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Author Topic: Respond to the last movie you watched  (Read 681647 times)

colonel_mexico

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #5090 on: September 22, 2020, 01:47:09 PM »
OPHELIA (2018) - Stumbled across this browsing Amazon Prime Video, and found it to be quite enjoyable.  Told from the perspective of Ophelia, of the play Hamlet, Daisy Ridley seems perfect for this kind of role.  I also like how it gives voice and power to a strong female character and avoids the hysterical and madness aspects that were implied and often portrayed in other adaptations of the character.  I also love the revisions! There are some old tropes that hurt the overall film, such as the Cinderella aspects and the bullying of the other courtesans that I felt were out of place. The story is strong enough on its own, I don't think the additional fantasy was necessary to recreate an already very good story. Naomi Watts, Clive Barker, and Devon Terrell make up a strong cast, though I thought George McKay's Hamlet was slightly weak, not bad just perhaps not fully developed though in this version of the story he is a supporting character. Daisy shines brightly and the recreation of Millais Ophelia painting is beautiful, a worthy watch for the Shakespeare fans.
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Eric/E.T.

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #5091 on: September 22, 2020, 11:04:57 PM »
High Life

This is my third viewing. It's a visual treasure trove, and I'm coming to appreciate more and more the little snippets of life from Earth, and other smaller moments and pieces of editing that make this film work. Plus, lots of good, ol' fashioned bodily fluids. It's a monstrously passionate work. Pattinson, Binoche, and Mia Goth do crazy good acting jobs, pulling off these characters capable of atrocities and redeeming their humanity in subtle moments. Pattinson got the most human role in Monte, and basically lived in it, but Binoche and Goth had smaller parts and incredibly volatile characters and still are able to find just a glance or a quiet moment or two to exhibit their vulnerability, and they nail it. Similar ending to Beau Travail, but without...you know. YOU KNOW. But that's OK, probably shouldn't try to do that thing twice.

So I've seen High Life and Beau Travail multiple times...probably time to try another Denis film. White Material, 35 Shots of Rum, and Trouble Every Day could all be options during the coming fall vacation.
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pixote

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #5092 on: September 23, 2020, 01:56:15 AM »
AN AMERICAN TAIL - I don’t believe there’s another children’s film that is equal parts hopeful and cynical as this. 7.

I plan to rewatch this soon. This description makes me more interested to do so. Hopefully Cynical Children’s Films is an interesting Top Five list. Would Fox and the Hound make the cut? Iron Giant? Seems like it could actually be a pretty long list, since the world is essentially shitty but children have the privilege of being ultimately oblivious to that fact.

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smirnoff

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #5093 on: September 23, 2020, 02:44:54 AM »
Mulan (1998)   -   6/10

For a movie about a conlfict between China and the Huns there really doesn't seem to be many people fighting in this war. One man from every family, from every village, in all of China, is conscripted for military service... but we only ever see evidence of a few dozen soldiers having fought. Somehow after a single lost battle the only thing that stands between the Emperor and the Huns is Mulan and her handful of misfit comrades. It feels closer a to battle of villages than a battle of nations.

There was a few rousing moments. The montage of Mulan's transformation, the montage of the training (with the great "I'll make a man out of you" song)... also the later charge of the Huns, where they appear in numbers beyond a hundred for the first time. Jerry Goldsmith's very fine score peaks at this point. The rest of the film cruises along in a basic way that didn't really win me over. I groaned at the introduction of Eddie Murphy's character... I didn't find the character funny, just noisy.

Somehow the arcs of the characters didn't feel satisfyingly paid off. As much as I didn't care for the Mushu character, I thought there would be a good moment at the end when he regained his status in the hall of ancestors. Unfortunately Murphy's exuberance tramples over the weight of the moment. A suddenly speechless Mushu would have highlighted the gravity better. The Mulan/Father reckoning is very sudden... the last time we saw him he torn up with grief and anger, but when Mulan returns from war he seems to have entirely accepted who she is and what she's done. He embraces her without hesitation and everything seems to be resolved. Really the entire finale of the film, everything after Mulan triggers the avalanche, was a let down for me.

Humour: 0/10
Score: 7/10
Highlights: 6/10
Art: 8/10
Characters: 2/10
Songs: 7/10
Story: 5/10

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #5094 on: September 23, 2020, 07:30:25 AM »
High Life

This is my third viewing.
I'm looking forward to revisiting this one. Glad to hear it holds up for you.

1SO

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #5095 on: September 23, 2020, 07:24:28 PM »

Enola Holmes (2020)
"Sometimes you must dangle your feet in the water in order to attract the sharks."

If you wonder why there are so many films and TV shows set in the world of Sherlock Holmes, it's because of people like me. While I have my favorites, Sherlock Holmes is The Aristocrats of detective fiction, open to endless interpretations so long as it sticks the ending. In this version, Holmes is played by Henry Cavill, perhaps not the best choice or maybe it's because I remain unimpressed by his abilities. He's not an actor known for projecting great intelligence, and Cavill works that by always acting like he knows more than he's telling. It works in this case because the mystery is not his to solve.

The star here is Millie Bobby Brown, who has found an excellent showcase to shine in. She projects a charisma I haven't seen since Natalie Portman first arrived. Maybe a few too many looks to the camera - this isn't The Office - Brown's Enola is smart, slightly spoiled, skilled but untested, capable but not entirely confident because she is a teenager, not Captain Marvel. She navigates two interesting mysteries with clues that don't become obvious until the script is ready for her to solve them. (My wife usually prefers a mystery where we're given the clues early, but I prefer this way of letting the detective solve the mystery without having to fool the viewer. She loved this by the way.)

I've been reading recent articles about the Netflix style, how their films have the production value of an above average TV movie, not cinematic enough for the big screen. It's something I noticed with The Old Guard, which seemed surprisingly small for its story, or maybe its because I was watching it on Netflix. That's kind of the core of this debate. How would these films look on the big screen? Enola Holmes has a big screen score, almost John Williams bombastic in places but very good. There are moments of tricky editing and those great looking old English locations that seem to be part of a common effects package. It doesn't exclaim Blockbuster, but for a September release it's absorbing and fun and Millie Bobby Brown's star is taking off like a rocket.
RATING: ★ ★ ★ - Good

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #5096 on: September 23, 2020, 07:42:07 PM »
If you wonder why there are so many films and TV shows set in the world of Sherlock Holmes, it's because of people like me.
It's also the first property that spawned fan fiction, which is part of what made it so popular.

Antares

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #5097 on: September 24, 2020, 05:08:49 AM »
If you wonder why there are so many films and TV shows set in the world of Sherlock Holmes, it's because of people like me.
It's also the first property that spawned fan fiction, which is part of what made it so popular.

Wasn't Holmes a descendant of Poe's C. Auguste Dupin?
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smirnoff

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #5098 on: September 25, 2020, 04:18:10 AM »
Enola Holmes (2020)

The star here is Millie Bobby Brown, who has found an excellent showcase to shine in. She projects a charisma I haven't seen since Natalie Portman first arrived.

I'm not feeling it personally. To me she's more like Noomi Rapace than Natalie Portman. An actress who was dead perfect to play a brooding, social outsider. But her name-credibility was valued more than her role suitability, and for marketing reasons she got shoe-horned into roles which she really didn't have the personality to pull off. I see MBB here the same way, only more so. This role, as written, is putting demands on this actress which I don't think she's up for. I never felt like she pulled it off anyways.

For myself this was simply another hum-drum offering for Netflix. I hang very little of that on MBB though.

Eric/E.T.

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #5099 on: September 28, 2020, 12:22:38 AM »
I got to three of my five I had planned for the weekend...

Paddington
A great choice for those of us just trying to maintain our sanity on a day-by-day basis. This is my second time through, and already it feels super familiar and very much like a warm blanket. At its core, you have a tale of a sympathetic and resilient bear that has been through great trauma and is simply in need of a home. I'm not sure how the decisions were made for Paddington's presence as a bear that talks to be both extraordinary, but then also not something to get in a fuss about or all the authorities on. Somehow, he just seems to slip fairly naturally into the world of the humans - so long as he doesn't touch anything. There are some wonderful action sequences resulting from his ignorance of his surroundings that pack a super-ironic punch without becoming excessive. The first "facilities" scene is classic, and the Officer Paddington chase-down of a wallet thief is also wonderful. Even when the stakes are raised and Paddington's hide is on the line, the tone is never that you think it's all going to end poorly. We've had enough sadness anyway, from that beginning. No, it's all about how Browns will work through their own family issues to come together as a dynamic unit to save their friend, though both guts and luck. They're like the opposite of The Incredibles, they really have no skill, but The Incredible's original problem dovetails nicely with that of the Brown's, in that their main hurdle was for all of them to come to a mutual understanding and love that was previously impossible because of their parents' hangups and personality defects.

I'm a big fan of the special effects and action sequences here as I'm not in a lot of films that use them too gratuitously, and here at least they're used for the purpose of love and understanding. I also love, love, love the set design, especially the house, and the way it's presented as a dollhouse. This thing is just brimming with imagination. Now it's time to FINALLY see #2!

Best warm blanket scene to make you feel extra-special-good: Paddington finally get the bath he's been needing. Oh, the fluffiness!

Enola Holmes
It's a cute film with a few surprisingly deep insights on what it means to live in a system that privileges you and yours. The basic issue that is Enola's mother has suddenly left her daughter and the manor to serve the greater good, and Enola, in her own way, must do the same. While the puzzles are intricately crafted, and the value on observational skills is at a premium, it is one where I wonder why the mother doesn't just bring Enola in on it in the first place. Seems like a lot was left to chance with Tewkesbury and his pro-reform vote, which then makes you feel like it was all done just to make a movie. I did enjoy all the fourth-wall breaking, I thought it was fun, playful, and gave an airy quality to the film. Millie Bobby Brown is quite magnetic and makes her character all the more easy to feel sympathy for. I didn't find anything extra special in the cinematography or editing, it all moves at a moderate pace, and the mixing in of close-ups (where the fourth wall is often broke), medium, and then some wide angle shots, simply make this look like a proficiently-made film. I think it could've made it on big screens, but really I just watched it for something light with a happy ending, which is what you get.

Synedoche New York
This one got to me even more than I expected or really wanted. It's brilliant on many levels, and reminds me a bit of 8 1/2, as both are films within films, and films about making films (or, a play, as in Synedoche New York). I don't want to get into too many 8 1/2 comparisons, because I feel like they don't do any favors to Synedoche, as Fellini's work is far more complicated and ultimately gives its creator a bit of the benefit of the doubt, while Kaufman is a little tougher toward who may well be his avatar for the film, Caden Cotard. I'm trying to learn how to handle myself with a little more grace, and Synedoche New York is like the opposite of that. The final scene just did me in, I felt extremely ugly once the credits rolled, likely a symptom of my own current troubles. Great movie, like 8 1/2 better, like I'm Thinking of Ending Things Better, still a really good watch and one I'm sure to revisit.
« Last Edit: September 28, 2020, 10:19:21 PM by etdoesgood »
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