Last Movie You Saw, Name & Review Movie • Page 95

Phantom Thread - 10/10

My entire top 20 just became irrelevant. The best film of 2017 by a mile.

 

It’s perfect, right?

 

Why doesn’t it have more awards traction? It’s gotta be his most accessible film. At least since Boogie Nights.

 

It’s interesting because it manages to be his most accessible film, and also one of his best. I haven’t been paying attention to awards buzz, but is it not getting any? That’s pretty surprising.

 

Aside from DDL and I assume the costumes, no, not really.

Also, I can’t remember the last PTA movie I saw that got applause from an audience. I have a feeling this is going to be a big arthouse hit.

 

Actually, despite not having traction anywhere else, Gold Derby seems to have it as the only real lock of the season for costume design. So that’s something.

 

@TJ Wells did you find it as hilarious as I did? Multiple times I was laughing out loud

 

Oh I would borderline call it a comedy.

 

The Towering Inferno* - 9.5/10
It Comes at Night - 8.5/10
Contact - 7.5/10
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - 9/10

* = Rewatch

Been suffering from a severe case of tonsillitis for the past eight days or so (not entirely over it but thankfully I mostly am) so just haven't had the time to post what I had seen since I became ill but it has been a great start to the year so far.

Finally come to the conclusion that The Towering Inferno is my favourite disaster film from the seventies after enjoying the hell out of it on Blu-ray which I was given for Christmas. No it doesn't have characters that are as interesting as say The Poseidon Adventure but it makes up for that with the action scenes, production, ensemble cast, death scenes, set pieces and the bleakness of the whole situation the characters are thrown into which both have in common.

It Comes at Night might well be a film that was poorly promoted but at the end of the day the film was extremely effective even if it wasn't what I expected. The whole affair is drenched in paranoia and fear of the unknown while having some of the most tense scenes I have experienced in a modern psychological horror.

Contact was a perfectly fine and entertaining sci-fi drama with a good cast and an enjoyable plot but I feel like the final third of the film could have been better handled and more satisfying.

Finally Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri which would have entered my top ten films for 2017 had it been released in the UK in that year because I enjoyed it so much and quite frankly I'd have been fine had it been even longer. Great performances, brilliantly balances the comic and the tragic, I like the script which is abrasive and emotionally weighty, I like the score, I think it looks solid and even though there are parts you could be needlessly picky about I loved practically every moment while watching it.

 

Blade Runner 2 was fine. It has some very impressive technical elements, but it is mostly aping the original film as much as possible. It misses the heart of what makes the original film so interesting, which is the question of what makes someone a human. The new film tries to go in that direction, mostly through the pregnancy route, but it never really escapes the feeling of someone trying to do a remake rather than a sequel that is supposed to expand the universe of the film.

 

Under the Volcano - 6.5/10
Star Wars: The Last Jedi - 7.5/10
The Limehouse Golem - 8.5/10
A Clockwork Orange - 9/10

A solid week and I was glad The Last Jedi was an improvement over The Force Awakens however it was nonetheless slightly less enjoyable than Rogue One.

Under the Volcano is one of those films that hangs entirely on the lead performance because if it wasn't for Albert Finney the film would have been a lot less engaging.

The Limehouse Golem is an exquisitely produced 1880's set murder mystery that has a solid cast, tasteful gore and an engaging plot.

Finally got around to viewing A Clockwork Orange which has been on my watchlist for a while now but glad I eventually got to see it and can certainly see why plenty of people give it such high praise despite me not quite loving it.

Hoping to start piling through my own personal collection that I have yet to review soon while also trying to watch a film from this year a lot sooner than when I watched my first 2017 film.

 

I just saw Proud Mary. It was bad haha.

Thought it would be a fun stylish action movie with Taraji P. Henson. I forgot it was January.

 

FUCK YOU IT’S JANUARY

 

Maze Runner: The Death Cure - 6/10
Ghost in the Shell - 7.5/10
Sleepless - 5/10
My Cousin Rachel - 8/10

Nothing spectacular this week but I didn't hate anything either.

The Maze Runner series concludes with The Death Cure which is a perfectly fine and entertaining entry albeit one that lacks any real depth and isn't wholly satisfying. I will though that the emotional friendship between Thomas and Newt was nice to see, not often that big films like this have such a thing between two guys.

Not seen the anime that the live action film is based on so I had zero expectations or baggage prior to watching Ghost in the Shell and despite the themes not being wholly explored and a simple plot I really rather enjoyed it. Visually stunning with a good cast and great action plus the world it is set in is mesmerising.

Sleepless is a crime drama with no real individuality or style of its own but a solid cast and some good action keep it somewhat watchable.

My Cousin Rachel features a stellar performance by Rachel Weisz, looks great, has a good setting, a solid supporting cast and a somewhat intriguing plot but Weisz is really the glue that keeps the whole thing together.

 

As of now, I've watched 15 films for the first time this year. Not all that impressive but much more than I've done in the past. Can thank Moviepass and living with someone for the uptick. Of the films I've seen, Call Me By Your Name and The Florida Project were clear favorites. Tangerine fucked me up too

 

Is The King’s Speech any good? I’ve never seen it.

 

It is really bad. Very boring and very amateur camera work.

 

Terrible. Tom Hooper is awful.

 

Interesting. I honestly know next to nothing about it.

 

let's just say that when I was watching Darkest Hour I was like "why is that dude talking like that" and then I was like oh yeah that was the entire plot of The King's Speech

 

Let me see if I can keep track / lurk for films in this thread.

My January (as I have plans tomorrow evening, this is very likely me done for the month);

1. Kung Fu Hustle (2004) [Hong Kong]
2. Irma Vep (1996) [France]
3. My Lucky Stars (1985) [Hong Kong]
4. All The Money In The World (2017) [USA]
5. Being John Malkovich (1999) [USA]
6. Born Strong (2017) [USA]
7. The Disaster Artist (2017) [USA]
8. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) [USA]
   
9. Ava (2017) [France]
10. Spirited Away (2001) [Japan]
11. Coco (2017) [USA]
12. Howl's Moving Castle (2004) [Japan]
13. Double Indemnity (1944) [USA]
14. Dyketactics (1974) [USA]
15. Millennium Actress (2001) [Japan]
16. The Crimson Kimono (1959) [USA]
17. Early Man (2018) [UK]
18. On The Beach at Night Alone (2017) [South Korea]
19. Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980) [Hong Kong]
20. Dragons Forever (1988) [Hong Kong]
21. Winners & Sinners (1983) [Hong Kong]
22. Reprise (2006) [Norway].

Been quite busy with work etc, so a little less than a normal month. About half of these I watched with my partner, and half alone. Most are new to me but Being John Malkovich, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and Double Indemnity were re-watches.

Not going to rate them all, but a big fan of; Ava, Three Billboards, Millennium Actress, On The Beach and Encounters of the Spooky Kind.

Not a fan of; Disaster Artist, Born Strong, Dyketactics.

My biggest discovery the past 6 months or so has been 80s Hong Kong martial arts films - I can't get enough of them. The energy and the audacity of the stunts, as well as the clear outrageous technical skill of the performers gives them this incredible freshness to view today. In comparison to the slightly leaden and weighty stuff like Crouching Tiger , they have this brilliant verve and awareness that yes, this is totally ridiculous. The charisma and charm of someone like Sammo Hung is bloody lovely too.

May try and keep up with this thread and do more updates as and when, but that'll do for now.

 

Irma Vep

 

I like this guy.

 

Damn. I’m lucky if I get to two movies a month

 

It's like a decade earlier than most of the stuff you're talking about, but King Hu's A Touch of Zen is a great wuxia/martial arts film from Hong Kong if you've got 3 hours to spend.