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Post by Martin Stett on Jul 22, 2024 15:23:45 GMT
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) - A perfectly standard period drama. This stands out over most of the other BP nominees by virtue of being watchable (Leo DiCaprio's take on a dumbass being to go *nearly* full retard notwithstanding), but instead of feeling like some sort of intense epic on oil and greed (as befits a 200 minute movie), it is more of a weeknight investigative show: CSI Osage. 6/10
Zatoichi's Vengeance (1966) - Chess Expert signaled a shift back to contemplative Zatoichi movies, and Zatoichi's Vengance - not to be confused with Zatoichi's Revenge - cements that new direction. In this one, we get a (better) version of Shane: Ichi goes into town beating up bad guys like a badass and a kid becomes worshipping the ground he steps on. Will Ichi stop cutting up dozens of crooks each movie to set a good example, or will circumstances force him to kill kill KILL? Ichi wrestling with his wish to not ruin the future lives of the people he protects comes up against his wish to help them against gangsters in the present is cool stuff. Also has two(!) of the best fight scenes in the series so far. 7/10
Himizu (2011 rewatch) - The exaggerated nature of Sono's misery porn movie totally connected with me on a first go, but the strings are more readily apparent on a second watch. I still think it is a grand piece of emotional string yanking, but not nearly as strong if you can see where all the pieces are going. 8/10
Suitable Flesh (2023) - A Stuart Gordon tribute that lacks any of his humor (from the one movie I've seen of his, anyway) and tries to get by entirely on unabashed trashiness (which is definitely its best feature). 5/10
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Post by urbanpatrician on Jul 22, 2024 16:50:50 GMT
Last 2 weeks
Cloud Atlas - There are a few people here who thinks it's the bomb. I get the ambition... it's a very expensive and overly visually stimulating movie. I can see how people might have different feelings about it than I have but it's too alienating and random for me to stay interested for long. Maybe if you liked the book tho. And WTF Hanks is like a Sellers Strangelove wannabe. Get out of here...he's not good. 6.5/10
Certain Women - I like Reichardt. I don't get the middle segment. Nothing happened in that segment...there wasn't a moral or point to it. It's a very interesting movie otherwise, and Reichardt and the mundane again feels like a well paired partnership. The kinda Reichardtisms / still life portraits I like. 8/10
Flags of Our Father - Totally mediocre. That iconic flag raising photo doesn't deserve an entire movie. Just feels like a pretty flat movie I can see why the academy didnt bite on it. 6/10
They Live By Night - Not my favorite Ray. A good movie but not one of his classics. 7/10
Nocturama - I liked House of Tolerance. This one...meh. Dunno if I'll see The Beast, was thinking of it. but Coma sounds more interesting. 6/10
Salesman - Maysles just isnt my thing 6/10
The Day After Tomorrow - It had potential to be a disaster classic like Armageddon. It falls a bit short. It's hard to imagine in what's supposed to be below earth temperature freezing cold they can just walk from North Philadelphia to Manhattan. Twisters in LA was the point where it started its slide down. Initially it felt like it was gonna be the best disaster movie ever made. The science just doesn't check out. Armageddon in my opinion is at least a layman's classic because the science is so interesting. Also, we needed more specifics of surviving in below freezing temperatures. The needing to grab supplies from a nearby ship is one of the best ideas the movie had, but the wolves? Huh? Mutated wolves evolve to hunt humans in just a week's evolution time? 7/10
Sunset Blvd. Can't argue with a classic. So fucking entertaining. Great screenplay, better movie. The Wilder to remember, and I'm not a Wilder guy. I think his other movies are good at best but this one really breaks the dam. 9.5/10
Election - Never could get enough of this movie. Very entertaining and fast paced. Dunno why this was seen as lowkey in 1999 but I don't remember anybody except movie forums talking about it. And even on movie forums it wasn't one of the top 20 most discussed movies of the year. I'd say it's aged a bit better than it's initial reputation. If the Holdovers ended up being as good as everyone said it was - which it isn't, Payne would have 3 classics ...the other being Sideways obviously, his best. 8.5/10
Blue Valentine - Solid relationship movie but Williams is the main thing to see. Much better than Gosling. This is the point Gosling became an actor I no longer cared about. After The Notebook and Half Nelson, fuck Ryan Gosling... boring actor. The equivalent of Tobey Maguire after Half Nelson if you ask me. His career finally hit the final coffin after getting nominated for totally nothing performances in La La Land and Barbie. No idea why people like this guy when he's pretty much out acted by a woman in every movie be it Barbie, La La Land, The Notebook, or Blue Valentine. 7/10
Grey Gardens (1975) - Maysles is definitely not my thing. I like watching old ladies doing silly things but somehow Maysles makes it appear a whole lot less interesting. 7/10
A Mighty Heart - fuckkng whatever. I was trying to be an Angelina Jolie fan by watching this movie but it's not working. I find her the weakest of the trio of America's movie stars of the 90s... Roberts and Bullock. 5/10
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bigmilko
New Member
Posts: 213
Likes: 62
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Post by bigmilko on Jul 22, 2024 16:56:59 GMT
Dead Leaves (2004) - 8/10: Nuts to butts anime with insane attitude, all stuffed into a BRISK hyper stylized 50 minutes that never lets you stop to figure anything out. Makes sense from the guy who would found Studio TRIGGER
Whirlybird (2021) - 8/10: interesting doc about the LA Helicopter news scene, from the perspective of THE LA News power couple. Feels as crazy as Nightcrawler, except it all actually happened and no crimes were committed
Twisters (2024) - 10/10: I think I loved it too much, but the high I felt walking out of the theater was honestly unmatched. Truly the most fun I've had in a movie in a while
Bridge of Spies (2015) - 8/10: Tight script, easy to enjoy. Good Shit. Makes me remember why I love Spielberg and Kaminski as a visual duo
The BFG (2016) - 3/10: Mark Rylance is really good with the bomble scomps and the wizzle bops, but I found mostly everything else just lame and childish, to the point where I dont even think kids would like it
Josie and the Pussycats (2001) - 8/10: somehow way ahead of its time, and the perfect time capsule of Y2K MTV era fashion. The People just didnt get it I guess
Killer Joe (2012) - 9/10: Special shoutout to Sharbs for ruining my night with this one. Just a filthy, trashy, movie that never stops being uncomfortable. A perfect 5 stack of great performance from everyone all around, insane what Emile Hirsch is doing here
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter One (2024) - 8/10: Pretty easy for me to get swept away by the sheer ambition and sprawling production of whats all presented, even with the obvious narrative issues. Heres hoping Chapter 2 happens soon
The Post (2017) - 7/10: I liked it more than I expected, even if it feels like its got no beef behind its government secrets (e.i. Michael Clayton, Dark Waters). But Tom Hanks should never try to do an accent ever again
RW Ready Player One (2018) - 7/10: easy slop to enjoy, despite how distracting everything thats happening is. I dont think Ill ever be able to really hate it as much as most
RW National Treasure (2004) - 9/10: A truly rousing adventure that makes me remember how good Disney had it when they had Bruckheimer in there back pocket
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Post by Pittsnogle_Goggins on Jul 22, 2024 17:39:46 GMT
A Serious Man (2009) Knox Goes Away (2024) Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) Land of Bad (2024) Palmetto (1998) Carlito’s Way (1993) Twisters (2024)
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Post by JangoB on Jul 22, 2024 17:47:51 GMT
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 - Terrific opening for a potentially brilliant novel. Oh, sorry, I meant 'Saga.' I feel that when all's said and done, the overall project of Horizon may end up being Costner's magnum opus. But we'll see. So far I'm thoroughly hooked.
Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In - A lot of decent action, excellent production design (apparently everything we see was built for the movie), somewhat tiring narrative. Also not a fan of certain supernatural elements thrown in the story. Not the worst movie I had to deal with for work.
Geronimo: An American Legend - Meh. One should not come out of a Geronimo movie thinking 'I wish this was about Robert Duvall's character' but here we are. I got no qualms with its Best Sound nomination, though. It sounded perfectly fine.
Empire of Passion - Oshima doing a kaidan right after his immensely controversial In the Realm of the Senses was certainly an interesting choice, and I think it paid off magnificently. Wonderful picture.
Haruta & Chika - This is kind of similar to Sound! Euphonium (the second-best anime series I've watched) but with two big differences: 1) it's way more low-key; 2) it's live action. Not the best film in the world but I'll always have a soft spot for stories about young people coming together to play music. This is a very sweet little movie. And Kanna Hashimoto is always delightful.
The Passion of the Christ - REWATCH. I consider this to be very well made and very well directed but, since I'm not a religious person, I think it's ultimately impossible for me to fully experience the film the way it's intended to. I can only imagine how intensely visceral, emotional and possibly even purifying it is for believers (I've read stories about people openly weeping and lifting up rosaries and so on when it came out in theatres) but I'm only able to see it as a movie. And I think it's a good one.
Wandering - AKA The Wandering Moon. Tough subject matter examined in intelligent, emotional and sometimes even somewhat poetic ways. I really admired this.
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Post by pacinoyes on Jul 22, 2024 19:32:27 GMT
Blue Valentine - Solid relationship movie but Williams is the main thing to see. Much better than Gosling. This is the point Gosling became an actor I no longer cared about. After The Notebook and Half Nelson, fuck Ryan Gosling... boring actor. The equivalent of Tobey Maguire after Half Nelson if you ask me. His career finally hit the final coffin after getting nominated for totally nothing performances in La La Land and Barbie. No idea why people like this guy when he's pretty much out acted by a woman in every movie be it Barbie, La La Land, The Notebook, or Blue Valentine. 7/10 My fave scene in that movei ..........one of my favorte scenes in her whole career - and she has A LOT of great individual scenes
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Post by therealcomicman117 on Jul 22, 2024 20:28:52 GMT
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie - 7 / 10
A Simple Wish - 3 / 10
North - 2 / 10
Dances With Wolves - 7.5 / 10
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hilderic
Junior Member
Posts: 329
Likes: 140
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Post by hilderic on Jul 23, 2024 1:08:13 GMT
C'est la vie The Garden of the Finzi-Continis Lucha de corazones Andrea Chénier School in the Crosshairs Love Exists Berlin Around the Corner
Diane Kurys has gone back to her childhood again and again and the farther I follow her, the more difficult it gets to judge her films individually. As C'est la vie deals at feature length with events she'd already covered in just a couple of scenes at the end of At First Sight, it'd be easy to paint it as little more than a footnote. But it's a lovely footnote.
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Post by themoviesinner on Jul 23, 2024 6:53:59 GMT
Wandering - AKA The Wandering Moon. Tough subject matter examined in intelligent, emotional and sometimes even somewhat poetic ways. I really admired this. Great film. Among the best of 2022. Probably Lee Sang-il's second best work behind Rage. I agree with you that it deals with a very difficult and controversial story in a very careful and intelligent way, without providing easy answers nor delving into cheap sentimentality, something that could have so easily been the case. And Suzu Hirose is a great actress.
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Post by JangoB on Jul 23, 2024 12:04:06 GMT
Wandering - AKA The Wandering Moon. Tough subject matter examined in intelligent, emotional and sometimes even somewhat poetic ways. I really admired this. Great film. Among the best of 2022. Probably Lee Sang-il's second best work behind Rage. I agree with you that it deals with a very difficult and controversial story in a very careful and intelligent way, without providing easy answers nor delving into cheap sentimentality, something that could have so easily been the case. And Suzu Hirose is a great actress. It's my third Lee Sang-il movie (after Hula Girls and Unforgiven) and it's definitely the best one so far. This really gets my hopes up for Rage. You're very right about the lack of easy answers which is one of the best things about the film. A quick look at Letterboxd will reveal many users giving it the lowest ratings just because it dares to deal with its subject matter with some empathy. But that's the key - the movie kinda puts you to the task in terms of those feelings. If you empathize with the characters (specifically Fumi), you empathize with them. If you're creeped out by them, you're creeped out by them. If you feel they're doing the wrong thing, you feel that. But it's all up to you. The movie wisely presents those scenarios without leaning this or that way, and even when there's a big revelation towards the end, it still serves less as an excuse and more as an additional character layer. Ultimately it's still on you to decide how you feel. Which, I think, is great, even with difficult subject matter such as here. And yeah, Suzu Hirose is fantastic. She's always terrific but this one gives her the opportunity to dive into complexities which her other movies (well, the ones I've seen) haven't really provided. And she knocks it out of the park. Tori Matsuzaka is great too, and his role is a real tough one to crack, imo.
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sophiefox
Junior Member
Posts: 292
Likes: 204
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Post by sophiefox on Jul 25, 2024 15:18:32 GMT
ok so i started Hooptober season early this year (my watchlist is just too long! 😂). here we go:
Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (Anthony Hickox, 1992) slasher horror w Terry Farrell, Doug Bradley 7/10
The Naked Witch (Larry Buchanan, 1960) witchy horror w Libby Hall 5/10
Venom (Jim Gillespie, 2005) slasher horror w Agnes Bruckner, Laura Ramsay, Meagan Good, Bijou Phillips, Method Man 5/10
The First Omen (Arkasha Stevenson, 2024) nunsploitation horror w Nell Tiger Free, Ralph Ineson, Sônia Braga, Bill Nighy, Charles Dance 8/10
Insidious: Chapter 2 (James Wan, 2013) supernatural horror w Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, Ty Simpkins, Barbara Hershey, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson, Steve Coulter 7/10
Insidious: Chapter 3 (Leigh Whannell, 2015) supernatural horror w Stefanie Scott, Lin Shaye, Dermot Mulroney, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson, Steve Coulter, Hayley Kiyoko 6/10
The Empty Man (David Prior, 2020) occult horror w James Badge Dale, Marin Ireland, Aaron Poole, Stephen Root 7/10
Hellraiser: Bloodline (Kevin Yagher, 1996) sci-fi horror w Bruce Ramsay, Valentina Vargas, Doug Bradley, Adam Scott 5/10
Insidious: The Last Key (Adam Robitel, 2018) supernatural horror w Lin Shaye, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson, Kirk Acevedo, Caitlin Gerard, Spencer Locke 6/10
The Mephisto Waltz (Paul Wendkos, 1971) horror w Jacqueline Bisset, Alan Alda, Barbara Parkins, Curd Jürgens 6/10
Barbarian (Zach Cregger, 2022) air bnb horror thriller w Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, Justin Long 8/10
Resurrection (Andrew Semans, 2022) horror drama w Rebecca Hall, Tim Roth, Grace Kaufman 8/10
Big Monster on Campus aka Boltneck (Mitch Marcus, John Blush, 2000) horror teen comedy w Matthew Lawrence, Ryan Reynolds, Christine Lakin, Shelley Duvall, Bianca Lawson 5/10
Morgan (Luke Scott, 2016) AI sci-fi horror drama w Kate Mara, Anya Taylor-Joy, Toby Jones, Rose Leslie, Boyd Holbrook, Michelle Yeoh, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul Giamatti, Michael Yare, Brian Cox 7/10
Split (M. Night Shyamalan, 2016) psychological horror thriller drama w James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Betty Buckley, Haley Lu Richardson, Jessica Sula, Brad William Henke 10/10
rewatches:
The Conversation (Coppola, 1974) 9/10 Alien (Scott, 1979) 9/10 Aliens (Cameron, 1986) 8/10 Alien³ (Fincher, 1992) 7/10 Alien vs Predator (Anderson, 2004) 6/10 The Shining (Kubrick, 1980) 8/10
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