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Post by Martin Stett on Jul 15, 2024 15:10:04 GMT
The Delinquents (2023) - It's like those Jack Nicholson counter-culture movies, but actually good. 7/10
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (2024) - This is three hours of nothing happening, and it is really dang great. This barely even functions as narrative setup: Instead, Costner is making a slice of life canvas of his many characters, just establishing their personalities and what they see in the western frontier. And what a canvas! Every character is engaging, every piece of the mosaic left me invested. 8/10
Zatoichi and the Chess Expert (1965) - The slowest, most character-based Zatoichi since the first four movies: This even goes back to showing his scam of "catching" his opponents cheating at dice (shown in the first film) to indicate the return. He isn't really bothered by gangsters in this one: Instead, he befriends a young woman named Otane (the name of his one true love, again a nod to the original direction of the character) and a chess expert with mad sword skills, and the group hangs out talking for the whole movie. This being Zatoichi, he can never, EVER be happy, so bad things force our friends onto different sides in a predictably tragic series of events. And it's good stuff, one of the best in the series. On a side note, this is the first film that doesn't show Zatoichi as superhuman. He screws up A LOT and it makes him a more engaging character. He's getting tired. 7/10
God Is a Bullet (2023) - There are some moments of effective imagery here, but this is mostly violent vengeance schlock with awfully on-the-nose character writing (the theological arguments are laughable). 5/10
Love and Honor (2006) - The most straightforward film in Yamada's samurai trilogy, for better and for worse. 6/10
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Post by Pittsnogle_Goggins on Jul 15, 2024 15:14:23 GMT
Massage Parlor Murders (1973) Eyewitness (1981) Obsession (1976) Blood and Wine (1996) The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001) Longlegs (2024) The Beast (2024)
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Post by JangoB on Jul 15, 2024 16:24:39 GMT
The Legend of the Holy Drinker - Pretty great, gorgeously shot, and with an amazing Rutger Hauer performance at its centre. Haruka, Nostalgia - You'll find many Letterboxd reviewers bashing it for being 'problematic' but to me Obayashi's lyricism far outweighs all of that, resulting in one of his most remarkable films. Fandango - Prior to watching this film, I was already fascinated by its history: Steven Spielberg saw Kevin Reynolds's short entitled Proof and loved it so much that he asked Reynolds if he wanted to make a feature out of it. Reynolds seized the opportunity and did his thing. Spielberg then saw the movie and was so disappointed by it that he even took his name off it, after which it was essentially dumped by Warner Bros. I was very curious as to why Spielberg felt that way and watching movie itself made that curiosity even stronger... because it's kind of great. So I did my research and found an interview with Reynolds himself where he made things pretty clear: apparently Spielberg thought Reynolds would come up with something in the vein of Animal House (because the short was very irreverent and highly comedic in nature) but Reynolds chose to make a more soulful and poignant coming-of-age film. I'm not sure why they didn't clarify things from the get-go so I can only suppose that Spielberg just sort of allowed Reynolds to do whatever he wanted, choosing to wait until the result. Well, the result wasn't what Spielberg expected... but I have to disagree with my main man here: even if it didn't turn out to be a full-on crazy comedy, Reynolds made something even better. Oh well, at least Reynolds got to make the movie he wanted to make, even if it wasn't given a chance release-wise. Thankfully (and deservingly) it became a bit of a cult favorite. And I was pleased to hear that there was no bad blood between Reynolds and Spielberg too: in that same interview Reynolds said that he called Spielberg before Waterworld to ask for advice about shooting on water. Spielberg's tip was: don't do it One Summer Story - It's a film consisting of the smallest pleasures, but they line up so nicely during its 135-minute running time that you get an overall delightful experience. A very leisurely summer watch. My Teacher - Ah, a sweet beautiful romance about an innocent 17-year-old girl falling in love with her 30-something teacher... and the teacher reciprocating? Um... so... nah, dawg. Pompeii - Of all the cinephile cults, one I simply cannot support is the "Paul W.S. Anderson is actually good" one. Bad filmmaking ≠ auteurist brushstrokes. The first half of this is basically Gladiator II from Wish, and it's quite painful. That being said, when the movie switches to its second Roland Emmerich half... it's surprisingly watchable. Although Kit Harington's plastic performance (can't call it wooden because wood at least has some texture and aroma to it) consistently holds it down. Flavors of Youth - Three stories about Chinese young people (quite unusual to watch an anime devoted to exploring a non-Japanese culture), all of them quite nice, none of them especially remarkable. Decently animated and fairly moving but ultimately not too special. IF - Oh fuck, what a gooey goddamn movie. You know how sometimes you watch something so cynical, brutal and vile that you want to take a shower afterwards? Well, IF makes you crave a movie like that. You might just wanna keep I Spit On Your Grave close by for a palate cleanser. Also, I think I'm just too stupid for John Krasinski's intricate plotting because to me the film's internal logic doesn't make a lick of sense. And another thing - there's a small scene very early on (meant to be home footage or something), clearly shot on film, that has such distinct lighting that it immediately made me go: "Hey, this looks like the work of Janusz Kaminski!" And of course a few seconds later I see a credit: "Director of Photography: Janusz Kaminski." I stan an instantly recognizable cinematographer! Too bad the rest of the film is shot digitally. Kaminski's showers of light (one of my favorite things in cinema) simply don't have that same pop without celluloid. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes - Good to see that Wes didn't drop the Ball (forgive me). I don't know if the film's laborious pacing works as well as intended (I guess it was meant to bring an additional sense of seriousness?) but overall it's a solid Apes installment. Very happy that the effects didn't become worse under the new filmmaking team. They're fucking amazing. The Bikeriders - My favorite Nichols so far, Shotgun Stories unseen. Great ensemble, nice vibes and even a sense of something fascinating due to Nichols activating the hangout mode in order to observe the ritual of men finding each other to fulfull their desire to belong. Tom Hardy MVP, crazy voice and all. It's like he's doing a quasi-variation on his own Capone performance except for one major difference: it's actually good. The Sound of Music - REWATCH. Look, Christopher Plummer's nicknames for this movie are hilarious ( The Sound of Mucus and S&M), but I wish he got to see IF. 'Cause then he'd realize that The Sound of Music is a fucking masterclass in how to do sentimentality right. What a splendid film it is. And so beautifully spiritual (not religious - nobody's forcing doctrines down your throat or anything). Wise is extremely wise (again, forgive me) about how he shoots the hills that are alive with the film's title: it's not just that they're gorgeously captured - it's the sense of something majestic and otherworldly about them towering over the film's characters, the sense of them representing a higher plane, the sense of pure good they possess. Kind of a drag to come back to the real world after believing so firmly in people's capacity for decency and grace for three hours. The Imaginary - I knew nothing about the story so I was a bit flabbergasted when it turned out to have the same basic premise as IF. It's a bit better than that POS (animation is a better fit for a story about imaginary friends by design) but still a mess. I guess movies tackling that subject matter simply aren't my thing. Or at least these two movies. Knock Off - I admire Tsui Hark's inventiveness with camerawork, especially during the action scenes, but I don't think this has too much to offer beyond that. And JCVD is just awful here. But I'll give the movie this: it's not often that you see JCVD driving Rob Schneider on a rickshaw with the latter slapping the former's ass with an eel to speed him up.
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Post by pacinoyes on Jul 15, 2024 16:51:02 GMT
The Sound of Music - REWATCH. Look, Christopher Plummer's nicknames for this movie are hilarious ( The Sound of Mucus and S&M), but I wish he got to see IF. 'Cause then he'd realize that The Sound of Music is a fucking masterclass in how to do sentimentality right. What a splendid film it is. And so beautifully spiritual (not religious - nobody's forcing doctrines down your throat or anything). Wise is extremely wise (again, forgive me) about how he shoots the hills that are alive with the film's title: it's not just that they're gorgeously captured - it's the sense of something majestic and otherworldly about them towering over the film's characters, the sense of them representing a higher plane, the sense of pure good they possess. Kind of a drag to come back to the real world after believing so firmly in people's capacity for decency and grace for three hours. Real good summary ^ - I once wrote something about it being THE most beloved film of all-time.........all ages like it from 6 to 106 - people who hate musicals like it.........all cultures / ethnicities relate to it........the movie basically prefigures the short form and werdly also the long form music video........how much geography is covered anyway ffs?...............oh........THE nicest, least threatening Nazis EVER..............and most memorable Nuns ever not in a Nunsploitation (um)......... If you ever see this in a theater - preferably at midnight with a packed house - in the US anyway - it's ROLLICKING - with many people knowing EVERY word and dressing up and talking back to the screen etc Also this movie fncking ruined MAR forever by inventing "list culture" (A Few of My Favorite Things) resulting in our Suffcating Hellscape of "10 best lists" and what not
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hilderic
Junior Member
Posts: 335
Likes: 140
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Post by hilderic on Jul 15, 2024 16:59:04 GMT
Lola Talking About Trees Dostojee She Fell Among Thieves For Women - Chapter 1
I can't help wondering if Miyazaki saw She Fell Among Thieves before making Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro.
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Post by JangoB on Jul 15, 2024 16:59:37 GMT
The Sound of Music - REWATCH. Look, Christopher Plummer's nicknames for this movie are hilarious ( The Sound of Mucus and S&M), but I wish he got to see IF. 'Cause then he'd realize that The Sound of Music is a fucking masterclass in how to do sentimentality right. What a splendid film it is. And so beautifully spiritual (not religious - nobody's forcing doctrines down your throat or anything). Wise is extremely wise (again, forgive me) about how he shoots the hills that are alive with the film's title: it's not just that they're gorgeously captured - it's the sense of something majestic and otherworldly about them towering over the film's characters, the sense of them representing a higher plane, the sense of pure good they possess. Kind of a drag to come back to the real world after believing so firmly in people's capacity for decency and grace for three hours. If you ever see this in a theater - preferably at midnight with a packed house - in the US anyway - it's ROLLICKING - with many people knowing EVERY word and dressing up and talking back to the screen etc I know screenings like this are a thing in the US... but I don't know if I could take it I'm Isabelle Huppert when it comes to my movies (at least the ones I love): no snacks, no drinks, no talking, no distractions.
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Post by sofi screwbb on Jul 15, 2024 18:22:50 GMT
Health (Robert Altman, 1980) comedy drama w Carol Burnett, Lauren Bacall, Glenda Jackson, James Garner, Henry Gibson, Alfre Woodard 6/10
Beyond Therapy (Robert Altman, 1987) comedy w Julie Hagerty, Jeff Goldblum, Glenda Jackson, Tom Conti, Christopher Guest, Geneviève Page 5/10
Space Cadet (Liz W. Garcia, 2024) space comedy w Emma Roberts, Tom Hopper, Poppy Liu, Gabrielle Union 6/10
A Dry White Season (Euzhan Palcy, 1989) apartheid drama w Donald Sutherland, Jürgen Prochnow, Susan Sarandon, Marlon Brando 7/10
Citizen X (Chris Gerolmo, 1995) crime drama w Stephen Rea, Donald Sutherland, Max von Sydow, Jeffrey DeMunn, Imelda Staunton 6/10
Smile (Parker Finn, 2022) horror drama w Sosie Bacon 7/10
Fresh (Mimi Cave, 2022) horror thriller w Daisy Edgar-Jones, Sebastian Stan 7/10
Prey (Dan Trachtenberg, 2022) horror action adventure w Amber Midthunder 9/10
Sick (John Hyams, 2022) covid slasher horror w Gideon Adlon 6/10
Hellbound: Hellraiser II (Tony Randal, 1988) body horror w Ashley Laurence, Clare Higgins, William Hope 8/10
Planet of the Vampires (Mario Bava, 1965) sci-fi horror w Barry Sullivan 5/10
Lisa and the Devil (Mario Bava, 1973) fantasy horror w Telly Savalas, Elke Sommer, Sylva Koscina, Alida Valli 9/10
Nope (Jordan Peele, 2022) sci-fi mystery horror w Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Michael Wincott, Steven Yeun, Keith David 8/10
M3GAN (Gerard Johnstone, 2022) sci-fi horror w Allison Williams, Violet McGraw 6/10
rewatches:
The French Connection (Friedkin, 1971) - 9/10 The Godfather Part II (Coppola, 1974) - 9/10 Chinatown (Polanski, 1974) - 6/10 The Trip (Corman, 1967) - 8/10
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bigmilko
New Member
Posts: 226
Likes: 63
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Post by bigmilko on Jul 15, 2024 18:33:31 GMT
RW Blue Velvet (1986) - 9/10: Had an itch to rewatch, felt like it couldve bumped up to my fav Lynch, and even though it didnt rank any higher than before Its still not hard to love so much of whats going on here, especially what Dennis Hopper is doing
One Cut of the Dead (2017) - 9/10: Just a real treat of a movie, and I honestly didnt expect the layers this movie had beyond 'Zombies attack film crew making a zombie movie'. Really puts into focus the chaotic nature of trying to make a movie, and emphasizing that no matter how awful the process can be, its all worth it if you can pull it off
RW Point Break (1991) - 10/10: Goddamn beautiful movie about men who love each other
Eat the Sun (2011) - 6/10: given the premise of it being a documentary about people who stare at the sun for minutes at a time, and then claim they have no need for food because of it, it was as funny as I expected it to be. While it plays itself fairly seriously, letting these 'sun gazers' go about there beliefs that if they stare at the sun long enough they will reach a level of enlightenment where the only sustenance they need is more sun, its just really funny hard cutting to them staring at the sun, visibly in pain but just not stopping
Altered States (1980) - 9/10: An absolute assault on every possible sense, and I think hits a spot of cosmic horror that other movies miss, where the horror is just completely incomprehensible
Inland Empire (2006) - 7/10: While I do love the 'shot on tape' cinematography, I think it adds a tinge of distortion and ads to the overall bad vibes nightmare. I just think if the former president didn't get shot like a bozo I would've been able to stay focused a lot better, better luck next time I guess
Longlegs (2024) - 8/10: Just hopeless dread that does not stop nor can it be stopped. While it isn't the 'Scariest movie ever made' (what movie will ever actually hit that mark?) The movie does strongly reinforce the feeling that everything is not ok and everything in this world is horrible and bad
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Post by themoviesinner on Jul 15, 2024 20:30:39 GMT
Knock Off - I admire Tsui Hark's inventiveness with camerawork, especially during the action scenes, but I don't think this has too much to offer beyond that. And JCVD is just awful here. But I'll give the movie this: it's not often that you see JCVD driving Rob Schneider on a rickshaw with the latter slapping the former's ass with an eel to speed him up. Considering that JCVD was high on coke while making this (it's pretty obvious), to such an extent that he admitted in a later interview that he doesn't remember anything at all from the filming of this movie, I wouldn't call the performance awful, but incredibly baffling and perplexing. What's even more perplexing is Tsui Hark not giving a fuck and making the film despite his lead actor being in no condition whatsoever to make a film and delivering a very good final product. That's why he is one of the GOAT filmmakers.
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Post by JangoB on Jul 15, 2024 20:33:52 GMT
Knock Off - I admire Tsui Hark's inventiveness with camerawork, especially during the action scenes, but I don't think this has too much to offer beyond that. And JCVD is just awful here. But I'll give the movie this: it's not often that you see JCVD driving Rob Schneider on a rickshaw with the latter slapping the former's ass with an eel to speed him up. Considering that JCVD was high on coke while making this (it's pretty obvious), to such an extent that he admitted in a later interview that he doesn't remember anything at all from the filming of this movie, I wouldn't call the performance awful, but incredibly baffling and perplexing. What's even more perplexing is Tsui Hark not giving a fuck and making the film despite his lead actor being in no condition whatsoever to make a film and delivering a very good final product. That's why he is one of the GOAT filmmakers. Well, that explains things He sure looked coked up during his screaming scenes (his best moments!)
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Post by mhynson27 on Jul 15, 2024 23:41:39 GMT
A Quiet Place: Day One
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Post by therealcomicman117 on Jul 16, 2024 1:18:39 GMT
A Family Affair - 4 / 10 If - 5 / 10 Boss Baby: Back in Business - 6 / 10 Hudsucker Proxy - 8.5 / 10 Gigli - 2 / 10 Armageddon - 7 / 10
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