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Post by Viced on Jan 27, 2020 5:00:25 GMT
The Crimson Kimono (1959)Merely calling this "ahead of its time" is an understatement. This deals with issues of race, identity, and perception in such a unique way that it's still pretty eye-opening in 2020. I think the case they were trying to crack could've been stronger... but at the same time, fuck the case... there's more important stuff going on here. Also some scenes felt kind of strangely truncated... I dunno. Like a random big plot point would come out of nowhere... not sure if that was the intention, or some studio butchering... but either way, this is still top-tier Fuller. 8.5/10 (maybe more)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2020 7:35:28 GMT
The Art of Self-Defense
"Good, I've killed enough people for today."
Damn good film. More about deconstructing the absurd notion of "honor" in acts of violence than it is about masculinity.
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Post by stabcaesar on Jan 27, 2020 15:00:01 GMT
Judy - Could barely finish it. Reminds me of Florence Foster Jenkins. What a pointless tripe.
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Post by Mattsby on Jan 27, 2020 20:17:59 GMT
Hue & Cry (1947) 7 Said to be the first postwar Ealing comedy. It’s more of a very light crime-thriller, following a group of kids who think that criminals are using their favorite comic strip to exchange coded messages. That the comic is called The Trump is a funny little coincidence. Smoothly made, and excellently shot by Douglas Slocombe. Extra interesting is the use of the war-ruined London location - as the backdrop and playground of sorts where the kids rendezvous and combat the corrupted adults.
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Post by notacrook on Jan 27, 2020 21:14:51 GMT
Trying to work on seeing both more foreign language and 'experimental' films, so I ended up with this double feature:
Certified Copy - this film is so full of ideas, and so unique in how it presents them, that I have not been able to get it out of my head the last couple of days. The type of film I could sit and ponder on all day, dissecting it, trying different interpretations to see what fits - for me, that's the mark of a truly great film. Binoche's performance immediately ranks amongst my favourites of the 10's - she's at once fierce and fragile, as her character valiantly, passionately powers through while barely holding things together. Shimell makes for a great co-lead. I'll give it a 9 for now, but I could definitely see that going up with further thought and a (much-needed) re-watch.
Holy Motors - another utterly unique, daring piece of filmmaking. This one didn't quite resonate with me on the same level, but for its sheer level of bonkers originality I have to applaud it. Loved how it celebrated creativity, specifically the art of film and how its evolved, while also exploring how those involved in it can lose their personal lives to their profession, instead living the lives of so many others. I'll also need to re-watch this one. A strong 8 for now.
I love movies!
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Post by Viced on Jan 28, 2020 4:26:51 GMT
A Colt is My Passport (1967)Incredible opening stretch, great spaghetti western music, interesting editing, and some nice oddball touches (the crime boss barking orders while getting his ass massaged... lol). But it sags for a while in the middle with the goofy girl that works at the motel. But holy shit....... all is forgiven after the remarkable ending. What style! 7.5+/10shoutout Mattsby
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Post by theycallmemrfish on Jan 28, 2020 8:26:25 GMT
Did a double feature of The Thing and Alien...
Man, can you pair two all time great horrors better than this?
Jeopardy response: "What is no."
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Post by stabcaesar on Jan 28, 2020 17:05:21 GMT
The Irishman - I am so sick of these generic pieces of shit popular solely for its own genre. I couldn't even stay focus. I felt like I was re-watching The Godfather (which I never liked in the first place) just with different Italian names being thrown around.
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Post by Archie on Jan 28, 2020 18:53:56 GMT
Knives Out - 6/10
Aggressively mediocre is a bit of a clichéd expression these days but I think it works here. Ana de Armas' back must hurt from carrying this slog.
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Post by TerryMontana on Jan 28, 2020 20:25:11 GMT
The Good Liar. Boy, that was bad... Stupid plot, awful twist... If you can call that a twist: About 30 minutes in the movie we learn that Mirren's character has also a plan to deceive McKellen. 5.5/10 only because of the performances, especially Dame Mirren's.
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Post by Mattsby on Jan 28, 2020 23:04:28 GMT
Hud (1963) - 8.5/10 or higher; rewatch, absolutely floored by it this time.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2020 3:35:17 GMT
The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open
This was really good, sad and realistic.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2020 3:45:27 GMT
The Irishman - I am so sick of these generic pieces of shit popular solely for its own genre. I couldn't even stay focus. I felt like I was re-watching The Godfather (which I never liked in the first place) just with different Italian names being thrown around. What strange criticism. Obviously it doesn't matter whether you disliked The Irishman, but how's it so much like The Godfather that they felt like the same movie? Because they both feature Italian mobsters and are in some ways about America? I guess Blue Velvet and The Place Beyond the Pines might as well be the same because they both have crooked cops in side roles and explore repressed feelings. The direction, narrative, structure, characters, and most of the ideas and themes are not at all similar between the two.
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Post by notacrook on Jan 29, 2020 14:50:44 GMT
Under the Skin (re-watch) - 9.5
One of the most haunting movies of the last decade, and one of the best. An exploration of both the empathetic highs and cruel lows of humanity, through the lens of someone discovering it and adjusting to it. A touching portrayal of loneliness and a growing desire to fit in. An unnerving piece of sci-fi horror with visuals that would make Kubrick proud. Scarlett Johansson gives the boldest performance of her career, alternating between chilling blankness and alluring charm, with her physical movements perfectly reflecting someone (or, rather, something) getting to grips with their own body.
Jonathan Glazer, make more movies damn it!
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 29, 2020 20:36:10 GMT
It Should Happen To You (1954) - rewatch 7.5/10Marvelous fluff with an insanely charming Judy Holliday and a too young to be this assured Jack Lemmon. Smart, light and witty - it's hard to make something this explicitly ingratiating without turning it sour.....and yet somehow this never loses its zip.
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Post by Mattsby on Jan 31, 2020 0:29:58 GMT
The Bloom of Yesterday (2016) - 7/10 This follows a Holocaust historian (Lars Eidinger) and his new intern (Adele Haenel) - it's largely sharply written and very well acted especially Haenel. But really, at over 2 hours it goes on too long and steps on itself with several unnecessary twists that make this feel a lot heavier and clumsier than it should. Still a lot of it's entertaining and very funny and these characters are, um, uniquely f'd up. I'd be really curious to hear what Germans think of this movie, I'd think many would straight hate it. Also wanna shout out a supporting actress Sigrid Marquardt who was 90y/o when she made this, hadn't made a movie since 1959, and died before it got released. But as a Holocaust survivor who'd much rather talk about everybody's sex life, she is absolutely hilarious.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2020 9:04:47 GMT
What Did Jack Do
Lynch’s shorts are hit or miss for me overall and none of them come within inches of any of his films not named Dune or The Elephant Man, but this was one of his better ones. Pretty funny and extremely fucking bizarre.
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Post by Archie on Jan 31, 2020 19:02:59 GMT
Nashville (rewatch) - 10/10
I needed this.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2020 19:05:23 GMT
Nashville (rewatch) - 10/10 I needed this. I think this is the best fictional film about America ever made.
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Post by Archie on Jan 31, 2020 19:08:38 GMT
Nashville (rewatch) - 10/10 I needed this. I think this is the best fictional film about America ever made. "This isn't Dallas, it's Nashville! They can't do this to us here in Nashville! Let's show them what we're made of. Come on everybody, sing!" It absolutely is.
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Post by TerryMontana on Jan 31, 2020 22:38:44 GMT
Uncut Gems
That was very enjoyable. A total madness happening in front of your eyes!! The script is sharp and clever, the direction was frantic and Sandler nails it. Such a shame he insists in such stupid comedies. And of course Julia Fox is a very sexy creature!
8/10
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Post by Mattsby on Jan 31, 2020 22:52:24 GMT
Double ft from two horror masters - Opera (1987) - 6.5ish/10. “I can’t tell if it’s just a dream or the memory of something that’s really happened.” At the same time, this movie is very silly and sort of smartly and wildly dreamlike. Argento's visual sleekness is astounding as usual - POVs, tracking, swooping camerawork - and btw the DP's next movie was Sea of Love, what the!!! Like how the diegetic opera music sometimes clashes with the rock-metal score, there are overlapping conflicts at play - the victim as participant, the insecurity of a stage actress, childhood trauma, artistic extremes, etc. That peephole gun shot! Invitation to Hell (1984) - 5/10. So ludicrous it's hilarious, a satanic Stepford Wives riff, not remotely on the level of Wes Craven's feature work but kind of enjoyable in its dumb way. Interesting note - Wes filmed/completed this in April-May '84, and started filming Elm Street on June 11th......
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Post by Mattsby on Feb 1, 2020 3:01:15 GMT
The Night Digger (1971) - rewatch, 6/10 or so. I'm a bit fascinated by its baffling production. Roald Dahl between adapting Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Willy Wonka, wrote this specifically for his wife Patricia Neal who was struggling getting parts. They both deferred their salaries. The book is about a spinster - who is a stroke survivor too like Neal was in real life - who nurses her blind mother and falls for the new young handyman at their estate. Dahl invents a critical element that the handyman is a deranged serial killer and rapist, which of course changes the entire marketing. Not content to be All That Heaven Allows, this feels just like a Night Must Fall drum-up but with a confused tone and weak third act. While deemed an embarrassing failure by Dahl/Neal and critics and audiences, it's fairly well made - particularly well shot with a lot of tightly framed and slow panning shots. And there are interesting side touches of small town gossip and turned up noses and there's the whole dangerous repression of Neal's character - she has a great acted monologue about a love affair she had a very long time ago. Tl;dr - who writes their wife a role like this??!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2020 7:26:42 GMT
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Weakkkkkk. Come on. Haenel is pretty good here though.
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Post by Johnny_Hellzapoppin on Feb 1, 2020 19:49:25 GMT
Fighting With My Family
A good-natured, cliche ridden, paint by numbers kinda film. I was quite entertained though.
Uncut Gems
A marvelous slice of hyperbolic life. However good Sandler was, and he was very good; the screenplay is the star of this show. People talk sloppy in real life and people talked sloppy in this film and that's something you don't hear enough of.
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