Author Topic: Respond to the last movie you watched  (Read 683964 times)

philip918

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1900 on: January 17, 2018, 10:54:44 AM »
Hmm, damn, I watched three minutes of Whose Streets? for DOCember (twenty reviews still forthcoming, lol) and got too turned off by the style to continue.

pixote

As someone who works in documentary, I was really impressed with the use of cellphone/video footage of people on the ground and how they used that in juxtaposition with the "official" story the news networks were reporting. I nominated the film for Best Editing for that very reason.

It is absolutely worth trying to finish. The second half is quite different as it focuses on a few of the individuals and less on the chaos of the protests and police response. The ending is incredible.

Corndog

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1901 on: January 17, 2018, 01:15:19 PM »
A few new reviews going up in my Football movie marathon thread. Didn't know who all was aware of it, since I have been away from it for awhile.
"Time is the speed at which the past decays."

philip918

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1902 on: January 17, 2018, 03:56:45 PM »
Dawson City: Frozen Time (2017)

I've now watched a scene from this film five or six times. It's a scene that comes about thirty minutes in and it is a perfect execution of Bill Morrison's use of historical fact accompanied by the silent film footage he uses to "recreate" that history. In the middle of the scene is a transition so stunning and sublime, so unexpected and gorgeous, that it takes my breath away every time. Then as the silent film characters rush about their scenes and the film transitions back to historical reality it lands on a line that is both staggering and darkly hilarious. I don't want to give anything away, because I was already loving the film to this point, but here it ignites into something truly special. I've never seen anything like it.

This film blew me away. My favorite film of last year and probably in my Top 100. It is incredibly creative and impeccably structured so certain moments land with unexpected emotional force. It's just astoundingly good as both the history of a town and the people in it, and of cinema itself. And these two threads overlap much more than you'd think. The score is also one of the best I've heard in years.

Amazing.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2018, 12:23:18 PM by philip918 »

pixote

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1903 on: January 18, 2018, 01:55:27 PM »
I'm jealous of your experience with that movie, which is the one I hoped for but did not get. Let me know if you plan to check out Morrison's Decasia soon. Maybe I'll join you.

pixote
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Corndog

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1904 on: January 18, 2018, 02:07:59 PM »
12 Strong (Nicolai Fuglsig, 2018)

Supporting the troops is not a partisan issue in the United States, as much as some might try to make it one. Rather, the issue between parties is often the validity of a war, and the reason why the troops in question are sent to harm's way at all. I don't plan on getting into a political discussion on my site, and I don't want to insinuate anything about either party or anybody. The War in Afghanistan was the direct result of the attacks on September 11th, as well as other Bin Laden/Al-Qaeda terrorist attacks which led up to that fateful Tuesday. It was a time when the nation became united behind the need to fight back against these atrocities. And the first men into Afghanistan were 12 Special Forces soldiers, whose story is told in this new film, 12 Strong. What once was classified is now glorified and celebrated in the movies. It may be a movie that plays out conventionally, but it holds interest throughout.

Micth (Chris Hemsworth) is a sharp Army captain on September 11th, fresh into a new office job which will help his career in the military. But when news comes of the attacks, Mitch quickly moves to regain his former team (Michael Shannon, Michael Pena, et al.) and go off to fight for his country, something he has never had to do before in peacetime. After convincing his superior officer (Rob Riggle), his team auditions for the right to be the first ones on the group in Afghanistan. A right they earn. Their mission? Team up with a northern Afghan warlord (Navid Negahban), whose goals align with the US (eliminating the Taliban), but whose motivations are quite different. With just 12 soldiers, and hard mountain passes to traverse, the group is forced on horseback to fight their way through the Taliban stronghold.

I have already described 12 Strong as conventional, and while that is certainly not a compliment, it is also not a negative. Rather, 12 Strong is a very competently made film with a focus less on telling the personal stories of these soldiers, and more on taking the audience on the daring, thrilling mission they undertook for their country. The backstory is slight, as we hardly get to know the men we follow, but we are all familiar with September 11th, which filmmaker Nicolai Fuglsig uses to his advantage in telling his story. As a result, the stakes are entirely on the mission's success or failure, and not firmly on the shoulders of the soldiers individual survival, which may come as a surprise for some who are looking for a more personal attachment to this story. But for me, the attachment comes from emotions surrounding September 11th, and the need for this mission to be a success for this country.

The action fuels the film. At just over two hours in length, much of the time is spent on the battle field, with scenes of tremendous intensity and violence. In some ways, the manner in which these scenes are shot mimic a video game experience, capitalizing on POV style shots and strategic maneuvering around a well defined space. In reality, they are just well staged battle sequences, with sharp editing which create all the stakes needed to keep the interest of the viewer throughout. It is a well defined mission, and one with great importance, which, when paired with the solid filmmaking and performances, make 12 Strong a surprisingly enjoyable and tense viewing experience.

There are no superlatives that should be used when describing this film, which is likely why it comes out in January as opposed to October (though it probably deserves a little better release date than it ended up with), but not every film needs to rock your socks off to be worthwhile. That is 12 Strong, which makes it all the harder to write about. The film likely gets overly sentimental and self-important at times, perhaps its greatest fault, but what it loses in these weaker moments, it certainly makes up for with high stakes, thrilling moments throughout the fighting which makes this one mission we are certainly rooting for to succeed, even if the men involved are a little under developed. Go America!

★★★ - Good
"Time is the speed at which the past decays."

philip918

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1905 on: January 18, 2018, 02:10:17 PM »
I'm jealous of your experience with that movie, which is the one I hoped for but did not get. Let me know if you plan to check out Morrison's Decasia soon. Maybe I'll join you.

pixote

Oh, pixote, the hardest person to please on the boards. I'm sorry too!
« Last Edit: January 18, 2018, 05:42:59 PM by philip918 »

aewade90

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1906 on: January 18, 2018, 08:45:07 PM »
Well, I finally got around to watching Bright. It's just as bad as everyone says, and had the unintended side effect of making me think that buying a copy of mother! on blu-ray was a good idea.

Bondo

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1907 on: January 18, 2018, 09:28:25 PM »
Beach Rats (2017)

This has the same harshly realistic style of Eliza Hittman's It Felt Like Love, but this time focuses on a closeted young man in Brooklyn. I don't have near enough tolerance for midatlantic bro culture to handle this film in full. It makes an interesting companion piece to Moonlight, another film that contrasts gay identity against a culture of deep machismo. The central performance here doesn't compel like the three-pronged attack in Moonlight, nor does it surround him with anyone particularly redemptive. Somehow that film maintained a joy in true identity amid the turmoil that this one, full of hollow relationships, cannot, which makes it rather unforgiving.

It is also interesting to think about in contrast to Call Me By Your Name. Some critiqued that film for looking away from the sex. Here we get a much more graphic approach to gay sexuality, but it isn't loving sexuality, while CMBYN was a true romance. I tend to be a supporter of more frankness in depiction of sexuality, but I think I'd rather it be positive sexuality unless it has a good reason.

1SO

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1908 on: January 18, 2018, 09:57:53 PM »

Above Suspicion (1943)

Getting back into my treasure hunting from classic Hollywood, I've found a sweet little spy thriller starring Joan Crawford and Fred MacMurray as a recently married couple talked into helping out with a harmless spy hunt in pre-war Nazi Germany. The mission leads to encounters with the always untrustworthy Conrad Veidt and the equally suspicious Basil Rathbone.
 
The first half of this film is a real gem with the couple figuring out and following the trail of bread crumbs. MacMurray believes the mission couldn't possibly be too dangerous while Crawford finds a nice balance between enjoying playing spy and keeping her guard up for the increasing risk. (Crawford isn't known for roles that call for charisma more than acting, but she brings the same professionalism and has never been more fun.)

The middle contains a handful of suspense sequences, executed with a smooth visual flair that would be more closely associated with Hitchcock, including a wordless assassination at a concert hall that could/should be studied as often as the similar scene in 1956's The Man Who Knew Too Much. There are a number of clever shots, shocking from a director (Richard Thorpe) often thought of as a hack. Things become more routine in the final third, but not to the point of having much negative to say because the cast keeps it fun and lively. The dialogue is polished throughout, but the final line is just the best. Another early Discovery!
RATING: * * * - Good

oldkid

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1909 on: January 19, 2018, 02:07:20 AM »
Above Suspicion sounds great.  Right up my alley.  I'm going to look it up.
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