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Movie Talk / Re: Respond to the last movie you watched

« Last post by 1SO on Today at 12:02:32 AM »

Machete (2010)
★ ★ ★ - Okay
I usually don't enjoy films that use a meta-excuse to be deliberately bad. The results tend to be twice as groan-inducing or a suspicious cover for a movie that aimed to be good and failed horribly. Robert Rodriguez knows exactly what he's going for and makes it work most of the time. His sometimes overblown, dumb action beats work within this context and a cast as diverse as Robert De Niro and Steven Seagal all come off as the perfect actors for each job. It's also amazing to watch in our current political situation, since the main plot is about a politician trying to rally support for his plan to build a wall that will keep out all Mexicans, who he portrays as criminals. Worthy of being looked at as a sequel to Grindhouse.

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Movie Talk / Re: What Movie Is Playing Right Now

« Last post by 1SO on Yesterday at 11:25:53 PM »

Machete I really enjoyed the first time, and couldn't finish the second time which surprised me. Danny Trejo delivers some lines really well though. One made for an especially good laugh. Could have been best of the year.

Is it "Machete don't text."?

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Marathons / Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors

« Last post by 1SO on Yesterday at 10:38:38 PM »

Never mind. Having seen the first two, I definitely plan to watch all four and may add Police (1985).

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Movie Talk / Re: Respond to the last movie you watched

« Last post by Bondo on Yesterday at 09:17:27 PM »

Apollo 11

Definitely nominating this for Best Visual Effects. They really made it look like we landed on the moon. Okay, conspiracy theories are no laughing matter these days, but it does seem, 50 years later, this film finds a lot of footage that I don't think has been used. It is a documentary told entirely through contemporaneous archive footage, so in theory, there is no reason for this film not to have been made a long time ago. Perhaps restoration/enhancement technologies have finally made it presentable, perhaps the 50 year anniversary makes it a special time for this, but it does feel like a new experience of this epochal event.

It actually is pretty slow in the start, the lead-up to launch gets stretched out longer than seems justified. Still, from the last moments prior to the launch until splashdown eight days later, it is pretty captivating watching all the steps that make a groundbreaking feat in such specific detail. Plus we get a few good bits of Buzz Aldrin comic relief.

Still, there is a bit of crusty educational nature to this that makes me unlikely to consider it a "Best Documentary." Compared to the kind of narrative power that Senna and Amy pulled from archival coverage, the style doesn't demand it. Rather, this is a specific choice to avoid emotional pablum and just give us the essence of it.

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Filmspots / Re: FYC 2019 - General

« Last post by 1SO on Yesterday at 08:18:08 PM »

Also, one is clearly Comedic while the other is not.

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Filmspots / Re: FYC 2019 - General

« Last post by FLYmeatwad on Yesterday at 08:08:50 PM »

Isn't one a mid-credits scene and the other a post-credits scene?

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Movie Talk / Re: Last DVD you bought

« Last post by 1SO on Yesterday at 03:06:22 PM »

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Movie Talk / Re: What Movie Is Playing Right Now

« Last post by don s. on Yesterday at 02:10:45 PM »

Climax (Gaspar Noé; 2018)




Transit (Christian Petzold; 2018)

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Movie Talk / Re: Great Scenes in Not-Quite-Great Films

« Last post by Sam the Cinema Snob on Yesterday at 10:48:13 AM »

That was pretty great.

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Television & Sports / Re: Review the Last TV Episode/Season/Series You Watched

« Last post by oldkid on Yesterday at 10:20:58 AM »

Love Death Robots

R-rated, animated, Science fiction anthology?  Okay, I’ll go for it.

Sonnie’s Edge
Amazing animal fight scene, completely intense.  But any human is just too CGI, the movements clunky, and without any real motivation.  Mixed, but it’s short enough to watch for the intense violence.
Three Robots
… tour the post-human apocalytic remains.  Their snarky tone is fun, as is the end.  But at eleven minutes it was close to too long..
The Witness
A well-crafted cycle with too much female nudity.  The occasional comic-book words was a nice touch.
Suits
A redneck action-opera with all the beats of an action film in 12 minutes.  Good characterization and a few one-liners thrown in there.  Well done.
Sucker of Souls
A nice action/horror/comic short.  Starts a bit clunky, but once it warms up to the subject, it is quite entertaining.
When the Yogurt Took Over
Light, unassuming fare.  Animation akin to Cloudy with a Chance...  Forgettable.
Beyond the Aqua Rift
Kind of predictable and a deep uncanny valley effect.
Good Hunting
Excellently animated, excellent story and the ease it blends the magical with the steampunk is wonderful.
The Dump
Predictable storyline, but well-done creature animation.
Helping Hand
Like Gravity, but more horrible.  A very tense moment or two.
Fish Night
I wish the beauty of the second half lasted a bit more.  Beautiful animation.
Lucky 13
I’m not a fan of war narratives, but this is so well told and animated, I couldn’t help but appreciate it. Excellent.
 Zima Blue
A wise little short, and lovely to look at.
Blindspot
Distracting train robbery tale. 
Ice Age
A comedic look at a fun high concept.  Only short that made me laugh out loud.
16. Alternate Histories
Another high concept comedy with Hitler.  Cute.
17. The Secret War
Another war story, not nearly as well told as Lucky 13, but the bloody montage near the end was quite good (despite all the humans moving like mannequins) 

Like most anthologies, this was hit-and-miss, with most of the shorts being mediocre.  I’d say Good Hunting, Lucky 13 and Zima Blue are the best of the lot with Ice Age and Sucker of Souls just falling behind them.  Overall, I’d say that the themes of death and robots are pretty consistent, but many of the shorts are satisfied to have nudity be a fair replacement for “love”.