Hmm never considered Triangle as cosmic but just time loop horror, also I remember not liking it much because if the characters. I gotta check out those other two.
-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
Movies You've Seen Recently | January 2020
- Thread starter Divius
- Start date
- Status
If you check out The Endless, watch Resolution first, the directors' previous film. They're connected
Last edited:
Almost Human (2013)
★★
An amateurish but promising debut. Watching Begos' films before VFW, and this has all the hallmarks of "micro-budget first film with ambition". The acting, look, and storytelling are all flat; the pacing is rushed; the characters are cardboard cutouts.
But there are bright spots, all of which Begos continues to develop with Mind's Eye and Bliss. Mainly the pulpy violence, splattering practical gore, lean structure, and moments of creative body horror that make Almost Human watchable.
The Mind's Eye (2015)
★★★
Going to commit genre sacrilege here, but I think I enjoyed The Mind's Eye more than Scanners.
In my trip through Cronenberg's filmography, I found Scanners to be his most conventional film at the time, a dull and detached work occasionally brightened by Ironside and the classic head explosion. Being a lull in the midst of a Brood/Videodrome/Dead Zone/Fly streak didn't help either.
The Mind's Eye takes the telekinetic core of Scanners, strips out the fat, injects a dose of Carpenter and Cannon, then devotes its second half to gnarly violence and b-movie mayhem. It's a notable improvement in every single way from Almost Human. You can see Begos coming into his own style, a trend that would only continue with Bliss.
An enigmatic institute is studying telekinetics, trying to control or even extract their abilities. Subjects in love escape, are hunted by the megalomaniacal overseer and his goons. The Mind's Eye keeps its action confined to that simple premise, heavy on cliches and one-note characters. The plot may be simplistic but there's a stylistic energy powering the low-budget fun, mirrored by the pulsing synth and wild-eyed determination from lead Graham Skipper.
Around the 45 minute mark, The Mind's Eye becomes relentless action until the credits; Begos and crew unleash Argento lighting, splattering wounds, and gleeful eruptions of practically-done gore. Craniums are gloriously obliterated, lead shreds flesh, rooms are wrecked in desperate brawls, and orifices ooze crimson in hilarious battles of the mind. It's grungy pulpy stuff, delivered with lean mean conviction. In other words, my kind of movie.
★★
An amateurish but promising debut. Watching Begos' films before VFW, and this has all the hallmarks of "micro-budget first film with ambition". The acting, look, and storytelling are all flat; the pacing is rushed; the characters are cardboard cutouts.
But there are bright spots, all of which Begos continues to develop with Mind's Eye and Bliss. Mainly the pulpy violence, splattering practical gore, lean structure, and moments of creative body horror that make Almost Human watchable.
The Mind's Eye (2015)
★★★
Going to commit genre sacrilege here, but I think I enjoyed The Mind's Eye more than Scanners.
In my trip through Cronenberg's filmography, I found Scanners to be his most conventional film at the time, a dull and detached work occasionally brightened by Ironside and the classic head explosion. Being a lull in the midst of a Brood/Videodrome/Dead Zone/Fly streak didn't help either.
The Mind's Eye takes the telekinetic core of Scanners, strips out the fat, injects a dose of Carpenter and Cannon, then devotes its second half to gnarly violence and b-movie mayhem. It's a notable improvement in every single way from Almost Human. You can see Begos coming into his own style, a trend that would only continue with Bliss.
An enigmatic institute is studying telekinetics, trying to control or even extract their abilities. Subjects in love escape, are hunted by the megalomaniacal overseer and his goons. The Mind's Eye keeps its action confined to that simple premise, heavy on cliches and one-note characters. The plot may be simplistic but there's a stylistic energy powering the low-budget fun, mirrored by the pulsing synth and wild-eyed determination from lead Graham Skipper.
Around the 45 minute mark, The Mind's Eye becomes relentless action until the credits; Begos and crew unleash Argento lighting, splattering wounds, and gleeful eruptions of practically-done gore. Craniums are gloriously obliterated, lead shreds flesh, rooms are wrecked in desperate brawls, and orifices ooze crimson in hilarious battles of the mind. It's grungy pulpy stuff, delivered with lean mean conviction. In other words, my kind of movie.
Way more interested in watching a documentary about the making of 1917 than I am ever seeing the movie again.
The Death Of Dick Long
Holyshit. This movie was something. I really didn't know what to expect going into it, but I didn't expect it to be as good as it was. I thought it would be more of a straight forward comedy, but this is more on some Fargo level black comedy shit. Amazing acting in this too. Once you find out how Dick Long actually dies...just...damn lol. There's not a lot of likable characters but it was entertaining as hell.
4/5
Holyshit. This movie was something. I really didn't know what to expect going into it, but I didn't expect it to be as good as it was. I thought it would be more of a straight forward comedy, but this is more on some Fargo level black comedy shit. Amazing acting in this too. Once you find out how Dick Long actually dies...just...damn lol. There's not a lot of likable characters but it was entertaining as hell.
4/5
My top 5 favorite films at Sundance
. 1. Charm City Kings 2. Black Bear 3. Promising Young Woman 4. Nine Days 5. Minari
full list of films I have seen and not ranked
. 1. Charm City Kings 2. Black Bear 3. Promising Young Woman 4. Nine Days 5. Minari
full list of films I have seen and not ranked
Queen & Slim (2019) - 6/10. What a disappointingly clumsy film this was. The performances and visuals were solid but the characters do so many idiotic and inane things, stringing together a wildly convoluted series of pitstops ahead of a flat ending. Also the romance felt really rushed and forced. Felt really on the nose in places (which, I can appreciate, some might see as a positive). Haven't felt this mixed and frustrated on a film in a long time.
Nice list. I threw you a follow because I'm interested in these films. Do you know if there is a list (Whether on letterboxd or other) of what movies got picked up by what studios for distribution? I'm wondering if big pay day that Neon/Hulu gave to Palm Springs will work out for them in the end.
Rollerball (1975): An unconventional entry in Norman Jewison's filmography, a Criterion Channel-hosted piece of 1970s dystopian future sci-fi starring James Caan as a player in the goofy sport of rollerball confronted by attempts to force him into retirement. Aims to be cerebral, everything other than the prolonged game sequences are pretty dull, not helped by the fact that Caan mumbles his way through about half his dialogue.
Farewell, My Lovely (1975): Part of Hollywood's 1970s neo-noir wave, another adaptation of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe novel, this time starring Robert Mitchum in the lead role. Mitchum as an older, wearier Marlowe is quite interesting casting, and he does well in the part. Being as it is a product of the 1970s rather than the 1940s, the film has more space for things like examining the treatment of minorities in Los Angeles -- and also, obviously, more blood and nudity. There's also a bit part for an immediately-pre-Rocky Sylvester Stallone, which was a bit distracting.
Show Boat (1936): I had no idea before starting to watch this that it was directed by James Whale, of Frankenstein notoriety; quite a genre shift, that. Based on what was the first modern Broadway musical (i.e., with the songs incorporated into the plot rather than a revue format), Show Boat feels like a whole than is less than the sum of its parts -- in particularly, the part where Paul Robeson sings "Ol' Man River", the only memorable song, and which doesn't really have anything to do with the main action. Which indeed, could be said about most of the most interesting parts of the story, dealing with racism and even interracial relationships in ways that weren't generally seen/allowed at the time; all of this is peripheral to a central romantic plot that is kind of confounding in how the obstacles are thrown in.
Wild Nights with Emily (2019): Weirdly coinciding with Apple TV's Dickinson, which shares its sketch comedy tone, also has an episode called "Wild Nights with Emily", and focuses on Emily Dickinson's now-believed relationship with her sister-in-law Susan. Despite the writer-director's evident scholarly interest in the material (the credits includes thanks to the Jones Library for letting them film the poet's actual letters), this feels more like an illustrated Wikipedia entry than a story with living, breathing characters.
Farewell, My Lovely (1975): Part of Hollywood's 1970s neo-noir wave, another adaptation of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe novel, this time starring Robert Mitchum in the lead role. Mitchum as an older, wearier Marlowe is quite interesting casting, and he does well in the part. Being as it is a product of the 1970s rather than the 1940s, the film has more space for things like examining the treatment of minorities in Los Angeles -- and also, obviously, more blood and nudity. There's also a bit part for an immediately-pre-Rocky Sylvester Stallone, which was a bit distracting.
Show Boat (1936): I had no idea before starting to watch this that it was directed by James Whale, of Frankenstein notoriety; quite a genre shift, that. Based on what was the first modern Broadway musical (i.e., with the songs incorporated into the plot rather than a revue format), Show Boat feels like a whole than is less than the sum of its parts -- in particularly, the part where Paul Robeson sings "Ol' Man River", the only memorable song, and which doesn't really have anything to do with the main action. Which indeed, could be said about most of the most interesting parts of the story, dealing with racism and even interracial relationships in ways that weren't generally seen/allowed at the time; all of this is peripheral to a central romantic plot that is kind of confounding in how the obstacles are thrown in.
Wild Nights with Emily (2019): Weirdly coinciding with Apple TV's Dickinson, which shares its sketch comedy tone, also has an episode called "Wild Nights with Emily", and focuses on Emily Dickinson's now-believed relationship with her sister-in-law Susan. Despite the writer-director's evident scholarly interest in the material (the credits includes thanks to the Jones Library for letting them film the poet's actual letters), this feels more like an illustrated Wikipedia entry than a story with living, breathing characters.
I might make a topic on it tomorrow, but can I just say that Frank Langella got robbed on that oscar for playing Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon (2008)?
Like god damn, that man can deliver a monologue. "We're going to make the motherfuckers CHOKE!"
And yet it doesn't veer off into 'Nixon just bad' territory that a bad script would do, instead remaining locked on the game of these two outcasts, desperately vying to get back into that spotlight they crave to return to, while remembering that they're still human beings, even if Nixon's worst qualities as one are not hidden here at all.
"It's not a crime if the president does it"
Great film, now more than ever.
edit: oh right, we should have a new thread. Whoops.
Like god damn, that man can deliver a monologue. "We're going to make the motherfuckers CHOKE!"
And yet it doesn't veer off into 'Nixon just bad' territory that a bad script would do, instead remaining locked on the game of these two outcasts, desperately vying to get back into that spotlight they crave to return to, while remembering that they're still human beings, even if Nixon's worst qualities as one are not hidden here at all.
"It's not a crime if the president does it"
Great film, now more than ever.
edit: oh right, we should have a new thread. Whoops.
The Lighthouse (rewatch): There is something comforting among the foghorns, farts and seagull cries to look back at something like this and realize that it was, in fact, a whole lot gayer than I gave it credit for in the first place.
Long Day's Journey Into Night: A dazzling adventure into the nature of memory and how it defines us. While the last hour of the film gets all of the press, and for good reason as a genius showcase of technical prowess, it's not nearly as effective without the rest of the film preceding it, as the noir-tinged shattered moments of the past that haunt our hero of sorts get reworked into what follows, helping not only to coalesce the fragments into a cohesive whole, but to also help relate why they were so important to relay in the first place. The result is quite literally the stuff dreams are made of, told with a cinematic flair that makes direct comparisons difficult for a rather singular vision. If only we could have gotten more 3D films with this level of ingenuity...
Bliss: It could have been easy to turn this into the umpteenth "vampirism as an allegory for drug addiction" story, but thankfully, the filmmakers here realized that well has been drawn dry and instead put forth something far more visceral and nerve-wracking, resulting in an abrasive sledgehammer to the face that's bound to alienate many with its hardcore punk aesthetic, damaging soundscape and gruesome excesses of sex, drug usage and gory violence, while finding a fair few fans in the process who probably won't shut up about it for a while for those very same reasons. Suffice it to say, count me among the ranks of the latter, as even if it's not the best vampire film in recent memory, it is undoubtedly one of the most original and exciting ones all the same, leaving me with the conflict of the need to purge out such a volatile cocktail while also desiring, craving even more. A genuine ass-kicker of a film, for all the right reasons.
Long Day's Journey Into Night: A dazzling adventure into the nature of memory and how it defines us. While the last hour of the film gets all of the press, and for good reason as a genius showcase of technical prowess, it's not nearly as effective without the rest of the film preceding it, as the noir-tinged shattered moments of the past that haunt our hero of sorts get reworked into what follows, helping not only to coalesce the fragments into a cohesive whole, but to also help relate why they were so important to relay in the first place. The result is quite literally the stuff dreams are made of, told with a cinematic flair that makes direct comparisons difficult for a rather singular vision. If only we could have gotten more 3D films with this level of ingenuity...
Bliss: It could have been easy to turn this into the umpteenth "vampirism as an allegory for drug addiction" story, but thankfully, the filmmakers here realized that well has been drawn dry and instead put forth something far more visceral and nerve-wracking, resulting in an abrasive sledgehammer to the face that's bound to alienate many with its hardcore punk aesthetic, damaging soundscape and gruesome excesses of sex, drug usage and gory violence, while finding a fair few fans in the process who probably won't shut up about it for a while for those very same reasons. Suffice it to say, count me among the ranks of the latter, as even if it's not the best vampire film in recent memory, it is undoubtedly one of the most original and exciting ones all the same, leaving me with the conflict of the need to purge out such a volatile cocktail while also desiring, craving even more. A genuine ass-kicker of a film, for all the right reasons.
Clemency
Still finishing off 2019 films and I've been waiting to see this for a while. Praise has been given for Alfre Woodard's performance and I can definitely see why. I want to give praise for Aldis Hodge's performance as well. Both roles aren't physically demanding, but are more emotionally demanding and they both know when to let their emotional expressions do the talking. It's strange to think of a favorite scene given the movie's subject matter, but the scene that really stuck out to me was when Woodard is telling Hodge how he will die by lethal injection. Hodge's facial expressions tell all you need to know about what is going through the mind of his character without him having to say a single word. I expect this movie to be VOD relatively soon so I would recommend giving this a look.
Oscar Nominated Shorts: Live Action
Had hoped to see the short subject docs earlier today but they will have to wait until tomorrow, along with the animated shorts. I'm betting Saria will win given its subject matter and it's based on a real event. There will definitely a few gasps at the end of it. As for the rest: Une Soeur (A Sister) was tense as hell; Brotherhood was interesting, but it really didn't do much for me; Neighbors' Window was okay-ish; Nefta Football Club was pretty damn funny.
Rankings:
Still finishing off 2019 films and I've been waiting to see this for a while. Praise has been given for Alfre Woodard's performance and I can definitely see why. I want to give praise for Aldis Hodge's performance as well. Both roles aren't physically demanding, but are more emotionally demanding and they both know when to let their emotional expressions do the talking. It's strange to think of a favorite scene given the movie's subject matter, but the scene that really stuck out to me was when Woodard is telling Hodge how he will die by lethal injection. Hodge's facial expressions tell all you need to know about what is going through the mind of his character without him having to say a single word. I expect this movie to be VOD relatively soon so I would recommend giving this a look.
Oscar Nominated Shorts: Live Action
Had hoped to see the short subject docs earlier today but they will have to wait until tomorrow, along with the animated shorts. I'm betting Saria will win given its subject matter and it's based on a real event. There will definitely a few gasps at the end of it. As for the rest: Une Soeur (A Sister) was tense as hell; Brotherhood was interesting, but it really didn't do much for me; Neighbors' Window was okay-ish; Nefta Football Club was pretty damn funny.
Rankings:
- Saria
- Nefta Football Club
- Une Soeur
- Brotherhood
- The Neighbors' Window
OP
OP
- Status