Archie
Based
Eraserhead son or Inland Empire daughter?
Posts: 3,544
Likes: 4,241
|
Post by Archie on Mar 25, 2020 16:15:29 GMT
The character of Powell also completely unravelled from being a genuinely unsettling villain to a Sideshow-Bob type joke. That's my only real problem with the film. Mitchum's last few scenes genuinely pissed me off.
|
|
|
Post by Mattsby on Mar 25, 2020 21:08:01 GMT
"This ain't no game." "The hell it ain't!" Emperor of the North (1973) 7/10. Thrumming, physical movie, with some really great stuntwork, but about 30 mins too long. With the gimmick gist of The General, Depression-set though not as interested in the milieu as Wild Boys of the Road, some heightened cat-and-mouse action that feels like Looney Tunes, plus a sort of odd-couple roving like Scarecrow. Idk if Keith Carradine has ever been so effectively put to gangly and yappy use. Ernest Borgnine - as a man who knows all about social distancing! - is a violent, bristling bastard. And a soot-covered Lee Marvin, learned, weathered, cynical, is somehow still damn charismatic. The characters don't go much deeper - no background or enough grace notes, my favorite being Lee's quick concern after Carradine falls out of sight, then seeing he's okay, returns to his cool demeanor. The whole pithy idea doesn't really work as a social message, but works as man's innate need to myth-make.
|
|
|
Post by notacrook on Mar 26, 2020 3:34:07 GMT
M (1931) - 10
The oldest film I've ever seen! Unless you count Laurel and Hardy shorts. I've long neglected classic cinema, and I thought I'd make the most of our unfortunate quarantine situation to rectify this.
Everything about M is outstanding, especially for its time. Lang's direction is bursting with creativity and innovation, the script is one of the sharpest I can recall, and the entire ensemble cast is dynamite, especially the wonderfully expressive and chilling Peter Lorre.
|
|
|
Post by pacinoyes on Mar 26, 2020 8:05:22 GMT
Death and The Maiden (1994) - 7.5/10 rewatch Director : Roman PolanskiThe last film in my mini-Polanski marathon is a strange one - he lucked out getting this film - on Broadway it starred heavy hitters Glenn Close (Tony Award) and Oscar winners Gene Hackman and Richard Dreyfuss and Mike Nichols directed. Polanski's film undercuts the casting - Sigourney Weaver is tough but more one note and Ben Kingsley as the villain is spectacular - it raises the political and personal stakes by asking explicitly what is the price of revenge? It can also be read as his 2nd Mea culpa (after Tess) for his crime and his 2nd best film post-crime (after Tess) up until then - though I have a greater affinity for his wtf (and more typically Polanski) Bitter Moon (1992). Polanski's direction is lovely and understated and elegant even - and it sets a pattern of his post-arrest career - his best films (or the ones everyone can agree on) are the more obvious serious projects: Tess, Death and The Maiden, The Pianist, An Officer and A Spy - the "least" overtly "Polanski" type films at all. Guilt, innocence, politics personal and not:
|
|
|
Post by pacinoyes on Mar 26, 2020 17:45:15 GMT
Pushover (1954) - 7/10 re-watchTough, formulaic noir from that weird mid-50s period where you get some knockouts, some rip-offs and some in the middle. This one is mostly in the middle but sex on wheels Kim Novak - who would have owned this genre a decade earlier - is all unending curves. I've seen this a lot and always thought her character's name was Lorna (or maybe Mona?)......instead it's actually "Lona" - go figure.
|
|
|
Post by therealcomicman117 on Mar 26, 2020 22:28:09 GMT
Pushover (1954) - 7/10 re-watchTough, formulaic noir from that weird mid-50s period where you get some knockouts, some rip-offs and some in the middle. This one is mostly in the middle but sex on wheels Kim Novak - who would have owned this genre a decade earlier - is all unending curves. I've seen this a lot and always thought her character's name was Lorna (or maybe Mona?)......instead it's actually "Lona" - go figure. Kim Novak's film debut too, and she is indeed very sexy in it. I just watched it based off your short review (luckily it was on Youtube). It's a pretty standard B level noir elevated by some good performances, and strong cinematography. Fred MacMurray never got the respect he deserved. He was perfect for these kinds of "wrong man at the wrong place" roles like this and Double Indemnity.
|
|
|
Post by pacinoyes on Mar 26, 2020 23:29:36 GMT
Kim Novak's film debut too, and she is indeed very sexy in it. I just watched it based off your short review (luckily it was on Youtube). It's a pretty standard B level noir elevated by some good performances, and strong cinematography. Fred MacMurray never got the respect he deserved. He was perfect for these kinds of "wrong man at the wrong place" roles like this and Double Indemnity. Yes, Youtube has come in very handy during the virus crisis - also that "Flick Vault" that is on there that Mattsby mentioned the other day - good stuff. I like this period of film noir where it was starting to die out but a lot of my favorite noirs are from the 50s - In A Lonely Place, Night and The City, The Big Heat (I am quite fond Robert Wise's late one Odds Against Tomorrow also (1959)) and this one has an aspect that I always like - "the gorgeous bad girl vs. the "better choice" - Dorothy Malone - a nurse with a good job, a good neighbor, law-abiding, the kind of girl you could settle down with............but this being film-noir.......well you know
|
|
|
Post by therealcomicman117 on Mar 26, 2020 23:44:36 GMT
Kim Novak's film debut too, and she is indeed very sexy in it. I just watched it based off your short review (luckily it was on Youtube). It's a pretty standard B level noir elevated by some good performances, and strong cinematography. Fred MacMurray never got the respect he deserved. He was perfect for these kinds of "wrong man at the wrong place" roles like this and Double Indemnity. Yes, Youtube has come in very handy during the virus crisis - also that "Flick Vault" that is on there that Mattsby mentioned the other day - good stuff. I like this period of film noir where it was starting to die out but a lot of my favorite noirs are from the 50s - In A Lonely Place, Night and The City, The Big Heat (I am quite fond Robert Wise's late one Odds Against Tomorrow also (1959)) and this one has an aspect that I always like - "the gorgeous bad girl vs. the "better choice" - Dorothy Malone - a nurse with a good job, a good neighbor, law-abiding, the kind of girl you could settle down with............but this being film-noir.......well you know Oh yeah, I love a lot of those old 50s black and white film noirs. I often find them strangely comforting and entertaining. In A Lonely Place (Bogart's best role), is probably my favorite from that particular era, but I'm also a huge fan of the little seen Human Desire, which is a solid follow-up to The Big Heat, with Ford and Grahame returning, and Lang back in the directors chair. Odds Against Tomorrow is also an interesting one. It's actually noteworthy as a rare examination of "ugly racism" from that particular period of Hollywood cinema.
|
|
|
Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Mar 27, 2020 0:40:52 GMT
Natural Born Killers must be the most overedited and overdirected film I've ever seen, and that's saying a lot because I've seen two Adam McKay movies. It's Funny Games's coked-up, barely-comprehensive, infantile, disappointing older brother who dropped out of film school and communicates either in incoherent pretentious ramblings or slurred yells or a combination of both. Grating, grating, grating.
|
|
|
Post by Mattsby on Mar 27, 2020 1:09:14 GMT
Yes, Youtube has come in very handy during the virus crisis - also that "Flick Vault" that is on there that Mattsby mentioned the other day - good stuff. I like this period of film noir where it was starting to die out but a lot of my favorite noirs are from the 50s - In A Lonely Place, Night and The City, The Big Heat (I am quite fond Robert Wise's late one Odds Against Tomorrow also (1959)) and this one has an aspect that I always like - "the gorgeous bad girl vs. the "better choice" - Dorothy Malone - a nurse with a good job, a good neighbor, law-abiding, the kind of girl you could settle down with............but this being film-noir.......well you know Oh yeah, I love a lot of those old 50s black and white film noirs. I often find them strangely comforting and entertaining. In A Lonely Place (Bogart's best role), is probably my favorite from that particular era, but I'm also a huge fan of the little seen Human Desire, which is a solid follow-up to The Big Heat, with Ford and Grahame returning, and Lang back in the directors chair. Odds Against Tomorrow is also an interesting one. It's actually noteworthy as a rare examination of "ugly racism" from that particular period of Hollywood cinema. Odds Against Tomorrow would make a good double ft with The Crimson Kimono - tail end of the noir era, interracial aspect. Really like a lot of the 50s noirs... two from Joseph H Lewis, Gun Crazy and The Big Combo ("You're fighting a swamp with a teaspoon"), heavier on the innuendo and sadistic violence... crisp on location stuff like Crime Wave.... younger protagonists like The Big Night.... subverting typical style like The Narrow Margin which has no score whatsoever. What else? the casually brutal The Lineup w/ Eli Wallach... Cry Terror w/ a scary Rod Steiger....
|
|
|
Post by DeepArcher on Mar 27, 2020 4:48:43 GMT
Altman's The Long Goodbye. I had practically no idea what was going on and I loved every minute of it. I've really, really liked every Altman I've seen so far, but I've only really loved the more comedic ones, and this was definitely that. Hilarious in its own downbeat, sarcastic way from start to finish and very much my thing. Great companion piece for Inherent Vice.
|
|
timkimber
New Member
International Oscar Showdown continues with The King's Speech versus In A Better World…
Posts: 9
Likes: 10
|
Post by timkimber on Mar 27, 2020 15:08:33 GMT
My wife insisted we watched Contagion (2011) last night, which honestly I could have done without. Still, pretty interesting to see all the stuff I've been learning about epidemiology in the last few weeks was being quite earnestly discussed in this film years ago. Creepy to watch. Not necessarily a great film, mind, but interesting. 7/10
|
|
|
Post by Viced on Mar 27, 2020 15:08:47 GMT
Some wonderful cinematography... but outside of that and a few strong scenes, this was a massive snoozefest. Sounds great on paper, but I didn't really care about any of the characters besides John Wayne (he has some nice moments talking to his wife's grave) and the whole yellow ribbon thing just seemed periphery. Great comedic bar brawl though. 5.5/10
|
|
|
Post by pacinoyes on Mar 27, 2020 16:10:49 GMT
Judi Dench's first 2 movies - Four in The Morning (1965) (~6/10) and The Third Secret (1964) (6.5+/10 rewatch). Four In The Morning is a provocative idea that is sort of like the story strand in Short Cuts where they find the dead body of a girl. But here it's far more boringly played out across two non-connecting stories - we see more than the characters so it indicates rather than portrays. Dench is aces as one of the leads - a really great and modern idea, but presented wrongly as a film - it's kitchen sink to the point where it's too grim and dull as dishwater......... There's something to this premise though. The Third Secret is rather the opposite - a sort of cliche mystery idea but stylishly directed by Charles Crichton (A Fish Called Wanda). Stephen Boyd and Pamela Franklin co-star - Richard Attenborough and Jack Hawkins in support - Dench further down the cast. Holds your interest especially at the exciting climax before then wrapping it all up way too neatly - Franklin gets a lot of room to go pretty far here.
|
|
|
Post by pacinoyes on Mar 27, 2020 20:01:14 GMT
Secret Ceremony (!968) - ~6/10 rewatch Director : Joseph LoseyLiz Taylor legit porn from her late 60s trainwreck period - this one is both luridly overheated and icily cool. It's strange to assess - it's mostly well acted by Liz even overall (or maybe not), and Mia Farrow (Robert Mitchum is ok here) and Joseph Losey creates a real mood. But you are laughing at it from the beginning - it just feels off and never quite coherent. Taylor at least gets better later but you may have given up on her at the start. It should be remade starring Kidman and should be directed by De Palma who I would pay money to hear his thoughts on this screenplay. Maybe Isabelle Adjani instead of Kidman - since this film has the most wide eyed big reaction shots like maybe ever. A campy-cult curiosity to be sure....
|
|
|
Post by Viced on Mar 27, 2020 20:23:48 GMT
Definitely lacking in some areas, but it holds its tension well over 62 minutes and I was always into it. Some killer shots definitely elevated it (running through the jungle, the final shot). Creepy villain too... and the drunk guy was hilarious. 7/10
|
|
|
Post by Joaquim on Mar 27, 2020 23:27:09 GMT
Natural Born Killers was good but it could've been so much better.
|
|
|
Post by Sharbs on Mar 28, 2020 3:08:54 GMT
Gully Boy - I only have three words for this movie rn.
ALIA. BHATT. ELECTRIC.
|
|
|
Post by Miles Morales on Mar 28, 2020 5:03:59 GMT
Gully Boy - I only have three words for this movie rn. ALIA. BHATT. ELECTRIC. Wow. Didn't expect you to see Gully Boy. Glad you enjoyed it.
|
|
|
Post by DeepArcher on Mar 28, 2020 6:37:52 GMT
Pretty sure this most recent rewatch of Mulholland Drive solidified as my all-time favorite -- at least at this stage in my life -- and that's even IN SPITE of the fact that it's kind of a huge mess even in some ways that I think are largely unintentional. I'm just ... constantly left in awe of its very existence, is really the only way I can put it. It's hard to think of another film that is "about" so many things all at once and is doing it so seamlessly and also somehow unpretentiously despite the fact that if you try to describe it in words to someone unfamiliar with it it's going to sound pretentious -- but Lynch is just such an intuitive artist that it never once comes off as something that's trying too hard, or even trying at all -- and yet the film is entirely a breakdown of its very medium, dissecting the illusion inherent to all cinema including itself, pitting the dream factory vision of Hollywood & the act of filmmaking against the disintegration of American culture, capitalism, and the burden of reality. It really is the perfect movie -- at least the perfect movie for me and all of my interests, tastes, and sensibilities (or, as close any film I know of comes to being "perfect" in that sense) -- and there's something astonishing and really special about that.
|
|
Drish
Badass
Posts: 2,012
Likes: 1,749
|
Post by Drish on Mar 28, 2020 9:05:02 GMT
Gully Boy - I only have three words for this movie rn. ALIA. BHATT. ELECTRIC. Yessssss! 😍
|
|
|
Post by Viced on Mar 28, 2020 15:33:47 GMT
Point Blank (1967)This gets better and better with each watch. One of the most brilliantly styled crime films ever! Maybe a teensy bit dull in between the great moments, but not enough to really hurt the overall impact. And no other actor could've done what Lee Marvin does here... Ryan Gosling in Drive ain't fit to lick Lee's boots. 8.5/10
|
|
Archie
Based
Eraserhead son or Inland Empire daughter?
Posts: 3,544
Likes: 4,241
|
Post by Archie on Mar 29, 2020 0:10:42 GMT
Cold War - 4/10
Soulless tripe. Four points for Joanna Kulig and Joanna Kulig alone.
|
|
|
Post by Joaquim on Mar 29, 2020 0:19:35 GMT
Watched Buffalo ‘66 for the first time last night. Thought it was a high 7/low 8 at first, then a few hours later I thought it was a solid 8, now reflecting on it today I’m thinking it belongs closer in the 9 range. Guess this is one of those movies I’ll be revisiting in the future, hope Hulu doesn’t take it down.
|
|
|
Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Mar 29, 2020 3:25:58 GMT
Byzantium (2013). It's a Neil Jordan flick so I don't think I ever would've liked it. Where Jordan's lack of flair and vision might work in a straightforward biopic like Michael Collins, it absolutely doesn't in a genre with such a long and vibrant legacy where I expect a lot more. Ronan and Arterton are serviceable (Arterton moreso) but they're hamstrung by clumsy plotting and half-baked characters and pretty lifeless melodrama. Decisions don't make sense or are badly developed, there's a severe lack of plot motivation, and it definitely lacks that sense of "specialness" that's absolutely necessary in a vampire film set at a specific time where the characters have had such long lives and you need to justify why now is the moment for the viewer to meet them. That isn't persuasively justified in the film. None of the events feel particularly noteworthy or special. These vampires have been around a long damn time so without the screenplay requiring it, I can't imagine any of these events registering that much significance in their life spans. It just feels inconsequential, which is kryptonite for vampire movie logic.
Ronan's performance especially is undercut but the plot. I mean she's barely a shell of a character, and we're meant to believe she's been dealing with this angst for 200 damn years before a chance meeting with Caleb Landry Jones of all people would precipitate such a significant character shift. Her relationship with her mother Arterton (only 9 years older than Ronan btw) is also not believable because it's based on some absurd mother-daughter angst which only makes sense if Ronan is the most naive 200 year-old vampire in the history of the genre. Maybe vampire adolescence is more intense. 4.5/10
|
|