Movies You've Seen Recently | February 2019

Deleted member 4292 · Feb 26, 2019

Captain America: The First Avenger ★★★½
Another MCU film that surprised me on rewatch. Entertaining as hell film even though it still suffers from the cliches and point by point plot that most of the Phase 1 films suffer from.
Evans does a fantastic job as Rogers and really sells the character. Incredibly likeable character from start to end. Also love seeing Howard Stark have a major role in the film as well.
Only weak spot I can think of besides what I had already mentioned would be Red Skull. I feel like so much more could have been done with him, and I wish he had more screentime.
One of the better Phase 1 films.

Phase 1 has shocked me a lot in quality compared to the first time I saw them

Ridley327 · Feb 27, 2019

We Always Find Ourselves in the Sea: A neat little throwback to British Christmas ghost stories. With an atmosphere thicker than the sea spray hitting the shores of the seaside setting, a tastefully atonal score and a restraint in never going to overboard with one aspect, this certainly has the right look and feel to mine out the maximum amount of creepiness from every element depicted on screen. Even the opaqueness of the tale is keyed in just about right, giving you just enough to formulate your own conclusion on the hows and whys of the supernatural presence without feeling like it's giving too much away. If only the lead didn't have such a weak performance, coming across as way too wiry and bug-eyed to come anywhere close to selling the growing menace and desperation of his situation, resulting in a performance that's more scared than haunted. It's a big shame that he brings the rest of this down, since it has a lot recommend otherwise.

Sinder · Feb 27, 2019

Fuck, Shoplifters might have just beaten First Reformed for my #1 spot of 2018. What a beautiful film. And so beautifully shot.

MidnightCowboy · Feb 27, 2019

Sinder said:
Fuck, Shoplifters might have just beaten First Reformed for my #1 spot of 2018. What a beautiful film. And so beautifully shot.

The snowman scene ;_;

Laughing Banana · Feb 27, 2019

The Prodigy.

I am getting goddamn tired of how horror films nowadays seem to have this requirement for them to have a bad ending. It's tiresome. The last horror movie with a good ending that I watched--meaning the protagonist won and the evil thing lost--was Conjuring 2.

But nowadays horror movie just GOT to have HUUUR-DUUURRRRRR THE EVIL MAN/SPIRIT/SATAN/DEVIL/WHATEVER WINS THE END HUUR DUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Annoying as fuck.

Deleted member 48205 · Feb 27, 2019

Laughing Banana said:
The Prodigy.

I am getting goddamn tired of how horror films nowadays seem to have this requirement for them to have a bad ending. It's tiresome. The last horror movie with a good ending that I watched--meaning the protagonist won and the evil thing lost--was Conjuring 2.

But nowadays horror movie just GOT to have HUUUR-DUUURRRRRR THE EVIL MAN/SPIRIT/SATAN/DEVIL/WHATEVER WINS THE END HUUR DUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Annoying as fuck.

Dude there's like one good horror movie a year why do you even bother with movies that look like that

Badlands (1973) - My first Malick movie and it was pretty good. I loved the soundtrack, the shots and the premise. Started to get bored halfway through but I still enjoyed it. It feels like one of those movies that you should have been there for because I didn't quite see what others see in it. I mean, it was good, but not great, for me at least. That tree house was dope as hell. I'll watch Days of Heaven next. 3.5/5

Laughing Banana · Feb 27, 2019

Kazura said:
Dude there's like one good horror movie a year why do you even bother with movies that look like that

Badlands (1973) - My first Malick movie and it was pretty good. I loved the soundtrack, the shots and the premise. Started to get bored halfway through but I still enjoyed it. It feels like one of those movies that you should have been there for because I didn't quite see what others see in it. I mean, it was good, but not great, for me at least. That tree house was dope as hell. I'll watch Days of Heaven next. 3.5/5

Haha, can't help it. I am a sucker for horror movies.

Though I bet that one good horror movie also ends up with a 'shocking' twist in the end :/

Deleted member 48205 · Feb 27, 2019

Laughing Banana said:
Haha, can't help it. I am a sucker for horror movies.

Though I bet that one good horror movie also ends up with a 'shocking' twist in the end :/

Not really.. I mean not the ones that I consider good at least. The only recent horror movie that I loved that had a twist ending was Goodnight Mommy and that ending was great so..

Deleted member 4292 · Feb 27, 2019

Laughing Banana said:
Haha, can't help it. I am a sucker for horror movies.

Though I bet that one good horror movie also ends up with a 'shocking' twist in the end :/

Not super recent by any means but have you seen The Loved Ones, Bedevilled, Ils (Them) or Better Watch Out?

I love the first three.

Certinfy · Feb 27, 2019

Instant Family - 4/5

Loved it. Thought it was a full on comedy but I was so wrong. Had no idea it was based on a true story and boy did it tug my heart a few times. Humour was really well done too for the most part, not much felt completely out of place.

Ridley327 · Feb 28, 2019

High Flying Bird: Soderbergh finally got to make Moneyball! Sort of! While that will remain one of the great what-ifs of filmmaking, it's hard not to see Soderbergh's restless spirit channel some of that energy into this production, filled with a similar affectation for the rapid-fire volleys of folks who know way more about a sport than you'll ever be able to process, and a dizzying glimpse into just how quickly deals are made, broken and repaired in the span of hours. What's great here is just how well Soderbergh is able to convey the passage of time in Tarell Alvin McCraney's rather sharp script, making the 72 hours the story lasts fit neatly into the 90 minutes the film comprises, with very little in the way of bloat and excess. And true to Soderbergh's output, he manages to get his actors to look and sound like folks who do do this kind of work for a living, with each of them being able to deliver their lines with authority and a refreshing sense of casualness that convinces. Everyone is quite good here, but the movie belongs to André Holland as Ray Burke, an agent so skilled at his job of making you believe in the idea that the world revolves around you that you'll never notice that he's merely making you one of his satellites instead. Holland's charisma is off the charts, and yet you never once question his aptitude for the material as he looks and sounds like the real thing, with an enthusiasm that's dangerously contagious. Soderbergh continues to experiment with his recent love of shooting on phones, and while no one is going to be accusing this film of being a visual stunner, it does help instill the immediacy and intimacy of all that is happening in a very believable way and creating a strong sense of style on its own terms. Very little basketball is actually played in the film, but it's hard not to notice the same kind of electricity that a good game can generate from this film, as lively and as exciting as they're likely to get, proving once again that Soderbergh makes even his experiments oh so satisfying by the time the credits roll.

Sinder · Feb 28, 2019

Still need to see Wildlife, Green Book, and Beale Street and maybe one or two others, but I made a little image thing of my favorite shots of 2018.

(Annihilation, Cold War, Shoplifters, First Reformed, and Burning)

Triggerhappytel · Feb 28, 2019

I watched IT (2017) about a week ago. Overall I really liked it. The kids were excellent, which is a really rare thing for an American movie (much less all 7 of the Losers + Henry were all great), Bill Skarsgard was really good as Pennywise. He had just the right mix of being both friendly and sinister. I'd say about half the scares worked for me, although the loud audio cues and jump scares got tiresome pretty quickly. The worst part was in the garage when they shut the projector off and suddenly he turns huge and climbs out of the screen. That was too silly for my tastes. The best part was probably when Beverly looks into the Deadlights. The special effects and music at that point made for a very creepy scene.

Laughing Banana said:
Haha, can't help it. I am a sucker for horror movies.

Though I bet that one good horror movie also ends up with a 'shocking' twist in the end :/

I'm in a bit of a horror movie mood at the moment. Do you have any good recommendations?

Deleted member 48205 · Feb 28, 2019

Triggerhappytel said:
I watched IT (2017) about a week ago. Overall I really liked it. The kids were excellent, which is a really rare thing for an American movie (much less all 7 of the Losers + Billy were all great), Bill Skarsgard was really good as Pennywise. He had just the right mix of being both friendly and sinister. I'd say about half the scares worked for me, although the loud audio cues and jump scares got tiresome pretty quickly. The worst part was in the garage when they shut the projector off and suddenly he turns huge and climbs out of the screen. That was too silly for my tastes. The best part was probably when Beverly looks into the Deadlights. The special effects and music at that point made for a very creepy scene.

I'm in a bit of a horror movie mood at the moment. Do you have any good recommendations?

Did you read the book? I was in the peak of my Stephen King audiobook discovery when this was announced and I was so hyped for it but ended up really hating this movie. I'm still a little angry about it...
Also, I'm afraid my list of horror movies that I liked recently are pretty much the same as everyone else who's into this type of horror, but in case you missed any of these I would recommend every one of them:
Amazing - The Babadook, The Witch, Goodnight Mommy, Hereditary, Bone Tomahawk, Kill List
Very Good - It Follows, It Comes At Night, Raw, The Wailing, Green Room

Midnight Special (2016) - I loved Take Shelter and Mud and remember seeing the trailer for this movie in the theater (in one out of the few times I actually went to one in the past 5 years) and remember thinking it looked pretty meh. I was right. I felt the mystery surrounding the kid and the cult didn't go anywehre and I like Adam Driver as much as everyone else but his character's story line didn't offer much. The effects weren't convincing to me, especially the effect of the boy's eyes light up, and there was too much of that Michael Bay lens flair thrown around. Overall I was just kinda bored and was waiting for it to end. The performances were pretty good, I liked Kirsten Dunst even though her character ended up being a complete throwaway, and Michael Shannon and the other guy were pretty good too. The kid was also pretty good. I hoped that after becoming more familiar with Jeff Nichols' filmography I would end up loving this too, but, nope, I wouldn't recommend it. Still have to more movies of his to watch 3/5

Triggerhappytel · Feb 28, 2019

Kazura said:
Did you read the book? I was in the peak of my Stephen King audiobook discovery when this was announced and I was so hyped for it but ended up really hating this movie. I'm still a little angry about it...
Also, I'm afraid my list of horror movies that I liked recently are pretty much the same as everyone else who's into this type of horror, but in case you missed any of these I would recommend every one of them:
Amazing - The Babadook, The Witch, Goodnight Mommy, Hereditary, Bone Tomahawk, Kill List
Very Good - It Follows, It Comes At Night, Raw, The Wailing, Green Room

I read the book about 22 years ago, although I remember not liking it and finding it padded and meandering, and I have no intention of trying to read it again.

As for your recommendations:

Amazing - The Babadook, The Witch, Goodnight Mommy, Hereditary, Bone Tomahawk, Kill List
Very Good - It Follows, It Comes At Night, Raw, The Wailing, Green Room

I have not seen the ones I've marked in bold. I think I have The Wailing on my Netflix list, so I'll start with that tonight. I thought Green Room was like a violent thriller? Is that the one with Patrick Stewart? Anyway, thanks for the suggestions. I've never even heard of Goodnight Mommy, Kill List or Raw,

ViewtifulJC · Feb 28, 2019

Is it too early to talk about the raid 2 guys in John wick 3 yet

I mean NDA and shit but

Ridley327 · Feb 28, 2019

ViewtifulJC said:
Is it too early to talk about the raid 2 guys in John wick 3 yet

I mean NDA and shit but

Well, it can't be any worse than how TFA handled them.

Deleted member 48205 · Feb 28, 2019

Triggerhappytel said:
I read the book about 22 years ago, although I remember not liking it and finding it padded and meandering, and I have no intention of trying to read it again.

As for your recommendations:

Amazing - The Babadook, The Witch, Goodnight Mommy, Hereditary, Bone Tomahawk, Kill List
Very Good - It Follows, It Comes At Night, Raw, The Wailing, Green Room

I have not seen the ones I've marked in bold. I think I have The Wailing on my Netflix list, so I'll start with that tonight. I thought Green Room was like a violent thriller? Is that the one with Patrick Stewart? Anyway, thanks for the suggestions. I've never even heard of Goodnight Mommy, Kill List or Raw,

The Wailing is very weird, the structure is all over the place and it's not 100% horror either, but I don't have a better label for it either. Green Room is a violent thriller that leans towards horror. Goodnight Mommy is Austrian, it's probably the most beautiful of all of these in my opinion, and it has the creepiest vibe of them all too. I think it's as much of a classic as all the recent classics like The Babadook and It Follows. Raw is French, I wouldn't check anything about it before watching, just go in blind and I think you'll have a great time. Kill List is kind of like Green Room, "violent thriller", but it gets dark. Don't google anything about it. In fact, don't google anything about any of these. If you're in a horror mood and you trust a random guy on the internet I was serious when I said that all of them are great. Just watch all of these and you're set for a while.

julia crawford · Feb 28, 2019

Went to see The House That Jack Built and decided to leave halfway.

God, just not in the fucking mood.

Sean C. · Feb 28, 2019

Blader said:
And, without giving anything away, I liked that Kore-eda really commits to this shift and where it leads, and doesn't try to have it both ways. Now to check out more of his stuff.

Our Little Sister is a wonderful film, if you haven't seen it.

Mary, Queen of Scots (2018): The latest cinematic iteration of the story of Mary and Elizabeth, told many times, equally capable of being told with either of them the hero or the villain (corresponding, generally, to who is the title character). In this case, Mary, Queen of Cinnamon Rolls returns to Scotland to bring peace and justice to the land while also marrying for (what she believes is) love and having a son, only to be undone by a bunch of nasty characters and the childless, pox-scarred Elizabeth. Saoirse Ronan is quite good as Mary, as you would expect, and her narrative on the whole, while giving Mary the benefit of every doubt in every single controversy she was involved in, is overall effective. Margot Robbie's Elizabeth I would probably have worked more if she was in the film less, because as it stands she's not in it enough to have a real arc, and the filmmakers' take on one of the most successful female monarchs in history isn't especially persuasive. Characterization for the supporting cast is spotty in places, particularly one heel turn that seems to come pretty much out of nowhere.

The Broadway Melody (1929): I recorded this on TCM and watched it so that I could check it off the list of Best Picture winners I've watched, only to discover afterward that I'd already seen it, an event I have no memory of. Which really tells you all you need to know about the film.

A Quiet Place (2018): There's quite a lot to like about the way John Krasinski makes a lot of unconventional choices within what is in some respects a very basic horror/thriller setup, and the willingness to do so much with sign language especially is laudable; we have so few films with deaf main characters, particularly played by actual deaf performers. Lots of nice tense moments, and the character dynamics are well handled. The actual monster is underwhelming, though.

Laughing Banana · Feb 28, 2019

Triggerhappytel said:
I'm in a bit of a horror movie mood at the moment. Do you have any good recommendations?

Honestly there's not too many good horror movies recently. The good ones include the usual stuff like Hereditary, Halloween, Overlord (this is quite gory), Ghost Stories (british), A Quiet Place.... There's also a Korean movie called Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum that I like despite its cliched-ness, hahaha.

I often also watch movies that are... well, not so well regarded critically, just because I am such a horror junkie, haha, stuff like The Prodigy that I mentioned above. There's nothing yet in 2019 that I would consider good. Well, unless you consider stuff like Happy Death Day 2 U as horror, hahaha, but it's more of a comedy.

Ridley327 · Mar 1, 2019

Filmworker: Dry, but always intriguing with how much of the behind-the-scenes process that it's able to dive into, thanks to its central subject being something of the ultimate behind-the-scenes figure. Leon Vitali opens up on pretty much everything you can think of from his time with Stanley Kubrick, including some refreshingly candid conversation on just how demanding and borderline nasty he could get, but also makes a compelling argument for why it's important that his works need to be so fastidiously preserved for future generations, even at the possible expense of getting any kind of attention from those within the filmmaking industry. There's a hell of a lineup of interview subjects to go with Vitali's own words, though I'll certainly admit that it does get a bit tiring for them to come to the same conclusion that they couldn't do what Vitali did over and over again. If it is repetitive in certain aspects, it's always worthwhile for being able to see the treasure trove of materials that would not have been available otherwise, and Vitali himself is a rather warm subject almost in spite of the toll his selflessness has taken on him.

Hark · Mar 1, 2019

Can anyone tell me how graphic the violence in Mandy is, please? I've heard it's a wild film and want to watch it with friends but we don't handle gore particularly well. Does it ever get as extreme as something like Bone Tomahawk?

Messofanego · Mar 1, 2019

JMizzlin said:
Can anyone tell me how graphic the violence in Mandy is, please? I've heard it's a wild film and want to watch it with friends but we don't handle gore particularly well. Does it ever get as extreme as something like Bone Tomahawk?

Nope. For the first hour, not much happens so if you manage to stay awake after that, you get some action but it's pretty typical violence.

Peru · Mar 1, 2019

Green Book: 1/5

Deleted member 48205 · Mar 1, 2019

JMizzlin said:
Can anyone tell me how graphic the violence in Mandy is, please? I've heard it's a wild film and want to watch it with friends but we don't handle gore particularly well. Does it ever get as extreme as something like Bone Tomahawk?

Bone Tomahawk's violence is shocking because you don't really expect it. It's a violence jump scare. Mandy's vibe is pretty clear from the get go, so I don't think the violent moments have the same impact. Overall the movie is way more stylized and less realistic than Bone Tomahawk, so everytime something graphic happens it's more cool than shocking. There is some "extreme" stuff but it will probably make you go "ughh gross!!!!" but you'll be laughing too.

Fancy Clown · Mar 1, 2019

Dead Ringers: It's easy to forget that Jeremy Irons is a singular identity and not two separate performers entirely when watching this queasy treatise on identity; that of course is the film's greatest trick: to convince you, as they convince themselves, that Beverly and Elliott Mantle are two separate organisms rather than one and the same. They are the id and the ego, each keeping the other in balance. Naturally when life gets in the way the brothers are incapable of adequately adapting because any pull in one direction results in a sharp tug for the other. The inevitable downward spiral is depicted a little too cartoonish for me (the candles and trash mountains were a *bit* much) but I suppose they fit stylistically with this mod-gothic world Cronenberg has placed the film in. And even through drug benders and psychotic breaks Irons never for a second loses his grasp on the two halves of the Mantle twins. It's a truly remarkable performance and Cronenberg frames the two of them in exquisite ways (in general this is probably the best looking Cronenberg film I've seen).
Despite being less graphic or overtly body horror driven than his typical genre oeuvre, Dead Ringers is Cronenberg's most disturbing, and ultimately haunting, work. The demented and misshapen "gynecological tools for mutant women" are less terrifying in their physicality, as they're essentially just alien looking scalpels and clamps, than in their implications for the diseased mind they represent. The final minutes of the movie are so expertly drawn in their restraint and all the more horrifying for it. Cronenberg depicts a scene that most others would have played for maximum hysteria instead mines what characters don't, or can't, see and say —yet we know the answers to— for maximum tragedy.
Dead Ringers (Call Me By Your Name would have been a great title for this, no??) might just be Cronenberg's, and Iron's, most dreadful masterpiece.

Messofanego · Mar 1, 2019

Fancy Clown said:
Dead Ringers: It's easy to forget that Jeremy Irons is a singular identity and not two separate performers entirely when watching this queasy treatise on identity; that of course is the film's greatest trick: to convince you, as they convince themselves, that Beverly and Elliott Mantle are two separate organisms rather than one and the same. They are the id and the ego, each keeping the other in balance. Naturally when life gets in the way the brothers are incapable of adequately adapting because any pull in one direction results in a sharp tug for the other. The inevitable downward spiral is depicted a little too cartoonish for me (the candles and trash mountains were a *bit* much) but I suppose they fit stylistically with this mod-gothic world Cronenberg has placed the film in. And even through drug benders and psychotic breaks Irons never for a second loses his grasp on the two halves of the Mantle twins. It's a truly remarkable performance and Cronenberg frames the two of them in exquisite ways (in general this is probably the best looking Cronenberg film I've seen).
Despite being less graphic or overtly body horror driven than his typical genre oeuvre, Dead Ringers is Cronenberg's most disturbing, and ultimately haunting, work. The demented and misshapen "gynecological tools for mutant women" are less terrifying in their physicality, as they're essentially just alien looking scalpels and clamps, than in their implications for the diseased mind they represent. The final minutes of the movie are so expertly drawn in their restraint and all the more horrifying for it. Cronenberg depicts a scene that most others would have played for maximum hysteria instead mines what characters don't, or can't, see and say —yet we know the answers to— for maximum tragedy.
Dead Ringers (Call Me By Your Name would have been a great title for this, no??) might just be Cronenberg's, and Iron's, most dreadful masterpiece.

Dead Ringers is definitely my favourite Cronenberg from his non-body horror work.

overcast · Mar 1, 2019

Where's that March thread fellas

ViewtifulJC · Mar 1, 2019

overcast said:
Where's that March thread fellas

Waiting on you to make it

Deleted member 21339 · Mar 2, 2019

Have a question about Shoplifters that I'm kind of embarrassed to ask because the question itself might suggest that a key part of the movie might have been lost on me... BUT

the movie is called Shoplifters because the "family" was giving a place to stay for discarded children and elders right? right? That is what was happening in this movie?

MidnightCowboy · Mar 2, 2019

JB1981 said:
Have a question about Shoplifters that I'm kind of embarrassed to ask because the question itself might suggest that a key part of the movie might have been lost on me... BUT

the movie is called Shoplifters because the "family" was giving a place to stay for discarded children and elders right? right? That is what was happening in this movie?

Shoplifting is when you steal from stores. They are actually all staying at the granny's house, it's her place. She's cool with it because she's lonely and would rather have the company.

Deleted member 21339 · Mar 2, 2019

MidnightCowboy said:
Shoplifting is when you steal from stores. They are actually all staying at the granny's house, it's her place. She's cool with it because she's lonely and would rather have the company.

I know but doesn't the title have a double meaning?

The two kids in that house (the boy and the little girl) were basically saved from their families weren't they? One could say ... shoplifted?

MidnightCowboy · Mar 2, 2019

JB1981 said:
I know but doesn't the title have a double meaning?

The two kids in that house (the boy and the little girl) were basically saved from their families weren't they? One could say ... shoplifted?

Oh yeah, definitely. Double meaning for sure.

MidnightCowboy · Mar 2, 2019

stay flo
March Thread
March Thread
March Thread
March Thread

TheBeardedOne · Mar 2, 2019

MidnightCowboy said:
stay flo
March Thread
March Thread
March Thread
March Thread

Is there a March thread though?

Movies You've Seen Recently | February 2019

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Took the red AND the blue pills

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