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Post by Pavan on Apr 11, 2023 10:39:19 GMT
Murder Mystery 2 (2023)-
Not much mystery solving here but the cast did offer some fun. 5 stars for some mild fun and one star for Melanie Laurent- 6/10
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Post by MsMovieStar on Apr 11, 2023 14:14:46 GMT
Last Holiday (2006) rewatch. Oh honey, this is such a cute, rainy afternoon feel good movie. 7/10
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Post by Martin Stett on Apr 11, 2023 16:34:09 GMT
2012 Scavenger Hunt #2
36 (Director: Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit) "I just want to remember." I've been mooning over Thamrongrattanarit for a year now, so it's about time I go back to his debut feature. This is a cute tale about a location scout named Sai (Koramat Vajrasthira) and an art director named Oom (Wanlop Rungkamjad) who fall in love over the course of scouting for a movie. The romance is portrayed realistically: two professionals bonding over their work and gently drifting closer. And then the movie changes tack. Sai is working on new projects, and we follow her work. She remains professional, taking pictures and discussing locations with her director. But as the movie goes on, it slowly reveals a pain at the center of her life. Nothing debilitating, nothing that keeps her from being functioning. But Oom is no longer there, and their breakup is revealed in offhand comments, small phrases that are mentioned offhandedly and disappear into larger conversations. There is nothing groundbreaking to this approach, but there is a refreshing realism and honest to it. Thamrongrattanarit's defining characteristic is his ability to portray his character's struggles as small things that they go through every day of their lives. They work and they smile and sometimes, when it doesn't affect anyone else, they allow themselves to hurt. I'm reminded of a line from a Vashti Bunyan song as I watch 36 (and all of his other movies): "Don't you go worrying about me... I'm only as sad as I want to be." Sai's sadness isn't a crushing weight, but rather an old scar that never completely heals and aches dully when the weather turns. And it's okay to indulge it, just for a little while. It's okay to hurt, so long as you pick yourself up afterwards. There are less successful elements. The philosophizing over whether one should take a photo to preserve a moment or simply experience it and recall the memory - a repeated argument over the course of the movie - is trite and pointless and so much of the film's runtime is spent on this that it weakens the dramatic core. The formalism of Thamrongrattanrit's approach (the film consists of 36 static shots) takes getting used to as well. But these are pretty nitpicky complaints, truth be told.
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Post by Martin Stett on Apr 11, 2023 16:50:42 GMT
I have no joke about 70 horror films to do my thing on... but I need to highlight two: I'm Haunted and Horror on the High Desert 2... because they were actually scary. Both are on Tubi. I still can't get over her first name being "Genesis" ffs .......like if you name your fncking kid after a book of the Bible you're just inviting that demon shit ......I've talked about my ex-friend "Revelations" (her middle name was "666" btw) on here before, right?...... Ugh...........what a complicated bitch she was *ahem* Revelations.
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Post by MsMovieStar on Apr 12, 2023 5:22:34 GMT
Oh honeys, this was deeply satisfying. Nanni Moretti's movie about family melodrama has excellent pacing and never drags. Margherita Buy, always a pleasure to watch, adds to the humanity. 8/10
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Post by PromNightCarrie on Apr 14, 2023 10:29:03 GMT
Just thoroughly enjoyed one of the most brilliant comedies ever Election. Of course I still give it a 10/10.
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VERITAS
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Post by VERITAS on Apr 18, 2023 0:25:01 GMT
The Tutor (2023) - Plot becomes more nonsensical as it unravels but you roll with it because Garrett Hedlund's so rudely attractive and his drawl is like butter and the "twist" just makes him all the more delectable...if you're depraved and crave a man like that. A thirst viewing through and through. Translation: quality garbage...
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Post by Martin Stett on Apr 19, 2023 0:03:17 GMT
Akiyuki Shinbo Deep Dive #2
Shin Hurricane Polymar (1996)"The micro nuclear warhead within my body has been activated! Within 30 seconds, everything within a 2 mile radius will be ashes!" Early career DTV anime from Shinbo. Decent enough stuff: a silly, exaggerated superhero about a guy donning a supersuit to defeat villains trying to accelerate global warming so humanity will destroy itself (no, really not making this up). The villains - calling themselves the "Cat Sharks" (no, really not making this up) and yell "Shark!" as their battle cry (no, really not making this up) are fun, the character designs are a blast with lots of goofy costumes and wacky character proportions, and we even get boobs! (The perks of DTV...) There is nothing especially noteworthy from a directorial standpoint: a couple of neat shots here and there (I especially liked the fistfight done in silhouette, although Shinbo would later do that concept better in Madoka Magica), but nothing that makes this stand out from similar fare (outside of the aforementioned nudity, which is quite titillating with its full nippled goodness and realistic body proportions on all naked women). This only lasted for two episodes before getting canned - the short length is why I decided to go back and include it in my schedule - and I can see why. It has enough style to be diverting, but nothing more. P.S. Pretty kickass theme song:
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SZilla
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Post by SZilla on Apr 19, 2023 3:31:33 GMT
I watched all 2 and a half hours of John Woo's Red Cliff only to realize by the end that I had watched the abridged version instead of the proper Part 1 and Part 2 like I had been planning
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VERITAS
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Post by VERITAS on Apr 19, 2023 22:12:50 GMT
Beau Is Afraid...of His Engorged Scrotum (2023) - Give Patti LuPone her Oscar NOW. Effectively absurd, draining, frustrating and will definitely be polarising to most (especially as it progresses past a certain great escape right into a lengthy Wes Anderson-ian/formalist community theatre sequence) but it has to be the cruelest, most intricately brutal Mother's Day film put on screen in quite some time. Definitely deserves revisiting soon so I can numb myself/become less enthused to review proper alongside detractors. Also...Mariah Carey...girl...
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Post by Pavan on Apr 22, 2023 13:53:39 GMT
Evil Dead Rise (2023)-
Perhaps the bloodiest and nastiest entry in the franchise. The last 30 min was particularly no holds barred, delivering some peak splatter horror moments. I just wish it had more camp to level out the mean stuff- 6/10
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Post by Pittsnogle_Goggins on Apr 22, 2023 18:50:10 GMT
The Killers (1946). Great stuff. Story unfolded in classic noir fashion with some nice twisted. Gardner was very good and Lancaster had his moments in a nice debut, despite being a bit too OTT at times. Opening scene was especially fantastic.
The Killers (1964). Inferior in almost every way. Still decent with a few very good sequences and a solid performance from Cassevettes. But some of the character motivations made a lot lot sense to me. Changing the fact that Cassevettes knew he was conned by Dickinson and Reagan was far less effective than leaving him thinking he pulled off the double cross and then she left him separately.
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Post by stabcaesar on Apr 22, 2023 19:45:15 GMT
The Cranes Are Flying - Samoilova is absolutely splendid in this film, but I can't get over how ironic this movie is considering current events. Especially the ending.
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Post by Brother Fease on Apr 22, 2023 20:12:59 GMT
Tetris (2023) - 7/10. Solid film. Not as engaging as I would have liked. Very well-done.
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Post by stephen on Apr 23, 2023 15:20:58 GMT
Saint Omer: This one floored me. It felt like a modern version of Anatomy of a Murder. Guslagie Malanda is a force to be reckoned with, and Kayije Kagame was born to be lensed by Claire Mathon. I can't wait to see them in more things.
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Post by Martin Stett on Apr 24, 2023 16:19:26 GMT
2012 Scavenger Hunt #3
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 (Director: Jay Oliva) My first foray into the animated Batman movies... and I'm not at all excited in checking out more. This thing is a cluttered mess. The core concept - old, retired Bruce Wayne finally snaps and dons the uniform to begin hunting baddies because he's lost his damn mind - is interesting enough, but pick an approach and stick with it. There are at least three major plotlines (none of them good) shoved into 70 minutes: Two Face shows up for ten seconds to be immediately arrested, a teenage girl suddenly decides to become a crimefighter and dresses up as Robin and SUCCEEDS AT EVERYTHING SHE EVER ATTEMPTS, and a gang of thugs who talk and dress like punks from Back to the Future 2 while listening to Yellow Magic Orchestra run around the city committing violent crimes for no discernible reason. If any of these were developed into a full story in themselves, maaaaybe this could have been salvaged. Not only that, but there are several setups and hanging threads to be resolved in part 2. Pick a story and tell it, damn it. I trust that this isn't an issue with the original novel. I can see how this could all come together under a competent writer: thematically, the core is questioning Batman's function as a vigilante and how that affects both his personal mental wellbeing and the larger whole of the world around him. But it is all depressingly blunt and straightforward in making sure we *know* these themes and can follow along. The handholding is excessive.
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Post by mhynson27 on Apr 25, 2023 4:01:57 GMT
Beau is Afraid A wild Bill Hader appears. I feel like if Ari shaved an hour off this thing, we could have had something special. Hereditary is still comfortably #1, not sure about the other two.
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Post by stabcaesar on Apr 25, 2023 18:05:03 GMT
Unforgiven - the first 30 or so minutes are fantastic, then the film loses its footing, then it picks up in the final 30-40 minutes or so and hits a home run with that climax. I wouldn’t call it an instant fave or anything, but it’s quite solid, and I say that as a Eastwood/Western hater lol.
Shakespeare in Love is still my #1 90s BP winner, this is #2 for now. I’m only missing Dances with Wolves and Braveheart. I doubt I’d like them tbh but we shall see.
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urbanpatrician
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"I just wanna go back, back to 1999. back to hit me baby one more time" - Charli XCX
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Post by urbanpatrician on Apr 25, 2023 19:37:11 GMT
I’m only missing Dances with Wolves and Braveheart. I doubt I’d like them tbh but we shall see. The 2nd worst and the 3rd worst BP winner of the decade, just to let you know what you could be expecting. The worst, for me, however is Shakespeare in Love. Was fun and witty to watch 18 years ago, but has dated badly - along with American Beauty its age really showed.
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Post by Pittsnogle_Goggins on Apr 25, 2023 20:38:28 GMT
Climax (2018). I’m convinced Gaspar Noe has never taken LSD or remotely has any idea how people spiked on it would behave.
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VERITAS
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Post by VERITAS on Apr 26, 2023 1:07:07 GMT
Climax (2018). I’m convinced Gaspar Noe has never taken LSD or remotely has any idea how people spiked on it would behave. Me when I mistake Gaspar "Master Exaggerator" Noe films for realistic depictions of virtually anything...
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Post by Martin Stett on Apr 26, 2023 18:10:41 GMT
Akiyuki Shinbo Deep Dive #3
Le Portrait de Petit Cosette (2004)Here is the Shinbo I was looking for! Abstract visuals, maximalist horror imagery, lots of sacrilegious crucifixion imagery, a haunting score by Yuki Kajiura... oh honey, give it to me! It's too bad that the story is underdeveloped in its characters, overexplained in its exposition AND makes not one lick of sense. The core concept could serve as a launching pad for a great horror story: A young man running an antique shop falls in love... with a girl he sees inside of a wineglass. He is certain that he's delusional, but becomes more and more attached to watching this girl's life in her castle that only he can see and soon stops caring. When he discovers a portrait of this girl, he learns that she was a real person who was murdered in the 18th century, and that he is not imagining things after all... It's a good hook, but the further in this gets, the more it gets lost in its own pointlessly dense plotting. Knowing that the script isn't up to snuff, Shinbo LOADS this with his now trademark weirdness, trying to distract us from how mediocre and predictable the dramatic stuff actually is. If we are constantly off balance because the director never frames anything in a "normal" (and by "normal" I mean "sane") way, perhaps we'll enjoy it. And although I can't say that I did enjoy this much as a whole, it is definitely fun to see the earliest appearance (that I have found) of the madman's visual style. It may not be enough, but dang does he make a valiant effort to distract us from the script. There is a lot of cool philosophical stuff about idealization and abuse, it really isn't enough to fully salvage the work.
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avnermoriarti
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Post by avnermoriarti on Apr 26, 2023 18:15:47 GMT
Climax (2018). I’m convinced Gaspar Noe has never taken LSD or remotely has any idea how people spiked on it would behave. Me when I mistake Gaspar "Master Exaggerator" Noe films for realistic depictions of virtually anything... Although his latest, Vortex is the mighty exception, I'm a fan in general but that's my favourite..
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VERITAS
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Post by VERITAS on Apr 27, 2023 23:34:32 GMT
Me when I mistake Gaspar "Master Exaggerator" Noe films for realistic depictions of virtually anything... Although his latest, Vortex is the mighty exception, I'm a fan in general but that's my favourite.. Right, haven't gotten around to Vortex mostly because I kept hearing it's an exhausting/depressing endurance test, which is typically my aesthetic, but I've chosen not to find any time for it. Though I also hear Argento's great in it so I might cave...
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 29, 2023 7:11:02 GMT
The Lightest Darkness (2017) on TUBIInteresting Russian indie that's also a bit maddening in how self-referential and like a stunt it feels like - sort of reminds me off those "neo-Giallos" that exist merely to feel like a Giallo without any organic elements - but this time it's Film Noir: A noir shot like it is in the 40s in its look but not (lots of laptops for one thing) - where the characters talk in noir tropes - within a double narrative - one of which goes backwards like Memento.......it doesn't add up to much but is a movie that lives up to its title .....and sort of hints that people like noir because they dislike their own lives.......the detectives in noir investigate crime because they are afraid to investigate themselves.......and those who write it are in love with it in unhealthy ways and maybe are repeating a cycle of suffering........ in a way Unique movie......only partially successful........but you can kill 80 minutes in far worse ways.........with less to think about tbh
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