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Movies You've Seen Recently | December 2018
- Thread starter Divius
- Start date
As far as spoil-the-whole-movie trailers go, this one has got to have one of the worst I've ever seen. Every beat from start to finish is mapped out.
Barry Lyndon (1975) - Decided to finally watch this. I was always intimidated by the length and the setting and I think that had I watched this earlier I probably wouldn't like it, but I'm getting older and ended up enjoying it. The main character always felt a little out of place (his looks and acting) and it gave the movie a super weird vibe. The first half was a lot of fun but it dropped a bit after the intermission, obviously intentional but I still feel like I should mention that. For all the praise it gets for it's cinematography it didn't really stand out to me aside from a few shots, but to be honest older movies rarely do. I can appreciate the meticulousness of the sets and costumes. Very impressive stuff.. I also liked how the movie treated its protagonist. Barry is an asshole right from the start and you kinda hate him but sometime along the way you start rooting for him, and when tragedy strikes you really feel for him. I love being toyed with liked this. All in all not my favorite Kubrick but I'm glad I watched it. (4/5)
I haven't actually seen it yet (waiting for the disc to be avail on Netflix) but I remember from an interview that he originally conceived of it as a tv show but nobody bought it.
I know I am supposed to be humble and all but fuck it I too excited.
I have press accreditation to both the Sundance Festival and SXSW Film Festival! FilmEra in the house lol
I have press accreditation to both the Sundance Festival and SXSW Film Festival! FilmEra in the house lol
Rewatched Punisher: War Zone on Netflix over the weekend. A little campy sometimes but the lead actors are great, and It's just a beautiful film with some great action. Also never realized it has one of my favorite Rise Against songs in it, Historia Calamitum.
7/10
7/10
Umm here's a few relatively recent ones that come to mind - Dogtooth, Inside Llewyn Davis, First Reformed, Melancholia, Phantom Thread
I'm not trying to shit on Kubrick and i'm not saying it's bad in any way, but I guess I just expected to be mind blown after hearing all the praise and I wasn't really. There were some very beautiful shots throughout but its wasn't the highlight of the movie for me.
I loved this shot in particular:
He should be one of those guys that passes out in a movie because it's so gory.
If anything, movies that pull off some of the stuff that's commonplace today are even more impressive, given the technology constraints they had to work with. Kubrick and company had to literally invent a mount that could take the lenses they got from NASA in order to pull off the lighting requirements to be able to capture a single frame of film on Barry Lyndon. You couldn't even imagine having to do something like that these days.
Aquaman (2018) - 5.8/10. I don't know who decided we needed a suiting-up montage set to Depeche Mode in an Aquaman movie, but God bless you.
Holy shit what a mess of a movie. It's kinda in-between being bad and good. It's entertaining but also pretty cringe-worthy in parts and the plot/characters are super generic.
CGI darts between good and awful at a moment's notice, the romance and "humour" is frequently embarrassing and the tone wavers from scene to scene.
It was better than Justice League but I would say temper your expectations. It's clearly pandering to the biggest international audience possible with the most flat, laid-out plot and exposition possible.
The House That Jack Built (2018) - 7.7/10. This definitely needs some time to sit, but I was impressed how thoroughly this gripped me for all of its 153 minutes.
Matt Dillon gives one of the year's best performance in a film that continually flipped my expectations to ends both dramatically and comedically rewarding.
Lars needs help though. That ending lmao.
Holy shit what a mess of a movie. It's kinda in-between being bad and good. It's entertaining but also pretty cringe-worthy in parts and the plot/characters are super generic.
CGI darts between good and awful at a moment's notice, the romance and "humour" is frequently embarrassing and the tone wavers from scene to scene.
It was better than Justice League but I would say temper your expectations. It's clearly pandering to the biggest international audience possible with the most flat, laid-out plot and exposition possible.
The House That Jack Built (2018) - 7.7/10. This definitely needs some time to sit, but I was impressed how thoroughly this gripped me for all of its 153 minutes.
Matt Dillon gives one of the year's best performance in a film that continually flipped my expectations to ends both dramatically and comedically rewarding.
Lars needs help though. That ending lmao.
Well i'm not saying they're not impressive, just from my experience it's less often that an older movie's cinematography really blows me away. Maybe it's because I'm used to how movies look today and the digital look everything has nowadays. I don't know. Again, i'm not saying that Kubrick sucks or that old movies suck, but for some reason newer movies are more appealing to me visually.
Out of all of Kubrick's work that I've seen (everything after Dr. Strangelove), 2001 was the one that had the most mind blowing cinematography for me.
Also just watched Private Life (2018) on Netflix. Watched it because Chris Ware did the poster but it was a great little drama and I loved Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti in this. 4/5
I just finished Tomb Raider 2018. It was mediocre at best and pretty boring. I'm glad I didn't spend any money to see it, and was smart enough not to go see it at the cinema.
Really? That makes a lot of sense because halfway through it I told my wife why isn't this a series? Hope it happens.
Venom
Lol. I found it really entertaining but simultaneously really, really dumb. It's weird how sometimes I love Tom Hardy and other times I don't - usually in those times I can "see" him acting. He puts on a show. Here, as Eddie Brock, he's ok I suppose. Kind of a douche but manages to throw in some (possibly unintentional) comedic moments and I think that's kind of Tom Hardy playing himself.
I suppose the main thing that hurts the movie overall is that it doesn't really raise the stakes. It's kind of just serviceable in its story with nothing really surprising. It might be the result of the audience ahead of the protagonist because, while we know what Venom is from previous movies, cartoons and comics, nobody else including Eddie understands it yet and a good chunk of the movie is everyone trying to figure it out. But we already have, and we just sit and wait for Venom to do cool Venom things.
Thankfully he does do some cool Venom things, but we didn't need 40 minutes to get there but at least we only have 90 minutes to deal with it all.
2.5/5
Side Note: Not gonna lie, Upgrade is a better version of this type of thing.
Lol. I found it really entertaining but simultaneously really, really dumb. It's weird how sometimes I love Tom Hardy and other times I don't - usually in those times I can "see" him acting. He puts on a show. Here, as Eddie Brock, he's ok I suppose. Kind of a douche but manages to throw in some (possibly unintentional) comedic moments and I think that's kind of Tom Hardy playing himself.
I suppose the main thing that hurts the movie overall is that it doesn't really raise the stakes. It's kind of just serviceable in its story with nothing really surprising. It might be the result of the audience ahead of the protagonist because, while we know what Venom is from previous movies, cartoons and comics, nobody else including Eddie understands it yet and a good chunk of the movie is everyone trying to figure it out. But we already have, and we just sit and wait for Venom to do cool Venom things.
Thankfully he does do some cool Venom things, but we didn't need 40 minutes to get there but at least we only have 90 minutes to deal with it all.
2.5/5
Side Note: Not gonna lie, Upgrade is a better version of this type of thing.
The Favourite
The most quotable movie of the year. Sharp wit delivered by brilliant actors across the board. Nicolas Hoult absolutely kills every scene he gets. The political second hand story is delivered in a way that it is never really too difficult to follow. The absurdity of wealth is something else. Absolutely stunning looking too. Love the weird fish eye lens (?? help) thing they use to capture the whole room. The editing gets dreamlike as the movie progresses and there are some transitions that blew me away (one seemed to make Emma Stone look like a painting). Pacing hits a little bit of a snag in the third act. I wanted to watch this one again as soon as I left the theater.
4.5/5
Didn't watch Killing of a Sacred Deer, but between this and The Lobster I may like Yorgos quite a bit.
The most quotable movie of the year. Sharp wit delivered by brilliant actors across the board. Nicolas Hoult absolutely kills every scene he gets. The political second hand story is delivered in a way that it is never really too difficult to follow. The absurdity of wealth is something else. Absolutely stunning looking too. Love the weird fish eye lens (?? help) thing they use to capture the whole room. The editing gets dreamlike as the movie progresses and there are some transitions that blew me away (one seemed to make Emma Stone look like a painting). Pacing hits a little bit of a snag in the third act. I wanted to watch this one again as soon as I left the theater.
4.5/5
Didn't watch Killing of a Sacred Deer, but between this and The Lobster I may like Yorgos quite a bit.
Holiday Inn: A movie with plenty of good song and dance numbers. I still question the feasibility of an inn that's only open 8 days a year, and on days people would rather be home. The plot is the frustration of a man (Bing Crosby) who loses his girl to his best friend (Fred Astaire), gains another girl, and then his best friend (who lost the first girl) tries to steal her too. It's fine, but it's the musical numbers that get your attention.
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did Uma die in the beginning of the movie? i don't care for lars but if uma is prominent then i'm watching lmao
Watched Schindler's List at an AMC that had Dolby Cinema. It was a relaxing experience especially since it was my first time witnessing Dolby Cinema. I really need to see an action movie in that format. One minor complaint: Not sure if it was the projector or something else, but there were a few hiccups at points during the movie where there would be a blue flash
I watched Into the Spider-Verse and THTJB yesterday lol.
Both excellent, I might even go as far as saying the former is the first truly masterful superhero movie made. The genre usually suffers from generic final acts and/or flat, uninteresting, unimaginative visuals (the MCU) but this movie side-steps both those issues beautifully. It's warm, funny, moving, creative and visually stunning. Such a pleasure to see a movie finally realize the potential of putting comic books on screen.
Had some very busy weeks so had some cinema catching up to do. Finally saw Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald , with adjusted expectations.
Well, on the one hand those adjusted expectations led to me enjoying it more than when I would've went in completely blind. Especially the first half was pretty entertaining, even though it annoyed me here more than in other Yates films that he sucks all the color out of such a colorful world.
But then, around the half-way point it became very clear the plot was going absolutely nowhere. This movie kind of stands still. Between the beginning and end very little has changed. This leads to many scenes dragging, and a complete loss of urgency, which an action adventure movie just needs to have in order to work. Even more than the first FB (which I very much enjoyed) this feels like a grand set-up for the story that follows, but because you were already introduced tomost of it's characters, it's an exposition movie without fun exposition. It doesn't help Rowling crams this film with characters who, when you think about it have no meaningful role to play (Nagini being the biggsest offender, but even Grindelwald and Creedence have actually very little to do, not to speak of Grindelwalds henchwoman). It's also a way less fun movie than the first one.
The twist I'm still undecided about, even though it reeks of retconning and unnecesairy connecting the dots with the original movies. It also currently hinges on coincidence too. But 'll have to see where Rowling takes this in the next films.
Well, on the one hand those adjusted expectations led to me enjoying it more than when I would've went in completely blind. Especially the first half was pretty entertaining, even though it annoyed me here more than in other Yates films that he sucks all the color out of such a colorful world.
But then, around the half-way point it became very clear the plot was going absolutely nowhere. This movie kind of stands still. Between the beginning and end very little has changed. This leads to many scenes dragging, and a complete loss of urgency, which an action adventure movie just needs to have in order to work. Even more than the first FB (which I very much enjoyed) this feels like a grand set-up for the story that follows, but because you were already introduced tomost of it's characters, it's an exposition movie without fun exposition. It doesn't help Rowling crams this film with characters who, when you think about it have no meaningful role to play (Nagini being the biggsest offender, but even Grindelwald and Creedence have actually very little to do, not to speak of Grindelwalds henchwoman). It's also a way less fun movie than the first one.
The twist I'm still undecided about, even though it reeks of retconning and unnecesairy connecting the dots with the original movies. It also currently hinges on coincidence too. But 'll have to see where Rowling takes this in the next films.
The little footage I've seen from this movie is fucking beautiful and I can't wait to watch it, probably one of the most anticipated movies this year for me. If you haven't watched Dogtooth you need to asap. That with The Lobster are absolutely amazing, Alps was kind of meh and Sacred Deer falls somewhere in the middle imo.
Funny thing when I first watched Dogtooth I never thought that this director will turn out to be of the most interesting filmmakers in the industry with huge stars vying to work for him.
Phantom Thread and the Favourite would make a great double feature
Also a good argument for the superiority of film vs digital
Also a good argument for the superiority of film vs digital
For the record, speaking of heresy, The Duellists > Barry Lyndon cinematography-wise, IMO.Umm here's a few relatively recent ones that come to mind - Dogtooth, Inside Llewyn Davis, First Reformed, Melancholia, Phantom Thread
I'm not trying to shit on Kubrick and i'm not saying it's bad in any way, but I guess I just expected to be mind blown after hearing all the praise and I wasn't really. There were some very beautiful shots throughout but its wasn't the highlight of the movie for me.
I loved this shot in particular:
Everybody in filmera going to festivals but me, I'm getting real green over here.
The only fitting end, in my estimation.
Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki: Though some of the production qualities leave a lot to be desired, especially in the sound mix department, it's hard not be entertained and dazzled by this fly-on-the-wall account of a decidedly short-lived retirement, complete with lots of humor, creative spark, musings on mortality and what ultimately winds up being the sheer joy of discovering that you're never too old to reclaim your passion in life. Miyazaki has proven twice to be a great documentary subject, and I hope that they have something in the works for his next film to go alongside it.
Spider-verse is amazing. Visually stunning, tons of heart, has an actual story and a third act that delivers.
Its not Zodiac-level (nor its a movie) but if some of you didnt check it out, Mindhunter is the best thing Fincher worked since the Zodiac. He only directed 4 episodes (first two and last two) but the whole show is terrific and his 4 entries are easily the best. Nobody really films dudes sitting down and talking like David Fincher. Easily my favorite thing out of Netflix.
I really liked it and totally understand why some didn't. It's presented as a pretty straightforward show but there's something super weird about it that I can't explain. Something felt off and I enjoyed that. Also Zodiac is the best
I never heard of it but I see it's a Ridley Scott movie. Looks interesting
You should watch Dogtooth. It's his best movie.
Venom (2018): The third worst movie I've seen this year. It was utterly boring, and only Tom Hardy's interactions with Venom could make me stick with it till the end. Villain lacked depth and dimension, and his alter ego was such a blatant copycat with nothing to differentiate him. It very much felt like a superhero movie from a decade ago. ★☆☆☆☆
A Star Is Born (2018): Bradley Cooper completely transformed into Jack, and it was such a strong performance, and not only that, but he can sing. I felt like the movie peaked way too early, almost at the end of the first act, and that's probably the main issue I have with it. The story very much want to tell the story of Jack and his struggles, so much so that he steals moments from Ally. And while we do get to witness a shift in Ally's career, the main actress doesn't address this at any moment, and instead we're back to focusing on Jack up till the very end, while confrontations leading to the conclusion are rather swiftly swiped away. Which is unfortunate since Lady Gaga gives a convincing performance as this insecure bar singer who gets to sing some very powerful original songs. If anything, this is a strong contender for soundtrack of the year. ★★★☆☆
Buybust (2018): I wanted to write at length about this movie, but is keeping it short till our voting process next year. In the Philippines we rarely do big action spectacles because of budget, but with $1.6 million Erik Matti set out to build the most impressive set, that is a made up slum district with claustrophobic corridor-like ways, and filled it with about 300 stuntmen. While Indonesia got The Raid, Thailand got Ong Bak and Cambodia has Jailbreak, the Philippines has set out to make their own action movie. Do not go into it expecting the same fluidly choreographed fight scenes, as it's a completely different take on the genre. Instead, it's a fantastical setting set in a post-apocalyptic-like situation, where our anti-drug police squad is about to do a "buybust." Of course things goes south, and our team is caught in a Resident Evil-like situation, where the civilians is a metaphor for how tired the poorest of the poor are about president Rodrigo Duterte's "war on drugs." This is partly a social commentary on said war, who Erik Matti has been very vocal against, and it's set to start a debate locally, while putting a spotlight on it abroad. The story is simple but works, and there are nuanced layers to our main character, Nina Manigan, played by Anne Curtis who are usually either singing on stage or performing rom-coms. Her performance is solid, but unfortunately it shines through, that this is her first action gig, as her fight scenes can be slow and tedious, which especially comes across in the 3-minute longshot where she's climbing platforms to reach the roof. Brandon Vera, who is the sidekick and an American wrestler, is much more convincing and gets moments to shine. As this is moreso about survival, you'll be served lots of pushing and shoving people aside, to stabbing, biting and using items as throwable objects. Buybust is claustrophobic and tense set to noisy civilians knocking on pans, to heavy rain, mud and flooded pathways. I talk about normal everyday wives, husbands and children who fight for their own rights, while drug addicts fights to keep the drug lords in power. It's beautifully shot with neon lights, a dirty look and a bit too much cutting, while the soundtrack is played up with rock numbers to certain situations, and it works. The ending hits hard, as one spoken line and a news broadcast underlines what is actually going on in the Philippines these days. Buybust is a critique, not on the police or drug dealers/addicts, but on the system and the "war on drugs." ★★★☆☆
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018): I've been waiting on this movie since the initial announcement on April 26 2015. I was excited about a theatrical animation about Miles Morales, and oh boy did it deliver in spades. While I can't say I'm up in arms after the storm has settled, I will say all of the techniques in animation and visual style were sublime, with character motivation that felt real, filled with humor and stylized action set pieces. Miles Morales is important for diversity, and thankfully his Afro-Latino background feels like it's a natural part of him and the movie, and not something that is forced through just for diversity sake. I loved Kingpin's goal as the villain, there were surprise appearances I hadn't seen coming, and while half the superhero cast didn't really come with much weight, they did raise the comedy factor, and had their own little moments throughout. This was very much a fast-paced film from start to finish, and at times exhausting. But it was definitely a thrill worth taking. ★★★★☆
Aquaman (2018): I'll say it straight away. This movie surpassed my expectations, and I ended up liking it much more than I had anticipated. It didn't feel like the traditional superhero blockbuster, but instead took me through a journey, that was much more like classic adventure romps. I found Arthur Curry to be the weakest part of Justice League, and I had absolute no interest in his character, but that completely changed with James Wan's rendition of the Seven Seas and its dynasty. To get it out of the way, Aquaman can seem a little disjointed with sequences taking us all over the world and sea, and the chemistry between Jason Momoa and Amber Heard isn't really there, while the cheesy banter between them mostly fell flat. With that said, Wan has filled the aquarium with impressive action, that sees Arthur use wrestling-like ability on a submarine, to Princess Mera using the ocean like a force to be reckoned with. Black Manta's arc made complete sense, King Orm was a very interesting character with his disdain towards the land and connection to Arthur himself. The movie kind of felt like parts Indiana Jones, to parts Black Panther to parts Lord of the Rings. Nicole Kidman got to shine as an action heroine, and her role cannot be understated. James Wan even gets to play to his strengths midway through, and the third act is layered with bombastic warring factions (seen in the trailer) to awesomely choreographed battles. It's a spectacle that reaches the finish line unlike so many other comic book movies. I already want to watch Aquaman again. ★★★★☆
A Star Is Born (2018): Bradley Cooper completely transformed into Jack, and it was such a strong performance, and not only that, but he can sing. I felt like the movie peaked way too early, almost at the end of the first act, and that's probably the main issue I have with it. The story very much want to tell the story of Jack and his struggles, so much so that he steals moments from Ally. And while we do get to witness a shift in Ally's career, the main actress doesn't address this at any moment, and instead we're back to focusing on Jack up till the very end, while confrontations leading to the conclusion are rather swiftly swiped away. Which is unfortunate since Lady Gaga gives a convincing performance as this insecure bar singer who gets to sing some very powerful original songs. If anything, this is a strong contender for soundtrack of the year. ★★★☆☆
Buybust (2018): I wanted to write at length about this movie, but is keeping it short till our voting process next year. In the Philippines we rarely do big action spectacles because of budget, but with $1.6 million Erik Matti set out to build the most impressive set, that is a made up slum district with claustrophobic corridor-like ways, and filled it with about 300 stuntmen. While Indonesia got The Raid, Thailand got Ong Bak and Cambodia has Jailbreak, the Philippines has set out to make their own action movie. Do not go into it expecting the same fluidly choreographed fight scenes, as it's a completely different take on the genre. Instead, it's a fantastical setting set in a post-apocalyptic-like situation, where our anti-drug police squad is about to do a "buybust." Of course things goes south, and our team is caught in a Resident Evil-like situation, where the civilians is a metaphor for how tired the poorest of the poor are about president Rodrigo Duterte's "war on drugs." This is partly a social commentary on said war, who Erik Matti has been very vocal against, and it's set to start a debate locally, while putting a spotlight on it abroad. The story is simple but works, and there are nuanced layers to our main character, Nina Manigan, played by Anne Curtis who are usually either singing on stage or performing rom-coms. Her performance is solid, but unfortunately it shines through, that this is her first action gig, as her fight scenes can be slow and tedious, which especially comes across in the 3-minute longshot where she's climbing platforms to reach the roof. Brandon Vera, who is the sidekick and an American wrestler, is much more convincing and gets moments to shine. As this is moreso about survival, you'll be served lots of pushing and shoving people aside, to stabbing, biting and using items as throwable objects. Buybust is claustrophobic and tense set to noisy civilians knocking on pans, to heavy rain, mud and flooded pathways. I talk about normal everyday wives, husbands and children who fight for their own rights, while drug addicts fights to keep the drug lords in power. It's beautifully shot with neon lights, a dirty look and a bit too much cutting, while the soundtrack is played up with rock numbers to certain situations, and it works. The ending hits hard, as one spoken line and a news broadcast underlines what is actually going on in the Philippines these days. Buybust is a critique, not on the police or drug dealers/addicts, but on the system and the "war on drugs." ★★★☆☆
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018): I've been waiting on this movie since the initial announcement on April 26 2015. I was excited about a theatrical animation about Miles Morales, and oh boy did it deliver in spades. While I can't say I'm up in arms after the storm has settled, I will say all of the techniques in animation and visual style were sublime, with character motivation that felt real, filled with humor and stylized action set pieces. Miles Morales is important for diversity, and thankfully his Afro-Latino background feels like it's a natural part of him and the movie, and not something that is forced through just for diversity sake. I loved Kingpin's goal as the villain, there were surprise appearances I hadn't seen coming, and while half the superhero cast didn't really come with much weight, they did raise the comedy factor, and had their own little moments throughout. This was very much a fast-paced film from start to finish, and at times exhausting. But it was definitely a thrill worth taking. ★★★★☆
Aquaman (2018): I'll say it straight away. This movie surpassed my expectations, and I ended up liking it much more than I had anticipated. It didn't feel like the traditional superhero blockbuster, but instead took me through a journey, that was much more like classic adventure romps. I found Arthur Curry to be the weakest part of Justice League, and I had absolute no interest in his character, but that completely changed with James Wan's rendition of the Seven Seas and its dynasty. To get it out of the way, Aquaman can seem a little disjointed with sequences taking us all over the world and sea, and the chemistry between Jason Momoa and Amber Heard isn't really there, while the cheesy banter between them mostly fell flat. With that said, Wan has filled the aquarium with impressive action, that sees Arthur use wrestling-like ability on a submarine, to Princess Mera using the ocean like a force to be reckoned with. Black Manta's arc made complete sense, King Orm was a very interesting character with his disdain towards the land and connection to Arthur himself. The movie kind of felt like parts Indiana Jones, to parts Black Panther to parts Lord of the Rings. Nicole Kidman got to shine as an action heroine, and her role cannot be understated. James Wan even gets to play to his strengths midway through, and the third act is layered with bombastic warring factions (seen in the trailer) to awesomely choreographed battles. It's a spectacle that reaches the finish line unlike so many other comic book movies. I already want to watch Aquaman again. ★★★★☆
Roma (2018) - 8.0/10. This is far more interesting and compelling as a piece of visual storytelling than a conventional character drama. Cuaron's cinematography and direction are absolutely stunning and help anchor an incredibly low-key, fairly familiar story (albeit enhanced by its historical context).
I thought one small moment late in the story was pretty contrived
, especially as the rest of the movie is relatively subtle and unobtrusive.
Would certainly be an intriguing Best Picture choice, though it certainly wouldn't get my passion vote.
I thought one small moment late in the story was pretty contrived
the baby-daddy being a paramilitary
Would certainly be an intriguing Best Picture choice, though it certainly wouldn't get my passion vote.
Yeah, Mindhunter is for sure the best Netflix show. Looking forward to the next season.
Recently watched a few of the Oscar contenders and was a little bit disappointed by them all. I was expecting more.
A Star is Born - 7/10. (Really hit home at times and made me emotional in a way i cant explain)
First Reformed - 7/10
Leave no Trace - 7
First Man - 7
A Star is Born - 7/10. (Really hit home at times and made me emotional in a way i cant explain)
First Reformed - 7/10
Leave no Trace - 7
First Man - 7