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Movies You've Seen Recently |OT| August 2017

smisk

Member
it managed to absolutely crush me with one moment towards the end of the film. In part, because of how realistic and true-to-life it felt.

Watched this recently too. It's amazing how something as small as
his notebook being chewed up
was more of a punch to the gut than character deaths in a lot of films.
 

Sean C

Member
Hercules (1997): I had voraciously read the elementary school library's copy of D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths prior to seeing this in theatres in 1997, so even at age 10 I knew it was taking liberties with the material. But I don't mind; it's not like Greek mythology is known for its flawless continuity anyway.

This movie is a ton of fun, and Megara is a genuinely great character, leagues more complex than most that you find in the Disney canon (where's her Princess merchandise, Disney?). This was Alan Menken's farewell to this era of Disney musicals, and I really love this soundtrack, which supplied two different YouTube fan video perennials.
 
Guardians of the Galaxy 2

God, what a disappointment. The last 30 minutes were great, but the first hour and a half was a slog, going nowhere.
 

Sean C

Member
A Ghost Story (2017): A great idea for a 20-minute short film stretched to 90 excruciating minutes by making most scenes five times longer than necessity or propriety would allow.
 
If you're already a fan, then I definitely think it's a must-buy; it's a great doc. But if you're on the fence, it's also streaming on Prime now.

So, after all the shit that happened earlier (if you know you know), I may not have been in the best place emotionally to watch this, but...

One More Time With Feeling (2016)
Director: Andrew Dominik
When I listened to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds's "Skeleton Tree," it was clear that he had been going through something seriously painful during the recording of that album. And after watching this documentary, it's very clear how much the death of his child impacted him and the album as a result. This is a film that, as a writer, really connected with me emotionally. Seeing NIck craft the album and the thought process that went into each song really inspired me, especially with the depth that he goes into. It's also interesting seeing some of the technical aspects of the documentary itself being figured out throughout the film, which is something I don't think I've seen in a documentary before. The choice to film in black and white isn't used as a gimmick, but more as a tone setter, and it's pulled off phenomenally. I watched the movie in 2D, so I don't know how it stacks up to the 3D version, but nothing felt distracting in regards to the format. Honestly, the only negative I have is that some of the segments look dubbed, or at least like the audio isn't properly synched up with the visuals. Otherwise, it's beautifully shot, emotionally engaging, and easily the best music based documentary I've ever seen.

Also, the moment when I realized that the song being sung in the credits was being sung by Nick's son is when the tears started flowing.
 

Icolin

Banned
So, after all the shit that happened earlier (if you know you know), I may not have been in the best place emotionally to watch this, but...

One More Time With Feeling (2016)
Director: Andrew Dominik
When I listened to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds's "Skeleton Tree," it was clear that he had been going through something seriously painful during the recording of that album. And after watching this documentary, it's very clear how much the death of his child impacted him and the album as a result. This is a film that, as a writer, really connected with me emotionally. Seeing NIck craft the album and the thought process that went into each song really inspired me, especially with the depth that he goes into. It's also interesting seeing some of the technical aspects of the documentary itself being figured out throughout the film, which is something I don't think I've seen in a documentary before. The choice to film in black and white isn't used as a gimmick, but more as a tone setter, and it's pulled off phenomenally. I watched the movie in 2D, so I don't know how it stacks up to the 3D version, but nothing felt distracting in regards to the format. Honestly, the only negative I have is that some of the segments look dubbed, or at least like the audio isn't properly synched up with the visuals. Otherwise, it's beautifully shot, emotionally engaging, and easily the best music based documentary I've ever seen.

Also, the moment when I realized that the song being sung in the credits was being sung by Nick's son is when the tears started flowing.

Agreed. Mistaken for Strangers, George Harrison: Living in the Material World and Stop Making Sense come close though.
 
Pete's Dragon (2016)
Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford, Oakes Fegley, Oona Laurence, Karl Urban
Director: David Lowery
I didn't end up seeing either this or The BFG last year cause the trailers made them kind of look like shit. And going into this movie, I had incredibly low expectations. But I gotta say, I was pleasantly surprised. I mean, I didn't love it, but it was better than I expected. Probably the most surprising thing about this movie was the cinematography. There were so many creative and interesting shots used, especially in the opening couple scenes. And
the opening scene has one of the the most well done car crash sequences I've ever seen.
Robert Redford gives a great performance (as per usual), and Karl Urban is pretty good too but it's the 2 main child actors who really shine. They give incredibly convincing performances, and most importantly of all, feel like actual children. And the dragon itself didn't really ever look out of place among the live action actors Overall, though, there were a lot of things I wasn't a fan of. Most of the other actors give decent performances, though the obvious weak link is Bryce Dallas Howard, who gives the most flat performance I've seen in a bit. The use of the soundtrack, while feeling appropriate at times, overall is pretty cheesy and generic. And this is absolutely just a personal preference, but I really don't like the design of the dragon, though it did grow on me as the film went on. I know that's a lot of negatives, but I still enjoyed it overall. Just not really feeling the Disney magic with this one. But I think the director has potential, which makes me want to see A Ghost Story even more.

Side note: Okja tells a similar sort of story, and there I feel like it works more and is handled way better. I would probably recommend to someone who liked this (unless you're faint of heart).

I thought A Monster Calls was the best "Kid is friend with a large thing" movie of 2016.

Edit: Since it's along the same lines, if you're like me and haven't picked up a copy of The Jungle Book from last year, it's on sale for pretty cheap on Amazon right now ($10 for the DVD, $13 for the Blu-Ray)
 
Duel: Other than its expert Hitchcockian execution, Duel leaves few clues as to the identity of its director. It's about as far from the sentimentality and life-affirming adventure one usually associates with Spielberg's works as you could imagine. Instead of child like wonder and the restoration of the family, Duel is a cautionary tale about the crazy shit male impotence wreaks on the fragile masculine psyche as expressed through the most American of phallic extensions: the car. Our protagonist David's frustrations stem from marital troubles due to not fighting another man for making the moves on his wife, and externalize in the form of his little red car that just won't go fast enough when there's a big, long, girthy...truck...trying to run him off the road. Needless to say, David takes this challenge most personally.

The psychology takes a back seat to the pure, unbridled tension however, which is probably for the best as at this stage in his career Spielberg wasn't quite as deft of a hand at working with actors it seems. But this is my kind of suspense film: there's very little dialogue or extraneous bloat, it's just brilliant sequence after sequence of expertly staged set-pieces shot for maximum anxiety. While the story feels very Twilight Zone-ish (which makes sense given that Twilight Zone-alum and horror legend Richard Matheson wrote both the teleplay and the short story on which its based) in that the world of the ordinary collides with that of the nightmare in a life-changing way, the look and feel of Duel is Texas Chain Saw Massacre (or the other way around, since Duel precedes TCSM by several years). Spielberg turns the sunbaked, isolated roadways of the southwest into a thing of dread, and frames the festeringly rusty big rig like a slasher villain, with the low rumble of the diesel engine standing in for that of a chainsaw. It's nerve-wracking stuff, but so skillfully played I had a smile on my face the whole time.

No bullshit, pure tension, amazingly shot...why the hell didn't they play this on the big screen in the states?
 

lordxar

Member
Just noticed a Facebook post Letterboxd made. They have added the ability to shuffle your watch list and you can finally sort by your own ratings which I thought was a glaring oversight.
 

shaneo632

Member
Considering seeing 4 movies at the cinema tomorrow. It's been a long time since there's been that many movies out that I haven't seen - The Nut Job 2, A Ghost Story, An Inconvenient Truth 2 and Annabelle: Creation.

75% of them are critically acclaimed, could be a fun day.
 

Ridley327

Member
The Green Slime: There's an interest here with an American sci-fi film being filtered through the eye of Japanese sci-fi filmmakers, but nothing really seems to come together right at all. Fukusaku's direction seems rather disengaged outside of a few stray shots here and there, the monsters look awful and the script appears to actively forget what its monsters can do as the film progresses. The dopey pacing might be the worst culprit here, as it runs counter to the whole "race against time" that the film opens with that gives it some momentum before it comes crashing to a halt as the film decides to focus on our two leads that compete for the title of least likable person in the film, with the occasional scrap with the lumpy cyclopes to trade around the monotony. Luciana Paluzzi does make for some fetching eye candy, and I did like that she is trying really hard to be the adult in the situation between her and her two suitors, and I can't deny the goofy appeal of the film's outrageous theme song, but there's not much that works all that well here.
 
Ghost in the Shell : nice effects and i like futuristic looking movies but movie overall kinda boring. Nude looking ScarJo helped to not fall asleep

John Wick 1 : cool action movie. Nothing more.


can somebody name me a movie where the premise is a bunch of people trapped in a house/castle/train etc. and somebody dies in the beginning of the movie and they try to find out who the murderer is.

I watched two , one was a comedy called " the clue" . great cast. The other one was a movie on a train. Pretty old but great. Murder on the Orient Express from 1974.. A new movie with the same name is coming out this year.
 

Blader

Member
No bullshit, pure tension, amazingly shot...why the hell didn't they play this on the big screen in the states?

It was made for ABC. Though I think it was re-released in theaters a few years later, after Spielberg started blowing up.

Great little movie. Still one of my favorites of his.
 
can somebody name me a movie where the premise is a bunch of people trapped in a house/castle/train etc. and somebody dies in the beginning of the movie and they try to find out who the murderer is.

I love those kinds of stories, which is why I'm really excited for the new Murder on the Orient Express (also the cast). Some good ones that I've stumbled across over the years are Death on the Nile & Murder by Death, which is more of a parody film than anything. I still liked it though.
 
I love those kinds of stories, which is why I'm really excited for the new Murder on the Orient Express (also the cast). Some good ones that I've stumbled across over the years are Death on the Nile & Murder by Death, which is more of a parody film than anything. I still liked it though.

My only problem is I read the book (years and years ago) but I still remember clearly the outcome, so I fear it's going to be a pretty big letdown for me.
 
Ghost in the Shell : nice effects and i like futuristic looking movies but movie overall kinda boring. Nude looking ScarJo helped to not fall asleep

John Wick 1 : cool action movie. Nothing more.


can somebody name me a movie where the premise is a bunch of people trapped in a house/castle/train etc. and somebody dies in the beginning of the movie and they try to find out who the murderer is.

I watched two , one was a comedy called " the clue" . great cast. The other one was a movie on a train. Pretty old but great. Murder on the Orient Express from 1974.. A new movie with the same name is coming out this year.

Non Stop. Set on a plane starring Liam Neeson.
 
The Wicked Lady (1945)

Watched this on a whim on Filmstruck, and found it surprisingly watchable. This journey of a young woman who dreams of a life greater than the one she's been given is equal parts relatable, hilarious, soapy, and horrifying. The film manages to strike a pretty decent balance, at least for the time period, between compassion and understanding for Lockwood's Barbara while still capturing a mixture of horror and glee for her increasingly self-destructive endeavors.

That's not to say that the film ISN'T full of some pretty outdated moralizing about "wild women", it *absolutely* does, but with a bit more nuance than I might've expected for the era.

Equal parts victorian costume drama, outlaw adventure, romantic soap opera, and cuckold porno, this film is far from a classic of the era, but it is a pretty damn fun time.

3.5/5
 
It was made for ABC. Though I think it was re-released in theaters a few years later, after Spielberg started blowing up.

Great little movie. Still one of my favorites of his.

I can't imagine seeing that on TV on in the 70's. Has there ever been another TV movie of such startling quality and craft?
 

Blader

Member
In America, probably not. But, there's Kieslowski's Dekalog, The Best of Youth, Das Boot, and a couple Bergmans that were all made for tv and pretty highly acclaimed (I've only seen Das Boost and Best of Youth among these myself, but they're very good, especially the latter).


edit: now that I think about it though, those might be considered miniseries rather than TV movies.
 
I can't imagine seeing that on TV on in the 70's. Has there ever been another TV movie of such startling quality and craft?
MV5BMTc5NDQzOTc2N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNDI5MzI4Nw@@._V1_UY268_CR9,0,182,268_AL_.jpg

tumblr_lomex5BJvy1qzb34u.gif
 

swoon

Member
can somebody name me a movie where the premise is a bunch of people trapped in a house/castle/train etc. and somebody dies in the beginning of the movie and they try to find out who the murderer is.

And Then Their Were None
5 Dolls for an August Moon (and maybe a lot of giallo)
Kennel Murder Case (i think)

not the same - but you'd like Sleuth
 
Live by Night - Ben Affleck

Not that I had many doubts about Affleck's inabilities as a filmmaker, what surprises me is that this guy still thinks he can act. This is a train-wreck soaked in one of the dullest narrations you will ever have the pleasure to listen. There's also a kind of episodic nature to the structure but the splits and moments are so fucking random. The cheap melodrama only adds to the awfulness of the whole thing.

can somebody name me a movie where the premise is a bunch of people trapped in a house/castle/train etc. and somebody dies in the beginning of the movie and they try to find out who the murderer is.

I watched two , one was a comedy called " the clue" . great cast. The other one was a movie on a train. Pretty old but great. Murder on the Orient Express from 1974.. A new movie with the same name is coming out this year.

Death on the Nile. (the best recommendation was already made, And Then there were none)

Gosford Park/The Thing/Hateful Eight/A Shot in the Dark are all slight variations from that whodunnit style (more drama/suspense/tarantino jargon/comedy)
 
5 Dolls for an August Moon (and maybe a lot of giallo)

Yeah giallo has this in spades since they're almost all whodunnits. For a better Bava than this one I'd recommend The Whip and the Body (which I think qualifies as to what you're looking for?) its gothic and set in a castle rather than the go-go 70's island of 5 Dolls.
 
Blue Velvet: I watched this really just to check it off, one for being one of the more popular movies of 1986, one for watching my first David Lynch film, and one more for Dennis Hopper. The movie is very atmospheric, especially in Dorothy's apartment. Dennis Hopper is great as the villain, one of those types you really want to kill yourself. Beyond that, I don't care much for the film myself, as the style isn't really for me.
 

swoon

Member
Yeah giallo has this in spades since they're almost all whodunnits. For a better Bava than this one I'd recommend The Whip and the Body (which I think qualifies as to what you're looking for?) its gothic and set in a castle rather than the go-go 70's island of 5 Dolls.

ha, yea maybe watch a good bava film, like black sabbath or the girl who knew too much, before 5 dolls. but, i think it has a certain charm:

tumblr_o3mjpqDZfk1uctr63o1_500.gif
 

Theorry

Member
The Mummy

Was so confused in the beginning with all the jokes. So they were trying to recreate lightness of the old Mummy movies i guess. But i wasnt expecting it at all. For the rest it was forgettable. Was getting bored abit and the movie is like only 95 min. Not sure how this Dark Universe is gonna pan out really. Will see.

6/10
 

KayMote

Member
Just came back from watching 'Baby Driver' and man... after the first 15 minutes I thought this might be just one of the best movies of this year, but as it turned out I was ultimately let down by it and for me this is definitely Edgar Wright's weakest film to date.

The action really fits and I love the movie's enjoyment of its own movement, but it gets so morally inconsistent with its empty characters that it kind of becomes its own parody instead of creating a parody out of its genre. It also completely lacks the whimsical and truthful notes that I love in previous Wright movies. Also, I wish it would have make more use of Wrights usual editing style (outside the action sequences) - most of the 2nd act felt very boring to me to be quite honest.
 
Alien: Covenant

I tell ya, that sure was a string of dumb/really poor decisions, haha. I mean, it made for a really entertaining watch (at least in my opinion), but things could've gone so differently. That's stating the obvious, though. And David...man this dude is nuts. Fuck him.

While I did like this one, I think Prometheus is better, though not significantly so. I'm looking forward to the next movie in this franchise, assuming there will be one.

7/10
 
I can't imagine seeing that on TV on in the 70's. Has there ever been another TV movie of such startling quality and craft?

Bergman's Fanny and Alexander was a TV cut first. As was Scenes From A Marriage. Kieślowski's Dekalog was a TV mini-series.

I'm sure there are plenty others but daz all I got right now.
 
WarCraft: It took me too long to see this. I played WarCraft II as a kid, and later played World of WarCraft for about 4 years. While playing WoW, I read all the lore books (getting the Well Read achievement) and later played WarCraft III. I do want to praise this movie for being accurate to the source material, unlike say, Super Mario Bros. Stormwind, the Dark Portal, and the characters look like they should. The landscapes look great.

The problem is that this story isn't all that compelling, and I do blame that on the source material. WarCraft II & III had better stories. I'm not even sure where the plot is supposed to go in the sequel, aside from the burning of Stormwind and retreat to Lordaeron that didn't make it into the movie. So I don't have any real reason to see this movie again.
 

UrbanRats

Member
Ghost in the Shell, i kind of wanted to like this
to be a contrarian
, but the script was really unbearable.
Just about every line was awful.

WETA did a great job though, sorry it was wasted on this piece of shit.

I also liked some of the supporting cast i suppose, Batou worked better than i was expecting.

Also, what the fuck was Johansson doing with that "robot-walk"? That's not her normal walk, is it?
Kitano just sitting around, cashing the check, Brando levels of effort... can't fault the guy.

Honestly the race swap could've been the only decent original plot point they had, if only they did anything with it.
 
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