Call Me By Your Name, Phantom Thread, Dunkirk and Lady Bird were the stand outs for me along with Get Out. I thought the others were average and overhyped especially Three Billboards... and The Shape of Water.
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Call Me By Your Name, Phantom Thread, Dunkirk and Lady Bird were the stand outs for me along with Get Out. I thought the others were average and overhyped especially Three Billboards... and The Shape of Water.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Thought this would be awful but it was actually really enjoyable. Action was good, there were loads of funny bits and generally paced pretty well. Think Karen Gillan was stunning in this, think I might have a thing for red heads... 7.5/10
Annihilation
Not sure how I felt about this movie. I think I really enjoyed the first hour an a bit, quite slow paced but very intriguing. Once it started explaining things, it kinda went downhill. The final 30 minutes were a joke. Felt like a thinking man's sci-fi, which is great but I need my films to also be entertaining 6/10
The Dorm
Vivian, a shy self-conscious college freshman, transforms into a new person after she rooms with a popular coed. Quite liked the overall narrative but it just was told in such a flat and monotonous way. All horror tropes were in there, a lot of the narrative and character decisions made no sense, the visuals looked cheap and I was bored 3/10
Thought this would be awful but it was actually really enjoyable. Action was good, there were loads of funny bits and generally paced pretty well. Think Karen Gillan was stunning in this, think I might have a thing for red heads... 7.5/10
Annihilation
Not sure how I felt about this movie. I think I really enjoyed the first hour an a bit, quite slow paced but very intriguing. Once it started explaining things, it kinda went downhill. The final 30 minutes were a joke. Felt like a thinking man's sci-fi, which is great but I need my films to also be entertaining 6/10
The Dorm
Vivian, a shy self-conscious college freshman, transforms into a new person after she rooms with a popular coed. Quite liked the overall narrative but it just was told in such a flat and monotonous way. All horror tropes were in there, a lot of the narrative and character decisions made no sense, the visuals looked cheap and I was bored 3/10
James White - I'd been meaning to watch this for a while, being a fan of Christopher Abbott and Cynthia Nixon. Abbott plays an unlikable, immature man-child dealing with his father's death and his mother's cancer. Shot in the typical noveau cinema verite style common to American indies, with a sometimes frustratingly tight frame, this was nevertheless kind of brilliant in a small way. My girlfriend and I are both dealing with a parent's cancer/chemo at the moment and I saw a lot of myself in James White's grief and suffering. I haven't headbutted anyone yet but there's time. A hard watch but definitely rewarding.
Rewatched the Nolan Batman trilogy over the last week with someone who hadn't seen them and it pretty much reinforced most of what I already thought. Batman Begins is a great origin story with the first hour (pre Batman) being particularly strong. I appreciated The Dark Knight as much as I had on the initial cinema viewing, loads of great set pieces, mesmerising Ledger performance and a pace that never let's up. The Harvey Dent into Two Face transformation felt a bit rushed though and I think the film would've been better without it, which leads me on to The Dark Knight Rises....which is a terrible film all round imo. An incredibly long running time that really does drag, cringe worthy dialogue and nonsensical plot twists. Definitely the bastard child of the three and the one that prevents the trilogy from being held in higher esteem. Really felt like Nolan was phoning it in on that last one.
Didn't think anyone would watch this movie if they weren't dragged to it by their kids - I know I wouldn't have - but it's a bit of a hidden treat. Arguably one of Jack Black's funniest performances.
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I wasn't enamoured with The Shape of Water. It was clearly made with love, was well acted and looked beautiful, but I just didn't feel like it was a grown up film with real characters. I didn't connect to anyone in it, as they all felt pretty one note and devoid of nuance. Maybe I'm just a fish racist, as my main gripe was struggling to buy the core love story. Sally Hawkins seemed to love the 'monster' almost instantly, without giving the audience a reason to go on that journey with her.
Of the 'Oscar films' from this year, Lady Bird was my favourite by a long way. That and Phantom Thread were classics of their respective genres, and Dunkirk was a standard Nolan action film (in a good way). I think I would order them;
Lady Bird
Phantom Thread
Dunkirk
Three Billboards (though I definitely enjoyed more than most on here)
Shape of Water
No interest in Darkest Hour. Need to see Call Me By Your Name. Coco and Get Out were also brilliant, not sure where they would fit into the above.
Of the 'Oscar films' from this year, Lady Bird was my favourite by a long way. That and Phantom Thread were classics of their respective genres, and Dunkirk was a standard Nolan action film (in a good way). I think I would order them;
Lady Bird
Phantom Thread
Dunkirk
Three Billboards (though I definitely enjoyed more than most on here)
Shape of Water
No interest in Darkest Hour. Need to see Call Me By Your Name. Coco and Get Out were also brilliant, not sure where they would fit into the above.
Halloween
With so much shit horror around these days, thought I'd go back and watch a classic. Still love it 8/10
With so much shit horror around these days, thought I'd go back and watch a classic. Still love it 8/10
There was a PT Anderson retro at an arthouse cinema I like, I went to see Magnolia and The Master over the past couple days.
Magnolia is as brilliant as I remembered it to be, and am reminded each time I see it. The editing, the pace, the intensity, the music, the performances, all of it is pretty flawless and in parts truly exceptional. I was there with a friend who'd never seen it, it was brilliant for her to discover it in those conditions.
As for The Master, I'm not quite sure what to think of it. The performances from Philip Seymour Hoffman and especially Joaquin Phoenix were excellent, and in parts the film is inspired, but it lacks coherence and something that pulls it all together. Some of it just seemed pretentious bollocks to be honest, and overall I was left wondering what I'd just witnessed. So not that enthused really.
Magnolia is as brilliant as I remembered it to be, and am reminded each time I see it. The editing, the pace, the intensity, the music, the performances, all of it is pretty flawless and in parts truly exceptional. I was there with a friend who'd never seen it, it was brilliant for her to discover it in those conditions.
As for The Master, I'm not quite sure what to think of it. The performances from Philip Seymour Hoffman and especially Joaquin Phoenix were excellent, and in parts the film is inspired, but it lacks coherence and something that pulls it all together. Some of it just seemed pretentious bollocks to be honest, and overall I was left wondering what I'd just witnessed. So not that enthused really.
Have you seen The Master Nilssy?
Yeah.
Visual and auditory splendour but completely vacuous, the ending was a complete cop-out but not as bad as the mother of all cop-outs, the raining amphibians.
Yeah there was a lot I liked about it, I think, but ultimately... meh.
The frogs were brilliant you heathen.
Anyone seen Small Town Crime (2017) ?
Funny Face - Audrey Hepburn doing an interpretive dance in a beatnik bar in Paris is the reason why the movie camera was invented. The rest of the movie was all in very poor taste though.
You Were Never Really Here
Joaquin Phoenix plays a monosyllabic thug who hurts people for money. Despite this you end up grieving for him and the torment that’s made him the man he is. This is done almost entirely visually. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie of this genre with less exposition; “show don’t tell” in full effect. A taut and brutal 90 minutes long, you should make an effort to watch this in the cinema. And not just for the cinematography. The Jonny Greenwood score is quite something, it needs to be felt in your guts.
Not sure on marks out of 10 yet, as I only watched it last night and am still processing. But yeah, it is very good. Recommended.
Joaquin Phoenix plays a monosyllabic thug who hurts people for money. Despite this you end up grieving for him and the torment that’s made him the man he is. This is done almost entirely visually. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie of this genre with less exposition; “show don’t tell” in full effect. A taut and brutal 90 minutes long, you should make an effort to watch this in the cinema. And not just for the cinematography. The Jonny Greenwood score is quite something, it needs to be felt in your guts.
Not sure on marks out of 10 yet, as I only watched it last night and am still processing. But yeah, it is very good. Recommended.
It's really stuck with me, a proper gut punch of a film. Properly haunting throughout, and like you say, it really does well to make you empathise for J Phoenix's character. The comparisons with Taxi Driver are obvious, and it's shot/ scored just as well as that was.
I think Lynn Ramsey could make a complete classic, hope she gets a great script to work with again soon.
That sounds promising. Love Joaquin Phoenix.
Oh wait this came out last year and was oddly called A Beautiful Day in France. I'd read quite a bit about it and put it on the list. Right I'll have to watch it soon.
Ha! That title will make sense when you watch it.
The Omen
Another classic horror film that has aged reasonably well 8/10
Another classic horror film that has aged reasonably well 8/10
I watched you were never really here without knowing what it was about
In fact 30 minutes in I still had no clue what was happening
or where it was heading
Its a different type of movie about a hitman / gun for hire.
In fact 30 minutes in I still had no clue what was happening
or where it was headingIts a different type of movie about a hitman / gun for hire.
Captain Fantastic (2016)
When i saw the poster for this I thought it was a cheap imitation of a Wes Anderson film so I avoided it.
Happy to admit I was wrong. Viggo Mortenson plays a father raising his family in the wild away from technology with an extreme vision of survival skills and iconoclastic approach to life.
This appears totally shocking to more conservative parents and relations.
He is gradually forced to evaluate his approach as events spiral and take a dramatic turn.
Mortensen is excellent throughout, showing moments of dogma, inspiration and emotional turmoil.
What I found particularly moving was the complex father son relationships and his final speech to his eldest son was a great little moment.
A kind of swiss family Chomsky rather than Robinson, it's an amusing sad and touching film that shows Mortensen can do more than moody silences or swordplay.
When i saw the poster for this I thought it was a cheap imitation of a Wes Anderson film so I avoided it.
Happy to admit I was wrong. Viggo Mortenson plays a father raising his family in the wild away from technology with an extreme vision of survival skills and iconoclastic approach to life.
This appears totally shocking to more conservative parents and relations.
He is gradually forced to evaluate his approach as events spiral and take a dramatic turn.
Mortensen is excellent throughout, showing moments of dogma, inspiration and emotional turmoil.
What I found particularly moving was the complex father son relationships and his final speech to his eldest son was a great little moment.
A kind of swiss family Chomsky rather than Robinson, it's an amusing sad and touching film that shows Mortensen can do more than moody silences or swordplay.
Rosewood (1997)
Powerful movie about a massacre in Florida in the 1920s. The lack of official documentation on this event is shocking, absolutely shocking. Once again you're reminded how widespread racism was in those days.
Powerful movie about a massacre in Florida in the 1920s. The lack of official documentation on this event is shocking, absolutely shocking. Once again you're reminded how widespread racism was in those days.
Great film that and a great performance from Mortensen.
A Matter of Life and Death - What a wonderful film. Looks pretty fantasic for something that's 72 years old too.
Come and See(1985)
The greatest war movie ever made. Simply incredible.
10/10
The greatest war movie ever made. Simply incredible.
10/10
I finally got around to watching it and what a dsappointment. I am a big fan of Alexander Payne (Election, Sideways, About Schmidt etc), but this is a terrible film. The premise was original and promising but the actual plot and execution were godawful.
Annihilation. I read the book (the first one) and I didn't think it was great. Don't get me wrong, a really interesting premise, and van der Meer builds the world excellently, with some very creepy touches. But the actual plot isn't really there.
The film blew me away, it was much better than I was expecting. It's gorgeous and the storytelling is understated, which is important - the shimmer is an inexplicable entity. Very intelligent and the ending was so surreal. Score was great too. It reminds me of Tarkovsky's Stalker.
The part with the bear... yeah, that was genuinely disturbing.
The film blew me away, it was much better than I was expecting. It's gorgeous and the storytelling is understated, which is important - the shimmer is an inexplicable entity. Very intelligent and the ending was so surreal. Score was great too. It reminds me of Tarkovsky's Stalker.
The part with the bear... yeah, that was genuinely disturbing.
The Insult
«After an emotional exchange between a Lebanese Christian and a Palestinian refugee escalates, the men end up in a court case that gets national attention.» Actual lebanese movie with actual lebanese actors (I guess). Nominated for 'best foreign movie' at the Academy Awards.
It's basically a courtroom drama that does everything right. Great acting, great storyline (very nice little tweaks to the tension between both parties) and great cinematography (looking for a trip to Beirut now). The film does well* to include the relevant recent history with palestinian refugees (they call them 'falestini' or something like that, movie was in arab) in Lebanon and the answer of reactionary politics to that and gives a picture of what both have to put up with living together in Lebanon.
9/10 (+1 for the feeling of being in Lebanon for 1h 52min)
*From what I can tell from inside the Western Bubble having never been to Lebanon.
«After an emotional exchange between a Lebanese Christian and a Palestinian refugee escalates, the men end up in a court case that gets national attention.» Actual lebanese movie with actual lebanese actors (I guess). Nominated for 'best foreign movie' at the Academy Awards.
It's basically a courtroom drama that does everything right. Great acting, great storyline (very nice little tweaks to the tension between both parties) and great cinematography (looking for a trip to Beirut now). The film does well* to include the relevant recent history with palestinian refugees (they call them 'falestini' or something like that, movie was in arab) in Lebanon and the answer of reactionary politics to that and gives a picture of what both have to put up with living together in Lebanon.
9/10 (+1 for the feeling of being in Lebanon for 1h 52min)
*From what I can tell from inside the Western Bubble having never been to Lebanon.
Some films I've seen recently:
Gods Of Egypt
Mortal hero Bek teams with the god Horus in an alliance against Set, the merciless god of darkness, who has usurped Egypt's throne, plunging the once peaceful and prosperous empire into chaos and conflict. Laughably bad movie, bad acting, bad dialogue, bad script, bad VFX... just bad. BUT! It was highly ambitious and really fun, the kind of movie you watch and laugh at. Watch with a bunch of mates and you'll have a blast 5/10
Kill Command
Set in a near future, technology-reliant society that pits man against killing machines. This movie is the other kind of bad... just pure boring. Flat, uninspiring locations and characters that have absolutely no personality. The effects were decent considering it probably had a pretty low budget 3/10
Demon House
Paranormal investigator Zak Bagans documents the most authenticated case of possession in American history. Horror documentary, that feels completely biased and one sided, despite the efforts of the creators to make it feel neutral. A lot of times they'll show some boring footage of people entering the house and inspecting it, then say "what we didn't get on film is that right after this incident, John became really ill and was puking blood out of his nose." I need more than the creators anecdotes to get into a documentary. Time wasted 2/10
Mortal hero Bek teams with the god Horus in an alliance against Set, the merciless god of darkness, who has usurped Egypt's throne, plunging the once peaceful and prosperous empire into chaos and conflict. Laughably bad movie, bad acting, bad dialogue, bad script, bad VFX... just bad. BUT! It was highly ambitious and really fun, the kind of movie you watch and laugh at. Watch with a bunch of mates and you'll have a blast 5/10
Kill Command
Set in a near future, technology-reliant society that pits man against killing machines. This movie is the other kind of bad... just pure boring. Flat, uninspiring locations and characters that have absolutely no personality. The effects were decent considering it probably had a pretty low budget 3/10
Demon House
Paranormal investigator Zak Bagans documents the most authenticated case of possession in American history. Horror documentary, that feels completely biased and one sided, despite the efforts of the creators to make it feel neutral. A lot of times they'll show some boring footage of people entering the house and inspecting it, then say "what we didn't get on film is that right after this incident, John became really ill and was puking blood out of his nose." I need more than the creators anecdotes to get into a documentary. Time wasted 2/10
Ladybird
Seems to be getting a lot of love on here, as well as from critics, but didn't blow me away at all. The one word I would use to sum it up is "nice". Everything about it is very nice. Every character is nice, it looks nice, the music is nice. It's a nice movie. Not much more than that, though. I kept waiting for some sort of drama that never happened. And, to be fair, the fact it didn't go for any of the obvious melodrama you'd expect in a film like this makes it quite original. But it also means that's a film which never really moves you, or makes you think. It never moved me, anyway. Some of the humour missed the mark for me too, it just came across as a little arch and pretentious. If you're in the mood for a nice little (bonus point for being < 90 minutes long) movie then this is worth a watch. I wouldn't recommend seeing it with high expectations, though. I did and was left feeling a little disappointed.
6/10
Seems to be getting a lot of love on here, as well as from critics, but didn't blow me away at all. The one word I would use to sum it up is "nice". Everything about it is very nice. Every character is nice, it looks nice, the music is nice. It's a nice movie. Not much more than that, though. I kept waiting for some sort of drama that never happened. And, to be fair, the fact it didn't go for any of the obvious melodrama you'd expect in a film like this makes it quite original. But it also means that's a film which never really moves you, or makes you think. It never moved me, anyway. Some of the humour missed the mark for me too, it just came across as a little arch and pretentious. If you're in the mood for a nice little (bonus point for being < 90 minutes long) movie then this is worth a watch. I wouldn't recommend seeing it with high expectations, though. I did and was left feeling a little disappointed.
6/10
I'm just so over that Ladybird style of movie - feel like I've seen the same thing so many times.
Reminded me a bit of Sing Street. That was another "nice" coming of age movie. Although I enjoyed it more because I didn't have such high expectations and it took itself a lot less seriously.
Haven't seen Ladybird yet, but Sing Street was a charming little film. Mostly probably because like you I went in with zero expectations and was just pleasantly surprised. I don't remember much about it to be honest, except that I enjoyed it.
Same. Don’t think I’ll ever watch it again but I left the cinema in a much better mood than I was in when I first sat down. Which is a feat not achieved by many movies.
Sing St and Ladybird are probably two of my favourite films from the last couple of years. Loved them both.
Loved them both.Lady Bird is fantastic. Hit a ton of nerves with me, and actually laughed out loud at numerous points (which is unusual even in films that are straight comedies), particularly the "bartering" line from Chalamet. Ronan and Metcalf both perfect in their roles (and the Dad). I can see why some wouldn't hit it off with it though.
I liked Lady Bird a fair bit but I can understand why people would feel a bit underwhelmed after all the praise it has received. I see it as a well written, excellently acted, though not particularly original, coming of age film.