Last Movie You Saw, Name & Review Movie • Page 115

Lady Bird - 9/10

 

Incendies (2010) - 9/10

At one point in this movie a character makes a certain sound and that moment is probably the closest a movie has ever made my stomach feel like going down a roller coaster

 

Palm Springs - I enjoy Andy Samberg/Lonely Island, but was expecting this to get bored during this due to time-loop movies/shows having become an overly used plot device in recent years. As it turns out, the time-loop genre (it feels like its own genre now) might be one of my favorites out there because I loved this. Samberg and Milioti have incredible chemistry and despite the lack of plot imagination, it felt fresh.

Best in Show - Ridiculously stacked cast. Hilarious all the way through. Fred Willard (RIP) ends up stealing the show.

 

Saw Elio Petri's Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion and in addition to being a cool inversion of the Hitchcock turn-the-screws formula, it's hard to imagine a movie could be much more politically relevant at this exact moment in time. REALLY good one.

 

Shazam - 6/10

It was fine. It had a lot of empty, overly long moments. There were no stakes and a strange third act.

 

Animal House (1978) - different era/10

I think I could do an entire college course on this movie. I find its whole existence just incredibly fascinating. For many reasons. First off, obviously all the questionable behavior stuff. How women were regarded in the 70s (or 60s since thats when the movie takes place) in hollywood vs real life...did hollywood start making it worse in this era or were they simply echoing reality. in regards to how "underage" girls weren't as taboo back then. race, rape, etc. Watching this with glasses from 1978 vs 2020. All of that stuff is an entire MONTH to break down.

Secondly there's just the humor of it all. I mean, to me, someone watching this for the first time in 2020... it's not very funny. Not only that, I think it's a wildly sloppy movie. BUT! the movie has amazing reviews from back then. In 1978, all of this stuff was very fresh, new, and the type of humor people liked. "Being wasted", "smashing beer cans on your head", yelling "food fight" must have been HILARIOUS but now it's just...haha like.. huh? Where's the joke? And the plot is all over the place too. They try and do some sort of romantic thing with two characters, one cheats on the other with the professor, and then it's forgotten about. There was the stoned with teacher scene, that had remnants of Linklater, but that's the only time we see it.

The humor is all over the place from slapstick, to one liners, to gags, to satire.

And I know every dad and uncle in the world would have a heart attack hearing me say this but I don't get Belushi's appeal? I'm showing my age but i think Chris Farley did what Belushi was trying to do but so much better.

It's now a period piece, of a period piece. People back then and maybe people who see this early on in their movie watching careers LOVE it...but I DONT GET IT!

It feels reminiscent of MAD Magazine. At the time "crude" humor was new and outrageous and the idea of stuck up people 'fainting' at the idea of someone smoking a joint was GREAT... but we've come so far from that haha

It's a movie that a lot of people say "started it all" with these midnight teen sex movies and i'm sure its revolutionary but it has NOT aged well in the humor department to me

I'm glad i finally saw it because now i'm not going to shut up about it

 

"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?" is still a classic.

 

i know you're a teacher. Would you agree with my take that this movie makes for a great discussion? Or nah

 

Comedy ages much quicker than other genres. You don't even have to go as far back as Animal House; classic 90's shows like The Simpsons and Seinfeld have things that would not be acceptable today. A lot of the humor Zoolander comes from the juxtaposition of traditional masculinity versus male modeling, but gender is much more fluid now so it does not land the same way for younger people.

Art in general is a great way to analyze culture, because it is the way that we voluntarily chose to portray ourselves. A lot can be hidden in many other realms, but Animal House's creation and subsequent success tells you what people in that era thought was acceptable. It would be good to have it as part of a larger cultural analysis course, like academic viewings of The Birth of a Nation.

 

Onward - 7/10

 

Out Stealing Horses (Ut og stjæle hester), a Norwegian film that just came out on streaming services. A very slow burn of a film, but highlights are the beautiful cinematography, and the performances of all the actors. Stars Stellan Skarsgård, playing an older version of a child character shown in much of the film. Very introspective story. 9/10

 

Big Hero 6 - 8/10

I’m going through Disney movies I haven’t seen yet this week.

 

Yi Yi (2000) - 9/10

This didn't hit me quiiiiite as hard as A Brighter Summer Day did but I still loved it a lot. Edward Yang's films are so immersive and breathtaking

 

She Dies Tomorrow - 9/10

I haven't seen many movies from this year, but this one is easily my favorite so far.

 

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is pretty awesome. Art Deco and Citizen Kane inspired Batman? Yes please

 

Never seen it before??

 

Can’t Hardly Wait - 10/10

Viva la poolhouse!

 

Nope first time. I watched a fair amount of the animated series as a kid though.

 

Crazy Stupid Love - 9, maybe a 9.5/10. Still remains as great as ever upon re-watch. Awesome how a simple story can be turned into something great thanks to a great case and a well-written script.

Cinema peaked with the garden scene.

 

NOBODY DRINK THE BEER THE BEER HAS GONE BAD

my second favorite high school transition comedy or coming of age comedy or whatever you want to call that genre right behind Dazed and Confused.

 

Kicked off the Before trilogy yesterday. Before Sunrise is solid overall, their farewell at the train station was particularly beautiful. Seeing those two completely breakdown to and give in to what they know is a terrible idea that they won't follow up on (though, maybe they do since it's a trilogy?) just felt so tragic but natural.

I kind of hated Ethan Hawke's character though.

 

Before Sunset - This one resonated with me far more than Sunrise, but I suppose that's because I'm closer in age to these characters in Sunset, whereas with Sunrise I couldn't help but cringe every time I saw some of myself in Jesse or Céline's pseudo philosophic ramblings.

There's a ticking clock aspect to Sunrise that's particularly poignant. They are at an age where most feel like their lives are set on their course. With the whole story being presented in real-time, I couldn't help but feel that if these two don't realize they need to give this relationship a real shot, they'll be living the rest of their lives in regret.

I can't wait to see how this progresses in Before Midnight.

Edit: Also, watching an 80-minute movie is just so refreshing haha.

 

Before Midnight - It's telegraphed in the first two films, but it's just sad to see Jesse & Céline struggling to cope with all the issue of age and longterm relationships that they're waxing about in the first movie. I loved how they are juxtaposed with a younger couple who has everything they started out with, a seemingly happier couple their same age, and two older friends who have loved and lost. It's a perfect illustration of the "grass is always greener" mindset that can plague stale relationships.

Anyway, Linklater has always been hit or miss for me, but I loved this trilogy. It was wild to watch them all in quick succession and see the rapid development of their relationship.

 

I bought Before Sunrise on DVD because a friend recommended it when I was like 16. I watched it that day and when it ended I drove back to FYE to buy Before Sunset.

 

Very good chance I watch Before Sunset again in the next few days.