name, nameless1?

EDIT: Nevermind, I got it.

a little slow today...

 

[Ralph Spoilsport]

Mysteries of Lisbon: Epic 2010 costume drama set in the nobility of 19th century Portugal and France, not just a white man's world, but an aristocrat white man's first-born legitimate heir's world. Everyone else has to hustle, all the while maintaining appearances. The story is mischievously convoluted...plot twists, confessions, revelations, multiple narrators, flashbacks within flashbacks. So the orphan boy we meet at the beginning of the film unwittingly wants to kill the man to whom he owes his life at the end. But how was he to know? No one here really knows who their daddy is and you're nobody if you don't have at least one secret identity. [B+]

 

[Nalens Oga]

Sort of interesting and coincidental. I'm watching two movies with a similar dynamic but one is entertaining while the other is an overrated tossing pile of frustrating shit. Il Sorpaso (1962) and Call Me By Your Name (2017). Both set in Italy and the relation is between a slightly older guy and a student in both films (the student is a law student in Il Sorpaso and the student in Call Me By Your Name is I think a 17 year old).

Il Sorpaso is hilarious, pokes fun at the Michelangelo Antonioni's boring films, and is really fun to follow because the lead has charisma and actually says interesting shit.

Call Me By Your Name is a pain to sit through, it relies on awkward sexual tension and focuses on an awkward/mopey teen. The colours are nice but I have no idea how it got so much praise, maybe the reviewers liked the plot outline but it's such a dry film.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Mute

with Alex Skarsgard, Paul Rudd, and other annoying people

Leo (Skarsgard) is an Amish guy living in a futuristic Berlin a la Blade Runner. Mute from childhood due to a boating accident, he's in love with a waitress at the sleazy strip bar where he tends bar and occasionally bashes people who grab her. She tells him she has a secret...but doesn't tell him what it is before she disappears. In order to find her, it's up to Leo to navigate the perils of future Berlin with its mobs of gangsters, pimps, prostitutes, and automatic sausage delivery drones that only take verbal commands. The Bad Guys are quickly revealed to be Cactus (Rudd) and his blond mancrush, two obnoxious American stereotypes who are AWOL from the US military and serve as gunshot docs for the local gangster who owns the club Leo and his girlfriend work at. The plot thickens...

Better than my last two Netflix choices, but still not very good. Skarsgard does a good job at quietly emoting, but Rudd is painful to watch. You're begging for his death just so you won't have to listen to him complain.

 

[Langdon Alger]

Liar liar

I’d give it a 7/10

 

[Mario Lemieux fan 66]

The 12th Man (2017): 7/10 average movie but an unbelievable true story

Fruitvale Station: 7/10

La ch'tite famille: 6.8/10

The Tin Drum: 6.8/10

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Super Troopers 2

Legitimately loved it. Much more up and down than the original in my book, but all around it was exactly what I wanted and more from the Broken Lizard guys.

10/10 for me, but not the type of film that I'd recommend to everybody.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Scarecrow

with Al Pacino, Gene Hackman, and other people

Meandering road movie with Max (Hackman) and Francis (Pacino) as drifters out on the great, boring American road. Max just got out of San Quentin after 6 years for assault and wants to open a car wash in Pittsburgh. Francis just got off 5 years on a boat, presumably the merchant marine, and he wants to go to Detroit to see the wife and kid he abandoned years earlier. They ride the rails, visit Max's sister in Denver, get briefly thrown in jail where they meet Richard Lynch (who is always bad news in everything), and generally bum around in bars, diners, and the occasional church. Max is the domineering hothead who gets into fights everywhere he goes, and Francis is the easygoing, smaller sidekick. And the movie goes on and on and on...

Little known 1973 artifact. Watch it and see why it's little known. Not a high water mark for very young-looking Pacino and Hackman.

 

[The Gongshow]

Winter Soldier : 9/10
Civil War 8/10
Black Panther 8/10
Infinity War 9/10

 

[nameless1]

^^^^^^^^

does this movie have a name, nameless1?

EDIT: Nevermind, I got it.

a little slow today...

I wanted to try a different approach. I will highlight the film title next time.