Movies The Movie Thread! - Continuation - Part 1

[Organizized]

Nightmare Alley was visually great but that's about it for me. I love many of the actors/actresses in this film but tbh the performances fluctuated between truly engaging and "oh I'm watching actors act like they're putting on an act". The story was alright but pretty predictable from the get-go. Both me and my wife were kinda just waiting for it to end 2/3 of the way through. 6,5/10

Don't Look Up was a bit more enjoyable writing-wise. Most of it was frustrating but also sadly believable and accurate. A little over-the-top at times (not the movie's fault; satire of today's social media society - which already seems like a parody of humanity - is always gonna come off over the top) and some of the humor fell flat, but I had a few laughs, got a little emotional at the end and I liked the overall message. 7/10

At this point idk how either of these films were nominated for Best Picture, but I haven't seen the other nominees yet so I'll hold off on that for now..

 

[Eigengrau]

Nightmare Alley was visually great but that's about it for me. I love many of the actors/actresses in this film but tbh the performances fluctuated between truly engaging and "oh I'm watching actors act like they're putting on an act". The story was alright but pretty predictable from the get-go. Both me and my wife were kinda just waiting for it to end 2/3 of the way through. 6,5/10

Don't Look Up was a bit more enjoyable writing-wise. Most of it was frustrating but also sadly believable and accurate. A little over-the-top at times (not the movie's fault; satire of today's social media society - which already seems like a parody of humanity - is always gonna come off over the top) and some of the humor fell flat, but I had a few laughs, got a little emotional at the end and I liked the overall message. 7/10

Yeah that's pretty much how I exactly felt about both films, especially Don't Look Up.

Like, the whole social media thing, them making memes, etc., I understand that it's part of the satire but at the same time I feel like it was too much on the nose/cringe. I GET that that's the point, but I feel like it went overboard. Again, I know it's probably the intention, but it was too much for me.

At this point idk how either of these films were nominated for Best Picture, but I haven't seen the other nominees yet so I'll hold off on that for now..

Not even Dune ?
I hope you can find the time to watch Drive My Car before the Oscars, I know it's 3h long, but I really enjoyed it.
I believe it's premiering on a streaming platform at the beginning of next month?

Power of the Dog is probably gonna win but I'm rooting for Drive My Car, there might be a chance.

I can understand Nightmare Alley being nominated for a bunch of stuff, it's deserved, but best pic? Nah.

I've only seen 5/10, Dune, Drive My Car, Belfast, Nigthmare Alley, Don't look Up, and IMO only the first 2 really deserve to be on there, can't say I'm interested in checking out the other ones.

 

[Organizized]

Not even Dune ?
I hope you can find the time to watch Drive My Car before the Oscars, I know it's 3h long, but I really enjoyed it.
I believe it's premiering on a streaming platform at the beginning of next month?

Definitely planning on watching Drive My Car, I really like the short story (big fan of Murakami in general) and curious to see how it translates to screen.

As far as Oscars, I'm pleasantly surprised at the international films being nominated for more than just the International category. 'Flee' also for Documentary and Animated; 'The Worst Person in the World' for Adapted Screenplay; 'Drive My Car' Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay.. Parasite sure was a trailblazer in that regard, hopefully this is a trend that will continue.

--- Double Post Merged, Feb 18, 2022, Original Post Date: Feb 18, 2022 ---

Watched CODA yesterday, really great coming of age film. Story-wise you could sayi it's pretty formulaic to the genre, but I don't mind formulaic when it's done well and there's much else to enjoy. Well written characters, and combined with great performances (especially from Emilia Jones and Troy Kotsur) it makes for both funny and touching moments - some of which very easily could have felt like your typical Hollywood blasé tearjerker stuff if it had been handled differently, but it never really felt forced in that way.

Coming-of-age films heavily involving music always hit home with me, but even just the premise of this one adds some extra layers to all of that.

8,5/10

 

[Eigengrau]

Definitely planning on watching Drive My Car, I really like the short story (big fan of Murakami in general) and curious to see how it translates to screen.

Reading more Murakami is something I've wanted to do for a very very long time now.

As far as Oscars, I'm pleasantly surprised at the international films being nominated for more than just the International category. 'Flee' also for Documentary and Animated; 'The Worst Person in the World' for Adapted Screenplay; 'Drive My Car' Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay.. Parasite sure was a trailblazer in that regard, hopefully this is a trend that will continue.

If I'm not mistaken I believe Flee is making history(?) by being the first animated film to be nominated for both best Doc and best Animated feature.
Its x3 nominations really throw a wrench in my Oscars predictions, Best International Film especially, it's stacked.

I can see Drive My Car winning so Best Pic goes to "Power[...]", but I think it might be a tight race between Drive and Worst Person.

And also iirc, I believe the Academy got a lot more foreign members recently and I think that's what pushed a lot of unlikely films to the forefront, like Drive My Car even when it's a 3h long film.

That's why I believe it has a solid chance, because of all these new members, doesn't surprise me (if that's really the case) that we're seeing more non-english speaking films coming through.

 

[Organizized]

The new Scream was actually pretty good. Might be you have to be a fan of the series, and obviously the meta horror genre overall, but as someone who's seen the original like 100 times, and the sequels at least a dozen or so, it was definitely better than I had dared hope.

Spoiler: Major Scream 2022 spoiler

My wife, who's seen all the films hundreds of times, is now legitimately in mourning over Dewey. His death scene sent chills down my spine and me and Jenny squeezed each others' hand to bits throughout..

I'll have to revisit it after some time and see if it holds up, but first watch was definitely a positive one.

7/10

--- Double Post Merged, Feb 28, 2022, Original Post Date: Feb 21, 2022 ---

I liked Belfast a lot actually. "Tumultuous historic events through the eyes of a kid" is always very effective to me, when done well. Great-looking and well written film, above all else. At first I thought the pacing of it felt rushed, like they wanted all these scenes in the film but they edited them down as much as possible, but honestly halway through I found myslef thinking it was a really effective way to portray childhood; kid speeding through the days even in the midst of chaotic events, while still noticing and worrying about, but not quite comprehending, what the grown-ups are talking about. And the scenes that really needed to "hit" weren't rushed.
Solid-to-great acting performances as well. Also, I love Van Morrison, so the soundtrack was obviously a big positive for me.

8/10

 

[Sanity Check]

Very manga'ish

 

[Organizized]

Absolute classic. My VHS (I think, or maybe it was early DVD days ) of that and Kung Fu Hustle were both worn out.

 

[Eigengrau]

I have been informed earlier today that I scored some free tickets for The Batman, which I'll be seeing on Wednesday 2nd , 2 days from now.
Reviews have started pouring in since a few hours ago and they seem to be overwhelmingly positive.

Also for those of you who didn't know, it's 3 hours long

 

[Organizized]

The Power of the Dog was excellent. A slow burn, with superb building of tension, and character-driven in the best way. Cumberbatch and Smit-McPhee are stellar in their performances.

8,5/10 for me, off first impression.

 

[Eigengrau]

The Batman was very good in my opinion.
Is it the 10/10, absolute masterpiece that a lot of critics seem to be saying it is?
Personally, I don't think I would refer to it in such a way, but I also would not argue with anyone who says so, does that make any sense?

Perhaps my opinion would change on a 2nd viewing (for the better). Either way, if I were to compare it (which isn't really fair), I think I would put it on the same level, if not above, of "The Dark Knight".

One thing for sure though, this new trilogy has the potential to easily turn out to be superior to Nolan's.

Nolan's trilogy had a lot going for it, sure, but one thing I don't think those movies ever made me feel, were "I wonder what Batman's gonna be like in the next one", you know? It was always more about what new villains would be featured and that's it.

With this new film, we're basically seeing a Batman that's only in his 2nd year working as the vigilante. There's almost no Bruce Wayne persona at all, and I think that it SO interesting, to be able to see this Bruce/Batman grow as the plot/movies progress, as opposed to all the other films where the Batman is already pretty much established.

Being able to accompany and see this kind of character growth, is a major selling point.

And also, no surprise whatsoever there, but Robert Pattinson absolutely killed it, he totally sells this young Bruce who's still filled with rage and does not have much of an aim. Perfectly cast, period, and I can't wait to see him in films 2 and 3, hope they make them.

Everything else was great as well, from a directing standpoint I have some minor grievances but not really worth it to go into those.

 

[Riku]

The contest is here!

 

[Sanity Check]

Matrix Resurrections 6.5/10

Better than I thought it would be and a little too long.

Laurence Fishburne not reprising his role as Morpheus, made it feel less authentic.

Hugo Weaving not reprising the role of Agent Smith as well.

 

[Eigengrau]

Matrix Resurrections 6.5/10

Better than I thought it would be and a little too long.

Laurence Fishburne not reprising his role as Morpheus, made it feel less authentic.

Hugo Weaving not reprising the role of Agent Smith as well.

Hugo Weaving wanted to but timing didn't allow, instead of waiting for an opening they just said "lmao screw you then".

As for Fishburne, I don't think they ever reached out to him at all.

 

[xi0]

‘Dune: Part Two’: Austin Butler Eyed To Play Feyd-Rautha In Upcoming Sequel

Elvis Austin Butler is in negotiations to play Feyd Rautha in Warner Bros. and Legendary's Dune Part Two.

deadline.com

Uhhhhhh.... well, he's not Harry Styles I guess?

 

[Riku]

‘Dune: Part Two’: Austin Butler Eyed To Play Feyd-Rautha In Upcoming Sequel

Elvis Austin Butler is in negotiations to play Feyd Rautha in Warner Bros. and Legendary's Dune Part Two.

deadline.com

Uhhhhhh.... well, he's not Harry Styles I guess?

Eh, not too psyched. He was good though in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Shannara Chronicles was a guilty pleasure for me. Might work, just might.

Florence Pugh as Irulan though. Gimme gimme.

 

[Organizized]

Licorice Pizza did not live up to my expectations. Some aspects of it were great, but I don't see how it can be leading the race for OG Screenplay.. only one character - luckily one of the leads - has a compelling story arc throughout, and even that is kind of nullified by the ending. I dont know if we as viewers are meant to be frustrated by the ending, or if it is what we're supposed to be rooting for all along. Some parts of the (very scattered) story are really entertaining while some just end up leading to nothing.


And I usually like films that are don't really have any deeper meaning and are just a "vibe", but for me the vibe of this movie was mostly frustrating and anxiety-inducing. Which I guess shouldn't be too much of a surprise seeing as it's a PTA film, but to me the tone of it all was in too stark contrast to what it actually made me feel. Clearly the staple of the film is the dynamic and the relationship between the two main characters, which to me doesn't work when I only give a shit about one of them.

But that's just, you know, my opinion, man. 6,5/10 (even though I focused on the negative here, it's still well made in all things practical Alana Haim carries her character and story well enough).


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

King Richard, on the other hand, is a very formulaically written bio-pic and – just like with CODA – it is a tried and tested formula done very well. Every character fleshed out and well-portrayed. Believable relationships and dynamics. Clear dramaturgy and structure, turning points for both story and character. The acting is great from both the veterans and the younger actresses. All in all just a really well-put together biopic. Nothing groundbreaking, and nothing I’ll return to, but it tells the story it wants to tell and it does so really well. 8/10



Call me a normie but I much prefer a clichéd story done well than a more unconventional one that is unclear on what it wants to say (and not even in an ambiguous way, just a kind of… out of focus kind of way).

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 15, 2022, Original Post Date: Mar 14, 2022 ---

The Lost Daughter had me sobbing. As a parent, it is a cathartic yet heartbreaking watch. Expertly written.

And further solidifies Olivia Colman as one of the greatest actresses of all time in my book.

8/10

 

[Sanity Check]

Rewatching this classic, sometime this week.

 

[Eigengrau]

Dropping by to say that Everything Everywhere All At Once is great on so many levels and it's a must-see at the theater, the experience at home will not be the same.

 

[Organizized]

Dropping by to say that Everything Everywhere All At Once is great on so many levels and it's a must-see at the theater, the experience at home will not be the same.

Definitely planning to see it in theaters when it releases here next month. Looks great!

 

[Sanity Check]

Constantine City of Demons (2018) 10/10

I 10/10 everything that is vaguely interesting & entertaining.

10/10 from me doesn't mean much.