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Post by Martin Stett on Aug 7, 2023 11:16:51 GMT
My Name (2021 TV series) - Lots of fun hand-to-hand action combat, but a thin script that would have trouble supporting a movie one quarter of this length. Fairly enjoyable turn your mind off fare. 6/10
Magic Mike (2012 rewatch) - The movie surprised me with its maturity in my first go with it, and I was surprised by it again. This is such a thoughtful, moving piece on the pain of not being where you think you *should* be, looking backwards and forwards at thirty years old and seeing no future. It could play as a companion piece to Only Yesterday. 8/10
Fast & Feel Love (2022) - One of the funniest movies of this past decade. ("I want to be a champion ice sculptor!") And yet it perfectly balances the adolescent anxieties of a coming-of-age drama for thirty year olds - director Thamrongrattanarit's specialty - with all of the madcap silliness. How many spoof movies succeed at eliciting real DRAMA in between joking tributes to Parasite and Taken? 9/10
Bound (1996) - Solid genre fare. Nothing groundbreaking or deep, just good noir suspense fun. 7/10
The Fabelmans (2022) - For a few minutes, Spielberg shows what he could do if he devoted his talents to making a full-blown sex comedy. It is glorious. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie is kinda schmaltzy and very, very safe. It is fine for what it is (except for Michelle Williams in a career worst performance... and an otherwise lousy cast, tbh), but pretty much exactly what you would expect of Spielberg making an autobiographical movie. 6/10
Magic Mike XXL (2015) - This falls into the traps the original so expertly avoided. This is a simplistic, jokey hangout movie that is, in every sense, safe. It is formulaic to the bone, an assembly line sequel that gives the audience what they want without ever challenging them. And that's... fine. I don't mind it too much. Some scenes are quite enjoyable, but this is so glossy and shallow in comparison to its predecessor. 5/10
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022) - Unfocused, but entertaining in the moment. As a narrative, this is a complete failure. The on-the-nose fascism stuff feels like it is in a different movie altogether from the on-the-nose ruminations on mortality. (Heh, nose. No pun intended.) You could easily cut whole swaths of the movie and it wouldn't matter to Pinocchio's journey (did we need the poo song or the war game segment?) and Geppetto's journey is so pointless that he should have been cut entirely to streamline the actual narrative instead of stopping it every ten minutes for an update on the old man. But I can't deny enjoying individual scenes on their own merits. The movie is entertaining fluff. And Cate Blanchett should be getting AMARA attention for this work, I'm not even kidding. 6/10
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Post by JangoB on Aug 7, 2023 12:16:34 GMT
Find Me Guilty - I understand why Vin Diesel has been doing nothing but action films for a while now - time is fleeting and the man is trying to do as much physical stuff as he can while he can. But part of me thinks that we may have lost a very interesting actor in the process. Because he's damn terrific in this one! Just the thought of Sidney Lumet's next-to-last project being headlined by Diesel is already pretty exciting (because of how bizarre it sounds) but what's even better is that Diesel actually delivers the goods. I don't think he could do any role but evidently he could do wonders with some roles, and this one was it. The movie's rock solid too - a highly entertaining real-life courtroom tale told by Lumet with efficiency and a "no-bullshit" attitude. The Happiness of the Katakuris - I liked everything having to do with the animated and musical aspects of the movie but the other stuff unfortunately landed somewhat flat for me. A bit too much "quirk for the sake of quirk" going on. Plus the whole thing felt a little overlong. Friday - REWATCH. Oh, the hilarity! The real great thing about the movie is that for all of its crudeness, it always feels believable and authentic. Some of the comedy may be heightened but it doesn't take place in a heightened world. An awesome hangout movie with two absolutely masterful comedic performances at its centre. I mean, Chris Tucker is just on fire here. Scream - The 2022 one. Not as good as Craven's Screams (his direction seems sophisticated by comparison) but still pretty good. Although it does introduce a concept which to me is the lowpoint of the franchise - without revealing anything, I'll just call it "ghost dad". I just don't like it when movies do stuff like that. Bottle Rocket - REWATCH. I like my Wes Anderson more Wes Anderson-y but this debut feature is still worth a look. Not just for enjoyment's sake but also to see just how deep into stylization he's dived since. The Ghost Station - A bad Korean horror movie of the "jump scare" variety. Expend4bles - Wow, they actually got me something high-profile to translate for Russian audiences! Too bad about the movie itself... 'cause it kinda blows. A completely generic action schlockfest with awful CGI and cringeworthy jokes. Plus you can tell that most of the old guard is a bit tired of this shit, except for maybe Statham who's always a good sport. NB: I watched it in B&W for work purposes so maybe some of its visual pleasures were lost on me. But judging from the trailer, I doubt it. Super Mario Bros. - It's not a movie, it's an utter disaster. Prior to watching it, I glanced at its Letterboxd page and saw a lot of positive opinions in the vein of "it was misunderstood upon release" or "it's much better than its reputation suggests". Those people are fucking wrong. And believe me, I'd be happy to declare it a good piece of entertainment that was unjustly maligned, a-la Howard the Duck or something. But no, it was horrendous. And not just horrendous but also boring as hell in every department. Even the sets were boring even though I appreciate the fact very that they were built at all. Apparently the directorial husband-and-wife duo were total control freaks who obsessed over every little thing in the production... which means we can safely blame everything on them! Scream VI - My least favorite Scream installment and the first movie of the franchise that actually let me down. Things started off quite well but got sillier and sillier as they went along, leading up to a very overblown climax which left me a little disappointed. Maybe my "meh" feeling about the movie also has to do with the fact that I (partially) guessed the killer fairly early on and kept viewing everything through the prism of that guess which made the eventual reveal a bit of a non-event. Was not happy to see the aforementioned "ghost dad" return either. And then there's the realization that the new "core four" (as they call themselves) are simply not as enjoyable as the legacy characters. It's an okay movie but a notch below all the other parts. All Fun and Games - I don't know how theycallmemrfish watches all these bad horror movies non-stop... Just occasionally translating them is more than enough for me to get completely sick of them. Little Darlings - Thanks to the Video Archives podcast for pointing me towards this movie because it's a small gem. Prior to diving into the battlefields of the American Civil War, Ron Maxwell explored the battlefields of teenage self-discovery and peer pressure in this wonderful dramedy which is far smarter and more poignant than you'd expect a teen summer camp movie to be. A mountain of credit has to go to Kristy McNichol who gives an absolutely astonishing, heartbreaking performance.
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Post by theycallmemrfish on Aug 7, 2023 13:01:22 GMT
JangoB It's certainly not easy... I can tell you that. HOWEVER! In my defense I have found some worthy films. Now, I would like to take the time to recommend something to everyone (though it usually takes a good year for you guys to get on my level with this shit *COUGH* Spontaneous *COUGH*), but Horror in the High Desert 2: Minerva is one of the scariest things I've watched. And no, you don't need to see the first (which is bleh) to know what's happening. I've mentioned it before... I'm mentioning it again. I don't usually do this.
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Post by Martin Stett on Aug 7, 2023 13:16:17 GMT
JangoB It's certainly not easy... I can tell you that. HOWEVER! In my defense I have found some worthy films. Now, I would like to take the time to recommend something to everyone (though it usually takes a good year for you guys to get on my level with this shit *COUGH* Spontaneous *COUGH*), but Horror in the High Desert 2: Minerva is one of the scariest things I've watched. And no, you don't need to see the first (which is bleh) to know what's happening. I've mentioned it before... I'm mentioning it again. I don't usually do this. Just for you, added to my watchlist. I'll get to it in 12-18 months |
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Post by Lord_Buscemi on Aug 7, 2023 13:32:43 GMT
30 Days of Night (2007) - Genuinely original and nasty take on vampires, as these swarming, vicious packs, with shark-like teeth and a howling shriek, all communicating in their own alien language. The vicious dismembering of the town and chilly, oppressive artic atmosphere make up for the wasted 30 days concept. It would have been interesting to see how the passage of time would weigh on people, but it's pretty rushed and there's little indication of the progress of days apart from an occasional visual text here and there. 7/10
The Killing (1965) - Kiiiiinda heavy on the nagging wife melodrama and the narration is stating the obvious too much, but otherwise a lean, taut 84 minutes that show Kubrick's knack for a visual eye early on in his career and with the sort of ending that elevates it beyond the standard heist affair. Definitely light when judged with what comes after, but makes the most of a simple premise. 7/10
Homicide (1991) - It's easy to see modern audiences look at this - a film that questions the motives behind Jewish self-hatred, making reference to the sense of belonging that Jews feel to the state of Israel - with a cautious eye in light of Mamet's outspoken Zionism, but the acclaimed playwright's opinionated personal life only reinforces the internal conflict in this colourfully profane and nihilistic character study that starts as a hard-boiled, pulpy procedural and slowly transforms into a reckoning about why we give power to identity over rationality. Importantly however, Mamet doesn't scold cop Bobby Gold (Joe Mantegna, career best work) for, say, his inability to differentiate between Hebrew and Yiddish or even his self-deprecating antisemitism, no - Homicide doesn't berate assimilated Jews as culturally rootless but questions why many American Jews, an ethnic group in a multicultural nation that celebrates diversity, feel detached from their heritage while still being treated as outsiders despite their adherence to WASP society. As with many hard questions, there are no easy answers and Mamet performs a tricky, subtle balancing act well in a film that is clearly very personal. 8/10
Spartan (2004) - There's a shadowy, conspiratorial angle in Spartan about how political PR involves lies creating bigger lies in a neverending obfuscation of truth. Frustratingly, this is a footnote in a derivative episode of 24. Traditional Mametian touches strip the film of any handholding exposition or irrelevant fat to be as elemental as can be (no character background, good! information conveyed naturally, good!) and he can spin the odd quirky line or two out of which would regularly be otherwise standard espionage lingo by a lesser writer, but he misses the potential Pakula-esque paranoia in favour of a conventional potboiler and the man just isn't a crafty enough action director to create memorable or inventive set-pieces to make up for playing it so safe. 5/10
The Spanish Prisoner (1997) - Kind of a nonsensical, Hitchcockian-lite, one-trick pony wherein the ride is more important than the destination. As a puzzler, the benefit of hindsight would make for a messier rewatch knowing how strenuously the pieces assemble, but Mamet is just having fun twisting the knots of this story into abstraction, planting doubt in the significance of every small detail and raising suspicion of everyone for their potential involvement in the con. 6/10
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) - A tale of two movies. Part uneven, aimless road trip focused far too heavily on the romance, half other amusingly pitch-black dark-comedy largely anchored by a delightfully DGAF Warren Oates. Get what Peckinpah is going for and how they're supposed to compliment each other as an autobiographical journey, but it doesn't quite coalesce smoothly. 6/10
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Post by Pittsnogle_Goggins on Aug 7, 2023 14:26:53 GMT
The Perfect Guy (2015)
Talk to Me (2023)
Tequila Sunrise (1988)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Everybody Wants Some! (2016)
Black Dog (1998)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)
Being There (1979)
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Post by mhynson27 on Aug 7, 2023 14:26:53 GMT
Men in Black 3
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tep
Full Member
formerly known as Ban
Posts: 619
Likes: 165
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Post by tep on Aug 7, 2023 14:43:10 GMT
The Tripper (2006) - 3/10
The Quiet Man (1952) - 7/10
Dagon (2001) - 7.5/10
The Flash (2023) - 4/10
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Post by therealcomicman117 on Aug 7, 2023 15:34:38 GMT
Barbie - 7.5 / 10
Thirty Thousand Years of Longing - 8 / 10
The Wrong Man - 9 / 10
I’m a Cyborg But That’s Okay - 7 / 10
Shadow of a Doubt - 9 / 10
Her Smell - 8 / 10
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Aug 7, 2023 15:42:35 GMT
2023
How to Blow Up a Piepline - 9
The Deepest Breath - 6.5
Kandahar - 4
Asteroid City - 8.5
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hilderic
Junior Member
Posts: 335
Likes: 140
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Post by hilderic on Aug 11, 2023 18:05:31 GMT
The Driver
2 or 3 Things I Know About Her
Billy Liar
Robinson Crusoe
The Man Between
Tudzhi
When Marnie Was There
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Post by Martin Stett on Apr 29, 2024 17:31:29 GMT
JangoB It's certainly not easy... I can tell you that. HOWEVER! In my defense I have found some worthy films. Now, I would like to take the time to recommend something to everyone (though it usually takes a good year for you guys to get on my level with this shit *COUGH* Spontaneous *COUGH*), but Horror in the High Desert 2: Minerva is one of the scariest things I've watched. And no, you don't need to see the first (which is bleh) to know what's happening. I've mentioned it before... I'm mentioning it again. I don't usually do this. I watched it. How did Maritch go from something as dull as the first movie to something so intense and so totally unnerving? My #1 or #2 or 2023 so far (depending on if you count The Artifice Girl as 22 or 23). |
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Post by theycallmemrfish on Apr 29, 2024 21:13:02 GMT
It really does take nearly a year to get my recommendations seen...
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