Movie opinions thread (what have you seen, what did you think?)

[Syn]

I watched Psychomania on Amazon Prime and it's the original, unedited version. Some of the dvd copies didn't include the seance or other scenes. The last time I saw it complete was the vhs days. Mom makes a deal with a higher force for eternal life. Her bike gang leader son learns the secret and fun ensues.

 

[HDRchampion]

The Last Dragon- Sho Nuff.

I saw this a few years ago w/ the main actor Bruce Leroy in attendance in my hometown theater. I was so embarrassed because it was such a poor turnout and probably one of the most low budget movie theater in existence. Not sure why they chose this theater as its almost 100 years old hasn't been updated since. Still the theater was rocking w/ maybe only 20 people in attendance. We ate popcorn w/ chopsticks.

Would have been great if other cast members were there. Sadly Vanity & Shonuff has past away Ernie Reyes Jr. was dying in the hospital at the time.

Taimak still got the glow and was nice meet & greet with him.

 

[evil wasabi]

Thanks for the heads up! Against all odds, this has been put on Netflix Japan at the same time as well. Can't wait.

It’s just David have fun. Watching this reaffirms the statements from people like Bellucci who said David was just experimenting with ideas on film and patching it all together.

 

[DevilRedeemed]

It’s just David have fun. Watching this reaffirms the statements from people like Bellucci who said David was just experimenting with ideas on film and patching it all together.

To me that makes it intimate and worth watching

 

[evil wasabi]

To me that makes it intimate and worth watching

Don’t expect much. It’s just a 14 minute scene of fan fun.

 

[DevilRedeemed]

Don’t expect much. It’s just a 14 minute scene of fan fun.

My bar is set to low.
I think I have to be more cautious in voicing opinion which can be taken to be recommendations, as I speak from a pretty subjective place with a disregard for how a particular artist corresponds within the grander design. This is due to my own limitations no doubt. That said I prefer this short to something like Inland Empire, mostly because the latter broke my mind and soul (watching it at 6 in the morning during a summer heatwave probably stoned and drinking coffee next to someone you don't really love). I couldn't finish watching

 

[evil wasabi]

Ok, but you should finish inland empire.

 

[DevilRedeemed]

Ok, but you should finish inland empire.

I shall

 

[evil wasabi]

I shall

The problem people have with inland empire is that it's an art piece more than a film. It's completely non-traditional. No formal script. Just ideas pieced together. An overall theme of female abuse and trauma, which is a common theme through Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, and Mulholland Drive. It's not easy to follow, and it's culturally distant from American film, and the movie itself plays into that with the film industry oligarchy compared to Eastern Europe. The big picture we are offered by Lynch is that women in Hollywood are living in a dream, and that the dream is not always good, often a nightmare.

 

[Thierry Henry]

Found a few old Laserdiscs at a store recently and started watching the first of them.

The Crow (1994)

The film that killed and immortalized its star still holds up quite well.
The movie plays out like a kind of Death Wish for the MTV generation, but Lee's performance gives it a sensitive, melancholy feel.

 

[evil wasabi]

Tenebre - old school Argento from 1981, killer soundtrack from Goblin.

It's a slasher movie, taking place in Rome, with a suspense writer being followed by a killer who leaves behind pages of the writer's work. Anyhow, most of you have probably seen it. LTTP. Fuck off.

 

[DevilRedeemed]

The problem people have with inland empire is that it's an art piece more than a film. It's completely non-traditional. No formal script. Just ideas pieced together. An overall theme of female abuse and trauma, which is a common theme through Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, and Mulholland Drive. It's not easy to follow, and it's culturally distant from American film, and the movie itself plays into that with the film industry oligarchy compared to Eastern Europe. The big picture we are offered by Lynch is that women in Hollywood are living in a dream, and that the dream is not always good, often a nightmare.

Oh absolutely with you on the art piece perspective, I think that's why I was so shaken by it. Compared to Lost Highway which has its own absurdist/surrealist thing going on, this is a lot more conceptual. To me at least.
Lynch had or has an amazing online art project where he went amount the US interviewing people, all in a very Lynchian manner.

 

[smokehouse]

Joker

Finally got around to seeing this. Like so many say, the film is hit/miss.

What isn't miss is Joaquin Phoenix's performance...it's amazing. For so long, the Joker in films has been an antagonist...and often little else. Even Ledger's performance, amazing as it was, presents the Joker as a destructive chaotic force of nature, like a tornado or hurricane. Phoenix added a human element to the character, some depth, some reasoning.

Although exaggerated, the underlying plot of mentally ill people being neglected and swept under the rug is a horrific and real issue we face. How many "crimes", how many murders have happened because horribly mentally ill people have been ignored and left on their own?

It wasn't an easy film to watch when you saw it in that manner, my wife found if especially uncomfortable. She was raised in that world of clinics and neglect for her mentally ill father...it's not pretty.

 

[evil wasabi]

Joker

Finally got around to seeing this. Like so many say, the film is hit/miss.

What isn't miss is Joaquin Phoenix's performance...it's amazing. For so long, the Joker in films has been an antagonist...and often little else. Even Ledger's performance, amazing as it was, presents the Joker as a destructive chaotic force of nature, like a tornado or hurricane. Phoenix added a human element to the character, some depth, some reasoning.

Although exaggerated, the underlying plot of mentally ill people being neglected and swept under the rug is a horrific and real issue we face. How many "crimes", how many murders have happened because horribly mentally ill people have been ignored and left on their own?

It wasn't an easy film to watch when you saw it in that manner, my wife found if especially uncomfortable. She was raised in that world of clinics and neglect for her mentally ill father...it's not pretty.

I think the criticisms are entirely spot on. It’s a movie in love with itself, starring an actor in love with his performance, hating the fact it’s a comic book character, but setting it aside to give unnecessary depth to an iconic comic character, in a feature length film that is ultimately 92 minutes too long.

 

[jro]

Lake Bodom - interesting twist on the slasher movie, but with a problem that's hard to overlook. The central conceit of the film, the single most important plot point... is completely and utterly unbelievable. It just doesn't work at all, goes way beyond where you can normally expect suspension of disbelief to get the audience in how characters act, react, view their world. Everything around it is done pretty well, but man, that one part torpedoes it, ultimately. Not recommended.

Trespassers - I haven't seen a home invasion thriller in a while, and this one was pretty decent. Horrendous set of main characters that were either bland and annoying or actively terrible, but the plot setup is unique and the bad guys carry the movie just fine once they show up.

 

[terry.330]

Stoker- Nicole Kidman still looking fine AF. Also great cinematography by Chan Wook Park. Superb soundtrack as well.

 

[SouthtownKid]

Stoker- Nicole Kidman still looking fine AF. Also great cinematography by Chan Wook Park. Superb soundtrack as well.

I wish this would show up on netflix. I've been wanting to watch this for a few years now.

 

[terry.330]

I wish this would show up on netflix. I've been wanting to watch this for a few years now.

It's gorgeous , A might bit predictable but still.

 

[jro]

Stoker also is, IMO, a redeeming performance for Matthew Goode after the not great job he did playing Ozymandias in the Watchmen movie.

Watched

Parasite - mostly good, but certainly not Best Picture good (I'd still rather see it win than Joker, but c'mon). The movie really, REALLY should have ended right after the garden party. The epilogue changes the tone of the movie completely and hurts it a lot, IMO.

Crown Vic - every now and then Thomas Jane puts in a great performance and surprises me, like in this. Engaging in general, with strong echoes of End of Watch and Training Day. It's not trying to be the tour de force that either of those are, but it does exactly what it means to do very well. Recommended.

 

[F4U57]

Tenebre - old school Argento from 1981, killer soundtrack from Goblin.

It's a slasher movie, taking place in Rome, with a suspense writer being followed by a killer who leaves behind pages of the writer's work. Anyhow, most of you have probably seen it. LTTP. Fuck off.

I haven’t seen it in years but it is very good, the soundtrack is indeed killer. May I recommend Argento’s Nonhosonno if you haven’t seen it already. Also a very good soundtrack by Goblin.

 

[terry.330]

Battle Angel Alita- Not as bad as I was expecting. The big eyes were a little off putting at first and there really isn't a good way to make Motor Ball realistic but it wasn't a total disaster. Reminded me a lot of the Speed Racer movie.

 

[Thierry Henry]

Have never previously seen any of the Mad Max movies, so I sat down and fired up the first one.

It's never clear that it's a post-apocalyptic film, it could just be a poverty-stricken area where law enforcement has broken down. It feels more like a commentary on proper waste management. A type of fear that neglecting our global recycling programs will transform the earth into mile after mile of disused highway. There will be ice cream and bananas but no fast food or baggy pants. What a nightmare.

This is basically just an updated revenge western. A violent gang rolls into town and catches our hero's attention by roughing up a few locals.
The first hour of it is almost unwatchable, IMO. Aside from some cool stunts, the acting is awful, bordering on irritating. I probably should have checked out the original version without any dubbing because the american voice dub is ridiculous. Makes it sound like one of those old kung fu movies.

It's easy to see that the director was more ambitious with his film than 1979 could reasonably accommodate. The concepts he's aiming to create on screen were far bigger than his meager budget and many years out of reach visually. So credit to them for attempting what they did. But this thing has not aged well, IMO.

 

[LoneSage]

Mad Max is to Mad Max 2 as Evil Dead is to Evil Dead 2.

 

[SouthtownKid]

It's never clear that it's a post-apocalyptic film,

That's because it isn't. It's a very popular misconception that Mad Max is post-apocalyptic. Maybe because the second movie takes place completely in the desert? Maybe people conflate Mad Max with Fist of the North Star?

 

[HornheaDD]

That's because it isn't. It's a very popular misconception that Mad Max is post-apocalyptic. Maybe because the second movie takes place completely in the desert? Maybe people conflate Mad Max with Fist of the North Star?

Doesn't MM3 talk about the apocalypse tho? The plane kids call it the "Pocky clips".