White Dog (1982) A woman rescues a dog that was trained to attack black people and gives it to a black animal trainer so that he can attempt to reverse the training. It is freaking coconut loco. At its heart it is strongly anti-racist, but the message is sort of undercut by the fact that it is shot like a horror movie where you spend half the picture watching a white dog rip various black people to shreds. It reminds me of the way that OG Planet of the Apes tries to be anti-racist, but kind of backfires because the characters are a bunch of apes. I loved it but I wouldn't recommend it to basically anyone.
Also I watched it right after Hachi, which was a bad call.
I saw it this afternoon. I really liked it. Maybe didn't love it (but maybe I'll get there on rewatch) but as a longtime Rocky fan I dug this a lot. Stallone is fucking excellent here; from his body language to his line readings, he gives a very nuanced and affecting performance as the old broken down champ looking for a new reason to keep going. I also really liked how well the
cancer story was written. It's something that could easily come off as contrived or cloying, but it worked in the best way with the best ending: he hasn't beaten it, it hasn't beaten him, he's just still fighting.
Loved the one-take of the first fight, and the final round of the last fight --
from the music to the way Adonis leaps off the ground after his vision of Apollo
-- was hype as fuck.
What got me most about this movie was, walking out of the theater, and thinking about just how far this character has come. There's a huge history and legacy in this film, for both Rocky and Apollo, and it feels so earned because it's real; those characters and their fights feel storied and legendary because those fights actually happened 30-40 years ago, we're not just told they did. There's a lot of baggage you can take into this movie as a viewer, and instead of feeling like nostalgia being exploited, it's the life and legacy of a character you've watched grow in real time and real life, and continue to grow here. You look at the young man in '76 now the old trainer today, and the arc resonates so strongly because it feels so real.
Carol
A fine, lovely romance drama. Cate Blanchett is sensational per usual, and Rooney Mara is great as well. Really nicely shot. Not much else to say about it. I didn't think it was some transcendent thing like a lot of the reviews make it out to be, but I liked it well enough.
Trumbo
Very pedestrian, flatly directed, by-the-numbers, feels like it goes on forever, and Bryan Cranston overacts. Not awful but an extremely meh take on what it could have been a much better told story.
Creed
What got me most about this movie was, walking out of the theater, and thinking about just how far this character has come. There's a huge history and legacy in this film, for both Rocky and Apollo, and it feels so earned because it's real; those characters and their fights feel storied and legendary because those fights actually happened 30-40 years ago, we're not just told they did. There's a lot of baggage you can take into this movie as a viewer, and instead of feeling like nostalgia being exploited, it's the life and legacy of a character you've watched grow in real time and real life, and continue to grow here. You look at the young man in '76 now the old trainer today, and the arc resonates so strongly because it feels so real.
we find out about Rocky's diagnosis, it was a real gut punch in a way that felt like finding out a relative or someone we've known our whole lives was sick. The treatment scenes were particularly tough to watch for that same reason, and in a packed theater, I knew that a lot of the other viewers were feeling the same way based on their expressions and reactions. When Rocky tells Donnie to start training right there in the hospital room and cracks the joke about not hitting the nurse, it was really effective.
Many of the comedic, sentimental, or plot elements in the film would often be criticized as being contrived and generic, but for something like this with its history it just felt more real as opposed to a film we had no prior connection to going in.
Knock knock is legitimately one of the worst movie I've ever saw. I don't mind torture genre (as it can be pretty gripping, I really liked Cheap Thrills and Hard Candy) and I can appreciate Keanu Reeves as an actor but this movie turned out to be a big disappointment. Story is generic, music is ridiculous (
Where Is My Mind
at the end felt like somebody had spit in my face) and the acting...oh my god the acting. It's worth seeing just to experience it. Keanu's performance in the final scene, when he's
buried neck-deep in the ground
is straight out of some cancelled The Room sequel and every time he said "what the fuck" I was literally rolling on the floor. I have no idea what happened to his acting skills, maybe he's in debt so he decided to star in this movie or he just can't deliver serious dramatic performance.
Absolutely terrible, but maybe worth a watch with bunch of buddies and few kilograms of drugs.
Knock knock is legitimately one of the worst movie I've ever saw. I don't mind torture genre (as it can be pretty gripping, I really liked Cheap Thrills and Hard Candy) and I can appreciate Keanu Reeves as an actor but this movie turned out to be a big disappointment. Story is generic, music is ridiculous (
Where Is My Mind
at the end felt like somebody had spit in my face) and the acting...oh my god the acting. It's worth seeing just to experience it. Keanu's performance in the final scene, when he's
buried neck-deep in the ground
is straight out of some cancelled The Room sequel and every time he said "what the fuck" I was literally rolling on the floor. I have no idea what happened to his acting skills, maybe he's in debt so he decided to star in this movie or he just can't deliver serious dramatic performance.
Absolutely terrible, but maybe worth a watch with bunch of buddies and few kilograms of drugs.
Knock Knock is so bad that I can't believe Eli Roth let people see it. None of his other films are great, but they are at least competently made. Knock Knock looks like something a bunch of friends shot to put on YouTube.
A Christmas Carol (1938, Reginald Owen): I've seen maybe a dozen different versions of A Christmas Carol, and I like this one mostly for the unique things it does. For example, Scrooge tries to get three men to do something about Jacob Marley, but of course, they don't see him. Bob Crachit gets sacked on Christmas Eve after accidentally throwing a snowball at Scrooge, knocking his hat off, and getting it run over by a stagecoach. There's also many other scenes and bits put in.
However, bear in mind this is only 1 hr. 9 min. long. Belle isn't brought up at all, removing the ultimate reason why Scrooge's past sucked. Sometimes it feels like characters are rushing through their lines. I also feel Scrooge's change in attitude to be incredibly sudden because of the new church scene.
However, people do tend to love this version, especially among the early adaptations of the story. Go check it out for yourselves.
Lawrence's brother said "[The film is] a psychological recipe. Take an ounce of narcissism, a pound of exhibitionism, a pint of sadism, a gallon of blood-lust and a sprinkle of other aberrations and stir well."
It was meant as a criticism, but it's a partial description of what makes it so good. Peter O'Toole's Lawrence is "aberrant" but he's one of the all time great film characters.
I've read a little about the true story, and the movie interested me in reading more. It's impossible to watch without wondering about the truth. But the movie stands highly on its own merits.
A Man Escaped (1956)
Minimalist prison escape movie. The style works well, as it never tries to trick you or force you into feeling something. It just shows you the situation in detail and eventually you feel it on your own.
Safety Last! (1923) Stagecoach (1939)
Big Hero 6 (2014)
I loved the beginning, but everything after that was a disappointment.
Tis the season. Watched Black Christmas from 1974. Thought it was a comedy in the first half the way Margot Kidder acts. Very well developed story. Loved the ending.
The first time I saw this film I was a teenager skipping through channels and stumbled across it on TCM just as it was beginning. Don't know why I stopped there but it was gripping film that I've loved ever since. Such great preformances from the whole cast. There's so much emotional intensity radiating from the characters as they put there own experiences into the trial. And the cinematography is brillant for a movie shot in a single room.
Going home for the holidays always leads to an interesting shift in what I watch for a few days, sometimes for good. For instance I hadn't planned to catch up on Run All Night before the year closed. I'm glad I did. It lacks the slick style that made Non-Stop such a surprising and exhilarating bright spot deep in the late Winter dead period, but it's sufficiently convinced of the import of its mostly-rote inherited sin story and Neeson and Harris are fantastic (making the frequent focus on Common's boring implausible Terminator as a side villain disheartening). Creed is even better, thoroughly modern down to the music and slang and dramatically sound in its probing of why anyone would put the body through pain to chase passion. Less rewarding of a viewing: a rewatch of the F Gary Gray Italian Job, which remains sucky lifeless and inexplicably cherished by some of my friends.
Yeah, I feel like we've done movies of the week or directors/genres of the month in the past, and it always dies down after one or two rounds unfortunately. A big part of it, in my mind, is that it's difficult to be inclusive and expect everybody to have the will and way to watch a specific moviewhen everyone has a different assortment of streaming and rental services the ease of access is impossible to predict. Plus, and I don't mean this as a slight against anyone's taste at all, when we've tried to do it in the past it has usually centered around movies that many members have already seen or the picks have been selected by popular vote. If we were to do something like it again I'd prefer it to be geared towards much more under-the-radar selections and for it to be more carefully and personally curated each time rather than chosen based on consensus and convenience. Which would be doable but not without making that accessibility issue more pronounced. Weirdly I've been mulling over a possible workaround to that lately, but the solution isn't what I'd call legally above board.
I got a free movie ticket with a box of cheap cereal I bought (for that reason), and used it today. It was going to revert to a buy one, get one free in December, after only being a free ticket for November.
I ordered a ticket for The Martian, which I've really wanted to see and have held on a pedestal for some reason. However, I made a stop to return something while I was in the city and ended up being late, so I switched my ticket to one for:
Creed: A very good film with a good cast and a fantastic performance from its star.
Trying desperately to finish The Dark Crystal, I absolutely adore everything in this movie, except the gelflings. In the words of Zira from Planet of the Apes, they're just so damned ugly. I love every other creature, design, and puppet in the movie, though. Aughra makes me think of Yoda, and also reminded me that Jim Henson puppetry is sorely missed in Star Wars movies for me.
Saw Rocky Balboa. For the first time since Rocky II, a Rocky sequel that is actually deserving of the prestige the Rocky franchise has. Oddly enough, this is the only Rocky movie that totally goes downhill once the boxing is introduced. The montages feel phoned in, and the fight feels like something you watch on TV at its best, and at its worst, it's totally incomprehensible with quick cuts and odd color grading. The character drama is better than it's been since the original Rocky, with feelings of regret and the need for one last win permeating the picture. Although obviously Stallone shines brightest, seeing Paulie, Robert, and even Marie one more time is delightful and all three actors give good performances. Adrian's presence is huge despite her never appearing, and ultimately, Stallone does her character justice by showing Rocky's grief. Rocky Balboa is a great finale to a franchise that often isn't as good as its main character is lovable.
Saw Rocky Balboa[/B. ]For the first time since Rocky II, a Rocky sequel that is actually deserving of the prestige the Rocky franchise has. Oddly enough, this is the only Rocky movie that totally goes downhill once the boxing is introduced. The montages feel phoned in, and the fight feels like something you watch on TV at its best, and at its worst, it's totally incomprehensible with quick cuts and odd color grading. The character drama is better than it's been since the original Rocky, with feelings of regret and the need for one last win permeating the picture. Although obviously Stallone shines brightest, seeing Paulie, Robert, and even Marie one more time is delightful and all three actors give good performances. Adrian's presence is huge despite her never appearing, and ultimately, Stallone does her character justice by showing Rocky's grief. Rocky Balboa is a great finale to a franchise that often isn't as good as its main character is lovable.
I finally got around to seeing Ex Machina. Right off the bat, it's greatest strength is how gorgeous it's shot. Lots of eye candy and really tight editing. However, I wish it had been a little grander in scope. It presents a few old questions in a unique and interesting way but unfortunately, I didn't find it offering up any new insights into a very familiar story. The movie is an incredibly pretty repackaging of old ideas but not much more than that. It's still a really good movie but the scope and ambition are a bit too small for the lofty questions it asks the viewer. My other criticism over stems from a lack of believability in the basic building blocks of the premise, namely whether or not a single man would be capable of undertaking the monumental task of building a life-like android in his remote home. It doesn't ruin the movie but it's just...distracting.
Good flick though. It met my expectations without exceeding them.
Watching Fellini's The White Sheik. It's a fun comedy, but boy is that sheik the lead actress likes a dweeb. Also, I'm wondering if Fellini invented the Michael Bay/Justin Lin ass shot, because boy did he have a hell of one in this movie. lol Yes I just said that about Fellini.
Watched "The Peanuts Movie" and i loved it. Laughed and got sentimental with it. Really nice production, story, simple themes and jokes. It all worked. A good homage to all Peanuts. Also, love how spot on all the animations and presentation was. As an all time fan of Peanuts, i loved this movie.
Tonight, i go watch "Creed". Super excited for it.
Decided to skip the Pixar Dino movie =\ i'll watch it when it comes to BluRay. Unless someone compels me with a good argument.
Watched the Hunter with Willem Dafoe on Netflix. He's a hunter tasked by a shitty corporation with finding some rare Tasmanian tiger thought to be extinct. This is one of those movies I'd have passed on if it wasn't on Netflix. It's a decent movie just not my usual fare. I kind of expected somewhat of a different direction for the ending but it wasn't bad at all.
Before this thread gets closed for next month's...
Elite Squad - Heard a ton of great praise for this film and people even compared it to The Raid, yeah.. it was ok. Tone and message is really all over the place and I found it a bit hard to follow at times (and I'm not an idiot, I swear!). Ending felt a bit cheap too. The action is good and makes up for the story's shortcomings (although it's pretty decent). A bit disappointed but still enjoyable to an extent. 6/10
The Duke of Burgundy - Holy hell, what a rollercoaster! Just watch it. Easily one one my favorites of the year. 9/10
He's known for his minimalist yet richly detailed style. A Man Escaped is the purest example of that. It's also by far his most thrilling (although I haven't seen all of his films).
He's known for his minimalist yet richly detailed style. A Man Escaped is the purest example of that. It's also by far his most thrilling (although I haven't seen all of his films).
That film is so great; one of the fastest 3 hour movies I've ever seen. Between that and The Leopard (which I loved even more), I really need to see more Visconti.
Just finished Electric Boogaloo about Cannon films. Did not realize who they actually were or how many movies of theirs I've actually seen like Over the Top, Superman 4, the Death Wish sequels, He-man, Invasion USA, and Delta Force. Hell I saw a bunch of those in the theater as a kid. Always thought American Ninja looked stupid (which it most likely is) but never watched it. Now I'm going to have to look into their library a little more.
Just finished Electric Boogaloo about Cannon films. Did not realize who they actually were or how many movies of theirs I've actually seen like Over the Top, Superman 4, the Death Wish sequels, He-man, Invasion USA, and Delta Force. Hell I saw a bunch of those in the theater as a kid. Always thought American Ninja looked stupid (which it most likely is) but never watched it. Now I'm going to have to look into their library a little more.
Yea it was pretty damn funny how open the people being interviewed were about everything. So, much, nudity early on lol. Was kind of surprised they toned that down over the years to end up with the film's they made in the 80's.
Cinderella: A bloated, boring, sugary sweet mess of a film. I mainly watched it for Cate Blanchett and Rob Stark, but they could not save this trainwreck. Disney's live action interpretations are all terrible so far (Maleficent too).
4/10
Mockingjay Part 2: Fantastic. It moved a bit slow at parts, but it was tense, dark and depressing, with a fantastic ending. Tied with Catching Fire for my favorite film in this series. Great finale to the Hunger Games quadrilogy
9/10
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: I never saw Rise, but Dawn was pretty enjoyable. The sequel hook cliffhanger ending brings it down though. Caesar was a fantastic character.
7/10
Ex Machina: A bit slow and a bit pretentious, it didn't live up to the high praise I've heard but it was gorgeous to look at and Oscar Isaac was great as usual.
Rocky Balboa: Another "Finish seeing all the movies before seeing Creed" person. As was mentioned by Toothless, the first half is great. It's been a long time since Rocky V. His boxing days are behind him, Adrian is dead, but he's making a good life for himself by owning a restaurant (what happened to the gym? Did I miss something?), though he does still hang on to Adrian, which gives us an excuse to show clips from the first Rocky to explain who she is to newer audiences and creates drama between Rocky and Paulie.
Mason Dixon feels like a flat opponent, just a heavyweight champion who thinks he can curbstomp the crusty old dinosaur to show he's worth something. The montage feels weak, but I do love the TV-style presentation of the fight. I do like how the fight ended too.
American Ultra. Made it to 43 minutes then stopped and watched a Ronnie Wood Show episode from 2012 instead, which was immensely better. Terrrrrrrrible
American Ultra. Made it to 43 minutes then stopped and watched a Ronnie Wood Show episode from 2012 instead, which was immensely better. Terrrrrrrrible
