Author Topic: Respond to the last movie you watched  (Read 684336 times)

Eric/E.T.

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #4030 on: January 12, 2020, 12:59:15 AM »
WAVES has the honor to be the one 2019 film I ejected halfway in. A real miserable experience. Good luck to anyone who feel like they have to watch it.

I'm with you. Overly emotive. Pretentious, especially in the excesses of the camera movements. Drivel.
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Eric/E.T.

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #4031 on: January 12, 2020, 01:12:42 AM »
1917

Saw it on the biggest screen in Arizona, which definitely enhanced the experience. Not sure how it stacks up to biggest screens in other states, but it was a fun experience for me!

I liked it. The one-shot conceit keeps you immersed in the mission without becoming tedious. I enjoyed tagging along on a tense war mission while exploring the abandoned German trenches, seeing a dogfight from the ground level, or coming into contact with a French woman and baby in hiding, adding a human aspect and another dimension to the story. Ultimately, it arrives at a destination where many other war movies will take you. The overall story arc is nothing exciting or groundbreaking, but the journey is definitely worth experiencing on as big of a screen as possible.
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FLYmeatwad

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #4032 on: January 12, 2020, 12:33:10 PM »
Surprised that they took the time to have one short convo about the themes, and then killed off the fat guy so that the dopey looking guy could go do war stuff. Saw this at AMC Prime, but even that couldn't save it.

1SO

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #4033 on: January 12, 2020, 03:55:34 PM »
I spent time today defending 1917 as better than Dunkirk, but that's really only because the way Nolan plays around with time undercuts the entire film for me.

1. I wonder if the trailers give away the fates of the leads in 1917. I remember seeing the trailer once and because I didn't know the actors, it didn't stick with me who is in which moment from the trailer. Watching the film, I thought it did an excellent job playing with audience expectations over their survival.

2. I also think the way it uses the movie stars is right on. Not extremely clever, but it wasn't done to surprise you. Every time there was an important turning point, it came in the form of a familiar face. Mendes even anticipated audiences expecting this with introductions like Mark Strong's boots first intro. IMHO, the best of this bunch was Andrew Scott, which does bring the possibility that he's the best British actor currently working.

Junior

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #4034 on: January 12, 2020, 04:05:57 PM »
I spent time today defending 1917 as better than Dunkirk, but that's really only because the way Nolan plays around with time undercuts the entire film for me.

1. I wonder if the trailers give away the fates of the leads in 1917. I remember seeing the trailer once and because I didn't know the actors, it didn't stick with me who is in which moment from the trailer. Watching the film, I thought it did an excellent job playing with audience expectations over their survival.

2. I also think the way it uses the movie stars is right on. Not extremely clever, but it wasn't done to surprise you. Every time there was an important turning point, it came in the form of a familiar face. Mendes even anticipated audiences expecting this with introductions like Mark Strong's boots first intro. IMHO, the best of this bunch was Andrew Scott, which does bring the possibility that he's the best British actor currently working.

1. I definitely knew about the point you bring up here from the trailer. Didn't really hurt the movie for me though.

2. Yeah, agreed on all counts. Scott is fantastic and Madden really works when he shows up.
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Will

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #4035 on: January 13, 2020, 12:20:51 AM »
I like 1917, but it indulges in far too many war movie cliches for it to be better than DUNKIRK. I absolutely loathe how it goes out of its way to show the British soldiers to be more noble than the Germans. There are two scenes where this happens. Two!

DUNKIRK never gives the enemy a face. I love that aspect of it.

smirnoff

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #4036 on: January 13, 2020, 01:51:14 AM »
A little post holiday catchup:

Chocolat - It's a nice enough story I guess. I appreciate the cute concept and the main character. Overall I found it whimsical but it never quite charmed me. Given enough time I might've grown to hate its sweetness. I wavered between tolerating it and finding it okay. No special moments for me.        5/10

Moneyball (rewatch) - Philip Seymour Hoffman knocks a little role out of the park at a time in his career when he was beyond little roles. God I hate his character. Pitt is an excellent angry actor. His rages are deeply satisfying to watch. The stuff with the daughter could be cut entirely without consequence. Only A Few Good Men rivals this for rewatchability in my books.         10/10

Primal Fear (rewatch) - It's less good with every viewing, but I still find it serviceable.          7/10

If Beale Street Could Talk - I was impressed with its quality at the time of watching. The story depressed me and I came away troubled. I haven't found it to be memorable but the filmmaking was solid. I wish I'd made more of a connection to it, but it's well told and the performances are right up there.           7/10

Last Holiday - This movie made me sad because it had the opportunity to have such a ballsy ending but chose to play it safe. The movie was really quite passable up to that point. I would have recommended people see it if had it made darker choices. Alas, a rom-com is gunna rom-com.            5/10

Nobody's Fool (rewatch) - In it's day this was really quite a good movie. It's fine now too but awfully full of tropes. It's a straight-down-the-middle 90's drama... and one of the better examples. There's a scene where Melanie Griffith flashes Paul Newman that holds up okay. A bunch of others that are stupid. I dunno... Grumpy Old Men manages to be a superior comedy AND drama imo.             6/10

Regarding Henry - Kind of a gutless script. Harrison Ford is a poorly cast as a man who struggles to regain his speech, memories and motor functions after an accident... well except for the part that requires him to lay there unconscious, he's quite good at that. His character was a hot-shot corporate defence attorney before the accident and the script sees him return to work late in the film. He's really not ready for it though and yet somehow the film carries on the charade of him being able to do his job... it gets to the point it feels like Weekend at Bernie's and you wonder how long it's going to take before somebody notices. It's badly handled. The film does have some heart though. I appreciate Harrison's efforts in that respect.            6/10

Bridesmaids (rewatch) - Big drop off between viewings. First time was good for some chuckles... now I just hate the improvisational comedy. The one scene that held up was Wigg's impression of a German authority and pretending to be Hitler. It was in such poor taste and so over the top it broke through the mediocrity and got me to laugh while putting my head in my hands. This may have only been because I happened to be watching it with a German. :))             4/10

Booksmart - Best thing I've seen from 2019 so far. That shot of a guy skateboarding down the school hall using a fire-extinguisher as a means of propulsion was so wonderful.  :)) I knew I was in good hands after that. What a fun and fresh comedy. This is the freshest comedy I've seen in a long time. The world needed this! I needed this!             9/10

The Favourite - Pretty compelling. I broke it up in two sittings. Probably for the best. The motives weren't always clear but the cunning schemes were delightful to observe. Wonderful tone, very enjoyable performances. Sticks the landing. Weirder than I expected for an Oscar-contender. Less weird that I expected from the director of The Lobster. I'm surprised I liked it.              8/10

Red Joan - A bore. I disliked the storytelling and the decision to jump back and forth in time. Several tiresome scenes demonstrating the sexism of the day as if it were news. A frustrating, brilliant, and stupid main character. Serviceable but I would never recommend it.                5/10
« Last Edit: January 13, 2020, 01:53:45 AM by smirnoff »

jdc

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #4037 on: January 13, 2020, 04:07:09 AM »
I’ve been contemplating to rewatch Moneyball, you have moved me to I will rewatch Moneyball...
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colonel_mexico

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #4038 on: January 13, 2020, 05:26:28 PM »
MONEYBALL is great and PSH is always excellent and does a great Art Howe--the only bad thing is its really inaccurate portrayal of Art Howe.  He was very onboard with the changes regarding metrics and getting that team to the heights they reached that year.  Howe was very upset for his portrayal and rightly so.  Still it works because in a way it kind of makes Howe representative of old baseball thinking, which was stronger support than the use of the scouts could for the overall film.  I liked the appearance of Arliss Howard--Cowboy is back!!

In the spirit of baseball today RIP AJ Hinch, tough break, but not an undeserved one
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1SO

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #4039 on: January 13, 2020, 11:12:02 PM »
Little Women (2019)
★ ★ ★ - Okay
It's been bugging me to read all the stories about Greta Gerwig not being nominated for Best Director, as if they nominated the other eight men. (Justice for Noah Baumbach, Taika Waititi and the other one.) Now that I've seen the movie, Gerwig will make my Top 5... bumping out Scorsese. There's a clear strategy to the transitions and the structure, much like Sam Mendes in 1917. Though I've only seen two versions of this story, it was still awfully familiar. Good thing the actors came to play. I found myself laughing or smiling at a number of unwritten moments, like Florence Pugh dropping popcorn or Timothée Chalamet trying to not get his shoes wet at the beach. Emma Watson is an exception to this. While she's a box office draw, as an actor among this ensemble she's a waste of good space.

 

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