What movies did you see last week? (10/8-10/14)

First Watch

Cannibal Holocaust (1980) 6/10
22 July (2018) 8/10
Apostle (2018) 9/10
Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017) 7.5/10
Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil (2018) 8/10
First Man (2018) 6/10

Rewatch

Fright Night Part 2 (1988) 6/10
Dead Silence (2007) 5/10
The Woman in Black (2012) 6.5/10

A Star is Born - I loved it. Cooper's doing a fantastic job both in front and behind the camera proving himself to be a wonderful storyteller who really understand how to work with the emotional content of his piece and with the actors. His performance is excellent but it is Lady Gaga who completely floored me here, and believe me when I say that I was totally sceptical prior to watching the film. She's just completely natural, radiant and heartbreaking here and I will be rooting for her hard during this awards season even though she's a bit like a robot during all the interviews. Just makes the performance here all the more impressive. I also love that Cooper switched the focus from career jealousy in his version which just made it all the more compelling. Awesome film.

Venom - Tom Hardy's surely having a blast. I thoroughly enjoyed his highly entertaining turn here as well as all his scenes with his symbiote alter ego. But the rest of the movie is just utterly forgettable and mediocre with everything operating on complete autopilot. I didn't find it to be a terrible cinematic experience but that sure doesn't make it good. The biggest disappointment is the lack of at least one exciting setpiece - the action sequences are sparse and really rather ordinary. And the climactic symbiote battle is basically incomprehensible from a visual standpoint. But hey, at least Hardy's giving it his all.

22 July - Not among the best Greengrass films but solid good work nonetheless. It does a fine job giving us the overall sense of what that horrific event was and what it meant for the people and for the country, but despite accomplishing that general goal the movie isn't as impressive when it comes down to the individual storylines. Everything just seems overly simplified, especially from a script standpoint. But it has an emotional pull and as far as these docu-dramas go this one's pretty decent. But I do have to say that I was a little disappointed even though I liked it.

Chloe in the Afternoon - One of Rohmer's very best - a pitch perfect culmination of the 'Six Moral Tales' cycle and just a great fucking film. I love Rohmer so much.

Little Vera - A seminal piece of Soviet cinema which is always fascinating despite being quite imperfect. If anyone's interested to see a film that honestly depicts the lives of common Soviet people (and really, even though it's from 1988 it's pretty much how many live in our country nowadays in the smaller cities), then this is a must.

The Bodyguard - Total cheese but such damn tasty cheese. I enjoyed this very much despite the obvious silliness and predictability of the script - it's a film that never pretends to be anything else beyond this total piece of entertainment and I think it succeeds on that front. Costner is awesome as always while Whitney is not great as an actress but is totally watchable thanks to her charisma and screen presence. I also appreciated the visual style of the film with its strong blue tones and how Mick Jackson creates a sense of claustrophobia through his use of lens and close-ups. Oh, and that Oscars climax? Delicious fromage of the highest order.

A Star is Born (2018) - liked it, dragged a lot in the end. Some of these think-pieces have merit, but are way too tryhard. 7.5/10

The Love Witch (2016) - watched solely on word of mouth reviews; so i had no idea what i was getting into. I went to a showing at an Alamo where they do trailers tailored for the movie showing. So when I was getting full nudity and sexploitation trailers, I knew. Also I went alone and the cute waitress was taking my order as one of those trailers was playing there was moaning and she started to laugh. The only time I ever felt weird to go to a film by myself. Loved the hell out of this though. 9.5/10

The 400 Blows [re-watch] (1959) - went to see this on film and it's good, but doesn't deserve the ****all-timer**** status it has. A little to straight forward. Also Justin Pierre from Motion City Soundtrack unveiled some new tunes he was releasing the day after which was fun, but bizarre. 8/10

First Man (2018) - I liked this quite a bit, the entire moon sequence was exceptional, Also no shit that , but it hit me. Not a real complaint. Sound design is showy and delivers, all-time level sound. 9/10

The Old Man and the Gun (2018) - Charm incarnate. 8/10

Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) - every year I have a acting catch-phrase from "The real ATJ" to now "Lewis goddamn Pullman" and will be referring to him as such until he gets nominated for an AMARA. - 9.5/10

Oceans Eight [re-watch] (2018) - watched with parents and Grandma, and they were all having a blast. Feels a little light and the heist didn't have any drama or tension, it just kinda happens, but cast is aces (minus Daswani) - 7/10

Audition (2000) - Love me some slow-burn horror, but this was kinda dull and didn't do any tension building until 1hr into the run-time. But once it hits, it stings. the last half-hour was terrific. 7/10

Who Can Kill a Child? (1976) - Saw it in a packed theater. I thought the actual narrative was great, hated the coda at the beginning especially when you have another character later on fore-shadow the later events. Pretty tense. 7.5/10