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[karasu]

L'Avventura: Monica Vitti has joined the fucking pantheon.

I didn't buy the romance though. I thought it was awkward in every way. I feel like I just watched Baloo try to fuck tinkerbell.

La Notte:I... loved these people. I enjoyed the everloving shit out of Lidia's alienation and colorless attempts to cure her ennui. It was so easy to relate to. And Giovanni speaks volumes with his disinterested expressions. His sense of melancholy was so thick that even when he had his tongue down another woman's throat I really wasn't sure if he was being unfaithful or not. Even though they were disintegrating before my eyes, this is one of my favorite couples ever. There was a sense of history in all of their interactions and they handled all of their emotional disappointments with complete and total class. Not relying on violent outbursts or bug eyed rants. Instead they engage in honest and rational conversations. I wonder if people this sophisticated actually exist.

It was also the most beautiful existential crisis I've ever seen. I almost wish life was in black and white with how perfectly the images were framed. There are entire worlds of elegance in this thing that I'm sure I will appreciate for years to come.

L'Eclisse: I absolutely hated the discussion about africans, but otherwise it was a good time. Antonioni's male characters always leave me cold though.



Red Desert : In the house of my dreams I would have a 100" TV affixed to the wall and on its screen this movie would be played in an infinite loop. It is pure art. And if art is a mirror this film expresses everything I am. And, as bleak and stark as it is, I just find that incredibly comforting. Valerio, the precocious little tyke, was absolutely right. Sometimes one plus one equals one. Reality can be cold and callously corrosive at times, and this can cause a disconnect that leaves you trapped in a pervasive fog of isolation. You try to see your way through by latching onto people and following them to social functions but that only results in an even deeper feeling of alienation. Being is a bitch.

Frequencies I was really surprised this movie. I randomly saw it in someone's Letterboxd lists and watched it on netflix. I had no idea I would love it as much as I do. it has a great aesthetic too.

 

[PassiveObserver]

Whiplash finally.

Wow, loved it. Could've beaten out Boyhood as my favorite of last year but need to rewatch both.

 

[Quake1028]

Man, I got off to such a good start last month and really tailed off.

Top 5 for August (all first time views):
1.Rashômon (1950)
2.M (1931)
3.The Salvation (2015)
4.The Guest (2014)
5.Dredd (2012)

 

[Woorloog]

I forgot, i watched Captain America films sometime ago as well. The former was funny in "It is a bit like Red Alert" way (Nazi-superscience and whatever else), though otherwise a bit unremarkable.
Winter Soldier? Now that was pretty good. Quite thrilling. Probably the best of the Marvel superhero films. Not that the bar's high in my mind, i do not like superhero genre really. I watch them mostly with my friends, the company's more important than the films, these were an exception since i watched them alone.

Welcome to the movies thread...person who doesn't like movies haha

I don't dislike films, films that interest me and i like are just rare.

But it is also a matter of learning to like them. For years, i've watched films only occasionally, and if they're not good, it is off-putting. Watching more films... well, i'm kind of figuring what i like and what i don't.

I'd say The Hunt for Red October is intensely visual. John McTiernan is a preeminent visual storyteller and so much of the story is told through shot scale and camera movement. because the setting is confined to a submarine doesn't mean the visuals are automatically uninteresting, shots are more than their subjects

I'm not sure my thinking of what non-visual (or unvisual? Translation problems...) is same as what you think it is. *shrug* My brother grasped right away what i meant, which meant that i didn't explain it, and now that i think of this, i'm not sure i know what i meant.
Locations are not so important in the film, it focuses on the people on the set, perhaps? While i didn't ultimately really like the film that much, it did have somewhat unique feel for sure. EDIT One reason i didn't like it was that Ryan character. Analyst... who ends up doing everything? OK.

Was the link to 2001 just the sense of confinement from 2001's space travel segment? I find them very different in tone, dialogue, performance and cinematography. Also yep connery's accent is hilarious

Yes, in the sense of confinement. Otherwise they're very, very different films.

Are you missing most of the Disney animated films? Lion King's great but I'd recommend going way back to Pinocchio. Of their films since the turn of the millennium I'll also throw in a rec for Lilo & Stitch; maybe my fondness for it is merely nostalgia but it's an outlier among Disney for focusing on POC and not being about romance at all really. Also Mulan

Mulan i've seen when i was... what, 8 probably? It was '98 film IIRC.
Definitively been thinking i should watch it again, easier to start with those i kind of know already, i guess?
...
Now i'm trying to think what i've seen. Atlantis? Or something like that? Also may have seen Tarzan. (I also recall seeing Anastasia, which isn't a Disney film apparently. I have a vague feeling i recall one scene from that film...)

EDIT: What swoon said too. I'd also want to add that movie-watching is factually not a passive activity--as in, psychologists and neurologists have done peer-approved studies on the activity of the mind while watching movies.

It feels more passive than gaming or reading. May tie to what i said above, that i need to learn to like films. Not knowing what to think, it is kind of passive. (Reading TV Tropes helps... in the wrong way, heh. I keep thinking "Whoah, this is like that one trope". Applies to games and book as well, of course.)
And there are exceptions, of course. Like, while watching Mad Max: Fury Road, i think i kept thinking what the characters are thinking, etc. stuff. It was captivating film. (Too bad the DVD/Blu-Ray won't be released here till the next month, it seems.)

 

[Charles Foster Kane]

I find that movies that make watching them a passive experience and don't activate my brain are the ones that put me to sleep.

ie bad movies.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Kung Fu Hustle: I feel like this is a kung fu equivalent of Edgar Wrightt's cornet to trilogu; it's a comedy set in a specific genre...but it's not a parody of it because it's actually legitimately good at the generic tropes themselves in addition to being hilarious. Like the Kung fu scenes in this were awesome. And hilarious. Hilariously awesome.

Rewatched Fury Road on blu. Even better the second time. What stuck with me the most on this watch was how well the action of the film is paced with the music and sound. Like the final action sequence is super loud and frenetic and crazy, and then it narrows down to a specific beat when Max is fighting Rictus, and then it gets very quiet which hightens the tension for the climax of the sequence.

 

[Woorloog]

I find that movies that make watching them a passive experience and don't activate my brain are the ones that put me to sleep.

ie bad movies.

Not impossible... That just means i find large majority of films kind of bad.
Of course, i believe this is true regarding just about anything.



There's one more film i will mention as having watched "recently" (more like two-three months ago.).
Buster Keaton's The General.
It was my favorite film when i was child. Funny that. Others of my age watched animated films and whatever else. Me? A silent film. The VHS was kind of messed up, i kept skipping certain boring parts.... It was very well used VHS. I cannot even begin to guess how many times i've seen The General. (I was very interested in trains as a kid but i cannot recall if i liked trains because i liked The General, or other way around.)

Anyway, i saw it again sometime ago i said. It is a good film... but it is really, really dependent upon the musical score. Would not be surprised if that is common to silent films. Other than The General, i haven't really seen other silent films.
The version i had as a kid, it had brilliant score, perfectly synced with the events on the screen.
This newer showing... eh, the music wasn't particularly interesting, and it wasn't even synced with events.
Unfortunately i no longer have the VHS, so figuring out what score it had is very difficult. I will recognize it if i ever hear it again, but what are the chances of that?

 

[silentcapybara]

maybe watch something more purely filmic like m , last year in marienbad or man with a movie camera and see what you think

i don't know if last year at marienbad is a good foothold for "getting into film," but it's a visual treat for sure, and one i'm always glad to see others championing. that score, too.

 

[Ultra Numb]

I just finished watching the Hobbit Trilogy. Was pretty entertaining.

Gonna go watch the LotR trilogy for the first time soon. I've seen the first one before but it was a few years ago so I'll watch that too.

 

[swoon]

i don't know if last year at marienbad is a good foothold for "getting into film," but it's a visual treat for sure, and one i'm always glad to see others championing. that score, too.

They've seen 2001, they can handle last year. It's more about trying to get some one to watch something that could only be done in the film medium.

 

[Kenshin001]

Just got Netflix here in Japan and watched The Hurt Locker. Good movie, lots of tense moments, but some of the scenarios had me rolling my eyes. I'm surprised this got so much critical acclaim given how absurd some of it was even to someone not in the military.

Spoiler

James jumping into a truck with an Iraqi and running off into the night after the supposed killer of the boy being the most egregious example.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

I have a Letterboxd account now. http://letterboxd.com/Rhomega/. Still have movies to check. I'm liking it a lot better than ICheckMovies.

 

[Darth Kupi]

UNCLE is solid fluff, but Rogue Nation is much better.

Thanks to Gaffer Blader for the M:I Rogue Nation recommendation from last month's thread.

Haven't enjoyed a M:I this much since the first one. I found the plots of the last 2 dull even with the superb action, this one was a much more even, well-rounded package.

The backstabbing and hazy alliances in this one really made me nostalgic for the de Palma film.

1 > 5 > 4 > 3 >>>>>>>>>>>>> 2

 

[UrbanRats]

I remember i liked Titan A.E. when i saw it... i don't know, a decade ago? Didn't withstand a re-watch. It isn't a bad film but... it feels dated and feels kind of mediocre ultimately. It lacks something that elevates it, something that somehow makes it special.
It does have certain tropes (like humankind being a remnant) i like in scifi in general, and it reminds me of some books and things.

I would call Titan A.E. outright bad.
It's pretty ugly looking, with some nasty 3d and uninteresting character design, and the story is pretty fucking dumb and bland.

I think people at the time liked it just because there weren't that many (western) animated movies geared more towards teenagers than children (i know that was the case for me).

 

[Akahige]

Run All Night (2015) - Alright movie, does nothing to elevate the crime action genre and does nothing bad enough for it to be a sorry experience. About twenty minutes too long, I felt like I had enough of it by the time

Spoiler

the son leaves to go to his wife and children at the cabin

, the set up of the movie was a way too long.

Easy Money (2010) - Liked it quite a bit, Joel Kinnaman was solid enough in the last movie I saw so I figured why not check this out. The filmmakers were able to tell the stories of the three main protagonists well, it could have easily become convoluted and jumbled, I did find it funny that he main lead had the least interesting story of the three, the romance storyline wasn't developed enough and his motives were weak compared to the others. Kinnaman did bring a lot to an underwritten role, made the character believable even when the script didn't. The camera work was more shaky than I like but it was shot in a nice bleak and grim style that suited the movie. Apparently the first film in a trilogy, I don't find a sequel necessary but I would possibly watch the 2nd and 3rd if it came to Prime or Netflix.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Marathon Man: Was a pretty fun thriller with some very tensely built scenes, a memorable villain, and some really creepy moments as well. It's a little obvious and blunt though, and was Dustin Hoffman's character supposed to be heavily autistic? Or is that just his acting style, I can never tell with him. Either way it wasn't believable to me at all that he was some marathon runner when every scene of him running he's flailing his arms and taking these weird little half strides like he's got poo in his pants.

 

[ChaosZeroX]

Just saw Ex Machina. Fucking amazing movie. Great twist and I did not think it was coming.

I hated the way the movie ended though.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Just saw Ex Machina. Fucking amazing movie. Hated the ending though

Why'd you hate the ending? I'd also recommend reading the Film Crit Hulk essay on the movie that's been linked a lot around here, it's a really good read.

 

[thenexus6]

Getting Any?

Glad I finally got to see this, I loved it. One of my favourite Kitano films now. So stupid and funny.

 

[Akahige]

Getting Any?

Glad I finally got to see this, I loved it. One of my favourite Kitano films now. So stupid and funny.

I've been wanting to see this for awhile, I should probably get on it, having seen any of Kitano's straight up comedy work.

 

[Currygan]

Getting Any?

Glad I finally got to see this, I loved it. One of my favourite Kitano films now. So stupid and funny.

MAMBO!

 

[Daft_Cat]

Watching films is kind of passive activity, too much so.

Obviously false statement. Sounds like more of an attention deficit issue.

Anyways, finally checked out 12 Years a Slave. Took me long enough. Great overall! Felt like Steve McQueen could've shown a bit more restraint with some of the more sentimental beats. I'm all for payoff (particularly with the ending scene), but I would've loved if it ended with

Spoiler

"I apologize for my appearance. But I have had a difficult time these past several years."

That just felt like the perfect closer to me. How else do you express something so horrific? Words can only convey so much. Reminded me of Sam's final line in Return of the King. The tears and

Spoiler

reunion

stuff that followed made me smile, but it kind of leveled the subtlety of the moment. Anyways, just a nitpick -- it's a very powerful story overall. I don't think I loved it as much as some other people, but I could see it growing on me big time.

 

[Femmeworth]

Jupiter Ascending

Started watching it with my SO and they bailed after the first hour. I don't blame them at all. :| The most I got out of the film was laughing at some of the downright awful dialogue.

 

[psynergylover]

since I've been babysitting me baby cousin I've watched som throw back movies:

Pocohantas I&II
Lilo and Stich
Dumbo
Lion King I&II

my childhood!!(well except for dumbo)

 

[Discotheque]

Jupiter Ascending

Started watching it with my SO and they bailed after the first hour. I don't blame them at all. :| The most I got out of the film was laughing at some of the downright awful dialogue.

The wachowskis got no more goodwill from me. After sitting through matrix sequels, cloud atlas and this its clear they've lost it all

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

Ex Machina was shallow as all hell.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

The wachowskis got no more goodwill from me. After sitting through matrix sequels, cloud atlas and this its clear they've lost it all

you watched Sense8?

who keeps giving these niggas money thats the real question

 

[Discotheque]

If you don't look at it as a movie about AI which is what garland really wants us to see, and more of a cat and mouse honeypot movie then i think it works really well

That and Oscar Isaac was really entertaining playing the asshole. Though I think it would have helped the film more if they made him more sympathetic and made it a tug of war for gleeson

Nah I ain't seen sense8, fuck giving them 12 hours of my life breh

 

[hal9001]

Straight outta Compton
One of the better biopics about the rap era. Still cliched but the soundtrack was good. The actors portraying the main group all looked the part too.

Three colours trilogy: White
Not sure about this one. Felt unsure as what it wanted to be. Sometimes it would feel like a comedy but at other times a more serous drama. The ending was really good though, even though it was a little too surreal.

 

[Infernostew]

The wachowskis got no more goodwill from me. After sitting through matrix sequels, cloud atlas and this its clear they've lost it all

I just watched Bound recently and there was so much hope for these guys. Matrix sequels were the end of it for me.

 

[Femmeworth]

The wachowskis got no more goodwill from me. After sitting through matrix sequels, cloud atlas and this its clear they've lost it all

I actually kind of liked Cloud Atlas. >_> Honestly, I think some of their deficiencies have always been present it's just their better films compensate enough.

 

[Daft_Cat]

The Matrix sequels are well due for a critical reassessment! Seriously, I've always found those movies to be very watchable and intriguing... clearly made with a lot of passion too, unlike many other "disappointing" sequels. Then again, I dug Speed and Cloud Atlas, so maybe I'm just an apologist for those two.

Couldn't get on board with Jupiter, though.

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

Ex Machina was shallow as all hell.

worse, the more interesting take on it was (ending spoiler > )

Spoiler

denied by Garland. So no Turing test for the audience

@matrix sequels: I think most of the 'hatred' for these movies stems from people not understanding that catching exceptions within a certain system of control is what that system would excel at (Reloaded). Revolutions is kind of 'meh', but no worse than Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in that respect (gotta have explosions in that 'final movie', right? ). The invasion scene was spectacular to watch in cinema at the time. As was someone shouting 'just die already!' at a certain death scene and the collective laughter of everyone there.
I rewatched them a few months ago. They're still legit to me.

I will say that they are the first movies to have the 'extended universe' problem on screen. When in Reloaded they just 'happen to' encounter Jada Smith in a hole "for some reason", every moviegoer would be confused, except for those few that bothered playing and completing Enter The Matrix. Nowadays, we see this shit in pretty much every Marvel movie, and even the Halo video games have joined this awful tendency to say that 'every is canon!'. Yeah, nobody cares about some product placements duct-taped together by calling it 'a movie' and pretending that you just need to buy more stuff to 'get it'. Movies with an inherent need for DLC should never be a thing.

Jupiter is a mess though. A pretty mess, but that doesn't save it.

edit:

Ant-Man (2015) does the 'DLC stuff' correctly at the end, though we still get a rather jarring 'what about these guys?'. Not... what I was watching this movie for. Still, this movie is fun and completely rewards the viewer with what they needed to see in a singular superhero movie. Feels a lot like the 2008 Iron Man, except with more ants. And comedic timing fitting for the absurdity of it. Also Peter Russo did not disappoint, which was my 'but can he sell it' for the movie.

 

[big ander]

Reloaded has some stellar action, nearly as good as The Matrix's iconic set pieces. That freeway. Revolutions—I can't defend much of it, but if we're comparing it to other cinematic universes it or just trilogies/series in general, it remains idiosyncratic at least, doesn't devolve into simple knot-tying and fan service but continues the Wachowski's sincere exploration of free will and technology and artificial intelligence and so on. Which, while I haven't seen anything since Cloud Atlas, seems to be the prevailing defense from their remaining supporters: that at least they're trying to create weird and cool original science-fiction with actual ideas holding everything up, rather than rehashing and rebooting like the majority of big budget filmmakers.

 

[Infernostew]

Reloaded had some decent action set pieces but the story was pretty fuck all. Revolutions is a complete cluster fuck piece of shit.

 

[coleco]

Time of the Wolf (2003) - Quite a grim and fucked up movie. I liked it but it may not be for everybody. I think it's the last Haneke movie I had left to watch and probably the most crude one. It's very different but it somehow reminded me of 'The Road' (2009), though in a less Hollywood and probably better version.

 

[yepyepyep]

Reloaded had some decent action set pieces but the story was pretty fuck all. Revolutions is a complete cluster fuck piece of shit.

Yeah reloaded is actually kind of fun to watch because it's action sequences are at least creative but the story is just silly. I also love the orgasm cake scene just for how fucking ridiculous it is.

I think I've seen revolutions twice and I literally cannot remember anything from that movie except for Hugo Weaving getting punched in the face in slow motion. Its like my brain refuses to process the information from that movie.

 

[Blader]

Reloaded has some stellar action, nearly as good as The Matrix's iconic set pieces. That freeway.

That freeway sequence goes on way too long for me. Love the chateau fight though.

 

[ChaosZeroX]

The wachowskis got no more goodwill from me. After sitting through matrix sequels, cloud atlas and this its clear they've lost it all

I would give Sense8 on Netflix a try. The Wachowski bros produced it I believe and its really fucking good. Its not a movie but it is definitely awesome.

 

[Currygan]

I'm with Disco about the whole whackos thing, they went the Kevin Smith route, fuck their products and no, I don't trust Sense8 to be good at all I'm afraid

 

[Infernostew]

I'm with Disco about the whole whackos thing, they went the Kevin Smith route, fuck their products and no, I don't trust Sense8 to be good at all I'm afraid

Ugh.. Red State and Tusk....

 

[ViewtifulJC]

I am not, for the record, recommending Sense8. Quite the opposite actually, because shit is HELLA wack.

 

[Currygan]

Ugh.. Red State and Tusk....

never seen those, but watched that Jay and Silent Bob at the mall or whatever and decided that yes, I had enough of that cack. Clerks 2 was already a gigantic hint, but I wanted more proof and proof it was

still rewatch Clerks from time to time, still goddamned hilarious but jesus christ, hope they release a version with better audio someday

 

[Fancy Clown]

Unforgiven: what a movie. Definitely the best Clint directed movie I've seen, gorgeously filmed too. I loved the theme of the movie too, how it really digs deep into what a no good, nasty business it is killing folk. Every character is great, and the performances are uniformly excellent as well. I especially loved Gene Hackman and his character in this, but that goes without saying because he's always amazing. The climax was some serious shit. Felt like a more refined, complex High Planes Drifter in a way (in terms of the climax anyway). Probably a top 5 western for me tbh.

never seen those, but watched that Jay and Silent Bob at the mall or whatever and decided that yes, I had enough of that cack. Clerks 2 was already a gigantic hint, but I wanted more proof and proof it was

still rewatch Clerks from time to time, still goddamned hilarious but jesus christ, hope they release a version with better audio someday

All his other garbage movies have actually put me off from watching the original Clerks.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

First time seeing Unforgiven? That's a dope feeling

 

[Currygan]

yup, Unforgiven is tops. Watch Clerks, FC, it's really damn fun, the crappiness of the budget and direction actually adds to the humour of it because it's not distracting or intrusive

 

[Fancy Clown]

First time seeing Unforgiven? That's a dope feeling

Yeah it is.

"I've killed women and children. I've killed everything that walks or crawls at one time or another. And I'm here to kill you, Little Bill, for what you done to Ned"

Ice fucking cold.

yup, Unforgiven is tops. Watch Clerks, FC, it's really damn fun, the crappiness of the budget and direction actually adds to the humour of it because it's not distracting or intrusive

Well it has been sitting in my Netflix cue for ages...

Also I'm just realizing how many Kevin Smith movies I've watched and wondering why I did that to myself.

 

[Discotheque]

Reloaded has some stellar action, nearly as good as The Matrix's iconic set pieces. That freeway. Revolutions—I can't defend much of it, but if we're comparing it to other cinematic universes it or just trilogies/series in general, it remains idiosyncratic at least, doesn't devolve into simple knot-tying and fan service but continues the Wachowski's sincere exploration of free will and technology and artificial intelligence and so on. Which, while I haven't seen anything since Cloud Atlas, seems to be the prevailing defense from their remaining supporters: that at least they're trying to create weird and cool original science-fiction with actual ideas holding everything up, rather than rehashing and rebooting like the majority of big budget filmmakers.

the chateau followed by the freeway chase is one of the better action scenes of the decade for sure, shit was exhilarating. the whole film around it though is such a slog to get through.

i do appreciate that they're one of the only big budget filmmakers doing original stuff, but i'd like something better. plus i feel like jupiter ascending has probably soured these wasteman studios even more on (truly) original big money properties.

 

[TheSadRanger]

Let us Prey

Was pretty taken by surprise by this one, I won't talk about it much but if your a fan of Frailty or the first The Prophecy then you will really dig this flick.

 

[Brakke]

I watched Primer for the first time tonight. Fascinating film. All I knew about it is that it's confusing. It is! I had a weird experience with it where as the climax was rolling out I definitely understood like the emotional arc and I kept think "oh yeah wow good plan" but then now I'm certain I couldn't explain it to anyone else. Like, it's on the top of my tongue, you know?

Loved the bit with their handwriting degrading. Perfect kind of quiet sinister background detail that doesn't really matter but is super awesome.