Last Movie You Saw, Name & Review Movie • Page 171

Hackers 8/10

does hold up, still fun

 

Tremors - 8.5/10
A perfect introduction to creature features as a kid and just as much of a thrill ride as an adult. This deserves so much more recognition for being not only fun, but low-key influential (NOPE, anyone?). I could watch Reba McEntire shoot at giant worms all day.

 

do you think people remember this one less fondly due to all of the direct to video/lower budget stuff that came after?

 

I think it's certainly a possibility. Is it not remembered fondly? I feel like it's brought up less than it should be, but I don't see a lot of negativity around it.

 

I feel like everyone knows Tremors from being a movie that was on TV all the time and not many are aware of the sequels so much, but I've never heard anyone say they're not fond of it.

 

yeah that may have been the wrong word, any time it's brought up the reaction is usually "oh hell yeah"

 

Just found it that it was released this week 34 years ago. Didn't even know when I watched it last night. Love when that happens!

 

It has very devoted fans. Probably because it’s a blast

 

Showing Up (2023) - I will always show up for Andre 3000. A Kelly Reichardt gentle look into how art itself is not enough, a lack of success leads to resentment that expresses as fun pettiness.

Past Lives (2023) - A narrative's relationship with relationships. Arthur as a self aware writer on paper would be too meta, yet it is true to life that our immersion and knowledge of stories shapes our feeling and actions just as much as it's material circumstances. That we balance our ideals and our day to day experiences. There was a strange realness watching Arthur struggle with being uncomfortable, stranded without a map completely unable to navigate the situation, ending in playing playstation while a sad korean man chases destiny.

Red Rocket (2021) - Hilarious dirt bag comedy, the desperation of poverty. tight ass script, killer performance. The rollercoaster scene is a masterpiece. Im in my whatapps group telling everyone to watch it.

 

People talk about how big expensive movies need to be seen on a big screen, but I'm really glad I was able to experience Red Rocket with an audience.

 

I just saw Poor Things in cinema and resented not being able to turn the volume down

 

The Silence of the Lambs - 9/10
Kind of funny that this is Manhunter almost beat for beat despite being derived from a different Harris novel. Still, it's really, really great. Manhunter's style was highlighted by its lighting while this film's style is all in how it's shot. Incredibly tense and every cast member here is firing on all cylinders. The LGBTQ discourse is interesting because it's true that there has not been much positive representation of trans people in mainstream cinema, while at the same time, Lector explicitly states that Gumb is not actually trans but rather obsessed with change and becoming something else. This becomes even more problematic if you think about the implications of a person "diagnosing" someone else's queerness and the idea of them "snapping" when denied gender-affirming surgery. But of course that's not something people were likely to think about too deeply over 30 years ago.

Nevertheless, just an excellent artifact and thriller that would obviously go on to influence The X-Files, Seven, and so many other horror-adjacent psychological dramas.

 

Poor Things (2023) - The baby brains movies. Lanthimos revists old territory creating an oppressive sheltering system except this time forest gumps here to fuck shit up. There's a lot going on, a child mother raising themselves created by God, thebaby brain women not understanding restricting social norms, baby brained men throwing tantrums screaming “mine”, also its set in Tim Burton land.

It's obnoxious, some of that is the point of breaking the social norms, some of it is in its attempt to be shocking it said something surface level in a contrived vulgar way, and some of it is my distaste for Tim Burton land quirkiness.

When it's not twisting the knife it's very funny. That counts for a lot, it is too unfocused to take its 90s book adaption ideas on feminism or liberation seriously but If I engage my baby brain and watch it for laughs and enjoy the ride and wild performances alright.

The 3rd act revenge arc was unsatisfying and underdeveloped.

 

Movies are bad

 

BlackBerry - 7.5/10
I love Matt Johnson, but I also gotta get past my grievances with him for criticizing Evil Dead Rise for being a franchise film while also jumping on the bandwagon for a "how this product was made movie." I mean, this was good, and endearing, no doubt about it. It's funny, it's got style, and the soundtrack is absolutely killer. At the same time...I don't think Johnson is the only person that could have directed it, and I fail to see how it's that much different that a handful of other "story behind this brand name product" movies we got last year. The wigs were silly!

The Funhouse - 7.5/10
I really, really, really enjoyed this. Sometimes, you have to strap in for a slowburn with these old-school slashers. This was not only well-paced, but honestly looked amazing. Hooper subverts expectations but cranking down the kill count and gore (at least until the last half hour or so) and replacing it with a unique story that earns its setting. I just wish the plotline with the little brother would have gone anywhere. We love to see carnie representation in film

 

Was in the mood for something spooky, so watched The Lodge. Decent enough, 7/10.

 

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

I have no connection to the 80s films. Not a part of my childhood. This was fine. The last 20 minutes lost me. Needed more Paul Rudd. Less CGI and double down on the practical effects. 6.5/10

 

Been meaning to someday watch those, I’ve only seen the very first as a kid. Trailer for the newest one really annoys me though.

 

what doesn’t annoy you tho, Josh?

 

Y'know, it has some flaws, but Wonka was mostly fairly delightful.

 

Midsommar - 9/10
Alternate Title: Two Thousand (Swedish) Maniacs!

Another Aster piece about grief, family, and the way we gaslight women, this time designed to be as bright and beautiful as it is absolutely horrific. It runs a little long in the tooth and seems to be missing just a bit of connective tissue throughout, but it really is a uniquely terrifying and masterful vision. The cliff ritual has to be one of the scariest scenes of all-time at this point; I remember audible gasping from the audience when I caught this in theaters. Incredible editing, shot compositions, and one of the most gorgeous film scores in recent memory. Everything that can go wrong in an Aster film will, and that's why he's the best director in horror right now.

Meet the Feebles - 7/10
Proto-Team America with puppets the size of humans, (unfortunately) just as much racism, and even more sex and slime. It's a nightmarish fever dream of an adult comedy that feels even less real due to the fact that the official DVD seems to be a VHS rip. You gotta see this one to believe it.

 

This is my favorite movie of all time. It was the first time I remember watching a film and understanding how sound design can do more than establish a sense of place or mood, but drive the story. Glad you liked it!

Anatomy of a Fall 8/10 - I'm quick to dismiss a rude client or someone cutting in line with a semi-sarcastic reminder that "everyone is the hero of their own story." I thought this was a great story that underlines how little objective "truth" there can be found in our lives. Though we can be in the same room experiencing the same things, what those things mean in the moment and in retrospect vary wildly depending on the point of view. You carry your baggage with you into every interaction you have, whether you realize it or not, and no formal inquiry can fully unpack it all in a satisfying way.