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

[LoneSage]

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

Kid means the first Mad Max film isn't post-apocalyptic, but the sequels are. Miller wanted the first film to be post-apocalyptic, but didn't have the budget for it. Society has gone down the drain, but it's still there and bombs haven't dropped yet. But in Mad Max 2, which takes place a few years later, yeah that's post-apocalyptic.

 

[wyo]

One could argue the apocalypse is in progress during the original. It depicts a near future dystopian world where oil and presumably other resources are scarce and society is breaking down as a result.

 

[evil wasabi]

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.

I watched this on a flight and felt it was adequate, but overall, shit. Adeshit. Also, BAA (battle angel alita) was a hidden rally call for sheep to view the movie. Convince me I’m wrong?

Stoker
I rented this last night because I was genuinely interested after reading reviews here. Not a big renter, and this was only the 2nd I have rented, period (first being nocturnal animals, which I loved). Stoker is ok. Nicole Kidman is stunning and her performance is fantastic. I think every actor carried their weight in this. I also felt like this was a less fun Thoroughbreds. Thoroughbreds also dealt with the same themes (misogyny, misanthropy, classism), but had Anton Yelchin in the role of an unfortunate drug dealer with a good heart, caught in the cross fire between really horrible people. Stoker is different in that it’s a suspense, a mystery, has a twist, and it’s much creepier. I’ll say my biggest gripe for Stoker was learning that the father was an architect but the family lived in a 1920s style mansion, complete with an internal phone system to call servants. What I liked a lot: Nicole Kidman’s study, with the jungle retreat theme. It was a great design, but somehow lends to her character with escapism and idyllicism - it was beautiful and fake, outside reality.

 

[LoneSage]

[REDACTED]

 

[genjiglove]

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.

Speaking of post apocalyptic films, Tenebre apparently takes place in the near future after an atomic blast killed off a large portion of the population. Personally I didn’t think this was very apparent but I’ve only seen it once.

 

[DevilRedeemed]

Personal Shopper
Excellent ghostly story
As long as you like Assayas
Kristen Stewart is his perfect muse here and she performs beautifully

 

[Naika]

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.

Okay...another Argento film that I need to see. (writes down on list of Italian horror films that need to be seen)

 

[SouthtownKid]

Okay...another Argento film that I need to see. (writes down on list of Italian horror films that need to be seen)

Don't forget Dracula 3D! You watch that and you'll never need to see another Argento movie. You'll cross him off your list completely.

 

[Naika]

Don't forget Dracula 3D! You watch that and you'll never need to see another Argento movie. You'll cross him off your list completely.

But but, Suspiria!!!

 

[LoneSage]

genji hasn't regularly posted in 4 years, Hey genji

 

[genjiglove]

genji hasn't regularly posted in 4 years, Hey genji

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to quit this place completely.

 

[F4U57]

But but, Suspiria!!!

Phenomena also known as Creepers (but seek the Phenomena cut - integral version from Medusa)

Argento takes it out on his other daughter, Fiore.

 

[Syn]

Phenomena also known as Creepers (but seek the Phenomena cut - integral version from Medusa)

Argento takes it out on his other daughter, Fiore.

It's included on Amazon Prime too!

Off to watch it now

 

[genjiglove]

Has anyone seen the recently released 4K Blu-ray of Suspiria? I bought the Blu-ray that Synapse released a couple years ago, not sure if I want to double dip on it.

 

[100proof]

Watched Color Out of Space last night. Based on a Lovecraft story and has been put on film a couple of times (most recently in the 80s as "The Curse" with Wil Wheaton). Standard Lovecraft stuff: thing comes out of the sky, gradually poisons the water supply, horrible mutants and insanity ensue.

Anyway, this version has Nicolas Cage doing his thing. I'd say we get about 85% Nic Cage in this one. Not quite Mandy levels but getting there. A decent low-budget horror flick all-in-all. Most of the really wild stuff is shown only in shadow or out of focus (a decent amount of practical f/x monster stuff with a smidge of CG here and there) but unless you're Carpenter's The Thing, seeing too much of "the monster" is generally a bad thing. The people slowly going insane is rightfully the focus and they do it in some interesting ways. Side note: the daughter in the movie looks like she's about 14 but apparently the actress is 22 which makes the puppy love relationship with the dude coming around to check the water table way less creepy. Also Tommy Chong has a small part that is kind of stupid and unnecessary.

Overall, I'd say it's a little more grounded and less batshit than Stuart Gordon's Lovecraft adaptations but Nic Cage adds just enough manic weirdness (as usual, his acting choices are interesting) to make it fun. Good if you liked Mandy but thought it could be slightly more commercial and less up its own ass.

 

[jro]

Ma - pretty by-the-numbers genre fare, but well-executed and generally fun to watch. Octavia Spencer was awesome.

Terminator: Dark Fate - the basic premise is a total rehash and also very weird (the Arnie part), but at least it felt like a proper Terminator movie after the last one felt like anything but. Linda Hamilton looked great for being 87 years old.

 

[fake]

1917
Gravity but not in space.

 

[evil wasabi]

Kuso
It took me a long time to get back to this and I still count take it all in. It’s from David Firth, who I had forgotten was the guy who made Salad Fingers, and boy does this movie bring back the rusty spoon feels, in live action. Not scary, but very eraserhead level disturbing shit, with a boards of Canada soundtrack.

As an apology to anyone who watches Kuso, I’ll just post this here, for everyone except F4U57, who I already made watch this.

 

[100proof]

Caught an afternoon showing of The Gentlemen. I'm a sucker for Guy Ritchie's first couple of Brit gangster movies and this one still has his penchant for wordplay and double crosses but it all seems a little more cold and calculating these days. All of the delightful, ugly character actors who would be in the old movies have all been replaced by pretty boys and stunt castings. I did enjoy the framing of the movie (a conversation between Hugh Grant's slimy tabloid journalist and Charlie Hunnam's henchman character) but they don't really do anything particularly interesting with it. The dialogue is still snappy and fun and there's a couple of satisfying moments but this is kind of a pale imitation of those old movies.

 

[HornheaDD]

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

Not what I was expecting. I was expecting more of a biographical film, rather than an "inspired by true events" work of (essentially) fiction.

It was enjoyable enough but it reminded me of Julie & Julia in a way. Tom Hanks was great and did an excellent job, but I still don't think he had the voice for the part. Mannerisms and inflection were spot on but his voice was too bassy compared to Rogers' 'nasal' register.

I cared more about Rogers than the main character, naturally.

I suppose the Won't You Be My Neighbor doco was more my taste. Still worth a rental.

 

[terry.330]

Prisoners - Ending was blah but damn fine performances. Hugh Jackman should get more props.

 

[Thierry Henry]

Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)

It's like life, man. Driving. Racing. Gapping spark-plugs. Girls. Well, not so much girls. A girl, but she got in the way. Driving. Racing, to where? Nowhere man. Nowhere. Racing to our own Oblivion cause that's it. The end.

Not a whole lot of a plot here, little dialogue and zero character development. This is a strange movie. It exists in its own reality, with an aimless pace, numerous moments of pure idleness and the repetitive purr and noise of engines.

I guess you either have to be really into cars and/or 70's counter-culture philosophy, or some such. It put me to sleep.

On the plus side, the LaserDisc version of this movie which was together with a bunch of other lasers that I picked up recently, has a little bit of value to it, as far as I know.

 

[dspoonrt]

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

Not what I was expecting. I was expecting more of a biographical film, rather than an "inspired by true events" work of (essentially) fiction.

It was enjoyable enough but it reminded me of Julie & Julia in a way. Tom Hanks was great and did an excellent job, but I still don't think he had the voice for the part. Mannerisms and inflection were spot on but his voice was too bassy compared to Rogers' 'nasal' register.

I cared more about Rogers than the main character, naturally.

I suppose the Won't You Be My Neighbor doco was more my taste. Still worth a rental.

I agree wholeheartedly. It just felt unnecessary. It lacked a tight focus, an interesting central character, and other elements that would have made it stand out.

I had a similar unimpressed feeling after recently seeing Ford v Ferrari, which was admittedly better crafted and more accurate than Beautiful Day. FvF was decent but just seemed too safe/ho-hum to be included in the same conversation as most of the other best picture nominees this year.

 

[famicommander]

I can't believe people actually watch awards shows.

"Some stuffy rich people in stupid clothes handed a small yellow object to one of several hundred people who helped make a movie I enjoyed. Now my tastes are validated and I feel smart!"

 

[evil wasabi]

There are very few awards I would accept.

Beyond not being politically entitled enough to be nominated for an Oscar, none of the oscars would appeal to me even as an artist.