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Post by Mattsby on Mar 19, 2021 22:47:46 GMT
Place Vendôme (1998) Around 6/10, unlike Uncut Gems, it's a slow and incoherent movie, but worth seeing for the great Deneuve performance. She plays a severe alcoholic who returns to her past employ as savant jeweler and gem dealer. She gives the movie the flux it needs but can't match. Nominated for 12 Césars, at the time only like six movies had done that... So a bit overrated. Nicole Garcia's next movie The Adversary gets another quality perf from its star lead.
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Post by MsMovieStar on Mar 20, 2021 13:51:51 GMT
Oh honeys, sometimes older is better! Viktor und Viktoria (1933) 8/10This was so much more superior to the 1980s Julie Andrews remake which didn't have the lightness of comedy, the frivolity and slapstick routines. Although it is a talkie, Gloria Swanson was right when she said that actors had faces then, and they knew how to use them... so much is so comically conveyed in the scene below, with no dialogue just facial expressions (Nicole would have been stumped!).
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Javi
Badass
Posts: 1,563
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Post by Javi on Mar 20, 2021 16:41:55 GMT
Days and Nights in the Forest (1970) - Top-tier Satyajit Ray, just a notch below The Music Room and the Apu films. Seems harmless enough—it's about four buddies in their twenties who go to rural India on vacation. The "real India" has become a holiday spot, and the four men try their damnedest to set themselves apart from the lowly country people and their habits, their speech, their look. They are sophisticated city people, or so they would have you believe. But, neither Westerners nor Indians, they've no idea what they're stepping into: they've no understanding of their country anymore, except the things that bring them shame. With three amazing female characters, perhaps even more richly written and surprising than their male counterparts. The overall mood suggests Ray's hero Jean Renoir (a more decadent Partie de Campagne maybe), but the revelations are damning, modern, and uniquely Ray's. It's an Indian artist's response to imperialism, but the foreign powers don't make a single appearance. They don't have to. This makes for an unlikely companion piece to Australia's The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith.
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Post by stabcaesar on Mar 20, 2021 16:53:01 GMT
Minari - It was fine. Nothing about it was particularly groundbreaking, the roles were actually quite thinly-written, so the love it received is quite jarring imo. Youn and Han were the best of the cast by far. 7/10.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 - I liked the use of historical footages, and I thought the prologue was strong, the rest of the film was watchable (for the most part), until that utterly trashy ending. The cast was extremely uneven. Keaton and Langella were the best by a mile (Langella laughably kept banging the table in the end notwithstanding, which wasn't his fault), Redmayne was tolerable, Sacha Baron Cohen's accent was terrible, and Jeremy Strong was flat-out atrocious. I guess 6/10.
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Post by Miles Morales on Mar 20, 2021 21:37:15 GMT
Foxcatcher - 8.5/10
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Post by pacinoyes on Mar 20, 2021 23:47:07 GMT
Wild Target (1993) - 7.5 /10 rewatchThis is the original not the more pedestrian and limp English language remake with Bill Nighy and Emily Blunt. The director - Pierre Salvadori made one of the best modern comedy films with his next movie - Les Apprentis (1995) - and this one is a great test run for that in the same black comedy tone.......... with Death looming ominously. Jean Rochefort and the real life cursed duo of Guillaume Depardieu and Marie Trintignant play the material in a marvelous droll and deadpan way - and like Les Apprentis it's eminently quotable too.
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Post by stephen on Mar 21, 2021 15:09:07 GMT
Rewatched Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World last night. This movie is a bonafide master(and commander)piece from start to finish. It's so lovingly crafted and beautifully shot, and I especially love how Weir and Co. establish the dynamics of the crew without having to go too expository about it. Their interactions inform the characters' histories, and we feel immediately part of the Surprise family. That's a herculean achievement with so broad a cast. Even the most minor of background players have their moments and fascinating interactions (the kid midshipmen, Black Bill and Killick, Awkward Davies et al.). Crowe's at his absolute peak here, and I'd rate this as his third-best performance overall in his career after Maximus and Bud White. He's fiercely energetic as Lucky Jack Aubrey, undeniably charming, and yet there's a grit and steeliness to him that makes him a fearsome figure of authority. And I do have to say that for an actor who has a history of having great chemistry with his co-stars, his relationship with Paul Bettany is the strongest and most endearing of his career. (Seriously, if you were to tell me that Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly are in a throuple with Crowe in real life, I'd believe it.) Bettany, for his part, absolutely and perfectly embodies Stephen Maturin's dedication, his endless fascination with all things nature-based, and his conflicts with Crowe are so painfully real. Beautiful work from both men. Weir's direction is first-rate, and it really is a shame this had to come out the year of Return of the King, as I think it would've swept the field if it had been delayed one more year. This film is perfect. (Also, can we talk about how it has literally one of the best final exchanges in any film: "Well, Stephen... the bird's flightless?" "Yes." "It's not going anywhere.")
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Post by pacinoyes on Mar 21, 2021 15:33:49 GMT
Carbon (2017) 6+ / 10Reuniting the stars of Chabrol's marvelous The Bridesmaid - now older - Benoît Magimel and Laura Smet are joined by GOAT contender Depardieu as the father in law - this crime film drops the better family drama part with genuine fireworks for gangster cliche. Has a few great scenes but is pretty much by the book and the lines you remember are all from the domestic side of things - Depardieu telling us that Napoléon always had a plan B and who he is, is the one with the money in case you had to ask, and that he'll talk to Magimel any way he wants to in front of his daughter and grandson. Could have been great with a change in focus...
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Post by theycallmemrfish on Mar 21, 2021 20:37:15 GMT
The Last Exorcism - Thoroughly enjoyed this. Doesn't reinvent the wheel or anything but it's simple and successful in what it set out to do. Also, sidenote: lit a candle in my bathroom and forgot about it and after the movie was over went in there to pee and got a hella scare opening the door to a burning candle.
The Cloverfield Paradox - The first 30/45 minutes or so I kept thinking to myself, "this isn't nearly as bad as people were saying" aaaaaannnnnnddddddd then that last hour happened. I honestly can't even think of a remedy that would help the movie other than git gud. Such a waste of a good cast.
The Block Island Sound - Moody, atmospheric, and ultimately a let down. The movie had a really interesting premise that just turned dumb at the end. Super abrupt ending too.
The House of the Devil - Ugh. Add this to the heaping pile of homage to horror past. Listen, there's nothing wrong with giving a nod to a different age of horror but that best not be ALL your movie has going for you (VFW is a prime example of doing it right). This was a nothing story with no scares.
Hunter Hunter - A heckuva slow burn met with a fucking intense finale. Well fucking done.
She Dies Tomorrow - 84% on RT. This movie made no fucking sense. This is a movie an 18 year old makes after hearing their favorite professor talk about existentialism for the first time. "I'm going to die tomorrow" was said about a hundred times in less than 90 minutes despite the fact that the first 15 minutes of the movie is watching some girl writhing on the floor with nearly no dialogue... and then again she goes dune buggy-ing for a solid 5 minutes later on in the film. Right there is 20 minutes of no dialogue in a 90 minute movie and they still manage to say "I'm going to die tomorrow" at least a hundred times. The movie would have been a lot fucking better if they just died today. EIGHTY FOUR ON ROTTEN TOMATOES WITH 150+ REVIEWS COUNTED! This can join Pilgrim and 12 Hour Shift and fuck right off.
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Post by stephen on Mar 22, 2021 2:15:01 GMT
Hunter Hunter - A heckuva slow burn met with a fucking intense finale. Well fucking done. This movie is so fucking rad.
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Post by mhynson27 on Mar 22, 2021 3:03:28 GMT
One Night in Miami...
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Post by theycallmemrfish on Mar 22, 2021 6:37:28 GMT
Alone - Usually I do these in batches but I had to say this movie was damn near perfection and I don't use that phrase lightly. White knuckling for over an hour. Amazing stuff. Definitely check this out, it's on Hulu.
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Post by Pavan on Mar 22, 2021 15:31:20 GMT
The Courier (2021)-
A spy thriller set in the backdrop of the Cuban missile crisis should be more engaging than this. Cumberbatch's committed performance and the last 30 odd min are pretty good and this is where the film scores- 6.5/10
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Post by Pavan on Mar 22, 2021 19:40:31 GMT
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)-
Not a fan of these films but i thought this is better than the first film mostly thanks to Maria Bakalova's charming performance- 6.5/10
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Post by theycallmemrfish on Mar 22, 2021 20:03:15 GMT
Godzilla: King of the Monsters - Wasn't a fan of the first one... wasn't a fan of Kong: Skull Island (I still get the giggles knowing that a full blown military force can't do shit to a Titan, but one flare from Brie Larson causes it its downfall)... and I sure as shit wasn't a fan of this one. Chandler does a good job selling what has to be one of the most ludicrous plots of all time (ECO TERRORISTS???!?!) and the film makes Vera Farminga probably the biggest mass murderer in history real or fictional. Some of the fights were fun enough but they were few and far between.
Still, I'll be watching Kong v. Godzilla.
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Post by MsMovieStar on Mar 22, 2021 21:24:58 GMT
Oh honeys, another screwball comedy from 1930s Germany: Allotria (Tomfoolery) 1936 7/10 starring the same duo from Viktor und Viktoria, Adolf Wohlbrück and Renate Müller. This one wasn't as good as the other, but was still very enjoyable. I've just looked up both actors and both had interesting histories: Adolf Wohlbrück was half Jewish & gay and fled the Nazis to England where he changed his name to Anton Walbrook, learnt English and successfully continued his acting career starring in some important British movies. Pretty, talented, blonde Renate Müller was less fortunate and died in 1937 under mysterious circumstances aged 31, some say murdered by the Nazis for refusing to cooperate; suicide after being forced to break-up with a Jewish lover; epilepsy; or drunkenly falling from a window. I'm quite shocked and saddened to read this on her wiki page. Full movie on youtube
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Post by mhynson27 on Mar 23, 2021 8:02:51 GMT
Hillbilly Elegy
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Post by stabcaesar on Mar 23, 2021 17:02:23 GMT
Judas and the Black Messiah - Strong across the board. I knew nothing about Hampton's murder so it was great to learn a bit about history. The cast was pretty fucking extraordinary, with Kaluuya being the MVP. His speeches blew me away. Stanfield and Fishback were excellent, too. It really makes Chicago 7 look like a high school stage play in comparison. 8/10.
Mank - I was prepared to hate it through and through so it exceeded my expectations. The exquisite camerawork definitely elevated it by a few notches, and Seyfried was a pleasant surprise. I definitely didn't have high hopes for this role at all. The weakness of this film, though, lies in the fact that the narrative was just really inconsequential. Really couldn't give two shits about Mankiewicz himself (though Oldman was solid here). 6.5/10 probably.
Pieces of a Woman - I really liked the first 25 minutes and the last 25 minutes (minus the silly epilogue), the rest of the film was unfortunately totally imbalanced. Basically when the focus was on Laboeuf, it was bad (though not exactly his fault). Vanessa Kirby, though, carried the film like a boss. This bitch could make burping look hot. She played every fiber of Martha's pain with incredible grace and honesty, with the court scene being the highlight. I don't really get the hype about Burstyn, though. I thought she was mostly going through the motions. Anyway I know Mulligan is the favourite to win at this point (and I'm glad) but I would have no problem if Kirby pulls a stunning upset in the end. 7/10.
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Post by Mattsby on Mar 23, 2021 18:33:00 GMT
The Longest Night (1936) is actually MGM's shortest feature, at 50m. Set in a locked-down department store after a robbery, with a funny assortment of people, including kleptomaniacs and vengeful cleaning ladies. One woman says, "I wanna go home! I have things to feed and a husband to do!" Marx brothers remade this movie a few years later. It's lightweight but fun.
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Post by wilcinema on Mar 23, 2021 23:31:35 GMT
Kill List: Directed with flair, acted with intensity, but after a strong start and an explosive second act, it ruins everything with the nonsensical, over-the-top, ridiculous third act. It was supposed to be shocking and horrific but I couldn’t take that shit seriously for one second.
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Post by pacinoyes on Mar 24, 2021 0:12:42 GMT
Kill List: Directed with flair, acted with intensity, but after a strong start and an explosive second act, it ruins everything with the nonsensical, over-the-top, ridiculous third act. It was supposed to be shocking and horrific but I couldn’t take that shit seriously for one second. ^ There's a brief scene (in the midst of a longer, famous scene) that always sticks with me - when the man says to him "Does he know who you are?........He doesn't does he? Before he comes back I just want to say thank you and I'm glad I met you"............something like that - I love that moment........the movie and ending however never comes close to delivering on that little piece of ominous dread.........I've watched it multiple times thinking it must be me and it's not - it's just a tremendously unsatisfying movie........ugh.
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Post by wilcinema on Mar 24, 2021 10:08:27 GMT
Kill List: Directed with flair, acted with intensity, but after a strong start and an explosive second act, it ruins everything with the nonsensical, over-the-top, ridiculous third act. It was supposed to be shocking and horrific but I couldn’t take that shit seriously for one second. ^ There's a brief scene (in the midst of a longer, famous scene) that always sticks with me - when the man says to him "Does he know who you are?........He doesn't does he? Before he comes back I just want to say thank you and I'm glad I met you"............something like that - I love that moment........the movie and ending however never comes close to delivering on that little piece of ominous dread.........I've watched it multiple times thinking it must be me and it's not - it's just a tremendously unsatisfying movie........ugh. Yeah, I loved that scene, and the deliberate absence of exposition would have worked with a better ending. Talk about an amazing build-up and a deflating delivery.
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Post by Pittsnogle_Goggins on Mar 24, 2021 21:15:31 GMT
Another Round. Yep, really good. Mads was fantastic.
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Post by jakesully on Mar 25, 2021 0:45:18 GMT
Marvin's Room (First viewing of this and I loved it) Can't believe I have never seen it before. (its streaming on HBO Max) The entire cast was great esp Dicaprio & Streep as his mother. Speaking of Dicaprio , he was so damn young looking in this as the troubled/ pyro teen. IMO he gave a damn impressive performance esp at a young age. Kudos to him. 7.5/10
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Post by jakesully on Mar 25, 2021 1:16:30 GMT
Alien: Covenant (re watch) Caught this on the FX channel today. Thought it would maybe improve on a re watch but nope...still a misfire from Sir Ridley Scott ( oh well he's still cool as hell in my book) Some of the kills were definitely cool and gory as hell but it can't match the original Alien trilogy or even Prometheus ( Idid like the duel performances from Fassbender though, esp when he was playing the flute lol)
5.5/10
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