Last Movie You Saw, Name & Review Movie • Page 92

Three Bilboards - 8/10

Weird movie. i think i really liked it, but damn, weird movie. First off, the movie was incredibly immersive. I had to use the bathroom and i didnt want to get up because i was so heavily involved the town, the characters and the story. The story was CONSTANTLY moving. Every scene, something happened. It was very entertaining but in a way, it was a tad...a tad soap opera-ish? Like something incredibly dramatic and hollywood-like happened EVERY scene. I'm not saying there was a "evil twin brother" thing but it was just like, very INCREDIBLE, sorta UNBELIEVABLE things would be happening. also, the movie seemed to lack purpose. The fact that there were no true good guys or bad guys in the movie was great, but the message was not very clear. Crazy things happen in small town Missouri?

Very weird movie. It was good, i liked it, and it was actually quite funny... but it wasn't perfect. The writing wasn't spectacular at all and the overall direction wasn't anything special either.

I'll have to sit on this for a while

 

I'm not huge into comic book movies, but I saw Thor because I like what I've seen by Taika Waititi aaaaaaand it did not work for me at all. I’m totally down for a movie to just turn my brain off to and have a good time, but the I did not like the tone and I think I only laughed out loud once, which is disappointing cause I went into it with the mindset of, “this will be a Tauka Waititi comedy just in the Marvel world” but I didn’t find it that funny. Perhaps that’s on me for going in with those expectations. I thought the final fight sequence where Thor fights with his lightning powers was pretty fun, that’s about it.

Seeing Lady Bird tonight. Really want to catch Three Billboards soon

 

The Florida Project was really good. It was way more beautifully shot than I expected given the nature of the movie. Baker's definitely a talented guy. It was actually not as difficult a watch as I was expecting either.

 

Curious how many films directed by women people have seen in a theater this year? I'm having a bit of a down year so far with just:

Detroit
Wonder Woman
Lady Bird
Loving Vincent
Battle of the Sexes

Hoping I can find a few more by year's end.

 

The Beguiled
Professor Marston and the Wonder Women
A United Kingdom

Novitiate is supposed to be good will probably see that too

 

I'm unsure which movies I saw this year were made by a woman but yes WW and battle of sex I saw

 

Just new films?

Maison du Bonheur
Faces Places
The Beguilled
Let the Corpses Tan
Lady Bird
Beach Rats
Diving
Zama
This Time Tomorrow
The Bad Batch
Werewolf
Strong Island
Communion
Still Night Still Light
Never Eat Alone
Angry Inuk

These are mostly festival or one off screenings though.

 

Festivals are golden for this. Most of those will get nowhere near theaters.

 

Murder on the Orient Express (2017) - 7.5/10
Black Death* - 7.5/10
High Noon - 7/10
The 13th Warrior - 4.5/10
Only the Brave - 8/10
Charlie Wilson’s War - 6/10
Assassin’s Creed - 3.5/10

Could only manage one film a day this week but I did make time to squeeze in a couple of cinema trips and they both exceeded my expectations.

Now I have never seen previous adaptations of Murder on the Orient Express so I was going in completely blind and the only major flaw I had with the film was the conclusion with pretty much everything else working. I especially liked the mostly one location setting and the camerawork which used every conceivable way to maximise such a small space. The cast was also great, the score was solid and it was far funnier than I expected it to be.

Black Death is one of those horror films that manages to mix in a completely different genre in the form of the action medieval genre which mixed with horror mostly works. Sean Bean and Eddie Redmayne are good in the lead roles, it is suitably grim, the action scenes are good, there are some genuinely horrifying scenes and the production for such a small film is on point.

Heard a lot about High Noon and maybe it was because I was tired but it seemed to drag for a film of that length but I liked the cast, the plot was engrossing enough and the final act was great.

The 13th Warrior was a box office bomb upon release and quite frankly I can see why and weirdly it kind of looked like the 1999 version of The Mummy in places but lacks that films sense of fun and adventure.

Only the Brave was a big surprise as biographical films as of late have been mostly underwhelming however despite some lack of originality and predictability I was wholly engrossed in the plot, invested in the characters, it has a script that perfectly balances humor and the more emotional moments while also making fire feel equally beautiful and terrifying.

Speaking of fact based films Charlie Wilson’s War was underwhelming considering the talent on and behind the camera but a likable cast, a decent script and an engrossing plot made up its flaws.

Finally Assassin’s Creed which is another flop of a video game adaption thanks to a dull plot, lackluster action and being predictable every step of the way.

So a mixed week but two more films added to my already record breaking year for films seen at the cinema more than made up for it.

 

In a Valley of Violence - 9/10
The Great Wall - 5/10
Cujo* - 8/10
Chronicle - 7/10
Edward Scissorhands - 8/10
The People Under the Stairs* - 8/10
The Orphanage - 8/10

Overall a solid week and better than last week despite no cinema trips this time round.

Film of the week and by far the biggest surprise was In a Valley of Violence while I enjoyed rewatching Cujo and The People Under the Stairs. Chronicle was a bit underwhelming and The Great Wall is forgettable. Edward Scissorhands was enjoyable while The Orphanage despite being similar to something like The Devil's Backbone was nonetheless wholly engrossing.

Sorry for the short rundown this week, really not had all that much time today.

 

COCO - 9/10

I LOVED THIS! Another home run for Pixar in my opinion. I mean, they got me to tear tears AGAIN. I even went in thinking, no way, I know it's coming, I'm prepared, but they got me to have salty watery discharge come from my eyes.

Just such a nice 'tale'. A great story, a unique point of view, and simple yet really really effective. Great music, great animation, and I couldn't help think to myself how great it must be for a young Mexican kid to see this and be happy or inspired. I sound like a movie producer when I say that, but it's true!, I'm thinking about some like 8 year old, Mexican version of me, seeing this and it becoming their favorite movie ever. Makes me smile. Good Stuff

Easily top 3 movie of the year for me

 

i already suspected it from Drive, but Neon Demon convinced me that NWR's sense of style will never be able to overcome his absolute inability to film a good story

 

Only God Forgives is even worse.

 

i need to see that. i think Neon Demon is better than Drive in terms of cohesively marrying its themes with its sense of style and bathing in its excess without totally succumbing to a dull, self-absorbed seriousness (Drive was cheesy and it didn't seem to realize it). he can build tension fairly effectively in individual scenes, but cannot translate that to stakes that are meaningful and engaging across the entire film.

 

Ive only seen them once when they came out but I enjoyed Drive, Bronson, and Valhalla Rising for what they were. Only God Forgives was a really sucky slog. Haven't seen Demon and not excited to.

 

I really disliked Drive. I haven’t felt compelled to see anything by him after that.

 

Neon Demon was certainly memorable, still not sure if I loved it or hated it but it stuck with me for awhile

 

I kind of love Neon Demon.

 

I love and hate Neon Demon

 

imo ND's failure is that it can't fully commit to the idea that it is campy, exploitative schlock. it has delusions of a grander, sharper critique of gender norms and industry abuse, but instead of deconstructing or analyzing them meaningfully, it's a fully masculine envisioning of them. it's just scenes of abuse or assault, stacked on one top of the other, never progressing anywhere beyond bland eventual destruction. what should be climactic violence feels fairly by-the-numbers because it constantly needs to be one-upped by itself, and in order to sustain a film like that, your characters do not behave in any believable way in response to them. we get battered by cannibalism, necrophilia, rape, vampirism, molestation, and more but it simply never does anything besides point the camera at such actions and say, "man, that's pretty dark, right?"

 

The Martian* - 8.5/10
Green Lantern - 3/10
Jackie - 8/10
Edge of Tomorrow* - 9/10
One False Move - 9/10
Muppets Most Wanted - 5.5/10
2010: The Year We Make Contact - 7.5/10

* = Rewatch

 

What's the * for? A rewatch?

 

Yeah sorry, forgot to add that in.

 

Homeward Bound - Favorite Movie as a kid/10

 

Homeward Bound II - the fuck is this is shit?/10