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Post by Mattsby on Jan 27, 2021 19:46:32 GMT
Ravenous (1999) 7/10 rewatch. Considering how the movie throws around tone (campfire horror, cannibal comedy, Western trek, some war) it's amazing it works at all and that a studio paid a bucket of money to even do it - they did make hell of the production tho, replacing the director halfway thru. It might've been a joke which it seems to partly want to be with the opening "Eat me!" title card and the anachronistic dialogue but it instead drums up some great pounding tension in the first half and Carlyle gives a slick, freaky perf that is needed bc Pearce is a total bore here.
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Post by cheesecake on Jan 27, 2021 20:23:33 GMT
Hounds of Love (2016) - 7+/10Another one of those movies I should have seen years ago but didn't.......this is an example of a movie you don't think you'll "like" and maybe shouldn't - its plot is essentially a homicidal couple kidnap, torture and murder young girls. A lot of this is essentially like "Saw" - all kind of horrendous situations you don't want to see. But there's a psychological component to this that is undeniably true and conveyed clearly - and this is one of those movies you'll see get 1 star from some and 4 stars from others - like Henry : Portait of a Serial Killer............or Cruising.....,where the rating, the content, and the intent all are jumbled up and you ask "how distasteful can a movie be and still work?" .......and also that you can't recommend to your casual acquaintances or else they'll think you endorse the content. Oh and a spectacular performance from the lead - Emma Booth - which is often the case in these movies - except the lead isn't who you'd expect here on paper or from the picture on the poster. Booth is INCREDIBLE here. My win.
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Post by cheesecake on Jan 27, 2021 20:24:02 GMT
Run Hide Fight (2020). That was a mistake.
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Post by wilcinema on Jan 27, 2021 22:46:08 GMT
We all loved each other so much (C’eravamo tanto amati) (REWATCH): Scola had a way of hitting you hard with laughter and melancholy that I think no other Italian filmmaker has ever had. Still not convinced this is his masterpiece (that’s still A Special Day for me), but it is one of the great Italian films of the ‘70s anyway.
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Post by MsMovieStar on Jan 28, 2021 18:48:03 GMT
Oh honeys, I actually thought this was a good movie, despite the low rating on IMDb... and I'm not just saying that because its the story of a movie star and I'm a movie star. This is the story of Jean Seberg's persecution by the FBI because of her involvement with Hakim Jamal and the Black Panthers, which is an interesting subject in itself (look him up and the death of Gale Benson). I thought Kristen Stewart held and carried the movie well - I think she gave Seberg's character a certain toughness (which she may not have had in real life) which made her destruction all the more poignant. I hated the odd ending though, which seemed to me to be hugely flawed. There's a great line in this <said to Seberg> , "You roll up in your limo, open your legs, open your checkbook and get what you want!'
I guess that's what being a movie star is all about... Seberg 7/10
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Post by wilcinema on Jan 28, 2021 22:39:33 GMT
The Guilty: Until halfway through, I thought it was just another one-location gimmick thriller, but then there’s a twist that dramatically raises the stakes and makes it almost unbearable to watch. I’m not sure I’m completely satisfied with the way it ties up all the loose ends but it is shot and acted impeccably, and it is narratively gripping and psychologically very compelling.
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 28, 2021 23:16:15 GMT
Terrified ("Aterrados") (2017) - 7/10Argentina horror that throws out silly things like pacing, plot, logic, explanations to be.......sorta totally fncking awesome - and scared me at least a few times. Very much like Insidious and delivers in much the same slam bang way. This is clearly going to be remade I'm sure and probably ruined.......
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Post by wilcinema on Jan 29, 2021 19:38:36 GMT
Film d'amore e d'anarchia ( Love and Anarchy): SENSATIONAL I'm not sure this film can be fully understood by non-Italians, but what Lina Wertmuller does here is crazy hard to pull off. She had to find and incredibly tricky balance between a caricature, grotesque comedy and the tragedy underlying the story of a shy, good-hearted young man on a mission to kill Benito Mussolini during the Fascist regime. Giancarlo Giannini, man, what a fucking actor. Mariangela Melato, the definition of a scene-stealer. It makes an ideal double feature with Il Conformista.
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Post by ingmarhepburn on Jan 29, 2021 21:45:57 GMT
La Ciociara (Two Women, 1960). Well, this "ruined" my evening. I went in completely blind, not knowing what to expect, only to be stomach-punched by its climax. Hard to argue against Loren's Oscar win; her performance feels raw, authentic and incredibly mature (I was surprised when I found out she was only 25 when she did this).
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speeders
Based
Posts: 4,096
Likes: 2,214
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Post by speeders on Jan 29, 2021 23:03:41 GMT
The United States vs. Billie Holiday. This was rough.
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 30, 2021 1:29:46 GMT
Intruder (1989) - 6.5/10 BUT recommended (rewatch)This movie goes to show how important your significant other is and can make or break a movie for you.......especially horror. I saw this before, years ago but watching it now for the first time with my gf I laughed my ass off and she pointed out a billion hilarious things - it was great fun. A very cheap, sometimes comic slasher with Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell (1 scene) and Ted Raimi (all briefly) (in full Xena doofus type role) - this movie goes deep into its runtime with no one getting slashed for quite a while ............and then EVERYBODY starts getting slashed very quickly with a good bit of gore too. Set in a supermarket so there are product placements all over the place and many fun/awful tonal changes from axe murder to a watermelon being cut or raw meat being cut or........... well you get the idea. Prices "slashed" ...........on cereal, um:
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Post by stabcaesar on Jan 30, 2021 18:23:53 GMT
Back to the Future - It was entertaining for sure. 8/10.
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Post by MsMovieStar on Jan 30, 2021 19:00:59 GMT
Oh honeys, I was already familiar with the Billie Holiday story after having read many biographies and also her ghost written autobiography. This is much closer to whatever the truth was than the 1977 Diana Ross movie, (although I'm not sure why they keep inventing these fictional great love stories for her, as her love life was a sorry mess). I really loved this... and if it was mine to give I'd give Andra Day best actress Oscar tomorrow over Viola Davis for Ma Rainey. Her performance was much more complete, not to mention the uncanny vocal imitation. Gorgeous production values, costumes, etc. The United States vs Billie Holiday 8/10
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Post by TerryMontana on Jan 30, 2021 20:37:17 GMT
Zombeavers
I had fun but it was a shitty movie for sure.
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 31, 2021 0:49:05 GMT
Following (1998) - 9/10 billionth rewatchOnly 70 minutes - tight, and not just a stunt - a minor masterpiece from Chris Nolan which is just a brilliantly conceived and executed piece of neo-Hitchcock noose-tightening - I'll take this over everything else he ever did except Memento - ftw. Evoking a sense of bafflement not unlike if he never followed anyone at all - then he would never know but - in fact, the knowing is......far ....worse. Show them what they have....... by taking it away........
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Post by Joaquim on Jan 31, 2021 1:11:00 GMT
Hot summer nights (2017): 7/10
Slammed a few drinks while watching this. Soundtrack pushes it from being mediocre to just good. Lost count of the amount of times I said “Timmy, no”. My guy, ambition is a really great and powerful thing, but you were too ambitious for your own good
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Post by stabcaesar on Jan 31, 2021 17:05:51 GMT
The Last Picture Show - I find parts of it superfluous and derivative. E.g. Joe Bob's pedophilia which served absolutely no purpose to the rest of the film. I guess it's because it was adapted from the novel? Other than that, it was a beautiful experience. The cast was insane. Brennan, Bridges, Burstyn, and especially Johnson and Leachman completely floored me. Definitely one of my recent faves. It's so rare to see a film that managed to be stunningly ethereal and gritty simultaneously. 9/10.
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LaraQ
Badass
English Rose
Posts: 2,312
Likes: 2,844
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Post by LaraQ on Jan 31, 2021 17:25:10 GMT
The Kid Detective. What a gem this film is.Adam Brody is fantastic in it and despite the title,it's not a film for kids.It's actually a neo- noir/dark comedy.8/10.
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Javi
Badass
Posts: 1,546
Likes: 1,629
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Post by Javi on Jan 31, 2021 17:47:41 GMT
Kaos (1984) - I remember Mattsby writing about this and wanting to see this ever since. It's a stunning movie... a transcendental ode to Sicily. Made up of five segments or short stories, and there's a wildness running through them that connects them. The first story, starring Margarita Lozano as a grieving mother, suggests the sfumato technique used in painting. The land, like the mother, is emptying—falling behind the world. The second story, a folk tale about a werewolf, is a flat out masterpiece. It dissolves what stupid preconceptions we might have about the myth. It calls up pity for the beast. And the moonlit, oracular scenes in the far country impose themselves in a way that's hard to describe... you get a deliriously heightened sense of what the moon does to these characters. The third story, a farce on greed, is the weak link. But the fourth picks up the pace, and the epilogue brings deliverance. As the children slide down the rocks and disappear into the Mediterranean, you're blown away by the true scope of the film—an epic born out of a deeply personal longing... an artist's imperative, or in this case, 3: Pirandello, the writer, and the Tavianis, those magnificent poetic bastards. Cinematography by Giuseppe Lanci is GOAT-level. And if I had seen this in time it would've been very high on my 80s list...
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Post by Mattsby on Jan 31, 2021 17:55:57 GMT
Javi As always, a remarkably written review. Kaos was pretty high on my 80s list ! and of the several Tavianis I've seen it remains my favorite.
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Post by Mattsby on Jan 31, 2021 18:33:55 GMT
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (1988) For a decade containing Altman's most negligible work there's also a lot of very good, like this, another one-location pic he did so craftily (Secret Honor and two even better and riskier - Streamers and Come Back to the 5 & Dime). An adaptation of a play based on a novel already made into a classic movie.... but Altman with his signature touch turns it into something unexpectedly funny by making ample use of actor reactions. Altman's long lens and cutaways, a genius that way, suggest a boredom of formality with spikes of shame across the higher ranking, as if seeing the worst of themselves in Lt Queeg a man mutinied.
Solid ensemble: Jeff Daniels, Peter Gallagher, an alarming Brad Davis, and especially a hesitantly sly Eric Bogosian, and a hilariously befuddled Michael Murphy ("Cheese business? I don't recall any cheese business").
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Post by themoviesinner on Jan 31, 2021 19:37:59 GMT
Kaos (1984) - I remember Mattsby writing about this and wanting to see this ever since. It's a stunning movie... a transcendental ode to Sicily. Made up of five segments or short stories, and there's a wildness running through them that connects them. The first story, starring Margarita Lozano as a grieving mother, suggests the sfumato technique used in painting. The land, like the mother, is emptying—falling behind the world. The second story, a folk tale about a werewolf, is a flat out masterpiece. It dissolves what stupid preconceptions we might have about the myth. It calls up pity for the beast. And the moonlit, oracular scenes in the far country impose themselves in a way that's hard to describe... you get a deliriously heightened sense of what the moon does to these characters. The third story, a farce on greed, is the weak link. But the fourth picks up the pace, and the epilogue brings deliverance. As the children slide down the rocks and disappear into the Mediterranean, you're blown away by the true scope of the film—an epic born out of a deeply personal longing... an artist's imperative, or in this case, 3: Pirandello, the writer, and the Tavianis, those magnificent poetic bastards. Cinematography by Giuseppe Lanci is GOAT-level. And if I had seen this in time it would've been very high on my 80s list... Glad to see more fans of this film. It is definitely a tremendous achievement, probably the best anthology film I've seen. And through these five stories the Taviani's deliver a very detailed and profound study of the ethics, traditions and general ethnografic background (and daily life) of the people of Sicily. One of my favourite films of the 80s as well.
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Post by stabcaesar on Feb 1, 2021 11:20:04 GMT
Farewell My Concubine - Ugh. Devastating. Love. Love. Love. 10/10.
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Post by pacinoyes on Feb 1, 2021 11:23:40 GMT
Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid (1973) - Um I dunno a 7.....nah, too low an 8........a 9......if it was an 8 why would I watch it a billlion times anyway.....it's necessary viewing though that defies a rating. Re-watch The other day I called Sean Penn's The Pledge one of the bleakest (and not particularly that good imo) studio movies of this century. Well, this is in some ways the saddest and by extension bleakest American studio movie ever made, period - right up there anyway. Not just sad in its plot - often crushingly so - and in its music, and imagery but in its production itself - which is a batshit crazy one, involving gross (almost unbelievable) studio interference/sabotage towards a guy that just 4 years earlier delivered a masterpiece IN THIS GENRE, the actual THEFT of the movie print itself (?!?), multiple versions and tinkering and with no true "final" version to match Sam Peckinpah's desired intent. But also sad in how it lingers and stings and how elusive and weird and dreamy it is. Its flaws are its strengths - change them, it's just a Western and lose the effect - big deal. Not only that - that's what the movie is about in some way - to a large degree - the meddling of money/circumstance on the man while it eats away at you....... and the horror of that.....because it's horrible. It's also about big things you don't necessarily think about until faced with them where do you want to die at....because, you will .......not "with whom?" or "how?" but "where?"............ask Slim Pickens in one of the great picturesque deaths in American movies. You can say I'm overrating it - that the story behind it is more interesting than the movie, and that may be true .........but the difference between myth and fact is part of the movie too and you can't give that a number rating either.
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Post by jakesully on Feb 1, 2021 12:47:39 GMT
I watched a Russell Crowe double feature the other day.
L.A. Confidential - (re watch). Man I haven't seen this film in forever. Just so damn great . Loaded cast & very good direction. In any other year it probably should have won Best Picture and Best Director but Titanic was just way too big of a film to ignore.
Gladiator - (re watch) Utter masterpiece and top 3 imo Sir Ridley Scott film. Crowe was sensational in this as Maximus and I can't believe Phoenix was only 25 years old when this was filmed. What an amazing performance from him. Well deserved Best Picture winner imo.
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