Author Topic: Respond to the last movie you watched  (Read 684123 times)

FLYmeatwad

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2820 on: December 04, 2018, 09:08:44 PM »
Missed Never Goin' Back during its limited run in Philly, definitely want to catch up on it as it's A24 and also something that seems like it would be up my alley. Perhaps not as much as 2018's most overlooked, Flower, but still a film I'm interested in watching.

Enjoyed Slice as well, nothing incredible, but the humor landed for me, and really enjoyed Scheer. ZB too, obvi, but that should be a given at this point. It definitely made me want pizza.

oldkid

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2821 on: December 05, 2018, 07:22:35 PM »
The Kindergarten Teacher (2018)

A teacher attempting to be a writer of poetry finds a "mozart" of poetry in her kindergarden class.  She goes to lengths for her student that most teachers never go.  For good reason.

I watched this at the recommendation of Tasha Robinson.  A serious creepy vibe from Maggie Gyllenhaal throughout the film keeps it interesting, as well as some overhwhelming kid-cuteness.  I found the ending fascinating, if not surprising, and there is a great central performance by Gyllenhaal, if not as captivating as necessary since she is pushing all the action.  Gael García Bernal is great in a supporting role, as he always is.

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 #2822 on: December 06, 2018, 01:52:22 AM »
Watched the first two back to back last night. A rarity.



Room (2015)        9/10
This didn't start out as a great movie, but it evolved into one for sure. It very nearly lost me with the lack of story progression early on. I mean after 5 minutes you've got the picture more or less... and then it's another 25 minutes wherein you learn everything about their existence except for that thing which is the ONLY thing you really want to know. But you are given only the most vague drips of information. It became quite maddening, boarding on art-house levels of CINECAST!-the-audience. Then just as I'm about to say CINECAST! you back and turn the movie off, the glacier finally begins to move. Thereafter a great movie takes place.

To be clear, the film gets great well before they leave the room, but there's stagnant middle to that first act that is simply annoying.

Went in blind on this one. Excellent.

You know a movie is doing something right when you see a shot of a kid on a swing in the park and feel nothing but the worst sense of dread.



World War Z (2013)        9/10

After a handful of viewings of each, WWZ has emerged over 2008's Dawn of the Dead as the superior, more rewatchable film.

The momentum of the storytelling is just terrific. It's something I don't think I've ever experienced outside of a Nolan or a Jason Bourne film (except for Jason Bourne (2016) which sucked so hard the series was RUINED FOREVER evereverever!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WWZ just refused to let my mind wander. Sitting through it late at night, having already watched a rather taxing film, I was completely absorbed! I didn't check my phone, I didn't think about the time, I was all the way in. Level 10,000 engagement.

100% it would make a great sick-day movie for that very reason.

It's a helluva movie... it even has a simple but satisfying theme which I appreciated a lot, and it's used to good effect.

The action is properly butt-squinching.

If it lacks anything maybe it's a stronger emotional attachment to the character. But the film wisely does not overplay it's hand and try to capitalize on something which really isn't there. Had the script demanded it I have no doubts that Pitt would have risen to the occasion.



The Matrix        10/10

This movie is like a price tag on a dvd box. It just refuses to go away.

May it never be remade. >_<

« Last Edit: December 06, 2018, 01:58:46 AM by smirnoff »

1SO

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2823 on: December 06, 2018, 03:04:59 PM »
Not technically a short film but...

My latest film, Been Busy, is now available. It's 66 minutes long. It has a story, if you want.

If you are interested you can send me an email at cruyffbedroom@gmail - I will send you a copy.

I watched this a couple of nights ago and have been emailing back-and-forth about it since. You're probably thinking a roujin film isn't going to make MY Top anything, but that's not why I watched it. I now have a better insight to our fellow Filmspotter than any of his posts, so think of it as his Inland Empire. Not mainstream but very him, and being able to talk with J. Hernandez after about his process has been eye-opening to me. I often write about films where I feel dislocated because they're not in my wheelhouse of genre and Hollywood mainstream, but here I get to ask the filmmaker and get some grounding about a cinematic path I never learned in school.

And I'm not saying the film is bad. Far from it. I could name a number of directors who have threads in the forum that this film follows the path of. There's a definite mood and tone. The story and the way it's told is complimented by the lo-def aesthetic.

So worth it.

1SO

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2824 on: December 06, 2018, 11:43:35 PM »
Interesting to watch Eighth Grade and Tully on the same day.

Grade is honest to a fault. As far as I can tell, it completely nails the time and Elsie Fisher deserves all the awards, but dramatically it cuts so to the bone that I felt generally uncomfortable in constant fear for what would happen to Kayla at this crucial juncture. It's Welcome to the Dollhouse minus all the artifice, but I think I need a little artifice. Getting the emotions perfect is something to applaud, but I'd trade a little of it for less constant fear.
★ ★ ★ - Okay

Tully is as dishonest as it gets. Performances are fine, but there's a hollow core to it, something I picked up on during the "waitress" discussion. Not that it was true to life before that scene either. By refusing to acknowledge the family problems it wants to bring up (like the Autistic child they just keep calling "quirky") it's nothing more than some good actors dancing to the whims of a writer who is not as clever as the director tells her she is.
★ ★


Widows lives up the hype. I'm not a fan of Steve McQueen, but tying him to a heist film is good for both him and the genre. Even if the heist itself is almost an afterthought, there's so much packed into the build-up it works fine. The big achievement is that it feels more like a rushed adaptation of a mini-series, where you would be fine with another hour, but what's here doesn't feel too truncated.
★ ★ ★ - Good


American Animals is all about the heist, but all the flash can't disguise this is a pretty standard film, easily forgotten. Still, I really like seeing Evan Peters (X-Men's Quicksilver) and hope bigger, better things come his way.
★ ★ ½


Sorry to Bother You does not live up to the hype. I was never into it, but I was hoping it would turn into something better. I hated the way they did the 'voices' and while the surreal turn surprised me, it didn't make the film any better.
★ ★


The Rider: Glad I didn't pay to see sleep through this one in the theater.
★ ★


Crazy Rich Asians is more standard rom/com than I expected, but I liked the cultural angle, Constance Wu is a bonafide movie star and the film deserves to win all the Production Design awards.
★ ★ ★ - Good
« Last Edit: December 07, 2018, 12:34:18 AM by 1SO »

FLYmeatwad

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2825 on: December 07, 2018, 11:26:58 PM »
American Animals hit better for me than I thought it would, but not sure I'd say I cared for it too much more than you did; however, I liked the cuts between the actors and reality. It was a nice touch that, although a bit distracting, played to Layton's strengths and gave it a little more to chew on than I was expecting.

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2826 on: December 08, 2018, 12:02:58 AM »
A Simple Favor
When there's this much of a tonal contrast the film is usually from South Korea. The thriller is Gone Girl lite, but I realized towards the end that the comedy I was hoping wouldn't be too overbearing was the best part of the film. So while Paul Feig completely declaws the darkness in the story, he is a great partner for Anna Kendrick's adorkability, and that's what shines so brightly here.
★ ★ ★ - Okay

BlueVoid

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2827 on: December 10, 2018, 03:33:59 PM »
Blade Runner - 2049
Amazing set design and some of the concepts are incredibly cool.  (Possible minor spoilers to follow). Joe's relationship with his personal assistant was the best part of the movie and adds another layer on top of one of the core concepts of both films, asking what it means to be alive and what relationships have value. Ultimately the plot didn't hold up well and leaned on some inexplicably shallow cliches.  Joe as terminator fighting another terminator didn't work and cheapens the experience. It's been years since I've seen the original film, so maybe I am missing some important context, but a lot threads seemed unnecessary and extraneous.  Then again maybe comparing the two movies directly would make things worse.
6.5/10
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FLYmeatwad

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2828 on: December 10, 2018, 08:35:49 PM »
Missed Never Goin' Back during its limited run in Philly, definitely want to catch up on it as it's A24 and also something that seems like it would be up my alley. Perhaps not as much as 2018's most overlooked, Flower, but still a film I'm interested in watching.

You were spot on with your initial assessment, FLY.

1SO

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #2829 on: December 11, 2018, 12:39:04 AM »
There is no film this year whose praise I understand less than Minding the Gap. Reading the letterboxd reviews afterwards - which were even more rapturous than I thought before I watched the film - gave me nothing. I get what the skateboarding is an escape from and it's interesting how matter-of-factly Bing Liu drops in information to let you know the troubled lives these people lead, but there's no engine driving this story anywhere while at the same time it's attempting to do more than simply exist with these people, (or else why add the layers of dysfunction.) I just never got caught up, never got involved and never cared. I'm willing to take the blame for that but I don't see where the moments were that should've raised my interest.
★ ★

 

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