Author Topic: Respond to the last movie you watched (2013-2016)  (Read 973612 times)

DarkeningHumour

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10453
  • When not sure if sarcasm look at username.
    • Pretentiously Yours
Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #7600 on: March 14, 2016, 08:28:05 PM »
Care to comment on the stupidity of Zoolander, so I'll know if it is the kind that speaks to me too ?

As a side-note, I just realised there are currently two movies with zoo-related name at the cinema. Coincidence ?  :o
« Society is dumb. Art is everything. » - Junior

https://pretensiouslyyours.wordpress.com/

Junior

  • Bert Macklin, FBI
  • Global Moderator
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 28709
  • What's the rumpus?
    • Benefits of a Classical Education
Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #7601 on: March 14, 2016, 09:37:20 PM »
10 Cloverfield Lane.

I really like Cloverfield. It uses the now-standard shaky-cam found footage tropes with something so large that the scale really makes an impact from such a small perspective. In some ways, this not-quite-a-sequel does a very similar thing, though in a very different way. Director Dan Trachtenberg does a phenomenal job of locking the three characters in a bunker and ramping up the tension little by little and uses such a steady hand while doing so that you soon forget about what might be happening above ground because what's happening in the bunker is so much fun. Where the original Cloverfield had a lot of fun with tromping around Manhattan, 10 Cloverfield Lane has fun by throwing three very different people in a small space and seeing what happens. John Goodman gives an all-time great performance here, walking the line between so many things quite delicately and using his substantial screen presence to good effect. Mary Elizabeth Winsted proves again just how good she is as she runs the gamut from scared prisoner to... well... something else. And the script is amazing, with reveals both about character and situation coming exactly when they need to come. The sound is impressive, too, adding to the claustrophobic vibe wonderfully. It's a really good time at the movies.
Check out my blog of many topics

“I’m not a quitter, Kimmy! I watched Interstellar all the way to the end!”

MartinTeller

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 17864
  • martinteller.wordpress.com
    • my movie blog
Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #7602 on: March 14, 2016, 11:22:24 PM »

The Look of Silence - We've been binging on the show "Hannibal" lately. More like hate-watching, for a bunch of reasons I won't get into. But one of the reasons is that the show came out of the gate with absurd levels of gore (although apparently Botticelli's naked ladies have to be blurred out because painted depictions of nipples and vaginas are disgusting, right?) and has to keep upping the ante in order to keep being "disturbing".

Not one thing in that show is half as disturbing as this documentary. Because where the killers in "Hannibal" usually have some ridiculously complicated psychology behind their actions, the Indonesian paramilitary Komando Aksi are real, and they don't explain away their murders as a love of mushrooms or some such nonsense. It seems rather that they killed simply because they could, because the military stood behind them and allowed them to purge the country of "communists".

This is of course Joshua Oppenheimer's follow-up to The Act of Killing. It does not have the same surreal flourishes as its predecessor (though it is exceptionally well-shot). It may, in fact, feel redundant to some. We see again that these killers have no remorse, or if they do, they are burying it under deep layers of justification. They will happily discuss the nature of their killings, but get cagey when pressed on why they did it, how they feel about it, or why they didn't try to stop it.

The film mostly centers around Adi, the brother of a man whose murder was particularly savage. Adi confronts (gently... like the softer version of Kenzo Okuzaki in The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On) those who participated in or were aware of his brother's killing. He's an optometrist, an almost too-poetic touch as he tries to bring some clarity to the situation. What he and Oppenheimer reveal is our awful capacity for unspeakable violence and the rationalization of it. And it also probes our capacity for forgiveness, and how attempt to make sense of an insane world.

While this may not bring anything new to the overall picture of Act of Killing, its more personal approach makes it just as engaging. And it's just as chilling. Rating: Great (90)

Paul Phoenix

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1664
  • The 'Kid-Gloves' are off
    • Letterboxd Profile
Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #7603 on: March 16, 2016, 05:59:15 AM »
Blade (1998)

A rather hammy take on the vampire lore, but it's fun enough for bored late nights. It has guns, YA vampire angst, and of course, blades. This is often considered the first good Marvel film to be produced, and it does display plenty of the traits you'd find in MCU entries, including ridiculous movie-logic (a group of men with guns is beaten by a guy with blades - without any scratch on him). The only things that differ from later Marvel films are products of '90s cinema (the terrible CGI, the techno/disco music playing as Blade disposes of Frost's henchmen, Frost's name itself).

The dumbness of the plot and dialogues aside, it makes for a solid action movie well-spent. Wesley Snipes is believable enough as the brooding Daywalker that I could just easily go along with his vampire-slaying. Like its more popular MCU cousins, it bears enough heart and humanity to keep you watching for its two hour run (a surprising runtime for a Marvel movie).

7/10 (Dumb Vampire Fun)
Enjoyability: Above average
"I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is ending up with people who make you feel all alone." - Lance Clayton (played by Robin Williams), World's Greatest Dad

Eternally seeking variety. 'Tis the spice of life for me.

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36129
  • Marathon Man
Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #7604 on: March 16, 2016, 10:27:11 AM »
For me, once you get past Blade, you owe it to yourself to enjoy Blade II. Guillermo del Toro is swimming in his element, creating an entirely new type of vampire in the process.

Junior

  • Bert Macklin, FBI
  • Global Moderator
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 28709
  • What's the rumpus?
    • Benefits of a Classical Education
Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #7605 on: March 16, 2016, 10:31:05 AM »
I was about to say the same thing. Blade is fine, Blade II is great.
Check out my blog of many topics

“I’m not a quitter, Kimmy! I watched Interstellar all the way to the end!”

Paul Phoenix

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1664
  • The 'Kid-Gloves' are off
    • Letterboxd Profile
Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #7606 on: March 16, 2016, 10:36:21 AM »
For me, once you get past Blade, you owe it to yourself to enjoy Blade II. Guillermo del Toro is swimming in his element, creating an entirely new type of vampire in the process.
I remember some scenes from Blade II from when I watched it as a child. The only scenes I remembered though were those 'new vampires' you mentioned and how they had mouths that looked like the Predator's. Not that that's a bad thing, of course.
"I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is ending up with people who make you feel all alone." - Lance Clayton (played by Robin Williams), World's Greatest Dad

Eternally seeking variety. 'Tis the spice of life for me.

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36129
  • Marathon Man
Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #7607 on: March 16, 2016, 01:04:45 PM »

Imitation of Life (1934)

For Louise Beavers, Imitation of Life is the role of a lifetime. I was happy anytime she was on screen, even though her part was compromised by racial attitudes at the time. This is one of the more progressive films of the 1930s, bit there's more than a bit of Song of the South whitewash to how happy Delilah is to be serving Beatrice Pullman (Claudette Colbert), especially how she finds it more fulfilling then the time spent with her light-skinned daughter, Peola. The character also reinforces stereotypes harder than many of Beavers' later characters would. While this is her meatiest part, I kept thinking of Bullets or Ballots, where she gets rich inventing the numbers game and Bombshell, where she boasts about a sex life so active it "wears out her lingerie." There's nothing Aunt Jemima in those roles, while this stays well within that negative image. Still, a great part and Beavers' greatest performance.

As for the rest of the film, it has moments but never quite comes together in a satisfying way. Colbert's performance lacks her usual dimensions. It's more of a noble contribution by a talent whose name can get such edgy material produced. Most disappointing is Warren William, who can be an attractive scoundrel but here has the wattage turned down too low. It's the first time I've seen the story push him around instead of the other way. His part felt increasingly intrusive, especially when I realized there wasn't enough of Peola to get this film on its feet.

That's the core problem. Without more scenes explaining why Peola would want to pass herself off as white, the film just says the problem is that Peola had the misfortune to be born black. Without that side of the picture, we have a daughter being unnecessarily cruel to her mother, and the mother just takes it, like a character from an Iñárritu film, piling on the misery until it buries her. The drama is too abusive when it could say so much more. I haven't seen the Douglas Sirk version for almost 20 years, so I'm not making any comparisons, but I can see where the story could work with some major improvements.
RATING: * * 1/2

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36129
  • Marathon Man
Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #7608 on: March 16, 2016, 10:42:47 PM »

The Black Swan (1942)
"I always sample a bottle of wine before I buy it. Let's have a sip, see if you're worth taking along."

Pirate adventure starring Tyrone Power who along with his best friend (Thomas Mitchell) go to work for the new Governor of Jamaica (noir favorite Laird Cregar) to rid the Caribbean of some nasty pirates (led by George Sanders and Anthony Quinn), while Power attempts to win the heart of the former governor's daughter (Maureen O'Hara). That's a hell of a cast, and with the possible of exception of Cregar, all names which should be familiar to most.

         
A visually unrecognizable George Sanders w Anthony Quinn.   Laird Cregar with some familiar looking pirates.

Anyone familiar with the Pirates of the Caribbean ride will find unmistakable similarities in the costumes, makeup and some of the imagery. (This was supported by an article I read called "From Swan to Sparrow".) A few of the pirates are dead ringers for animatronics from the ride. So why isn't the film more well known? And how come Errol Flynn didn't make it, assuming any pirate movie made at the time would hope to land Errol Flynn?

"In Tortuga when a woman slaps a man's face, it means she wants him to grab her,
over-power her, and smother her with kisses.
I understand in Jamaica a gentleman must refuse such overtures."

Those who remember the Pirates ride may also remember Disney made a major change to one scene involving Pirates chasing after women, including one hiding in a barrel while a tired pirate offered to share her if someone would say where she was hiding. Now the scene has the women chasing the pirates, who attempt to make off with food and jewels. Well, The Black Swan doesn't have the luxury of updating its uncomfortable sexism. Power and O'Hara's courtship is a series of scenes where he physically overpowers her into submission, at times grabbing her roughly though never forcing himself on her for more than a smooch. She responds with kicks, slaps and bites but all but the final encounter is against her will. Errol Flynn never had to resort to such methods.

Without Flynn, it's clear the budget spared quite a few expenses. There's hardly any location work, which means a lot of sets that look like sets and rear projection on boats that look like they've never touched water. The script is by the legendary Ben Hecht and Seton I. Miller (The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk, G Men), but this is hardly one to be proud of. The story is streamlined to the point of being too thin and there's little in the way of witty dialogue.
RATING: * *

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36129
  • Marathon Man
Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #7609 on: March 17, 2016, 12:48:43 AM »
Satan Met a Lady (1936)
* *
My re-watch of The Maltese Falcon came up to bat today, and having re-watched a number of films with Mrs. 1SO chronologically, it's clear that in Humphrey Bogart's performance as Sam Spade the mold for movie detectives was being reshaped into something tougher, smarter and more dangerous that what had been seen before. The bar was raised and previous detective films were way to flip by comparison. I enjoy these early detectives but their mission is entertainment first. When Bogart slaps you, "you'll take it and like it."



Loosely based on the same story, Satan Met a Lady plays more like a comedy. I'm not sure if this is entirely intentional, but I am sure it's not entirely funny. Bette Davis pulls a gun to ask Warren William to kindly take off his hat. He then swings from a curtain rod, charming the lady and minutes later they're flirting over cocktails. I see how William's approach could work. A gleefully immoral cad who will take someone's gun and then share a laugh with the dupe, but he takes nothing seriously. Pat O'Brien will get solemn a little to make you feel there's something at stake. William's partner is killed and he's only upset about the name on the door not being changed. Bette Davis would've improved the 1941 Falcon, but here she's ultimately also brought down by the comedy, hooting and hollering while she proudly spills her secrets. At least Mary Astor got to play it smart.