Last Movie You Saw, Name & Review Movie • Page 89

Yeah, after I saw it I jumped into the official thread and ended up posting my thoughts in unpopular opinions instead in order to avoid the inevitable onslaught.

 

On another note, the more I think about Baby Driver, the less I like it. This hurts as a huge Edgar Wright fan, but there wasn’t much there that worked for me.

 

I was being literal. I was threadbanned for pointing out a negative Slant review.

 

no way lmao

 

I always feel like I'm gonna get banned from the Star Wars thread for something totally innocuous. There's a couple people there who would be hilarious to meet out in public.

 

I remember being banned from the Interstellar thread I think just for being critical of the Dark Knight. I could be wrong but I don't think I was ever actually allowed in the thread.

 

Christopher Nolan is a smart popcorn flick director

 

his last 3 were truly asinine

I have a feeling Dunkirk might be decent when I finally get around to seeing it

 

I've never posted in here before, is it cool if we keep a running list of every 2017 movie we've seen so far and just add the recent ones to it?

 

They have a thread for that. Movie Lists 2017.

 

fine by me, feel free to post your letterboxd or something too and i'll add you

 

The Handmaiden - 10/10
The Accountant - 5/10
Jumper - 2/10
Cop Out - 0.5/10
xXx* - 4.5/10
xXx: State of the Union* - 0.5/10
xXx: Return of Xander Cage - 3/10
Power Rangers (2017) - 5.5/10
Rain Man - 8.5/10

A mostly bad week that was bookended by two films I really liked. The Handmaiden was truly incredible and that is mostly down to the plot which played with mind making me think one thing then twisting into something else and then doing the same again making it a thoroughly engrossing film. The Accountant was okay in parts but the action was boring and the more I thought about the plot the worse it became. Jumper is a film I have had on DVD for a while now (was bought for me as a gift) but put off watching it because I knew of the bad reviews it got and it lived up to them, no idea why Hayden Christensen was ever given roles in big budget films like this as he is a woeful lead actor. Cop Out is also a film I got bought for me and was as bland, unfunny and unoriginal as I figured it would be as like many American comedies it thinks being loud makes for a funny film which it doesn't. The xXx series is weak but hardly the worst trilogy I have seen and at least the first has its moments whereas the other two are just clearly cash grabs of the highest order. Power Rangers has a lot wrong with it but for whatever reason as the film progressed I was gradually won over by it. Finally Rain Man managed to be equally funny and heartfelt with two great lead performances anchoring the whole affair.

As of Monday I will be officially on 365 films watched so far this year which means even if I only watch one film a day for the rest of the year (which is unlikely) I will be on more than 450 total.

 

Arrival was a lot dumber than I thought it would be.

 

Kingsman 2 - 6.5/10

Yeah okay fine...it's too long. About an hour into the movie i said to myself "i like this, this works for me", but then another hour later I started to fall asleep. It felt like one of those movies where hollywood producers got too involved and the whole thing just felt messy. The first kingsman was so precise, and the flow was perfect, and this was not. They were trying to do too many things..inserted too many new characters... Chaning Tatum did not have to be in this. You could just tell someone in a board room said "we need Tatum on posters" or something and bleh. He wasn't even the direct new sidekick or anything! Julianna Moore's character was great but we should've spent more time with her! I can't believe we didnt have a final villian showdown with Egsy and her. They totally dropped all of the "this aint james bond" humor too. Colin Firth's chracater was really frustrating in this as well... bleh.


on a plus note, my MOVIEPASS card works like a charm!

 

It is a shame, because for the first half it is really good.

 

It had its moments, but it kind of lost me when her whole plan to communicate with the aliens was writing "human" on a white board.

 

has there ever been a good straightfaced alien drama?

I've never seen Contact or Arrival

 

I liked The Bad Batch at first, but after watching it, the more I thought about it and read about (Amirpour's reaction to) the controversy surrounding it, I don't know.

mother! is incredible, and very moving. I don't know if I can say I liked it, and I can see why it's so divisive, but it's definitely Aronofsky's most ambitious film that I've seen.

 

Arachnophobia* - 8.5/10
The Other Side of the Door - 2.5/10
The Frighteners* - 7.5/10
Pet Sematary* - 6.5/10
Interview with the Vampire - 4.5/10
Cat’s Eye* - 7/10
The Neon Demon - 5/10
Lake Placid* - 5.5/10
The Changeling (1980) - 8/10
The Boy (2016) - 3/10
The Witch - 9/10

Prioritising horror films for this month but with me wanting watch some new releases some will bound to be not in that genre but most will.

Arachnophobia is just as effective as it was when I first watched it many years ago which thanks that film and the spider scene in Dr. No I have been less than positive towards spiders in general but despite that I still find the film enjoyable thanks to solid performances and the fact it has a comedic tone to it.

The Other Side of the Door has a good lead performance from Sarah Wayne Callies and a nice setting in India but the theme of parents dealing with the loss of a child has been done far better in horror films (Don't Look Now being the one I hold in high regard) and this doesn't come close as it relies too much on jump scares, has little tension and has a weak script.

The Frighteners shows Peter Jackson on fine form easily blending horror and comedy while being highly entertaining, has a good cast and even most of the visuals hold up to this day.

Pet Sematary deals with the theme of losing a child and the grief that occurs in a far darker and less forgiving way than The Other Side of the Door which doesn't make it an enjoyable film but it is nonetheless engrossing, sticks to its convictions right to the end and has creepy visuals that are not in short supply.

Interview with the Vampire has several key areas to like it is ultimately undermined by a lackluster leading pair, plot holes, unexplained elements and a really camp tone that makes any of the violence come across as comical. It does at least have a decent supporting cast, solid production, plenty of atmosphere, a good score and has some fun action but it sadly comes across as hollow and lacks an engrossing enough plot.

Cat’s Eye is one of those few anthology films that doesn't have a weak story in it as they are all about equal in their enjoyability though for different reasons for all three. The first story is very satirical and darkly comic with James Woods leading the story about a man trying to quit smoking, the second story is more action orientated and tense in execution that deals with revenge and the consequences of one's actions with Robert Hays leading and the third story has the cat that has been interwoven throughout the film in a primary role trying to save Drew Barrymore's character from a malevolent troll which is more fantastical orientated with some horror elements. Overall a strong anthology film with a good cast, solid visuals, I like the opening scene that references a couple of previous Stephen King films, the score is decent and each short story makes the most out of each one's premise.

The Neon Demon was overall a disappointment even more so while watching it as for about two thirds of the film I was thoroughly engrossed and was enjoying it mostly in part thanks to the great visuals, solid score and the lead performance of Elle Fanning but after the second morgue scene it just felt like the violence was there for the sake of it and not because it actually was needed.

Lake Placid is deeply flawed but I cannot deny that I enjoy it for the most part and that is thanks to the great cast, splattering of gore and I just find parts of it funny.

The Changeling has been on my 'to watch list' for ages and when I saw it in my local shop on DVD I didn't think twice about buying it and I'm glad I did. Unintentionally another film this week dealing with grief though somewhat less so than other films but it nonetheless gives us the setup to a horror film that doesn't rely on gore and pointless jump scares but instead deals with less than cheerful subjects while having an intriguing investigative side to it. Also, a child's ball has never come across so creepy in a horror film before.

The Boy has a decent cast, a nice setting, a solid first act and a premise with potential but it is neither scary or original enough to be enjoyable while also being predictable, uses cheap dream sequences, has boring jump scares and ditches the whole premise in the final act in an entirely lazy way.

The Witch is the film of the week which despite not being all that scary has more than enough positives to make up for that thanks to solid performances all round, a great atmosphere, good setting that is enhanced by the way it is filmed, convincing production, an unnerving tone with tense scenes, plenty of shocking violence and deals with plenty of themes extremely well.

Next week is unlikely to feature solely horror films with Blade Runner 2049 being released but despite that film and the original there should hopefully be plenty of horror films I get to watch.

 

Voyage of Time is finally out there, and it is certainly the "worst" Malick film, although calling it a film stretches the meaning of that term. It is the birth of the universe sequence from The Tree of Life stretched to feature-length, which sounds exciting in some ways, but where that portion served a larger narrative, here it is just a sequence of beautiful images. There is nothing wrong with that in itself, but it can be a bit of a chore to sit through without a larger narrative to hold onto.

 

There are two versions, right? Which did you see?

 

Also how did you watch it?

 

The full length version, with Blanchett's narration.

 

There are high quality torrents around.

 

Battle of the Sexes - 8/10

It was an enjoyable watch so I think 8 is fair but I feel like it was a missed opportunity to do more with such an awesome story to tell. The movie actually focuses very little on the tennis part of both King and Riggs, something I personally wanted more or but was not part of my main problem. My main issue was that I think they did a poor job diving into the two main characters lives. If anything the movie is mostly about Billie Kings lesbian relationship then anything else. And yeah, that's an important part of her life, but what about everything else. Her love of tennis, or her feminist pride, or her handling of the spotlight are all topics that should have been addressed so much more than they were. And with Riggs...hes a gambler and a hussler, but how much of the chauvisnit pig thing was just an act? His relationship with his wife was odd too...bad chemistry it bad writing on this one. The same goes with his relationship with his son. We got very little about Riggs even though the movie does spend plenty of time with him.

At the end of the movie Bills Jean is in the locker room after her win and she's crying by herself on happiness and being overwhelmed. Great moment of the movie. I wanted more of that.

It's not a great sports movie, it's not the best character piece... but it's also not bad at all. It's totally fine and Emma Stone is fantastic in this. Same with Silverman and Carrel.