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Post by cheesecake on Jan 4, 2021 17:46:31 GMT
Black Bear (2020): Parts of this don't work at all but the parts that do work are kinda exhilarating. Don't wanna say too much else about this, I went into it pretty blind and I can't recommend enough doing the same. Love Aubrey Plaza in this, Christopher Abbott and Sarah Gadon are pretty great too. I feel the same way. Went in blind and it was such a weird mix of loving what was going on and cringing at the same time. Haha. Mostly liked it.
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Post by stephen on Jan 4, 2021 18:51:15 GMT
Drive (re watch for the million time ) This film never gets old. I love it so much 10/10 Wanna toothpick?
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Post by wilcinema on Jan 5, 2021 8:28:27 GMT
Presumed Innocent: I'm a total sucker for courtroom dramas. This one didn't have much going for it, but it was entertaining.
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 5, 2021 10:59:30 GMT
Shelley (2016) ......... ~7/10 or so (less?) but........ The director here, in hs debut Ali Abbasi was picked in 2020 by Bong Joon-ho (Parasite) as the number 1 young filmmaker to watch in the world who will shape cinema (um) .......( Ari Aster was number 2) off of two films. Haven't seen his other one but he's something to fight over anyway. Abbasi an Iranian who lives works in Denmark has made a baffling, fascinating and utterly impenetrable film one that is impressive and flawed in equal measure. This movie is very difficult to read, glacially paced for horror (nothing horrific happens arguably but it's horrifically odd and foreboding) with several scenes of shaky acting too. It's also gorgeously shot, suitably creepy and sinister in its effect on you with a pulsating sound design and odd editing where scenes cut off abruptly a beat or two early. My gf loved this movie and when she said why I thought "NONE of that is actually in this movie" - that's how much it ties into how you read it. Sort of like a cross between Bergman....... Rosemary's Baby..... Cronenberg and The Omen this is a real headscratcher. 91% RT ........ 5.2 on IMDB......I could believe any numbers there and depending how big Abbasi becomes I could see people one day raving this or calling it an absolute piece of junk.
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Post by Pavan on Jan 5, 2021 19:25:31 GMT
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)-
Tightly written and intensely performed. The courtroom portions are the most compelling with them having a distinct feel to other courtroom dramas. Sorkin did a decent job as a director- 7.5/10
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sally
Full Member
Posts: 874
Likes: 614
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Post by sally on Jan 5, 2021 20:43:32 GMT
High and Low (1963) - 10/10
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 5, 2021 22:40:20 GMT
Shelley (2016) ......... ~7/10 or so (less?) but........ The director here, in hs debut Ali Abbasi was picked in 2020 by Bong Joon-ho (Parasite) as the number 1 young filmmaker to watch in the world who will shape cinema (um) .......( Ari Aster was number 2) off of two films. Haven't seen his other one but he's something to fight over anyway. ^ Border (2018) - 7+/10 - This is Ali Abbasi's 2nd film - a totally wtf movie about trolls (yes, trolls) and a whole lot more is a genuinely sad, terrifying and lovely fantasy played absolutely straight. Sort of like Werner Herzog around Even Dwarfs Started Small but not played for anarchist humor but rather a Brothers Grimm type fable with horror and romance overtones. This won Un Certain Regard @ Cannes - and is 97% RT (wtf). This is genuinely weird and harder to classify on a directorial level - you want to laugh at it but then it does something that locks you in. In addition to Herzog some of this reminds me of del Toro or the jerk-off formalism of Peter Strickland. Abbasi had (major) help on the screenplay which is why this works better than Shelley did....... on the other hand, it's about trolls. Abbasi 's 3rd film awaits which will either be a masterpiece or a trainwreck laughingstock at a festival I reckon......
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Post by isabelaolive on Jan 6, 2021 0:26:54 GMT
Another Round (2020) - 8/10 Fantastic film, among the few films released in 2020 that I've watched so far, this is by far the best. The film has a perfect balance between comedy and drama, it's kind of cliché and in many ways predictable, but it's still great. One of the best performances of Mads' career and the supporting cast is also very good.
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Post by Joaquim on Jan 6, 2021 2:22:28 GMT
Ashes of Vengeance (1923): 6/10
making an effort to get back to blitzing through the early years of cinema and making solid lineups this year. it's not even that i got distracted from it last year i barely even watched 30 movies (first time views) in total all of 2020 lol. should be easy to do that this year if i focus on it considering there isn't much of anything coming out this year that appeals to me except maybe dune
anyway this movie wasn't good, wasn't bad either, it was ok. costumes were on point tho
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Post by Mattsby on Jan 6, 2021 19:14:53 GMT
The Portrait of a Lady (1996) 7.5/10 or more. Very underrated, 45% RT. On first watch I was iffy on the movie (too long with some sloppy editing) but liked the perfs. On this rewatch I gave into it and now think it might be Campion's best. It starts in the feminist line of My Brilliant Career - locking out marriage and mores - and then the plot develops and recalls already-made movies A Room with a View, Where Angels Fear to Tread, The Age of Innocence, etc, although Henry James’ book predates those books by decades. It’s also like Dangerous Liaisons with another helping of John Malkovich which brings us to the amazing cast. There’s Malkovich as well as John Gielgud giving the yawn of his life, a trinketed Shelley Duvall, Shelley Winters, Richard E Grant, Viggo Mortensen, Mary Louise Parker, Christian Bale, a heartbreaking Martin Donovan, a brilliant Barbara Hershey (another part Sigourney turned down for Campion after The Piano), and front and center Kidman in one of her very best perfs. Campion’s vision of a typically romantically depicted period is frosty and unsettling… It occurred to me that the movie could even be viewed on mute bc it’s so tightly suggestive and keeps close on eyes and what they observe or hide. Some awkward stylized moments are barely flaws as they do sort of play into the abundant yet unlovely trappings of the movie and the psychological blurring of Isabel Archer.
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Post by jakesully on Jan 6, 2021 23:08:30 GMT
Drive (re watch for the million time ) This film never gets old. I love it so much 10/10 Wanna toothpick? Dying for one! Seriously how cool was Gosling in this film? Its probably my favorite film of 2010s.
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Post by stephen on Jan 6, 2021 23:15:58 GMT
Dying for one! Seriously how cool was Gosling in this film? Its probably my favorite film of 2010s. Too cool for school. It is my #1 of the decade.
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 7, 2021 15:22:53 GMT
Thelma (2017) - ~6/10 ..... Look there are plenty of critically acclaimed (or beloved popular) movies that I find overrated but it's pretty rare when several people I know irl and have recommended a film to me over the years thinking that I'd really dig it based on my taste ...........and that I didn't respond to much at all. Tediously slow paced, but beautifully shot with some neat nuances, this was far more clever than good and far more interesting to talk about than to actually watch. The opening scene (pre-credits) is a dazzling setup - eerie and puzzling ........maybe it should have stayed that way because as it went on and explained more, I cared much less.
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Post by Mattsby on Jan 7, 2021 23:36:48 GMT
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 7, 2021 23:41:49 GMT
The Bloodhound (2020) - 6/10Well crafted and impressively stylized but lacklustre "film" (just 72 minutes!) that takes Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" too literally without its artistry. The two leads make you wish they were better (they evoke a more fey PSH and John Cusack) and while they get better as it goes along they don't make this 2 person piece really take off. It actually works best as a mordant black comedy at the start because the ending doesn't really pay off which is a problem given, um, you know the original story. Interesting idea but in a year of exciting horror-ish movies by young directors - Saint Maud, Possessor, The Swerve - all in my top 10 atm, this is more an interesting failure.
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Post by hugobolso on Jan 8, 2021 1:01:58 GMT
Emma 2020 surprisingly very good. The definitive adaptation. Great perfomance by Anya, but is the sudafrican singer who steal the show as Mr. knightley
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Post by TerryMontana on Jan 8, 2021 17:18:21 GMT
Oliver Twist (2005)
One of Polanski's weakest... 6/10
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 9, 2021 1:30:56 GMT
Raw (2017) - 7.5+ - ~ 8/10Never saw this before and seeing it, it's like a cross between Martin (1978), Dead Ringers (1988) and some found footage of the wildest frat parties ever. There is a scene in this film that is among the most disturbing, "Ew.....I've got to look away scenes" I've seen in Horror recently and several scenes that are extremely (and probably wrongly) erotic. Where those two things meet is where this movie plays out - the primal craving for things both large and small - what you eat, what drives/consumes you physically, mentally, sexually, emotionally. Raw was jag-off Mark Kermode's best film of 2017....not sure I'd go that far but it's definitely on to something.
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Post by Mattsby on Jan 10, 2021 0:37:09 GMT
Mirror Mirror (1990) 6.5/10 rewatch. Available on Prime/Tubi but in letterboxed cheap-cable quality, it's markedly improved by seeing it in HD (it's there on okru) bc the visual atmosphere is a highlight. Starring actress Rainbow Harvest (totally different from her street savvy debut perf in Old Enough), dressed like goth Winona, falling under the murderous spell of her new mirror. Karen Black is her lit-up mother and poor old Yvonne De Carlo does a lot of running around with no help. Its scares are freaky and there are some interesting set-ups, but it tries too hard to be like Carrie, it's less fun than Hello Mary Lou, and introduces a class election (a ripe paralleling of popularity vs possession) but loses that track.
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Post by stabcaesar on Jan 10, 2021 17:14:10 GMT
Fanny and Alexander - 9/10. Exquisite, disturbing, soulful, and hypnotising.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit - 8/10. Very fun. Animation was seamless, Hoskins was great, and Turner was iconic.
Gilda - 7/10. 6 of them are for Rita Hayworth and Rita Hayworth only, the other 1 is for the gorgeous cinematography. The film was like two different films taped together.
Compliance - 9/10. One of the most uncomfortable films I have ever seen in my life. It's immensely sad how legitimately terrified Americans are of the police. Ann Dowd was pitch perfect.
Belle de jour - 7.5/10. Dark, fascinating, and surprisingly funny. Catherine Deneuve was fantastic in it.
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Post by MsMovieStar on Jan 10, 2021 17:58:11 GMT
Fanny and Alexander - 9/10. Exquisite, disturbing, soulful, and hypnotising. Who Framed Roger Rabbit - 8/10. Very fun. Animation was seamless, Hoskins was great, and Turner was iconic. Gilda - 7/10. 6 of them are for Rita Hayworth and Rita Hayworth only, the other 1 is for the gorgeous cinematography. The film was like two different films taped together. Compliance - 9/10. One of the most uncomfortable films I have ever seen in my life. It's immensely sad how legitimately terrified Americans are of the police. Ann Dowd was pitch perfect. Belle de jour - 7.5/10. Dark, fascinating, and surprisingly funny. Catherine Deneuve was fantastic in it. Oh honey, I just love Belle de Jour! What do you think was in the box?
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Post by Viced on Jan 10, 2021 18:09:12 GMT
A Special Day (1977)Pretty remarkable. Two (apparently) different people coming together and saving each other in a unique, somewhat fucked up, and beautiful way. Was not expecting this to go in almost any of the directions that it did, which made it all the more compelling. Heavy subject matter handled very impressively... and cinematography that suited the story and time period perfectly. And obviously... Loren and especially Mastroianni were revelatory.
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Post by TerryMontana on Jan 10, 2021 18:40:37 GMT
Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)
Very entertaining.
And the addition of the old dogs De Vito and Glover was fun as hell!!
6.5/10
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Post by Mattsby on Jan 10, 2021 19:38:31 GMT
The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw (2020) - This dropped on Prime yesterday and wasn't on my radar at all. Irish folk horror, only 90m, a Canadian production shot near Calgary on a set built back in the day for Lonesome Dove. This has the pieces to be great (good cast, forward occult twist on its ideas, well done technicals even a few split diopter style shots for me) and starts in a greatly moody way that I almost wanna recommend it - cheesecake stephen pacinoyes - but it underuses the title character, a lot of the action feels too unmotivated, and the second half is a bit stagnant leading to an unsatisfying ending. Idk what to rate bc I liked it more than most of the 2020 horrors... 6 to be cruel, 7 to be kind?
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Post by Mattsby on Jan 10, 2021 22:08:38 GMT
Smithereens (1982) 8/10 - "I just wanna be in a swimming pool, eatin' tacos, and signing autographs, that's all." Richard Hell using beer as hair gel, a van of prostitutes talking about Louis Malle, that soundtrack... What more could ya want.
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