The Producers (1967) - A down on his luck producer and an accountant find a loophole that allows them to make more money with a flop play than a hit at the expense of it's legality. Pretty much watched this with my brother and a friend just for Gene Wilder. It's quite funny at times and the performances are pretty great. Not bad for a play adaptation. 6/10
Ida - I saw the trailer for this at IFC Center and it looked to be a depressing post-war holocaust film. Wow, was my impression completely wrong. A young woman about to give her final vows to become a nun, visits her only living relative who set her on a journey to find out the fate of her Jewish parents. The first half of the film is a pretty light-hearted (somewhat) road film with two people who are complete opposites. Anna's naivety juxtaposed with her aunt's outlook on a post-war Poland in the 1960s is real fun to watch. The film actually gets real dark in tone towards the end but is quite a satisfying watch. This film seems to be a favorite to win quite a few best foreign picture awards and rightfully so. 8/10
What a peculiar movie. I can't imagine what the source material must be like. I was reading cronenberg interviews about this film and found some interesting stuff
"It’s a metaphor. When you’re inside this limo, it’s so luxurious with all these screens, these drinks, this food and there’s even toilets in there. We got everything we want but we aren’t in the real world. In fact, when we’re in the limo, we’re in Eric’s mind. He’s sitting in his own head. It’s similar to being in a submarine, it’s both hostile and foreign. It’s as if he was under water and he could only breathe was inside the limo. If he gets out, he’ll obviously drowns. Throughout the film, he finds out he’s a prisoner and he has absolutely no freedom at all. The blame is not only on the system but it’s as if the system had contaminated his body. From a political point of view, we can say it’s the capitalism that enslaved him. So he looks for darker and more dangerous way to be free. His wife tells him “Free to do what? To be broke and die?” and he answers her “Yes”. "
Never seen Twilight but this kid sure can act. that last scene is absolutely mesmerizing ... In the end a little too artsy for my taste
by far my favorite movie i've seen this year. so many powerful and haunting scenes.. when rey is listening to that song in the car.. rey cowering behind the bed during the shoot out... rey telling eric he enjoys silences when you can hear profound sadness and lonelyness in his voice....the discussion b/t eric and rey have about God, the minimalist way the shootout scene in the doctors house is filmed, the final confrontation with rey and his brother... and finally the reveal which somehow makes sense of this man's absurd motive. I could go on all day with this movie. top notch stuff
what? engaging movie, and beautifully shot, but i'm not going to lie by the end I had no idea what the hell was going on. however, after watching THIS I must admit it's an expertly crafted movie with very interesting themes. I would have just made it a little more accessible for a general audience and plebs like myself..
I don't know why I keep watching these documentaries about innocent people that have been wrongly imprisoned. Is there anything more depressing and infuriating? very engaging and well made documentary
M
Was this film ahead of its time or have we made zero progress as a society in the last 80 years? A little of both, I imagine. Anyway, captivating thriller, impressive and towering photography (minus the weird Inspector Lohmann under-the-desk crotch shot), and excellent use of sound and non-sound. Extremely abrupt ending aside, this was great.
I don't know why I keep watching these documentaries about innocent people that have been wrongly imprisoned. Is there anything more depressing and infuriating? very engaging and well made documentary
Saw The Babadook yesterday. Amazing film, straight into horror film canon. It's so refreshing to see a horror film that actually tries to tell an emotional story.
St. Vincent: Lovely, entertaining and super engaging film that I feel is being overlooked at the moment. A stand-out award winning performance from Bill Murray. A sweet story with a positive and uplifting message. One of the surprises of the year for me. Enjoyed it from start to finish. Highly recommended.
Next on the list is Gone Girl. I'm super excited to see it but I keep holding off because of the running time (2.5 hours). I just can't seem to find the spare time to watch it at the moment. I'll probably allocate tomorrow night to seeing it.
On another note has anyone seen Kevin Smith's new film Tusk yet? I want to see it since I admire the guy's work but the incredibly mixed reaction it's getting critically is swaying me away from it. Apparently it's quite visually horrific so I'm not sure whether to take the plunge.
M
Was this film ahead of its time or have we made zero progress as a society in the last 80 years? A little of both, I imagine. Anyway, captivating thriller, impressive and towering photography (minus the weird Inspector Lohmann under-the-desk crotch shot), and excellent use of sound and non-sound. Extremely abrupt ending aside, this was great.
Gone Girl: 7/10. Fucking Fincher and his CGI particle effects, just stop. This was really annoying at first
(the weird flashbacks that were like poorly acted and looked dubbed)
but then I was like oh ok I guess that's how it was supposed to be. Entertaining at least, the entire time I was thinking "this must have been a great book."
The End of the World: 7/10. Just as good as the other cornet comedies, though this was probably the weakest.
Robot Cop (2014): 7/10. I thought this was way better than it needed to be. Loved how it was drenched in cynicism. Some nice action but it was used sparingly, which was a relief since so many films are mind numbingly bloated with it. Interesting casting choice putting Buffalo Bill in the lead role.
Blue Ruin: 7/10. So Blue Ruin was the name of the car right?
Went into this movie blind for the most part. All I knew is that it's a science fiction Groundhog Day and to be honest, the movie surprised me. It was way better than I expected it to be. Great performances(especially from the leads) and effects as well as funny which I found worked really well in how they combined comedy within the narrative itself which is dark. What makes this film work is how Cruise's character
much like the audience are learning how everything is working step by step, I'm glad they didn't make him some kind of professional from the get go but you see him getting better and learning how things work which is so much better as well as making him relatable alot more.
I think the only thing that I didn't like about this movie was the ending.
I honestly would have preferred if they just died, It would have worked better I believe. The ending just makes things abit more confusing and creates a Time Paradox. For example, why did it take Cruise back to where he was in the helicopter? why not some place earlier or much recent? Since it did take him back why did the action of what he did affected the timeline even tough he was brought back before everything began? Anyways, it doesn't ruin the movie for me but it would have been so much better if they were left dead, sacrificing themselves.
Watched the unrated cut and I enjoyed it. It's up there with Expendables 2 but for me EX2 edges it out. Banderas, Snipes and Gibson all stole the show no doubt about that. It just all felt great seeing them on screen again in a big action movie. The movie is filled with action but I was kind of meh about the middle part and the new characters that got introduced, I'm sure most people would agree about that as well. Good thing it starts and ends well though. Shame about the CGI, it seems to be more apparent in this movie than the rest. All in all, it's a fun, dumb action movie and you can tell everyone was having a great time making the film.
This was a fraustrating film for me to be honest, I ended up liking and not loving the film sadly. Bryan Cranston, Godzilla and Ken Watanabe (I always have a soft spot for Ken) were the best things about the film and in the end I just felt that a whole lot of nothing happened. I liked how they tease Godzilla for the first few times but then it just gets tiring when you are begging to see more of that motherfucker but just when you think you will do so, they keep cutting away. I know they are trying to go for the "From a human prespective" kind of thing with all the build up but come on, the movie is called "Godzilla" yet we barely get any of him in the 2 or so hours, like only maybe 10 minutes lol. All we get most out of the monster side is
MUTO's fucking shit up with the last 30 or so minutes being the best in the entire movie especially the breaking news part with the news labeling Godzilla "King of the monsters - savior of our city?" and him roaring *sniff* felt butterflies in my tummy
, The sound as well as visual effects were outstanding(shame though most of the best scenes in the movie are in the dark *facepalm*).
There is build up and then there is this movie. When people bring up JAWS and the like, atleast in those movies it cuts away to something enjoyable thanks to great writing as well as characters being way more interesting, where as this movie keeps cutting away from Godzilla to boring ass shit. I felt Pacific Rim had the better balance of gigantic fight sequences and boring human characters. Overall, it's an alright movie but I am definatly excited for the second one and look forward to it. My entire reaction to this movie can be summed up by this gif.
This is the opinion of a person who never read The Hobbit book. Good movie even though there are things that frustrate me about it for example some of the stupid shit with Legolas, when people see the movie they'll understand, the elf/dwarf love subplot and also how everything just doesn't have the same emotional impact as The Return Of The King because PJ clearly wanted to make a "Return Of The King" but within The Hobbit narrative. It's much better to not compare The Hobbit trilogy to LOTR's trilogy but take it as it's own thing or a lite LOTR if you will. The movie does what it's set out to do, be a full out war movie with an ending that ties with the first LOTR. The second half of the film is pretty much the big ass battle with the five armies till the ending, which is great. I love Middle earth and it's kind of bittersweet that this may be the last we see of it on the big screen which is a shame because the characters here are not as strong as they are in LOTR. The wars as well as pay offs in The Return Of The King were orgasmic and full of suspense because the fate of everyone is at an end which is the same thing here only it feels less realized where as in TROTK, everyone in Middle Earth was fucked and it helped that it showed you how things went from alright to pretty much shit.
The irony of it though is that my favorite scene in the movie happens to be something far away from the big battle itself which is the Dol Guldur scene for the simple fact of seeing
Saruman busting some ass with swift, fast movements. I fucking did a double take because I was all like "Yeah, he'll just shove them with his magic" but no, he went to town on them fuckers with his staff. If Christopher Lee in real life moved like that which I doubt, I'll have to take a bow because that looked fucking badass.
It helps that the movie had spectacular sound effects and the CGI ranged from really good to decent. Overall though, I enjoyed the movie and I feel that the trilogy as a whole is more enjoyable when one can watch all 3 closely together.
EDIT: I also forgot to mention that the soundtrack also is no where near LOTR level.
Watched a lot of movies during my being banned twice in a row, too much to type up everything. Let's just say Amer was a big disappointment, maybe I've watched too much of the real thing which made this feel forced and fake. Still looking forward to L'étrange couleur des larmes de ton corps tho, I hope they get it right in there.
Also wanted to mention that I found The Badabook rather ridiculous. Less exposition would have made this a much better movie.
Award for weirdest shit goes to Stridulum aka The Visitor. It also wins best poster. And best Jesus.
Got this last christmas but haven't watched any of them yet. Been meaning to for ages, seeing as its Spielberg's birthday today and traditionally I watch a film of his on his birthday I figured today would be a good start. Still so much fun, and looks great on blu ray. The original three must be the best trilogy in cinema - at least in my eyes.
Will try and watch Temple tonight, and Crusade over the weekend maybe.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Another chance to watch it again in 70mm. No words.
The Great Beauty
A great meditation on modern Italian life for the upper classes and passage of time. The cinematography is some of the best in recent years and the choir soundtrack was delightful. Favourite scenes include the beginning rooftop party, vatican sainthood and the flashback scenes with his lost love.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Another chance to watch it again in 70mm. No words.
The Great Beauty
A great meditation on modern Italian life for the upper classes and passage of time. The cinematography is some of the best in recent years and the choir soundtrack was delightful. Favourite scenes include the beginning rooftop party, vatican sainthood and the flashback scenes with his lost love.
The Imitation Game - I have a feeling that a lot of people will really dig this film but as far as biopics go, this was way too hokey for me to digest. I'll get it out of the way... Benedict Cabbagepatch is really great in the film. Ok, so the film is about mathematics genius Alan Turing is employed by the English military to crack Germany's seemingly impossible Enigma code which is used for all major transmissions (secret attacks, U-boat locations, etc). Being an oddball, Turing must prove himself to his team and defeat the evils from the shadows (whooooo!) oh, and Keira Knightley makes an appearance. This is the type of film that I could see was made with the mass market in mind because it simplifies everything.
Oh, this code is impossible to crack, lets use the most obvious way to crack it that we learned while in a pub by a girl who one of the guys was trying to pick up.... ugh...
It's full of those types of moments and the dialog varies from eye rolling to cringeworthy. The worst moment in the film happens
right after they crack Enigma and are plotting out all the German U-boat locations (hours after they cracked it, so it seems) and they find out that an attack is happening on a convoy ship. So, of course one of the guys who cracked Engima's brother is on that convoy and he pleads for them to take action and phone in to whoever to stop the attack..
. really?!?!?! This could have been a great film on an interesting story but alas it was ruined for mass appeal... just an awful script. Acting really saves this film from being a complete turd in my eyes. 5/10
when the mum went under her blanky when the door started to open inwards, creaking slightly
. *___________*
but the really best part is
the struggle of the single parent with a handful child and how sometimes, we just can't let go of the things we love the most even when that person's gone for good. ajshdkajsdakdfgj.
Once was delightful Blue Ruin was ok. the director knows how to create tension and the protagonist not knowing what he's doing was a fun touch though. felt like i've seen this movie with its themes about vengeance being bad before, but done better.
also saw Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and you can already see the crazy
Kite - garbage. action scenes are terrible shot and it's like a bad Luc Besson impression. His worst stuff is probably better than this, though. The Giver - Boring and dry. First half hour looked like it was shot through an instagram filter Sin City 2 - Garbage AND dry. It's pointless and no one really cared Maze Runner - It's typical YA fare, but it's actually not terrible. It's still pretty mediocre though, 'cause it's not that thrilling and the premise is undercooked and hey of course there's gonna be like 3 more Nightcrawler - The only good movie i've seen this week? It was really atmospheric and moody, and JG was excellent. The Congress - I'm still trying to formulate a solid thought on it. It's interesting but pretty dang messy, and tbh it lost me a bit around the end
Thor The Dark World The acting was terrible, most of the times the actors were just reading the script. The comic relief character was so obvious it was obnoxious. The last fight was at least interesting. 2/5
Clockwork Orange The violent spree scenes was almost enjoyable to watch but actually the gratuitous violence where unsettling even if you say its tame nowadays. The later parts had sometimes too much talking but overall theres a reason to be a classic. 4.5/5
A rewatch, Barry Lyndon its a master piece but I now see the criticism on Ryan ONeal acting, it was lacluster at least. I almost cringed in one or two scenes. The cinematography is top notch and I wonder now how the movie would be if the main character were a truly good actor, certainly better. 4.5/5
Full Metal Jacket The barracks scenes are memorable; it was this movie that definitely defined the figure of the badass troop instructor? After entering the war zone, it lost some of the focus, some parts appeared to me as a slight attempt to have the descendent into madness as Apocalypse Now, but I might be just me. 4/5
Ive seen it before in cinemas but Sucker Puncher reminded me of another movie 300 and not in a good way, even if the idea was clearly to be an anime/super hero persona dream the overused slow motions annoying me as much in 300, after all the director was the same. It looks already dated. 2.5/5
As expected, Munich was skillfully directed and produced, there were little wrongs on this movie
the little girl getting back into the apartment prior to an assassination attempt was manipulative though still more competently handled than the ending of Argo
. 4/5
It appeared just one more comic teen movie, The Spectacular Now revealed more than that, it was a pleasantly surprise. Too bad it was clearly marked to have a 90m run, could be improved with a little more time and the final a little rushed 3.5/5
MOTY thread voting was open till march I think. So us Euro peasants have a fair chance too. Still waiting on stuff like Birdman and Big Hero 6. And a whole bunch of other interesting movies that won't release before 2015
The Imitation Game - I have a feeling that a lot of people will really dig this film but as far as biopics go, this was way too hokey for me to digest. I'll get it out of the way... Benedict Cabbagepatch is really great in the film. Ok, so the film is about mathematics genius Alan Turing is employed by the English military to crack Germany's seemingly impossible Enigma code which is used for all major transmissions (secret attacks, U-boat locations, etc). Being an oddball, Turing must prove himself to his team and defeat the evils from the shadows (whooooo!) oh, and Keira Knightley makes an appearance. This is the type of film that I could see was made with the mass market in mind because it simplifies everything.
Oh, this code is impossible to crack, lets use the most obvious way to crack it that we learned while in a pub by a girl who one of the guys was trying to pick up.... ugh...
It's full of those types of moments and the dialog varies from eye rolling to cringeworthy. The worst moment in the film happens
right after they crack Enigma and are plotting out all the German U-boat locations (hours after they cracked it, so it seems) and they find out that an attack is happening on a convoy ship. So, of course one of the guys who cracked Engima's brother is on that convoy and he pleads for them to take action and phone in to whoever to stop the attack..
. really?!?!?! This could have been a great film on an interesting story but alas it was ruined for mass appeal... just an awful script. Acting really saves this film from being a complete turd in my eyes. 5/10
I like to think that Cruise's character had developed some ability to adjust time in the same manner the prime aliens did. So he subconsciously placed himself back at that point. I mean, it's all magic essentially, so I can believe whatever the fuck I want about it Plus it gave the movie a happy ending of sorts
MOTY thread voting was open till march I think. So us Euro peasants have a fair chance too. Still waiting on stuff like Birdman and Big Hero 6. And a whole bunch of other interesting movies that won't release before 2015
1+1 has never equaled 2. That about sums it up. and how come she turns into colored sprinkles?and then into a Resident Evil boss monster??I was hoping there at the end, she would turn into a FF God final boss.
1+1 has never equaled 2. That about sums it up. and how come she turns into colored sprinkles?and then into a Resident Evil boss monster??I was hoping there at the end, she would turn into a FF God final boss.
Day two of my return to Indy. Not seen this in so many years. It's funny how much just over my head as a kid with the sexual jokes between Indy and Willie I also love how crazy dark it is compared to the other two movies too.
All holds up for me, still great fun. Looked great on blu ray too. I've seen this movie so many times (all the Indy movies 1-3) I can basically quote the entire films, however I noticed at least 6-8 shots i'd never seen before all at the human sacrifice scene in the Temple. They must've been put into the film especially for the blu ray release so that was cool.
I like to think that Cruise's character had developed some ability to adjust time in the same manner the prime aliens did. So he subconsciously placed himself back at that point. I mean, it's all magic essentially, so I can believe whatever the fuck I want about it Plus it gave the movie a happy ending of sorts
physical trauma activating the Prime's effects. Him being smacked up by his CO, for example. That's why he kept waking up in that particular spot (on the gear bags).
Wowowowowww, Birdman was such a tasty treat. It took a little time for me to get used to the very long takes, and the films style. The score was great sans a few intrusive drum loops.
The shots felt really grounded and showed off the expressions of the characters really well, and there's a lot of subtlety there that would warrant a decent amount of rewatches. Loved the acting, the screenplay, and the blatant but unshameful message/callout to hollywood blockbusters and their audience. Keaton seemed like the perfect fit for this role lol. Cast was really good, loved everyone in it. Keaton and Norton were easily the best, but everyone else is not far behind at all.
8/10
teh ending got a lol out of me though. But I expected it.
Oooo me and this thread are going to have a lot of fun these next few weeks
Just saw Chungking Express and I fucking loved everything about it. The cinematography was amazing, the film was a visual beast and so fucking beautiful to look at. Plus the characters were are all really cool and I loved how quirky and weird they all were. The film also gives an amazing sense of how gritty Hong Kong is and it actually felt like I was brought there will watching it. This is my first Wong Kar-wai film but it definitely won't be my last.
Oooo me and this thread are going to have a lot of fun these next few weeks
Just saw Chungking Express and I fucking loved everything about it. The cinematography was amazing, the film was a visual beast and so fucking beautiful to look at. Plus the characters were are all really cool and I loved how quirky and weird they all were. The film also gives an amazing sense of how gritty Hong Kong is and it actually felt like I was brought there will watching it. This is my first Wong Kar-wai film but it definitely won't be my last.
Cold in July - Had major plot holes but I thought the opening half was done well.
Predestination - Pretty good. Different from anything I watched recently.
Maze Runner - I thought it was pretty good but the ending was horrific. Pop corn entertainment movie..
Equalizer - Pretty good mindless action flick with all the stereotypical characters.
Plus it gave the movie a happy ending of sorts
