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[Blam]

Posted on behalf of NovumAngel

Welcome to Movie Gaf:

The movie threads here on NeoGAF have been missing for a little while so now I’m hoping to bring back the two most popular threads (“Movie’s You’ve Seen Recently” and “15 Movies You Should See”) into one Movie thread.

With “Movies to Watch in March” you’ll find some of the top movies hitting cinemas this month, let us know which movies you’ll be going to see!

Outside of that people are encouraged to post any and all movies they’ve watched, from the biggest blockbuster to an obscure art-house film. Please avoid making lists, include some comments about what you liked/disliked to get the conversation going.

Useful Links/Sites:

• ImDB
• Letterboxd
• iCheckMovies
• RottenTomatoes
• Metacritic

Introduce yourself:
New to the thread? Tell us a little about yourself

• What’s your favourite movie?
• Who’s your favourite director?
• Who are your favorite actors/actresses?
• Your favorite movie genre(s)?
• Tell us some movies that you’ve been enjoying lately.

User Accounts:
In the previous threads there was a list of fellow users accounts on the above sites. As many of the users there may not be involved on NeoGAF any more, I felt it was best to start the slate clean. If anyone wants their account added here please link it below.

Movies to Watch in March:​

Red Sparrow (1st in UK, 2nd in USA)

​

Mystery, Thriller
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling, Mary-Louise Parker, and Jeremy Irons.
Ballerina Dominika Egorova is recruited to 'Sparrow School,' a Russian intelligence service where she is forced to use her body as a weapon. Her first mission, targeting a C.I.A. agent, threatens to unravel the security of both nations.

The Outsider (9th March on Netflix)

​

Crime, Drama, Mystery
Starring: Jared Leto, Tadanobu Asano, Rory Cochrane, Shiori Kutsuna, Emile Hirsch and Kippei Shiina.
The Outsider stars Jared Leto as a captive American soldier in the final days of WWII, set free from prison with the aid of his yakuza cellmate. However, he must repay his debt of gratitude by joining the criminal gang, aiding them in their nefarious activities.

Thoroughbreds (9th in USA)

​

Drama, Thriller
Starring: Olivia Cooke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Anton Yelchin, Paul Sparks, and Francie Swift. This is the final film role of Yelchin, who died of a fatal car accident on June 19, 2016.
Two upper-class teenage girls in suburban Connecticut rekindle their unlikely friendship after years of growing apart. Together, they hatch a plan to solve both of their problems-no matter what the cost.

Annihilation (12th on Netflix outside USA)

​

Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Starring: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny, and Oscar Isaac.
Annihilation follows a group of military scientists who enter "The Shimmer", a mysterious quarantined zone that is full of mutating landscapes and creatures.

Tomb Raider (14th in UK, 16th in USA)

​

Action, Adventure
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Walton Goggins, Daniel Wu, and Kristin Scott Thomas.
Tomb Raider is primarily based on the 2013 video game of the same name by Crystal Dynamics, and will be a reboot of the Tomb Raider film series. The film tells about the first expedition of Lara Croft, in which she embarks on a perilous journey to her father's last-known destination, hoping to solve the mystery of her father's disappearance.

A Wrinkle in Time (23rd March)

​

Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Starring: Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michael Peña, Storm Reid, Zach Galifianakis, and Chris Pine.
After the disappearance of her scientist father, three peculiar beings send Meg, her brother, and her friend to space in order to find him.

Pacific Rim Uprising (23rd March)

​

Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Starring: John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, Cailee Spaeny, Jing Tian, Adria Arjona, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman, and Rinko Kikuchi.
Jake Pentecost, son of Stacker Pentecost, reunites with Mako Mori to lead a new generation of Jaeger pilots, including rival Lambert and 15-year-old hacker Amara, against a new Kaiju threat.

Unsane (23rd March)

​

Horror, Thriller
Starring: Claire Foy, Joshua Leonard, Jay Pharoah, Juno Temple, Aimee Mullins and Amy Irving.
A young woman is involuntarily committed to a mental institution, where she is confronted by her greatest fear--but is it real or a product of her delusion?
Director Steven Soderbergh shot this film entirely on an iPhone in 4K.

Ready Player One (28th in UK, 29th in USA)

​

Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Starring: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, T. J. Miller, Simon Pegg, and Mark Rylance.
When the creator of a virtual reality world called the OASIS dies, he releases a video in which he challenges all OASIS users to find his Easter Egg, which will give the finder his fortune. Wade Watts finds the first clue and starts a race for the Egg.

Isle of Dogs (23rd in USA, 30th in UK)

​

Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, and Bob Balaban.
In a dystopian future Japan, dogs have been quarantined on a remote island due to a "canine flu". A boy, Atari, ventures to the island to search for his dog, Spots. Dogs Chief, Rex, Boss, Duke, and King help him search for Spots and evade the authorities.

01 March 2018
Red Sparrow (2nd in USA)

02 March 2018
Game Night (UK)
Samson (UK)
Monster Family (UK)
A Fantastic Woman (UK)
Death Wish (USA)
Oh Lucy! (USA)
The Vanishing of Sidney Hall (USA)
Dance Academy: The Movie (USA)

09 March 2018
Gringo
The Outsider(Netflix Release)
The Strangers: Prey at Night (USA)
Mom and Dad (UK)
Wonder Wheel (UK)
You Were Never Really Here (UK)
Sweet Country (UK)
Thoroughbreds (USA)
The Hurricane Heist (USA)
The Leisure Seeker (USA)
An Ordinary Man (USA)

12 March 2018
Annihilation (Netflix Release)

14 March 2018
Tomb Raider (16th in USA)

15 March 2018
Compulsion (USA)

16 March 2018
Peter Rabbit (UK)
The Square (UK)
Mary Magdalene (UK)
Love, Simon (USA)
Josie (USA)
Flower (USA)
I Can Only Imagine (USA)
7 Days in Entebbe (USA)
Dear Dictator (USA)

23 March 2018
A Wrinkle in Time
Pacific Rim Uprising
Unsane
Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House (UK)
Proud Mary(UK)
I Kill Giants (USA)
Sherlock Gnomes (USA)
Final Portrait (USA)

28 March 2018
Ready Player One (29th in USA)

30 March 2018
Isle of Dogs (23rd in USA)
Blockers (UK)
Midnight Sun (23rd in USA)
Paul, Apostle of Christ (28th in USA)
God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness
The Bachelors (UK)
The Last Movie Star (USA)
Acrimony (USA)
Lean on Pete (USA)
Gemini (USA)
All I Wish (USA)

 

[NovumAngel]

What’s your favourite movie?
Can't think about this too hard right now but some of my more recent favourites have been Blade Runner (+ 2049), mother!, Get Out, Split.

Who’s your favourite director?
I'll go for a few of the more obvious choices like Spielberg, James Cameron, Ridley Scott, etc. also lately I've enjoyed Guillermo del Toro and Darren Aronofsky.

Who are your favorite actors/actresses?
For actors, Morgan Freeman, Samuel L Jackson, James McAvoy, John Goodman, Ed Harris
For actresses, Scarlett Johansson, Angelina Jolie, Eva Green, Milla Jovovich

Your favorite movie genre(s)?
Generally I'm open to most genre's but if I had to narrow it down I'd probably say Thriller, Sci-Fi and Horror. Most of what I watch is on the serious side but I do have a soft spot for animated movies too.

Tell us some movies that you’ve been enjoying lately.
February was a mixed bag for my viewings, re-watching the original Cloverfield and then The Cloverfield Paradox made me realize that 10 Cloverfield Lane might have just been a fluke. Black Panther climbed up my rankings of the MCU, sitting nicely next to Spiderman: Homecoming as one of the better movies yet nothing too amazing. Finally we get to the good which is The Shape of Water, normally I end up not really liking anything that's been nominated in the Best Picture Oscar category but this film stood out as a gorgeous love story, with beautiful imagery and very good acting (particularly Sally Hawkins as a mute character).

 

[jshackles]

Excellent idea for a group thread. I'm a huge huge fan of movies and find it's a pretty common interest in most people that enjoy gaming.

I typically see 2-3 movies per month in the theaters (Moviepass is a godsend) and this month I'm most looking forward to Ready Player One, Tomb Raider, and Pacific Rim Uprising - even though I'm pretty sure they're all going to be awful. Somewhat interested in A Wrinkle In Time (loved the book when I was younger but this recent Disney adaptation looks... bland) and Red Sparrow (assuming it's not just an excuse to dress up Jennifer Lawrence sexy for no reason like the trailers would have me believe). I like a huge range of genres but am mostly interested in Sci-Fi, comedies, and horror movies.

I saw Annihilation a few days ago, and I still can't stop thinking about it. Certainly not for everyone, but I appreciate a good movie that doesn't spoon-feed you the plot.

I'm looking forward to hearing movie impressions from everyone else!

 

[bitbydeath]

I just watched Birdman over the weekend. Whelp, that is 2 hours of my life I’ll never get back. If I had a top movies list of worst movies I’ve ever seen that’d easily be in the top 3.

 

[Corrik]

Huge movie fan. Will edit this post to be a more apt response when at a computer. I will link my not completely updated criticker list. I suggest you all try out criticker also for logging movies you have seen.

 

[Blam]

I just watched Birdman over the weekend. Whelp, that is 2 hours of my life I’ll never get back. If I had a top movies list of worst movies I’ve ever seen that’d easily be in the top 3.

What didn't you like about Birdman?

 

[bitbydeath]

What didn't you like about Birdman?

It was a very slow movie which didn’t really amount to anything. Even the side cast just drop off near the end without addressing anything they did or provide a reason for them to exist.

It all just felt pointless.

 

[Razorback]

Alright, I need to get this out my system. I saw the Shape of Water recently, best picture nominee with a 92% RT score.

WAT?

The tone of this movie is all over the place. It's like Del Toro saw Amelie and went, oh I know what this needs, disturbing graphic violence and bestiality.
I'm not saying the movie is bad due to the subject matter, I can totally see this story working with the right tone. But the whimsical style does not mix at all with the R-rated scenes. It's not like this type of tone dissonance is unachievable, Del Toro hit the nail on the head with Pan's Labyrinth. But here it doesn't work at all. And the plot is completely predictable. After the half-way point, I guessed correctly every single step of the third act.

This is an extremely morally black and white movie where the villains are all racists and homophobes and the heroes are all saints. They dont even bother exploring for second whether or not they're doing the right thing. Zero nuance. They dedicate so much of the screen time making sure we understand the villain is a bad person. Yes, he's bad, the bad guy is very mean, we get it, please move on. And it's all terribly convoluted, the given reason why the government wants to study the creature makes no sense, and the way they mistreat such a rare creature makes even less sense, but I guess it has to be that way because plot. The only interesting character that isn't paper thin is the painter. Why did they develop his character with multiple subplots and the only thing we get about the main character is that she's a mute and that apparently makes her act like a child for some reason.

And then they brush over the core of the movie, which is the central love story. Its basically love at first sight and that's that, no need to question why they want to jump each other's bones immediately. The Beauty and the Beast makes it a point to show that what matters is on the inside and we follow the process of how someone could fall in love with a beast. There's an interesting story here to explore, but here they don't even try to sell us on the idea, it's just a given that anyone would want to get it on with fishboy.

Spoiler: Even after...

...he ate her fucking cat's head. Why does no one give a shit? I thought these people were animal lovers, why is that scene in the movie? Why do they also not give a shit when they flood the apartment? That house is ruined! What's the point of the masturbation scenes and the graphic gore violence on my whimsical fantasy love story that also includes an out of left field musical act? Whyyyyy?!

The production design was alright.

3/10

 

[Corrik]

I second birdman as overrated as hell. Did not enjoy it.

Some movies I have enjoyed with no particular aim that were not big major pictures are

Lala land
Black swan
Whiplash
Nightcrawler
Darkest hour
Wrestler

 

[Bryank75]

Just got Thor Ragnarok on my bday 20th Feb... really enjoyed it, love flight of the conchords and what we do in the shadows so it was bound to hit the right notes. I also rewatched Godfather Part 2.
I really love The Count of Monte Christo. Other Dumas stuff too like Iron mask... I've actually been to Chateau D'if.

 

[natjjohn]

Also watched Thor Ragnarok recently. Thought it was solid. Some of the humor felt forced. Didn’t read up much on it and kept thinking that Hela looked like Cate Blanchet at times so consider me surprised when I saw it was her.

Overall, solid popcorn movie that kept me entertained. Made me interested in seeing the original Thor which I never watched. Too many Marcel movies coming out through the years to watch and keep up with them all.

 

[NovumAngel]

Excellent idea for a group thread. I'm a huge huge fan of movies and find it's a pretty common interest in most people that enjoy gaming.

I typically see 2-3 movies per month in the theaters (Moviepass is a godsend) and this month I'm most looking forward to Ready Player One, Tomb Raider, and Pacific Rim Uprising - even though I'm pretty sure they're all going to be awful. Somewhat interested in A Wrinkle In Time (loved the book when I was younger but this recent Disney adaptation looks... bland) and Red Sparrow (assuming it's not just an excuse to dress up Jennifer Lawrence sexy for no reason like the trailers would have me believe). I like a huge range of genres but am mostly interested in Sci-Fi, comedies, and horror movies.

I saw Annihilation a few days ago, and I still can't stop thinking about it. Certainly not for everyone, but I appreciate a good movie that doesn't spoon-feed you the plot.

I'm looking forward to hearing movie impressions from everyone else!

I don't get to the cinema as often as I'd like but Annihilation was one I was dying to see on the big screen and was so upset when it was thrown onto Netflix in my country, glad to hear about the good impressions from people anyway.

Out of the list the only one I might go see is Red Sparrow, Jennifer Lawrence can be sorta hit and miss for me but it looks decent enough from trailer/advert's I've seen.

 

[jshackles]

I don't get to the cinema as often as I'd like but Annihilation was one I was dying to see on the big screen and was so upset when it was thrown onto Netflix in my country, glad to hear about the good impressions from people anyway.

Out of the list the only one I might go see is Red Sparrow, Jennifer Lawrence can be sorta hit and miss for me but it looks decent enough from trailer/advert's I've seen.

The international Netflix deal for that movie is really killing the box office take for it here in the US. Almost everyone I've talked to about the movie (evangelizing it because I know their tastes and I think they'd like it) all say "I hear that's coming to Netflix next month man, why would I pay to go see it when I have Netflix already?" without realizing it isn't going to be on Netflix in the US. Sure, some of them might use a VPN or obtain the movie using other means, but there is a lot of confusion around that film's distribution and I feel like that's playing a part in why it's not doing as well commercially.

Red Sparrow looks like a mixed bag to me. The trailers seem to spend more time showing Jennifer Lawrence dressing sexy, being told to undress, wrapping her legs around a guy, etc that I start getting the impression that the plot isn't going to be that deep and the whole movie is just an excuse to have her be provocative. I hope I'm wrong. Either way, as I mentioned I have MoviePass and I try to see a new movie every week and there isn't anything else interesting coming out this week, so I'll give it a watch.

 

[JORMBO]

I have MoviePass and have been trying to see 2-3 movies a month. In March I will see Tomb Raider and most likely Red Sparrow. I am not super interested in either, but that is the beauty of MoviePass. In February I was slacking and only saw Black Panther.

 

[jshackles]

I went to see Game Night last night. It's just say I'm glad it was on MoviePass's dime. The story was so outrageously unbelievable that I felt I really had to turn my brain off to enjoy it. There were a couple of good laughs but also a lot of really cringey lines.

Also I've seen some reviews of Red Sparrow and it looks like it turned out exactly like I hoped it wouldn't. I'll probably skip that this weekend and go see Annihilation again instead.

 

[Bryank75]

Oh dear Red Sparrow reviews are pretty bad... think it's a political thing? With all the Russia talk...
Watched Winter Soldier last night, my favorite mcu film.

 

[bitbydeath]

I watched ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ last night. There isn’t many long movies I’d watch again, this movie though, loved it from beginning to end.

Amazing plot, actors, pacing. It nails everything. Don’t sleep on this one.

 

[NahaNago]

Finally saw Your Name and thought it was overrated. The backgrounds were the best parts of the movie. Will see death wish, pacific rim, a wrinkle in time, and ready player one. Maybe on the tomb raider. I'm just not feeling it since I preferred the older version of her. I saw annihilation last week thought it was interesting but failed the ending.

 

[kunonabi]

As far as March goes probably just Thoroughbreds and Pacific Rim 2.

I might catch Annihilation on video/Netflix. Not a fan of the whitewashing or Tessa Thompson so I don't really feel like going out of my way to see it.

Similar issues are keeping me from A Wrinkle in Time as well.

What’s your favourite movie?

Jawbreaker
Audition
Spirited Away
Gorgeous
Suspiria
Sleepy Hollow
Black Belt Jones
Dawn of the Dead
Rocky II
My Girl

Who’s your favourite director?

Dario Argento
Tim Burton
Akira Kurosawa
Bong Joon-ho

Who are your favorite actors/actresses?

Sylvestor Stallone, Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Jackie Chan, Geena Davis, Denzel Washington, Michelle Yeoh, Daniel Day-Lewis, Angela Basset, Sigourney Weaver, Christopher Walken, Michael Keaton, John Candy, Song Kang-ho, Sissy Spacek, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tilda Swinton, Anne Hathaway, Carla Gugino, Shelley Duval, Barbara Stanwyck, Jennifer Connelly, Toshiro Mifune, Michael Douglass, Joe Pesci,

Your favorite movie genre(s)?

Horror

Tell us some movies that you’ve been enjoying lately.

I watched a whole boat load of movies last year, enough to actually do a top 50 list, but I haven't watched much this year. I saw Black Panther though and really enjoyed it. It wasn't the "best comicbook movie since Unbreakable" that I was expecting it to be but it was still a damn good time.

 

[Bryank75]

As far as March goes probably just Thoroughbreds and Pacific Rim 2.

I might catch Annihilation on video/Netflix. Not a fan of the whitewashing or Tessa Thompson so I don't really feel like going out of my way to see it.

Similar issues are keeping me from A Wrinkle in Time as well.

What’s your favourite movie?

Jawbreaker
Audition
Spirited Away
Gorgeous
Suspiria
Sleepy Hollow
Black Belt Jones
Dawn of the Dead
Rocky II
My Girl

Who’s your favourite director?

Dario Argento
Tim Burton
Akira Kurosawa
Bong Joon-ho

Who are your favorite actors/actresses?

Sylvestor Stallone, Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Jackie Chan, Geena Davis, Denzel Washington, Michelle Yeoh, Daniel Day-Lewis, Angela Basset, Sigourney Weaver, Christopher Walken, Michael Keaton, John Candy, Song Kang-ho, Sissy Spacek, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tilda Swinton, Anne Hathaway, Carla Gugino, Shelley Duval, Barbara Stanwyck, Jennifer Connelly, Toshiro Mifune, Michael Douglass, Joe Pesci,

Your favorite movie genre(s)?

Horror

Tell us some movies that you’ve been enjoying lately.

I watched a whole boat load of movies last year, enough to actually do a top 50 list, but I haven't watched much this year. I saw Black Panther though and really enjoyed it. It wasn't the "best comicbook movie since Unbreakable" that I was expecting it to be but it was still a damn good time.

My Girl always makes me misty...

 

[TheSadRanger]

I saw it a while back but one Netflix film I wanted to gush about was The Void. It's basically a love letter to John Carpenter movies using practical effects for it's monsters. There's some really solid work done in the movie, while it kind of drags towards the middle with it's awesome start. It's still a movie worth checking out if your into horror.

 

[kunonabi]

My Girl always makes me misty...

That and the ending of Iron Will always get me.

 

[NovumAngel]

I finally got around to watching The Witch after adding it to my watchlist quite a while ago.

I really liked that it was a more grounded take on the folklore and superstition of witches that people used to have rather than take the more fantastical/supernatural take of most movies.
It's a real slow burner, there is a lot of time spent with the family and the strife they got through living away from other townsfolk and their fears of the witches due to religious crisis.
I think it might have needed another 20 mins or so at the end as it goes from slow burn to payoff fairly quickly, it probably needed to stretch itself out a little more, but overall it's one I'd highly recommend watching.

 

[TheSadRanger]

I finally got around to watching The Witch after adding it to my watchlist quite a while ago.

I really liked that it was a more grounded take on the folklore and superstition of witches that people used to have rather than take the more fantastical/supernatural take of most movies.
It's a real slow burner, there is a lot of time spent with the family and the strife they got through living away from other townsfolk and their fears of the witches due to religious crisis.
I think it might have needed another 20 mins or so at the end as it goes from slow burn to payoff fairly quickly, it probably needed to stretch itself out a little more, but overall it's one I'd highly recommend watching.

I always thought it would have been funny if at the end, if

Spoiler

some native americans had spotted the seance and were like , also it's not like the fears of witches were completely unfounded in the movie

 

[Dr. Claus]

• What’s your favourite movie?
  • Animated would be Spirited Away. Live Action would be Shawshank Redemption.
• Who’s your favourite director?
  • Easily a tie between Mamoru Hasoda (Wolf Children, Summer Wars) and Hayao Miyazaki (needs no introduction).
• Who are your favorite actors/actresses?
  • I have none.
• Your favorite movie genre(s)?
  • I like pretty much any. As long as the story is good, it is well shot, and the writing/acting is believable I will probably enjoy it.
• Tell us some movies that you’ve been enjoying lately.
  • Recently got myself a VR headset (PSVR) and am able to watch 3D films. I had a few 3D movies so I started watching them. Currently enjoying The Lion King, Pacific Rim, and I am excited to get back into Star Wars: The Last Jedi (one of my favorite star wars films, currently).
  • I don't see it mentioned often, but if any of y'all ever get the chance: Go see Song of the Sea. It is a wonderfully animated film about a young boy and his sister and deals with Irish/Scottish folk lore.

 

[TheChewyWaffles]

Saw Red Sparrow today. Pretty forgettable.

 

[JORMBO]

My power was out most of yesterday so I ended up seeing Red Sparrow and Annihilation. Red Sparrow was entertaining, but as TheChewyWaffles mentioned above, pretty forgetable. I thought Annihilation was really well done. Good story and some interesting visuals.

 

[pramod]

Saw two Oscar movies recently, Dunkirk and Darkest Hour. Funny they were about the same historical topic and time frame(the Dunkirk Evacuation)...but I enjoyed Darkest Hour a lot more just because of Gary Oldman's performance. I don't understand how Dunkirk ended up getting that much recognition, it felt like it was barely an average made for TV movie. If Nolan's name wasn't attached to it I don't think anyone would have cared.

 

[Bryank75]

Watched The Shining with wife last night, we often watch it... such an awesome film.

 

[bitbydeath]

Watched The Shining with wife last night, we often watch it... such an awesome film.

You see the behind the scenes GIF of Jack getting ready for the axe scene?

 

[Bryank75]

You see the behind the scenes GIF of Jack getting ready for the axe scene?

Yes, it's awesome. One of my favorite actors, love him in As Good As It Gets a lot too. He just nails everything about the insanity of Torrence.

 

[Razorback]

Just finished watching The Death of Stalin.

Not sure if it's historically accurate but despite being a comedy it comes across as totally believable. It's really not surprising anymore that the lives and fates of millions of people are often in the hands of complete buffoons.

 

[Doom85]

-Favorite all time movie is Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. There's way more but if I have to go with personal top favorites this post would get way too long. In terms of last year, my top 10 were (starting from 10 and ending on 1): Kong: Skull Island; Your Name; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; A Silent Voice, Get Out, War for the Planet of the Apes, Star Wars: The Last Jedi; Guardans of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Blade Runner 2049, and Logan
-favorite director of all time is David Fincher. Alien 3 aside (and even he doesn't like to talk about that film), everything he's done range from great to insanely excellent (Se7en being easily one of my all time favorite films, and Gone Girl was my favorite film of 2014). REALLY wish we could have gotten those Girl with the Dragon Tattoo sequels, sigh. In terms of more modern directors, obviously Edgar Wright is awesome and since I think good comedies are becoming rarer nowadays his films are a welcome treat. I also welcome Matt Reeves and Jordan Peele after their work on Dawn/War for the Planet of the Apes and Get Out respectively and can't wait to see what they bring to the table next.
-too many to name, I just can't narrow down so many talented people. In terms of recent actors/actresses who are starting to get big, I do really love Michael Fassbender. He nailed young Magneto and his role in Prometheus was one of the few elements that made that movie worthwhile to me (along with Idris Elba, some of the visuals, and the score). But I hope he has better films coming as last year was not kind to him, he still gave a good performance in Alien: Covenant but that film was mostly bad to me, and The Snowman was a trainwreck (but kind of a hilarious and fascinating one, especially after finding out like 10% of the script didn't even get filmed hence some of the bizarre cuts and certain subplots that never get resolved).
-none in particular. Sure, I'll make it a point to see just about every superhero movie, Star Wars movie, Disney/Pixar, etc. but they won't necessarily be best of the year though they certainly can be. For the record, my #1 films for each year of 2014-2017 were Gone Girl, Inside Out, Fences, and Logan.
-Black Panther was great. It has a few pacing issues and I do think certain characters could have been fleshed out more (like Nakia and W'Kabi) but there was a lot to love. In particular, the ritual combat fights were very intense and I loved the final scene between T'Challa and Killmonger and felt their conflicting ideologies was one of the highlights of the film. The villains in particular were just great (Klaue being a lot of fun and Killmonger having a lot of depth) and Shuri was my favorite of the heroes as I loved her upbeat and humorous side. I also recommend Game Night, as I mentioned I feel good comedies are rare nowadays but this film cracked me up a lot. Jason Bateman usually delivers and this was no exception but the whole cast was great. In particular Jesse Plemons as their odd neighbor was perfectly hilarious and his scenes were the best of the film. I do hope to see Annihilation tomorrow night. In terms of this month, I'm looking forward to A Wrinkle in Time, Pacific Rim: Uprising, and Ready Player One. Tomb Raider is a maybe, I may wait for that one to come out on video.

 

[NovumAngel]

Watched a couple more movies earlier in the week.

The Interview (1998, not the crappy one with James Franco), this is something that I just randomly spotted while browsing Netflix, read the description and saw that Hugo Weaving was in it, so I gave it a chance.
It's a very minimalist film, most of it takes place in an interrogation room in a police station after Weaving has been arrested in connection with a car robbery. The dynamic between Weaving and the police detective, played by Tony Martin, is excellent with each playing off the other to make the other think what they want. There's a couple of twists and turns around the halfway mark. All in all a very good police thriller.

Into the Forest, I'm very much in two minds of how I felt after watching this.
One one hand the story itself is pretty dull, a power outage happens which see's the world devolve into a post apocalyptic state and people must learn to fend for themselves. On the surface it seems like it could be a good look at how people would learn to adapt themselves back to before we had such a reliance on technology and to highlight the danger such a reliance has but ultimately it's just a backdrop, it's an event that just happens with no real attempt at a resolution or any real payoff.
On the other hand, the performances from Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood as sisters were very good and also believable. Their interactions with each other is ultimately what carried the film.

Spoiler: Into the Forest

I have to say "Holy Shit!" about the rape scene with Wood's character, especially after reading her recent comments about her sexual abuse in the past, I don't know how she brought herself to film this scene and then one later on when she tries to describe her fear and anguish about it to Page.

 

[NovumAngel]

I watched Annihilation on Monday.
The visuals were amazing, the Shimmer was such a surreal place and the nature and animals in there were fascinating.
I've seen people talking about this movie looking for the ending and this and that explained, so I can kinda see why the studio wanted Garland to make compromises but I'm so glad he didn't. The ending and themes throughout are really interesting to think about, along with looking back at some of the finer points of the movie.
Highly recommended

 

[NovumAngel]

On a total whim I ended up going to see Game Night the other day.

Admittedly I didn't have much expectations for it but it ended up being a really fun movie, plenty of jokes and some good action sequences, the trailers do give away a good few of them though.

 

[kunonabi]

saw midnight sun on Friday. Pretty standard fare but still fairly engaging. It's nice to see Thorne continue to challenge herself and get better too. I'll have to make it a point to see the original film.

 

[longdi]

Just rented Bladerunner 2049, pretty good sci-fi flick, grounded without the anime kungfu.
So many things going on with world, so many open ends to think of. Love how androids see the birth as some miracle, yet to Tyrell/Wallace/human viewers, it was just a high end Nexus model! sad but lol!
Denis made a perfect sequel 20 years later.
Yet somehow Rian managed to shat on all SW fans.

 

[Lionel Richie]

Just watched Annihilation and holy shit what an incredible movie. I loved everything about it except the one last scene. And I mean the one last scene. Obvious spoilers ahead but I thought that the movie should have

Spoiler

ended when they hugged and the camera rolled to the side, the eye scene was kind of corny and uncalled for.

Everything else was spot on, the movie got me really uncomfortable and the atmosphere was crazy. Garland is just the motherfucking man.

 

[llien]

Watched Panther yesterday, found it quite enjoyable.

 

[mishka_]

Watched American Beauty on friday for the first time. I didn't expect the movie to be so artsy. I really liked it.

 

[Kadayi]

Recently watched The Assassin by Hou Hsiao-Hsien

Quite possibly one of the most beautifully shot and composed slices of Cinema I have ever seen. Albeit it is billed as a Martial Arts Film, fans of the frantic pace of IP Man and the Raid will be pretty disappointed because this a much more considered beast entirely, even compared to films like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and House of Flying Daggers which are likely seen as it's bedfellows in terms of setting.

Definitely worth a watch just for the visual style (every frame truly is a painting) even if the story itself isn't necessarily spelt out or obvious in terms of its conclusion

 

[NovumAngel]

New thread for the new month:
https://www.neogaf.com/threads/movie-gaf-april-2018-ot-whats-new-and-what-are-you-watching.1461737/