Drish
Badass
Posts: 2,018
Likes: 1,753
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Post by Drish on May 16, 2020 4:03:06 GMT
I finally mustered up some courage and saw the movie I'd been dreading to watch because of all the violence...Oldboy! I definitely liked it (more like loved it? I'm not sure) but I need a shower now, yikes. Loved the whole style and atmosphere of it and Min-sik Choi is freakishly great! Man there are some real twisted minds out there.
Also, I'd never ever gossip in my life.
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Post by theycallmemrfish on May 16, 2020 4:24:04 GMT
Lockout - Pretty much a remake of Escape from New York, but I like it more than its reputation should suggest. Pearce is fun... the script has moments of both brilliance and then utter shit (sometimes in the same scene)... but it's quick and fun and sometimes you just need that.
Still, Besson should send some money to Carpenter. Though, I did appreciate that Pearce didn't try to be Snake Plissken.
EDIT: So I wiki'd this because I was all "maybe this had a decent RT score (it doesn't)" but it also says that it did owe money to the makers of Escape From New York.
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Javi
Badass
Posts: 1,537
Likes: 1,628
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Post by Javi on May 16, 2020 18:14:16 GMT
The Night of the Iguana (1964) - Sometimes I think John Huston was as crazy as Orson Welles was... and in a movie like this he's almost as inventive, just as surprising, and way funnier. This is a great twist on the "Americans vacationing abroad" formula... this bunch of washed-up Americans can only be headed south. The Mexican wilderness is just about the right spot to lose track of your sins; and it's a very beautiful location--shot by the great Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa (who worked with Buñuel on Los olvidados) with a feel for the place. The sound design just about fills the air with promiscuity. And above all there's the amazing, improbable cast, headed by Richard Burton (a fleshy, hilarious, sad performance), Deborah Kerr (turning out to be a master comedienne) and Ava Gardner as this ravaged gift of nature (phenomenal). The movie also works as a response to the existential screams of agony coming from across the Atlantic at the time. I'd rather take Huston's pain A moving film in mysterious ways... and puzzling like when you remember it begins in a church and ends with an iguana in the bushes
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Post by theycallmemrfish on May 17, 2020 15:02:09 GMT
Joker - So... uh... Phoenix was good and I liked the way they shot the film... but, um, I did not like this. I truly hated watching this movie.
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Post by pacinoyes on May 17, 2020 15:45:26 GMT
The Window (1949) - 7.5/10 rewatchTense mystery that plays like a noir - in nefarious characters and setting at least with stupendous shots involving the city, architecture, shadows and backgrounds. Amazingly tight and focused at under 80 minutes.
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Post by Johnny_Hellzapoppin on May 17, 2020 18:08:42 GMT
The Hunt (2020)
A heady mix of the wildly entertaining and ludicrously stupid. I couldn't help but get a kick out of it. I just ignored all the laughable politicking and let the nonsense wash over me. 6/10
Calm With Horses (2020)
Another entry in the well worn genre of young men caught up in the criminal world...like we needed that. Well, it actually turns out with did. It might be almost relentless in its bleakness, but it earns the beats of violence, and more than earns its moments of heart and emotion. A fantastic central performance from Cosmo Jarvis holds the show together.
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Post by cheesecake on May 17, 2020 18:26:07 GMT
I don't know if quarantine is getting to me, but I watched Murder Mystery last night and laughed many, many times. It was also better than Knives Out. So this is the world I'm living in.
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Post by Mattsby on May 17, 2020 18:30:29 GMT
I don't know if quarantine is getting to me, but I watched Murder Mystery last night and laughed many, many times. It was also better than Knives Out. So this is the world I'm living in. "Holy shit! ....This plane has a bar?" Was one of my biggest laughs of last year
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on May 17, 2020 19:55:39 GMT
The Bridesmaid (2004). My very first Chabrol and I loved it! Definitely a sucker for these kinds of femme fatale narratives. The best ones ( Body Heat comes to mind) always find that perfect synthesis between sex and masochistic danger, and this one fits snugly into that canon. Benoît Magimel is great as the hapless protagonist. Somewhat standoffish and maybe a bit snotty at first, becoming suddenly vulnerable when Laura Smet enters the frame. Smet is everything you want and expect in a role like this--mysterious, alluring, dangerous. A woman who's cultivated a talent for telling and believing her own lies.
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Post by jakesully on May 18, 2020 3:05:10 GMT
Public Enemies - (re watch) haven't seen this one since I saw it in theaters. Damn some of those tommy gun shoot outs were insane. Thought it was a really slick film directed by Mann.
8/10
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Post by DeepArcher on May 18, 2020 5:43:16 GMT
Fail Safe (1964): My heart honestly didn't stop racing during the entire second half of this movie. Incredible stuff.
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Post by Johnny_Hellzapoppin on May 18, 2020 18:05:51 GMT
An English Haunting (2020)
As I was watching this film, I was so disappointed as I could see all its problems as they happened; so I was picking it apart as it happened. Still it wasn't an outright loss, and it has a contender for worst performance of the year.
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Archie
Based
Eraserhead son or Inland Empire daughter?
Posts: 3,679
Likes: 4,372
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Post by Archie on May 18, 2020 19:01:56 GMT
Took a brief break from my Wong Kar-Wai odyssey (Fallen Angels is fucking exhausting) to watch a good ol' South Korean genre film: Kim Ji-Woon's A Bittersweet Life. Spends most of its time being a solid gangster/revenge film before coming around with an incredible 5 minute stretch at the end, which hit me much harder than anticipated. Great shit.
I also watched Cronenberg's Crash. I want to drive my car into a wall now.
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Post by Mattsby on May 18, 2020 20:36:24 GMT
A Double Tour (1959) 7/10. Chabrol's third, a lively familial knotting meets murderous suspicion. Belmondo's first top-billed part (?) as Laszlo Kovacs (which is also the name he uses in the following year's Breathless). There's a lot of nose-thumbing to the members outside the wealthy family - the maid (a beyond sexy Bernadette Lafont) is scolded for dressing so close to the windows, Belmondo is repeatedly told to stop behaving/speaking so informally - and there's a lot of shamelessness inside the family, like how the father flaunts his mistress in front of everyone or the extent to how they feel above the law. Yup, Chabrol has been slashing the upper class from the get. The plots online spoil what happens an hour into the movie. It's better to watch blind and not as a thriller, though the murder scene is brilliantly staged. The great Henri Decaë shoots this with high saturation and very cleverly suggests the separative morality by shooting thru filters, windows, mirrors, fish tanks, etc.
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Post by Mattsby on May 18, 2020 20:56:29 GMT
The Bridesmaid (2004). My very first Chabrol and I loved it! Definitely a sucker for these kinds of femme fatale narratives. The best ones ( Body Heat comes to mind) always find that perfect synthesis between sex and masochistic danger, and this one fits snugly into that canon. Benoît Magimel is great as the hapless protagonist. Somewhat standoffish and maybe a bit snotty at first, becoming suddenly vulnerable when Laura Smet enters the frame. Smet is everything you want and expect in a role like this--mysterious, alluring, dangerous. A woman who's cultivated a talent for telling and believing her own lies. Watched this last night. Loved it too - reminded me of Dream Lover with Spader/Amick. I liked the use of the statue bust - and I knew Chabrol was on point here with that shot of Magimel looking into the backyard at the empty plinth. And this after his first line of dialogue, "Some nerve using the past tense." Already hinting underneath his fearing some loss. Funny.... I watched this with a very early Chabrol, A Double Tour, where Belmondo caresses a similar looking statue like Magimel does here. I liked how Smet's home takes on a sorta Gothic mystic quality - how her step mother seems to be dancing on loop, all those candles she lights, how it seems like the darkness opens the doors, like that haunting floating shot of the Magimel POV at the end, how he's drawn like a magnet back to her. Also lol'd at her having "a bit part in a Woody Allen" movie.
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Post by DeepArcher on May 18, 2020 21:11:43 GMT
Big Trouble in Little China (1986): So much fun particularly with how it makes a total joke out of the white savior action hero archetype, and Kurt Russell is wonderful in making this character both cool and pathetic. Probably lesser Carpenter from what I've seen, if only because it might be too much fun
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Post by pacinoyes on May 18, 2020 21:27:14 GMT
The Bridesmaid (2004). My very first Chabrol and I loved it! Definitely a sucker for these kinds of femme fatale narratives. The best ones ( Body Heat comes to mind) always find that perfect synthesis between sex and masochistic danger, and this one fits snugly into that canon. Benoît Magimel is great as the hapless protagonist. Somewhat standoffish and maybe a bit snotty at first, becoming suddenly vulnerable when Laura Smet enters the frame. Smet is everything you want and expect in a role like this--mysterious, alluring, dangerous. A woman who's cultivated a talent for telling and believing her own lies. Watched this last night. Loved it too - reminded me of Dream Lover with Spader/Amick. I liked the use of the statue bust - and I knew Chabrol was on point here with that shot of Magimel looking into the backyard at the empty plinth. And this after his first line of dialogue, "Some nerve using the past tense." Already hinting underneath his fearing some loss. Funny.... I watched this with a very early Chabrol, A Double Tour, where Belmondo caresses a similar looking statue like Magimel does here. I liked how Smet's home takes on a sorta Gothic mystic quality - how her step mother seems to be dancing on loop, all those candles she lights, how it seems like the darkness opens the doors, like that haunting floating shot of the Magimel POV at the end, how he's drawn like a magnet back to her. Also lol'd at her having "a bit part in a Woody Allen" movie. I posted on this recently - can't recall in which thread - may have been Best Performances and how amazingly sexy a couple they are - there's several funny lines about "acting" - it wasn't her that was no good, it was Malkovich!........also a mention of Michel Serrault too.......this movie is like Chabrol advanced exam - there's a lot of Chabrol-isms in place.
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Post by Mattsby on May 18, 2020 21:56:04 GMT
Watched this last night. Loved it too - reminded me of Dream Lover with Spader/Amick. I liked the use of the statue bust - and I knew Chabrol was on point here with that shot of Magimel looking into the backyard at the empty plinth. And this after his first line of dialogue, "Some nerve using the past tense." Already hinting underneath his fearing some loss. Funny.... I watched this with a very early Chabrol, A Double Tour, where Belmondo caresses a similar looking statue like Magimel does here. I liked how Smet's home takes on a sorta Gothic mystic quality - how her step mother seems to be dancing on loop, all those candles she lights, how it seems like the darkness opens the doors, like that haunting floating shot of the Magimel POV at the end, how he's drawn like a magnet back to her. Also lol'd at her having "a bit part in a Woody Allen" movie. I posted on this recently - can't recall in which thread - may have been Best Performances and how amazingly sexy a couple they are - there's several funny lines about "acting" - it wasn't her that was no good, it was Malkovich!........also a mention of Michel Serrault too.......this movie is like Chabrol advanced exam - there's a lot of Chabrol-isms in place. Malkovich line made me laugh too - the scene was cut bc of him, of course. Idk why I ignored this pic for so long. How long has it been on Prime?! I love those '80s-90s erotic thrillers and this is partly that, though Chabrol is a master and smartly builds and unfolds this and even for his age doesn't hold back on the sexiness (like that phone scene). I like how we spend time with the family first, and the mother's common romantic heartbreak, and then how Chabrol lingers on the eyeing between Magimel-Smet first too. Even little touches - the quickened pace while Magimel is shown thru the police station. Also admired Magimel's boss and his appreciation of good food! "Never let good pasta go to waste" something like that.
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Post by DeepArcher on May 19, 2020 0:23:22 GMT
Birth (2004): If there’s one great thing about Kidman you can’t really deny, it’s her total commitment to accepting so many outright weird projects over the years. She’s great, but I found this surprisingly lacking in mood from Glazer, and the weirdness of it all came across as provocative for the sake of being provocative to me. Doesn’t help that the ridiculous subject matter is treated all too literally by the film. That kid sure is damn creepy though!
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Post by Viced on May 19, 2020 2:46:59 GMT
Vincent Francois Paul and the Others (1974) - 8/10 Directed by Claude Sautet, a subdued yet revealing look at concessive middle age, middle class, and the sort of staying power of friendship.... centered by Yves Montand in a great, pained perf. With sunken eyes he evokes a lucklessness in his crises; his scenes opposite Stephane Audran especially are heartbreaking, when he says "I can't find anyone anywhere" or when he almost lights his cigarette backwards. Expertly made too - the use of reflections, windows, long lenses, and there's the phenomenal Philippe Sarde score. Just watched this to honor the late great Michel Piccoli. But this probably should have just been called Vincent since it's definitely the Yves Montand show. He had the most interesting character and arc.... that guy was really put through the wringer! But yeah, he was absolutely heartbreaking.... many pained moments where he clearly wants to talk to someone (and/or ask for money) and you can just see him holding back... strong stuff. Piccoli was great too (excellent leg of lamb slicer as well) and I enjoyed the Depardieu character. At first I was wondering what the point of the long ass boxing match was.... but in the end, all those guys needed a win and that was it. Like other Sautet films... realistic, relatable characters... and something to say. But kind of a slight change of pace as it was more of an ensemble piece while pretty much everything else I've seen from him has been more intimate with most of the focus on two lead characters. 8/10 from me too... and a definite entry on the list of best 'friend group' movies.
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Post by DeepArcher on May 19, 2020 5:44:50 GMT
Thirst (2009): I mean, Song Kang-ho plays a priest who turns into a vampire, obviously it’s gonna be a ton of fun. It becomes a bit too meandering in the second half and less interesting as the central irony becomes less irrelevant, but still, overall it’s a great, delectable good time.
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Post by notacrook on May 19, 2020 11:39:15 GMT
Birth (2004): If there’s one great thing about Kidman you can’t really deny, it’s her total commitment to accepting so many outright weird projects over the years. She’s great, but I found this surprisingly lacking in mood from Glazer, and the weirdness of it all came across as provocative for the sake of being provocative to me. Doesn’t help that the ridiculous subject matter is treated all too literally by the film. That kid sure is damn creepy though! Probably Kidman's best performance, and that's saying a hell of a lot. I should probably watch this again - saw it quite a few years ago and really liked it, but I'd be interested to see if holds up. I also really need to get to Sexy Beast.
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Post by pacinoyes on May 19, 2020 12:00:08 GMT
Birth (2004): If there’s one great thing about Kidman you can’t really deny, it’s her total commitment to accepting so many outright weird projects over the years. She’s great, but I found this surprisingly lacking in mood from Glazer, and the weirdness of it all came across as provocative for the sake of being provocative to me. Doesn’t help that the ridiculous subject matter is treated all too literally by the film. That kid sure is damn creepy though! Probably Kidman's best performance I'm not even that big a fan of hers although I do like her work - but the fact that she finished 8th on GOAT poll was ridiculous to me but people love her . Anyway this is not only her best performance by a large margin it's indicative of what she does whenever she is really special - touched by a sort of irrational madness : this, To Die For, Stoker and it's when she has a director who is on her wavelength or she's on their's like Birth.....that's where she intellectually seizes on something and does something special and unpredictable with it. Most of her roles are wayyyyyyyyyy more built in. The performances of her that more people go for : The Hours......Big Little Lies 1 ......are stuff others could do and I think people are responding to the role or her emotionalism which is exactly is actually what she does far less well for me tbh.
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Post by Miles Morales on May 19, 2020 20:27:38 GMT
The Half of It - 8.5/10. Well directed and acted and is nicely understated, despite getting too Bollywood-ish at points.
Just Mercy - 9.5/10. Shame that this didn't get any Oscars attention, it's a great film with an excellent ensemble and handles its subject in a very sensitive manner.
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Post by Mattsby on May 19, 2020 20:59:31 GMT
Entre nous (1983) 7/10. Lovely to look at, between the wide visuals and Huppert at her most attractive. Mostly a smoothly made postwar study of gender/social roles by Diane Kurys - who was I think the second ever female to compete for the Foreign pic Oscar (she lost to Fanny and Alexander). Miou-Miou was Cesar nominated for Lead but I think she's supporting - Huppert (no nom) is the lead and gives the better perf, there's a gliding appeal to her and there's an at times funny impatience and danger-seeking to her too....
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