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Post by Martin Stett on Nov 19, 2018 15:57:48 GMT
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968) -- Never seen any of these Hammer Dracula movies before. Can't say I'm impressed. It gets pretty funny when Dracula's deep evil causes him to drive offroad to prove how much of a monster he is, and the ending is admittedly hilarious. But mostly it's just dull, as everyone talks and talks about beer and atheism and science and a bunch of other things that never become important. 5/10
Made in Dagenham (2010) -- It starts off as an effective crowd pleaser, but after repeating the same scene for the fifth time it got a bit dull. Bob Hoskins is always a blast to watch, and Richard Schiff made a good villain. 5/10
Breaking Bad (Season 1) -- I don't think the show is especially deep, but it sure is fun to watch. If all of this is revealed to be an extended backstory for some new Batman villain, I'd be down for that. 7/10
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Post by Johnny_Hellzapoppin on Nov 19, 2018 20:41:51 GMT
Incredibles 2 7.5/10
The First Purge 4/10
Bohemian Rhapsody 7/10
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs 7.5/10
Cam 6.5/10
Suspiria 8.5/10
I supposed you'd call that an average quality week, which makes sense as they all come from 2018, which is proving to be a very average sorta year in film.
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Post by JangoB on Nov 19, 2018 23:00:49 GMT
What's Up, Doc? - REWATCH. Utterly hilarious from beginning to end (I really think this is one of the very few films where every single gag works) and pretty much perfect. A comedic masterpiece.
At Long Last Love - I enjoyed this very much even though it wasn't a hundred percent perfect (sometimes it drags a little). The stylization is done very well, the black-and-white in color visual concept is pretty terrific and the cast is wholly entertaining. The flawed (and live) singing and dancing actually brings some spontaniety and relatability to the film. Its reputation as a total POS is really overblown.
They All Laughed - A huge disappointment. Bogdanovich's favorite of his films (which I guess is mainly due to personal reasons having to do with Dorothy Stratten) unfortunately didn't resonate with me at all. Not much of a story here, nothing much in terms of characters either - the movie's so light that it seems like it may evaporate at any moment. For a romantic comedy it wasn't too romantic or funny but there are charming scenes here and there.
The Rose Tattoo - An enjoyably crazy and surprisingly funny Tennessee Williams adaptation featuring a very good performance by Anna Magnani and a totally unhinged and completely silly OTT turn from Burt Lancaster which has to be seen to be believed.
The Heartbreak Kid - If all so-called romcoms were more like this, I'd like the genre much more (mind you, this is not the 2007 Farrelly version - I watched the 1972 film). It's funny all right but there's also a lot of truth and pain in it, and the tone is mostly realistic. Awesome subversion of expectations as far as the three main chracters are concerned as well.
Texasville - A 20-years-later sequel to "The Last Picture Show" probably sounded like a bad, bad idea but you know...this film was shockingly great. It ain't the original, but nothing really is and it didn't really need to be - the characters have grown and changed, which is only natural, and the place is still the same, which is also natural. And it's exactly how terrifically Bogdanovich captures both the evolution of those people and the sense of their town that makes the film so wonderful. I felt completely transported to that town and its community. Even the way he shot it is pretty great - it's in color now but the compositions and the way he cuts is just like it was in the original movie. There's apparently a half-hour longer director's cut somewhere which is more serious and which Bogdanovich vastly prefers but I wasn't able to find it. And I actually don't mind since the theatrical cut already seemed pretty terrific to me.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs - Top tier stuff from the Coen brothers. An all-encompassing examination of death in many of its iterations - cruel, ironic, just, strange. I loved all the stories and just found the cumulative experience to be completely fascinating. It's also insanely gorgeous from a visual standpoint. Each segment has its own distinct look and all of them are realized perfectly. Another amazing film by the Coens.
Madeline's Madeline - An annoying and sort of dull attempt to show off what the director probably perceives as 'different' type of filmmaking, but the performances make it all more tolerable. I felt bad for the mother the whole time.
The Night of the Hunter - REWATCH. I didn't like it much when I saw it back in the day but now I finally get it and it seems so weird that I didn't back then. A totally great work which just shows you what a great cinematic experiment really is. The transition of the movie into a fairy tale when the kids set off on their journey is just some of the most powerful and majestic filmmaking in history.
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Post by Mattsby on Nov 19, 2018 23:20:11 GMT
Jumped around on FilmStruck.... I liked 'em all..... The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) > Idk why I waited so long for this, it's great. Simple but smart and stripped of artifice. Character study that fits into the same place a violent, urban grit and melancholic existential depth. The "You gotta work hard to be comfortable" monologue is actually terrific and heartbreaking. Minbo: the Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion (1992) > Pacing problems aside, great score, very well acted, and funny; a daring, important satire. Orson Welles: the One-Man Band (1995) > Must see for Welles fans and actually (though now dated) better than They'll Love Me When I'm Dead. Highlights are a terrifically acted scene from Welles in his aborted The Dreamers project and a bunch of Monty Python esque London skits that are whimsical and hilarious. Stage Door (1937) > Lively ensemble, ultimately kind of inspiring in its hat-tip to Art (in this case, acting), its pull, its power, its importance, its community. Cry Terror! (1958) > Solid b-noir, entertaining, crisply shot. The Rite (1969) > Snappy, salacious, stagey psychodrama from Bergman, impressively minimal, disturbing, very well written and at times hilariously so. ( thx pacinoyes your mention reminded me I never saw it!) |
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Post by pacinoyes on Nov 20, 2018 0:33:31 GMT
The Rite is a very subversive work - not everybody likes it but its one of his films that shows a whole other side of him - and disarms people. It also has one of my pet loves in it - this idea that Art can be or more to the point needs to be dangerous - that is an idea that is almost entirely absent from American films but many of my favorite non-US artists have broached it - Bergman, Herzog (Heart of Glass, Fitzcarraldo) and ........actually Argento - they have all argued that the very work you are watching could drive the character or more explicitly YOU mad, change your morals, or in the case of Argento at least could.........literally kill you  |
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Post by Pittsnogle_Goggins on Nov 20, 2018 0:48:28 GMT
Widows
The Losers
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Post by mhynson27 on Nov 20, 2018 1:17:25 GMT
Finding Nemo (re-watch)
Suspiria (2018)
Kong: Skull Island
Batman Begins (re-watch)
Panic Room
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Ant-Man and the Wasp (re-watch)
Django Unchained (re-watch)
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Post by Mattsby on Nov 20, 2018 2:14:42 GMT
The Rite is a very subversive work - not everybody likes it but its one of his films that shows a whole other side of him - and disarms people. It also has one of my pet loves in it - this idea that Art can be or more to the point needs to be dangerous - that is an idea that is almost entirely absent from American films but many of my favorite non-US artists have broached it - Bergman, Herzog (Heart of Glass, Fitzcarraldo) and ........actually Argento - they have all argued that the very work you are watching could drive the character or more explicitly YOU mad, change your morals, or in the case of Argento at least could.........literally kill you It's amazing to think something this provocative was a product of television and made in '68-69. If critics or audiences called it out for its obscenity they'd in a way be supporting the point of the film lol. Shot in 9 days! and Bergman referred to it as "an exercise for camera and four entertainers." Which is funny bc the brilliance is in the script I think-- the dialogue, satiric swipes, compelling stir of themes, its willingness too. The camerawork and editing do add and give a spark to it all. Indie filmmakers take note-- two rooms and a few actors, that's all. That great Orson Welles quote comes to mind - "The enemy of Art is the absence of limitations." Also its ideas of art as "incendiary" and the cheeky disregard for censorship edict-- kinda reminded me of the UK Video Nasty ban in the '80s which I think would make a great context or starting point for a movie. |
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Post by therealcomicman117 on Nov 20, 2018 15:10:09 GMT
The Informant - 7.5 / 10
The Mask of Zorro - 8 / 10
Legend (U.S. Cut) - 6 / 10
Bohemian Rhapsody - Mixed bag. I really enjoyed the concert scenes and thought they were edited superbly, but the generic biopic nature of the film (which is what Brian May wanted), really drags the picture down a bit for me. Rami Malek is fantastic though, he really manages to recreate Mercury's mannerism superbly, and even though he won't be nominated, he's definitely deserving of an Oscar nom. I just wish a more interesting take had been done on same said material. - 6 / 10
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Post by Pavan on Nov 21, 2018 20:00:23 GMT
Outlaw King (2018)- 7/10
Love, Simon (2018)- 7.5/10
BlacKkKlansman (2018)- 7.5/10
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)- 6.5/10
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)- 7.5/10
Legends of the Fall (1994)- 7/10
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