There's a great moment in that final action sequence when the mother with the seeds gets injured. The music instantly quietens down, and all you hear is a faint heart beat that starts to race when you see this great shot. The strings then start to build up in tension as the action unfolds and stops dead in its tracks when Max falls off and Furiosa catches him. It then starts up again and hits its climax when Furiosa gets stabbed and Toast gets carried away.
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Movies You've Seen Recently |OT| September 2015
- Thread starter Charles Foster Kane
- Start date
- Status
Yeah Reloaded is worth defending in my opinion, it's full of stupid moments, and it's not as tight as the first Matrix, but it has value in its wackyness.
Something like Burly Brawl, as bad as it looks nowadays, is absurd enough to be interesting.
And that's one aspect i've appreciated about their movies, they took very large budgets and production values, and applied them to wacky visuals and ideas, which made for fun experiences, if not always good movies.
That changed for me with Jupiter Ascending.
Not only was it god awful in virtually any respect (they even managed to make the Brazil rip off moment uninteresting) but it was also bland and mediocre as fuck.
So yeah, that is definitely when they lost me.
That said, i'm not putting anyone on a blacklist, to me it's a stupid concept, because anyone can come back from even the longest streak of bad products.
It's definitely one of those films that it gets worse the more i think about it.
The only thing I disliked enough about Ex Machina to fault it was the dialogue, when I watched the movie I thought this isn't three unique voices, this is three people talking the exact same way. It turned me about off, in two handers or is it three handers in this case? The dialogue is always the most important part imo.
Well when they quoted Oppenheimer i almost died on the couch.
If i hear that quote again, i'm going to join some solitary monks in Tibet.
Headhunters (2011) - I had read the book so I was prepared for how completely fucking moronic and ridiculous it would be, at least it is entertaining but I feel like I could have used my time differently and watched something better than average. The subtitles were way too large, I checked both the Prime version and the Netflix one and they are both the same size.
I'll leave this Clerks scene for you so you can see what kind of of humour is in it, then you decide if it's worth it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpQqH4H_SUQ
Spy - Better than Kingsmen, Statham was pretty funny, but almost every joke went on far too long, and the run time was, unsurprisingly, absurdly bloated.
The action was also nice.
I'm not a fan of trying to make a predictable joke funny by dragging it on and on in this fashion, but it wasn't a bad experience overall.
Band de filles - Uhm, it's quite good. It ranges a pretty good emotional spectrum with grace, and doesn't beat you over the head with its themes too much, but makes sure they hit you in the gut regardless.
I've never seen another Sciamma film, but i should have the Tomboy bluray somewhere, i'll get around to it sooner or later.
Forgot to add, cool soundtrack.
The action was also nice.
I'm not a fan of trying to make a predictable joke funny by dragging it on and on in this fashion, but it wasn't a bad experience overall.
Band de filles - Uhm, it's quite good. It ranges a pretty good emotional spectrum with grace, and doesn't beat you over the head with its themes too much, but makes sure they hit you in the gut regardless.
I've never seen another Sciamma film, but i should have the Tomboy bluray somewhere, i'll get around to it sooner or later.
Forgot to add, cool soundtrack.
catched King Arthur hoping it would be better than the terribad reviews it got at release, fuck man it was worse. What a gigantic sack of rotten cocks, and a total waste of a bloody good cast. I got that Merlin stare for the whole 61 minutes I was able to resist this atrociousness
Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010) - Hilariously awful, not even the mildly entertaining fight sequences are enough to make this movie passable.
Come Drink with Me (1966) - It shows it age, but the camera work in this movie is stellar, the filmmakers really know how to frame shots, the placements stood out to me a lot, it accentuates the stylish fight choreography. The story is little too convoluted, it goes off in six different directions for what could have been a very simple story line of a young female warrior rescuing her brother. My Shaw Brothers film watching seems to be sadly limited to this one, I will have to rectify that soon.
Come Drink with Me (1966) - It shows it age, but the camera work in this movie is stellar, the filmmakers really know how to frame shots, the placements stood out to me a lot, it accentuates the stylish fight choreography. The story is little too convoluted, it goes off in six different directions for what could have been a very simple story line of a young female warrior rescuing her brother. My Shaw Brothers film watching seems to be sadly limited to this one, I will have to rectify that soon.
Had a Vietnam double. Not seen either of these in 5-8 years so wanted to revisit them. Actually surprised how much I remembered from them both. They are both amazing. In particular what an achievement AN is, insane production.
Full Metal Jacket
Apocalypse Now
Going to watch Hearts of Darkness yet, which i've not seen before.
Full Metal Jacket
Apocalypse Now
Going to watch Hearts of Darkness yet, which i've not seen before.
Fancy Clown
Member
Neighbors. Surprisingly funny. I didn't think this would be good at all, but it was pretty consistently amusing. Dave Franco always plays such good smarmy douches.
Haha I'll give it a shot
I'll leave this Clerks scene for you so you can see what kind of of humour is in it, then you decide if it's worth it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpQqH4H_SUQ
Haha I'll give it a shot
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
It's awesome. I just love how simple the concept is from start to finish too. Just "what if it worked?" and exploring the consequences of such a simple serendipity.
You would think more science-fiction writers would value this simplicity (that HG Wells excelled at too) much more than they seem to do.
Ontopic:
Someone brought up Prince of Darkness (1987) as a movie that was influential on quantum physics bullshit in movies, but honestly that was just 'the excuse for the story'. Which was terribly dull too. It felt like Carpenter was, in terms of the movie mechanics, trying to do a hybrid of Halloween and The Thing (the loooooong title credit sequence, like holy shit almost ten minutes), but it really didn't work. Just watch those two instead. Even Donald Pleasence can't save this one.
Secret Fawful
Member
I liked it. Merging wuxia with a whodunnit was neat to me, plus the actors are all great. There's probably a much older movie that does it better, though. Don't think I've disagreed more with a filmGAF opinion in some time, outside of the post above me about Prince of Darkness. Now excuse me while I throw a fit, cry, and fill my diaper because someone doesn't like the thing I like
by which I mean watch older Tsui Hark movies and educate myself on Chinese cinema
Oh hey, Tsui Hark did another Detective Dee movie. I should check that out.
Infernostew
Member
An Honest Liar - documentary on the magician and psychic debunker The Amazing Randi. Some incredibly interesting stuff and his life story is a pretty great one. Feels a bit stretched at the end but some of the stories involving the U.S. government's testing for telekinesis with illusionist is pretty crazy stuff. Worth a look. 7/10
Attended an Indiana Jones 1-3 marathon at Alamo Drafthouse with a group of buddies. Haven't seen them back to back to back in a long ass time. They're all great and hold up real well.
Ministry of Fear - Fritz Lang directed adaptation of the Grahm Green novel of the same name. It's not bad but pretty disappointing compared to Hitchcock spy thrillers such as Foreign Correspondant. Pretty typical wrong man accused formula but involving a cake and nazis. The ending is fucking awful though. 6/10
Attended an Indiana Jones 1-3 marathon at Alamo Drafthouse with a group of buddies. Haven't seen them back to back to back in a long ass time. They're all great and hold up real well.
Ministry of Fear - Fritz Lang directed adaptation of the Grahm Green novel of the same name. It's not bad but pretty disappointing compared to Hitchcock spy thrillers such as Foreign Correspondant. Pretty typical wrong man accused formula but involving a cake and nazis. The ending is fucking awful though. 6/10
Shaolin Martial Arts (1974) - Must be a beloved classic with 179 ratings on IMDB, it's not btw. Hackneyed story of Shaolin kung fu practitioners getting revenge for their martial arts school, fight sequences weren't bad but all went on for way too long and they seemly did the same thing over and over again.
The Hunt (2012) - Two hours of getting kicked in the heart, heavy film. The script is way too real, I could see this happening in real life a 100 times over, it's maddening & painful to watch. The acting is great all across the board, all the actors give very naturalistic performances, Mads Mikkelsen and the young actress who plays Klara are very heartbreaking.
The Hunt (2012) - Two hours of getting kicked in the heart, heavy film. The script is way too real, I could see this happening in real life a 100 times over, it's maddening & painful to watch. The acting is great all across the board, all the actors give very naturalistic performances, Mads Mikkelsen and the young actress who plays Klara are very heartbreaking.
That scene at the church, the tension just builds and everything just plays out perfectly depressing.
I think in general I'm not a fan of the wuxia, I think I completely missed all films of it outside Iron Monkey and Crouching Tiger when I first made my way through the various sub genres of martial art movies. Come Drink With Me is categorized as wuxia so maybe it's the fantasy centered stuff I don't like.
Secret Fawful
Member
To be fair, a lot of it is weird as fuck and if you don't like wire-fu, you're not going to enjoy much of wuxia at all, so it's not that strange or bad a thing for me to hear. It definitely makes sense that you wouldn't have liked it from that angle. It's possible as well that not a lot of people outside myself like Tsui Hark's modern output. This isn't the first negative thing I've heard about one of his recent movies lately.
I watched The Ring for the first time tonight. Was kind of a weird experience. This movie was a big deal among my friends when it released but I never saw it; I remember a lot of them were legit spooked by it, like carried it around with them for a bit after.
It was good. Beautiful photography, some cool images, a couple of inventively bizarre things (face swirls on camera, girl crawling out of the screen). Very clearly influential on a lot of things since. It kind of fell into a weird middle-space for me: it explained too much on the homestretch and too little (so you just gotta make a copy? or you gotta spread the meme? once or forever?). End on the girl coming out of the well, leaving a mysterious dread of what's to come, or flash ahead to mom-and-kid older and killing people every week or something. Like it wasn't clear to me is the end a resolution or the beginning of something horrifying?
In any case: cool, interesting, worthwhile, not sure if I'd call it "scary" or even "horror". Not quite enough dread in it.
There was a really interesting this-released-in-2002 thing: she had a mystery so she went to a library first, then on to the office to use the computer there. Just in that narrow decade or two where computers were easily accessible but not quite ubiquitous. (Also when she was "searching" on the computer, the url in the bar was like c:win98desktopsearch1.html, lol production designer couldn't be bothered to actually put up a website, just hand-made the pages.)
It was good. Beautiful photography, some cool images, a couple of inventively bizarre things (face swirls on camera, girl crawling out of the screen). Very clearly influential on a lot of things since. It kind of fell into a weird middle-space for me: it explained too much on the homestretch and too little (so you just gotta make a copy? or you gotta spread the meme? once or forever?). End on the girl coming out of the well, leaving a mysterious dread of what's to come, or flash ahead to mom-and-kid older and killing people every week or something. Like it wasn't clear to me is the end a resolution or the beginning of something horrifying?
In any case: cool, interesting, worthwhile, not sure if I'd call it "scary" or even "horror". Not quite enough dread in it.
There was a really interesting this-released-in-2002 thing: she had a mystery so she went to a library first, then on to the office to use the computer there. Just in that narrow decade or two where computers were easily accessible but not quite ubiquitous. (Also when she was "searching" on the computer, the url in the bar was like c:win98desktopsearch1.html, lol production designer couldn't be bothered to actually put up a website, just hand-made the pages.)
Also I'm new to this (these?) thread (s?). I assume there's no marked-spoilers policy here?
1. What's your favorite Movie? Damn I dunno. Starship Troopers maybe? Or Die Hard? The Thing is up there, for sure.
2. Who's your favorite director? Michael Bay is a real interesting choice for this question, God I love Pain & Gain. The true answer of my heart is probably John Carpenter.
3. Who are your favorite actors/actresses? Danny Trejo is a fascinating dude he's the actor with my favorite attitude. My favorite actor is definitely James Spader though.
4. Favorite Genre(s)? All comers, really. Most of my most favorite films are horror films but I think the genre is largely trash.
5. What's your favorite performance in film? This doesn't count but whatever I've been all about Mads Mikelson in Hannibal lately.
Weirdly I notice just about all my answers On this little faq come back to men and also violence. I also like films that aren't those things.
1. What's your favorite Movie? Damn I dunno. Starship Troopers maybe? Or Die Hard? The Thing is up there, for sure.
2. Who's your favorite director? Michael Bay is a real interesting choice for this question, God I love Pain & Gain. The true answer of my heart is probably John Carpenter.
3. Who are your favorite actors/actresses? Danny Trejo is a fascinating dude he's the actor with my favorite attitude. My favorite actor is definitely James Spader though.
4. Favorite Genre(s)? All comers, really. Most of my most favorite films are horror films but I think the genre is largely trash.
5. What's your favorite performance in film? This doesn't count but whatever I've been all about Mads Mikelson in Hannibal lately.
Weirdly I notice just about all my answers On this little faq come back to men and also violence. I also like films that aren't those things.
Cipher Peon
Banned
Hello, friends! Since I am new here, I'll answer the questions because I love talking aout things I love!
1. What's your favorite Movie?
Toy Story 3
2. Who's your favorite director?
Christopher Nolan
3. Who are your favorite actors/actresses?
Actor - Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Actress - Mary Elizabeth Winstead
4. Favorite Genre(s)?
Horror
5. What's your favorite performance in film?
Heather Donahue in The Blair Witch Project
Anyway, I just finished watching Clueless! And I looooooved it <3
It was recommended to me because of my complete adoration of Mean Girls and Heathers. While I don't think it reaches the heights of those two, it provides very interesting counter points to them which makes it a nice trio of movies!
Clueless is like way more aimless and structureless than the other two, as it focuses on telling a "the life and times of" story, which I'm not a real big fan of. But I couldn't help but love Cher because she was like super awesome and sweet and fun and I really was interested in seeing the shenanigans she got into.
And I just loved the tone of the movie. It was earnest and sincere and kind hearted, but still teasing the lives that the characters indulged in. The characters aren't bad people, they're just a little naive but still want to do good and just have a good time and I can't hate them for that! I also think it's really interesting comparing Clueless' tone to Heathers (which is rotten to the core) and Mean Girls (which is sweet and sour). They all fulfill different roles instead of trying to replace the other, and that's super cool because different flavors can meet different moods during rewatches!
Anyway, I <3'd it and because I love numerical ratings, I'll give it a
9/10
1. What's your favorite Movie?
Toy Story 3
2. Who's your favorite director?
Christopher Nolan
3. Who are your favorite actors/actresses?
Actor - Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Actress - Mary Elizabeth Winstead
4. Favorite Genre(s)?
Horror
5. What's your favorite performance in film?
Heather Donahue in The Blair Witch Project
Anyway, I just finished watching Clueless! And I looooooved it <3
It was recommended to me because of my complete adoration of Mean Girls and Heathers. While I don't think it reaches the heights of those two, it provides very interesting counter points to them which makes it a nice trio of movies!
Clueless is like way more aimless and structureless than the other two, as it focuses on telling a "the life and times of" story, which I'm not a real big fan of. But I couldn't help but love Cher because she was like super awesome and sweet and fun and I really was interested in seeing the shenanigans she got into.
And I just loved the tone of the movie. It was earnest and sincere and kind hearted, but still teasing the lives that the characters indulged in. The characters aren't bad people, they're just a little naive but still want to do good and just have a good time and I can't hate them for that! I also think it's really interesting comparing Clueless' tone to Heathers (which is rotten to the core) and Mean Girls (which is sweet and sour). They all fulfill different roles instead of trying to replace the other, and that's super cool because different flavors can meet different moods during rewatches!
Anyway, I <3'd it and because I love numerical ratings, I'll give it a
9/10
True Savior
Member
Malice - Story by Sorkin. Screenplay by Sorkin and Scott Frank.It has to be somewhat good right ? Wrong. Not even the dialogues are very interesting. Baldwin seems do to an impression of himself. He chews every line.Kidman looks beautiful and funny when trying to be evil (which leads to a very funny scene where she has an outburst). Bill Pullman is hollywood's biggest secret. How the hell did he build a career ? He only knows how to do that one thing. That frown he has. Goddamn he is lousy. Such a cheap 90's thriller , with a ludicrous and far-fetched storyline and in the middle of it there's some crazy psychopath killing young girls which seems completely dislocated from the rest of the movie. They wrap that storyline 1 hour into the movie , and i have no idea why it was included.
It's also so fucking ugly. Just a bunch of middle shots everywhere.
It's also so fucking ugly. Just a bunch of middle shots everywhere.
I am totally not dead. Dragoncon prep takes a lot out of a man
Top 10 New Watches for August (no particular order) (yes, there were enough films to justify the upping)
-The Killing
-Paths of Glory
-Mission: Impossible: Ghost Nation
-Barry Lyndon
-Eyes Wide Shut
-There Will Be Blood
-The Wild Bunch
-The Ballad of Cable Hogue
-Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
-To Live and Die in L.A.
Most Valuable Rewatches: A Clockwork Orange and The Getaway
"He Gets Better, Honest" Tier: Fear & Desire
Because I saw them all, I figured I might as well give my Kubrick list, as well:
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Barry Lyndon
3. Paths of Glory
4. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
5. The Shining
6. Eyes Wide Shut
7. The Killing
8. A Clockwork Orange
9. Full Metal Jacket
10. Lolita
11. Killer's Kiss
12. Spartacus
13 (gee, I wonder): Fear & Desire
Also, time for "You Were the Lighting in That Rain" Lightning Reviews:
-Ballad of Cable Hogue: quite very good from start to finish
-Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid: good with some really great stretches, but it does feel like it's a bit too lyrical; I feel like blaming Bob Dylan for that, so I'll do that
-Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia: kinda really great; I went in expecting something more along the lines of The Getaway from the title and got something way the fuck more tragic and depressing, dipping its toes in a lot of murky waters and unafraid to come out looking dirty
-To Live and Die in L.A.: the kind of film that makes you wonder how it got made in all the best ways; going in blind really helps ratchet up the tension, as it seldom goes where you think it will, especially with the rule-shattering climax where all bets are called off; it's true that it may not be much more than an L.A. set version of The French Connection, but I can hardly complain when Friedkin is working at peak level like this and he got such a great cast of then-unknowns to help him out
-UHF: aged about as well as I thought it would; it is definitely funny in its intended bursts, but you will notice just how unlikable Weird Al's character actually is
-Primer: nifty little indie relationship drama about two guys who accidentally invent a time machine of sorts; I cannot profess to begin to make full sense of how it handles all the different instances of our main characters, but it does a good job of heightening the growing distance between them, even as they're rarely seen apart from each other; I did feel like the dialogue felt a bit too self-satisfied with how "correct" it sounded on scientific terms, which is a problem when pretty much the whole film is like that
-Rewind This!: decent little doc on the history of VHS that had the issue of being a lot more interesting when it's covering the history of the format than it is covering its modern day relevance among the nostalgia crowd; basically, I needed more Frank Henenlotter and adult video producers from both sides of the Pacific, far less hipsters
-Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure: still great and a lot bigger on subtle humor than it usually gets credit for; really fun structure to it, especially the terrific jailbreak scene towards the end
-7 Days in Hell: somehow found a way to make Taiwanese CG reenactments hilarious again, so that counts for a lot; at about 45 minutes, it's the perfect length for the material, and I was shocked to see how much of it was anchored by Kit Harrington
-The Theory of Everything: like most Oscar bait, it throws out a lot of the actually interesting stuff to make room for the things that REALLY matter, which is almost always love (as it is here); that being said, I was surprised at how much the film wanted to blow through just about everything, as I was shocked that Stephen and Jane were married by the half-hour mark after being shown as going on all of one actual date; that's a reoccurring issue throughout, as it's long on moments and precious little on preserving them; both Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones do wonderful work here that helps keep you invested, but it's not hard to see how much better it could have been; this is also guilty of early 2000 video games level of bloom lighting
-This is Spinal Tap: I don't feel it's remained as laugh-out loud funny as it used to, but it's impressive by how much I was smiling from beginning to end; it helps that it got all the small details down so well, which is a requirement for a good satire
Top 10 New Watches for August (no particular order) (yes, there were enough films to justify the upping)
-The Killing
-Paths of Glory
-Mission: Impossible: Ghost Nation
-Barry Lyndon
-Eyes Wide Shut
-There Will Be Blood
-The Wild Bunch
-The Ballad of Cable Hogue
-Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
-To Live and Die in L.A.
Most Valuable Rewatches: A Clockwork Orange and The Getaway
"He Gets Better, Honest" Tier: Fear & Desire
Because I saw them all, I figured I might as well give my Kubrick list, as well:
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Barry Lyndon
3. Paths of Glory
4. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
5. The Shining
6. Eyes Wide Shut
7. The Killing
8. A Clockwork Orange
9. Full Metal Jacket
10. Lolita
11. Killer's Kiss
12. Spartacus
13 (gee, I wonder): Fear & Desire
Also, time for "You Were the Lighting in That Rain" Lightning Reviews:
-Ballad of Cable Hogue: quite very good from start to finish
-Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid: good with some really great stretches, but it does feel like it's a bit too lyrical; I feel like blaming Bob Dylan for that, so I'll do that
-Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia: kinda really great; I went in expecting something more along the lines of The Getaway from the title and got something way the fuck more tragic and depressing, dipping its toes in a lot of murky waters and unafraid to come out looking dirty
-To Live and Die in L.A.: the kind of film that makes you wonder how it got made in all the best ways; going in blind really helps ratchet up the tension, as it seldom goes where you think it will, especially with the rule-shattering climax where all bets are called off; it's true that it may not be much more than an L.A. set version of The French Connection, but I can hardly complain when Friedkin is working at peak level like this and he got such a great cast of then-unknowns to help him out
-UHF: aged about as well as I thought it would; it is definitely funny in its intended bursts, but you will notice just how unlikable Weird Al's character actually is
-Primer: nifty little indie relationship drama about two guys who accidentally invent a time machine of sorts; I cannot profess to begin to make full sense of how it handles all the different instances of our main characters, but it does a good job of heightening the growing distance between them, even as they're rarely seen apart from each other; I did feel like the dialogue felt a bit too self-satisfied with how "correct" it sounded on scientific terms, which is a problem when pretty much the whole film is like that
-Rewind This!: decent little doc on the history of VHS that had the issue of being a lot more interesting when it's covering the history of the format than it is covering its modern day relevance among the nostalgia crowd; basically, I needed more Frank Henenlotter and adult video producers from both sides of the Pacific, far less hipsters
-Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure: still great and a lot bigger on subtle humor than it usually gets credit for; really fun structure to it, especially the terrific jailbreak scene towards the end
-7 Days in Hell: somehow found a way to make Taiwanese CG reenactments hilarious again, so that counts for a lot; at about 45 minutes, it's the perfect length for the material, and I was shocked to see how much of it was anchored by Kit Harrington
-The Theory of Everything: like most Oscar bait, it throws out a lot of the actually interesting stuff to make room for the things that REALLY matter, which is almost always love (as it is here); that being said, I was surprised at how much the film wanted to blow through just about everything, as I was shocked that Stephen and Jane were married by the half-hour mark after being shown as going on all of one actual date; that's a reoccurring issue throughout, as it's long on moments and precious little on preserving them; both Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones do wonderful work here that helps keep you invested, but it's not hard to see how much better it could have been; this is also guilty of early 2000 video games level of bloom lighting
-This is Spinal Tap: I don't feel it's remained as laugh-out loud funny as it used to, but it's impressive by how much I was smiling from beginning to end; it helps that it got all the small details down so well, which is a requirement for a good satire
Shampoo
Funny watching this after reading Peter Biskind's Warren Beatty book, this is like a half dozen anecdotes from his life rolled into one. Beatty and Hal Ashby craft a really fun and actually kinda poignant 70s comedy of (sex) manners.
Splendor in the Grass
Even earlier Beatty -- surprisingly deep and subversive coming-of-age drama. Strong performances from Natalie Wood and Beatty (who feels like he's trying a little too hard at times to be Brando/Dean, but it's his debut and a good one, so nbd), one of the better Kazan films I've seen.
Lifeboat
I think Currygan called this one of Hitchcock's most underrated works, and I agree! Tense, compelling chamber drama; feels like Hitchcock's 12 Angry Men at times. At first I was impressed with the subversive take on the German's character,
Probably up there among my favorite Hitchcocks.
Funny watching this after reading Peter Biskind's Warren Beatty book, this is like a half dozen anecdotes from his life rolled into one. Beatty and Hal Ashby craft a really fun and actually kinda poignant 70s comedy of (sex) manners.
Splendor in the Grass
Even earlier Beatty -- surprisingly deep and subversive coming-of-age drama. Strong performances from Natalie Wood and Beatty (who feels like he's trying a little too hard at times to be Brando/Dean, but it's his debut and a good one, so nbd), one of the better Kazan films I've seen.
Lifeboat
I think Currygan called this one of Hitchcock's most underrated works, and I agree! Tense, compelling chamber drama; feels like Hitchcock's 12 Angry Men at times. At first I was impressed with the subversive take on the German's character,
then the rest of the movie happened. :lol
Charles Foster Kane
Rosebud
Day for Night. So much going on, at such relentless pace, yet so incredibly well crafted and satisfying. What a wonderful film. 10/10
It had been so long since I'd seen something so fantastic. I had a toothache, and still had a great time.
It had been so long since I'd seen something so fantastic. I had a toothache, and still had a great time.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
Before starting, I hope to make a fine movie. The problems begin and I aim lower. I hope to make the movie . . . period.
Rhomega Beta
Member
With Netflix finally adding the Rambo movies, i wanted to see II and III. I've seen First Blood before, and I watched it again yesterday. It's an action movie, but it's also about how poorly we treated our Vietnam vets. John Rambo is a decorated Green Beret who got the Medal of Honor, then came back to a country that treated him like dirt. On top of that, he has PTSD (something that really only seems to affect him in the first movie), and all the members of his old unit (save Col. Trautman) are dead. When the police of Hope, Washington harass and abuse him, he snaps, runs off, and only the Colonel can stop this killing machine. This is a good movie and certainly worth watching. The sequels evidently have tossed out that message in favor of more action, which is why my dad only likes First Blood. However, I wanted to see the sequels for myself, which I did today.
Rambo: First Blood Part II. So Rambo is bailed out of prison and sent back to 'Nam to find POWs. I would ask why you're sending such a bent-out-of-shape guy like Rambo back to the hellhole he came from, but again, the PTSD doesn't matter here, but what does matter is that he's going back for POWs to show that our MIA soldiers aren't forgotten. This is an action movie, and the action is great, Rambo killing several people on a boat in seconds. What I don't get is how after being tortured for who knows how long, he's able to get the energy and strength to escape his captors, rescue everyone, and turn the village upside-down. Then there's the last line of "We want a country that loves us as much as we love it." which goes back to the first movie, but here it feels tacked on. Still, a good movie overall[/b]
Rambo III. I'm going to ignore the retrospectively awkward "Dedicated to the Mujahadeen fighters/gallant fighters of Afghanistan". After all, this is 1986, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend. So we're becoming more topical, more explosive, and more over-the-top action-y. However, I feel this movie shouldn't have existed. Not only is John Rambo out of the Army, and did his job to rescue the POWs, but he's not even living in the United States anymore. Why are they coming to him to ask about the Afghanistan mission? Is there absolutely no one else they can turn to? It's like in the Star Trek movies, they have to justify sending the Enterprise on these missions because "they're the only ship in the quadrant". It's not even really his war. He's just trying to make a good life for himself. The only reason he's in this is because Trautman got captured. So we got another rescue mission, another "So you want to test my strength? Good." line, and more exploding-tip arrows, because a former Green Beret regularly does archery in warfare. It's cheesier than Part II, but overall, I say skip it.
In other news, I've become addicted to Letterboxd, and I currently use it alongside Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB. Add me if you haven't, I've seen nearly 1,000 movies and theatrical shorts (including Looney Tunes and Disney cartoons).
So how's Rambo IV?
Rambo: First Blood Part II. So Rambo is bailed out of prison and sent back to 'Nam to find POWs. I would ask why you're sending such a bent-out-of-shape guy like Rambo back to the hellhole he came from, but again, the PTSD doesn't matter here, but what does matter is that he's going back for POWs to show that our MIA soldiers aren't forgotten. This is an action movie, and the action is great, Rambo killing several people on a boat in seconds. What I don't get is how after being tortured for who knows how long, he's able to get the energy and strength to escape his captors, rescue everyone, and turn the village upside-down. Then there's the last line of "We want a country that loves us as much as we love it." which goes back to the first movie, but here it feels tacked on. Still, a good movie overall[/b]
Rambo III. I'm going to ignore the retrospectively awkward "Dedicated to the Mujahadeen fighters/gallant fighters of Afghanistan". After all, this is 1986, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend. So we're becoming more topical, more explosive, and more over-the-top action-y. However, I feel this movie shouldn't have existed. Not only is John Rambo out of the Army, and did his job to rescue the POWs, but he's not even living in the United States anymore. Why are they coming to him to ask about the Afghanistan mission? Is there absolutely no one else they can turn to? It's like in the Star Trek movies, they have to justify sending the Enterprise on these missions because "they're the only ship in the quadrant". It's not even really his war. He's just trying to make a good life for himself. The only reason he's in this is because Trautman got captured. So we got another rescue mission, another "So you want to test my strength? Good." line, and more exploding-tip arrows, because a former Green Beret regularly does archery in warfare. It's cheesier than Part II, but overall, I say skip it.
In other news, I've become addicted to Letterboxd, and I currently use it alongside Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB. Add me if you haven't, I've seen nearly 1,000 movies and theatrical shorts (including Looney Tunes and Disney cartoons).
So how's Rambo IV?
It's really violent! Like, it should have gotten an NC-17 violent!
It goes back to more of the grim reality in First Blood, with a much older and wiser Rambo being contracted out to help some missionaries retrieve one of their own who has been captured by a Burmese warlord. You could almost break down the film in half: the first half is spent almost entirely on making you hate the guts of the Burmese soldiers as they rape and murder the hell out of innocents, and the second half is Rambo doing something about it. It's not that realistic, as Rambo does cut down roughly half of the world's population of Burmese and jury rigs the world's most absurd claymore mine, but they make it clear that Rambo isn't enjoying any of this and they really don't try to make any of the violence clean or palatable; it's all nasty, gory and disturbing. It's probably not as great as it could have been, but I have to applaud Sly for refusing to pull punches and getting something like this released.
It goes back to more of the grim reality in First Blood, with a much older and wiser Rambo being contracted out to help some missionaries retrieve one of their own who has been captured by a Burmese warlord. You could almost break down the film in half: the first half is spent almost entirely on making you hate the guts of the Burmese soldiers as they rape and murder the hell out of innocents, and the second half is Rambo doing something about it. It's not that realistic, as Rambo does cut down roughly half of the world's population of Burmese and jury rigs the world's most absurd claymore mine, but they make it clear that Rambo isn't enjoying any of this and they really don't try to make any of the violence clean or palatable; it's all nasty, gory and disturbing. It's probably not as great as it could have been, but I have to applaud Sly for refusing to pull punches and getting something like this released.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
Its amazing to me how the Rambo franchise became a thing after the first movie. IDK how anybody saw that film, with that sociologically intelligent tone, and those ultimately anti-violence themes, and that ending with Stallone curdled up in a ball of inarticulate hurt and pain, and thought, "Yes, this is the PERFECT vehicle for our re-do of the Vietnam war where we get to win!" And that is the face of the series, that is the pop culture reference for Rambo. He went from a disenfranchised loner out of step with the world to a giant inhuman robot of death, the cinematic icon of Reagan's America.
The first one climaxed with this scene. The last one climaxed with this scene.
The first one climaxed with this scene. The last one climaxed with this scene.
ah, Lifeboat, the movie I use to reconcile myself to cinema when the load of crap reaches the boiling point. Glad you liked it Blader!
Speaking of which, watched Fury and got two observations
- the heck is with Pitt 's face. looks like he's been brewing a mega fart for two days and someone put a cork up his arse just when he was about to release . Why botox, Brad
-why the heck almost every American war movie needs to end with some bollicksed, completely implausible heroic scene that retroactively ruins the whole thing. It's really one godawful scene that made me regret even watching this cack . Not that the rest of the movie was any better, but still. Jeez guys
Speaking of which, watched Fury and got two observations
- the heck is with Pitt 's face. looks like he's been brewing a mega fart for two days and someone put a cork up his arse just when he was about to release . Why botox, Brad
-why the heck almost every American war movie needs to end with some bollicksed, completely implausible heroic scene that retroactively ruins the whole thing. It's really one godawful scene that made me regret even watching this cack . Not that the rest of the movie was any better, but still. Jeez guys
ViewtifulJC
Banned
I actually did watch a movie recently, Minority Report on Blu-Ray. Still really good.
Charles Foster Kane
Rosebud
That's when Cruise was at his hottest.
Or maybe when he was in MI.
Or maybe when he was in MI.
Message from Space is about as wonky a Japanese knock-off of Star Wars could possibly be, filled with a story that's about as flimsy as freshly blow-torched tissue paper and a cast of characters that has heroes that could arguably be tried for selling someone into slavery for the purposes of mating with a lizardman from Pluto, but faster than you can read that last statement and try to process the absurdity, you are likely to be taken by its charms. It's a cheesy sci-fi epic with few aspirations other than to blow things up frequently and show off crazy-looking costumes and makeup, and it succeeds fine on those fronts. While the special effects would certainly look dated to the work accomplished by ILM in that other film, director Kinji Fukasaku livens the action sequences up with some nice kinetic camerawork that makes them feel a bit more exciting than a lot of its ilk. It also goes far with the whole "what the hell are they going to do next," as the film throws just about everything it can with you, regardless of how minor the setup may have been (boy, are you going to be waiting for Sonny Chiba's character to show up) or how quickly plot threads are dropped. It's a claptrap, but it's certainly one that's not suffering by having too little to do.
Woah I never saw a Rambo because I thought they were all knucklehead meatball bloviating but that Rambo 1 scene up there is intense af. Might have to check it out.
Watched Paranormal Activity tonight. Very well executed but disappointed it's just a ghost (or demon or whatever). It's in that weird horror movie middle-space where it clearly could be a metaphor for something mundane but isn't interested enough in doing that to actually have anything to say. There's a good dynamic there where every time the two have an argument I'm just thinking "oh shit this is unpleasant and making me uncomfortable AND ALSO yo that demon feeds off negative energy so it's going to get spookier now". So: A for escalation of tension, A for systematically closing doors on possible solutions, A+ for not rolling credits, C- for basic concept.
Also I kind of hurt the whole thing that Micah was such a shit bag I was rooting for him to get got the whole time.
Watched Paranormal Activity tonight. Very well executed but disappointed it's just a ghost (or demon or whatever). It's in that weird horror movie middle-space where it clearly could be a metaphor for something mundane but isn't interested enough in doing that to actually have anything to say. There's a good dynamic there where every time the two have an argument I'm just thinking "oh shit this is unpleasant and making me uncomfortable AND ALSO yo that demon feeds off negative energy so it's going to get spookier now". So: A for escalation of tension, A for systematically closing doors on possible solutions, A+ for not rolling credits, C- for basic concept.
Also I kind of hurt the whole thing that Micah was such a shit bag I was rooting for him to get got the whole time.
Charles Foster Kane
Rosebud
Welcome! Actually we do mark spoilers. But generally people don't spoil movies over here. Sometimes it happens for older movies, but it's not that common (I think).
Rewatched The Third Man the other day. I'm now in the process of rewriting every favorite movie list I've ever made.
Seriously, what a stunning movie. The way the relationship between the three main characters unfolds is extremely well done. Even knowing from the start that Lime is an asshole it's easy to relate to how Anna and Holly loved him as a friend, through just a couple of scenes where they talk of him. You can feel the impact it has on them when Callaway drops the bomb. Then Lime makes his entrée just walking down the street. Shiiit.
Oh, hi!
Seriously, what a stunning movie. The way the relationship between the three main characters unfolds is extremely well done. Even knowing from the start that Lime is an asshole it's easy to relate to how Anna and Holly loved him as a friend, through just a couple of scenes where they talk of him. You can feel the impact it has on them when Callaway drops the bomb. Then Lime makes his entrée just walking down the street. Shiiit.
Oh, hi!
- What's your favorite Movie?
What, besides The Third Man? Aguirre, The Wrath of God is the other most recent movie that had a great impact on me. - Who's your favorite director?
Hitchcock. He's been with me ever since my father starting showing movies to me. This summer I was reintroduced to Vertigo, and let me just say that watching it as an adult it had a completely different impact to me than as a child. - Who are your favorite actors/actresses?
I'm bad at keeping track ... Tim Dalton and Jennifer Connelly get my attention when they appear in something I'm watching, but I don't actively seek out their movies. - Favorite Genre(s)?
Whodunnits, it's a shame there are so few good of them. - What's your favorite performance in film?
Carl-Gustaf Lindstedt as Martin Beck in The Man on the Roof. Edit: Or Håkan Serner as Einar Rönn in the same movie.
MidnightCowboy
Member
The Third Man is great, rightfully hailed as a classic, but don't sleep on Carol Reed's Odd Man Out. It's really fucking good.
Word. I'll keep an eye out in future.
TheOnlyOneHeEverFeared
Member
Me and Earl and the dying girl - not bad. Not nearly as bad as most films of YA fiction adaptions are, although you can generally tell every way its going and when, still not bad - 6.5/10
Maze Runner The Scorch Trials - not as good as me and earl, better than saying, the hunger games movies, or the fault in our stars, not bad - 5.9/10.
Gemma Bovery - wasn't a fan personally, though theres some people I know who'd love it - 4.7/10.
Maze Runner The Scorch Trials - not as good as me and earl, better than saying, the hunger games movies, or the fault in our stars, not bad - 5.9/10.
Gemma Bovery - wasn't a fan personally, though theres some people I know who'd love it - 4.7/10.
Cliffhanger:
Just watched this for the first time last night. Iffy dialogue, and a bit of a questionable start despite its intense happenings, but as it went on I found it surprisingly engaging. Really solid flick that holds up well.
American Ultra:
Saw this with a GAFer the other night. Engaging and fairly creative first half, completely idiotic second half. A study in opposites. Can't recommend it even a bit on the whole.
Since you dig Clueless, Mean Girls, and Heathers, you might actually enjoy both The Duff and Mean Girls 2, both of which were significantly better than I expected.
Just watched this for the first time last night. Iffy dialogue, and a bit of a questionable start despite its intense happenings, but as it went on I found it surprisingly engaging. Really solid flick that holds up well.
American Ultra:
Saw this with a GAFer the other night. Engaging and fairly creative first half, completely idiotic second half. A study in opposites. Can't recommend it even a bit on the whole.
Since you dig Clueless, Mean Girls, and Heathers, you might actually enjoy both The Duff and Mean Girls 2, both of which were significantly better than I expected.
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
American Ultra: yeah....no. I would say Half in the Bag was pretty much on point with this one. Disturbing quality that becomes evident real quick is that there are no characters, there are just actors with one gimmick and that's supposed to be their character or something. The only somewhat complex(er) character is Kristen Stewart's, who as a result is easily the most enjoyable performance in this, but as a whole it's just so bland.
I suppose I could try to enjoy it in a shlocky way, but that doesn't really do it for me.
I suppose I could try to enjoy it in a shlocky way, but that doesn't really do it for me.
TheOnlyOneHeEverFeared
Member
Her - still one of my favourite films of ever. Love it, love it to bits, it reminds me why I still wade through the sludge of modern cinema, to find the gems like this - 10/10.
Yeah it's a magical experience.
You may like Frontiers, À l'intérieur and maybe Mum & Dad, if you haven't seen them.
odd man out, fallen idol, third man is a pretty incredible three film run.
- Status