Con 5,719 Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 19 minutes ago, LimeGreenLegend said: That could also be a big part of it, I hadn't really considered that angle but it fits perfectly. Same here, Jesse Plemons was fantastic in this. There's a lot here to unpack because nothing is spoon fed to us. It's an incredibly well written and performed film. I'm expecting it to get a load of Oscar nominations next month. You know, I feel the same way. In the first act, those scenes felt like slow montages to me. I remember thinking, is this the future of film? With the low attention deficits in our species thanks to Tik Tok and other under a minute dopamine indicting apps, that we are no longer going to get fleshed out stories? I felt that one scene did not resolve the other at the beginning and it was just going to be a movie about moments between passive-aggressive people living together. George and Rose are a real couple in real life. Found out about that last night and it made me laugh, no wonder their relationship was so believable. 1 1 RSC FILM CLUB Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-237750 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Con 5,719 Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 (edited) On 1/1/2022 at 6:50 AM, LimeGreenLegend said: Here's what you've all been waiting for, the only list that matters, my top ten films of the year. 10 - Censor dir. Prano Bailey-Bond 9 - After Love dir. Aleem Khan 8 - Cryptozoo dir. Dash Shaw 7 - The Lost Daughter dir. Maggie Gyllenhaal 6 - Shiva Baby dir. Emma Seligman 5 - The Father dir. Florian Zeller 4 - C'mon C'mon dir. Mike Mills 3 - Titane dir. Julia Ducournau 2 - Petite Maman dir. Celine Sciamma 1 - Annette dir. Leos Carax I'd love to hear your opinions if you've seen any of these, and would also like to know what your favourite film of the year was. Since I'm at work today and have some free time, I will mini-review these trailers and see which ones really intrigue me to watch. 10. Censor - I actually watched it last year, but I made the error of watching it late late late at night and by the time the final act arrives, I had lost focus on the story and really don't remember how it ends. I really need to rewatch it as I found the concept about a film censor being affected by the material she has to consume in order to make it acceptable for mass consumption, really fun. I do remember enjoying the gore scenes and how they are very graphic but since she is watching it for censorship, the gore can flow freely and be exploited and I loved that as far as I can remember. Will be watching this again soon. Oh and the video nasty footage comes across as very authentic...trust me, I know gore and video nasties. Trust me. 9. After Love - Interesting white cliff side matching with the all white garment of the protagonist in the opening shot of the trailer. Seems like a film about the sacrifices of love. We all do this for love, so could be easy to put ourselves in her shoes and follow the story. Looks like she converts to Islam for Love, that's powerful stuff. Can you or have you ever loved like that? The fact that we see the husband is a pilot in the photo made me think, he ends up becoming a terrorist. Gotta say, I am intrigued by this one. 8. Cryptozoo - First impression was that I will have to be superhigh to watch this one because it takes a lot for me to want to watch cartoons or animation. And the art style we see in the trailer is very interesting. My brain was like, what the hell am i looking at. But in a good way. I dont know if you know this, but there is richness in the odd and weird. As an animal and compassion advocate I like the theme of protecting life that is being exploited. This is a film for a night of edibles, thankfully I have a dispensary trip lined up. So I will eventually watch this. 7. The Lost Daughter - Look I can't deny it, I can't hide it, I can't ignore it. I'm talking about my huge crush on Olivia Colman. I love that woman, ever since I laid my eyes on her in The Favorite (2018), damn its been four years already since she won her Oscar, time flies too f*cking fast, man. I loved this trailer, I have no idea what the film is really about since it just gives us enough info to consider. I can tell that the music is going to be superb in it because I loved everything i heard in the trailer. I will be watching this sooner than you think. 6. Shiva Baby - Looks like an interesting character study about a possible love triangle within a traditional, conservative family. The trailer does make the story seem interesting with the whole bisexual dynamic but not a film I would normally watch for fun and more for character development since a story like this is not something I would sit down to write anytime soon. I didn't feel I was the target audience for this one. Don't plan on watching this unless I find a Lime review that twists my arm. 5. The Father - You know what I'm already gonna say, yep, Olivia Colman is my baby momma. This is something I'd have to watch on my own because I kind of lived the theme of this film in real life when my father in law began to decline mentally and physically. This would be a tough watch for my woman, so I know she wouldn't want to watch it but I know I will. Been meaning to watch this because I already know, its a masterclass in acting with Hopkins and Colman at the helm. Plus the trailer looks intriguing, with the swapping of the actors thanks to the mental decline, really has me wanting to find out how the disease is handled. How similar or different it is from what I experienced in the past. 4. C'Mon, C'Mon - Lets get this out of the way first, Joaquin is my mf-ing man. Calling for compassion during an Oscar speech is only a dream for me and he does it anytime he gets a chance. It just happens that he is an amazing actor and with what I saw in the trailer, I know he knocks that role out the f*cking park. I just won't be in a rush to watch this one because, well, i just don't gravitate well to black and white modern films. I think, Roma (2018) worked for me in that B&W palette because it was set in the past and it worked to make the film feel like a memory of a summer in the life of a maid, this could have the same effect but nothing in the trailer jumped out at me. Put it this way, I rather watch Shiva Baby ( see #6) over this because that film is in color, shallow af, lol. I will have to go and read the review Lime has written up for C'mon to really put this on my viewing radar. I don't mind spoiling films that I know I normally wouldn't watch because sometimes those spoilers don't deter me from actually watching the film. Just because there is a spoiler, doesn't mean I won't have fun seeing how the writer and filmmaker worked it all out. 3. Titane - Yes, I will be watching this at some point this month. I think the image of the little girl in that metal Halo brace just did it for me. Yep, that was the only image I needed, well that and the twerking. lol. This looks like a colorful, violent and fun ride. Whats with the older dude, he seems so out of place among all the youth we see. I think there are two reviews already up for it, so I will surely read those after I post my own review. I'm going to keep myself in the dark about this one. I think it's about a girl who has some metal plating and has found a way to utilize it as an adult now that she finds herself in a dangerous place. Can't wait to find out what this is all about. 2. Petite Maman - Seems to be a touching tale of a little girl whose mother walked out on her. But she finds a friend with an old soul to fill that void. I don't know where it goes from there, does it get sinister or just whimsical. The fact that Lime has this as his #2 really has me intrigued and from watching the trailer, I plan on watching it because those shots of the girl(s) in the woods help me to visualize my own little story I've been working on called "Reaper's Blossom", something I would love to turn into a horror play and have it be performed by a local theater group. So whenever I see a child in the woods in a film, I get inspired about my own little adaptation. I'm not one to dismiss films like this, you know, about little girl friendships. A few years ago I watched a film called "The Florida Project" (2017), and that was just us following a little eight-year old around as she navigates her surroundings and innocence. I found it superb and wrote a review you can find in this forum. This is on my too watch list for sure. 1. Annette - So this one comes across like a mix of La La Land and psychological thriller since it appears from the trailer that once the baby arrives, things change for the couple and then we see Adam Driver in that prison outfit and I have to guess he kills the baby or his wife, the megastar. Can't say the trailer really made me say, I gotta watch this, but I did love that shot of the angry ocean as it reminded me of one of my favorite paintings called "The Ninth Wave", where we see these poor men floating on the mast of a ship and are surrounded by massive waves, and we can tell they have survived a hellish time and have held on, but we see an oncoming wave that could possibly the painting's title "ninth wave", that will kill the survivors. It's an amazing painting and lucky you, cause you can find it in my RSCnet profile, so enjoy. Unless, Lime tells me to avoid reviews until I see this, it may take spoilers to put this on my too watch list. Thank you @LimeGreenLegendfor sharing your list and always enriching us with your picks. And what made you watch, Spiral (2021) ?? Edited January 8, 2022 by Con 1 1 RSC FILM CLUB Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-237753 Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimeGreenLegend 4,287 Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 (edited) @Con I watched Spiral because I kinda like films like that, they're my guilty pleasure. I've not seen every Saw film, just the first 6 (I think) and this latest one. I just appreciate a bit of gore now and then 🙂 Some things to make you want to watch the films you said you weren't interested in: Shiva Baby is really f*cking funny, maybe the funniest film of last year, and full of the anxieties of young adults trying to find out who they are. Plus it's really short. C'mon C'mon is just beautiful, and it features real unscripted interviews with children talking about the future which are really inspiring. Also the kid, Woody Norman, has incredible chemistry with my man Jackie P. Annette is the only musical I've ever seen where a couple sing about how much they love each other while the dude is eating her out 😛 Edited January 8, 2022 by LimeGreenLegend 1 1 Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-237754 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Con 5,719 Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 (edited) 29 minutes ago, LimeGreenLegend said: @Con I watched Spiral because I kinda like films like that, they're my guilty pleasure. I've not seen every Saw film, just the first 6 (I think) and this latest one. I just appreciate a bit of gore now and then 🙂 Some things to make you want to watch the films you said you weren't interested in: Shiva Baby is really f*cking funny, maybe the funniest film of last year, and full of the anxieties of young adults trying to find out who they are. Plus it's really short. C'mon C'mon is just beautiful, and it features real unscripted interviews with children talking about the future which are really inspiring. Also the kid, Woody Norman, has incredible chemistry with my man Jackie P. Annette is the only musical I've ever seen where a couple sing about how much they love each other while the dude is eating her out 😛 Shiva Baby - No i get it, young adults these days are navigating waters I never had to. Imagine how many kids missed out on losing their virginity in high school cause of the pandemic. Or just relationships in general, you know, not everything is about s*x, Lime!! hahaha as I sit here and fantasize about the absolute cougar, Olivia Colman. Where were we? Oh yeah. C'Mon - kids talking about the future...you got me there. Maybe I will take a look and see if i can find the script first and read that and take it from there. TWO HOURS LATER: Seth Rogen Gushes Over Mike Mills' Screenplay Contender 'C'mon C'mon' - Variety Nanette - LMFAO. That is hilarious. I myself have had many conversations with whats down there but never ever have belted out a tune. lmao. Perhaps opera lessons are in order for a valentines surprise. Genius, genius, genius! I will hold off on on watching Nanette for now and wait to see what other musicals come out this year, cause my musical cinema quota is for only three per year. I ask about Spiral cause maybe you were looking for inspiration. Edited January 8, 2022 by Con 2 RSC FILM CLUB Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-237755 Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimeGreenLegend 4,287 Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 (edited) Instead of posting reviews here randomly I'm gonna start doing weekly posts with shorter reviews of everything I watched that week because it's easier and also I like structure 😄 What I Watched This Week #1 (Jan 1-7) Moonrise Kingdom dir. Wes Anderson/2012/1h34m Two outcast 12 years olds, Sam and Suzy (Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward) fall in love and run off together. They are hunted down by his scoutmaster (Edward Norton) and her parents (Bill Murray, Frances McDormand) with assistance from what seems to be the only cop on the island (Bruce Willis). A typically Andersonian film with all his trademark flourishes in place, the awkward exchanges between idiosyncratic characters, precise camera movements and framing and an eclectic soundtrack. Sometimes his films come off as being quite twee and with no substance to them, but I found this a really sweet film with great performances from the two young leads. 8/10 A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood dir. Marielle Heller/2019/1h49m If you're expecting a biopic of the legendary Mr. Rogers here then you may be disappointed as this is actually about a cynical journalist, Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys), who is able to become a better person and heal relationships within his family thanks to the influence of the children's tv host. However, those scenes dealing with Lloyd's problems are quite soap-opera like and frankly boring. The film is totally carried by Tom Hanks and his performance as Mr. Rogers. He is the perfect casting choice, and when he looked straight down the camera and told me he likes me just the way I am, I ain't ashamed to say I shed a few tears. Worth watching for Hanks alone. 6.5/10 The Hitch-Hiker dir. Ida Lupino/1953/1h11m A cheap and sweaty noir b-movie, The Hitch-Hiker is a thriller about two men on a fishing trip (Edmond O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy) who are unlucky enough to pick up a deranged serial killer, Emmett Myers (William Talman). Myers isn't just content with a ride, he wants to torment these guys. The best scene in the film involves target practice with some cans and I was fully clenched the entire time. A short and sharp film well worth the hour and change it'll take you to watch it. 7/10 The Immortal Story dir. Orson Welles/1968/1h3m (no trailer so here's a clip from the opening of the film) Welles' first film in colour and the last he completed, The Immortal Story is a strange one. Welles stars as Clay, a rich merchant who becomes distressed one day when he learns from his servant that some stories are just made up. He hates artifice and prophecy and believes that all stories should just be accounts of things that have happened. To rectify this he makes efforts to recreate the story, one about a sailor seducing a rich man's wife, but in reality. Unlike any of his other films that I've seen, this is very still and almost poetic and dreamlike. The only let down for me is the performance of Norman Eshley, who plays the sailor Clay hires. But to counter this you have Jeanne Moreau as the young woman, and of course Welles himself. 8/10 Can't Hardly Wait dir. Deborah Kaplan, Harry Elfont/1998/1h40m It's graduation night and there's a big party full of every teen movie cliche and late 90's actor all stuffed into one house and I kinda love it. This was a nostalgia watch for me, and while there is quite a bit of stuff about this not to like I still think this has heart and deserves a place next to films like American Pie. My main problem is the main storyline with Ethan Embry stalking after Jennifer Love Hewitt and thinking it's romantic. More focus on the story between Seth Green and Lauren Ambrose and this would be a better film. There is absolutely nothing original here, but if you were around for the late 90's then you should have a blast watching this. 6.5/10 Boy dir. Taika Waititi/2010/1h27m Boy (James Rolleston) is an 11 year old boy living on an island off the coast of New Zealand. He is obsessed with Michael Jackson and his dad, Alamein (Taika Waititi), who he tells everyone is away being Jackson's bodyguard, or any number of other far fetched things, but is actually in prison. When he is released and comes back into Boy's life he becomes not the best role model, and he learns that his dad maybe isn't the greatest person. Something Alamein also learns. This is a hilarious film, at times almost absurd, but it all works thanks to the performances of Rolleston and Waititi. If you want a brilliant comedy with some heart then you need to watch this film, if only to see the Thriller/Haka hybrid dance at the end. 8/10 Bottom Live 3: Hooligan's Island dir. Ed Bye/1997/1h40m (no trailer so here's the whole film) A recording of the third live show based on the tv series, Bottom 3 sees Rik Mayall and and Adrian Edmonson return as Richard Richard and Edward Elizabeth Hitler, only this time they're stuck on a tropical island with just their libidos and a massive nuclear bomb to keep them company. This is pure slapstick full of innuendo, double entendre and plain old filth. Vulgar and violent beyond words and hilarious for it, this is my favourite of their five live shows (I went to the last one in 2003 myself), and worth watching just for the times they f*ck up and milk it for all it's worth. If you don't like constant knob gags then you should probably stay away. 9/10 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul/2010/1h54m Uncle Boonmee is a magical-realist film from acclaimed Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The film stars Thanapat Saisaymar as Boonmee, who is dying but has his sister-in-law and nephew with him. One night at dinner they are suddenly joined by the ghost of his late wife and their long missing son, who has returned as a ghost monkey creature. What I like about this film is how matter of factly Boonmee takes this. There is no question as to how or why this is happening, just that it is. An hypnotic, almost surreal film, this is something that I thought I would love but I don't. I think it's still a good film and well worth watching, but there's just something about it that I didn't find engaging. I may have to re-watch this in a few months. 7/10 A Hard Day's Night dir. Richard Lester/1964/1h28m A Hard Day's Night is a musical comedy starring an obscure British band from the 60's, The Beatles. The plot sees them travelling to a tv studio to rehearse and then record a special. However things are complicated by the fact that they have Paul's grandfather (Wilfrid Bramble) in tow, Ringo gets arrested, and that they are basically a bunch of naughty schoolboys. Clearly the biggest selling point here is the music, which is obviously very good, but this is also a very well directed film. Bramble as Paul's cantankerous Irish granddad was my favourite performance, and while The Beatle's can't act they are full of personality, and Lester has the skill to let them shine. 7.5/10 The Lady From Shanghai dir. Orson Welles/1947/1h27m Another Welles film, this time he plays a sailor, Michael O'Hara, who gets caught up with wealthy tycoon Arthur Bannister (Everett Sloane) and his femme fatale wife Elsa (Rita Hayworth). This has a strange tone to it, not helped by Welles' awful Irish accent, but it actually compliments the action on screen. While the bulk of the film is a very well made noir film the last portion, set in a funfair, really elevates it, especially the shootout in a hall of mirrors. A stunning sequence that has been copied many times since. 8/10 Some Like It Hot dir. Billy Wilder/1959/2h2m Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon are Joe and Jerry, two musicians who have to go on the run after seeing Chicago crime lord Spats (George Raft) kill a bunch of people. To do so they disguise themselves in drag and join an all female band where they meet blonde bombshell Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe). This is a classic screwball comedy that is as funny today as it was when it was released. I loved every second of this, the three leads are all fantastic, especially Curtis when he assumes a third persona to try and seduce Kane and he affects a mock Cary Grant accent, the soundtrack is full of swinging jazz numbers, and it has one of the best last lines ever. You're not living your best life if you haven't seen this. 9.5/10 Lime's Film of the Week! 12 Years a sl*ve dir. Steve McQueen/2013/2h14m This film tells the true story of Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free Black man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery for 12 years before he was freed and allowed to return to his family. McQueen is a brilliant director and that is evident here. He treats the subject with respect and dignity, not allowing us to relish in the gore and the misery, but that's not to say he sugar coats things, especially when it comes to the treatment of Patsey (Lupita Nyong'o) at the hands of Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender). This film is full of gorgeous landscape shots that help to remind us that the world is a beautiful place, even if all of the people in it aren't. A tough watch, but those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it. 8/10 His Girl Friday dir. Howard Hawks/1940/1h32m A romantic screwball comedy starring Cary Grant as Walter Burns, newspaper editor, and Rosalind Russell as Hildy, his ex-wife and ex-reporter who gets dragged back into his life by covering a murder trial. If the people in this film talked at a normal speed it would be three hours long. Grant and Russell throwing insults at each other at three hundred mph is a joy to behold. This is classed as a romantic comedy, but it's not very romantic. If there's one thing Hildy loves it's the job, and she's damn good at it. This is just a fun time from start to finish and it will leave you breathless. 8.5/10 Detour dir. Edgar G. Ulmer/1945/1h7m Another cheap and sweaty noir b-movie about hitch-hikers. Tom Neal stars as Al Roberts, a musician hitch-hiking to LA to meet up with his girlfriend. When one of his rides dies while he's at the wheel Tom panics, hides the body and assumes his identity. He then picks up Vera (Ann Savage), a sharp and vicious woman who soon realises that the man giving her a lift isn't who he says he is. This would make a great double bill with The Hitch-Hiker, and I have to say I think I like this more. Savage is fantastic as the femme fatale who has Robert's life in his hands, and Neal is great as the pathetic, desperate everyman caught in a lose/lose situation. 7.5/10 The Fireman's Ball dir. Miloš Forman/1967/1h13m (no trailer, so here's the whole film) This is a Czechoslovakian political satire from Miloš Forman that pissed the government off so much that it got him kicked out of the country and he never made a film there again. I don't think he minded though as he went on to make films like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus. This film is about a disaster of a ball thrown by an inept committee. The raffle prizes keep getting stolen, the contestants in the beauty pageant don't particularly want to participate, and a fire breaks out in a house opposite the ball halfway through. An escalating farce of a film that mocks incompetent and corrupt governments from an excellent director this reminded me a lot of Fellini's Orchestra Rehearsal. 8/10 Licorice Pizza dir. Paul Thomas Anderson/2021/2h14m The latest from Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, There Will be Blood), Licorice Pizza stars Cooper Hoffman (son of Philip Seymour Hoffman) in his first film as Gary Valentine, a 15 year old actor in 1970 LA who falls for 25 year old Alana (Alana Haim, also her first film) and she's not entirely against it. This feels like it was based on a novel like A Confederacy of Dunces or something like that, if you get what I mean. It's like a collection of stories rather than a whole film, but the relationship between Gary and Alana keeps things tied together. Strange, almost out of place plot points involving waterbeds and pinball machines kept my mind off of the actually quite creepy main plot. Well made film, and a lot funnier than I was expecting (I love the guy with the racist Japanese accent) but not close to his best work in my opinion. 7/10 Akira dir. Katsuhiro Otomo/1988/2h4m A dystopic cyberpunk animated film from Katsuhiro Otomo, based on his own manga, Akira is a hell of a ride with a grotesquely Cronenbergian finale that I'm not sure I could explain even though I saw it yesterday. The story of a street gang with cool bikes and a a militaristic government hiding a world destroying creature, the influence of this film is obvious. The incredibly detailed backgrounds, fantastic use of colour, and an ominous soundtrack all come together to make an unforgettable film that can stand proudly next to Blade Runner as the best neo-noir cyberpunk films ever made. My only slight criticism is that the main character is called Kaneda, but I could only hear it as "Canada", and it occasionally made me laugh, especially during the more serious scenes. 9/10 Edited January 8, 2022 by LimeGreenLegend 1 1 Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-237756 Share on other sites More sharing options...
djw180 6,990 Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 (edited) A Star is Born (2018) dir Bradley Cooper Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga star as established rock star Jack, and rising star Ally. Alcoholic Jack needs a drink after a gig, ends up in the bar where Ally sings and determines to make her a star, no matter what it takes. They end up married and as Ally goes from success to success, Jack's career and personal life go into rapid decline. Both leads are very good, Cooper shows he can sing, as well as act, and Gaga that she can act, as well as sing. Sam Elliot also gives great support as Jack's older brother. There is some good music, although I didn't like the way Ally starts out doing great rock ballads with Jack but when established as a solo act changes to the sort of music Lady Gaga does in real-life. Not that there is anything wrong with the latter, it just seemed to me a bit of an unexplained change of direction for her. The plot is good and there was nothing too predictable, I was a little concerned it might go in too obvious / easy a direction at times, but it didn't. I have never seen the 1976 film of the same name with Kris Kristofferson and Barbra Streisand so don't know if this is really a remake of the same story or just a modern day version of based on the same basic concept. 8/10 Edited January 9, 2022 by djw180 2 1 Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-237780 Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustHatched 12,123 Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 Llamageddon, its f*cking stupid but we couldn't stop watching it 3 1 The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it. Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-237781 Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimeGreenLegend 4,287 Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 5 minutes ago, djw180 said: I have never seen the 1976 film of the same name with Kris Kristofferson and Barbra Streisand so don't know if this is really a remake of the same story or just a modern day version of based on the same basic concept. There were two other versions before the 76 one, and I've read they're all pretty much exactly the same. I've only seen the 50's one with Judy Garland and James Mason. 2 Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-237783 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Con 5,719 Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 (edited) Don't Look Up (2021) The Awesome: The cast is the biggest strength of the film and hence elevate an entertaining script. Although I'm sure that plenty of lines were improvised along the way. The A-listers here do an amazing job with all their characters, they put so much nuance into their performances and really transform. Some people say Leonardo DiCaprio has the weakest performance but that is because we have never seen him play a meek scientist, a nerd, if you will, so he really doesn't get to shine in his usual way. For me the weakest acting came from Jennifer Lawrence, not that she isn't great, but her character has these outbursts that don't come across as comical as they were meant to be. I don't know that she could have done more with the material to be honest. She is supposed to be our emotional core but I didn't connect with her as much as I did with other characters. This reminded me of the hilarious "Idiocracy" (2006), imagine if in that film they had to solve the problem of a comet striking Earth, except the population in Don't Look Up doesn't ignore the threat because of low IQ's, but because of other factors. But you can watch these films back-to-back and have a blast. The ending was superb. The cinematography is pretty flawless. Cate Blanchette as Brie Evantee nearly steals the whole film and she is only in it for a collective 10-15 minutes in total. The Good: The CGI in the last act is fantastic. Now, as a fan of astronomy, I am completely familiar with the planet-killer asteroids or comets and the impact they would have if they hit our planet. I've seen the computer models and what we see in the film matched what I remember actual scientists predicting would happen. The haunting slow motion scene at the last supper really hit me hard because we know what's happening, the characters are anticipating it but when it comes, there is no way they probably even had time to react and that was pretty somber. One of the funnier elements in the film are the parody jokes, like the Bash phone clearly being a play on the iPhone. Basically, everything in our everyday world is satirized and a lot is hilarious. Take for example a scene where a celeb breakup has gone viral and we see two guys begin to get notifications on their phones (through parody Twitter and FB apps) about the breakup, and then the phones won't stop sending them, and then one of the phones automatically buys the celebs latest album without asking him. I know, it may not translate to funny on paper, but this little moment had me laughing for quite a few minutes because I can see that happening, where these phones are so connected to us that they will begin to make decisions for us, like buying sh*t we don't need or want. I know this was written pre-pandemic but the killer comet narrative really parallels the pandemic extremely well, although the comet is a metaphor for climate change according to the filmmaker. I enjoyed the twist with the first mission. I sat there dumbfounded at what was happening and the truth was scarier than I thought and ultimately is what brings on the global reaper. The Bad: It could have used about 15 minutes less to tell the same story. But I think having so many big name actors caused the film to be longer than it should have been so they can all have quality screen time and not just mere cameos. I felt they missed a great opportunity to explain why the comet threat is treated with a collective, "Meh". The lack of an "enemy" could have been why President Orlean doesn't act sooner, especially when we learn that "America Loves a Hero". Say if the comet had been launched towards us by an intelligent species in the outer solar system, then we would have had an "enemy" and a reason to act on the comet before it even becomes visible in the sky, because once it's visible, it may be too late for action. The Ugly: Since watching it, I have come across a wide range of opinions about the film. Mostly political in nature, but here is the thing, while yes, some of the art does imitate real life, I think it is ridiculous to think or say that the film has an agenda or is politically biased. I think it is absurd that some people are offended that President Orlean (Meryl Streep) has similarities with Donald Trump. In the film, Streep gives her son (Jonah Hill) the Chief of Staff position, and sure it made me think of Donald Trump and his sons getting jobs in the WH or how he gave high profile jobs to some of his biggest campaign donors, like the Mike My Pillow Guy. But all these politicians do the same thing. The Clintons also did the same thing, you know, catering to their bigger campaign donors in one way or another. So I think people that think the film is trying to insult just the Republican party are really missing the point. The film is making fun of EVERYONE. From celebrities themselves to government to pop-culture. And had this been written after or during the pandemic, then I might give some credibility to some bias, but I can't. I think the satire was used to equal effect and I think that is the point of the film....we are in this together and if a planet killer comet threatens us, we better be quick to forget who supports the BLM or who is on the Proud Boys because we better merge as one team. There may come a time when we all need to become Team Earth....will you be ready to embrace and help those you once considered enemies or beneath you? Final Verdict...3/5....I found myself laughing at the satire because a lot of it rang true for me. And while the comet can serve as a metaphor for climate change, some folks will get hung up that climate change is a gradual thing and the comet is an instant mass extinction event so they shouldn't be used as parallels, I even read someone going as far as saying, "well the film says its a 99% chance the comet is hitting Earth but we aren't 99% sure climate change is real so that is a bad metaphor." All I can say about that is...go interview some polar bears cause in my lifetime, I had never seen skinny polar bears or images of polar bears floating on one single piece of ice surrounded by nothing but water. I don't give a sh*t about statistics and numbers...when I see things, I investigate them and there are way too many things that point towards climate change being a real thing. Perhaps we won't experience the biblical floods in our lifetime, but there is no denying we are seeing floods and rising water levels in some places and in some places rivers and lakes drying up, like a reverse of what we are used to. In my opinion, if you get hung up on feeling offended by the film, you might have missed the point and message of the film. It isn't about who cares or who doesn't care about threats to our lives. Or who believes in it or not. It is about what the hell are we going to do about things once we see clear warning signs. Will we wait until it is too late? And in like the film, you don't have to care or believe. That's the beauty of this country, just like you can't make me believe in Jesus, I cannot make you believe in climate change if you think it's a political agenda. I had a smile on my face for most of the film and it made me laugh in many places. I just don't think after watching it 2-3 times, I would watch it again. Even when I played some of the scenes back for someone a day later, the jokes didn't hit as good. So pay attention the first time so you don't miss anything. Should you watch it? yes, cause they make the subject matter funny as it can get. Edited January 12, 2022 by Con 1 RSC FILM CLUB Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-237841 Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimeGreenLegend 4,287 Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 I felt about the same as you about Don't Look Up. It's a decent film, but it really slaps you in the face with its message and that gets quite annoying at some points. I did like the satire in the film for the most part. My favourite thing is how Leo's character becomes the "hot scientist" for the insipid morning news show. Mark Rylance as the softly-spoken but creepy Steve Jobs type is also brilliant, maybe my favourite character. But, same as you, this is a film I don't expect I'll ever watch again. Worth a watch just to see an a-list cast in a comedy by the same guy who did Anchorman and Step Brothers. 1 Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-237842 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Con 5,719 Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 3 minutes ago, LimeGreenLegend said: I felt about the same as you about Don't Look Up. It's a decent film, but it really slaps you in the face with its message and that gets quite annoying at some points. I did like the satire in the film for the most part. My favourite thing is how Leo's character becomes the "hot scientist" for the insipid morning news show. Mark Rylance as the softly-spoken but creepy Steve Jobs type is also brilliant, maybe my favourite character. But, same as you, this is a film I don't expect I'll ever watch again. Worth a watch just to see an a-list cast in a comedy by the same guy who did Anchorman and Step Brothers. Yes, Leo becoming an AILF, was funny because his character is so far removed from that type of personality, although we do see him sell out a little. lol. Mark Rylence was brilliant as the fourth richest man in history, or was it third? lmao 1 RSC FILM CLUB Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-237843 Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimeGreenLegend 4,287 Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 2 minutes ago, Con said: Leo becoming an AILF, was funny because his character is so far removed from that type of personality One of my favourite reviews of this went something like "Leo puts in the performance of his career as a man attracted to women his own age" 😄 1 Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-237844 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Con 5,719 Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 1 minute ago, LimeGreenLegend said: One of my favourite reviews of this went something like "Leo puts in the performance of his career as a man attracted to women his own age" 😄 😂 RSC FILM CLUB Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-237845 Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimeGreenLegend 4,287 Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 (edited) A lot of musicals and cats this week, though thankfully not Cats: The Musical. What I Watched This Week #2 (Jan 8-14) Singin' in the Rain dir. Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly/1952/1h43m Gene Kelly and Jean Hagan are Don Lockwood and Linda Lamont, the hottest couple on the silent screen, but they can't stand each other off screen. Their screen relationship is threatened by the arrival of the talkies because Linda has the most grating, annoying accent in all Hollywood and she couldn't sing her way out of a paper bag. Enter Debbie Reynolds as Kathy Seldon, who meets Don at a party and soon gets a job as the singing and speaking voice for Linda. This is a marvel of a movie, an absolute blast from start to finish. Not only does it contain some of the most iconic songs in film history, Make 'Em Laugh, Good Morning and of course the legendary title song, but it's also hilarious, I really wasn't expecting it to be this funny. A lot of the laughs come from Donald O'Conner as Cosmo Brown, Don's best friend, and my favourite character in the film. Seriously, his performance of Make 'Em Laugh is incredible, I rewound the film to watch that several times. Then there are the dance numbers, directed by Kelly himself. It's hypnotic the way he moves; the way he dreamily dances through the rainy streets with an umbrella, giddy with love, really is a special scene This definitely deserves its reputation as one of, if not the greatest musicals ever made. A near perfect movie. 10/10 Lime's Film of the Week! Paddington 2 dir. Paul King/2017/1h44m The cutest bear in the world (suck it, Pooh) returns in this sequel, which is basically the same as the first film, but that doesn't matter when you pack it with so much heart and sweetness and sincerity. Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw) is framed for the robbery of a valuable pop-up book by hammy stage actor Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant) who knows that it contains clues leading to a trove of valuable treasure. When he is imprisoned his family, The Browns (led by Sally Hawkins and Hugh Bonneville), sleuth to prove his innocence, while Paddington himself gets involved in a prison break scheme led by the fearsome Knuckles (Brendon Gleeson). A fantastic storybook of a film, this is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. This has a very Wes Anderson feel to it with the gorgeous pastel colour palette and beautifully intricate sets, as well as the very playful feeling that permeates every scene. Worth watching just for the way Gleeson pronounces “mamalade”. 9/10 Cat People dir. Jacques Tourneur/1942/1h13m Cat People is a psychological thriller starring Simone Simon as a Serbian fashion designer Irena who has a whirlwind romance with Oliver Reed (Kent Smith) before marrying him. The only problem is that she won't even kiss him as she believes she is cursed to turn into a panther if she becomes too aroused. This soon drives Reed into the arms of his co-worker Alice (Jane Randolph), which may be enough to cause Irena to transform in a fit of jealous rage. Despite the short run time this film still feels like it drags. The two leads aren't very engaging, and certainly don't have any chemistry together, but there are a couple of very well directed suspenseful scenes, particularly the swimming pool scene, that redeem the rest of the film. The story is interesting in itself, and the idea of this generational trauma being passed down in the form of the curse is a good one. I do want to check out the 80's remake of this now though just to see what that does with this story. 6/10 Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny dir. Liam Lynch/2006/1h33m A stoner musical comedy starring Jack Black and Kyle Gass aka. Tenacious D, The Pick of Destiny sees the duo form the band and then go on an epic quest to find the mythical pick of destiny, a guitar pick used by all of the greatest guitarists in history. I love this film and think it really deserved to be a bigger hit than it was, this could've been the modern Cheech and Chong. I know a lot of people find Black to be grating, but in the context of Tenacious D, a delusional pair of fat, lazy stoners who think they are rock gods, his character really works. This is a very stupid movie, in the best way possible, with a bunch of cameos from Tim Robbins to Dave Grohl, and the songs are absolute bangers. The soundtrack, from the opening song Kickapoo (which features Meatloaf and Ronnie James f*cking Dio) through jams like Master Exploder and Beelzeboss, had me singing along the whole time. Recommend you get very baked while watching this. 9/10 Spectre dir. Sam Mendes/2015/2h28m Sam Mendes returns to the world of Bond with his follow up to Skyfall, Spectre. In it he continues his fascination with Bond's past that he began in the last act of Skyfall, only in a much more obtrusive and ridiculous way, seriously, the big reveal in this film is something that Austin Powers did as a joke in Goldmember. Daniel Craig returns for his fourth outing as Bond, this time facing a foe who has been pulling the strings behind the scenes since Casino Royale (probably because they didn't have the rights to use this character until this film), and it feels so shoehorned in it hurts. Christoph Waltz as Bond's nemesis does a solid job, but everything he says just sounds like nonsense. I still found enjoyment in this from the directing and the set pieces, which are great, but by fleshing out the backstory of Bond you just make the character less interesting. The worst Craig Bond film by a mile. 6/10 Bronson dir. Nicolas Winding Refn/2008/1h32m How insane do you have to be to spend 30 out of 34 years in prison locked in solitary confinement without ever having killed anyone? Watch Bronson and you'll find out. This is a biopic about “Britain's most violent prisoner” Charles Bronson, played by Tom Hardy in a career best performance. What sets this apart from your usual biopic is in the presentation. Many times we have Bronson on stage telling his story to an audience, and by proxy, us. These are very theatrical and markedly different from the more traditional scenes, which are always gritty and grimy and threatening. It's like a visual representation of his schizophrenia and it works so well. You also get to see a lot of Hardy's p*nis in this, which is always a bonus. This is a fantastic film that I highly recommend, and which the real Bronson called “absolute madness at its very best”. 9/10 The Kid dir. Charlie Chaplin/1921/53m Over one hundred years ago now Charlie Chaplin released his first feature length film, The Kid, and it's still a beautiful and funny film now in the 21st century. Chaplin, in his Little tr*mp persona, comes across an abandoned baby in the trash and because he is a pure and good person, decides to take him in and raise him as his own. Five years later, while the tr*mp and the Kid have to hustle just to survive, his mother has become a famous singer and wants to be reunited with her child. This leads to a heartbreaking scene in which social services arrive to rip the Kid from the tr*mp's arms. The shot of the Kid in the back of the truck crying his eyes out and calling for his daddy had me blubbing like a b*tch. The happy ending feels both forced and false after the hardships they both had to go through, but despite how sad Chaplin seems at times, and how his films mostly deal with the poor and working classes being beat down by life, he's a comedian at heart and wants the audience to go home smiling, which I certainly did. 9/10 No Time to Die dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga/2021/2h43m There may be some big spoilers here, so if you don't want to know about that just know that I thought this is the best Daniel Craig Bond film since Casino Royale. Now the review proper. While I didn't like Spectre because it tried to flesh out Bond's past, here we have a film imagining his future and I really like it. We start with Bond retired and living with Madelaine (Lea Sedoux), whom he met and fell in love with last film. This doesn't last long and he is soon back investigating a bio-terrorism plot helmed by Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek), who has connections with Madelaine. Also, since he retired there is a new 007 in the form of Nomi (Lashana Lynch), who soon gets into a game of one-upmanship with her predecessor. A load of more complicated and globe trotting events take place and in the end James Bond is killed in a missile strike! The mad lads actually did it and I think it's a brilliant move, leaving the slate clean for the inevitable reboot of the series. Stylistically this is very similar to the last few Bond films, very sharp and clean looking, well directed and with some stunning stunts. The Hans Zimmer score is better than the music from Spectre, and the title track by Billie Eilish might be the best of all the Craig Bond songs. This really sends Craig out with a bang, and is a much more dignified finale than Pierce Brosnan in Die Another Day. 8/10 The Shooting dir. Monte Hellman/1966/1h18m A minimalist western noir film, The Shooting is about two miners, Will and Coley (Warren Oates, Will Hutchins) hired by a mysterious and acerbic woman (Millie Perkins) to lead her to a nearby town. However, it soon becomes clear that she is looking for something, or someone, else, and when they are joined by hired gun Billy Spear (Jack Nicholson) things become much more tense. This reminded me a lot of The Hitch-Hiker, it's very bare-bones and to the point, real economic filmmaking. It makes sense for such a low budget film, but it also adds to the overall feel of the piece, real gritty. Oates as the gruff miner Will and Nicholson as the dangerous young man Spears were both great, but Perkins and Hutchins really weren't on the same level and bought the film down. If this film had a better female lead then it would be much better overall, but as it is it's still a decent little thriller, and the noir style story isn't something I've seen done in a western before. 6.5/10 Tommy dir. Ken Russell/1975/1h51m Adapted from the concept album of the same name by The Who, Tommy is a rock opera starring lead singer Roger Daltrey as the deaf dumb and blind kid who sure plays a mean pinball. Going into this film that's all I knew, that he is a genius at pinball, but what followed was totally insane; he becomes a superstar and eventually a cult/religious leader. Obviously the music here is top notch. In my opinion the combo of Keith Moon (who also plays the creepy Uncle Ernie) on drums and John Entwistle on bass is the best rhythm section in rock. It was weird and awesome seeing Oliver Reed singing and dancing as a Butlins style holiday camp worker, Tina Turner and her futuristic iron maiden full of syringes was terrifying and Elton John's giant boots were honestly understated for him. Jack Nicholson lip-synching a British singer was still probably the weirdest thing in the film though. 9/10 Leningrad Cowboys Go America dir. Aki Kaurismaki/1989/1h19m (no trailer for this so here's the Cowboys performing a song) This is a Finnish comedy from Aki Kaurismaki about a band, The Stalingrad Cowboys (played by real band The Sleepy Sleepers) who go to America to make it big. But when they're there all they find are dive bars, unfriendly cops and a barren industrial landscape. On the upside they also discover rock and roll and go from playing folk music that honestly reminded me of music from Borat to playing covers of classic rock and roll songs. This film has a real deadpan, absurdist feel to it, like a surreal Blues Brothers. The band even dress like the Blues Brothers, just with added fur coats and lethally sharp pompadour hairdos and winklepicker shoes. I had a lot of fun watching this, and recommend it if you're looking for a real odd comedy to watch. 8/10 Bugsy Malone dir. Alan Parker/1976/1h33m When I was a young kid I was totally in love with Jodie Foster from this and Freaky Friday, so when my dad told me those films were made in the 70's and that she was about the same age as my mum I was heartbroken. I don't think I've ever gotten over that. Anyway, this is brilliant. A musical mob movie set during the prohibition but with an all child cast. Sounds insane, and it is, but it really works. Swap out tommy guns for cream shooting “splurge guns” and real cars for awesome pedal cars you're done! Fantastic songs, but it is weird seeing children lip-synching adult voices. Fat Sam is the man and the sing along finale is so infectious they should develop a vaccine to protect against it. 9/10 Great Expectations dir. David Lean/1946/1h58m From one of the greatest directors of all time, David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge on the River Kwai) comes this lavish adaptation of Charles Dickens' story of a young orphan, Pip (Tony Wager/John Mills as young/old Pip respectively) sent to London to become a gentleman thanks to a secret benefactor. Throughout all of this he holds a candle for the mean and cold-hearted Estella (Jean Simmons/Valerie Hobson) who is in the care of Miss Havisham (Martita Hunt), who has gone mad since being jilted at the altar. While not my favourite Dickens story, this is a great adaptation that really leans into a Gothic aesthetic that suits the story perfectly, particularly in the last act where it almost turns into a haunted house film. This film also features a freakishly young Alec Guinness as Pip's London roommate Herbert Pocket. I did find this film dragging in the second act while he was in London, but Guinness' presence helps with that. Also Pip is supposed to be 20 when Mills takes over the part, but he looks all of his 38 years and then some. A very good literary adaptation that may be too literary for its own good. 7.5/10 Shoot the Piano Player dir. Francois Truffaut/1960/1h25m Shoot The Piano Player is the second film from Francois Truffaut, one of the founding members of the French New Wave and former film critic. It stars Charles Aznavour as Charlie, a pianist at a cheap jazz bar, but he used to be a concert pianist until the tragic end to his marriage. After his brothers scam a couple of gangsters out of their take from a robbery Charlie gets drawn into the mess when they come looking for them and find him instead. Tonally this film is all over the place, and purposefully so. One minute Truffaut is treating it like a slapstick comedy, other times like a straight noir thriller. The one constant is the character of Charlie. He has a melancholic air to him that just makes you automatically root for him, it reminded me of Ben Gazzara's performance in The Killing of a Chinese Bookie.A fun film that somehow leaves you feeling slightly sad, I really liked this. 8/10 I'm No Longer Here dir. Fernando Frias/2019/1h52m A strong contender for worst haircut I've ever seen in a film, sported by lead actor Juan Daniel Garcia Trevino as Ulises, in this Mexican movie from Fernando Frias. 17 year old Ulises spends his time in the streets of Monterrey with his gang, dancing and partying and just acting like kids for the most part. However, he soon has to illegally cross the border after he gets involved in some cartel business and puts his family in danger. In New York he finds himself isolated thanks to the language barrier, but soon forms a relationship with the teenage Lin (Xueming Angelina Chen) who works at her grandfather's store, where Ulises manages to get some work and a place to stay. This is a brilliantly shot film with a real raw feel to it, thanks in part to the young cast who are just so natural. Trevino's lead performance as Ulises is incredible and the final shot, full of both hope for and fear of the future, caps the film off perfectly. Also, the cumbia music the gang loves is banging. 8.5/10 The Electrical Life of Louis Wain dir. Will Sharpe/2021/1h51m After playing the rough and brutal Phil Burbank in Power of the Dog, Benedict Cumberbatch gives an equally impressive, though very different performance as the titular character in the biopic The Electrical Life of Louis Wain. Wain was a Victorian painter who found fame by painting anthropomorphic, cartoonish and utterly charming pictures of cats. He falls in love with the governess hired to teach his younger sisters, Emily (Claire Foy), but falls into a deep depression after she passes away. He finds solace in his paintings and his cat Peter, but his struggles with his mental health, one scene where he believes he is drowning is very upsetting, and his awful handling of money ends with him in an asylum. However there is a happy ending (which includes a bizarre cameo by Nick Cave as H.G. Welles, a fan of Wains) with the film being really about the therapeutic qualities of art and creativity and animals and nature. This is also a very beautifully shot film, at points becoming luminous and painterly, and this just emphasises one of the themes of the film, the beauty of the world. I had no expectations for this film going in, I only watched it because I've seen everything else at my local cinema, but came out absolutely loving it. 9/10 A Cat in Paris dir. Alain Gagnol, Jean-Loup Felicioli/2010/1h5m A Cat in Paris is a French animated film about a cat, Dino, who leads a double life. During the day he is the pet of a little girl called Zoe, who has been mute since the death of her father. By night the cat is the faithful assistant to a friendly cat burglar, Nico. These two lives converge when the man who killed Zoe's father is seen back in town, causing her police detective mother Jeanne to focus on him rather than her daughter. This is a cute little film whose strongest point is the look. It has both sharp and soft qualities, it's very tactile with backgrounds coloured in with what looks like chalk and crayons and colouring pencils, lots of texture, and the character animation is very fluid and satisfying. It has a great jazzy soundtrack that becomes more thriller tinged later on. The weak points for me are the story; there's a lot going on here, it really could've benefited from being fifteen minutes or so longer, and I didn't really like any of the vocal performances. None of them were bad but they all felt kinda out of place. Still a decent film though, and it's worth watching just for the running gag with the barking dog. 7/10 Edited January 15, 2022 by LimeGreenLegend 2 Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-237925 Share on other sites More sharing options...
djw180 6,990 Posted January 16, 2022 Share Posted January 16, 2022 (edited) Nomadland (2020) dir Chloe Zhoa Multi-Oscar winning film about people who choose or are pushed into living a nomadic lifestyle in modern day America. Frances McDormand play Fern and other than David Strathairn as Dave, almost all the rest of the cast are not actors but actual 'Nomads' playing themselves or characters based on themselves or other Nomdas. Fern is a widow who's home town no longer exists since it's only industry (and reason for existence) a gypsum mine shut down. So she was forced into a nomadic lifestyle, living in a van (not even a proper camper van) travelling between Nevada and Nebraska (and other places in between) doing seasonal work for a couple of months then moving on to the next job. She meets various other Nomads, some work at the same places, some she comes across occasionally, almost at random. It's a very gritty, realistic film, showing the sometimes mundane aspects day to day life of the nomads adapt to when having no bricks-and-mortar home but having to make the best they can in a converted van. One bit I appreciate being in the film for the realism, but never want to see again, is Fern using her bucket toilet to take a crap. There is some fantastic scenery of the deserts and mountains. The story isn't gripping, it's not that dramatic, just basically shows a year in Fern's life. 9/10 Edited January 16, 2022 by djw180 2 Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-237947 Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimeGreenLegend 4,287 Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 (edited) What I Watched This Week #3 (Jan 15-21) Guys and Dolls dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz/1955/2h30m About half an hour into Guys and Dolls I was getting a strange feeling that something was off, then it hit me. No one in the film uses contractions when they speak; instead of saying I'll and can't they'll say I will and cannot, and they do this for pretty much every contracted word in the whole film. Everyone speaks like Mr. Data from Star Trek. Anyway, Guys and Dolls stars Frank Sinatra as Nathan Detroit who runs the hottest craps game in town, trouble is he doesn't have the money needed to run his next game. To remedy this he makes a bet with the world's greatest gambler, Sky Masterson (Marlon Brando) that he won't be able to get a date with the prudish Sarah Brown (Jean Simmons), who works at the local Christian mission. This is a decent film, but for a musical it really doesn't have many memorable songs. In fact the only one I can really recall is Luck be a Lady as warbled by Brando. He really isn't half as good a singer as he is an actor, and Sinatra is the opposite, so I guess they make a pretty good duo. Fantastic costumes and real Broadway feeling sets make this film enjoyable to the eye, but this just pales in comparison to Singin' in the Rain released just a couple of years earlier. Worth watching just to see Brando sing. 6.5/10 Deerskin dir. Quentin Dupieux/2019/1h17m Deerskin is from the same filmmaker who made Rubber, the film about the car tyre who attains sentience and telekinetic powers and becomes a serial killer. This film is just as strange. It stars Jean Dujardin as Georges who, at the start of the film, seems to abandon his life; his wife, job, even his boring corduroy jacket, which he stuffs down a toilet. He then proceeds to drive out to the countryside, buy a 100% deerskin jacket and build a whole new persona for himself, that of an indie filmmaker. Things get really bizarre when the jacket starts to speak to him, telling Georges that it wants to be the only jacket in the world, and Georges thinks this a good idea. As mad as it is, and it is, this is also a weirdly tender film about mid-life crises with a fantastic lead performance from Dujardin who manages to elicit empathy despite his increasingly unhinged actions. There is great support from Adele Haenal as a bartender and amateur film editor (she edited Pulp Fiction to run in chronological order, and it s*cked), who becomes convinced that Georges is a genius artist, and by the end of the film has become his protege. Like Rubber there is a lot more to this film than its high concept and ridiculous sounding premise, and it is easily the best film about a jacket that I've ever seen. 8.5/10 The Tragedy of Macbeth dir. Joel Coen/2021/1h45m For the first time in his career Joel Coen has directed a film without his brother Ethan, and he has chosen to adapt one of the most adapted stories in all of literature. This version of Macbeth stars Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand as the doomed Thane and his power-hungry wife. This is an incredibly faithful adaptation, with just a few minor adjustments, but it retains every word of Shakespeare's original. The best thing about the film are the visuals. This is a very minimalist production, at times feeling like a stage play, with everything shot in gorgeous crisp black and white with fantastic use of chiaroscuro lighting and expressionist shadows, it's very dream like at points. The two lead performances are great as you would expect. They are quite subtle, McDormand's Lady Macbeth doesn't become the raving lunatic that you see in so many other productions, it's a more realistic depiction of the character. The same goes for Washington, his lust for power starting off as an incredulous notion that subtly takes grip on his soul. There is great support from Brendan Gleeson and Alex Hassell as King Duncan and Ross respectively, but the standout who steals the whole film is Kathryn Hunter as the Witches. The way she contorts her body, and her guttural voice, just needs to be seen, it's genuinely one of the creepiest performances I've ever seen. This is the best version of Macbeth since Kurosawa's Throne of Blood. 9.5/10 A Fish Called Wanda dir. Charles Crichton/1988/1h49m John Cleese stars as Archie Leach, a lawyer defending a jewel thief who gets caught up in in a madcap scheme by the rest of his gang, Wanda, Otto and Ken (Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin) to find his hidden loot and double cross him. Also written by Cleese, this reminds me a lot of his sitcom Fawlty Towers, not that the characters are similar but in the fact that it's a real farce full of misunderstandings, near-misses and usually violent slapstick. This is also a culture clash comedy as you have the brash Americans Wanda and Otto having to deal with the frustratingly polite Leach and Ken (who also has the best stutter in film history). The most amazing thing about this film though is that Kline's insane, philosophy quoting, violent, boot-sniffing, psychopathic, moronic performance won an Oscar! One of the best comedies of the 80's. 9/10 Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans dir. F.W. Murnau/1927/1h34m From the director of Nosferatu comes a “romance” film that is just as creepy as his horror films. The story is about a man (George O'Brien) caught between two women, his dowdy, plain wife (Janet Gaynor) and a vampish woman from the city (Margaret Livingston). The woman from the city convinces the man to kill his wife so they can be together, and he agrees, but when he attempts to drown her during a boat trip he relents when he sees the fear on her face. She runs away from him but he catches up and after getting her some cake, flowers, and getting a shave she seems to forgive him. I get that s*xual politics were a lot different back then, but god damn girl he actually tried to murder you! Story aside, this is an incredibly well made film, with some really influential sequences. There's also a great use of superimposed imagery and montage and, like all great silent films, it doesn't rely on intertitles to tell the story, everything is conveyed visually and through the performances. A great film but girl go get you a man who won't try to drown you for another woman. 8/10 Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway dir. Miguel Llanso/2019/1h23m CIA agents Gagano and Palmer (Daniel Tadesse, Agustin Mateo) are sent into the VR world, Psychobook, in order to destroy the virus known as Soviet Union in order to save the world. Along the way they have to contend with Batfro (Solomon Tashe), a coked up politician in a 60's Batman outfit for some reason, along with the usual spy shenanigans. This is all getting in the way of Gagano's retirement and his dream of opening up a pizzeria and his wife, Malin's (Gerda-Annette Allikas) dream of opening a kickboxing academy. An Estonian/Ethiopian production, this is one of the most bizarre films I've ever seen and it is absolutely fantastic. It really is like a surreal acid trip of a film, not just visually but in terms of storytelling, style and the general production; there is so much inventiveness and playfulness here it's impossible not to love it. And it's not just random for the sake of random, there is a strange deliberation to all the madness. These 80 minutes pack in more originality and sheer delight at the possibilities of the medium than the entire MCU to date. I'm really not able to fully sell it in words here, but you need to check this film out, you won't have seen anything like it. This is the film The Matrix wishes it was. 9.5/10 Lime's Film of the Week Dunkirk dir. Christopher Nolan/2017/1h47m Christopher Nolan's WW2 film tells the amazing true story of Dunkirk where hundreds of civilian boats crossed the English Channel to rescue the Allied troops who were pinned down on the beach there, surrounded by an ever advancing n*zi force. Nolan's obsession with time is evidenced again here as this film is split into three stories each taking place over a different timeframe. The first, set over a week, follows Tommy (Fionn Whitehead) as he tries to survive on the beaches of Dunkirk, desperate to get on one of the boats out. The second, set over a day, follows Dawson (Mark Rylance), skipper of a civilian boat making his way over to France to do his bit. The third story takes place over the course of an hour and follows RAF pilot Farrier (Tom Hardy) as he patrols the Channel, trying to keep the skies clear for all the boats. These three threads come together at the end nice and neatly. I've had this problem with some of his other films, but this feels a little cold to me. Nolan always seems to be more preoccupied with clever story construction and impressive practical set pieces rather than his characters, and that always creates a barrier for me that doesn't allow me to get fully invested in the film. Technically this is a fantastic film with some great visuals and, like I just mentioned, because it's a Nolan film you know it's all practical, but its got no heart. Also the dogfighting scenes are quite boring. They may be realistic, but they could also have been filmed in a more dynamic way. 6/10 Hostel: Part III dir. Scott Spiegel/2011/1h28m Yes, there's a third one, though without any involvement from Eli Roth. I'll get the positives out of the way first. It's in focus and it's less than 90 minutes long. Everything else is awful. This torture p*rn film has some of the worst, most boring kills in any film of its type. The characters are all annoying and flat, the editing is obnoxious, the twist ending was predictable and the direction is bland and pedestrian. Set in Las Vegas instead of the Eastern European locations of the first two, this also looks cheap; there are a couple of shots of the str*p which honestly looks like stock footage, while the rest is shot in back alleys and warehouses. This film is awful, and one of the worst I've seen in a loooooong time. 2/10 The House dir. Emma de Swaef & Marc James Roels, Niki Lindroth von Bahr, Paloma Baeza/2022/1h37m The House is a stop-motion three part anthology film set across three different time periods but all located in the same house. The first story, set in the Victorian era, tells of the construction of the house when a poor family enter into a Faustian deal with an architect. The second story, in contemporary times, sees a property developer try to sell the house despite the bug infestation. The final story, set at some point in the future, sees the house in a flooded world, its hilltop location keeping it dry. It has now been turned into flats, but there are only two tenants and neither can pay the rent, and all the while the waters rise. What I like about this is that despite having different directors for each story there is a consistency in style across the whole film, despite the differing tones of each piece. The first being a horror, the second a comedy of manners and the third has a wistful melancholic tone. I was expecting the whole film to be more horror tinged due to the opening story, and I think it would have been a bit better for it as I liked each story a little less than the one before, but overall this is a very good film that feels unique for stop-motion animation. 8/10 Malcolm X dir. Spike Lee/1992/3h22m From Spike Lee comes this epic biopic of the civil rights leader Malcolm X (Denzel Washington). From his time as a pimp and a hustler in his youth through his years spent in prison, his introduction to the Nation of Islam and his rise through their ranks and his eventual leaving of that group and his assassination, you really feel like you know this man by the time the end credits roll. Being English, our schools don't spend a lot of time teaching American history, so all I really knew about Malcolm X was that he was a more aggressive MLK, which was partly true for a while, but there is so much more to him, and Lee makes sure to cover every base. This is a film made with love for its subject, but not blindly so. Lee doesn't want us to see Malcolm X as a saint, or a martyr, but as a human being, a man, who just wanted the same rights and opportunities as anyone else, and he wasn't afraid to say it. I like how this film starts off very playful and colourful, brightly coloured oversized suits and feathered hats, jazz jive talk and smoky clubs give way to a more serious tone as Malcolm X grows as a person and finds a new mission in his life. Washington is incredible in the lead role, really carrying the film for its three plus hour run time, but there is also solid support from Angela Bassett as his wife Betty and Delroy Lindo as gangster West Indian Archie. One of Lee's best films, and an enlightening biopic of a man who deserves more credit and respect than I think history gives him. 8.5/10 Edited January 22, 2022 by LimeGreenLegend 2 Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-238034 Share on other sites More sharing options...
djw180 6,990 Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 Macbeth (2015) dir Justin Kurzel I know the basic story but not the actual Shakespeare play that well. So I'm not sure how authentic this is, but I am fairly sure some lines cut. It's a very bleak and at times brutal version of the play (something that doesn't particularly appeal to me). Macbeth (Michael Fassebender) starts off loyal to his cousin, King Duncan (David Thewlis), and is richly rewarded for that. But he hears a prophecy that one day he will be king, tells his wife (Marion Cotilard) who urges him to takes matters into his own hand, killing Duncan and laying the blame on his son. So Macbeth becomes king, and now descends into madness, becoming psychotic in his bid to retain power. Even his loyal friend Banquo (Paddy Considine) is murdered and when another ally abandons Macbeth he takes out his anger on the man's wife and children in an appallingly cruel way which even Lady Macbeth seems uncomfortable with. A lot of story is unsaid (so they don't have to use any non-authentic lines), using how characters look, they mood they give off etc, and that works. There is some very eye catching scenery; the bleakness comes from where the people live. It seems every one below the rank of king has to make do with some very grubby looking dwellings. So no surprise even a high ranking nobleman like Macbeth takes the chance to become king himself. The final battle scenes are extremely well shot, with quite stunning cinematography, the air given a red / orange hue from fires Macbeth starts. The accents were a little strange at times. It was very obvious which actors were Scottish and which were not (most of the main cast not). Maybe that was intentional, highlighting class differences between the very top of society and those still aristocrats but a bit lower down the social pyramid? And I guess that doesn't really matter since I doubt any modern day accent is that similar to how people spoke an thousand years ago (the real Macbeth was early 11th century). So a reasonably good film, but not one I enjoyed as much as I thought I would. 7/10 2 Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-238065 Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimeGreenLegend 4,287 Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 @djw180the same director as Macbeth, Justin Kurzel, did a film about Ned Kelly, True History of the Kelly Gang, a couple of years ago which I thought was better than this. 1 Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-238077 Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimeGreenLegend 4,287 Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 (edited) What I Watched This Week #4 (Jan 22-28) Friday dir. F. Gary Gray/1995/1h31m Friday is a comedy co-written by and starring Ice Cube as Craig, he's just been fired and has nothing to do all day so why not hang out with his best friend, small-time weed dealer Smokey (Chris Tucker), and let life happen around him. It's been a long time since I last saw this, and while I remember the quotes (“you just got knocked the f*ck out”, “bye Felisha” etc.) what I didn't remember was the really strong sense of time and place. This film couldn't be more mid 90's if it tried. I also really like how there's not really a plot, sure, stuff happens, but this is much more a slice of life film. With the timeframe and the cast of eccentric and colourful characters this really reminded me of a less political Do The Right Thing. What I think lets the film down slightly is the sharp tonal shift in the last third when the guns come out. It may be representative of life in LA at the time, and this film does feel like a lot of it was drawn from Ice Cube's life and people he knew growing up, but it changes the film so much and takes the fun out of it that it just left me cold. Other than that this is a great film. The performances are solid all round, Tucker is the perfect comedic relief, and there are a couple of great supporting turns from Tiny Lister and Bernie Mac. 7.5/10 I'm Still Here dir. Casey Affleck/2010/1h47m Remember about 15 years ago when Joaquin Phoenix retired from acting to pursue a hip hop career and people thought it was either a hoax or he was having a serious mental breakdown? Turns out it was a little from column A and a little from column B while being so much more, and even after I've watched this I'm still not sure whether this is a mockumentary or a documentary; is the film a part of the hoax or is it just documenting it and Phoenix's very real feeling mental breakdown? I love this film but I'm also very confused by it. Phoenix seems very well adjusted nowadays, but I remember back then thinking he had actually lost it, and maybe he did, but all in the name of performance. There is method acting and then there is staying in character for over a whole year of your life and that character is you, but also not you. Ultimately this is a film about performance and how we present ourselves to the world and how you can sometimes get lost in the performance. I think this may be the best performance of Phoenix's career and I'm not sure he was even performing, at least not in the conventional sense. He really does lay himself bare here, at times he is a ranting, coke-fuelled prima donna, other times he is a quietly reflective artist. The two meetings with Puff Daddy were just cringe inducing, and his trainwreck interview with Letterman, and his backstage breakdown afterwards, was some of the most compelling cinema I've seen. This film also has a beautiful and touching ending, which came as a surprise as it also features someone literally taking a sh*t on Phoenix's face while he sleeps. @Con I know you're a big fan of JP, would love to read your thoughts on this one. 9.5/10 Lime's Film of the Week The Circus dir. Charlie Chaplin/1928/1h12m After a misunderstanding that leads to him having to run away from the police, Chaplin's little tr*mp runs through a circus causing his usual slapstick chaos. Instead of getting arrested he instead gets a job and also falls in love with the ringmaster's daughter Merna (Merna Kennedy). Unfortunately for him, she only has eyes for the dashing tightrope walker Rex (Harry Crocker). When it comes to Chaplin films I've learnt that you can't judge them on Chaplin alone because he is always perfect. Not only is he one of cinema's greatest performers but his films are still hilarious today; the running gag with the angry donkey chasing him is funnier than anything I've seen in a film in a long while. What you have to judge his films on are the supporting cast, and this has a really good one. Kennedy is sympathetic as the mistreated daughter of a cruel father and she has a great chemistry with Chaplin. Crocker is also good as his love rival, his strutting confidence the total opposite of the tramps bumbling waddle. Like all of his films this is full of heart, and the tragic ending is perfect for the sad clown that he is. 9/10 East is East dir. Damien O'Donnell/1999/1h37m East is East is a British comedy/drama centring on the Khan family, led by patriarch George (Om Puri) who is a Muslim from Pakistan, and his wife Ella (Linda Bassett) a white British woman. The film opens with their eldest son running out on his arranged marriage and being disowned by George. The rest of the film concerns his childrens struggle between two cultures and some more impending arranged marriages. While the first half of this film is quite light hearted there is a severe tonal shift halfway through where George's controlling behaviour turns physical. It's a hard watch at times, but it always feels authentic and real, and George doesn't just turn into a one dimensional character, quite the opposite. It is Puri's performance which is the highlight of the film for me and elevates material that at times gets a bit soap opera like for me. The supporting cast are fine for the most part, but no one else really stands out to me, This is a decent film that exceeded my expectations, but not by too much. 7/10 Nightmare Alley dir. Guillermo del Toro/2021/2h30m The latest film from Guillermo del Toro is a neo noir thriller set in the world of carnivals and con men in the 30's. Needing a place to lie low and get away from his old life, Bradley Cooper's Stanton Carlisle finds himself working for a carnival run by Willem Dafoe's Clem. There he learns how to con people using cold reading techniques learned from the likes of Madame Zeena (Toni Collette). After marrying fellow carnival performer Molly (Rooney Mara) they leave and set up their own act. This is where he runs into his femme fatale, psychologist Dr. Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett) and his ultimate downfall. As you would expect from del Toro this is a gorgeous film directed with a real eye for striking visuals, the grimy world of carnivals giving way to lush stately homes in the final act, all full of beautiful period detail. Cooper is excellent in the lead, he remains a con man and a villain the entire way through, but still manages to be sympathetic; I got chills when he uttered the line “I was born for it”, such an incredible ending. Blanchett is also excellent, as is Dafoe. The film does drag in the second act for a little bit but the always sumptuous visuals keeps your attention into the brilliant final act. 8.5/10 Le Bonheur dir. Agnes Varda/1965/1h19m Le Bonheur (Happiness) is a drama from Agnes Varda about a happily married man, Francois (Jean-Claude Drouot) who starts an affair with Emilie (Marie-France Boyer) and decides to tell his wife, thinking that he can have his cake and eat it, arguing that he loves them both and that's a good thing because there should be more love in the world. If you could describe any film as being directed sarcastically it would be this one. Varda presents a lush and beautiful world full of colour and light where Francois can do what he wants and get away with it because it really is a man's world. Spoiler ahead, even when his wife Therese (Claire Drouot) kills herself he seems to just replace her with Emilie who easily slips into the role of wife and mother as if women are just replaceable like a lightbulb. I've read some reviews that describe this as a horror movie, and by the end I really understood what they mean. There is a sneering insidiousness and a sense of inevitability to the events that really get under the skin. This doesn't reach the brilliance of Varda's masterpiece, Cleo from 5 to 7, but at times it comes close. 8/10 The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey dir. Vincent Ward/1988/1h30m It's 14th century Europe and the Black Death is approaching a small village, so a group of villagers, led by the visions of a child, Griffin (Hamish McFarlane), dig through the Earth in order to reach a great cathedral and offer a gift, but when they emerge they find themselves in late 80's New Zealand. This is a film with a great premise and it does some things really well. The portions of the film set in the 14th century are shot in black and white and it looks gorgeous and really reminded me of The Seventh Seal, evoking that medieval European feel. It also has a great ending when we get back to the village. However, the stuff set in modern times, shot in colour, feels a bit more generic than the b/w stuff, and at times almost becomes a fish out of water comedy, though it never strays totally over that line. Also the performances are not great, McFarlane does okay, especially for a child, and Marshall Napier, who plays Searle, one of the villagers, is good, but most of the other actors are clearly non-professional or very inexperienced. The worth thing though are the accents. This is supposed to be set in northern England but some of them sound Irish and Scottish and the rest just sound ridiculous. A proud northerner like @djw180 would cringe hearing them. But if you can get past that this is an interesting film with some great visuals. 7/10 Star Trek: The Motion Picture dir. Robert Wise/1979/2h12m Ten years after the Star Trek series ended the crew of the Starship Enterprise reunite in order to save the Earth from an extraterrestrial threat. This comes in the form of V'ger, a living machine enveloped in a giant cloud that is slowly making its way toward the planet, destroying everything in its path. Thankfully the transition to the big screen didn't change Star Trek, as this feels very much like a story from the series. This isn't a sci-fi film with scary aliens and epic space battles, this is a sci-fi film about people talking and staring at view screens trying to solve a problem. And that problem, V'ger, feels and looks alien in a very Star Trek way, the abstract mechanical production design dwarfing the Enterprise is fantastic. Most of the design looks great, the new Enterprise retains the classic profile but is much more sleek. I could've done without the ten minute long er*tic reveal of it though. The biggest let down in terms of production are the costumes, these things are just ugly, and they seems to have no uniformity to them despite the fact that they are uniforms. The cast all fit right back into their roles like they never left, but I would have liked more interplay between the main trio, Kirk (William Shatner) Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Bones (DeForest Kelley), which was the core of the original series. What is fantastic is the score, the main theme later used as the theme for The Next Generation, but every track is great and really captures the romantic sense of wonder that a journey into the unknown brings. A little slow (this is the only Star Trek film with the original cast that is over 2 hours long) and a little boring in the second act, but a solid return to action for Starfleet's finest. 7.5/10 Water Lilies dir. Celine Sciamma/2007/1h25m The debut feature length film from Celine Sciamma focuses on 15 year old Marie (Pauline Acquart) who wants to join the local synchronised swimming team, but only to get close to Floriane (Adele Haenel) on whom she has a crush bordering on obsession. The scene where she steals Floriane's trash and eats her rotten apple core, while being quite weird, also really captures that intensity of first love and s*xual awakening. Sciamma's films are all about female relationships and she starts here as she means to go on; the relationship between Marie and Floriane feels very real and the performances really match up to the writing. Acquart plays Marie with a quiet intensity that perfectly suits her character, and Haenel, aloof at first, slowly opens herself up to Marie, and by extension us, in an incredibly naturalistic way. Sciamma's direction here is solid, and you can see the foundations of her later films, but she doesn't yet have the confidence that comes through so strongly in Portrait of a Lady on Fire, but as far as first films go, this one is excellent. 8/10 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan dir. Nicholas Meyer/1982/1h53m The Enterprise crew is back, again, but not in a sequel to the first film but a sequel to the original series episode Space Seed. After being exiled on a barren planet by Kirk 15 years earlier genetically modified badass Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) manages to take control of a starship and goes on the hunt for the man who left him there. It's Moby d*ck in space, and Shatner's the whale. Mixed into this is a plot about the Genesis device, a machine that can create life where there was none, or destroy life if put in the wrong hands. This is top tier Star Trek by every standard. Montalban is the perfect villain with some instantly quotable monologues and even though he isn't in the film that much he really steals the show. Thankfully they have changed the uniforms and they look so much better. The special effects have improved over the last one, but they did get lazy and straight up re-use some shots from the first film. But that's not what this film is about, you're here for the conflict between Kirk and Khan and that is brilliant. Probably the best Star Trek film. 9/10 Polytechnique dir. Denis Villeneuve/2009/1h17m This is a fictionalised account of the sadly very real Montreal massacre of 1989 in which a misogynist walked into the Montreal Polytechnique and killed 14 young women for no other reason than he hates feminism. We hear the killer (Maxime Gaudette) read his manifesto at the start of the film, and that's all we hear from him. Villeneuve has done well here not to try to empathise with this person. He doesn't show us a bad childhood nor him feeling put upon by “society” because there is no excuse. He is just hatred. I also like how the film doesn't end when the shooting stops, we see how this affected a couple of characters years later and ends instead on a feeling of hope with a brilliant last line. This is beautifully shot, the stark black and white lending a bleakness to the film, but also makes it easier to watch as it reminds us that this is a film, even if it is a recreation of actual events. Even then this is still a very hard film to watch, much like Gus van Sant's Elephant which is about the Columbine shooting. A very powerful film told with care. 8/10 Hamlet Goes Business dir. Aki Kaurismaki/1987/1h26m (no trailer for this so here's a clip) Shakespeare's Hamlet has been reworked into a deadpan farce film noir by Finish filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki. This follows the original plot very closely but, like the title suggests, takes place in the world of business. After his father dies Hamlet (Pirkka-Pekka Petelius) inherits 51% of the shares in his business empire, but that is now in control of Klaus (Esko Salminen) who not only murdered his father, but is now banging his mother, Gertrud (Elina Salo). This is a bone dry comedy that plays everything dead straight, whether it's Hamlet slicing off some ham and saying “ham, let me” (which is a joke just for the English subtitles) or discussions about the emerging rubber duck market. Kaurismaki also directs this like a serious noir film with a great use of shadows and dutch angles. However I do think that this is sometimes to the films detriment as it sometimes felt to me too serious and I would have liked a tone more similar to that of Leningrad Cowboys Go America which, while still being very dry and deadpan, had a bit more humour and energy to it. Still a decent film though, and one of the more unique Shakespeare adaptations I've seen. 7/10 Edited January 29, 2022 by LimeGreenLegend 2 Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-238194 Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimeGreenLegend 4,287 Posted February 5, 2022 Share Posted February 5, 2022 (edited) What I Watched This Week #5 (Jan 29- Feb 4) The Match Factory Girl dir. Aki Kaurismaki/1990/1h10m Iris (Kati Outinen) is a quiet, shy young woman who works in a match factory, and when she's not she sits silently at home with her cruel parents. She puts herself out there one night and goes home with a man, but he leaves without a word the next morning, but does leave some cash as if she were just a prostitute. She cracks and enacts some quiet revenge. This is such a sad and melancholic film, there's such a loneliness to Iris that I've hardly seen in any other character, and the fact that she still has hope, she's an avid reader of romantic novels, makes it all the more heartbreaking. Even when she gets her revenge there's no satisfaction to it, just a resignation that she'll be forever alone. Kaurismaki's direction captures the tone perfectly, static long takes with hardly any dialogue and the long opening sequence where we see how a match is made from start to finish, tell us what kind of world Iris lives in. My favourite Kaurismaki film so far. 8.5/10 Drive My Car dir. Ryusuke Hamaguci/2021/2h59m Still grieving over the death of his wife two years earlier, theatre director Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima) agrees to stage a performance of Uncle Vanya in Hiroshima. Once there he is assigned a driver to take him from his house to the theatre every day, the reserved young woman Misaki Watari (Toko Miura). Over the course of their journeys they slowly open up to each other, both still needing to come to terms with past traumas. I'm a big fan of slow cinema, and this definitely belongs to that movement, they don't even get to the opening credits until 40 minutes in. The run time allows the actors to really understate their performances, and it's so satisfying when they reveal a new layer to their character. As well as getting to spend a lot of time with the characters Hamaguchi also allows us to spend time in the location, the film is full of gorgeous shots of roads winding through forests and coastlines and, most interestingly, tunnels. The two leads give incredible performances, so full of nuance and things left unsaid, and their chemistry evolves in a beautifully natural way. What's also interesting is the actual production of Uncle Vanya, which is a multilingual one. You have actors speaking Mandarin, Japanese, English and Korean Sign Language to each other and it all becomes about communication and the rehearsal it takes to actually be able to communicate with each other. I loved this. 9.5/10 Lime's film of the Week! The Gentlemen dir. Guy Ritchie/2019/1h53m Guy Ritchie is back in the London underworld after diversions into the worlds of Sherlock Holmes, King Arthur and Aladdin with The Gentlemen. Cannabis kingpin Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughy) wants to sell his business, which leads to the usual Ritchie style convoluted, interweaving plot. What really carries the film for me is the framing device; the events of the film, for the most part, are being told to Pearson's number one man Raymond (Charlie Hunnam) by sleazy tabloid private eye Fletcher (Hugh Grant) after the fact. Grant is the MVP here, every time he's not on screen the film gets so much worse. He's an absolute creep, the kind of person you would hate to meet in real life but love to watch on screen like Begbie from Trainspotting. This is a much more restrained film from Ritchie, gone is the flashy editing of his early films, and I kind of missed it. This is still a very entertaining film with some really fun moments, and is worth watching for Grant's performance alone. 7/10 A Woman of Paris dir. Charlie Chaplin/1923/1h18m Two things stand out about A Woman of Paris (subtitled A Drama of Fate), firstly that it is just that, a drama rather than a comedy, and secondly Chaplin himself doesn't appear in the film. The film even opens with a warning stating just that so audiences wouldn't be disappointed. As for myself, I was a little disappointed, when I watch a Chaplin film I want to see Chaplin. Anyway, the plot sees Marie St. Claire (Edna Purviance) leaving for Paris after mistakenly thinking that her fiancée Jean (Carl Miller) had jilted her. A year later she is a mistress of the very rich Pierre (Adolphe Menjou) living the high life when fate throws her and Jean back together. She now has to make a choice between love and money. This is very melodramatic compared to modern films, but very well made with some decent performances, particularly Betty Morrissey as Fifi, Marie's party girl best friend. It also has a great ending that really drills home how important, and cruel, fate is. A bit of an outlier in Chaplin's catalogue, and far from his best film but decent nonetheless. 7/10 Dolemite Is My Name dir. Craig Brewer/2019/1h58m Eddie Murphy stars as Rudy Ray Moore in this biopic about the failed singer-failed comedian-turned star when he creates the foul mouthed pimp character Dolemite (“Dolemite is my name and f*cking up motherf*ckers is my game!”). But Moore dreams big and isn't content with having hit comedy records, he wants to make a film. In a lot of ways this reminded me of Murphy's last great film, Bowfinger in that it's about a group of people who have the passion to make a film, but none of the know how. Murphy is absolutely brilliant in this, as are the supporting cast; Wesley Snipes steals every scene he's in as the camp director of the Dolemite film, D'Urville Martin. What I also like about this film is that it never looks down on Moore no matter how ridiculous things get, his dream is always kept legitimate and the importance of it is never downplayed. A fun film full of heart and some huge laughs. 9/10 Halloween dir. John Carpenter/1978/1h31m The daddy of slasher films (Psycho being the granddaddy), Halloween is John Carpenter's first big hit. The plot sees psychopath Michael Myers escaping from a mental hospital to return to his home town and wreak bloody murder on the population, particularly the teenagers. Chief target is Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), but thankfully Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) is hot on the trail of his former patient. This is rightfully a classic, Carpenter masterfully builds suspense in the simplest of ways, a shot of an empty street that lingers for a couple of seconds too long, imperceptible movements in the shadows. And then there is the spine-chilling score, written by Carpenter himself, like the film its genius is in its simplicity. I do have a couple of negatives, after getting to Haddonfield Dr. Loomis spends most of his time stood in some bushes outside of Myers' house like they couldn't think of anything else for him to do. This film also suffers from a problem many horror films have, the police force are all morons. Near the start of the film someone steals a mask, some rope and some knives from a hardware store and it's all blamed on “some kids”. This isn't my favourite Carpenter film but it's very close. 8.5/10 Belfast dir. Kenneth Branagh/2021/1h38m Belfast is a semi-autobiographical drama from Kenneth Branagh about his childhood living in the city when The Troubles start. The film is told from the perspective of 10 year old Buddy (Jude Hill) and as such doesn't focus on the politics of the time, all of that coming from television and radio news broadcasts in the background. The film focuses on what is important to him, his family, his first crush and his home. Shot in crisp black and white, giving it a nostalgic feel like Alfonso Cuaron's Roma, this film treads the line of saccharine sentimentality but never crosses it thanks to the excellent performances all round. Caitriona Balfe and Jamie Dornan as his parents give the film its weight as they struggle over the decision to move to England for the sake of their children, but the stars for me are Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds as his grandparents, the heart of the film. Jude Hill is also excellent in the lead role. A very well made film full of love for families and the places we call home. 8/10 Accidental Luxuriance of the Translucent Watery Rebus dir. Dalibor Baric/2020/1h21m If you're into experimental Croatian art-house avant garde animation then do I have the film for you. Basically a noir film about a detective, conspiracy theories and an artist, the actual plot of the film is so obtuse that I have no idea what it actually is. This film is more of an experience, a trippy, hallucinogenic ride through a world of colour and manipulated images that at times become so warped as to be totally unrecognisable. It's actually pointless trying to put this film into words. This is most definitely not for everyone, but if you're willing to give it a chance then you'll find something totally unique. 9/10 Halloween II dir. Rick Rosenthal/1981/1h32m The man in the Shatner mask (really, the iconic mask is a halloween mask of Captain Kirk spray painted white) is back in a sequel that picks up right where the first film left off. This time the action is mostly set in the hospital where Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) is taken after surviving Michael Myers' attack in the first film. She doesn't really feature in the first couple of acts, not until Michael has slashed his way through the skeleton staff manning the hospital. There are some good kills in this film, honestly I think they're better than in the original, and it was nice to see Donald Pleasence have more to do than just stand around in a bush, but Rosenthal, while taking cues from Carpenter, isn't really on his level. I also didn't like the decision to make Laurie Michael's sister, it just convolutes the plot for no reason. Michael Myers is the embodiment of pure evil, he doesn't need a motive to kill anyone. I did enjoy this though, and think it's a worthy sequel to a legendary film. In many respects this is like Psycho II, an unnecessary sequel that is much better than it has any right to be. A fun little thriller that brings the Michael Myers story to an end (for now). 7/10 Edited February 5, 2022 by LimeGreenLegend 2 Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-238328 Share on other sites More sharing options...
djw180 6,990 Posted February 6, 2022 Share Posted February 6, 2022 (edited) Peterloo (2018) dir Mike Leigh This is an historical film about the infamous Peterloo Massacre, an event that is not really that well known, but it ought to be. In 1819 only rich men could vote. A pro-reform rally was held in St Peter's Field, Manchester, attended by tens of thousands of men, women and children, most workers from the areas cotton mills. The local magistrates decided these people had no right to protest about anything and should just get back to work and be thankful for their meagre pay packets. So they sent in the army to break them up. Soldiers charged the peaceful, unarmed, gathering with swords and bayonets, killing 18 and injuring hundreds. It became known as 'Peterloo' since it took place a couple of years after the battle of Waterloo. It's a long film at 2 and a half hours, but it didn't feel too long to me. In fact I would have liked a bit more, to know what happened afterwards. It does a good job of showing the massive inequality in society. It starts with the aftermath of Waterloo, contrasting a soldier who has to pretty much walk home (to Manchester), and when he gets there finds there is no job for him, to the massive financial payout given to the already very wealthy Duke of Wellington (British forces commander at that battle). It hints at the breakdown, or lack of, communication between the UK government in London and the local magistrates in Manchester that let the latter believe they were simply carrying out the former's wishes, when in fact they had been urged to show restraint. Not that that excuses any of them from responsibility. It shows the hysteria amongst most of the ruling classes, terrified that the French Revolution might get repeated in Britain, but again makes it clear that was no excuse for what they did. They were all educated, supposedly intelligent men, who should have been able to distinguish between the vast majority of protesters with legitimate complaints and the few actual revolutionaries (none of whom were at the rally as they has already been arrested). It has a great cast of British actors mostly known for their TV work, such as Maxine Peak (the mother of the above mentioned soldier) and Rory Kinnear as Henry Hunt, the main speaker at the rally and one of the few members of the ruling elite to recognise the need to electoral reform. The best performance for me comes from Tim McKinnery (Blackadder's Lord Percy / Cpt. Darling) as the Prince Regent, wielding the powers of the king on behalf of his 'mad' father George III. He oozes elitist snobbery, indifference and downright moronic stupidity. Overall this is good film. I don't know too much about this period of history but it feels authentic, it's not too colourful, the Mancunian accents seem right (and may need subtitles for some). It features a lot of scenes of other, smaller, rallies and meetings with what I assume are the actual speakers words repeated by the actors. It has a bit of comedy as some people at the rallies struggle to understand the often flowery language of the educated speakers, and express their bafflement very bluntly. But it has one big downside of me. I just don't think it does justice to the victims. The scenes of the soldiers murdering the peaceful protesters are too sanitised. I'm not a a big fan of too much gore in films but to me this needed more to convey what actually happened. There was too much of seeing things like a cavalry man in the background slash his sword but not seeing who he struck nor what injuries they suffered. There are a couple of scenes that attempt to convey the horror; a baby trampled under a horse's hooves and the Waterloo veteran (one of the protestors), still in his army uniform, offering no resistance to his fellow soldiers, being singled out and stabbed through the chest. But overall we don't see much of the deaths and injuries. I just can not help thinking how different, and better, a film this would have been with another director … Ken Loach comes to mind. 6/10 Edited February 6, 2022 by djw180 2 Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-238348 Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimeGreenLegend 4,287 Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 (edited) What I Watched This Week #6 (Feb 5-11) The History of Future Folk dir. Jeremy Kipp Walker, John Mitchell/2012/1h26m General Trius (Nils d'Aulaire) from the planet Hondo, which is under threat from a comet, arrives on Earth to kill all humans so that his people can populate the planet. However, just as he's about to unleash a deadly virus he hears music for the first time and instead becomes a folk musician along with The Almighty Kevin (Jay Klaitz), a Hondonian assassin sent to kill him and complete the mission. Imagine a low energy Tenacious D or a high energy Flight of the Conchords and you get this. The best part of the film is the first act, Kevin's reaction to hearing music for the first time is brilliant, but it kinda loses momentum after that. The songs are great, and d'Aulaire can play the sh*t out of a banjo, but I would've liked to hear more of them. The performances are ok, d'Aulaire is pretty wooden but it kinda helps the character seem more alien. Klaitz is the comic relief and plays it as such, but the biggest surprise for me was Dee Snider from Twisted Sister as the owner of the dive bar where the guys perform, the dude's a pretty good actor. If you like your comedies idiosyncratic then you should enjoy this. 7.5/10 Lime's Film of the Week! Dolemite dir. D'Urville Martin/1975/1h30m After watching the Eddie Murphy biopic of comedian Rudy Ray Moore I just had to check out Dolemite. Moore plays Dolemite, a pimp who is let out of prison where he's serving time for a crime he didn't commit in order to take out Willie Green (director D'Urville Martin) who is flooding his neighbourhood with drugs and guns. A blaxploitation comedy film that is very knowing this is a blast from start to finish. Moore is not a good actor, nor a good martial artist, but he carries the film with his personality. Technically this film is poor, but what comes through in every frame is the passion of a community who want to make something that represents them, something they would want to see in a cinema. You'll probably get more out of this film if you watch it in a double feature with the Murphy film Dolemite is my Name, but this is still a fun film on its own. 6.5/10 Star Trek III: The Search for Spock dir. Leonard Nimoy/1984/1h45m The Enterprise crew returns in this direct sequel to The Wrath of Khan, at the end of which Spock gives his life to save them. But before he did he transferred his mind into McCoy (DeForest Kelley), and now Kirk (William Shatner) and the gang need to find his body, which was interred on the genesis planet, in order to join the two together and bring him back. This film, along with the other odd numbered entries in this series, has a reputation of being awful. Personally I liked the first film, and this one is pretty decent too. There's a real sadness about the opening of the film as everyone tries to deal with Spock's death that feels unique for a Star Trek film. Christopher Lloyd is great as the rogue Klingon warrior Kruge, but this film is really about friendship and the lengths people go to for the ones they love. The biggest problem this film has is that it's sandwiched between two of the best films in the series, and it looks weaker for it, but in the overall picture of the Star Trek film series this is pretty good. 7/10 Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult dir. Peter Segal/1994/1h23m Supercop Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) is coming out of retirement in order to infiltrate a gang who plan on blowing up the Oscars. The final entry in the excellent Naked Gun films, this is better than the second and at times comes close to being as good as the first. Nielsen is, as always, brilliant as the straight-faced clown bumbling from one scene to the next, his super-serious film noir voiceover adding the final touches to one of cinemas great comedy characters. What's also great about this is that Jane (Priscilla Presley) actually has something to do, her Thelma and Louise sub plot being one of the highlights of the film, and her relationship with Frank actually feels if not real then at least fleshed out. A fitting finale and the perfect way to close the Police Squad files. 7.5/10 Halloween III: Season of the Witch dir. Tommy Lee Wallace/1982/1h38m The original intent behind the Halloween series was to make it an anthology series, each film being a totally new story. With the success of the first one they demanded a direct sequel, but with this third entry we go back to that original idea. This film centres around the Silver Shamrock toy company who are producing bestselling masks for halloween. However Dr. Challis (Tom Atkins) discovers a dark secret behind the company that involves ancient Celtic witchcraft and a scheme to kill children using the aforementioned masks. This is not a great film, but I like the general idea and feel they could have really made something that stands next to the legendary first film. It was brave of them to try something totally new but maybe using the Halloween name after Michael Myers had already become a screen icon was a bit of a backfire as I'm sure audiences were expecting to see him. It would have also helped if they had a good lead. Atkins isn't bad here, he's just boring, and that's even worse. That Silver Shamrock jingle is a jam though. Worth watching just as a curio more than anything else. A glimpse at what the Halloween franchise could have become. 5/10 Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers dir. Dwight H. Little/1988/1h28m After the anthology experiment of Halloween III failed Michael Myers returns in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. I think they wanted people to know that Michael Myers had returned. Ten years after the events of the original film Laurie is dead and her young daughter Jamie (Danielle Harris) is in foster care. When Michael, in a coma but alive, despite being burnt to a crisp at the end of Halloween II, learns that he still has a living relative he wakes and sets out to kill her. Thankfully Jamie has Dr. Loomis, back despite being blown to bits at the end of Halloween II, to protect her, along with her foster sister Rachel (Ellie Cornell). This is a return to form of sorts. The performances are pretty good all round, Cornell and Harris have a good sisterly chemistry together, and Donald Pleasence is brilliant, really starting to get unhinged about this whole Michael Myers business. This film also has a really strong ending, kind of tying things up in a neat bow (that gets immediately cut a year later). A solid entry in a series that is starting to show its age. 7/10 Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers dir. Dominique Othenin-Girard/1989/1h36m Jamie (Harris) is now in a children's hospital after the traumatic events of the previous year, and once again her uncle sets out to kill her, only this time there seems to be some mystical link between the two. As a direct sequel to Halloween 4 this is fine, and it's certainly not the worst film in the series, but the momentum is really starting to run out. Again Harris is a solid lead and gets a lot more to do here what with her magical bond with Michael and Pleasence is once again brilliant, spending much of this film screaming in a young girls face about murder and death and evil while using her as bait to try and kill Michael, but there's just no creativity here. I can't remember hardly any of the kills and that is a bad thing for a slasher film. Worth watching for the performances, and the finale has some nice creepy gothic sets, but don't go out of your way to see it. 6/10 Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers dir. Joe Chappelle/1995/1h28m Six years after the last film Jamie (J.C. Brandy) has been kidnapped by evil druids who form a cult protecting Michael. She is impregnated by him but escapes after giving birth to their child. She is killed but the child falls into the hands of Tommy Doyle (Paul Rudd!), the little boy Laurie was babysitting in the first film. He discovers that Michael gets his superpowers from ancient runes and constellations and with the help of a now totally deranged Dr. Loomis (Pleasence) sets out to destroy the evil once and for all and this is just a hot mess. Giving Michael a backstory and making the series about his family is bad enough, but trying to explain away his powers like this just makes him ridiculous. Rudd has always been great, and it's fun seeing him as a creepy loner conspiracy theorist, and again Pleasence steals the show with his insane ranting, but this is a low point for the series (so far). 4.5/10 Halloween H20: 20 Years Later dir. Steve Miner/1998/1h26m Halloween H20 is a sequel to the original film (and Halloween II to some extent), totally ignoring the last 4 films, so I'm really glad I watched them all now. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is back, now living under a fake name as the headteacher of a fancy private school. Michael learns that she is still alive and sets out to kill her. This was the first Halloween film I saw (and along with the original, the only ones I'd seen before this binge) so there's a lot of nostalgia here for me that probably means I like it more than I should. It was great seeing JLC back as Laurie, and she really gives it her all in this role, you totally believe her trauma here. Sadly the rest of the cast are mostly just annoying. Josh Hartnett plays her son John and I'm pretty sure he cut his own hair for this. Or at least it really looks like it. LL Cool J is fun as the security guard who wants to break into er*tic fiction (really). Everyone else is just fodder. I do like the ending here which gives us a definite ending to the series and some cathartic closure for Laurie. For now. What's most noticeable to me now is how different this feels to the previous film even though it's only been 3 years and I think there is one reason for this; Scream. From the slick editing to the soundtrack featuring two Creed songs (two too many), this was a film totally made under the influence of Wes Craven's game changer. The best film in the series since Halloween II. 7.5/10 Halloween: Resurrection dir. Rick Rosenthal/2002/1h29m After giving a terrible retcon to the pretty good ending of H20 Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis in a contractually obligated appearance) is now in a mental hospital and is killed by Michael in the first scene. So series over right? Since Halloween II it's been made abundantly clear that Michael's mission is to kill his family. Job done. But no! Busta Rhymes is making a live reality internet show streamed from the Myers house and he locks a bunch of teens in there for Halloween night. Sadly for them Michael turns up and kills them all. This was awful. Really really bad. I hated every character, except Busta Rhymes, and I don't even know his characters name and I don't care enough to look it up. The only parts I likes was when Busta Rhymes has a kung fu fight with Michael and kicks his *ss. He also drop kicks him out of a window and busts through a door hitting Michael with a bat or something after saying “trick or treat, motherf*cker”. Watch those clips on YouTube and just act like this film doesn't exist. Only for completionists. 3/10 Edited February 12, 2022 by LimeGreenLegend 1 Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-238442 Share on other sites More sharing options...
djw180 6,990 Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 (edited) The Last Duel (2021) dir Ridley Scott Set in 14th Century France and based on a true story, Sir Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) fights former friend Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) in trial by combat to determine if Jaques did or did not r*pe Jean's wife, Marguerite (Jodie Comer). It's made clear that even this long ago such trial by combat was rare, but Jean insists after other attempts to gain justice fail. It's very well made, as you would expect from director Ridley Scott. It has a clever script co-written by Matt Damon and Ben Afleck who plays Pierre d'Alencon, the count in whose armies Jean and Jacques serve. It starts with the build up to the duel, then tells 3 different versions of the same story of how they got there, from the points of view of Jean, Jacques and Marguerite, in that order. The basic story is Jean and Jacques are squires, members of the aristocracy but only just. They fight for Count Pierre in the Hundred years war and the Count takes a liking Jacques, but not to Jean. The former receives reward after reward whereas the latter has to make his own way as a soldier, a role he is very good at. Jean is sent on an overseas campaign and on his return his wife tells him Jacques paid an uninvited visit and r*ped her. He seeks the ultimate form of redress available, the right to fight and kill Jacques, thereby proving his wife's allegation. However he neglects to tell his wife that should he lose and be killed, thereby proving her allegation false, she would pay an awful price. The first two tellings of the story are OK but not as good as the third. At some points in the second telling you are left thinking 'this does not seem right, we already know this is not what happened'. That is of course because we are seeing the same story from two opposing points of view. But you don't know that when you see the first telling. That, in my mind at least, seemed at the time to be the 'right one' and Jacques telling of the story therefore seemed 'wrong'. So that part of the film is a little weak to me. But then when we get to Marguerite's telling of the story it turns into a much better film. I really liked the way in the introduction to this third part the words 'the truth' linger on the screen just a moment longer than other words. It really helps make the point of how gender-unbalanced medieval life was. A woman had no rights. She belonged to her father until he chose to give her to a husband, and then she belonged to that husband. Even in the crime of r*pe it was the husband, not the wife, who was seen as the victim. This third telling of the story also shows how biased the first two were. Jean thinks he is a wonderful husband, giving his wife everything she could realistically want, even though it seems more like she can just about tolerate his presence. Then we see that Jacques genuinely thinks he is innocent of the allegation against him and that Marguerite actually wanted to have s*x with him even though she quite clearly told him the exact opposite. Finally we get to the duel scene, and that is great, as expected from the director of The Duellists and Gladiator. But it's Marguerite's story that made this for me, made in a way maybe only he does a powerful female lead (Alien, Thelma and Louise, GI Jane ... ). 8/10 Edited February 14, 2022 by djw180 2 Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-238462 Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimeGreenLegend 4,287 Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 @djw180The Last Duel was one of my favourites from last year and you're totally right about the third act being the best and it really ties the film together. You should check out Rashomon, which is basically the same story and Akira Kurosawa's first masterpiece. 2 Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-238466 Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimeGreenLegend 4,287 Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 (edited) What I Watched This Week #7 (Feb 12-18) There Will Be No More Night dir. Eleonore Weber/2020/1h15m There Will Be No More Night is a French documentary made up entirely of footage shot from helicopters of the American and French military in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. Over this there is almost poetic narration from Nathalie Richard, some of it quoting an interview from a French pilot. This is a resolutely un-cinematic film, war made banal, viewed from a distance in silence, only radio chatter confirming whether or not those glowing pools of light in the distance that used to be humans are dead or not. At one point the narrator tells us that the only thing pilots really fear these days is being bought up before a tribunal. This detachment from events on the ground is terrifying and dehumanising for both sides, a mood that this film relays perfectly. You see people die in this film, real people obliterated by gunfire from attack helicopters, but viewed through the sights of their cameras in night vision they turn into nothing more then targets. At one point in the film a pilot trains his camera, and by extension his gun, on a group of children innocently playing in the street. I was praying the entire time for him not to fire. An astonishing film about modern warfare. 8.5/10 The Great Dictator dir. Charlie Chaplin/1940/2h6m Charlie Chaplin has massive b*lls. At the time when Hitler was the most powerful person on the planet the world's most famous movie star made a film absolutely ripping the p*ss out of him. Not only that but it is also a beautiful film about humanity and the social injustices in the world. Chaplin plays two roles in this film, a Jewish barber living in a ghetto and Adenoid Hynkel, dictator of Tomania and a brilliant caricature of Hitler. While the barber faces prejudice from the brutal Tomanian forces Hynkel is trying to make an ally out of Benzino Napoloni, dictator of Bacteria (Jack Oakie). In a Prince and the Pauper style switch near the end the barber takes the place of Hynkel at a big rally and goes on to make probably the greatest speech in film history. As always Chaplin is perfect in this, his barber, the last appearance of the little tr*mp character, is still the cheeky but sweet hearted clown he always was, but it's as Hynkel where he really lets go. He plays him as a full on mad, ranting megalomaniac with an eggshell thin ego and it is a joy to watch. His constant d*ck measuring contests with Napolini throughout the film are hilarious. But all of this is just foreplay for the iconic final speech, like I said it's arguably the best monologue ever committed to film, and Chaplin did it in his first full talking picture. This is a masterpiece of a film and sadly still very relevant today. 10/10 Lime's Film of the Week! Bottom Live 4: 2001 An a*se Oddity dir. Dewi Humphreys/2001/1h27m (no trailer for this, so here's the whole film) Richard Richard (Rik Mayall) and Eddie Hitler (Adrian Edmondson) are back for their fourth live stage show. Picking up from Hooligan's Island they are still stranded on a desert island and still as h*rny and violent as ever. But towards the end of the first half something brilliant happens, they totally break the fourth wall and talk about having to get to the bar before the audience do. After the interval they return but are now trapped in an empty dome and the entire play becomes a Brechtian meta-comedy about the play, and how being trapped in this dome means that they're missing the second half of the play and they also acknowledge that they are fictional characters being played by actors. It's all very meta but still very funny and, as always, h*rny and violent. This is the least funny show in my opinion but is still a total blast. Rik Mayall is just a force of energy and it's incredible that these two people can carry a show like this pretty much based on personality alone. 6.5/10 Calamari Union dir. Aki Kaurismaki/1985/1h21m Another bone dry absurdist comedy from Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki, Calamari Union is about a group of sixteen men called Frank who want to move from their oppressive part of Helsinki, with its irregular bus services, to the idyllic, almost mythical land of Eira, which is just a district on the other side of the city. They set off at night, sunglasses and all, but are soon picked off one by one by distractions like work, women, crime and death. What I've really been enjoying about Kaurismaki's films is the vibe they have, everything from the most insignificant to the most devastatingly life-changing event is treated with the same casual nonchalance. This also has the sane black and white film noir aesthetic as Hamlet Goes Business which I really like, and a few musical numbers, including a great rendition of Stand By Me, like Leningrad Cowboys Go America. I think that The Match Factory Girl and Leningrad Cowboys are both better films than this, but this is still a really enjoyable surreal comedy and well worth watching if you're looking for something outside the box. 7.5/10 Funny Games dir. Michael Haneke/1997/1h49m A wealthy couple, Georg and Anna (Ulrich Muhe, Susanne Lothar) and their ten year old son, take a trip to their lake house. Once there they are visited by a polite young man, Peter (Frank Giering), asking for eggs. Pretty soon he and his friend Paul (Arno Frisch) have taken the family hostage and subjects them to a brutal 12 hours of sadistic games. This is a brutal film with two of the most easily detestable antagonists I've ever seen. I've never wanted a film character to get what they deserve more than these two. What really helps is the sympathetic performance by Lothar as Anna, she is remarkable here, her constant fear and anguish are heartbreaking. What's great about Haneke's direction is that we don't see the violence, we just hear it and then see the results, and that makes it so much harder to watch. There's one scene where we hold on the aftermath of one of their games and it doesn't cut away for what feels like five minutes and it made me so uncomfortable, and that's something that doesn't happen easily for me. The direction is also very playful, with a lot of fourth wall breaks and very meta moments. At one point Paul addresses us directly, asking us whether we think they will last the night. There's another moment near the end that is actually genius and none of you will ever guess what it is, and I never would have either, but I loved it and you need to experience it for yourselves. It made me so angry but I couldn't really be mad because of the b*lls needed to do something like that. Fantastic film. 9/10 Paris, Texas dir. Wim Wenders/1984/2h26m Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) wanders out of the desert after being missing for four years. Near mute and seemingly amnesiac he is helped to piece together his life by his brother Walt (Dean Stockwell). He discovers a son, Hunter (Hunter Carson), who is being cared for by Walt and his wife Anne (Aurore Clement). He also remembers he has a wife, Jane (Nastassja Kinski), who also went missing, so he and Hunter set out to find her. This is a beautiful and sad film, Stanton's performance is soaked in a melancholy that can't be shaken, even when he starts to bond with his son and it looks like he has a future. After seeing him mostly as a supporting actor it's great to see him in a lead and really get to show off what he can do and he is perfect in this. There's a scene between him and Jane at the end of the film that has some of the best acting I've seen in a long time. This is a film about connections and how they are easier to break then they are to make. 9/10 The Epic of Everest dir. J.B.L. Cole/1924/1h27m In 1924 Andrew Irvine and George Mallory got closer to the summit of Mount Everest than any human being in history and they gave their lives to do it. This is a silent documentary of that attempt, following the expedition as they prepare, visit a Tibetan village, and set out through the foothills. Captain Cole's film equipment could only be taken to a camp at about 22,000ft, so we get to watch from a distance as ink blots slowly make their way up a sheer white wall of ice and snow. Knowing the outcome of this expedition, watching this film is quite morbid, and the blue and pink tints used in parts give the whole thing an otherworldly feeling. This is a really well shot film, with some at times abstract compositions and the intertitles are beautifully written. This was released in the same year as Herbert Ponting's The Great White Silence, a documentary about Scott's doomed trek to the South Pole, and it shares a lot with that film. There's a real melancholic feeling that the great age of exploration is over and all that's left to conquer are the most hostile and dangerous regions of the planet and men will, and do, give their lives to try to reach them. A haunting film with a fantastic modern score that matches the mood perfectly. 8.5/10 The Suicide Squad dir. James Gunn/2021/2h12m The US government has learned that there is a space monster being held and experimented on on the island of Corto Maltese, so Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) sends in her expendable task force of criminal superheroes led by Idris Elba's Bloodsport to sort things out. This is a gloriously immature romp of a film that revels in its R rating like an excitable puppy. I'm not surprised that John Cena got his own spin off show because he is brilliant in this as Peacemaker, the man who would do anything for liberty. He's basically an insane Captain America, “I love peace and I don't care how many men, women and children I have to kill to get it”. His antagonistic game of one-upmanship with Elba is a highlight of the film and they have great chemistry together. There are a couple of moments when some obviously cg blood spatters took me out of the moment, but that would be nit-picking. It's also overlong, and by the two hour mark the immaturity of the film was starting to grate, but as someone suffering from superhero film burnout this was a refreshing experience. 8/10 The Rocky Horror Picture Show dir. Jim Sharman/1975/1h40m When innocent, all-American Brad and Janet (Barry Bostwick, Susan Sarandon) get a flat and seek help on a dark and stormy night they stumble upon the home of Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry) who is about to unveil his latest creation, Rocky (Peter Hinwood), as well as challenge their s*xual preconceptions. If you know me then you know I love this, from the opening song Science Fiction Double Feature to the beautifully emotional I'm Going Home. Of course, Tim Curry is the star of the show with one of the best introduction songs in musical history, Sweet Transvestite, but the performances are fantastic all round. Richard O'Brien as Riff Raff is fantastically creepy and insidious and Bostwick's American version of a stiff upper lip is hilarious. How could you not love a film where Meatloaf rides in on a motorbike, sings a song, and then gets chopped into pieces? This film also has a genuinely touching message that speaks to the freak in all of us. Don't dream it, be it. 9.5/10 Halloween dir. Rob Zombie/2007/2h1m The thing I disliked most about the later Halloween sequels is how they tried to flesh out Michael's backstory, so I was really pleased to see that the first half of this remake is all about young Michael (Daeg Faerch) and his awful childhood. We don't even get to Haddonfield until an hour in, and when we do we find a brash and abrasive Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton) who is more of an *sshole than the disposable *ssholes from Halloween Resurrection. Malcolm McDowell is fine as Dr. Loomis, but comes nowhere near the raving insanity of Donald Pleasence. I've seen a couple of other Rob Zombie films and kind of dig his twisted trailer-park str*p club grotesque carnival freak show aesthetic, but that just doesn't fit with this story. Halloween, the original, is a very quiet, slow film full of empty autumnal streets. This is a drunk teenager swearing at their parents and insisting that “it's not a phase”. 3.5/10 Halloween II dir. Rob Zombie/2009/1h59m “Are we talking about the Austin Powers Mike Myers?” Weird Al Yankovic in Rob Zombie's Halloween II. I'm not joking. Gets one point for the ambulance driver yelling “cooooooow!” and another point for Malcolm McDowell specifically requesting PG Tips tea. 2/10 Edited March 25, 2022 by LimeGreenLegend 2 Link to comment https://www.rockstarsocialclub.net/forums/topic/6698-rate-the-last-film-you-watched/page/47/#findComment-238527 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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