Author Topic: Respond to the last movie you watched  (Read 684716 times)

oldkid

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2260 on: March 29, 2018, 12:10:50 PM »
Ha! I see on your list The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit!  I read that play/script by Ray Bradbury in grade school.  I should watch it.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

oldkid

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2261 on: March 29, 2018, 01:06:38 PM »
Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri

Grief is a powerful emotion and you never know how it will manifest itself.  That's what I got from this movie. I wouldn't call it funny, although Woody Harrelson has some good lines.  I like Frances McCormand, but her performance doesn't stand out over her other excellent performances.  Different role for Sam Rockwell, and he did well, but his character was too pathetic to laugh at.  It was worth watching.

3.5/5
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

smirnoff

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2262 on: March 29, 2018, 04:19:20 PM »
Are you marathoning the guy?

I think I will :)

Junior

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2263 on: March 29, 2018, 04:29:34 PM »
Don't overlook Bride of Re-Animator. It's even sillier than the first movie, which seems like something that might work for you.
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smirnoff

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2264 on: March 30, 2018, 01:23:45 AM »
Dolls (Stuart Gordon, 1987)        6/10
"Come on you two what's the hold up? It's only a spooky old house in the middle of nowhere with no lights on, during a lightning storm. Also it looks nothing like the house from the director's previous movie in which all the characters were horribly maimed or killed. Lets knock on the door. I'm sure nothing bad will happen. I bet they'll serve us hot soup while we wait out the storm and sooth our weary muscles."


"What'd I say?! What a kindly old woman. And she's making us soup just like I said. Nothing at all sinister about how she's doing it either."


"On second thought, have you noticed the dolls all over the place"


"I've made a terrible mistake."

My reaction when the dolls come alive.




Unlike the previous two films, there's no mystery in this title. You want dolls? You got it. You got yer mean muggin' dolls, yer saw wielding dolls, yer hammer wielding dolls, yer bitin' dolls, yer hair pullin' dolls, yer gun-tottin' dolls and yer humans-who-turn-into-dolls dolls. Many of these stupid ugly dolls get their faces smashed in with blunt objects, to great effect! Several dolls are also punted across a room or down a hallway. Very satisfying.

You're catching Guy Rolfe in the twilight of his career with this film. I'd never heard of him before myself but he is a terrific presence. His 6'4 stature, and warmth (or maybe just his warm looking cardigan), made me think he would've made a great Gandalf at this point in his career.

Doesn't the cover art for these old horror movies take you back to your days browsing the video rental store. Nothing sticks with you quite like a horror cover does it. Most of them were so silly. I always think of Graveyard Shift, another 1987 film.

Also, Sean Astin + Chris Penn = Stephen Lee from Dolls


                         



Director's Filmography
From Beyond
Dolls
Re-Animator

Bleacher Bums (1979)
Robot Jox (1989)
Daughter of Darkness (1990)
The Pit and the Pendulum (1991)
Fortress (1992)
Castle Freak (1995)
Space Truckers (1996)
The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998)
Dagon (2001)
King of the Ants (2003)
Edmond (2005)
Stuck (2007)
« Last Edit: March 30, 2018, 01:25:33 AM by smirnoff »

Bondo

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2265 on: March 30, 2018, 08:24:49 PM »
Tonight I went for a Female Actor/Director Debut Double Feature

Women Who Kill

The opening dialogue here makes it seem like some form of fiction podcast ala Welcome To Night Vale, what with a truly bizarre advertisement. But soon we realize the podcast of Morgan and Jean is a non-fiction podcast focused on female serial killers. Oh, and also these co-hosts are ex-girlfriends. And like everything looks like a nail to a hammer, everyone looks like a potential serial killer to someone who obsesses about serial killers. But really this is about relationship drama inside of insular lesbian communities. It has a dry NPR affect that contrasts interestingly with the increasingly paranoid speculation. Doesn't rise to the level of particular greatness but rather enjoyable and a very crafty debut from Ingrid Jungermann.

Most Beautiful Island

Ana Asensio puts herself rather more on the line in her debut, digging into struggles and exploitation of immigrant women in a very peculiar way. At 75 minutes it feels more like a padded short or something that would be an episode of a TV anthology series like Black Mirror or the Twilight Zone, but with a dark and sexual bent. Or at least it feels like if it was just going to get by on the eeriness of it, it would need to be shorter. Otherwise it could stand to be made longer by filling in a few more details to give it more impact. Again, effective in its way, but even moreso feels just a passing experience.

smirnoff

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2266 on: March 31, 2018, 12:30:51 AM »
Robot Jox (Stuart Gordon, 1989)        6/10

The film gives itself 2 thumbs up, but they'd probably be the only ones. It was a bit of a bomb and didn't do any favours for the ailing production company. The short-lived Empire International Pictures saw all of Gordon's films through to release up to and including this one. But it would be the last as the company would go bankrupt shortly after. I'll have to wait and see if that's good or bad for Gordon and his recurring cast and crew.

I didn't think it was too bad. It won me over on effort and being laughable. The big human-controlled robot fights may be pretty lame, but when have big human-controlled robots fights ever been good? It is at least better entertainment than that time they hyped of a real live version of a giant robot fight between USA and Japan and 5 years later when it actually happened it was embarrassingly lame.

Disappointingly all the sharp corners have been rounded off of this film. No blood, except a few bloodied noses. No nudity. No swearing (that I can recall). It's a shame because giant robots have such good squishing potential, and given Stuart Gordon's background I hoped for something as gleefully foul as his other films. It's more of a kids fantasy movie. Thankfully without any kid characters shoehorned in.

The film lacks any real highlights. Scenes, lines, anything. You get a chuckle every now and then out of watching the robots attempt to do things, and then another chuckle as the editing, music and reaction shots doing everything in their power to sell it.

Actually that's not completely true. There is one part... When the character who turns out to be a traitor gets found out he just runs out of the rooms and jumps out of a windows. I didn't expect it to go down that way, and it was legitimately hilarious. He's a great big Texan and wears a cowboy, which made the scene more comic somehow.


Also he yells Geronimo :))

                         



Director's Filmography
From Beyond
Dolls
Re-Animator
Robot Jox

Bleacher Bums (1979)
Daughter of Darkness (1990)
The Pit and the Pendulum (1991)
Fortress (1992)
Castle Freak (1995)
Space Truckers (1996)
The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998)
Dagon (2001)
King of the Ants (2003)
Edmond (2005)
Stuck (2007)
« Last Edit: March 31, 2018, 03:46:36 AM by smirnoff »

1SO

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2267 on: March 31, 2018, 01:40:55 AM »

Ready Player One

I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did because...
1. The last time Spielberg made a commercial blockbuster, it was The BFG, one of the worst films he's ever made.
2. I don't like nostalgia for the sake of nostalgia, which is the film's main selling point.
3. I don't like this style of animation, favored by Zemeckis and used in Adventures of Tintin.

The film could easily be compared to Speed Racer and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, two films that show their creators talents in full effect. The same here, which comes as a small surprise/delight because I thought The Post didn't have enough Spielberg. This isn't the old master trying to get back in touch with his younger self. Spielberg pulls a full George Miller, with a sometimes breathtaking dazzle that filmmakers half his age can't bother to muster. RPO is wonderfully cinematic and while the technology is cutting edge, the tone would fit right in with many 80s blockbusters.

I can't say the film isn't getting high on pop culture, but it has a different effect than the name dropping advertising. Most of that - especially Spielberg's own T-Rex - is put into the opening race. It would take a long time to pick up all the references, and I'm sure there will be youtube videos about it, but the film doesn't make as much of a point about it. Like Art Direction in a Wes Anderson film, it's one of the most important elements but not what ultimately makes the film good.

The motion capture animation is right for this one particular story. With some of the early scenes, I felt like I was watching an expensive cutscene, but by the dance club, my resistance had worn off. While the film mostly takes place in the virtual reality Oasis, the editing finds a nice balance to where I found myself equally invested in the avatars and the humans playing them. I'm also glad the film didn't spend too long starting in the real world. As much as I may have been worried about the animation, once I decided to watch the film I wanted to quickly see the if the VR side could engage me. I'm happy to report that it did.
★ ★ ★  - Very Good

smirnoff

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2268 on: April 02, 2018, 05:19:38 PM »
Daughter of Darkness (Stuart Gordon, 1990)        2/10

The demise of Empire Pictures appears to have shattered the Stuart Gordon ensemble of familiar names and faces. That's not to say this film was doomed to fail, but the results do have a distinctly different flavour. What you have here is a horror movie played for horror. No laughs or gruesome delights.

This film takes place in Romania! Let me give you dime tour! Or I should say the ten bani tour.

In 1918 we joined with Transylvania. THE GREAT UNION we call it.
It's a national holiday.


Bleak Grey is our national color. We use it everywhere, because we are patriotic.


Here's a picture from when we celebrated The Great Union.

This is not a black and white photograph.

These people must be immigrants.


Our exports are coal smog and orthodox religious practices.


That conlcudes the tour. Please rate us on TripAdvisor...

... and we'll consider returning your passport.



I was so distracted by characters constantly running the country down that I didn't even think about what a horror film set in Romania would probably be about. Communism! No, sorry, not communism. Vampires!

I would love to be able to say that the story here was constructing a clever political analogy but to even suggest that feels like a reach. If I had a better understanding of these things I could probably find a way to force it to fit such an argument, and make the film out to be more than it is, but I left my turd polishing supplies at a friends place.

This is the first slog I've encountered in the Gordon filmography, and hopefully the last.

                         



Director's Filmography
From Beyond
Dolls
Re-Animator
Robot Jox
Daughter of Darkness

Bleacher Bums (1979)
The Pit and the Pendulum (1991)
Fortress (1992)
Castle Freak (1995)
Space Truckers (1996)
The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998)
Dagon (2001)
King of the Ants (2003)
Edmond (2005)
Stuck (2007)
« Last Edit: April 02, 2018, 05:27:48 PM by smirnoff »

1SO

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2269 on: April 03, 2018, 10:58:16 PM »

O. Henry's Full House (1952)

Anthology tribute to the stories by O. Henry, narrated by legendary author John Steinbeck, who appears on camera to introduce each story. Before discussing the individual shorts, I'd like to praise whoever selected the order, which often can make or break an omnibus film. The quality and tonal transitions are very smooth and I can't imagine this being presented in any other order.


The Cop and the Anthem (Dir: Henry Koster)
Starring Charles Laughton as a homeless man trying to land in jail for the cold winter. There's a touch of magical realism and divine intervention, anchored solidly by Laughton, who becomes more heartfelt and less pompous as the day plays out. There's a lot of undiscussed subtext for a short film. Marilyn Monroe contributes a memorable scene.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ - Good

The Clarion Call (Dir: Henry Hathaway)
Two-fisted crime story with perhaps the best ending of the five shorts. Undone in a big way by Richard Widmark's overblown, annoying performance that's like Dan Duryea by way of The Joker
★ ★ ½

The Last Leaf (Dir: Jean Negulesco)
Sentimental tale about the will to live vs. a desire to die between sisters played by Anne Baxter and Jean Peters, but Gregory Ratoff (All About Eve) steals it as the stubborn, compassionate neighbor who lives above them.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ - Good

The Ransom of Red Chief (Dir: Howard Hawks)
Adapted by the dream team of Ben Hecht, Nunnally Johnson and Charles Lederer and starring Fred Allen and Oscar Levant as kidnappers who get in over their heads, this was the first story I was familiar with. The jokes are constant, my favorite bit being the parents unemotional reaction to their son being kidnapped. Their sympathies are with the kidnappers who "are clearly not from around here." However, it's all very deadpan and low-key, not what I expected from a master of screwball comedy.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ - Okay

The Gift of the Magi (Dir: Henry King)
A story I knew even better than Red Chief. Respectable adaptation of a classic Christmas tale, but it's hard to turn down the volume on so much sentiment and King chooses to go in the other direction. Luckily, Farley Granger is here (opposite Jeanne Crain) to flatten out the emotions as only he can.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ - Okay