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Post by Martin Stett on Dec 25, 2023 14:38:08 GMT
Scalpel (1977) - Deliriously deranged, deliciously depraved, the biggest surprise of the year. I was *cackling* with macabre glee through every minute of this southern gothic psychosexual soap opera. I thought it would be a horror film, but it eschews any normal horror tropes for dry black humor and a cast of characters so uniformly horrible that the schadenfreude of each nasty thing happening to anyone at all is orgasmically pleasurable. 9/10
Vikram (2022) - Once this finally turns into a really stupid action movie at the end, it is really fun. But that is too little, too late for such a convoluted story with such paper thin characters. 5/10
Rumble in the Bronx (1995) - The action scenes are goofy and Chan has a lot of natural charm and this works at what it sets out to do. I forgot about it really quickly - and I would have preferred a PG-13 cut without the swearing and harder moments of violence that don't fit into the silly cartoon world of the movie - but it's decent, disposable entertainment. Even the bad dubbing works for the movie's charm. 6/10
Skinamarink (2022) - There's a MUCH tighter movie in here (half an hour could be cut without losing tension), but I love that this went for unknowable, supernatural dread instead of making the monster a metaphor for anything. The phone call scene ("I hurt myself with a knife and I feel sick") is so gently heartbreaking and scary at the same time. We need more horror directors like Ball around. 7/10
Lust, Caution (2007) - Hitchcock meets Sirk. A clockwork suspense film that doesn't set a foot wrong, never loosening the tension. There's nothing new to this, but who needs new when you've nailed the formula? (I guess you could say that Wong Chia Chi's sense of sexual worth being determined by the transactional value of what it can get her isn't usually tackled in this sort of movie, but Lee doesn't dwell on that.) 8/10
The Old Way (2023) - Cheap and predictable, but there are pleasures to watching a formula western. Unfortunately, Donowho and his writer try to mix it up by having long conversations that are meant to spell out to us that Cage and his daughter are autistic, but only succeed in showing that they're psychopaths. Also, the acting is terrible across the board, with the exception of Clint Howard and a perfectly cast Nick Searcy as a U.S. Marshal. 5/10
Bullets Over Broadway (1994) - Allen's screechiest and most annoying movie since Annie Hall. The basic pleasures of watching a 1920s gangster movie help A LOT here - the aesthetic is lots of fun - but Allen's themes and questions are pseudo-intellectual twaddle that don't mean anything and the caricatures that pass for characters don't develop those themes in any organic way. 5/10
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Post by pacinoyes on Dec 25, 2023 14:53:56 GMT
Lots of crap and well intentioned, overrated stuff (including The Iron Claw - don't believe the hype) but one worth jumping up and down for: La Otra (1946) - a greatish noir, with a Christmas setting (sorta) - watch it today! - and a marvelous double role for a dazzling Dolores del Rio.....recommended for noir fans, sinister / ironic romances, fans of great final scenes.......one of the better first time watches I've had in 2023 tbh  |
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Post by JangoB on Dec 25, 2023 16:46:29 GMT
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes - Pretty decent, downbeat blockbuster filmmaking. Appreciated how grounded it felt compared to the other HG movies.
Maestro - Y'all are wrong, it's great.
Alive - Didn't expect a movie edited by Michael Kahn AND William Goldenberg to be this sluggish but I guess it's hard to build cinematic momentum when the bulk of the story revolves around people not being able to do anything about their situation. Very curious to see how Bayona deals with the same subject. I hope his movie is a bit more visceral... because Marshall shoots this one in fairly dull static compositions that don't come alive (hehe) as often as you'd like them to.
Mute Witness - You can't bullshit a bullshitter... but it turns out you can homage an homagger. Very De Palma-esque. And quite fun.
Saltburn - Vapid? Sure. But entertaining. And very well made. And Barry Keoghan shines. As does Barry's keoghan.
Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire - I know that Snyder was among the few directors whom Nolan screened Oppenheimer for before its release... hope Snyder didn't return the favor by showing him this. 'Cause I'd feel cheated.
Dream Scenario - Just wonderful, both the movie and Cage. And it's not merely amusing, it literally made me ugly cry from laughter. That scene is the funniest fucking thing I've seen in years.
Thanksgiving - I missed the scratchy Grindhouse aesthetic of the fake trailer but the movie was enjoyable nonetheless. Very entertaining kills.
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget - Not as finger-lickin' good as I wanted it to be. Not that I was that big on the first one either.
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Post by therealcomicman117 on Dec 26, 2023 2:38:28 GMT
Mickey’s Christmas Carol - 8 / 10
Chicken Run 2 - 6 / 10
Fun and Fancy Free - 6 / 10
Home Alone - 8 / 10
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Post by Pittsnogle_Goggins on Dec 26, 2023 3:16:02 GMT
No Escape (2015)
The Strangers (2008)
Taken 2 (2012)
Beau is Afraid (2023)
Black Swan (2010)
Detour (1945)
Godzilla Minus One (2023)
Maestro (2023)
Blackhat (2015)
The Retirement Plan (2023)
Masquerade (1988)
Migration (2023)
Rebel Moon: Part One (2023)
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Post by mhynson27 on Dec 26, 2023 4:03:29 GMT
The Santa Clause
Home Alone (re-watch)
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Post by Mattsby on Dec 26, 2023 5:59:30 GMT
Thanksgiving (2023) 6 It's a Wonderful Knife (2023) 5 I'm thankful there are no more 2023 slashers left to see. (Kidding, any recs?) Let's see. These two have the same indistinguishable lead, some girl on a year-later diet of the guilts - they are so over the festivities and that nasty little word tradition. Sick, Scream VI, Totally Killer. Same protagonist problem with villains so laughable or predictable it's like they all cheated off the same school paper (a C- at best). Thxgiving has some good ideas for kills, but execution is more important..... if Eli Roth cares about set pieces 1) he should 2) he should let us know. Oddly enough, the most shocking kills are in Totally Killer, the silliest of the slashers, bc the performances of the murdered are so unexpectedly intense. But of the killers, the only one who I believe #be-murderin is from the worst of them: Wonderful Knife. Also in that cast, a hilariously pathetic perf from Justin Long doing a Dorothy Michaels impression. Maestro (2023) 5. I know exactly who abandoned Snoopy. Close Your Eyes (2023) The Spirit of the Beehive director Victor Erice's epic return, a small movie told slowly, about the bewildered stalemate of a filmmaker, returning like a ghost to the world, renegotiating his interest in a friend who disappeared long ago, he's smacked with the extent of his own disappearance. It carries great weight with such an understated touch. It's as if Erice never left - he might've had a greater gapless career. Fascinating in how he tilts his favorite deep themes.... misunderstandings, the bastard of memory, the secrecies of life, forgotten family, and the vast purpose of looking up at the movie screen. I wish the ending landed better for me but it's a special instance of a movie I don't want to have to rate! / fav firsts of the week: Mon Oncle Antoine (1971) Thanks Javi ~ There's so much to be said on Canadian cinema across the genres (documentary, horror, comedy etc - shoutout The Grey Fox) and great movies hiding in plain sight like this one. Interesting how it touches on our favs of the year, the coming of ager observed and obliterated like Murmur of the Heart, and somewhat itself a nephew to McCabe... with the lived-in mining town (all the more complex the closer you look), outsiders looking in, overcoated, under snow. The whole sleigh hearse second half gives it a new, haunting hull - Bergmanesque (shoutout Fanny and Alexander) - where it suddenly feels otherworldly, the way the boy on that sleigh feels a little like he's in the air flying - but it couldn't be any other world but this shivering one, where the best the boss can do is throw paper stockings right at your feet, right to the ground. Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas (1977) Somehow went my childhood Muppetless - only kinda recently checking out Jim Henson's work, including his incredible short film Time Piece. This was comforting and very funny - "a guy should be grateful he's even got shoulders!" Another big surprise is the drunken-fun music by Paul Williams (he did Bugsy Malone the year before). / rewatches: Cash On Demand (1961) 7.5, an ingenious switcheroo of good guy v bad guy, and what generosity goes on in looted vaults, with all the Christmas lessons learned coming from the criminous (a compelling as hell André Morell) and none at all from the pointy slide-rule life of Peter Cushing's humorless banker. Humor, see. It never leaves ole Morell. The Silent Partner (1978) 8 or more, my kinda double feature. Less yule than Cash but more thematic merry: are you naughty or nice? Elliott Gould's oddball banker must ask himself over and over. Very clever script by Curtis Hanson. |
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bigmilko
New Member
Posts: 133
Likes: 29
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Post by bigmilko on Dec 26, 2023 15:18:54 GMT
Scary Movie (2000) - 4/10: Yeah its got its funny jokes, the over-the-top slapstick is an easy get for me (when done insanely ridiculous) but when theres 30 jokes a minute all about weed, boobies and Doofy, it really feels exhausting by the one hour mark
RW Inspector Gadget (1999) - 2/10: it may have been a sub 80 runtime, but maaaaan did I still wanna die
RW Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) - 7/10: Makes a strong case for Gary Oldman to make the jump to voice acting, I think
In the Mood for Love (2000) - 8/10: Its no fair that Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung get to dress that good, and look so incredible on screen, and im here at work in sweatpants
RW Jingle All the Way (1996) - 6/10: easy movie no thoughts
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SZilla
Badass
Posts: 1,464
Likes: 996
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Post by SZilla on Dec 26, 2023 17:35:53 GMT
Nazi Concentration Camps (1945) - Dear God is this one of the most harrowing things I've ever seen. This is purely a documentary in the purest sense of the word - even being used as evidence against the Nazis during the Nuremberg trials. I respect George Stevens for not shying away - this footage is crucial to see. Just absolutely devastating. 9/10 Remember the Night (1940) - Very cute and charming Christmas movie with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. Stanwyck is  as always. 7/10 The Blue Dahlia (1946) - Great film noir with a fantastic performance from William Bendix in particular. Its photography may not be as stylish as other classics but having read and loved a ton of Chandler novels earlier this year, it was easy to love the screenplay. 8/10 Cash on Demand (1961) - I caught this on TCM as well, Mattsby! Enjoyed this tense little heist noir. Wonderful Peter Cushing performance. 7/10 Maestro (2023) - Its got bits and pieces that are good but altogether it feels very disjointed. 6/10 The Nun (1966) - Got this from the library during my little break from finishing up Rivette's Out 1. Really fantastic with a stunning Anna Karina. 8/10
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Post by ingmarhepburn on Dec 27, 2023 0:22:00 GMT
Running Scared (1986)
American Psycho (2000)
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Dec 27, 2023 0:26:12 GMT
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny - 3
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour - 8.5
Earth Mama - 7.5
Little Richard: I Am Everything - 7
Totally Killer - 7.5
Dumb Money - 4
The Boy and the Heron - 7
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hilderic
Junior Member
Posts: 306
Likes: 132
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Post by hilderic on Dec 29, 2023 18:43:44 GMT
I Remember You Leaving All the Time
The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz
Midnight Cowboy
Varieté
Bubble Bath
Christmas in Connecticut
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as always. 7/10
