Movies The Movie Thread! - Continuation - Part 1

[kkck]

Ok, saw Terminator... Fell sleep at the end so i have no idea of how this film ended. I don't understand the timeline at all either.

 

[Freid]

Saw the A.M.I movie and was actually speechless at how garbage this film was. I mean I've seen some bad movies in 2019 but this one easily takes the cake. Garbage characters and an even worse plot and by the end I really couldn't believe what I'd just watched. It was a horror movie but all the main characters were so comically stupid that you can't even root for them. Not a single brain cell between any of the characters and by the end of the movie my eyes had completely rolled into the back of my head.

 

[Brandish μ]

Saw Joker about 8 hours ago, wanted to collect my thoughts before punching out...

This movie wasn't to my liking. It was excessive, lacked heart and intelligence imo. Don't get me wrong, I don't need movies to be 'smart', but I face a film with the way it faces me. Angel Has Fallen, the last film I saw at a theater, was what people would call 'mindless action' and it knew what it was, and I enjoyed that movie. Joker is (tries to be) a much more serious film, and someone like Joaquin Phoenix commands attention in a different way to Gerard Butler...

I couldn't see the point of this movie, thematically, and it's not for the writers lack of trying to bring something up. The rich/poor thing, crime, the age-old 'worlds gettin worse' thing, lack of funding for mental health. Additionally, there was Arthur's own mental instability, his mothers', and both their delusions which drove the plot... all of this had little to no cohesion, nor was there a point made about any of those issues after the very obvious was rubbed in our face.
* cut funds to mental health = dialogue "no one gives a fuck about you Arthur, or me"
* cries due to poor life = next scene 'kids steal your sign and beat the shit out of you just like life is'

Honestly the character writing might even be worse. Arthur was mentally ill from the get-go, which is fair enough. But he's constantly and often literally beaten down by society or people he knows. He doesn't make any choices iirc, he doesn't really get the chance to arrive at anything himself. He's just a product of events that he had no hand in shaping, at most he reacts to it. That might be the point, coz he literally says something to that effect lol "I didn't know I existed, until recently, now more people notice me" (after the subway killings, meeting the social worker). How was I supposed to feel for a character who also didn't try anything on his own? Nor did he have any relationship that was explored. The mother doesn't count for me, she had her own troubles, and I couldn't feel much of a bond there. I suppose there was a chance with the neighbour (the delusion), had this been more substantial we could've got a dynamic that at least ventured off the path Arthur's character constantly tread.

With that being said, Phoenix was a powerhouse. It was a great physical performance. Phoenix had a whole range of creepy shit, dances, body contortions etc. However, it's very hard for him to compete with some of his own performances when, for me anyway, the movie he was a part was not nearly as good as he is.

Overall, wouldn't recommend this to anyone. I get what people are saying about Taxi Driver and King of Comedy. Both great films, which Joker borrows from, and comes terribly short. I keep thinking about You Were Never Really Here, with Phoenix. A film about a mentally disturbed individual, who lives with his mother, who has repressed rage within him, who gets ultra-violent... but had good writing.. Joker made me appreciate it more. Perhaps I'm being harsh on a 'Origins' film, particularly when referencing the character writing, as the exploration of the character is somewhat limited by the audience knowing what the Joker will become. I was definitely not fascinated by this movie though.

 

[Eigengrau]

Beanpole ("Dylda"): I really, really liked this one. One of the best of the year for me, without a doubt. It's a heavy drama, with quite a few scenes that are hard to stomach, but I found it amazing from start to finish. Great performances from the lead actresses (first ever roles!), just an amazing film overall, can't wait to see what this guy does next. So yeah, if you don't mind russian/foreign films (this one is Russia's official submission for Best Foreign Film), you should seek this one out.

If you absolutely want/must watch a trailer, watch this one:

I didn't see any clips/trailers before seeing the film, and I generally no longer watch trailers for certain movies for fear of getting spoiled, but this one is actually nicely put together, just a bunch of very quick shots with next to no context so it should be ok. But if you want to go in blind like me, you can skip it.

But yeah, if I make a Top 10 or whatever this year, it'll be in the top for sure.



The King: I don't know what it is with Netflix films, it's not the first time that a Netflix film ends and yet to me it feels like the film was only about halfway, and that next to no story was told, like there was more to see/tell. Now look, you might read this, and assume that I'm someone that has become used to binging Netflix shows, but that's not the case at all, this isn't coming from someone who's used to binging Netflix (which I don't even have).

The film was meh, passable, enjoyable for what it is, but then it ends and it's like, "that's it?", because that's the thing, it feels like an episode, not like a real "film", not to me at least, and that's the problem. But it was alright for a one time watch, I guess.



Light of my life: I was expecting something a little more bolder, rougher, violent, more along the lines of "The Road", but this was quite tame. I get why that is, because the plot and characters are oriented that way, but I dunno, I wanted something else out of it. Unfortunately for me, this was one of those "it's about the characters, not the events" type of deal, which is fine, but I really wanted to have seen certain things explored a little bit more. This also felt a little "Last of Us"-ish. Watched it at home, and though I like Casey Affleck who wrote, directed, and acted, I don't think this would've been worth paying to see, which is very unfortunate.



Kaili Blues: I liked it, but I feel like I will need to rewatch it some time down the road, feel like I might benefit from it. It's not that it was hard to follow or anything, but I wrongly assumed that it was going to be a lot more linear, which wasn't quite the case. Still glad I finally saw it, and that 40mins-long take is quite an accomplishment as well, so incredible to see how so many things can happen in that amount of time.

I wonder, after a 40mins take with "Kaili Blues", a hour long one for "Long Day's Journey Into Night"... maybe he'll attempt to shoot an entire film in a single take in the future? It has been done before, after all, which reminds me that I still have yet to see "Victoria".



Men & Chicken: starring the one and only Mads Mikkelsen. I've had this film for years but only now decided to watch it. It was... hmm, I don't know, the story was very basic and you could see the twists and turns coming from miles away, which is a shame, thought the plot would be something more entertaining. Still glad I got around to finally see it.



Motherless Brooklyn: Of course my friend won tickets for a film I didn't really want to see because I already kinda knew what to expect, and sadly I was 100% right. Similarly to Casey Affleck's case above, I like Edward Norton, I'm sad that his film isn't doing too well (he directed it as well), but to me this was straight up 2 hours and 24 minutes of fucking nothing.

There was absolutely nothing of interest in the film.

The "mystery" wasn't that mysterious, and above all, it just wasn't engaging in the least;
Characters disappear entirely for most of the film and then "reappear" for a few more scenes just because;
Entire movie feels like this was a full tv season that someone saw and said "cut it into a film" and then boom;
Terrible editing, transitioning, etc.

To me, absolutely nothing stands out in this film. Nothing, it was just generic and bland, which is hard for me to comprehend because you'd expect someone like Edward Norton to at least bring something new when working behind the camera, but nope. Don't know if it was intentional, to make the directing choices mirror films from those decades, but it's still a miss for me.

If you already "know" me and have had the unfortunate pleasure of reading the drivel I sometimes leave here, you know I tend to like/love longer films.

I'm not going to say I absolutely fucking hated the film, or that I was bored out of my mind throughout the whole thing, because that wasn't really the case, but I will say this: this film tired the fuck out of me, which is extremely unusual. It literally exhausted me mentally, and left me with a slight headache afterwards.

And I know the reason why, which is my only REAL complaint about the film:

Too. much. fucking. music.

I would be extremely surprised if there's less than 30mins [out of 144mins] with no music at all. It was just non-stop... Again, don't really know if this was intentional, to recreate the mood/feel of that decade, but for me it was nauseating.

15-20mins into the film and I'm already like "jesus christ are they still seriously playing music while [KEY MOVIE MOMENT] happens??"... so many scenes are meant to have some impact simply don't because they never let the movie breathe, it's all smothered by that soundtrack.

Another reason why it was so hard to sit through this film is because the trailer pretty much shows you the whole story and how it progresses.

Like seriously, the trailer shows quite a few plot developments, including one that happens what, halfway into the film, maybe more?

So I'm just sitting there like for 1h+ knowing that "that" is going to happen, which will eventually lead to "another that" spoiled by the trailer, which as you can imagine only made it feel like it dragged even more.

I feel sorry for Norton because this was his passion project or something, but fuck me, I really don't want to see anything like this ever again, this one really drained the life and braincells out of me which never happens, even when it's a bad film.

But hey, speaking of "long" films, let's transition to something better, hopefully-



Starting tomorrow, I'll be seeing the following films at a festival:
- A Hidden Life (3h long, tomorrow);
- Fire Will Come;
- Balloon (dir. Pema Tseden);
- The Criminal Man;
- Atlantis;
- The Whistlers;
- Les Misérables (France's submission for Best Foreign Film, I believe);
- The Lighthouse

I might also consider seeing Atlantics - not to be confused with the Atlantis one - but the film comes out on Netflix later this month, so I don't know. As was the case with Beanpole, which is screening at this festival, I decided to watch it at home because that's one movie I know I'll be seeing without having to worry about people's BS ruining the movie experience for me, and I might do the same with Atlantics as well, we'll see.

Sadly, "The Wild Goose Lake" was removed from the programming, which I really wanted to see, and despite teasing "Uncut Gems" initially, the movie is a no-show, which was a big fucking blow for me :/

But hey, apparently it comes out on Netflix on Christmas, I think?

Either way, I'll see you a week from now, by then I'll have seen the last one, "The Lighthouse".

Can't say I'm too excited with this line-up, especially when you consider last year's (House That Jack Built, Suspiria, High Life, Shoplifters, Vox Lux, you know the ones), but I'd be lying if I said I know what to expect.

I obviously know what they're about, most were on my watchlist, but I haven't seen any trailers or anything like that for any of them, so who knows, they could each blow me away for all I know :0...

 

[Brandish μ]

@Eigengrau watched Mandy. It is very good. Indulgent, yes, and committed. It feels like the type of film that 'nails everything it wants to achieve', like:
- homage to older horror and sci-fi films, particularly the film style of Suspiria and others like it
- substance trip and psychedelic aesthetic/atmosphere
- blood and gore thrills (weapon choices help this and the aesthetic too)
- revenge and madness from one Nic Cage (an actor that will go for it)
Either one of those in excess can push it over the top, but it felt grounded enough, with how reality was being distorted in the characters. It could've been cliche and cheesy but the filmmaker knew what not to do, I think. I'm not big on horrors but I did like Mandy.

 

[Organizized]

Haven't posted here much lately, but just want to say; whether you're already getting into the holiday spirit like me or you're waiting until December, at some point I really reccomend Netflix's Klaus.

It's an animated Christmas film about the "unlikely friendship" between a slacker postman and a hermit woodcutter who start a new tradition in a place where everyone hates each other.

It's very predictable. You can see every dramaturgic turning point coming from a mile away. And yet, they all strike exactly the emotional nerves they're meant to, even when you know what's gonna happen.

The writing and visual humor is very funny and well-timed, and helped by the great voice acting (Jason Schwartzman and J.K. Simmons in the leading roles, among others).

The thing that can be a little off-putting at first is the visual style. It's mainly 2D animation but they've explored new styles of working with lighting in 2D, giving it an almost-3D look. My wife actually went (in the first five minutes) "oh the whole film is gonna look like this? We'll see if I finish it." But ten minutes in, we were used to it and it's just absolutely gorgeous, beautiful through and through.

Also, since it's a traditional Christmas film I have to weigh in how heart-warming and wholesome it is. If you're in the need for some holiday cheer, it's the perfect little film, and left both me and my wife with happy tears in our eyes.

8.5/10.

 

[Eigengrau]

@Eigengrau watched Mandy. It is very good. Indulgent, yes, and committed. It feels like the type of film that 'nails everything it wants to achieve', like:
- homage to older horror and sci-fi films, particularly the film style of Suspiria and others like it
- substance trip and psychedelic aesthetic/atmosphere
- blood and gore thrills (weapon choices help this and the aesthetic too)
- revenge and madness from one Nic Cage (an actor that will go for it)
Either one of those in excess can push it over the top, but it felt grounded enough, with how reality was being distorted in the characters. It could've been cliche and cheesy but the filmmaker knew what not to do, I think. I'm not big on horrors but I did like Mandy.

That's awesome! What did you think of the OST?

I think I remember the director (or some reviews/critics?) mentioning how this is supposed to be like what if a movie was entirely a metal album cover or something... I'm probably getting the quote wrong, but something along the lines of this being more of a sensorial experience.

Was there a particular moment for you where you went "okay, now I'm totally in", or something like that? Just curious.

I'll never forget my midnight screening from last year... when the movie started with the "when I'm dead-" quote, along with that booming, droming soundtrack that sent chills down my spine... really great experience.

Probably mentioned this already, but seeing as you liked Mandy, I would recommend checking out the director's first film, "Beyond The Black Rainbow" (don't remember if you've already seen it or not).

I would say it is lesser "accessible" than Mandy, likely to be considered even more indulgent, as you called it, but in my opinion it is also everything you mentioned: very stylized/homage to older film and, even more trippy since it's about drugs and stuff (incredible visuals).

I think it's a little gem of a film. Not as "omg you must check it out" as Mandy is, but just keep it in mind whenever you want to watch a trippy flick and go in for a ride, without having to think too hard about anything.



Decided to drop by since I just came from an early (free) screening of Knives Out.

I won't go into spoilers now, not sure if anyone has seen it yet/has interest in seeing it, but I'll leave the spoiler talk for later, whenever/if someone happens to see it.

FYI, I wasn't particularly interested in the film, wasn't my intention to go see it in theaters or anything like that, I think. Not because it's by Rian Johnson or anything like that, but yeah. Stellar cast for sure, but it's not exactly the kind of film that "does it" for me (murder mystery).

With that being said, I found the film to be quite enjoyable, and perfectly fine. It was a good time.

The lesser you know going in, the better, for sure.

There are things that I would like to "point out", but given how the film is structured, I don't think it would be fair to say that those things are "flaws", but like I said, best to leave that talk for later.

Personally, I didn't find the film/plot particularly mindblowing or revolutionary, but I would say that it's a film that can/will entertain and provide you with a good time in a rather effortless manner. 130mins just flew by.



Will be seeing my 3rd film at the festival tomorrow. 6 more films to go. I'll talk about them around Sunday/Monday.

I'm also going to try and find the time to watch The Nightingale (new film by The Babadook director) as well as Jallikattu, curious to see if it's as crazy and insane as people are saying.

 

[Brandish μ]

That's awesome! What did you think of the OST?

I think I remember the director (or some reviews/critics?) mentioning how this is supposed to be like what if a movie was entirely a metal album cover or something... I'm probably getting the quote wrong, but something along the lines of this being more of a sensorial experience.

I thought the soundtrack, at least for what I remember, was great and much like older films with synth and stuff.

Yea I get that, it feels similar to black metal or something. It goes with the natural landscapes too (woodlands in particular - example). Maybe the parts with the Skulls would be faster paced metal like Slipknot or something.

Was there a particular moment for you where you went "okay, now I'm totally in", or something like that? Just curious.

When Red downed the bottle of vodka and made that sick weapon Nah I wouldn't say there was a particular moment, coz I think the intro credits set the scene.

I'll never forget my midnight screening from last year... when the movie started with the "when I'm dead-" quote, along with that booming, droming soundtrack that sent chills down my spine... really great experience.

Probably mentioned this already, but seeing as you liked Mandy, I would recommend checking out the director's first film, "Beyond The Black Rainbow" (don't remember if you've already seen it or not).

Oh yea, that's the link lol.

I will try to find the movie. I don't think I've seen it/heard of it.

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 23, 2019, Original Post Date: Nov 23, 2019 ---

Haven't posted here much lately, but just want to say; whether you're already getting into the holiday spirit like me or you're waiting until December, at some point I really reccomend Netflix's Klaus.

It's an animated Christmas film about the "unlikely friendship" between a slacker postman and a hermit woodcutter who start a new tradition in a place where everyone hates each other.

It's very predictable. You can see every dramaturgic turning point coming from a mile away. And yet, they all strike exactly the emotional nerves they're meant to, even when you know what's gonna happen.

The writing and visual humor is very funny and well-timed, and helped by the great voice acting (Jason Schwartzman and J.K. Simmons in the leading roles, among others).

The thing that can be a little off-putting at first is the visual style. It's mainly 2D animation but they've explored new styles of working with lighting in 2D, giving it an almost-3D look. My wife actually went (in the first five minutes) "oh the whole film is gonna look like this? We'll see if I finish it." But ten minutes in, we were used to it and it's just absolutely gorgeous, beautiful through and through.

Also, since it's a traditional Christmas film I have to weigh in how heart-warming and wholesome it is. If you're in the need for some holiday cheer, it's the perfect little film, and left both me and my wife with happy tears in our eyes.

8.5/10.

I'll keep this in mind coz I know some ppl will want to watch a Xmas movie (I don't fancy them, but I'll watch anything). I might have to watch it alone if there's tears tho lol

 

[Eigengrau]

When Red downed the bottle of vodka and made that sick weapon

The sick weapon, as you are right to call it, was actually modelled after the "f" in Celtic Frost (band). I only used to listen to one of their songs, I think.

Nah I wouldn't say there was a particular moment, coz I think the intro credits set the scene.

I was really bummed out when I found that the intro credits weren't on the vinyl I bought :/
Still a dope soundtrack regardless.



Welp, film festival ended last night, and I'm tired as hell, but I'm here to brief y'all on what I saw, some of these might interest you.

I have a lot to say about some of these so I'll put it in spoilers (with no actual spoilers) to try and make it somewhat easier to read through.

In watching order, starting with:

- A Hidden Life - definitely recommend

Spoiler

I know this is a manga forum and whatnot, so maybe there's no really need for me to state this, but I just want to say upfront that the only other film by Terrence Malick that I saw was "The Thin Red Line", which is from 1998. I know some people tend to be called "fanboys"/"apologists" when it comes to Malick, so I don't know, just putting it out there that I haven't seen any of his other films, ever, so take my opinion however you want.

Personally, I loved the film. There's just something about how the film is shot (which is how he's been filming his latest films, I think, we the camera constantly following around the actors, almost as if it's a documentary of sorts) and how everything is framed that just draws you in.

The thing that made me want to see this movie was the WWII angle + the fact that it's based on a real story (if you're interested in seeing the film and don't know about the real history behind it, I would advise you to see the movie first and not "spoil" yourself).

As I mentioned in a previous post, the film is practically 3 hours long. For me, the only thing that sucked in regards to the runtime, was the fact that the cinema chairs were extremely uncomfortable and definitely not meant to support buttcheeks for an extended period of time, but that's it.

As for the film itself, I had no problem with it whatsoever from beginning to end.

I know this may sound too "snobby", but I've seen some people calling it "deeply spiritual" and things of the sort, and I get where they're coming from.

Is this a film? Yes, but in my opinion this isn't entertainment at all. This isn't something you would want to go and see in the hopes of being "entertained" for 3 hours, at the very least I wouldn't call it entertainment in the sense that you'd be having a "blast" or something.

I feel like, if anything, this movie will aim to make you feel. As for what that means, I guess it'll be different for each of us.

I got teary eyed several times, that's for sure. One of the things that's really a "wow" factor to me, and I can't stress this enough, is the fact that the way it's shot/edited, it really does feel like you're watching actual memories.

Like, if you could see someone's recollection of events, you would see these "moments" that they remember, right? You wouldn't actually, literally see 24 straight hours of their day, just the stuff that they actually remember mostly.

For example, if I were to ask you about some of your memories that you know you will never forget, sudden images will pop into your mind, or small "snippets"/sequences; you might not remember what exactly happened before/after, but those moments will never fade away.

That's why the film felt so gut-wrenching to me most of the time, because there was this "damn this feels so real, so much like what it would be in real life if this was a thing".

And that's kinda the film in a nutshell, I think. I don't know, I feel like I had a very personal reaction to it so it's hard to put it into words.

It felt very deep, very personal, and those 3 hours only help in digging further and further into your emotions and senses.

It was quite an experience.

- O Que Arde (Fire Will Come) - eh, recommend

Spoiler

It was an alright little movie. Premise is, the main character (first time actor) is an arsonist who's been released from prison, and goes back to live with his mother (also first time actress, at 85 years of age or something!) and trying to "fit in" again. The synopsis on IMDb isn't quite accurate, I feel, but yeah.

It's a slow movie, punctuated mostly by its silences/the stuff that's not said, rather than what's actually going on screen, if you catch my drift.

At a certain point, I found myself thinking "y'know, I'm enjoying this more than I thought I would, but I have no idea what I would rate this", and then the movie like 5 minutes afterwards, which I didn't really see coming.

I think it's good for what it is, plus if you consider that everyone in the film is a non-actor, I liked that but umm... yeah I'd say it's a moody, slice of life drama of sorts.

- Balloon - liked it

Spoiler

So the only reason I went and saw this one, is because I had the director's previous film on my watchlist, which I still haven't seen. So because this is their newest film, I decided to go and check it out since I had yet to see any of his films.

It takes place (mostly) in rural Tibet, I think, and it was quite interesting and refreshing to see (and hear) a different culture that you're not used to, at least when it comes to film. To me it felt like a novelty, kinda, I think? So there's that.

I would say this one also falls within the "slice of life" kind of film. Nothing too deep, but a lot of different issues are touched upon.

Similarly to what I said above, a lot of the film hinges on what's not said/shown; a lot of character history (some of them at least) is hinted at, but never properly discussed/resolved.

To me, for this particular film it wasn't a negative, because it just added more to its "lore" and worldbuilding, if that makes any sense.

I think I could recommend it, and I definitely want to see his other films. I really, really do.

- The Criminal Man - can recommend to some

Spoiler

I really liked this one. What you need to know, is that it's a Georgian film that will feel glacially paced to some. But hey, if you're like me, and have seen your fair share of Russian films and the like, you'll know what the deal is.

The story is about a regular guy that witnesses a murder. Because of this, he becomes obsessed with the murder itself and all of its aspects, and slowly begins to walk down a path that will turn him(?) into the titular "criminal man".

FYI, I was expecting the film to be very graphic/violent, but that wasn't really the case. However, I wasn't disappointed in the least.
Let me try and explain: the director told us afterwards, that "witnessing the murder" had this profound impact on the character, which infected him almost like a virus that begins to eat him away, slowly (not literally, of course).

Throughout the film, I found myself constantly thinking "is this person going to be his first victim? Or is it this one? This one? Is he going to commit his first murder now?"

And I think it's very interesting because, like the main character, I found myself obsessing over his actions, and thinking about "potential murder" almost every other scene, almost as if I really wanted it to happen so that he could finally "do it" once and for all.

Because of this, I feel like tension was kept throughout most of the film in very good fashion, and I think the story works, as well as what it's tryin to say.

But again, word of warning, this will feel "slow" to a lot of people, but it's a character study, I'd say.

- Atlantis - recommend

Spoiler

I really don't want to say too much about it, I want to, but at the same time I feel like it could "spoil" you somehow. I liked it more than I thought I would. I had some initial concerns due to a certain "spoiler" that's not really a spoiler, rather it's related to how the film is "structured", if you will, but my worries quickly went out the window shortly after the movie began, I really had nothing to worry about.

I feel like it was experly put together, and beautifully shot in many instances.

Not the typical "format" you're probably used to, which can really throw some people off, but in my opinion the director really pulled it off.

- The Whistlers (La Gomera) - eh...

Spoiler

I was looking forward to this one because of its somewhat absurd premise, but the film just didn't revolve much around certain key aspects as the IMDb synopsis would lead you to believe, which I found disappointing.

Yes, it is funny at times, but I think I was expecting much more comedy, in a sense.

I saw one of the director's earlier films at the start of the year (funny coincidence, one of the characters from said film is the main character on this one, so there's that link of continuity although it's not a sequel at all) so I know what his "style" is meant to be, but yeah I was expecting a lot more.

It was an alright watch, but it ended up being a little too normal/straightforward/cliché, and didn't quite deliver on its initial premise, which is hardly in the film.

- Les Misérables - recommend

Spoiler

Not to be confused with the old films, yo.

This film is set in modern times and deals with an anti-crime team of cops.

The events of the film take place mostly in a single day, it feels almost like a "Cops" episode in some aspects, but there's this rough and real feel to it, which is good.

I liked the film, I mean it's intense and such, but the plot itself isn't really anything new. It's the sort of film that you'll end up appreciating due to the acting, directing, as well as the timely message, but I think that's about it.

This is the film selected as France's official submission for Best Foreign Film, when many/everyone thought that "Portrait of a lady on fire" would be the most obvious choice, and I feel like the latter is a film that I'll enjoy a lot more whenever I get a chance to see it.

I'll say this though; just when I thought that the film was over and that I was looking at what was surely the final shot, the film throws at you one last "act" that was unexpected, intense and claustrophobic as frick.

Many might feel blue-balled by the ending, but given the context/message, I think it'll be easy to understand why it was probably decided to have the story wrap up like that.

I think it's fair to say that it was gripping from beginning to end, but again, not really anything new.

- The Lighthouse - strongly recommend

Spoiler

I know the film isn't playing in many theaters, but if you can, you should definitely see it on the big screen if you're able to, it really is worth it.

I really felt blessed, being able to see it at a sold out venue, it deserves to be seen in all its glory.

I don't know how they did it, but it really does look like an old film, hundreds of years old.

The cinematography is breathtaking, and as if that wasn't enough, you get to spend the entire film with just Pattinson and Dafoe together.

I liked "The Witch" but I didn't exactly love it, and this film isn't exactly a horror film, and it's definitely more "art-house"-ish, but I found it incredible from beginning to end.

Not many people might feel satisfied with the actual plot by the end because it's not quite the story that serves you all the answers on a silver platter, but seriously, it's worth it for the directing, acting, and look of the film alone, and the OST too.

It's an incredible piece of work/art, the rare kind, I'd say, but the kind that gets more and more appreciation/recognition these days.

I honestly believe it deserves all the praise that it gets.

And even though it's not quite horror, I would say that I very much prefered this as a follow-up to "The Witch", than I did with "Midsommar" in regards to "Hereditary".

I hope more people get to see it (digital December 20th, dvd/blu-ray January 7th).

And that's it for what I saw at the festival.

In the meantime I also saw Jallikattu, which was disappointing. If they had left out some of the absurd subplots (revenge, love interest, etc.) and focused more on what the film was meant to be about (buffalo gets loose, whole village descends into chaos) I feel like it could've been so much better.

The 2nd half is a lot better, but when it got to the climax I couldn't help but feel like the entire movie should've been like that.

Really disappointed, unfortunately, many were calling it very "Climax"-esque, but meh.

Also, I just finished The Nightingale.

Don't want to bore you with details, so I'll just try to quickly summarize my experience.

With this being the new film by "The Babadook" director, I had to check it out, even though, similar to "The Lighthouse" case, this isn't a horror movie to follow in the Babadook's footsteps. Fine with me.

Thing is, when the film first premiered over a year ago, I remember a lot of critics stating that it was just another one of those "female empowerment" films or something... I don't quite remember the wording, but maybe you'll get what I'm saying.

I don't know, I was kinda put off, but then again it's not like I had any way of seeing the film; yeah, it premiered last year at film festivals, but it only became actually available now, like 14 months later.

But in the last few months, many new reviews started popping up and praising the film, which really took me by surprise and renewed my interest.

I'm glad that I saw it.

The story arc itself isn't anything new for sure, BUT, the main actress blew me away, and I also really liked the cinematography. I guess it also deals heavily with colonization and themes like that, abuse of power, racism and such.

It's hard to watch and not for the easily triggered because there's some very tough to stomach scenes, but I found it to be worth it in the end.

Again, the story "is what it is", but the acting, directing and cinematography took it a few levels up, I feel.

If you liked "The Babadook" and are interested in seeing what the director made next for the sake of it, you could give it a try, otherwise it's up to you.

 

[FetherMan]

21 Bridges - 7 / 10

- Good action, subpar story and interesting, overall layout for a cop film. Good casting.


Knives Out - 7 / 10

- Great cast, average story with a somewhat twist. Reminded me of "Clue" in many ways.


Queen & Slim - 9 / 10

- Very creative love at first start story with a nice political, Bonnie & Clyde thing going. Very entertaining.

 

[Eigengrau]

The Tribe: I've had this movie for quite a while now, but I decided to finally give it a watch since the cinematographer/steadycam is the guy that directed the film Atlantis which I saw a weeks ago. You might've heard about "The Tribe": it's a film done entirely in sign language, there are no subtitles at all.

I think a few years ago I was about to watch it, but then I decided to wait a little to see if someone would upload some fan made subs of the signing, because I kinda wanted to know what they're actually saying.

It was a bit weird at first, because you're so used to understanding/hearing dialogue, or reading subtitles, but eventually you get used to it, and when people say that "you can tell what's going on by the emotion, the look on their faces, etc.", it's all true.

And honestly, it's also quite refreshing to be able to keep staring straight at the film for the entire runtime, and not have your eyeballs go up/down/up/down so you can read the subtitles.

With that being said, the movie was waaaaay harder to stomach than what I had anticipated. I already knew about a certain scene, but was somewhat misinformed and definitely wasn't ready for it.

It was a tough watch in the good sense, but damn, so far this movie probably has the most "yo bruh what the shit-" moment of the year for me... my jaw dropped.

Kinda felt like I had mental beating.



Days of Eclipse: finally got around to watch this one, but was somewhat disappointed. FYI, this was one of the films I wanted to see because it is yet another adaptation (by Sokurov) of a novel by the Strugatsky brothers, responsible for works that gave birth to Stalker, Hard to be a God etc.

If you google the film, this comes up:

"A new doctor's research into the effects of religion on health believes a malevolent force is preventing him from completing his research."

Which I personally find intriguing and interesting, but on IMDb it goes like this:

"Days of Eclipse is filmed in a psychedelic manner close to stream of consciousness using unusual cinematographic techniques. The action is set in Middle Asia."

Unfortunately for me, it was definitely more of the latter. I can appreciate the "unusual" cinematography, I liked the acting as well, but there just wasn't a story to hang on to.

Reading about the book, it's about a scientist that's really close to a monumental breakthrough, but weird shit keeps happening that prevents him from completing his work; him and co-workers then realize that it's probably God/the Universe that's preventing him from finishing it, because he must not do it because... who knows.

You don't get a sense of any of that in the film. It's like an event, followed by another event, it never feels like there's something actually going on.

There isn't much of a plot.

I'm glad I finally got around to watch it, but it's definitely not what I was expecting, sadly.



Miller's Crossing: decided to go catch a screening of it since it was a Coen film I had never seen, plus it was about gangsters and stuff so I was expecting something cool and bloody.

Nah, extremely disappointing, kinda wasted my time and money.

Because it's a Coen film, I was expecting something clever, witty, interesting with some twists thrown in, but it was just super, super bland from beginning to end, not to mention predictable.

To be fair, it's a 1990 film, one of their first ones I think, but still... I know it's an oldie, but there just wasn't anything even remotely gripping about the story.



Spell: weird little film. I didn't like (at first) how some things were quickly revealed right at the start, felt like it was something that could've been done with more subtlety, but it was intentional since it is tied to the way the whole film is structured.

It was ok, nothing to spectacular, but it was an interesting take and worth the watch.



Daniel Isn't Real: didn't really have any expectations going in, but it quickly became quite enjoyable... at first, at least. Don't want to spoil it to anyone so I'll try and keep this short, but basically it kinda fell flat for me in the 3rd act. I just didn't like some of the directions it went in.

To be fair, the movie is an adaptation of a book, so I guess there just wasn't "another way", which is a shame... I'm not saying the movie isn't good, there's a lot of good things about it, really liked the acting by Patrick Schwarzenegger (yes, son of Arnold), I think it would be fair to say that he stole the show, but after a certain point right until the end it was just... I don't know, it starts off really intriguing and interesting, but once all the cards are on the table, it became meh for me.

Still cool aspects about it (ending) which others might enjoy a lot more, maybe.



Holiday: yeah so umm... As I'm watching the film, something happens in a certain scene, and I'm like "okay, this is an interesting development, I wonder what's coming next- oh, it's over...", and that kinda sums it up. I knew it was a short film from the get go, but based on some things I had heard, I thought there would be a lot more to it... but it was also realistic, in a sense? A different look/take on this kind of story?

I don't really know, I've had this on my watchlist since last year, but I finally decided to give it a shot mostly because the director was also a writer for "Border".

I definitely liked the main actress and can't wait to see her in more roles, she definitely stood out. Not a memorable role or anything like that, but I'll definitely keep an eye on her, and after looking at her filmography there's a few I'd like to check out already.



I went to see One Piece: Stampede in theaters today. I'll spare you the cranky rant and leave it in spoilers, seeing as I mention some stuff that happens in the film, and just say that I found it to be somewhat of a waste of time and money, for me at least. There were quite a few assholes in the audience, some people even brought their kids who wouldn't shut up (there's a dubbed as well as a subbed version, I obviously went to the sub and hoped that kids would go to the dub, but nope) but I'm trying to not take any of that into account.

Spoiler

The whole film just felt like an entire reel of sequences that are purely fan-service: Supernova fighting, Sanji/Smoker, Zoro/Fujitora... Mihawk shows up, does a slash, leaves (which is pretty much what he did in the Byrnndi World special...), characters show up just because, do their flashy thing that they're known for, and then leave again.

Like, I get it. It's a movie, it's never going to be considered canon, we know the characters will never be in any real risk, everyone will be fine in the end and the villain will be defeated, but for me that's the whole fucking problem.

There's absolutely zero stakes, which to me = no fun to be had at all. I like OP as much as everyone does, but I'm not going to say that I liked the film/thought it was awesome just because it's One Piece, sorry.

The previous films had something going for them, like Strong World and Z.

This one honestly just felt like something that was quickly put together, a bunch of fan-service stuff just to please the fans, with absolutely no substance to it other than that. It felt so empty and shallow.

They always do this, they come up with an "interesting" plot, with this one bringing in Douglas Bullet, a super strong guy that was on Roger's ship, but then they do jack shit with it. It amounts to absolutely nothing in the film, nothing.

He shows up, kicks ass, and then spends pretty much the rest of the film inside a mecha... okay...?
Zero development there, zero contact with the main character, zero everything.

Which brings us to yet another big, BIG problem with recent OP films; I don't know about you, but I've had enough of "bad guy's final form is super big/super giant, and it can't be stopped!"... I mean it's the exact same thing they did with Gold.

They keep doing the same thing, over and over again, just with different characters. What's Luffy gonna do next? Oh wow, a move that's literally bigger than usual, which he already did back in Strong World to finish off Shiki...

And the other Festa guy, or whatever? He's just there to talk to himself/the audience throughout the entire film, and then that girl just uses her ability so we can have even more fan-service with a little Ace shoutout at the end.

It saddens me to say this, but as I was watching the film, I couldn't help but think several times "yep, this is why I stopped watching the anime".

Again, this is just my opinion, and I get it, to most, it's a movie meant to just have fun, but after decades of One Piece, and nearly 1000 episodes and over a dozen films, I feel like the fans just deserve more at this stage, because this quite literally wasn't anything new, it wasn't anything at all to me.

In my opinion it's probably one of, if not the worst, blandest OP film.

No stakes, no risks taken.

I feel like at this current stage, the only way to have a real, interesting One Piece film, would be one that simply doesn't feature Luffy or any of the crew, and focus on something/someone else entirely.

Like can you imagine a film, or an OVA detailing the current flashback arc in the manga...?

I've already written way more than I wanted.

Point is, I'm not saying the movie is shit or anything like that.

For me, it was a waste of time, because I felt like I literally watched nothing. I got out of the film, and there's nothing to comment on, nothing to think about or discuss, because again, nothing in the film matters at all.

It has no impact on the original story, the events and its characters. It's just useless...

Also, if I hadn't seen the film, I wouldn't have found out that Raftel is actually spelled Laugh Tale... like wtf... how am I supposed to enjoy the film after such a discovery :|...

And I just got done watching Marriage Story, which was very good.
When I saw people saying that Adam Driver was pretty much guaranteed the win for best actor, I shrug it off thinking "naaah, Joaquin Phoenix pls, Joker pls", but after seeing the film... yeah, this is definitely going to be a tight, competitive year.

I would love to see Joaquin finally win an Oscar, especially because it's Joker, but Adam Driver definitely deserves it as well, and might even for sure win it because, when compared to Joker, the film is 100x times family/academy-friendly, so there's that as well.

Both Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson were amazing, really good acting and script, they really blew me away. I always knew that Adam Driver could act, but Scarlett was definitely a revelation, wasn't really expecting it because y'know, Avengers and such, but from now on I'll be sure to give her more chances when it comes to these types of roles/films.



That currently brings me to 100 new films (193 hours total) seen this year, but I really want to make it to 120 at the very least, because that's how many I saw last year.

I really don't know if I can do it, but I'll try.

Besides Star Wars, I don't think I'll be seeing anything else in theaters this year, so most would have to be seen at home. I think it can be done, but most of the films I have ready to watch are really looong D: ...

Maybe I'll just say "screw it" and watch a few dvds I have in one sitting, like a few Bergman films I have yet to see and the like, have 4 of those and they're all relatively short, around 90mins I think.

Atlantics should be next, Uncut Gems comes out on Christmas on Netflix I think... umm don't know what else, will have to check.

What's everyone else looking forward to watch in December?

Also, if you happen to remember a film you'd recommend, let me know, since I'm kinda desperate to get to 120.

 

[Organizized]

Huh, I actually thought Miller'a Croasing was great. Only seen it once though, over ten years ago probably, so might have been a blind fanboy at the time tbf.

As for Stampede... yeah. Everything you said. And that applies to almost all OP films, especially as of late. The early ones at least were a bit fun and keeping with the tone of the early show, but lately it's just the same fan service, same plot devices recycled with the villains ending up being the same as the villain from the last film etc. Disappointing for sure.

And yeah, I read somewhere else (an interview I think) that Raftel is actually named Laugh Tale. I usually change my spelling when the official one is revealed but nah, never gonna call it Laugh Tale. Not happening.

 

[Faust]

Marriage Story is the 2nd 2019 film that I rate 5/5 (Parasite being the first one)
Really great acting from Driver and Johansson

Other recent films (2018/2019) I've seen lately:

Shoplifters reminds me of a lot Parasite in a lot of ways. 4/5

Sorry to Bother You My expectation is probably too high for this 3/5. Thompson is very charismatic

Booksmart watch this if you like Superbad and Ingrid Goes West. Good directorial debut for Olivia Wilde

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Stranger Things Great premise but not well directed/acted, (it's really hard to get kid actors to be fair) 2.5/5

The Farewell Great family film. Awkwafina's portrayal/role is not that heavy (it wasn't supposed to) but it was good. Great to see great Asian family focused films lately (Japan's Shoplifters and South Korea's Parasite) 3.8/5

Ready or Not Not as good as I wanted it to be 2.5/5

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Definitely not among Tarantino's best in my opinion. It wasn't divided to specified chapters like most of his films. The cast played their characters well. The climax is too short for the how much build up it took.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 8, 2019, Original Post Date: Dec 8, 2019 ---

And I just got done watching Marriage Story, which was very good.
When I saw people saying that Adam Driver was pretty much guaranteed the win for best actor, I shrug it off thinking "naaah, Joaquin Phoenix pls, Joker pls", but after seeing the film... yeah, this is definitely going to be a tight, competitive year.

I would love to see Joaquin finally win an Oscar, especially because it's Joker, but Adam Driver definitely deserves it as well, and might even for sure win it because, when compared to Joker, the film is 100x times family/academy-friendly, so there's that as well.

Phoenix and Driver were both great but I prefer Driver's portrayal.

Phoenix deserves an Oscar more than Driver at this point because of his career. This is like the time I was glad Julianne Moore (Still Alice) won over Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) even though I preferred Pike's performance.

If ever Phoenix wins, I hope Driver eventually wins in the near future as well (and vice versa). He's on a roll! Nominated last year as well, but I didn't really saw anything special on his portrayal in BlakKlansman to be honest. lol

Both Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson were amazing, really good acting and script, they really blew me away. I always knew that Adam Driver could act, but Scarlett was definitely a revelation, wasn't really expecting it because y'know, Avengers and such, but from now on I'll be sure to give her more chances when it comes to these types of roles/films.

Johansson should definitely get her very first Oscar nod for this film.

I would say the film getting the Best Picture nod and Baumbach getting a directing nod isn't impossible since Lady Bird and Gerwig got it from 2018.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 8, 2019 ---

That currently brings me to 100 new films (193 hours total) seen this year, but I really want to make it to 120 at the very least, because that's how many I saw last year.

My target for this year is 100 but I'm only at 39/100 atm I blame watching too much esports/twitch streams lol.

 

[Eigengrau]

Huh, I actually thought Miller'a Croasing was great. Only seen it once though, over ten years ago probably, so might have been a blind fanboy at the time tbf.

I think it's kinda (but not really) the same problem I had with "Heat" when I finally saw it last year.
Like, it's an alright movie, but it would've been even better to actually see it around the time it came out.
But in 2018, over 20 years later? No wonder it doesn't retain as much impact given all the similar things I've seen in the meantime.

So I assume it's mostly the same thing with Miller's Crossing... I mean the whole backstabbing and blackmailing, the way the plot moved felt so damn basic and cliché in every possible way, because we've all seen that story a million times, basically... No twists, turns, or surprises for me, almost as if I'd already seen the film a dozen times and know exactly where everything is going, and what everyone is going to say.

Phoenix and Driver were both great but I prefer Driver's portrayal.

Phoenix deserves an Oscar more than Driver at this point because of his career. This is like the time I was glad Julianne Moore (Still Alice) won over Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) even though I preferred Pike's performance.

Yeah that's the thing, I feel like Joaquin really deserves it, especially for this one of a kind role, but I feel like they're likely to go with Driver because it's the most "safe", family-friendly pick...

I don't know, I guess time will tell, as we pay close attention to the other award shows leading up to the Oscars.

My target for this year is 100 but I'm only at 39/100 atm I blame watching too much esports/twitch streams lol.

It is never too late

Speaking of which, I dropped by to provide yet another smaller update. I've seen:

- O-Bi, O-Ba - The End of Civilization: I finally got around to see this Polish film, the first one I've seen by Piotr Szulkin, and I definitely want to check out his other ones even more now, which I've had on my Watchlist for who nows how long, like "Golem".

I guess this one/most of his films fall under the category that would put them somewhere close to the Soviet sci-fi films from the 80s, reeking of despair and bad times. Really liked the cinematoraphy as well. If you're into Tarkovsky and the like, I think there's merit in checking out this director and the films he made. There wasn't anything too mind-blowing about this one, but I liked it, and it felt like a good film to start with.



- The Perfection: ... just what the hell did I get myself into... oh man...

So this one came out early this year, and I remember being somewhat curious about it, but eventually my interest just went up in smoke, even though I had already acquired the movie and had it ready to watch at any time.

So the other day I decided eh what the well, it's only 90mins, I'll check it off my list, and since I've seen some folk saying how it's "crazy bonkers", I may as well give it a shot.

So, I wouldn't go as far to say that the movie was terrible or anything like that, but I feel like there was a much, much better (and darker) story to be told, not to mention that there was also wasted potential.

With that out of the way, it's really hard to take the movie seriously in a lot of instances. Not just due to some of the acting and dialogue, but also because of how the plot progresses.

A lot of actions undertaken by the characters, their reactions and justifications... I mean they're so, so over the top that they don't even begin to quite make some sense, and it's hard to really connect with the story and see it as "realistic".

Crazy bonkers, yes, but not in the good sense. The special effects were simply atrocious as well. Not just bad, but "there's no excuse for this level of badness"- bad... like you'd get better results for sure just by actually using real (fake) blood and props.



- Atlantics: I liked it. I guess the story itself isn't really that unique, but it's all about the directing, the location, the actors and such that make it interesting. It really is a "love ghost story" as they've been calling it, and I liked how they handled both sides.

Worth checking out if you want to keep an eye on the most talked about/praised contenders for best foreign film.



Flame & Citron: I've had this movie for yearssss but I finally decided to give it a go. It was alright, thought there would be a lot more action and different stuff happening, but the plot ended up being nothing new... then again, it's based on real events/people (Danish resistance during WWII), and it's always great to see Mads Mikkelsen, he's just great.



Ready or Not: decided to watch this one on a whim, and I also share your sentiment, @FaustXIII .

For starters, it fucking sucked that the version that I got was "censored": they blurred a cleavage, and whenever two characters kissed, the image was zoomed in in a character's temple, so we wouldn't see them kissing. Took me a while to figure out why those zooms were happening.

What the fuck, seriously? I can only wonder where that censored version came from (mind you, it was in blu-ray quality, not something filmed in a theater).

But that was about it, it was weird, but nothing else was changed, edited, or blurred out when it came to violence and bloody stuff.

But umm, yeah, it was an okay watch, and the main actress is cool, but when you get to the end, I feel like she just didn't really do much at all? Instead of being a film about her having to survive at any cost, it felt to me like it revolved a lot more around how everyone else sucked at trying to kill her. Felt like they were the ones who indirectly did the more damage...

Just meh.



Monos: this was one of my most anticipated of the year, I've been so curious to check it for over a year. I really wanted to see it in theaters (this year, but it will only premiere near me next year), but hey, it hit the web in perfect quality, and I really need to see a bunch of movies, so I had to do it.

I really liked this one, which I think is a also a real contender to be shortlisted for best foreign film.

I expected it to be a little more "crazy", given what a lot of critics were saying, and I feel like it might've lost a tiny little bit of steam towards the end, but it's still a ride worth taking.

The cinematography is gorgeous, the OST is stunning, and even if the first half happens to be stronger than the second, if anything it just pulls you in and makes sure that you'll be glued to it for its entirety.

I think it's really worth checking out, and I might even go see it in theaters next year as well so I can experience it on the big screen.



Villains: just got done watching it, decided to pick this one today because it was a quick watch, and was also on my watchlist.

Very disappointing, unfortunately. Tone-wise, I feel like it was a mess, and the pace/editing just wasn't good. The way the movie was put together felt very amateur-ish, despite the stellar cast, which is a damn shame. The actors really did their best.

There just wasn't anything interesting to it. I thought it was gonna be a lot more fucked up or something, but barely anything happens at all, and the little that does, is, once again, nothing you haven't seen before. Ugh.

I would go as far as to say that this is barely a film.



That's the suckiest part about having to rush and make sure I see X amount of films before the year is over... a lot of them are probably going to suck.

But the good news is that I'm at 107/120, only have to watch 13 more this month, and I think I can do it. I feel like I'm running out of good stuff to watch which is a bit off-putting, but I think I can do it

I might go see Star Wars this Wednesday, so technically just 12 left, but I would prefer to get it all over and done with before Christmas just so I can have some peace of mind, and maybe binge a show or two, finally (it has become somewhat of a tradition for me to bingewatch the newest season of South Park after Christmas night).

 

[FetherMan]

Uncut Gems - 9 / 10

Recently found out about this film and it looks like Sandler gets the chance to show his more serious side when it comes to acting. The last films Sandler did like this, where the humor was thrown to the side that I enjoyed was "Punch Drunk Love" and "Spanglish" and this was definitely a great movie. LaKeith Stanfield is also in this and I'm liking him more and more with his previous films (Sorry To Bother You & Knives Out), these two really did this project well. Not familiar with the Safdie Brothers, but I like what they did here and looking forward to more of their stuff to come.


p.s., got to see the "Tenent" trailer, the new film coming soon from Chris Nolan. Looks alright, reminds me of "Inception" and wondering if, this is possible a sequel or connected to it somehow. And can't wait to see "Rise of Skywalker".

 

[Eigengrau]

Well, I did it, I'm currently at 121 films, that's already 1 more than what I saw last year! That's 26 films so far this month alone, almost one per day. I'll see if I can round it up to 125 (because OCD) but I'm just happy with the fact that I hit the mark. As for what I saw-


Sweetheart: despite the low rating, I decided to give this one a shot because it was only 80mins long, and that was pretty much it. I mean I wouldn't call it a waste of time, but it was... kinda weird? Some subplots were teased but never explained/brought up again and you're just left wondering what the hell it was all about... But for a small, indie monster-flick, I feel like the creature was designed well in the sense that they knew how to "hide" it in the night scenes and such, possibly so we couldn't quite tell how it wasn't that good.

But like I said, they did a good job in that department. Acting and story-wise, not so much, I would say. But again, for something that's 80mins long, it's over and done before you know it, it goes by so quick which likely makes it all feel even more unfulfilling.


The Report: so I liked seeing Adam Driver so much in "Marriage Story", that I thought eh what the hell, I may as well watch his other new film. For those who don't know, this one is about the "torture report", which deals with stuff that happened in the aftermath of 9/11.

I mean the film was alright, but I personally feel like this is the kind of film that is likely to connect more with American audiences, because 9/11 and such. Like, yes, at its core you could say that it's about human and ethical values, but there's so much politic involved, name dropping, "lawyering"...

It's fine but I feel like this is something likely to be more enjoyable for people that are familiar with the topic/issue.


The Hunt/Jagten: one I've wanted to watch for a very long time as well, with Mads Mikkelsen, always great seeing him, especially when acting in his native tongue. Given what I knew about the subject matter, I thought the film would be a lot more hard-hitting, but it was worth the watch. Nothing really mind-blowing, don't really see how it's #94 on IMDb's top rated but umm, yeah.

I guess there's kind of a "realistic" feel to it in a sense, which makes it uncomfortable in a good sense, so I'm guessing that also helps in elevating the film and performances as a whole.


Age Out (previously titled "Friday's Child"): it really took this film a long time to finally come out... wanted to check it out because it looked really interesting, and also because it's a film by a guy who has worked with Mallick on a few films of his, and I think it clearly shows.

This is one of those films where the story isn't anything new (although the film still managed to surprise me a few times), but you watch it for the different take on the directing, as well as the acting. If you're capable of giving something a shot knowing that the story might not be all that new to you, but you might get something else in return in other departments (cinematography, acting, etc.), then this one might be worth it.

I also really liked Imogen Poots in this one.


Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: in a nutshell, it's pretty much what I expected, same thing as Last Jedi: you can easily sit through it and be entertained, but as soon as you start thinking about it, it all falls apart. While there are some good moments, as well as some funny ones, ultimately, when you consider the "whole", both as a movie and a trilogy, it's just utter dogshit.

The amount of retconning, bad writing, and utter lack of character development is just sad and disappointing.

All the talent on camera is great, doing whatever they can with that they have, the problem is with the people at the top.

I'm pretty sure someone at some point said something like: "yeah, we know this movie is absolute shit, but the kids are going to like it, their parents will take them to the movies to see it, and we'll make money, which is all that matters".

Absolutely ridiculous.

Here's what I said on the SW thread, which I invite others to go and check it out to see some of the conversation going on (SPOILERS, obviously)

Spoiler

It's pretty much what I had anticipated/said a few posts above, but honestly, the fan-service + horrible, cringy, forced, on-the-nose retconning was laughably bad all the way through.

In many, many instances where they're referring to something that happened/was said in "The Last Jedi", the way the dialogue comes across is the equivalent of:

"LOL nevermind that"
"Lol yeah that was stupid, the guy who wrote the script was stupid"
"Yeah that was stupid right?!"
"BRUH forget that ever happened!"

So in regards to those headlines saying that they're shitting hard on Rian Johnson, I can totally see where they're coming from.

I mean it's true that things were beyond fucked after The last Jedi, there was no way in hell they could ever deliver a salvageable final film in the trilogy, when barely anything ever happened to begin with across the 3 films.

But retconning a ton of stuff and not even trying to hide it, and then doing nothing else but throwing cheap fan-service and nostalgia...

I mean the film is pretty much a reel, like they looked at all the previous star wars films, asked "what are the most iconic moments?", and then said "let's find a way to put them all in the film!"

Once again, they're pandering to the audience. They're trying to save face, try to make it as crowd-pleasing as possible.

But worried about telling a good story? Fuck no, and even if they were, it's far beyond too late at this stage.

They made their own bed (and repetitively shat on it) from the moment they decided to make this trilogy as they went along, no story arc outlined for either the plot or the characters, no vision, handing each film to a different director and letting them do whatever they wanted.

And it sucks, because the actors in the film are all (mostly) talented, and there was tons of missed potential.

This feels like 2 films crammed into one, but you know what the worst part is?

EVEN IF the 2nd film had expanded on things that would still lead to the plot arc in "The Rise of Skywalker", even if they hadn't made it as "rushed", it would still be bad because the story that they came up with is just downright stupid, ridiculous, and predictable.

It literally feels like they sat around a table and said:

"Okay, how do we make this last film as basic, easy to understand, and crowd-pleasing as possible?"

Feels like something they just wanted to be over with.

And then, there were several scenes where they're trying to make you feel a certain way, when you ALREADY KNOW how that situation is going to be resolved in just a few moments.

It's absolutely ridiculous in many instances.

There's no sense of any real danger.

I mean come on, it's the last film, what were people expecting? That the bad guys would win?

Of course not, but when not even the journey itself has any originality to it it's just...

I don't know, as I said, it's pure entertainment, I sat easily through this, but it's ridiculous and downright sad what they did, not just with this film, but with the trilogy as a whole

Ms. Purple: another one on my watchlist, gave it a go because it was also under 90mins. Also one of those where the story doesn't end up being anything new, but you end up sticking with it because of its "take" on it.

Fun fact: the director was an actor in the Twilight films, as well as in a bunch of other stuff.

As for this film, I liked the acting by the two main characters (really want to see more of that actress, I believe it was her first feature role, I really think she can do great), the story ends up being "it is what it is", and I wasn't very fond of some of the "creative" choices, BUT, this is one of those films that gives me a sense that "the director is still trying to find/shape his creative voice, and he definitely, truly has potential to make it big, eventually, but there's no rush".

So yeah, I think it's worth to keep an eye out on the guy.

Some of the acting was bad (not main characters, but still), not shitting on anyone, but I get it, it was probably his biggest film so far, but even with "small indie" films you can only do and get so much, so yeah, just keep on going.



Uncut Gems: I fucked and shouldn't have watched it :/. The version I found was "good", but it was a screener, so the quality just wasn't all there which was so damn unfortunate when you consider the type of stylized film that this is. I really should've stopped the film early on, but I couldn't help myself.

Anyway, I thought that the film was good, and Sandler was great. However, based on some early things I had read about the film, I expected it to be a lot more intense and chaotic. I think the directing is brilliant and it really keeps you engaged all the way through, but I think some people over-hyped it a bit too much when saying that the film is the equivalent to having a panic attack.

I get why they would say that, but for me I don't think it ever got to THAT point.

Another thing that fucking sucked; you know how some websites where you can stream movies sometimes have a bunch of thumbnails in the videoplayer before you hit play? Well, I got spoiled on something monumental, something you just can't unsee or forget (I really tried), which really, really sucked.

This was one of my most anticipated of the year, didn't watch a trailer or anything, so yeah, really sucked to have something like that spoiled right when it became possible for me to watch it.

To be fair, I wouldn't say it "ruined" it for me, because I couldn't quite predict how/when that specific thing happened, so it was all good, I guess, but I would've prefered to not have been spoiled :/...


Werewolf/Wilkolak: Here's the synopsis: "Children liberated from a Nazi concentration camp have to overcome hunger, thirst and vicious dogs in an abandoned mansion surrounded by the forest."

Sounded interesting enough, and I remember watching the trailer a long time ago and it looked intriguing enough.

I will say that I liked all of the actors. It's really hard to usually "sell" kids and their acting, but here everyone did a good job. However, I feel like there were far too many kids who just didn't have much of a role, or hardly any lines. Makes me wonder if it wouldn't have been better to have less actors, because it's a shame that some of them were so underused.

As for the plot, it just never went "hard" down the road I thought it was heading towards, but in the end it was fine because I kinda understand what the message was that the film was aiming for, I think.

Nothing to write home about, but the performances were good.


Mother: directed by Bong Joon ho ("Parasite" and many others).

I've wanted to watch this one for a very long time, and I think part of the reason why I'd been avoiding it for so long was because I'd already been spoiled regarding the ending/some "developments".

However, once again the director proves why he's such a master at directing: I was indeed right about what I had been spoiled many many years ago, but the director is so good, that the twists and turns made me doubt myself several times throughout the entire film.

And while I wouldn't go as far as to say that I loved the film, I definitely love that aspect about it.


Dachra: What a fucking mess of a film. I'll try and be as concise as possible because it hurts me to even think about it/realize that I wasted my time with this.

So the film is nearly 2 hours long, and this is one of those rare cases where it could/should have been 90mins or less. As you know, I generally like/prefer long movies, but it just wasn't worth it for this one.

But you know what the worst part is? I think the actual set-up, first part of the film was the best one, in setting the mood and everything, slow.burn kind of deal, but then it eventually all falls apart.

Look, this is the synopsis: "A Tunisian horror film set in a cannibal village. Based on true story"

If you've read this, and if you've seen the trailer, you know that it's about a cannibal village.
You already know that is what the film is going to be about, and I fucking hate when films do this; they give you all this information in the promotional material, but then in the film they keep "playing with your expectations" and making you question whether the characters are just being paranoid for no reason, when you already know it really is about cannibals and you just want the movie to get to that point.

They only get to the village at around 44mins into the film. Again, I understand setting up the plot and mood, but it's not even funny how absurd it gets towards the end.

As someone who writes and always likes to make sure that things "make sense", it fucking hurt my soul seeing so many ridiculous and out of character things happening in the film.

Here's an example (major spoilers, obviously):

Spoiler

So the film is about 3 journalism students who have to make a video report on a subject, about whatever they want
One of them tells the other two about this crazy story that he heard, which eventually leads them to said cannibal village.
It is then revealed (poorly) in the end that this guy was actually a "bad guy" all along that lured the other main characters there.
BUT
early in the film, there's a scene where he picks up a camera from the other guy, and plays back a video; in the video, he sees the 3 of them sleeping (himself included) as an unknown person (another villager) recorded the footage with their camera in a very stalker-like manner, even holding knives to their throats and all.

The guy freaks out, fumbles with the camera all "wtf" and shit, and accidentally deletes the video... but the guy was a bad guy all along and he was doing all this when he was alone, so his actions just don't make sense like at all...

An absolute mess, and it's clear to me that those reviews on IMDb were either paid for, or were submitted by people close to the director.


A Page of Madess: you've likely heard about this one, you can find it on youtube. It's a silent, freakish avant-garde film of sorts from 1926.

In my opinion it had some really cool visuals, way ahead of its time. I really liked the film, it's quite "experimental" even though there's a story, but I have to be honest; while the version that I saw had a music track so it wasn't complete silence and just images, because it's still a silent, weird and sometimes hard to follow film, there were times where I found myself being distracted and thinking about unrelated stuff, therefore losing focus.

It's not the film's fault, of couse. I mean we're so used to hearing dialogue, sound effects and such, when you take it all the way it becomes a little harder to grab your attention.

Still, I concentrated and did my best, and I really recommend the film, I think it's worth it if you're into this sort of thing, some really astonishing camera work and creative cinematography for a 1926 film.



The Seventh Seal + Persona: finally saw these 2 Bergman films. I liked them both, maybe more the Seventh Seal than Persona, although there was still plenty to like about the latter (stunning actresses, for starters) it's just that I'm still confused regarding some things.

I really want to get more into Bergman but I feel like it'll take some time to get used to it, like with the Nuri Bilge Ceylan films.



The Third Murder: same director as "Shoplifters". I thought the story would be more intriguing and twisty, but it wasn't really the case.

Don't really know yet if I was satisfied by the end, still have to read up on it, but Kôji Yakusho is an amazing actor and it's always good seeing him. I really need to see "Eureka" (2000, 3h37mins) sometime soon, I think I'm really going to like it.


That's it for now, but I might still watch a thing or two before new year's.

Uncut Gems - 9 / 10

Did you watch it in theaters? If yes, ijelly :/
As I said above, I regretted putting it on as soon as I saw the quality, but it seems that it won't be playing in my country at all, and also I really wanted to see the film so it's not like I had much of a choice in the end.

Not familiar with the Safdie Brothers, but I like what they did here and looking forward to more of their stuff to come.

Bruh, watch "Good Time" if you haven't already, do it.
Personally I feel like it's still the best one, although I was really looking forward for them to outdo themselves.
Also, one of the directors/writers also plays a part in "Good Time" alongside Robert Pattinson, and he really stole some scenes, he blew me away.

I personally feel like that one was way more intense and anxiety inducing because the stakes were much more personal, I feel. Easier to empathize with the characters.

When I saw the film in theaters, I didn't really know what to expect (this is also one of those films that pushed me over the edge and help me decide to stop watching trailers), and right from the first scene there was a moment that hit me hard in the gut and I was like "holy shit I feel like crying already how is this possible in such a short amount of time?"

And that's when I knew it was going to be quite a ride.

 

[FetherMan]

Uncut Gems - 9 / 10

Recently found out about this film and it looks like Sandler gets the chance to show his more serious side when it comes to acting. The last films Sandler did like this, where the humor was thrown to the side that I enjoyed was "Punch Drunk Love" and "Spanglish" and this was definitely a great movie. LaKeith Stanfield is also in this and I'm liking him more and more with his previous films (Sorry To Bother You & Knives Out), these two really did this project well. Not familiar with the Safdie Brothers, but I like what they did here and looking forward to more of their stuff to come.


p.s., got to see the "Tenent" trailer, the new film coming soon from Chris Nolan. Looks alright, reminds me of "Inception" and wondering if, this is possible a sequel or connected to it somehow. And can't wait to see "Rise of Skywalker".

Star Wars - The Rise of Skywalker 8 / 10

Overall, I was entertained and enjoyed the film from beginning to end. I feel this was a well made conclusion to the Sequel trilogy as well as wrapping up what began with Episode I. I am also, looking forward to what they'll do with the new trilogy coming up in 2022, I think now, there's more room for new ideas and adventures, which I feel is what attracts me to this franchise of films.

 

[Eigengrau]

Guess I'll take this opportunity and have the first post of this new year be dedicated to my stats from 2019

Once again, for starters, here's a visual guide of all the movies I saw, from latest to oldest:

Spoiler

Total number of movies seen: 124 (same as last year):
- 121 new movies (+1 compared to last year)
- 3 rewatches (-1 compared to last year)

Out of those 124 movies:
- 60 were seen at home;
- 64 were seen in theaters (61 new + 3 rewatches)

Out of the 64 theater showings I attended:
- 21 were free;
- 30 were part of film festivals (1 of which, "Burning", was a rewatch);
- 13 were regular showings.

So excluding the free ones, I ended up spending 170,44 euros on 43 films, which is kind of a massive decrease in my opinion considering the 238,30 euros I spent last year (on 52 movies).

- Most expensive month: November (49,20 euros)
- Cheapest month: April, June, July and August (0 euros)
- Month with the most movies seen: December (26)
- Month with the least number of movies seen: June and July (1 each month)
- Number of movies I saw by myself at home: 60
- Number of movies I saw by myself at the movie theater: 36
- Number of movies I saw at the movie theater with at least one more person: 28
- Longest movie seen: "Avengers Endgame" (3h01mins) ._. ... but that was at home (wink wink). If we're talking theater showings, it's "A Hidden Life" I think, at 2h54mins.
- Shortest movie seen: "A Page of Madness" - 1h11mins
- Average runtime: about 1h50mins.
- Total amount of time spent in 2019 watching movies: 229h17mins, or 9 Days/13 Hours/17 minutes.

Also want to point out that I saw 79 films in the last 4 months of the year, which was quite a crazy endeavor o_O for me.
Really had to pick up the pace if I wanted to hit my goal.

Here's some of my favorite movies I saw in 2019, listed in chronological order:

Spoiler

Ash is Purest White
Sunset
Jessica Forever
Thou Shalt Not Kill
Sophia Antipolis
Come and See (not released this year)
The Lodge
Bliss
Parasite
Joker
Woman in the Dunes (not released this year)
The Face of Another (not released this year)
Beanpole
A Hidden Life
The Criminal Man
Atlantis
The Lighthouse
The Tribe (not released this year)
Marriage Story
Monos
Uncut Gems (I mean it was kinda just ok really, didn't like it as much as I expected/wanted to, Good Time is still better in my opinion)

As I mentioned previously though, Beanpole is easily my favorite film of the year, I highly recommend it, especially if you can see it in theaters (opens January 29th in the USA).
I would for sure place it at the very top, followed by, in no particular order, Joker, The Lighthouse, A Hidden Life.
Also want to say that both Sunset and Jessica Forever really surprised me and blew me away, which was extremely unexpected. Really glad I gave those movies a shot, definitely a revelation.

And here's some that were disappointing, forgettable, a letdown (in the sense that they could've been so much better) and/or a waste of my time:

Spoiler

The World is Yours (expected much more from this director's 2nd feature)
Glass (underwhelming and disappointing, though somewhat expected, unfortunately)
Velvet Buzzsaw (UGH)
Climax (while I liked the beginning of the film, by the end you just couldn't tell anything that was going on which just kinda defeats the purpose... lots of people seemed to love it and consider it some of the year's best, but not me)
Triple Frontier
The Yellow Night (pointless)
I was at home, but (utter and complete waste of time from beginning to end, either it went over my head, or I don't know, I just went "what the fuck" as soon as it ended, it was just a bunch of nothing to me)
Once Upon a time... in Hollywood (apart from the last minutes of the film, it's just a love letter to Hollywood and such, which is kinda the equivalent of Tarantino jerking it... it was just pointless with nothing happening throughout most of the film... not for me)
Come to Daddy (was expecting something else entirely, and while the movie is enjoyable to some degree, by the time I had finished watching another movie immediately after, back to back screenings, I had completely forgotten that I had seen it, due to how little it impacted me... truly forgettable in every sense of the word)
Haunt (cool trailer, bad film/writing/editing/everything)
Gemini Man
The Perfection (wtf)
Villains (forgettable)
Sweetheart (forgettable)
Star Wars IX
Dachra (terrible)

And I think that's pretty much it, if anyone has any questions, let me know.

Happy new year everyone, may 2020 bring us a lot of joy and good films as well .

(Here's some that I'm looking forward to as of now: )

Spoiler

1917
Jojo Rabbit
Underwater
Gretel & Hansel
Mortal
Antlers
Son's Will
The Beach House
Saint Maud
The Painted Bird
Dogs Don't Wear Pants
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
The Wild Goose Lake
Prisoners of the Ghostland

 

[Brandish μ]

I tried to keep a record of what I watched (65 in total), in chronological order;

Spoiler

Title

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron

Mulholland Dr.

The Road to El Dorado

Certain Women

Toy Story

Toy Story 2

Toy Story 3

You Were Never Really Here

The Lion King

Ma vie de Courgette

The Incredibles

Au hasard Balthazar

The Faculty

Mulholland Dr.

Street Fighter

The Night of the Hunter

The Big Hit

Wild at Heart

Sweet Smell of Success

Hard to Kill

Above the Law

Under Siege

Fire Down Below

Sleep Has Her House

Faa yeung nin wa

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Once Upon a Time in America

Sayat Nova

Ashug-Karibi

Ready Player One

Trudno byt bogom

Krótki film o milosci

Moana

Krótki film o zabijaniu

Leave No Trace

Grzeli nateli dgeebi

Avatar

Safe

Saving Private Ryan

If Beale Street Could Talk

Deadwood

Shichinin no samurai

Gett

Mile 22

Angel Has Fallen

Mad Max: Fury Road

Eden

Bliss

Le cercle rouge

Joker

Ai qing wan sui

L'argent

Mandy

L'avenir

Phoenix

Pola X

Tian zhu ding

Pájaros de verano

Tyrannosaur

The Irishman

The Immigrant

Klaus

Bad Boy Bubby

Coming to America

Marriage Story

Favourites of those..

Spoiler

Mulholland Dr.
Street Fighter
A Short Film About Love*
Phoenix
L'Argent*
Coming To America
In The Mood For Love
Bad Boy Bubby

Saw two in a theater (Angle Has Fallen & Joker).

Want to see (from 2019): Ad Astra, Transit

 

[Faust]

Watched 51 Movies this year (My target was 100 lol)

Spoiler: Letterboxd

2019

Films I've seen in 2019.

letterboxd.com

Favorite from 2019 are Parasite and Marriage Story

Favorite from movies released from other years that I've watched this year: The Favourite, Mother.

--- Double Post Merged, Jan 13, 2020, Original Post Date: Jan 1, 2020 ---

Academy Award nominees are out.