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Author Topic: Respond to the last movie you watched  (Read 684288 times)

Bondo

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #3690 on: August 03, 2019, 05:59:02 AM »
At least for me I didn't have the same response between Diary and Can You Ever Forgive Me? I thought she gets the tone right on the latter whereas with Diary it was a tough pill to swallow.

philip918

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #3691 on: August 05, 2019, 12:36:41 PM »
Ash is Purest White (2018)

The first "Very Good" nearly "Great" film of the year for me. Jia covers an enormous amount of time and space while remaining completely emotionally connected to his characters. Has a number of standout scenes, especially the inciting moment of violence which is incredibly tense, and then a long quiet scene where Qiao and Bin hash out the state of their relationship, which features some subtle but powerful staging and camerawork. Loved it.

philip918

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #3692 on: August 06, 2019, 03:04:01 PM »
Transit (2018)

Another very good film. The week is off to a good start. And, if this isn't a film for this exact moment in time - sort of CHILDREN OF MEN meets CASABLANCA. It's a contemporary take on Jews attempting to flee France as Nazi forces close in. The contemporary setting is very powerful and the cinematography is gorgeous. Then there's a dramatic conceit that is just hauntingly, heartbreakingly, beautiful. Franz Rogowski has the screen presence of a young Joaquin Phoenix. His alert eyes betray a volatile energy barely reined in. The film's one glaring weakness is there's a good deal of voice over that I found almost completely unnecessary, and the reveal of the person providing it made me groan.

With this and Phoenix being so good, I'm definitely planning catching up with Petzold's other films. Barbara, Jerichow, and Yella are on Kanopy so I'll be starting there.
« Last Edit: August 06, 2019, 03:07:38 PM by philip918 »

FLYmeatwad

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #3693 on: August 06, 2019, 08:12:24 PM »
Transit was one of the films from PFF last year that kept growing in my estimation, might have even hit my top ten by year's end. It really is something, hope that more people get to check it out. The efficiency with which it tells its story and communicates with its themes is strike.

In an unrelated note...

Yo.

That film Serenity is CINECAST!ing nuts.

smirnoff

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #3694 on: August 06, 2019, 11:11:27 PM »
Ash is Purest White (2018)

The first "Very Good" nearly "Great" film of the year for me. Jia covers an enormous amount of time and space while remaining completely emotionally connected to his characters. Has a number of standout scenes, especially the inciting moment of violence which is incredibly tense, and then a long quiet scene where Qiao and Bin hash out the state of their relationship, which features some subtle but powerful staging and camerawork. Loved it.

Sounds fantastic. Gotta keep an eye out for that one.

1SO

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #3695 on: August 06, 2019, 11:13:45 PM »
Miss Sloane (2016)
★ ★ ★ - Good
The writer does one of the better Sorkin impressions I've heard. It's not as funny, but the dialogue is fast and thick, able to slam down the drama hard on an upbeat scene or bounce a tense moment out with a smile. The script also does that rarely-copied Sorkin trick of telegraphing exactly what's going to happen and then when it happens, you're dazzled anyway.

The story doesn't pass for realism, but in its own pulpy way it works, and that's mainly a credit to the cast. Jessica Chastain is full throttle, reminding me of her work in Molly's Game. Also, like Molly there's a combination of great character actors (Mark Strong, John Lithgow, Alison Pill, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jake Lacy and Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and just great faces. The film is also really well photographed. Not flashy, but there's a contrast between the cold office politics and warm places where plans are hatched, that doesn't lean into blues and orange-browns like most films.

I wish I had more to say about the subject matter, which is about lobbying for and against universal background checks for purchasing guns. I thought there might be some raw nerve scenes or heavy message moments, but those lines are few and take a backseat to the chess game between the two groups. It really could've been about any hot-button issue.

smirnoff

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #3696 on: August 06, 2019, 11:18:15 PM »
Heh, I actually thought you were talking about Molly's Game until the part in the review where you said Molly's Game and I realized I was mixed up. The scenes between Chastain and Elba in that movie are strong and memorable (to be honest that's about all I remember), which is why your Sorkin comment took me there.

This sounds like a watchable film.

Smoke

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #3697 on: August 08, 2019, 10:15:21 PM »
Finally caught up with Her Smell and I have some pretty mixed feelings. Some fascinating things have been written about it, and I can't say they are untrue, but I couldn't help remembering a small epiphany I had as a pretty young person about the tv show ER. As it took place in an emergency room, whenever the show needed some tension they'd just wheel in a kid with cancer or cut to a loving mother's children as she passed from this earth. It was pretty disturbing really, and I felt much the same watching this catalog of bad behaviors; I found the redemption scenes about the same, really. Schlock. The big scene where she goes missing before the show..."is she stoned? Oh My!". I'm sorry but it seemed pretty cheap and the equivalent of a jump scare. Then she sings a song with her daughter smiling in the audience etc. I hate to be so down on it because Elisabeth Moss brings so much to the part, showing both the intellect in the madness and a hint of madness after the flood, and also the sound design is marvelous and it's well-made in other respects. But I just couldn't buy it. Maybe after a few years of reading such interesting stuff about it I'll be willing to wade back in and find I see it differently.

PS
To hear our hosts compare this film to A Woman Under The Influence I found a little galling. Under it's hood Her Smell seems very much the type of Hollywood construction Cassavetes transcended.

Sorry to be so critical...

Sandy

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #3698 on: August 08, 2019, 11:51:52 PM »
Strong reactions are the most interesting to read! :)

philip918

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #3699 on: August 09, 2019, 12:16:37 AM »
Strong reactions are the most interesting to read! :)

The Souvenir (2019)

Fine.