Movies The Movie Thread! - Continuation - Part 1

[Brandish μ]

Watched a few anime movies for the Top 10 Anime Movie game in Fun Forum, get on board if it's your thing.

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I'm going to see my last in-theater movie on Boxing Day, which probably puts me at 5ish for the year. The movie shall be The Favourite by Yorgos Lanthimos (a name I seem to forget all the time). Have not much to go on other than the director, who made Dogtooth (recommend that one heavily). Lobster is one of his recent feats. There's also Emma Stone who I quite like. 50% chance I miss out on this and have to see Aquaman, depending on company. I'd be happy to watch that though.

@Eigengrau

Spoiler

I can totally understand on your view of the movie. A friend said similar about it, noting the technical prowess of the movie supported all the dramatic elements. I'm down with the first bit. Our discussion (note, it wasn't to oppose each other, and that person is educated about theater unlike myself) thereafter was more about the techniques were needed, or in some cases hindered the experience. Which is, I think, what I meant by predictability in my previous post. I'll make it into dot points, not doing so to disagree, only to verify what I mean:

• Panning shots. I don't know what the prescribed terms are past this, but I'll say there was 1 (which is in fact 2) where it worked very positively. Close to the beginning and end of the film, the camera pans + tracks through the house and up the stairs. In the beginning it shows what they have, in the end what they didn't have - in terms of possessions - so you can 'get' what you want from that given the transpired events in between. All good with that. But there are others, and if I watched again I could point out, where there was panning for no reason (to me). One was either at a train station or some large room and it panned, stopped at something irrelevant, then cut. I was going to rewind to see what I missed but couldn't be f'd. Did you feel like this happened at all?
• Tracking shots. We'll go with the biggie - the 'gut puncher' towards the end. I found this to be extremely impressive as a feat. Tracking into the ocean, and having kids look like they're drowning like that, it had me thinking 'how do they do this?'. However, I didn't get the emotional payoff here. It was too predictable. You know those kids are going into the sea, because she kept looking back. The track away from the sea gave me too long to think about what was going on in the sea, which meant I could think about her going into the ocean, where she can't swim. Would a kid die, would she die, if one of those happen, what would direction would the story go after? It would be better if they didn't, since the path the film is on (after the dinner/ice cream scenes which were strong) is towards love. The time is right for a catharsis of sorts. By then, the kids are with Cleo heading back to shore. And when the rest come in for a group hug, and Cleo talks about not wanting the baby. I did feel for her, because this was coming (didn't know her exact feelings or anything); it just didn't get the viscera from me that I knew it was trying to elicit.
• Dog shit. Come on. That driveway was a minefield lol. And I know that the maid's have a lot of work to do so this is the job that is lower end of the list (if I want to be generous, this 'shit' represents the dad's absence and his integrity as a person). But the moment he stood in shit the lady was always going to take out her anger on Cleo over it. So I was thinking, this is shit

I'll add there was another significant predictable part - at the theater. The expectation is undesirable so much that I'm still surprised he didn't come back - which got me more involved than other scenes.

So we (my friend and I) disagreed on those, somewhat. I did feel like I was 'bashing' or picking on the movie, because I don't get as picky as I did with many other movies like I did with Roma.

Poland, “Cold War”

This is on my watch-list, hoping for better subtitles than Ida. Musical? I've got to be in the mood for those.

As for the Oscars, I haven't seen that many new movies this year. I'd probably choose Roma for best Foreign picture because of the hype. Otherwise, I'll cheer for Kore-eda's Shoplifters, without having seen it

 

[Eigengrau]

I'm going to see my last in-theater movie on Boxing Day, which probably puts me at 5ish for the year.

57 for me ^_^'... as I said, Roma was probably the last one I'll see in theaters since there's nothing worth watching that'll premiere in the meantime.
Chances are I'll rewatch The House That Jack Built as the first film for 2019, whom I'll be seeing with a friend, we'll see.
But yeah as I said, I'll be sure to share my stats for the year sometime early in January, still want to watch quite a few at home 'o'.
I'd be happy if I could make it to 120.

The movie shall be The Favourite by Yorgos Lanthimos (a name I seem to forget all the time). Have not much to go on other than the director, who made Dogtooth (recommend that one heavily). Lobster is one of his recent feats. There's also Emma Stone who I quite like. 50% chance I miss out on this and have to see Aquaman, depending on company. I'd be happy to watch that though.

I'm jelly, I think I'll only get to see it in February, unless of course it ends up on the web before the end of the year...
"The Killing of a Sacred Deer" was the first new film I saw this year, and while it wasn't exactly what I wanted/expected from Lanthimos, it was still alright, but not as good as any of his previous films, I feel.

About Roma:

Spoiler

- regarding the pan-shots: I don't think I felt that way, not really. Sure, there might've been some where maybe you could feel that it was getting slightly nauseating/repetitive, but for example, the one where they go to see the cribs and then there's all that chaos outside, I thought it was really well done and it worked and the camera did what, two full 360º spins in total or something like that?

Also this was taken from the trivia:

"To avoid a "subjective depiction" of the period, Alfonso Cuarón chose to shoot the bulk of the film in wide shots, slowing panning over a scene, taking everything in."

And at least for me it makes sense; you're showing all this world and all these events happening to these characters, and I think it worked quite well in creating atmosphere/world-building, we the audience see pretty everything from every angle, and then we come back to the characters and see how they're affected by it.

I get the criticism, but stylistically I think it works for what it was attempting to do.

Tracking shots. We'll go with the biggie - the 'gut puncher' towards the end. I found this to be extremely impressive as a feat. Tracking into the ocean, and having kids look like they're drowning like that, it had me thinking 'how do they do this?'.

There's an article about it here:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/b...s-team-created-intense-ocean-sequence-1169264

Honestly I was so into the scene that I didn't even realize how it was being shot.

For me, yeah, I could tell that something was going to happen in the ocean, and in that first scene where they get out of the car to go to the beach for a while, I was immediately reminded of the film's poster, as well.

However, I didn't exactly know how it was going to turn out; Cleo lost her baby, so what if her boss also lost one of her kids, to show that they're all the same in the end? But yeah, that would've been kinda messed up and not really appropriate, not at the stage where the film was at least.

By then, the kids are with Cleo heading back to shore. And when the rest come in for a group hug

The reason "why" I wasn't immediately reassured was because I thought that the 3rd/older kid had been left behind/drowned, and/or that Cleo was going to come back for him, but then I saw him coming from the opposite side, but that was my fault for not paying attention... but I could've sworn they all stayed there on the shore except the youngest one who came with Cleo.

Dog shit. Come on. That driveway was a minefield lol.

It was a lot of poop indeed
I've never had a dog but I don't think ONE dog could poop that much in just a day or two... I could be wrong, but those were some big-boy turds...

I'll add there was another significant predictable part - at the theater. The expectation is undesirable so much that I'm still surprised he didn't come back - which got me more involved than other scenes.

It wasn't predictable for me until the moment he said he was going to the bathroom because of this:
When she tells him she's (probably) pregnant, he doesn't react much at all, he isn't phased one bit, instead he keeps on kissing and everything.
Because he didn't immediately freak out or simply just stop, I really thought he was being genuine there for a moment, but then of course he gives the old excuse...

Guess that martial art training really taught him how to keep his cool :|...

Spoiler

So we (my friend and I) disagreed on those, somewhat. I did feel like I was 'bashing' or picking on the movie, because I don't get as picky as I did with many other movies like I did with Roma.

I think that's perfectly normal and to be expected, especially when it's a "simple", very artistic/"auteur"-like film such as this one; it just has to work one way or another otherwise it'll end up being seen as nothing but a presumptuous, self-indulging film of sorts, so I think it's quite normal to pick some of its things apart like that.

For what it's worth, Cuarón did say that like 90% of the film was straight up from his own memories, and there's that, too, obviously. While they say that art imitates life (I think that's how it goes?) I also think that it makes sense in a realistic kind of way for some scenes of the movie to play out the way they do, like the poops piling up for example.

This is on my watch-list, hoping for better subtitles than Ida. Musical? I've got to be in the mood for those.

Didn't know it had the music/musical tag. I have yet to see Ida, but I passed on Cold War because it didn't seem to be a "serious" movie for me, especially with the romance and everything... Same reason why I'm not really interested in seeing the new film from the director of Son of Saul, called Sunset.

As for the Oscars, I haven't seen that many new movies this year. I'd probably choose Roma for best Foreign picture because of the hype. Otherwise, I'll cheer for Kore-eda's Shoplifters, without having seen it

Every year when I do my list-thingy for who's going to win, I always end up picking some I'd like to see winning, even when I know they're up against the odds, but this year I'm really going to try and be as neutral as possible, I'll go for those most likely to win even though I probably won't like it in some cases... we'll see.

With them (probably) nominating Black Panther for best picture, this might very well be the last time I actually pay any attention to the Oscars.

 

[goldb]

57 for me ^_^'

Is that just what you've seen in cinema?

If so I'll try to actually keep a note of what I've seen from January. I've been going at least twice every month recently but hadn't kept track of anything.

 

[Eigengrau]

Is that just what you've seen in cinema?

If so I'll try to actually keep a note of what I've seen from January. I've been going at least twice every month recently but hadn't kept track of anything.

Yes, movie theater showings.
If my calculations are correct, should be 57* in movie theaters, and 59 at home, so far. Kinda impressive for me that it's nearly half and half.
As I mentioned, I'll be posting my stats and whatnot, so maybe you'll find some inspiration on there that you can apply to yourself for next year!

(*for what it's worth, 30 out of 57 showings were part of film festivals, but they were all big theater showings so I think that counts as well! And out of the remaining 27 not all were films released this year, but I'll break it all down)

 

[WilliG]

Spiderman into the Spiderverse.

9/10 for me. Animation was fantastic, story was good with emotional highs and lows and enough funny moments.

 

[FetherMan]

Aquaman 8 / 10

Impressed with how good this film was, especially considering that Aquaman is the least most exciting of your DC characters. Much like they did with Wonder Woman, we get to see the world of Atlantis and a very simple and direct story for Arthur Curry. The big difference I think between Aquaman and Superman is, Aquaman has the blessing of being able to inherit his bloodline in Atlantis. I'm hoping for the same story treatments to be handled accordingly with Flash, Cyborgy and even, Batman. DC is in good graces regardless of some failed attempts in the past.

p.s., Here's hoping for "Shazam!" next year in April.

 

[Brandish μ]

Just came back from seeing Into the Spider Verse. Took a little getting used to the animation style, it reminded me of a 3D image without the glasses. With that said, some of the animation in this was stunning and trippy like nothing I've seen. Was recommended to see this in theaters and glad I did, would again. It's a fun movie with a lot of heart, basically it's everything a Marvel movie should be. It could be the best Marvel film.

And, I would put ITSV in the conversation of 'best movie in 2018', but for mine, it's clearly The Favourite by Yargos Lanthimos, which I saw yesterday. I'm yet to see a lot of the other notable films of the year though. The Favourite was a blast, witty dialogue, cunning characters, and the camera work gave this period piece a different 'look' which throws you off a bit, with lens choices for example. Great performances, none as good as Queen Anne, played by Olivia Colman. She gave the movie an emotional centre. Will try to see this again in theaters to see what else I can get from it.

It's been a long time since I saw 2 amazing movies back-to-back.

 

[Organizized]

The Favourite is very high on my to-watch list. Doubt it’ll open anywhere near me, though.

Going to see Bohemian Rhapsody this week-end, finally. I would’ve rather seen Into the Spider-Verse since we’ve only got time for one, but I do wanna see this one as well and it was higher on my wife’s priority list. Also gonna try to watch a lot of others on my watchlist soon, when both me and wife are off work, like Blackkklansman, Sorry to Bother You, A Star is Born, Shoplifters, Roma, First Man, Widows, Bad Times at El Royals, etc. Got a lot of catching up to do.

 

[Eigengrau]

Phew, I think I'm finally done with seeing new movies for the rest of the year!
Here are the last 8 movies I saw in the past 9 days or so:

- Burning: was really, really looking forward to it, didn't watch a single trailer for it since it was the director's first film in 8 years since Poetry. I mentioned him recently, along with two of my favorite films of his, Peppermint Candy and Oasis (again, super highly recommended), and I couldn't wait to watch it.

First off, for a movie that's 2h28mins long, I felt that it was really, really easy to watch. It's true that I'm a sucker for long films, but I can always tell whether the runtime overextends itself sometimes, and I didn't feel that way at all with Burning. I'm sure some would disagree, but I think this says a lot of good things in regards to Lee and his directing/craftsmanship.

The acting was really good from all parts involved, but I would especially like to mention Steven Yeun's part (Glenn from The Walking Dead). It's the first time (I think?) I ever saw him in a movie role, and here, it just so happens that he's in full-blown, native Korean mode, and man, this dude can really act. I always found him ok on TWD, certainly not bad at all, but now I'll have to keep a close eye on him for sure. Really, really surprising.

Cinematography was also absolutely gorgeous, and the soundtrack was fitting as well.

The less you know about the film, the better. I enjoyed it for what it is, but compared to the director's other films? I don't think it's nowhere near as good, and I would maybe place it at 4th place.

Well, that's not exactly accurate: all his other films are full-blown dramas, with a lot more emotional stuff going on all the way through. Here, for the first time(?), we're dealing with a thriller/mystery of sorts, so yeah, it's a different kind of movie altogether. Not just that, this is also an adaptation from a Murakami short story and, even though I believe it was a very loose adaptation (the director "extended" the story and added a lot more stuff without changing anything, I believe), it cannot be compared to his other films that were written by himself.

So yeah, good, haunting film for sure, but not one of the director's best in my opinion. Not bad at all, quite good, but after nothing new in 8 years I was expecting a "magnum opus" kind of thing.



- Mad World: another one of those I've been meaning to watch since I first heard about it. It was alright, good acting, a couple of very powerful scenes. Kinda wanted the whole film to be a lot more gut-punchy as whole than what it ended up being, but it was worth the watch I'd say. Nothing spectacular, but good acting for sure. I don't know if the way the main character portrays his disorder is "accurate", but I could certainly feel his despair as well as revolt, so that was really good and definitely made the whole movie/theme work for me.



- Bright Future: been a while since I wanted to check out this one, by Kiyoshi Kurasawa, and... I don't know, it was a weird experience for sure, and I must say I struggled a bit to keep myself awake towards the end... this happened because IMDb lists the film as being 92mins, but I ended up with an extended version that's nearly 2h long. I of course always prefer the longer, "complete" version of things, but I'd been in the "it's just an hour and a half" mindset for so long that it worked against me.

It was weird, but the good kind of weird, most of the time at least. Also, you can really, reallyyyy tell that this was made in 2002. I was totally not expecting the quality to be so low and feel so "amateurish", but I guess that might've been an earlier trademark of sorts, maybe? I don't know, it wasn't necessarily bad but it surprised me, though I wish I could've seen a cleaner, more detailed version.

It was an okay watch, but I feel kinda cheated since I didn't get what I thought I was gonna get based on the IMDb description. Sure, that just meant I couldn't quite predict what was going to happen next, or where the story would go, but still, it wasn't the movie/story I wanted, I feel like.



- Dead Mountaineer's Hotel: not much to say about this one. Was kinda rushing it to make sure I ended up watching 20 films this month, so I decided to see it since it's only about 80mins long. This was on my list to watch because it was written by the Strugatsky brothers, and I'm trying to see all the films they've been involved in in some form or another.

I was expecting something far weirder and interesting based on the description, and was left somewhat disappointed. I mean yeah, the film is nearly 40 years old, but still. Had some interesting bits, but overall forgetable, unfortunately.



- Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum: the acting was good, some scares/shots were well enough done, but in the end it's nothing new at all. Korean Blair-Witch, if you will. Acting is good and stuff, but that's pretty much what this movie is in a nutshell: good for what it is and how it was done, but it brings nothing new to the table, at all. Might want to look for another scary movie to watch and skip this one, which pretty much plays out like an episode of Ghost Hunters. Doesn't pack a punch and is extremely predictable, but there were some alright moments.



- 9 Souls: Damn, I really liked this one! It was on my watchlist for years and years, but I've finally seen it after so long. It's pretty much a somewhat "violent" road-trip with 9 prison escapees, and let me tell you... the first 10-15mins of the film, and especially the prison break scene... it's probably one of my most memorable/favorite movie moments of the year. Can't stop listening to the song from that scene, and the way it was edited in was just awesome. Really want to check out the director's other works (Blue Spring has also been on my list for a while now, along with Tokyo Rampage). I really, really enjoyed it.



- Perfect Blue: first film I've seen by Satoshi Kon (rip) and wow, what an absolute, maddening mindfuck. Really worth the watch, and now I will for sure be sure to check out all his other stuff. I feel like the story could've gone further down the insanity rabbit hole some more, but it works perfectly fine as it is. It's so well done that with every new "wtf" development I found myself truly at a loss for words, really feeling like I was losing it as well, which I can only guess was fully intended, and damn it if it wasn't pulled of with perfection. Wow.



- Pity: another film that belongs in the Weird Greek Wave, made famous(?) by Yorgos Lanthimos. "The story of a man who feels happy only when he is unhappy"... I was expecting some dark humor and whatnot, but this ended up being somewhat more "serious" (debatable) than what I thought I was getting myself into, and there was a moment in particular that really made me go ":/..."

I had seen some criticism beforehand, especially on IMDb where one said "Pity this lovely film ended as it did, reducing drastically its total potential impact", and this is something that would sometimes put me off of watching a certain film that I'm already indecisive about watching in the first place.

But of course, with this being a Weird Greek Wave kind of film, I already knew that it's not meant for everyone, and honestly, I don't see at all how the ending "ruined" the film, not one bit. Don't understand what that person was trying to say.

I enjoyed it for what it is, far more interesting and "rewarding" than Chevalier, for example, which I still recommend if you're into this kind of thing.
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And boom, that should be it for 2018. Somewhat fitting that this was the last film I watched considering that the first first film (that I hadn't seen before) I saw this year was The Killing of a Sacred Deer, by Lanthimos. But yeah, it feels rewarding to have seen so many films compared to previous years. I'll be sure to share my stats whenever I'm done with those, might still take a while, next year for sure.

And, I would put ITSV in the conversation of 'best movie in 2018', but for mine, it's clearly The Favourite by Yargos Lanthimos, which I saw yesterday.

I honestly thought I had a pretty good chance of seeing it this year, but nope...
Should be less than 2 months away from me now, but still, it's one of those I really wanted to have seen in 2018.
Got lucky with Burning, but I highly doubt The Favorite will end up online before the end of the year. Oh well.

I wasn't really a fan of The Killing of a Sacred Deer (though I liked the execution), so I'm hoping this one will be more enjoyable.
Also you might want to check the Greek films I mentioned at the end of my list up there^, in case you're not familiar with them already, might be up your alley

Going to see Bohemian Rhapsody this week-end, finally. I would’ve rather seen Into the Spider-Verse since we’ve only got time for one, but I do wanna see this one as well and it was higher on my wife’s priority list. Also gonna try to watch a lot of others on my watchlist soon, when both me and wife are off work, like Blackkklansman, Sorry to Bother You, A Star is Born, Shoplifters, Roma, First Man, Widows, Bad Times at El Royals, etc. Got a lot of catching up to do.

Shoplifters pls

 

[Brandish μ]

Just came back from watching Aquaman, had a ball. Felt like the cast was one of the best in comics for mine. Well, when the first guy in it is Temura Morrison, first lady is Nicole Kidman... I'm pretty much sold. And I lol'd when he said that he was going to cook some eggs. The movie is pretty basic, but you can enjoy everything if you want to. Was long though.

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Haven't seen Poetry, Peppermint Candy, or Oasis before. So I'll add those. I have been adding every movie I see in this thread to a plan-to-watch list. Even if you guys dislike them, I'll try it.

 

[Eigengrau]

Haven't seen Poetry, Peppermint Candy, or Oasis before. So I'll add those. I have been adding every movie I see in this thread to a plan-to-watch list. Even if you guys dislike them, I'll try it.

There's also Secret Sunshine. Technically his first film would be Green Fish, but if you really want to get into the good stuff, I suggest starting with Peppermint Candy and going chronologically (Oasis, Secret Sunshine, Poetry, Burning).

 

[Organizized]

Bohemian Rhapsody was good. The whole thing was pretty formulaic and predictable, and the first half felt rushed, but Rami Malek was excellent and the supporting cast was good enough. The last 20 minutes made me glad I watched the film in a theatre. Seeing it on the big screen, I’ll give it a 7,5. I suspect if I’d seen it on the small screen it would have been a solid 7.

 

[Brandish μ]

What's everyone's favourite movies of 2018?

I got through a fair few this month. Before that, I'd seen about 10 maybe.

Spoiler: Today I saw

Isle of Dogs and Shoplifters (for 2018 pictures). You could say they are 2 Japanese films, because Wes Anderson shows his love for the country in Isle of Dogs. References to Akira Kurosawa movies (High and Low, Seven Samurai, maybe more), and other things like a small recreation of the garden at Ryoanji temple. It's funny, dialogue is direct, looks bloody amazing, so pretty much a Wes Anderson film, enjoyed it a lot. Shoplifters, is an actual Japanese movie, but it's universal in story/theme. I wish I saw this was the only movie I've seen today, so I could feel and think just Shoplifters. It's about a group of people who've been marginalised for some reason and living in poverty, and they form a family. They commit crimes (shoplifting ) so they're legit thick as thieves. There's warmth in this family, and underneath it's tragic and dark which is revealed later in the movie, mostly because we see the film from the little boys' perspective, and he's not privy to everything like most kids. Like I said, would love to see this just on it's own and hopefully in theaters (had to what a download), it's a great movie.

10 movies from 2018, roughly in order:
The Favourite
Shoplifters
Leave No Trace
Breath
Sweet Country
The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Isle of Dogs
Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse
BlacKkKlansman
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Still have a lot on my watch-list, including: High Life, Burning, Cold War, You Were Never Really Here, Mission Impossible: Fallout, First Reformed, Transit, and Climax. Have high expectation with those, particularly the last two as I like Petzold and Noe. And I hear great things about Fallout, not often a franchise picks up steam like this.

 

[Jammin]

I really only have a top 4.

Avengers: Infinity War
Deadpool 2
Spiderman Into the Spiderverse
Mission Impossible: Fallout

Saw a lot of what I would consider bad movies this year. Some I enjoyed anyway. Some I did not. But those 4 above are the the exception and the only movies that came out this year that I can comfortably call favorites.

Haven't seen Aqua Man, Overlord, or Solo yet and I plan to see watch all of those eventually. Don't really expect any would have made my list anyway though.

I did see Buster Scruggs and though I'm a big Cohen Brothers fan (I love Hiel Ceaser so much) I can't say I was much of a fan, sadly. It just felt like a western by somebody that doesn't really like westerns to me.

 

[xi0]

It just felt like a western by somebody that doesn't really like westerns to me.

That's interesting considering No Country For Old Men and True Grit. What makes you say that?

 

[Jammin]

That's interesting considering No Country For Old Men and True Grit. What makes you say that?

The lack the romanticism and charm of the genre films. Modern examples of the kind of thing I'm talking about would like Open Range or Appaloosa or even Slow West.

In my eyes Buster Scruggs was more of a cynical parody of them. No Country for Old Men and True Grit are both strong preexisting stories. One as a book and the other as an, in this person's opinion, better movie. This is all original and you can definitely tell. The strongest story I thought was the first one. Which was goofy but had kind of a moral to it. The second one was just bad. In westerns the fun is seeing how the protagonist escapes. In order to subvert expectations they went a different way but that just undercuts the appeal of that kind of story. Which begs the question what is the point? That's the way the whole thing was. It lacked heart, IMO. Which is what makes things like True Grit and 3:10 to Yuma (the original not the terrible remake) so good.

 

[Organizized]

What's everyone's favourite movies of 2018?

I got through a fair few this month. Before that, I'd seen about 10 maybe.

Spoiler: Today I saw

Isle of Dogs and Shoplifters (for 2018 pictures). You could say they are 2 Japanese films, because Wes Anderson shows his love for the country in Isle of Dogs. References to Akira Kurosawa movies (High and Low, Seven Samurai, maybe more), and other things like a small recreation of the garden at Ryoanji temple. It's funny, dialogue is direct, looks bloody amazing, so pretty much a Wes Anderson film, enjoyed it a lot. Shoplifters, is an actual Japanese movie, but it's universal in story/theme. I wish I saw this was the only movie I've seen today, so I could feel and think just Shoplifters. It's about a group of people who've been marginalised for some reason and living in poverty, and they form a family. They commit crimes (shoplifting ) so they're legit thick as thieves. There's warmth in this family, and underneath it's tragic and dark which is revealed later in the movie, mostly because we see the film from the little boys' perspective, and he's not privy to everything like most kids. Like I said, would love to see this just on it's own and hopefully in theaters (had to what a download), it's a great movie.

10 movies from 2018, roughly in order:
The Favourite
Shoplifters
Leave No Trace
Breath
Sweet Country
The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Isle of Dogs
Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse
BlacKkKlansman
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Still have a lot on my watch-list, including: High Life, Burning, Cold War, You Were Never Really Here, Mission Impossible: Fallout, First Reformed, Transit, and Climax. Have high expectation with those, particularly the last two as I like Petzold and Noe. And I hear great things about Fallout, not often a franchise picks up steam like this.

Unfortunately I haven’t seen a lot of films this year. Have legally acquired a whole bunch of ones I really wanna see though and will try to amend this soon. So far I’d say the only ones I’ve seen which are good enough to even be called “favorites” are A Quiet Place, Blackkklansman (might be my favorite of the year even after I’ve watched all those other tbh), Isle of Dogs, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and, we’ll, Bohemian Rhapsody (which says more about how few 2018 films I’ve seen than the quality of the film).

The ones I have in my to-watch are:

Spoiler: To watch 2018

A Simple Favor
A Star is Born
At Eternity’s Gate
Bad Times at the El Royale
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Crazy Rich Asians
The Favourite
First Man
Ghost Stories
Green Book
Gräns
Hereditary
If Beale Street Could Talk
Leave No Trace
Mandy
Mary Poppins Returns
Mirai
Oh Lucy!
The Old Man and the Gun
Roma
Shoplifters
Sorry to Bother You
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Sweet Country
The Sisters Brothers
Tully
Vice

(Christopher Robin
Game Night
Ralph Breaks the Internet)

Luckily I have a wife who’s used to me going into “catch-up” phase, so as long as I watch those light-hearted fun films in parenthesis together with her she’s like “sure, go nuts, more Gilmore Girls time for me”.

 

[xi0]

In my eyes Buster Scruggs was more of a cynical parody of them. No Country for Old Men and True Grit are both strong preexisting stories. One as a book and the other as an, in this person's opinion, better movie. This is all original and you can definitely tell. The strongest story I thought was the first one. Which was goofy but had kind of a moral to it. The second one was just bad. In westerns the fun is seeing how the protagonist escapes. In order to subvert expectations they went a different way but that just undercuts the appeal of that kind of story. Which begs the question what is the point? That's the way the whole thing was. It lacked heart, IMO. Which is what makes things like True Grit and 3:10 to Yuma (the original not the terrible remake) so good.

Interesting, since I think the Coen Brother's original stuff is stronger or just as strong as any adaptations they've done. I haven't seen Buster Scruggs myself so, though I guess I'll have to wait and see. Doing a pastiche of a genre or deconstructing it doesn't necessarily point to a dislike of the genre though IMO, but I'll plead ignorance there.

With remakes the usual best case scenario is appreciating the effort done, but how often can they really surpass the original? Not often, so that's why True Grit is kind of a meh thing to me. I can't take points away from the Coens for them not writing No Country though, as it was still an adaptation of a book, so all of the visual and audio style had to come from a new place. Granted, it's not really the traditional romantic western you mentioned though.

You thought 3:10 to Yuma remake was terrible? Really? I actually enjoyed it. I definitely liked it a lot more than stuff like True Grit, High Noon, or The Magnificent Seven.

 

[Jammin]

Interesting, since I think the Coen Brother's original stuff is stronger or just as strong as any adaptations they've done. I haven't seen Buster Scruggs myself so, though I guess I'll have to wait and see. Doing a pastiche of a genre or deconstructing it doesn't necessarily point to a dislike of the genre though IMO, but I'll plead ignorance there.

When you watch it I think you'll understand better. It's just not successful as a western, in my opinion.

With remakes the usual best case scenario is appreciating the effort done, but how often can they really surpass the original? Not often, so that's why True Grit is kind of a meh thing to me. I can't take points away from the Coens for them not writing No Country though, as it was still an adaptation of a book, so all of the visual and audio style had to come from a new place. Granted, it's not really the traditional romantic western you mentioned though.

You thought 3:10 to Yuma remake was terrible? Really? I actually enjoyed it. I definitely liked it a lot more than stuff like True Grit, High Noon, or The Magnificent Seven.

Compared to the original? Yes. Have you ever actually seen the original? It's a fantastic story but the remake is like a very watered down version of it. It sort of has the same problem as the remake of The Magnificent Seven has. In order to "modernize" it they altered what made it special. 3:10 to Yuma is not really supposed to be much of an action movie it's an all time great character drama about an honorable outlaw and an honorable normal man and the respect the outlaw has for that kind of man. Most of what they added just detracts from that core idea.

In the Magnificent Seven remake they made a similar mistake in adding a personal plotline for Denziel Washington's character. Part of the point of the original, and Seven Samurai before that, is that it isn't their fight and that they aren't fighting for much of anything but they are doing it anyway because it's who they choose to be.

 

[FetherMan]

What's everyone's favourite movies of 2018?

I got through a fair few this month. Before that, I'd seen about 10 maybe.

Spoiler: Today I saw

Isle of Dogs and Shoplifters (for 2018 pictures). You could say they are 2 Japanese films, because Wes Anderson shows his love for the country in Isle of Dogs. References to Akira Kurosawa movies (High and Low, Seven Samurai, maybe more), and other things like a small recreation of the garden at Ryoanji temple. It's funny, dialogue is direct, looks bloody amazing, so pretty much a Wes Anderson film, enjoyed it a lot. Shoplifters, is an actual Japanese movie, but it's universal in story/theme. I wish I saw this was the only movie I've seen today, so I could feel and think just Shoplifters. It's about a group of people who've been marginalised for some reason and living in poverty, and they form a family. They commit crimes (shoplifting ) so they're legit thick as thieves. There's warmth in this family, and underneath it's tragic and dark which is revealed later in the movie, mostly because we see the film from the little boys' perspective, and he's not privy to everything like most kids. Like I said, would love to see this just on it's own and hopefully in theaters (had to what a download), it's a great movie.

10 movies from 2018, roughly in order:
The Favourite
Shoplifters
Leave No Trace
Breath
Sweet Country
The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Isle of Dogs
Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse
BlacKkKlansman
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Still have a lot on my watch-list, including: High Life, Burning, Cold War, You Were Never Really Here, Mission Impossible: Fallout, First Reformed, Transit, and Climax. Have high expectation with those, particularly the last two as I like Petzold and Noe. And I hear great things about Fallout, not often a franchise picks up steam like this.

1. Sorry To Bother You
2. Aquaman
3. Upgrade
4. Widows
5. Black Panther
6. Along With The Gods: The Last 49 Days
7. Unsane
8. A Simple Favor
9. Searching
10. Mission Impossible - Fallout