Movies You've Seen Recently | July 2019

[Ridley327]

American Grindhouse: A fun little primer on, well, it's right there in the title. At just under 80 minutes long, there's not a lot of time to spend on each segment, leaving some of the subjects a bit wanting for material (oh, how I'd love a documentary on just the Forty Thieves and their notorious choke hold on exploitation cinema), but for anyone wanting to use this as a springboard into further elaboration, it's hard to ask for much better, especially with the colorful rogues gallery of filmmakers they were able to collect for the documentary to talk about the films they worked on, with Jim Brown and Don Edmonds being particularly big highlights. That it's also a nice celebration of the history of film itself is a big plus, as there's little doubt how inextricably linked the roots of exploitation are throughout the birth and maturation of the medium, giving the film an ever-so-slight academic appeal to go with the clips of the utter insanity of some of the films that do get featured.

 

[Flow]

Yup!

Click to shrink...

hype

 

[Ridley327]

Phantom of the Paradise (rewatch): I think I can confidently state now that if no movies were made again after this was released, the art of cinema itself would have gotten a hell of a sendoff. Brian De Palma took Phantom of the Opera, Faust, The Picture of Dorian Grey, rock operas, kitschy nostalgia, corporate worship culture, hippy counterculture, a reverence for the less romantic aspects of Gothic horror, a boatload of drugs and more things than I can possibly list that are assuredly in this picture, found the finest blender in all the land to mix it up and produce about the most extravagant, deranged, joyful and exciting concoction of celluloid manna imaginable. Winnipeg had this figured out long before the rest of the world did, and though there have been plenty of fans and converts since its original release, there's still so much time to make up in getting the whole world to understand this film's abundant greatness.

 

[Darkwing-Buck]

I just got the Criterion version of Police Story and omg it's perfect.

The audio work is as it should be as the version I saw first had out of place dubbed sound effects and the music volume was too low.

 

[Ridley327]

The Crater Lake Monster: Undeniably bad on most fronts, but some decent photography of the California wilderness (which, despite the title, isn't referring to that Crater Lake of Oregon) and solid stop motion effects do help to liven up an otherwise shoddy production with a litany of terrible actors (some of which went on to be very good special effects artists!), a temp score that somehow made it into the final product and editing so aggressively nonsensical that it could have won an Oscar this year. Very much the kind of movie that has no problems putting all of its best scenes in the trailer, though a late ploy where the monster aggressively lobs bales of hay at our heroes is sublimely ridiculous.

 

[meowdi gras]

Our Man in Havana (1959)

Funny, amusing, and very well-made. As he so often did, Nöel Coward steals the show in his bit part.

Two criticisms, one trivial, one significant:
1. Burl Ives affects perhaps the worst German accent ever in movies.
2. Hard as he tries, Alec Guinness is miscast in the lead role. The baroque proceedings would have been funnier and more effective with Peter Sellers (pre-Clouseau era version) in the part. He had a wicked gleam in his eye that the too-sober Guinness can't summon. As it is, Guinness cant help but suck the life out of the movie.

 

[Meows]

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a weird movie. I've been a huge fan of the play during my obsessed Tennessee Williams stage in high school and finally saw it last week. Paul Newman (whose eyes are just gorgeous in this, don't know why I need to say that but they really are beautiful in HD), Elizabeth Taylor, Burl Ives, and Judith Anderson are all very good in it but it felt like it was missing the glue to hold it all together - namely all of the homoerotic/gay subplot from the play that is only subtext in the movie. I understand why they had to do that in the time that it came out (I recall they had to cut the gay subtext of Blanche's husband in Streetcar as well) and it at least feels like they tried going around it. It works, somewhat, but I do think it stops a good film from being a great film. An iconic movie for sure though, Elizabeth Taylor in the white dress is one of the most striking images out there.

 

[Divius]

What in the actual fuck

I might be done with movies forever now

 

[Ridley327]

I have been laughing for the past half hour. I am so happy this exists.

 

[CloudWolf]

2019 is the year that keeps on giving

 

[Deleted member 49179]

What in the actual fuck

I might be done with movies forever now

Click to shrink...

WTF is this? It must be some kind of joke!

 

[ItRhymesWithDoom]

surprise Tropic Thunder sequel?

I mean, I got an honest to god Top Gun sequel "trailer" on you YT recommendation today, so who knows.

Anyway, just to show my face for a hot second, on the Lion King's economics on real estate I prefer Tracy Morgan's explanation of how that works:

 

[Deleted member 6949]

Cats looks a lot better than the last few Planet of the Apes movies.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

What in the actual fuck

I might be done with movies forever now

Click to shrink...

So glad I lived to see the end of cinema

 

[Ridley327]

Joint Security Area (rewatch): Watched this with some friends, which is an oddly appropriate setting in which to catch this tale of brotherhood deferred. Park Chan-wook's mainstream breakthrough seems a bit unlikely for commercial success, given its heavy subject matter, but before the film tears your heart out with its mounting tragedy, the focus he places on the growing friendship between a quartet of North and South Korean soldiers is unconventional in both its lack of bombast, but also just how darn dorky the men get with each other and their antics. It's a rather welcome change from similar films that always feel forced in comparison in terms of establishing camaraderie, as the simple pleasures in life tend to underline far better the sense of imminent doom that will happen far better than the bigger, broader strokes that are all too common otherwise. The literary touch to the story's structure continues to age quite beautifully, as the surprising amount of ramping during the initial act in an indelible hook, catching the viewer off guard with how quickly matters seem to get resolved before springing the rest of the story on you. And it can't be overstated just how accomplished a filmmaker Park already was by this film, with his sense of impeccable framing and editing transitions making for a brilliantly cinematic flair that also doesn't overwhelm the emotional resonance of the story being told here. It's a bit of a shame that this hasn't gotten quite the same level of recognition of his later films, as this finds such a beautiful harmony with his strengths as a visual storyteller and his ability to get to the fraying emotion that's waiting to erupt out of his actors after the game they play becomes a losing one, and with subject matter that remains as timely and tragic now as it did back in 2000, there's never a bad time to dive into this early work of greatness.

 

[Rhomega]

Clue: Played the board game once, and that was a Simpsons-themed version (It was Smithers in the Comic Book Shop with the Extend-O-Glove). The movie is a bunch of fun with a great cast, especially Tim Curry, who is having too much fun with his role. The true ending is satisfying and practically the best way to do it, but I like the alternate ones too.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

What in the actual fuck

I might be done with movies forever now

Click to shrink...

Somehow this is James Cameron's fault.

 

[David Addison]

Look, I know this has been an eventful--perhaps even a pivotal--day in American cinema, what with Taylor Swift going full furry and all, but let's not get distracted from what's really important: They made a sequel to I Got the Hook Up.

 

[Deleted member 49179]

Everybody knows you never go full furry.

 

[Darkwing-Buck]

Saw Wong Kar Wei's In The Mood For Love for the first time.

The hype is indeed real, a masterpiece in saying less is better. My god I was a wreck after seeing it last night.

*Saw it via the Criterion Collection Blu Ray, the picture and audio are outstanding.

Highly recommend.

 

[Ridley327]

Solar Walk: Super pretty experimental animation with a fitting soundtrack, but this leans so heavily into the formation of abstract shapes and objects that it winds up a real challenge to find much of an appreciation to it beyond the aesthetic. Still, some of the imagery present here does strike a strong chord, like a giant dog pissing a new galaxy for a pair of space explorers to quite literally immerse themselves in (no, really!), so there is certainly something to find in here to make it all worthwhile. Just make sure to bring all of yourself into it, as it is quite eager to not meet you halfway.

 

[CloudWolf]

I adore Solar Walk

 

[Deleted member 49179]

 

[Rhomega]

"The Moon was like this awesome, romantic, mysterious thing, hanging up there in the sky where you could never reach it, no matter how much you wanted to." -Phillip J. Fry, Futurama

Apollo 11: Like 102 Minutes That Changed America, this documentary has no narration, just footage of the events. There's plenty of footage I haven't seen before. There is some new footage which is simple vector graphics showing the process Apollo 11 takes in its flight to the moon and coming home. While watching it, I felt the significance of getting astronauts to the Moon, something that had never been done before and was such a huge undertaking. From Apollo 11, the Earth looks so tiny. There's also different footage of Neil Armstrong climbing down the ladder and making his first steps. The movie is a great way to celebrate one of mankind's greatest achievements, and then you step back to the present and see the the Space Shuttle legacy, the Hubble Space Telescope, probes to the far reaches of the solar system, and the international Space Station with multi-national cooperation.. Also props to splicing in "Mother Country" to footage of a cassette player in the module.

 

[Deleted member 6769]

Watched the Nic Cage Wicker Man last night with some buddies. Can't say anything that hasn't been said already other than it was even more boring -- and less funny -- than I thought it would be! I knew it was gonna be bad, but wow. Totally incoherent, not in an endearing way.

I just got the Criterion version of Police Story and omg it's perfect.

The audio work is as it should be as the version I saw first had out of place dubbed sound effects and the music volume was too low.

Click to shrink...

Yup, really loved Police Story, too! Criterion did a good job with it, thankfully.

 

[Ridley327]

It was an anniversary kind of day.

For All Mankind (rewatch): Part one of celebrating the 50th anniversary of perhaps mankind's greatest achievement. It really can't be overstated how fortuitous it was that NASA kept so much of their archival footage for an enterprising journalist like Al Reinart to come along and make some sense of it in a way that they never could have imagined. The result is one of the greatest documentaries of all time, 80 minutes of weaving together the tale of the Apollo space program in to a single thread, each strand of the successful missions getting its own spotlight as the film treats it less as an entirely linear process and more of a rich tapestry of supreme scientific achievement throughout all of the footage of onboard the vessels, in the mission control rooms and certainly on the surface of the moon itself. The approach Reinart takes was certainly risky, especially since the amount of narration from the retired astronauts is kept to a minimum and the faces no longer appear once we reach the surface, but there's a genuine lyricism to the approach taken here that overcomes such objections as the enormity of the scale of the voyage these men shared comes into clear view, making it so the viewer has a better understanding of what it must have been like to realize just where you were at that moment and how far away you were also from everything you used to know. As definitive a document about a particular subject is likely to be, when all is said and done.

Apollo 11 (rewatch): Part two of celebrating the 50th anniversary of what is perhaps mankind's greatest achievement. My previous review still applies to the letter, which goes to show just how immediate its greatness was on release. It really can't be overstated just how phenomenally put together this documentary is on all fronts, making a familiar narrative as riveting and suspenseful as the best blockbuster entertainment out there, and with this being as real as it gets, it possesses an edge that none of them can match. I can't possibly run out of opportunities to recommend this documentary to any and all that haven't already seen it, but if you already have, do yourself a favor and see it again.

 

[Sean C.]

The Hate U Give (2018): This never came to a theatre near me during its run in cinemas, so I only got to see it on The Movie Network. That this is based on a YA novel is evident in places, especially a too-pat ending (that nevertheless develops out of the creators' recognition that the central injustice that motivates the story cannot actually be something the protagonist solves), but it's overall a heartfelt and compelling piece of filmmaking. Certainly, teen-targeted films in my teenage years weren't dealing with themes like this, that I can recall.

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961): One of the greatest testaments to Audrey Hepburn's star power is that she was able to overcome how fundamentally wrong she was for many of her most famous parts; as here, where we're told that Holly Golightly is actually Lula Mae, an orphan-turned-teen bride from rural Texas, which Hepburn is about a million miles from (even beyond that Holly is supposed to have tried to transform herself into an urbane cosmopolitan, it's not plausible that Hepburn ever was the person we're told she was at one time). Yet does it matter? Not in the least. This is a lovely, frequently melancholy piece, and George Peppard is actually age-appropriate for Hepburn, which was a rarity in the first decade of her film career.

Also, while everyone remembers the caricatured racism of Mickey Rooney's character, the film's extremely blase attitude toward child marriage seldom gets talked about.

Henry V (1989): Kenneth Branagh's cinematic directorial debut is my all-time personal favourite film, rewatched for the first time in a few years. It's a real triumph for Branagh that he's able to achieve the feeling of epic scope with a very low budget, so much that even obvious cost-saving measures generally come across as if they're choices to heighten drama. Take the French cavalry charge at Agincourt, which is depicted almost entirely via extreme closeups of the English staring in awe/fear at the horde of knights barreling toward them. Branagh is at his peak as a charismatic young star here, surrounded by a cast of theatrical veterans who know how to wring every possible nuance out of their lines (I'm especially fond of Christopher Ravenscroft as Montjoy the herald, and, of course, Brian Blessed as the Duke of Exeter). Patrick Doyle handed in one of his all-time best scores as well.

Wild Rose (2019): Jessie Buckley delivers a star turn as a Glaswegian aspirant country singer with a troubled family life. It's shot like a kitchen sink social drama while having numerous plot elements that are right out of a rise-to-fame fairy tale, though the latter elements never overwhelm the film, even if at times I was wondering if we were on the verge of developments that would feel too implausible for the general character of the piece. Buckley is a strong singer and a better actor, and she's handed a character with some real complexity; the screenplay isn't afraid to depict the lead unsympathetically while also expecting the audience to be able to handle it. I always like seeing Julie Walters in a movie. I wouldn't be surprised to see the movie's closing number get a Best Original Song nomination at year's end.

 

[Borgnine]

Rewatched Scenes From A Marriage though this time it was the 5 hour TV version. I'll be honest, while the drama is exquisite, I had a really hard time connecting to these boujee ass people and their problems this time around. When I first saw this 10 years or so ago it was like a different world so I just went with it. But now that I'm at I'm at a similar stage in my life I'm just like wow fuck this guy for real. But as I said the drama is so good I still had a great time. And I mean come on it's literally several hours of just Liv Ullmann close ups.

 

[Darkwing-Buck]

I recently watched Infernal Affairs (2002) for the second time and uh this movie is kinda...bad?

When I first saw It I too was in the, "way better then the Departed", crowd but coming off this re-watch I'm starting to think the Departed has aged a bit better.

3 things that stood out like a sore thumb to me was the obnoxious editing (almost incoherent and melodramatic flashbacks, 2000's Slo-Mo for no reason, etc...), the music being so much worse than I remembered, and the psychiatrist romantic sub-plot that had no time to ever flesh out it's characters. *In fairness the love triangle was pretty bad in The Departed*

The performances are still solid, Leung and Andy Lau are great but it's hard to figure what get's lost in translation in the english sub. (The one I watched was the recent blu ray and it had a bare-minimum translation)

I think this film had a lot of great ideas, and they certainly worked for its time, but watching it now in 2019 it's hard not to pick out its aging flaws.

The ending is still good though and as ballsy as it's ever been.

 

[CloudWolf]

The Conjuring 2
I felt that much of this played like a parody of the first movie. The plot with the English family crawls at a glacial pace and never becomes scary, mainly utilizing cheap jump scares and some incredibly silly CG (lol The Crooked Man), the stuff with the Warrens in the first half of the movie feels like a Marvel-esque try to build towards a big franchise villain which just feels incredibly out of place in a horror movie. The filmmaking is also super pedestrian compared to the first one. Where the first one used original and surprising cinematography to create a sense of unease, this just uses the same 'slow pan to the scary thing' and 'quick cuts to suddenly have a monster appear' shit that you see in every single B-horror movie.

The movie only really starts to come to life when an hour (!) in the Warrens finally decide to go to the British plot, only to come to a screeching halt again as the movie suddenly decides it wants to be a sweet Christmas family movie? I mean, I guess that's one way to change it up for the sequel, but when Ed Warren started singing Elvis I was mainly thinking why the fuck this was in there. When the spooky stuff finally started to happen again I had already zoned out so far that I just didn't care anymore.

The twist was also super silly. The problem I had with the English house plot was that the ghost didn't really seem to have any motive to do what he did. I mean, just some old dude who died in a chair semi-randomly decides to terrorize this family? Okay, whatever, the first one had a witch that sacrificed kids, this seems quite lame. But then the twist comes in and it just crosses all the way into silly-town. So the Nun ghost who was retconned into The Conjuring 1 and in the Amityville Horror, was behind it all along? I mean, it was obvious, because all that Nun-stuff in the first hour had to build towards something, but it's just so silly and out there. Why is this ghost continent-hopping to get to the Warrens? What did she even want this girl for? Is the Nun supposed to be the Thanos of the Conjuring? lol

Finally, the further I got along this movie, the more it started to feel like a Pure Flix film? I mean, the characters are literally one step away from straight up saying "We saved the day through the power of God, praise be!" I mean, the main villain is literally defeated by something written in a Bible. How obvious can you get?

Anyway, I think this is where my short foray into the Conjuring Universe ends. Well, maybe I'll watch Annabelle Creation, but meh, I dunno. I don't think these movies are fully my thing.
2/5

 

[Messofanego]

Rewatched Scenes From A Marriage though this time it was the 5 hour TV version, it's literally several hours of just Liv Ullmann close ups.

Click to shrink...

 

[Arm Van Dam]

I Was Born, But.. (1932) - A silent comedy-drama film by one of my favorite Japanese directors, Yasujirō Ozu. One of first films that honestly critiques inequality and authority at the time through comedy. The film starts as a light-hearted comedy ala Our Gang then turns to a pseudo-drama halfway through in a semi-anthology about newly moved in brothers from Azabu, Keiji and Ryoichi, adjusting to life to the neighborhood in the suburbs of Tokyo with help from the older delivery boy, Kozou, the neighborhood kids who do silly stuff like not going to school, and the brothers' father who made the decision of moving there to get closer with his office boss, Iwasaki, who's also the father of one the neighborhood kids, Taro, in hopes of getting a promotion. The pseudo-genre shift is helped by Ozu's pitch-perfect design and executions of optimism and resignation in the endless world of self-assertion and social harmony alongside the film's charm and deep insight of teaching adults a few lessons of how the world works hence the term at the opening credits as "a picturebook for grownups" of how the mood of the relationships between the parents and the kids is in a fixed mood rather than fluid mood. Ozu's exquisite shooting style who would be used for later films is evident here as well though in all of its goodness. It's a very good silent film. Thumbs Up

Pigs and Battleships (1961) - Considered one of Shohei Imamura's best films, based off of his experiences of being a hustler in the black market, Shohei and writer Hisashi Yamauchi depicts the tense relationship of the citizens of Yokosuka and the occupation force of U.S. military after the war, which led to a resurgence of the Yakuza which stayed dormant during the war. The film focuses on Kinta, a member of the Himori family who's put in charge of their pork business, who's trying to lead a life with his pregnant girlfriend Haruko having to cross paths with with the family and Haruko in peculiar, consequential matters. The film's complicated underworld plot is filled with intrigue acts as a warning of cultural imperialism at the time of the occupation with a satirical black comedic tone. The pig climax is pretty goddamn weird The culture clash is especially evident in its look of a late 50s-early 60s high budget Hollywood film through cinematographer Shinsaku Himeda's vivid neon urban jungle look. Inamura's exceptional control and style is helped with excellent acting performances and especially with Toshiro Mayuzumi's lively and dramatic score with the use Stars and Stripes Forever used in a satirical and eerie matter. Thumbs up

 

[Darkwing-Buck]

Police Story 2 (1988) - Not as good as the first but I enjoyed the police squad escapades and the stunts were as good as ever. The mall fight was better, but the warehouse climax was still very thrilling especially when that deaf kick boxer comes into fold. The Playground scene was top-notch as well.

Overall I enjoyed it very much!

 

[Osahi]

First day home from a 3 week holiday, so finally caught up on:

Spider-man Far From Home

... and it was a let-down. I loved Homecoming, a smaller MCU-movie with a lot of charm and a great hero. Far From Home has slivers of that charm in the cute love story and a rare brilliant scene, but most of it never finds the same magic. The first half is a cringworthy Eurotrip-comedy mess, that is terribly unfunny and cliched. The second part, where it finally shifts back to a superhero movie is a lot better, but its also never threats unwalked grounds. The humor, which was so good in Homecoming, stays pure cringe though (a part from a rare good line), as if it was all written by a bad 'Marvel Humor Generator' and the SFX (especially the compositing) are more miss than hit. Spider-Man deserves better (luckily he got exactly that last year)

 

[PassiveObserver]

After a 2nd try, I've gotten half an hour or 7 frames into Abbas Kiarostami's 24 Frames before snoozing. Are the remaining 17 frames worth going back to? I like his narrative films anyhow.

 

[MidnightCowboy]

After a 2nd try, I've gotten half an hour or 7 frames into Abbas Kiarostami's 24 Frames before snoozing. Are the remaining 17 frames worth going back to? I like his narrative films anyhow.

Click to shrink...

It's certainly a sleepy movie, I felt it was strangely spellbinding though. Wouldn't sweat not finishing it, but some of them are supremely beautiful.

 

[Sean C.]

Toy Story 4 (2019): Second viewing, after about a month's time. This is such a wonderful film, and a great conclusion to Woody's character arc (which could also have been said about all of the previous movies).

 

[Deleted member 6769]

Bound (1996): Loved it! Wasn't expecting it to be as fun as it was. Some of the dialogue is super cheesy and cliched -- specifically with the antagonists -- but it's so well put together that it overshadows some of the script problems, and adds to the atmosphere they were going for. It makes me want to finally get around to watching Sense8 and revisit Speed Racer from the Wachowski sisters.

 

[Messofanego]

I Was Born, But.. (1932) - A silent comedy-drama film by one of my favorite Japanese directors, Yasujirō Ozu. One of first films that honestly critiques inequality and authority at the time through comedy. The film starts as a light-hearted comedy ala Our Gang then turns to a pseudo-drama halfway through in a semi-anthology about newly moved in brothers from Azabu, Keiji and Ryoichi, adjusting to life to the neighborhood in the suburbs of Tokyo with help from the older delivery boy, Kozou, the neighborhood kids who do silly stuff like not going to school, and the brothers' father who made the decision of moving there to get closer with his office boss, Iwasaki, who's also the father of one the neighborhood kids, Taro, in hopes of getting a promotion. The pseudo-genre shift is helped by Ozu's pitch-perfect design and executions of optimism and resignation in the endless world of self-assertion and social harmony alongside the film's charm and deep insight of teaching adults a few lessons of how the world works hence the term at the opening credits as "a picturebook for grownups" of how the mood of the relationships between the parents and the kids is in a fixed mood rather than fluid mood. Ozu's exquisite shooting style who would be used for later films is evident here as well though in all of its goodness. It's a very good silent film. Thumbs Up

Pigs and Battleships (1961) - Considered one of Shohei Imamura's best films, based off of his experiences of being a hustler in the black market, Shohei and writer Hisashi Yamauchi depicts the tense relationship of the citizens of Yokosuka and the occupation force of U.S. military after the war, which led to a resurgence of the Yakuza which stayed dormant during the war. The film focuses on Kinta, a member of the Himori family who's put in charge of their pork business, who's trying to lead a life with his pregnant girlfriend Haruko having to cross paths with with the family and Haruko in peculiar, consequential matters. The film's complicated underworld plot is filled with intrigue acts as a warning of cultural imperialism at the time of the occupation with a satirical black comedic tone. The pig climax is pretty goddamn weird The culture clash is especially evident in its look of a late 50s-early 60s high budget Hollywood film through cinematographer Shinsaku Himeda's vivid neon urban jungle look. Inamura's exceptional control and style is helped with excellent acting performances and especially with Toshiro Mayuzumi's lively and dramatic score with the use Stars and Stripes Forever used in a satirical and eerie matter. Thumbs up

Click to shrink...

These two sound awesome, will check em out at some point. Only seen Ozu's colour films.

 

[More_Badass]

The Conjuring 2
I felt that much of this played like a parody of the first movie. The plot with the English family crawls at a glacial pace and never becomes scary, mainly utilizing cheap jump scares and some incredibly silly CG (lol The Crooked Man), the stuff with the Warrens in the first half of the movie feels like a Marvel-esque try to build towards a big franchise villain which just feels incredibly out of place in a horror movie. The filmmaking is also super pedestrian compared to the first one. Where the first one used original and surprising cinematography to create a sense of unease, this just uses the same 'slow pan to the scary thing' and 'quick cuts to suddenly have a monster appear' shit that you see in every single B-horror movie.

The movie only really starts to come to life when an hour (!) in the Warrens finally decide to go to the British plot, only to come to a screeching halt again as the movie suddenly decides it wants to be a sweet Christmas family movie? I mean, I guess that's one way to change it up for the sequel, but when Ed Warren started singing Elvis I was mainly thinking why the fuck this was in there. When the spooky stuff finally started to happen again I had already zoned out so far that I just didn't care anymore.

The twist was also super silly. The problem I had with the English house plot was that the ghost didn't really seem to have any motive to do what he did. I mean, just some old dude who died in a chair semi-randomly decides to terrorize this family? Okay, whatever, the first one had a witch that sacrificed kids, this seems quite lame. But then the twist comes in and it just crosses all the way into silly-town. So the Nun ghost who was retconned into The Conjuring 1 and in the Amityville Horror, was behind it all along? I mean, it was obvious, because all that Nun-stuff in the first hour had to build towards something, but it's just so silly and out there. Why is this ghost continent-hopping to get to the Warrens? What did she even want this girl for? Is the Nun supposed to be the Thanos of the Conjuring? lol

Finally, the further I got along this movie, the more it started to feel like a Pure Flix film? I mean, the characters are literally one step away from straight up saying "We saved the day through the power of God, praise be!" I mean, the main villain is literally defeated by something written in a Bible. How obvious can you get?

Anyway, I think this is where my short foray into the Conjuring Universe ends. Well, maybe I'll watch Annabelle Creation, but meh, I dunno. I don't think these movies are fully my thing.
2/5

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If I recall, the Crooked Man wasn't CGI. At least that scene where he was walking. Javier Botet played him, and the scenes was him walking backwards then reversed and sped-up

Edit: yeah, found the BTS

 

[Deleted member 49179]

If I'm not mistaken, there are a few Godzilla fans in here, no?

https://news.avclub.com/criterion-to-celebrate-its-1000th-release-with-an-8-dis-1836711683

 

[Boogs31]

So what's everyone's favorite 2019 movie so far?

Click to shrink...

1) Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
2) Leaving Neverland
3) Wild Rose
4) John Wick 3
5) Fighting With My Family

 

[effzee]

Watched a movie I came across on Netflix: IN DARKNESS

Decent action thriller with Natalie Dormer. The plot gets a little over the top but pretty good entertaining film. It's about a blind girl who overhears the murder of the girl who lives above her and how the mystery of who what and why entangles her.

 

[UberTag]

So what's everyone's favorite 2019 movie so far?

Click to shrink...

I could answer this question now but I suspect my answer will be different after I catch The Last Black Man in San Francisco on Sunday.
Then again, I would have said the exact same thing about Once Upon a Time in Hollywood two days ago and that blew up in my face.
I've been so thoroughly underwhelmed by just about everything I've watched this year.

That said, I'm remaining steadfast and looking ahead towards TIFF which is now just 6 short weeks away.

My top 5 most anticipated films from the initial lineup of announced titles...

- Ford v Ferrari {James Mangold}
- Jojo Rabbit {Taika Waititi}
- The Lighthouse {Robert Eggers}
- Parasite {Bong Joon-ho}
- Weathering With You {Makoto Shinkai}

 

[Peru]

Rewatched The Rider

I loved it the first time around, but the 2nd viewing established it as a masterpiece, and if I did one of those fashionable 'best of the decade' lists right now it would certainly land damn close to the absolute top.

Man, when those modern westerns deliver, both feeling in touch with the current time of cinema and timeless, harking to some eternal qualities, I'm defenseless. This is like a sequel to Brokeback Mountain, in a way, another look at masculinity in rural America, another look at quiet men lost some dead man's zone, neither this nor that.

It's absolutely gorgeous. The lead performance feels wholly authentic. This movie's greatness is the result of Chloe Zhao's very specific choices: Cast someone who's actually a cowboy, who can actually tame horses in front of the camera, and you get uncut scenes you just couldn't get otherwise. Having everyone around the lead also be non-actors is risky, but hone in on their chemistry and you get intensely moving scenes out of ordinary conversations, like the boys around the campfire, fumbling their way around big questions about life and loss.

In a way, while this movie was somehow judged too small to get big award recognition (shamefully), you can also see why Zhao was noticed by blockbuster franchise producers. Because while this is a film without much plot, and obvious arthouse qualities, it moves along perfectly, there's never a feeling that it's slow or confusing, it has a groove and a real understanding of tempo, and effectively gets across pretty complex ideas about its characters without making it a big deal out of it.

Yes, it's a modern classic and an unbelievable second feature. And sure, it will be interesting to see what she does with The Eternals. But I'm most excited about Nomadland, which sounds like another go at the Great American Movie.

 

[MidnightCowboy]

Rewatched The Rider

I loved it the first time around, but the 2nd viewing established it as a masterpiece, and if I did one of those fashionable 'best of the decade' lists right now it would certainly land damn close to the absolute top.

Man, when those modern westerns deliver, both feeling in touch with the current time of cinema and timeless, harking to some eternal qualities, I'm defenseless. This is like a sequel to Brokeback Mountain, in a way, another look at masculinity in rural America, another look at quiet men lost some dead man's zone, neither this nor that.

It's absolutely gorgeous. The lead performance feels wholly authentic. This movie's greatness is the result of Chloe Zhao's very specific choices: Cast someone who's actually a cowboy, who can actually tame horses in front of the camera, and you get uncut scenes you just couldn't get otherwise. Having everyone around the lead also be non-actors is risky, but hone in on their chemistry and you get intensely moving scenes out of ordinary conversations, like the boys around the campfire, fumbling their way around big questions about life and loss.

In a way, while this movie was somehow judged too small to get big award recognition (shamefully), you can also see why Zhao was noticed by blockbuster franchise producers. Because while this is a film without much plot, and obvious arthouse qualities, it moves along perfectly, there's never a feeling that it's slow or confusing, it has a groove and a real understanding of tempo, and effectively gets across pretty complex ideas about its characters without making it a big deal out of it.

Yes, it's a modern classic and an unbelievable second feature. And sure, it will be interesting to see what she does with The Eternals. But I'm most excited about Nomadland, which sounds like another go at the Great American Movie.

Click to shrink...

The horse training scene with the buck is a literal marvel. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. You really feel the connection between the two. Just magic.

 

[Messofanego]

Rewatched The Rider

I loved it the first time around, but the 2nd viewing established it as a masterpiece, and if I did one of those fashionable 'best of the decade' lists right now it would certainly land damn close to the absolute top.

Man, when those modern westerns deliver, both feeling in touch with the current time of cinema and timeless, harking to some eternal qualities, I'm defenseless. This is like a sequel to Brokeback Mountain, in a way, another look at masculinity in rural America, another look at quiet men lost some dead man's zone, neither this nor that.

It's absolutely gorgeous. The lead performance feels wholly authentic. This movie's greatness is the result of Chloe Zhao's very specific choices: Cast someone who's actually a cowboy, who can actually tame horses in front of the camera, and you get uncut scenes you just couldn't get otherwise. Having everyone around the lead also be non-actors is risky, but hone in on their chemistry and you get intensely moving scenes out of ordinary conversations, like the boys around the campfire, fumbling their way around big questions about life and loss.

In a way, while this movie was somehow judged too small to get big award recognition (shamefully), you can also see why Zhao was noticed by blockbuster franchise producers. Because while this is a film without much plot, and obvious arthouse qualities, it moves along perfectly, there's never a feeling that it's slow or confusing, it has a groove and a real understanding of tempo, and effectively gets across pretty complex ideas about its characters without making it a big deal out of it.

Yes, it's a modern classic and an unbelievable second feature. And sure, it will be interesting to see what she does with The Eternals. But I'm most excited about Nomadland, which sounds like another go at the Great American Movie.

Click to shrink...

"This is all there is to do. Whistle for him when you walk away, please."

The tragedy of nothing else to do for men in that region, to form a passion or identity other than be a cowboy. The limitations of the horse being similar to that of men.

The Rider (dir. Chloe Zhao), You Were Never Really Here (dir. Lynne Ramsay), Beach Rats (dir. Eliza Hittman), and more showing female directors who seem to understand the limitations of masculinity more with that outsider perspective.

 

[Peru]

The Rider (dir. Chloe Zhao), You Were Never Really Here (dir. Lynne Ramsay), Beach Rats (dir. Eliza Hittman), and more showing female directors who seem to understand the limitations of masculinity more with that outsider perspective.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, or even go back to Point Break and Bigelow's filmography

 

[Messofanego]

Yeah, or even go back to Point Break and Bigelow's filmography

Click to shrink...

Yup! Still have to see Strange Days.

 

[Divius]

On this boring Sunday, I picked 31 preliminary movies for the upcoming 31 Days of Horror challenge.

It was quite hard to narrow it down and they are prone to change anyway. That is all fine, but the big takeaway for me though is there are still 170+ movies remaining on the masterlist that I made the selection from... Maybe I should be watching horror movies more instead of saving them for October only.